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with a cloth every time to prevent contagion I suppose. When we went back to the other church they were having a little service in one of the chapels, a school of boys and girls. They sang a sweet Latin hymn, and then a priest preached them a little sermon telling them they were going to be allowed to kiss a portion of the True Cross, whereupon two young priests put on particular scarfs and got two gold crosses off the altar in the centre of which were inserted under glass, the pieces of the sacred relic. These were carried about and held to the lips of the children. It was a very pretty sight. The washing the feet was also very impressive. There was a table with twelve big loaves of bread, and two tall candles and a fine old priest in purple and gold preached a short and very wise sermon, and then he with two assistants put on little clean white aprons, and took a silver ewer and basin, and clean napkins, and proceeded to wash the right feet of twelve nice clean little choir boys who had pulled off their white stockings and red cloth shoes. They then gave the boys each a loaf of bread, and the pieces of consecrated bread were distributed among the people.

Poor May had bad news from Belle this morning. It is really dreadful. What