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Rh With a cold and indifferent air the Queen turned away, when Francesca, regardless of form in the excitement of the moment, sank on her knees before her. "I cannot endure this imputation of being thankless for kindness so gracious and so precious. Madame, I have an only and beloved brother, delicate from infancy, and parted from me for the first time in our life—parted from me on a long and dangerous journey. When the lottery commenced yesterday evening, I vowed within my heart, that whatever became mine should be offered to the Madonna, with my earnest prayers for his safety. I felt almost, in having nothing to offer, that my tribute had been, as it were, rejected; and when, by the most unexpected chance, the beautiful bracelet became mine, could I, dared I, not fulfil my precious vow? Was I the less grateful, because I put the gift to its most worthy use?"

There was not one kindly feeling in the Queen but what was touched by the youthful stranger's narrative; she raised her, saying, "And so, my poor child, you thought we were angry—the blessed Virgin forbid! We could wish her shrine as well served by others young as yourself."

Look and word at once changed all round, and not a few found themselves growing most