The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-06-25

met sometimes, as late as midnight, re-
turning from her watch beside a sick
bed
The town was full of rough men;
some of them would cut or shoot at
word; but Sister Celeste never felt
afraid. Indeed since that Sabbath
when the subscription was taken up in
the street, she had felt that nothing
sinister could ever happen to her in
that place. Once, however, she met a
jolly miner who had been in town too
long. and who had started for home a
good deal the worse for liquor. She
met him in a lonely place, where the
houses had been a few days previous
burned down on both sides of the street.
EmbOldened by rum, the man stepped
directly in front of the nun, and said:
My pretty sister, | will give to your
hospital thousand dollars for one
kiss"
The sister never wavered; she raised
her calm, undaunted eyes to the face
of the man; an incandescent whiteness
warmed upon her cheek, giving to her
striking face an unwonted splendor;
for amoment she held the man under
the spell of her eyes, then, stretching
her right arm out toward the sky, slow
ly and with infinite sadness in her
tones, said:
.'If your mother is watching from
there, what will she think of her son?"
The man fell on his knees, crying,
Pardon and Sister Celeste, with her
accustomed stately step, passed slowly
on her way.
Next day an envelope directed to
Sister Celeste was received at the hos
pital. Within there was nothing but
certificate of deposit from local bank
for one thousand dollars, made to the
credit of the hospital.
ANOTHER YEAR PASSED BY
and Sister Celeste grew steadily in the
love of the people. With the winter
months smallpox broke out in the vii
lage. The country was new, the peo-
pie careless, and no particular alarm
was felt until the breaking out of Ten
cases in single day awakened the peo-
pie to the fact that contagion was up
on them.
Sister Celeste, almost without rest,
fabored night aud day until the vio-
lence of the epidemic had passed; then
she was stricken. She recovered, but
was shockingly pitted by the disease.
She was IN a darkened room, and
how to break to her the news of her
Disagreement was a matter of sore dis
tress to her sister nuns. But one day,
to sister who was watching by her
bedside, she suddenly said:
81 am almost well now, sister; throw
back the blinds and bring me a mir
rori" and with d gentle gayety that
never forsook her when with her sister
nuns, she added: 1T is time that |
begin to admire myself.
The nun opened the blinds, brought
the glass, laid it upon the bed, and sat
'own trembling.
Sister Celeste, without glancing at
the mirror, laid one hand upon it, and
shading her eyes with the other hand,
for a moment was absorbed in silent
n~aynr Thnn ehn nicked ND the glass
and held it before her face. The watch
ing nun, in an agony of suspense and
hardly breathing, waited.
After long, earnest look, without a
shade passing over her face, Sister Ce-
leste laid down the glass, clasped her
hands, and said;
"God be praised! now all is peace;
never, never again will my face bring
sorrow to my heart"
The watching nun sank sobbing to
her knees, but as she did so she saw on
the face of the stricken woman smile
which, she declared, was radiant as an
angels robes.
With the return of health Sister Ce-
leste again took up the work of mercy,
and for few months more her pres
ence
WAS A BENEDICTION
to the place. At last, however, it be-
gan to be noticed that her presence on
the street was less frequent than for
merly, and soon an unwelcome rumOr
began to circulate that she was i'll.
The truth of this was soon confirmed.
Then, day by day. for several weeks,
the report was that she was growing
weaker and weaker, and finally one
morning it was known that she was
dead
A lady of the place, who was a great
beneficiary of the hospital, and to
whom Sister Celeste was greatly at
tached, was permitted to watch by the
dying couch of the glorified nun. Of
the closing moments she gave the fol-
lowing account:
For an hour the dying woman had
been motionless, as though hushed in
peaceful sleep. When the first rays of
the morning sun struck on the window,
lark lighted on tree near the win
dow, and, in full voice, carroled his
greeting to the newborn day. Then
the sister opened her eyes, already
fringed by the death-frost. and, in faint
and broken sentences, said
"A delicious vision has been sent to
me, DiO GratjaS? In the vision, every
act meant in kindness that | have ever
performed had become a flower giving
OFF an incense ineilable. These had
been woven into Il diadem for me.
Every word said in comfort and SYM
pathy that | have ever spoken had been
set to marvelously sweet music which
voices and harpS, not of this world,
were singing and playing while l was
being crowned; every tear of mine had
become a flashing gem. These Were
woven into the robes of light that they
drew around me. \ glass was brought
and held before me; from face and neck
the cruel sears were all gone; to eye
and brow and cheek the lustre and en-
chantment of youth had come back,
and near, all radiant"
The eyes. with look of inexpressi-
bly, joyous surprise and happiness in
them, grew fixed, and all was still save
that the lark outside the easement once
more warbled his morning song.
Among the few effects left by Sister
Celeste was found package addressed
|. TO the lady who had watched through
the closing hours of her life. This was
brought to her by the mother superior.
On being opened. there was found with
in it another package tied with a rib
bon OF black. This, in turn, was open
cd, and large double locket was re-
vealed. On one side was the picture
OF a young man in the uniform of
A FRENCH COLONEL.
From the other side a picture had
evidently been removed, for there were
scratches on the case, which seemed
as though made By a too impetuous
80 cIa