The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 1, 3 January 1907, Page 3

The Storyteller

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

(Concluded from last week.)

An ..hour later he was ushered into the sick-room. He was more deeply moved than , he -would have cared to acknowledge. A veritable tempest of emotion swept over him, and in the midst of- it all he found himself marvelling .that time had dealt so kindly with her whom he had treated so cruelly. - True, the. ravages of dread -typhoid were only too evident, but they could not conceal the fact, that in .health the" victim had been, a handsome, well-preserved woman. As Durant slowly advanced to the side of the couch, she extended a, trembling hand, saying : 1 Herberts-let me call you by- the old name once more— you were surpiised' to receive my message, but I could not at this hour forget the promise 1 made-to your dear mother. She asked' me, as her dying request, to urge upon you the necessity -of being true to your, religion, which she discovered 'you "neglected after you became a successful broker. ' To her last

wish let me add my own. " Will you not, in' considera-^ tion of our old friendship, me on my deathbed to do .this ? It will destroy much of the patn of death to know that 1, have not been; altogether a faithless messenger of your mother, although I delayed so long the delivery of her message. She is praying for you this Christmas Eve, ' and I feel that you cannot remain indifferent lo her prayers.' The effort was too much for" the invalid. Her

head sank upon tluv- pillow. Durant vainly ti»ied to conceal his emotion. Speak he- could not, so deeply touched was he by the words of' his- former--" fiancee, bearing a message - from the grave. In a i&4r minutes the sufferer regained her strength. '■ Herbert,' she repeated, 4my moments here are numbered, and -you must ~ answer now. Do you refuse the only- "request 1 ever made pi yoWiJg:,The -battle was won. Durant, moved" *Ho the innermost depths-- of his soul, was- only tod eager to re- „ trace! his r steps— to begin ail over again. -He had succumbed. With his fust -step, over the threshold of the sick-room, -he - had felt the aim^arid. aspirations of the recent past slipping away, and .ttte spirit of the earlier^ ( happier days returning. This appeal from the other world, transmitted by one whom he-believed to be on the- verge of eternity, obliterated the last remnant of his powers of resistance. - •

' No, Clara*' he replied, and, there was a world . of .tenderness and regret in' his tone ; ' I do not refuse. The sight of your face has brought me to my senses, .and I realise now my, jnistake. Money came to me, but- not happiness. Yel 1- should not complain, for I received no more ..than I deserved. I grant your request. 'Will you not grant mine-? Don't g-ive'Up. Make an effort to live, for while there is life there *is hope. Live to help me undo the past. The doctor orders ' jne to leave' you. Before I " go let me return what was . once yours.' . \Vnd as. he spoke he took from his pocket-book a . ring, which ,he slipped upon her finger. And she ! What a transfcgrjnation ! Amazement, unutterable joy — these- were the feelings expressed "in 4he wan countenance. And- -they were his only answer. Stooping, he reverently kissed her brow and withdrew— a changed man. Not to his home, but to St. Agnes' rectory were -his steps directed. -The "castor - had- jus.t- come from the • confessional, arid Duraht "was closeted with x him for an hour. Then, he started * for - his home. He

had not gone far before he decided that, as He was happy, he would try if it were -possible to make-some one else happy.. lie returned to' Mr. Deberg's and requested that gentleman to convey to Clara^, the intelligence "that his Christmas Holy, Communion would" beOffered for Jier recovery. -- ■ - Then,- Rowing that Mr. Deberg was president of a Conference of the Society o£ St. Vincent de Paul, he asked for the name and- address of some poor family, and was directed to' the' most destitute family on the list. For at least a quarter of a century he had been unfamiliar withr-scenes of poverty, and was not prepared for the' spectacle that greeted him. on' the upper floor of an old tenement. Here a woman, and five children made their abode. The room was almost bare, there being no fire and but - a few "pieces of -furniture to relieve the desolate scene. He asked but few questions, and then called the oldest boy, a manly fellow of twelve years, to go with him io the nearest department store, where he purchased an oil stove and a basket of provisions, which they carried in their arms, as nothing could be delivered that evening,

The stove was filled and lighted and the" baskets unpacked, to the delight of the .almost famished children. Handing the_ surprised mother a banknote, Mr. Durant told, her to purchase . what _ they needed, and that T he, would see her the next day , to arrange for her to move into, a small house which he would furnish as a Christmas gift foiv the children. To her torrent of tearful thanks he replied with a motion of silence. -As he was' about -to leave she asked: ' z_ " i Have you any special favor you would wish .us* to pray for, as long as you will not accept our thanks ? ' . . . ' Yes, my good woman,' quickly replied ; ' please pray and - have the little ones pray for the recovery of one at the point of death.' '.We will pray, good sir,' answered the happy mother , ' and my two eldest children and myself will offer our Holy- Communion for 'this yintemtion tomorrow. ' ' You could not do more had you millions ' be replied. „ . ~ Never had the altar been so bright, the flowers so fragrant, the music so sweet as on that Christmas ..morning, or- at least not to Durant, who, for the first time in twenty-live years, knelt to receive the Broad of Life. * The dark clouds of despondency rolled— away,- and all nature seemed joyous to~ him, as.it did in his childhood,; After breakfast he called at the - home ,of the widow he had befriended the previous evening, and gave her the key to a small house he had recently purchased and' an order for the necessary furniture. ~ Then he went to late Mass. In the evening,- his heart now chilled by dread fear, and agafcn beating wildly with strange hope, in which the prayers and Communions of the widow and her children figured as a. foundation, he called at the Deberg residence. There his cup 6£ happiness was filled. The patient had . rallied, quite unexpectedly the physician .said, and it was even thought she had passed the crisis and was permanently on the road to recovery Durant did nob see her that day^ nor for , many days, but at their next meeting it -was decided- that the' old engagement should be 'renewed, and that his lonely house should- have what it lons had meeded— a mistress.—' Catholic Standard and Times.'