Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-08-02
Michel Ptrrin'S BenefaCtOr.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF NINE.
DE BAwR, BY ISABEL sMITHsoN.


"rhere is no doubt about it. My duty
Is to go away as soon as possible. I
know very we'll that Madeleine has
sold her watch. She works from
morning till night, but one ,woman's
needle cannot support two persons L
ought to have gone long ago. But
where can l go-without friends, with
"ut money! How can l earn my liv-
ing, when | know no more of the world
than n newborn babel 1t does not
matter, however, l will go if L have to
beg on the highway-even though L die
OF hunger"
This n, n ,'gue was uttered at Dion,
in the year VIII, OF the Republic, In a
little room, which is perhaps still in
existence, and which was then occupied
by the former cure of little village of
the Department of the Cote d. Or.
Michel Perrin, who until now lad
ived only to do good to others, to
ray to God, and to work In the little
garden of the p rsonage. had been
,iriven away from this home, where
twenty-five years of his peaceful life
had been passed. Deprived of the
modest salary attached to his position,
persecuted by some OF the officials of
the Republican Government, and sus-
pected by all, the poor cure had van
dered for n long time from village to
village, partly to escape arrest, and
partly to seek aid from persons whose
gratitude he had earned in happier
times. He had lived in Dijon for
about a year. hoving joined his sister,
Who had always been the sole mistress
Of his house, and who was now his
only support.
Madeleine Perrin, on being obliged
20 leave the parsonage. had gone at
once to Dijon, hoping to find there
some old acquaintances, and to live by
her needle. She had succeeded in
utilizing her skill in needle-work so
far as to provide amply for her own
wants, but when her brother yielded to
her earnest entreaties, and came to
occupy one of the two tiny rooms
which she called her apartment, Mad
eleine soon realized that man in the
prime Of life and with a good appetite
WAS more difficult to feed than to
lodge.
She took care, however, TO 1conceal
lTOlu HtI utdT IhlCLtl
specting the future of both OF them.
Any one who heard her singing over
her work, or singing, "Come Michel,
dinner is ready" as she put a great
dish of wheat on the table, would have
said to himself, THAT is a happy
womanr But every night. as soon as
she knew by his regular breathing, that
her brother was sleeping soundly, her
mind was besieged by a crowd of sad
thoughts. The slightest delay 10 pay
ment on the part of her customers
plunged her into difficulties, a weeks
sickness, therefore, would caIse actual
want; be idcs this, she was ev,r grow
ing oider. heing but two years younger
than Michel who had just reached his
fiftieth year; her sight was beginning
to fail, and soon perhaps, she would
not be able to sew even with the help
of spectacles. 1t was in vain that poor
Madeleine tried to Danish these sad
anxious thoughts, and more than once,
the rising sun lighted her room and
summoned her to work again, before
she had closed her eyes.
On his part, Michel Perrin dis
severed the truth, in spite of his sis
ter's efforts to conceal it from him;
and from that time he never ceased to
make plans for trying to earn a few
sous himself, hut Madeleine objected
strenuously to all those schemes which
she thought beneath the dignity of the
cure of Nj. Only one of his pro-
jects met with her approval; she would
be willing to see her brother, who was
very well educated, give lessons In
Greek AMI Latin, and accordingly,
there was not one of her acquaintance
possessed of a son or nephew who was
not solicited to let the child learn the
dead languages, au1 10 choose Michel
Perrin for his tutor; but whether it
was that the people of DiIon had lost
their love for the ancients, or whether
they had little confidence in the learn
ing of village pastor, Madeleine be-
sought in vain of her friends and Gus
toners TO give for the smallest price,
the smallest pupil to her brother.
"He is so clever" she would say.
az wish YOU could see him at home; he
reads nothing but Latin and Greek.
However that is nothing to you, there
is no use in talking about it, and
deep sigh would follow.
1t was true that the good cure had no
OtlGI anu G
reading the volumes of Homer and
Tscitus which he had m lnaged to save
from the wreck OF his home, and which
now formed his whole librarT.
He led very retired life, taking
solitary walk when the weather WAS
fine, and seldom speaking to any one
besides his sister. His affection for
Madeleine was so deep that separation
from her seemed the greatest misfor-
tune possible to him, and 1t was in an
agony OF suspense that he awaited her
return whenever she went in quest of
pupils for him, and when she came and
after kissing him without speaking, set
down at once to her work, he would
say to himself:
al must go away"
1t was the sale of her beloved watch
which decided him, as we have
seen.
He had secretly fixed the next week
As the date of his departure, when
Madeleine came home one day with an
unusually thoughtful expression On her
face. She seated herself at work near
the window, and her brother, who
though apparently absorbed in read
ing. was racking his brain for some
means of making a living, was sur
prised to hear her murmur repeatedly:
"What a pity that Paris is so far
away%
"Why 80, dear sister?" he asked.
"Oh, it is wonderful, msrvelousl"
she exclaimed, "Soue people are 80
lucky"
"You and I are not" said .ks
brother with sigh.
"No, but your old classmste, Eugene
Camus, is. You remember that he
went to Paris to find employment
Well, he has come back, and he has
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