Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-09-12
broons Of Mexico.

brooIns of Mexico.
'sSsnoss, your worships summon IN
vain, she said, with somewhat u Won
der breaking through the oonposnre u
her bearing; s'this house h.s long been
vacant"
Friar Lorenzo turned IN a sort OF rage
upon Der, MS meekness overborDe by his
distress Of body and bis souls s0lscisude.
w ouldst say lie. impioos one: Shall
a priest not know where be has heard
oonfessionf Bat IL was here, l tell yet
Openl Openl nor tarry for her pratng,
lest the crime be done within our very
hearing"
The woman's dark face flushed. She
seemed decent body, and her counte-
nance was full OF intelligence beyond
the common, as she replied, with protest
as positive as respectful:
Nay. his reverence, she were in
deed bold and irreverent woman who
would dispute the word Of Frlar Loren
zo-aye. know his fame for holiness,
40 who does not among the humble ones
Of Msxicos But MS reverence IS less
Young than he once was, and these day
break lights are uncertain, SO that TO
mistake one house for another is easy.
Humbly 10 | assure We that never once
mas this door been opened III the fifty
years that have lived across there, and
my mother. VINO was FORTRESS before me,
has often said that never in her time
had the house a tenant
But open! openT Friar Lorenzo
shouted. Then the officer, impressed in
spite of himself by this strange excite
ment and insistenco, babe his men take
up massive viga, OF roof beam of cedar,
that lay where some workmen had been
repairing an azotea, and, posing II
among them. the patrolmen again and
again dashed the heavy timber, in the
guise of battering ram, against the
door leaves, whose heavy planks crashed
loudly az the impact; then the bolts
sprung open, and into the zaguan poured
the gathered gazers. No sight cr sound
of life greeted the incursion.
Once inside the Zaguan il was no hard
matter to shatter the heavy, Anticipated
paddock that held the door leading to
the side room; that clumsy defense was
verdigris, and down from the corners of
the door head swung veritable curtains
of venerable cobwebs, thick and velvety,
the ancient tapestry. The door fell in
ward with crash of rotten, honey
combed wood, and every soul there but
one retreated step or two from the I'M
knownness before them. Only Friar
Lorenzo pushed forward, with an eager
ness that vanquished his decrepitude,
and then, from the farther corner, came
his voice:
''Said not so? And will We doubt me
longer, unbelievers? This was the place
indeed! They have taken away the hap
less lady; We must seek her, but the
proof of the place show We. Here it is,
among pile of rubbish, mine own dear
rosary, made Of olive stones from Geth-
semane," and he came forth, as the chief
of the patrol caught cresset from the
hand of huckster and blew into pun
gent blaze its sluInbering bit of ocotl
(Mencan pitchpine or lightwood). and
went forward TO rake curiosly with his
short sword among the shapeless heap
that the friar had abandoned.
This rubbish-why, ladsl Here is a
wristlet, rings, great breadth of brocade
incrusted with gold and gems-a collet
of major acknowledged we have found
bonanza! and-what is thisT He
clapped his hand upon long mass,
black as Jet in the red light. and with
one swift sweep held it aloft, as high as
his head, whence il fell TO the knees of
him. Then he dropped it with gasping
cry of terror Its hair, a woman's
hair And-gracious God! See thatl
| the hair of dead womanr For, as he
stirred that dense black veil from the
coils and couchings where IL had lain for
unknown years, "a smallish skull, long
kept in position by its once crown of
| glory, rolled forward and touched his
russell boot And from the dread crumb-
ling relics now arose dire odor of NOR
tally, whose warning of dissolution and
decay sent the stout soldiers and their
commander rushing, with one accord,
away from the bones and the diamonds,
| hustling the peeping mob before them.
AYE, Padre Friar LorenzoT" called
| the alcalde; now, what blessed thing
| it is we have a holy man among usl
| Father, en- ell nombre de Jesus, Maria V
Jose in the name of Jesus, Mary and
Joseph, purge and purify rs of this
vile contactr' and he would have knelt
! before Friar Lorenzo; but a sturdy arti-
san, who had just sent his great red cop
/ per kettle rolling across the dankly
messed stones of the court as he dropped
| it in the effort To catch the sinking fig
ure-this grimy Christian called out:
Stand back Give him the good Gods
air. ye doughty soldiers. All, no: il
helps mott his eye is fixed, his face is
ashen--his body grows dead weight.
/ Aye, seniors. see you not that this
saiuted Friar Lorenzo is dying. for never
/ yet lived through the day priest who
confessed one already dead-and how
many years think ye have lain yonder.
whittier he led us, the mortal parts Of
the poor lady ye cried out that We had
found there?'-Y II. Adds in Argonaut