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 blackberries. It doesn't seem to have been her fault. He said he slipped and rolled down a bank."

"Bishops ought not to be taken near banks of that sort," said Ronald. "And yesterday I found him reading 'On the Edge of a Precipice.' If he tells my mother that he got that book in my house I shall never hear the end of it."

"He won't tell her. He has too much sense."

"He has very little sense—less sense than any bishop I ever heard of. Good Lord! Look at him now!"

The bishop and Minnie emerged from the shrubbery at the far end of the lawn. Their appearance justified an exclamation. Minnie had grasped the bishop's wrists and was towing him towards the house. He was hanging back; but every now and then Minnie, exerting herself her full strength, succeeded in breaking into a trot. The bishop appeared to be a good deal embarrassed. Ronald took his pipe out of his mouth and laid it on the ground beside him.

"Congratulate me at once," said Minnie, breathlessly, "both of you, without an instant's delay. The bishop and I are engaged to be married."

"If this is any kind of a joke," said Ronald, "it strikes me as being in remarkably bad taste."

"It's not a joke," said Minnie. "It's quite true. Isn't it, Harold? Didn't you say your name was Harold?"