"But come, what about that bottle which I am to send off?" abruptly asked
Madame Desagneaux.
"We will go to the office," replied Gerard. "In five minutes everything
will be settled."
They had to cross the Place du Rosaire once more and ascend the stone
stairway leading to the Basilica. The office was up above, on the left
hand, at the corner of the path leading to the Calvary. The building was
a paltry one, a hut of lath and plaster which the wind and the rain had
reduced to a state of ruin. On a board outside was the inscription:
"Apply here with reference to Masses, Offerings, and Brotherhoods.
Forwarding office for Lourdes water. Subscriptions to the 'Annals of O.
L. of Lourdes.'" How many millions of people must have already passed
through this wretched shanty, which seemed to date from the innocent days
when the foundations of the adjacent Basilica had scarcely been laid!
The whole party went in, eager to see what might be inside. But they
simply found a wicket at which Madame Desagneaux had to stop in order to
give her friend's name and address; and when she had paid one franc and
seventy centimes, a small printed receipt was handed her, such as you
receive on registering luggage at a railway station.
As soon as they were outside again Gerard pointed to a large building
standing two or three hundred yards away, and resumed: "There, that is
where the Fathers reside."
"But we see nothing of them," remarked Pierre.
This observation so astonished the young man that he remained for a
moment without replying.
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