The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-07-12
NOIUUo SfAR AND CATHOLIC KEsSKNGKR.
NEW ORLEANS. SUNDAY. JULY u. 1868.
From the Catholic WOrld.l
NELLIE NETTERVILLE;
ONE OF THE TRANSPLANTED

her own fife was 20 speedily to be placed il
Jeopardy, Nellie stood for a few minutes
after Roger left her, watching his progress
through the water, and specializing anx
iously enough upon the nature OF the
summons which had been delivered to him
by Paudeen. In spite of his apparent cool
ness, there had been something IN the way
in which he had almost forced her to leave
him-something in the haste with winch ne
had given her his last directions-some-
thing (if it must he confessed) in the very
fact Of his having rushed off without even
q parting word or look, which made her
suspect the danger to be more real and i'm
mediate than he wished her to suppose it.
oar, as if his very life depended on his speed,
suspicion seemed all at once to grow up in
to certainty, and she bitterly regretted the
shyness which had prevented her insisting
on returning with him to the island. Re-
grets, however, were now in vain, and re-
membering that, if she delayed much
longer, she would in all probability be too
late for mass, and so lose the only object
for which she had remained behind, she
turned her face resolutely toward the path
pointed out by Roger. 1t was less path
indeed than a mere narrow space left by
the natural receding of the rocks and loose
boulders, which lay scattered about in all di-
fections. Such as it was, it led Nellie in a
zigzag fashion upward toward the cliff, turn
ing and twisting so suddenly and so often,
Gu8C Suc COulU uuTuly ever SEQ more IMAM a
yard or two before her, while the boulders
on either side, being generally higher than
her head, and the intervals between them
filed up with tall heather and scrubby brush
wood, she might as well, for all that she could
see beyond. have been walking between q
couple Of stone walls. The congregation
had, in all probability, already reached the
church, or else they were coming to it by
another path for not the sound Of voice
or of footstep either before or behind her
could she hear, though she paused occa-
sionally to listen. Once, indeed, but only
ders, she fancied she saw something like
the glistening of spear in the <brushwood
underneath, and a minute or two afterward
the air seemed tremul0us with a low sigh
ing sound, as if some one were whispering
within few yards of her ear. Neverthe-
less, when she paused again in some trepi-
datlon to reconnoitre, everything seemed
80 lonely and SO still around her, that she
was obliged to confess that her imagination
must have been playing her sad tricks. The
light which she had seen was, in all proba-
bility, a mere effect of sunshine on some of
the more polished rocks, while the sough
and sigh of the waters, as they Tapped
Quietly on the beach below, might easily
have assumed, in that distance and in the
calm summer air, the semblance of a human
Mhisper.-Once- she had satisfied herself
upon this point, she resolved not to be
AAShtSHSu llOh hSl PURPOSE 10y ucI-
vous fancies; and stimulating her courage
by the reflection that, if an enemy really |
were lurking near, her best chance of safety |
would be the church, in which her country
men and women We're already gathered, |
she toiled steadily upward until she reached
the platform upon which it was erected. A
sudden turn in the path brought her face to
face with it almost before she fancied that
she was near, and she only cOmprehended
how heartily she had been frightened on
the way, by the sense of relief which this
discovery impaired. 1t was low, mean
looking editice enough, with the hermit's
cell built aslant against the wall, and form
ing in fact kind of porch, through which
alone 1t could he entered. From the mo-
ment 1T first came i'll sight, the path had
narrowed gradually until there was barely |
room at last for the passing of single per
son, and while it appeared to Nellie to
descend, the rocks ON either side rose |
higher, slanting even somewhat over, so as |
partially to impede the light. From this
circumstance she was led to fancy that
both cell and church had been built origin
ally below what was now the 1aent sur
race OF the land, fact whiclz led to its
desolate, ruinous conditfo3 INIT easily |
nave pointed it out to RogGf as q fitting |
RIace for the concealment of his friends. |
The low door of the porch was closed and
fastened upon the inside, so that che was
oohged, very reluctantly, to on it
for admittance. A moment afJ8z &sArd abe
heard the sound of footsteps, the door WIS
drawn back an inch or two, and some one
from behind it whispered in Irish, "Who
are you and for whom
"For God, our Lady, and Roger O'More,"
. Nellie promptly answered.
Enter, then, in the name of Cod" the
syolce replied; aud strong hand being put
80, she was drawn within the building as
child, and the door was again closed be-
hind her. The cell into which she had been
thus unceremoniously introduced was very
dark, and she could only just perceive that
1ne person who had played the part of porter
49, = t'fi, soturrriy looking fellow, and I
therefore she concluded, one of the outlaws. |
Oh Oh whose residence in the building Roger