_ CHAPTER LIV. M. ROSSIGNOL SLIPS THE LEASH
       It was the last day of the Passion Play, and the great dramatic mission was drawing to a close. The confidence of the Cure and the Seigneur was restored. The prohibition against strangers had had its effect, and for three whole days the valley had been at rest again. Apparently there was not a stranger within its borders, save the Seigneur's brother, the Abbe Rossignol, who had come to see the moving spectacle.
       The Abbe, on his arrival, had made inquiries concerning the tailor of Chaudiere and Jo Portugais, as persistently about the one as the other. Their secrets had been kept inviolate by him.
       It was disconcerting to hear the tales people told of the tailor's charity and wisdom. It was all dangerous, for what was, accidentally, no evil in this particular instance, might be the greatest disaster in another case. Principle was at stake. He heard in stern silence the Cure's happy statement that Jo Portugais had returned to the bosom of the Church, and attended Mass regularly.
       "So it may be, my dear Abbe," said M. Loisel, "that the friendship between him and our 'infidel' has been the means of helping Portugais. I hope their friendship will go on unbroken for years and years."
       "I have no idea that it will," said the Abbe grimly. "That rope of friendship may snap untimely."
       "Upon my soul, you croak like a raven!" testily broke in M. Rossignol, who was present. "I didn't know there was so much in common between you and my surly-jowled groom. He gets his pleasure out of croaking. 'Wait, wait, you'll see--you'll see! Death, death, death--every man must die! The devil has you by the hair--death--death--death!' Bah! I'm heartily sick of croakers. I suppose, like my grunting groom, you'll say about the Passion Play, 'No good will come of it--wait--wait--wait!' Bah!"
       "It may not be an unmixed good," answered the ascetic.
       "Well, and is there any such thing on earth as an unmixed good? The play yesterday was worth a thousand sermons. It was meant to serve Holy Church, and it will serve it. Was there ever anything more real--and touching--than Paulette Dubois as Mary Magdalene yesterday?"
       "I do not approve of such reality. For that woman to play the part is to destroy the impersonality of the scene."
       "You would demand that the Christus should be a good man, and the St. John blameless--why shouldn't the Magdalene be a repentant woman?"
       "It might impress the people more, if the best woman in your parish were to play the part. The fall of virtue, the ruin of innocence, would be vividly brought home. It does good to make the innocent feel the terror and shame of sin. That is the price the good pay for the fall of man--sorrow and shame for those who sin." The Seigneur, rising quickly from the table, and kicking his chair back, said angrily: "Damn your theories!" Then, seeing the frozen look on his brother's face, continued, more excitedly: "Yes, damn, damn, damn your theories! You always took the crass view. I beg your pardon, Cure--I beg your pardon."
       He then went to the window, threw it open, and called to his groom.
       "Hi, there, coffin-face," he said, "bring round the horses--the quietest one in the stable for my brother--you hear? He can't ride," he added maliciously.
       This was his fiercest stroke, for the Abbe's secret vanity was the belief that he looked well on a horse, and rode handsomely. _

Introduction
Chapter 1. The Way To The Verdict
Chapter 2. What Came Of The Trial
Chapter 3. After Five Years
Chapter 4. Charley Makes A Discovery
Chapter 5. The Woman In Heliotrope
Chapter 6. The Wind And The Shorn Lamb
Chapter 7. "Peace, Peace, And There Is No Peace"
Chapter 8. The Cost Of The Ornament
Chapter 9. Old Debts For New
Chapter 10. The Way In And The Way Out
Chapter 11. The Raising Of The Curtain
Chapter 12. The Coming Of Rosalie
Chapter 13. How Charley Went Adventuring And What He Found
Chapter 14. Rosalie, Charley, And The Man The Widow Plomondon Jilted
Chapter 15. The Mark In The Paper
Chapter 16. Madame Dauphin Has A Mission
Chapter 17. The Tailor Makes A Midnight Foray
Chapter 18. The Stealing Of The Cross
Chapter 19. The Sign From Heaven
Chapter 20. The Return Of The Tailor
Chapter 21. The Cure Has An Inspiration
Chapter 22. The Woman Who Saw
Chapter 23. The Woman Who Did Not Tell
Chapter 24. The Seigneur Takes A Hand In The Game
Chapter 25. The Colonel Tells His Story
Chapter 26. A Song, A Bottle, And A Ghost
Chapter 27. Out On The Old Trail
Chapter 28. The Seigneur Gives A Warning
Chapter 29. The Wild Ride
Chapter 30. Rosalie Warns Charley
Chapter 31. Charley Stands At Bay
Chapter 32. Jo Portugais Tells A Story
Chapter 33. The Edge Of Life
Chapter 34. In Ambush
Chapter 35. The Coming Of Maximilian Cour And Another
Chapter 36. Barriers Swept Away
Chapter 37. The Challenge Of Paulette Dubois
Chapter 38. The Cure And The Seigneur Visit The Tailor
Chapter 39. The Scarlet Woman
Chapter 40. As It Was In The Beginning
Chapter 41. It Was Michaelmas Day
Chapter 42. A Trial And A Verdict
Chapter 43. Jo Portugais Tells A Story
Chapter 44. "Who Was Kathleen?"
Chapter 45. Six Months Go By
Chapter 46. The Forgotten Man
Chapter 47. One Was Taken And The Other Left
Chapter 48. "Where The Tree Of Life Is Blooming--"
Chapter 49. The Open Gate
Chapter 50. The Passion Play At Chaudiere
Chapter 51. Face To Face
Chapter 52. The Coming Of Billy
Chapter 53. The Seigneur And The Cure Have A Suspicion
Chapter 54. M. Rossignol Slips The Leash
Chapter 55. Rosalie Plays A Part
Chapter 56. Mrs. Flynn Speaks
Chapter 57. A Burning Fiery Furnace
Chapter 58. With His Back To The Wall
Chapter 59. In Which Charley Meets A Stranger
Chapter 60. The Hand At The Door
Chapter 61. The Cure Speaks