The Argosy — page 376: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Village Blacksnuth. 355 them. Vera almost expected to see the angel raise its glorious wings and fly away, but it remained motionless at its post as a sentinel on duty. Just then the nuns all rose from their seats in the choir and walked in procession round the chapel headed by two novices in white veils carrying lighted candles in brass candlesticks, singing as they walked the ‘Salve Regina” in Dominican plain chant. Presently they knelt down, two only remaining standing, and these two walked between the long rows of kneeling nuns and sprinkled them with holy water ; then they rose, the procession re-formed and they returned to their places singing St. Dominic’s hymn. Then the altar was lighted up for the Benediction, a priest came in, and falling on her knees Vera’s clear young voice rang out in the ‘*Salutaris Hostia” like an angel’s, to the amazement of the nuns in the choir, who were too devout to gratify their curiosity by looking up to see where the voice came from. And then a little later when in the solemn hush the bell rang and Benediction was given, a sense of rest and peace, in spite of her troubles, fell over Vera, such as she had never felt before. In a few days Vera was the pet of the convent and was allowed to do pretty much what she pleased ; so that when Father Ambrose came to say good-bye on Monday morning, before he started for Woodford, she assured him that if only she could know for a certain fact that Captain Raleigh was assured of her innocence she should be perfectly happy in the convent. She promised Father Ambrose to remain with the nuns until he returned. She could not write to her lover, because of her promise to her father ; otherwise she would have done so, and have sent the letter to Norwich to greet him on his arrival in England; for according to her calculation he would just be on his way home from India. Little did she think he was that night sleeping only a stone’s-throw from the convent; but perhaps this fact accounted for her troubled dreams. She dreamt he was at Woodford, and that her step-mother was trying to persuade him that she had taken the diamonds and shot Mark Brown; and in her dream she felt she must go back at once to Woodford and deny the charge. She must go alone, since Father Ambrose was gone; and therefore she must go disguised, as she had come. She rose from her bed in her sleep, and dressed herself in the white habit and scapular which had been left in her room. The veil and guimpe and the long black cloak were gone and she searched in vain for them, having a vague notion that her costume was incom- plete, and then at last she gave up the search. With her long golden hair rippling in wavy masses down her shoulders, she took a lighted candle in her hand, opened her bedroom door and walked downstairs. When she reached the hall she found the hall door was bolted and CORNICLIOO® os) (SO) An