, 1888-04-15
VISION OF PARADISE.

My friend Armand was married day
before yesterday at St. Clotilde's church.
When l arrived there was n great crowd,
and the ceremony war going forward. ]
managed to slip in. The priest was finish
ing his little hnranSue, and wound it up
with this sentences:
Therefore be united on earth until you
are cternally united in heaven"
l could not restrain a slight exclama-
tion. Armand's bride was not a young
girl-he was marrying the pretty little
Countess Jeanne de Charmelieu, the widow
of my friend Castor de Charmelieu.
This charming widow vas destined to
make my friends happy. After Castor,
Armand. On earth nothing could DO
simpler; but above, in heaven, there
would be two aspirants for the eternal
union: CASTOR and Armand, the first and
second husbands.
l fell into q brown study. The sentence
used by the priest probably appeared in
all the short sermons that conclude the
wedding services. So five years ago, of
course, the same promise was made to
CASTOR; he was told that If he lived and
died like a Christian, he would meet his
little Jeanne again in paradise among the
angels, the ar%changels, the principalities
and powers. Meantime Ghere was u great
stir going on around me. Mass was over.
The great organ gave us Memberships
march. 1 followed the crowd, which bore
me to the vestry room. l shook hands
with the bride, and shook hands with the
groom, but said not a single word. i was
very careful not to speak, for l had a piece
of folly at my tongues end, and If had
spoken at all, / don't iii l could have
restrained myself from saying to Armand:
did you take in the full meaning of
that sentence about the eternal union'
There'u be two candidates, my dear fell
low, for that eternal union"
l left the church, l made some calls, l
rode my horse, l dinedat the club, l went
to the opera, and still that idiotic perpleX-
ity haunted me; .
GLOW will Armand and CASTOR settle it
some day in another and better worldY"
went TO bed and to sleep, and here tho
dream begins. A dream, bear that well
in mind, nothing but a dream.
1 was in Paradise, at the station. Trains
were going in and out; the cars started
empty, and came back more or less well
filled.
st. Thoma was the station master. l
chatted with him, and he very civilly eX-
planned the working of the system.
9Th trains, 4" said he, 'start from tho
Earth, touch at Hell, touch Mt Purgatory,
and nave their terminusi in Paradise. We
are very rowded just at present. The
pope has been having rather a bad time of
it for the last few years. this was in
1870, during the occupation of RomeD
land there has been a little atmosphere
of persecution surrounding religion that
has bruced up the lettering and confirmed
the indifferent, We have reason to DO
very well satisfied; for the last few
months there has been a constant in
crease in the number of our passengers for
Paradise; every day there is a demand for
more cars. Smallpox has something to
do with it, but the revival of faith has
more. You can judge for yourself. All.
seventeen. The express is due. Yes, we
have an express that comes right through
from the Earth. Do you hear the
whistler Here's the train. Our company
is n large one which issues shares by pub
lie subscription; the bonds are guaranteed
by Heaven. Our trunk lines are finished,
but we are not yet in communication with
all the planets. l want you to
observe this incoming train. You
zee we nave three classes of cars,
first, second and third; n baggage car and
IA compartment for dogs. The passengers
are alighthg; watch them, and observe
this: not many people in the second class
cars; we don't recruit much from among
the lower middle class-restless, voltairian
and free thinking, the lower middle class.
In the third class cars we get crowds; the
~populace is wholly bad or wholly good;
but generally speaking, good, The first
class cars are crowded, too. We must
recognize that rich people are admirably
facilitated for achieving salvation. Their
time is their own, and even admitting
that they give Satan the best part of their
existence, they always find an hour here
and there, from time to time, to make up
their religious n~egigences. God is not SO
severe as he is supposed to be. He is sat
isfed with very little, do you know Only
stay here two or three days, you will see
half a hundre trains come in, and theirs
cannot fail to be people that you know in
some of them. You'll see how easy it is
to win heaven"
st. Thomas is n communicative saint.
lie chatted away, but for the last few
moments of his discourse l was not listen
Ing. My St. Clotilde widow, Gaston's
wife, Armand's wife, had comet / had
seen her pretty head at the window Of q
parlor car; then, light and dashing, she
sprang out of the car, showing her ankles
a little, but then they were very trim.
She ran about in every direction, chirping,
where's Paradisei Where is it' l have
my ticket"
| remembered seeing her Just like that,
one day, at the Compiegne station, leaving
the special train that brought the EN-
press guests to the chateau. That day
she showed her ankles, too, and that day,
too, she fluttered along the embankment,
%chirping:
sMy trunksl Don't let my trunks be
forgotten! L have fourteen"
An officer of the imperial household
went to her at the Compiegne station and
said:
"Have no fears, madame In comtesse, l
will take care Of our trunks. 1 have the
trunks in charge,
And now st. Peter went to her at the
Paradise station and said:
= nYour ticket, madame1 Will you be
kind enough to show me our ticketf"
"Here it is, sir"
perfectly o%orrect; you may go IN.
Here are the gates of Paradise"
My little friend bowed prettily, and
went in. An intense desire possessed me
to follow her into Paradise. Who could
tells Perhaps Armand was dead, and my
widow would find herself confronted by
her two husbands.
/ asked st. Thomas il he could manage
1t 50 that l might go in.
EASILY, F." he replied.
"Only for an hour, you KNOW ]