Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1880-09-08
s. Edo not know, lie Cure.

l
"Why is it that We see her no moro p
my opinion is that she is up to some
wickedness, replied Noun, grufay. It,
Eight days passed and Mathurine had
not appeared. At the end of sixteen days
she had saved 80 sous. Her treasure
was accommodating. Every evening, by
the light of the moon, she counted il
with trembling hands, her eyes brilliant
as stars. When she had replaced the
great stone with the fagots above it, she
danced in her joyfulness.
If any of the villagers had seen he1
they would indeed have said, Mathurine,
the sOrceress!
How changed she wnsl A brilliant
CLEAN in the shadow of her thought
taught her much which had been before
unknown to her. She remembered the
few whom she had loved and the many
whom she had hated. In seeing others
work she had acquired taste for labor.
and looked upon the prosperity of the
village she called home, she became
ashamed of her misery. When she re-
membered the little she had earned, and
what it had cost her in hard toll, she be-
gan family to comprehend the goodness
OF the kind cure, who for so long time
had nourished her.
The evening before Christmas, Mathu-
rine, as was her custom upon entering
her hut, raised the great stone. There
was nothing there! Nothing! It is not
possible! Wildly she searched every
corner of the hiding place, but it availed
naught; all her treasure had been stolen
from her.
Whom did she suspect? Noun and
his daughter. They were the only ones
IN her mind associated with such an
action, All her hate returned. Just
then rang out the Angelus:
"Ding! don! Noun has stolen it
from me! Ding! don! Noun and Lisa
Ding! don! The white bonnet! Ding!
don! 1 will have vengeance! Ding!
don!"
She ran like CLEAN in the night to-
ward the church, without any plan,
without any project, without knowing in
the least what she wished to do; only
because the bells were ringing, she
thought Noun to be there.
The wind blew violently from the
mountain; the icy earth creaked at every
step, and the long frosty needles swung
from the branches of the pines. The
moon was obscured by drifting clouds,
and in the village all was silent. Noun
had left the church, but before taking
his departure he had Lit the small lamp
in the chapel of the Virgin.
Standing on tip-toe at an open win
dow, Mathurine could see this twinking
light, and the chancel filed with flowers,
adorned for the great Christmas festival.
her hate became more violent. To her
the church represented only Noun, Lisa
and the bells; she did not think of the
cure. If she were to do evil to the
church, she would be revenging herself
upon those whom she hated.
Trembling, pale, disheveled, and wi til
chattering teeth, she passed through the
window long branch of dry wood. She
held it for al instant in the fame of the
burning lamp suspended near the wall,
and then placed the burning brand
against the pine boards which inclosed
the church and belfry.
In five minutes the building was sur
rounded by flames. A1athurine ran fleet
~ away, and from safe distance, hid
den among the rocks, she watched the
incendiary CLEAN. She believed herself
proud of her work, she trembled-she
could have wept for joy.
Suddenly the church bells rang out
into the night:
"Ding! don! What have I done?
Ding! don! It is crime! Ding! don!
Noun WAS wicked to me! Ding! don!
He was kind to me! Ding! don! It is q
crime! Ding! don! Oh! bells be 81
lent!''
Half crazy Mathurine returned to the
village. The church existed no longer.
The beams of the bellfry had burned
apart, and the bells, in falling into the
ruins below, had sounded their last peal.
Before the ruins stood the cure with
clasped hands, watching the destruction
OF all that remained of the house of God.
That holy dwelling which he had loved
so long, for which he had saved and
cared with SO tender an affection, and
where he had so often offered prayer.
Great tears gathered in his eyes and
chased each other down his cheeks. !
Mathurine, frightened by his tears,
3azed at him an instant. In that one
moment her soul was opened to knowl-
edged, to faith, to repentance, to affec-
ion. She made q movement as if to
throw herself at the feet of the cure, and
cried out to him:
"Forgive me! forgive met
Then rising quickly she suddenly dis
without awaiting for his reply.
Six months afterward Mathurine ex-
changed her black bonnet for the white
zap of the Sisters of Charity. Then her
life belonged to the poor, the sick, the
humble and the uncared for little ones.
And now, when the Angelus sounds,
Mathurine no longer clasped her hands
over her ears. :.
ding. don! Ring bell! dug! don!
Thou art voice from above! Ding!
lon! My God forgive me! Ding! don!