The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-07-30

vAsner, ana . roaring Roman lion he
showed himself that night Courage he
says 10 himself. Courage, Cnsar, my
son. The devil IA dead, says my father.
Or, II not, he is very old. Unjust ask his
reverence he says to himself and laughs
out loud.
His laughing made strange, empty
sort Of noise, and the near OK lifted his
heavy head and looked him in the face
and blew out a great breath from his nos
trils. 'Me-mo-me-eh,' says the sad lit
tie voice, coming out OF the dark shadows.
Then my father olapped his hat on his
haad and swore O great oath that sure 1t
was the child Of some neighbor, wandered
out there by itself and lost and left to per-
ish in the black night And at that the
blood seemed to flow back in his veins
and his heart got light with bound
Wait, little onei Wait thou smallest, 1
am coming!' he kept calling out, and he
Just steadied himself for moment with
his hand on the tail of tho cart, for, be-
cause OF what he had drunk that night, it
seemed that the high road was grown un-
steady. Have patience. come, thou
small one, thou littlestp And ali that
time the thing kept ON crying and calling,
30 that 1t was pity to hear Under the
bushes he found It, He found 1t, cropping
about with his hands in the dark-somo-
thing warm and soft and living-and after
he touched 1t 1t became quite still. A
little thing 1t was, not more than two
years old by the size of 1t, and dressed in
little goatskin coat. But, for all that,
1t shook and tremblcd like leaf when my
father held it in his arms.
i I'm the dust-I, Caesar, son of Michael
Il was to have knelt in the dust before q
fat, dusty priest, and, behold I return like
Caesar Of Rome, like our ancientsr-and
white oxen draw my chariot, says my ia
Their, climbing back to his old place upon
!, the cart Go on, my beauties, go on, he
, says, still out loud, for the road Just there,
, under the lick trees, is a very dark road al
might. Meme says the thing in his
! arms.
i "'Is it crying for its nanny CHI Now,
. the Holy Virgin, our blessed Mother, keeI
thee until l can find and restore thee to
thy own mothers breast, thou most un
happy, says my father very tenderly.
/ ch-eh, says the thing, and at tn,
S name of the most holy Mother 1t began t
a struggle and kick like ono possessed Ant
4 this shows how true 1t is that the devil al
n ways leaves one door open to the saints
o for, when tho thing began its antics
T. Sleep, says my father very gently to TIL
A creature in his arms, sleep. Thou was
r lost like little strayed lamb. Yet
s found thee. Therefore sleep. Tho goot
e God, says my father, is very good. II
S sends the little tender new grass and tn
{ ltender little new lambs together, and
holy saints, blessed st. Michael and al
S angels be with usl' says my father. AM
h the blood stood frozen at his heart.
al For you must understand, gentlemen
$ that as he was coaXing and comforting
d that evil thing In the pitch darkness, be
il hold, his hand passed over Its head, an,
n there through the soft, silky baby curl
n that covered 1t, he felt two little, sharp
@ budding horns.
is "Then he knew it for what 1t was, an
v how, by his own wanton speaking Of hol
O men, he had fallen into the very clutch c
\ the evil one, and he all alone in an OK cart
n and coming to the bad turn of the roa
where, on one hand there is the hillsitl
I, and on the other there is the bottomles
flake.
!. - 'Me-me-eh' says the thing ono
II more, and louder, for the power was was
" ing stronger in 1t. And 1t struggled again
d Then all at once the mists of the win
had left my father. The knowledge {
d things came back to him, and, behold, ono
e more he became as n Iona Roman lior
e He shut his eyes tight. In the name c
e Father, Son and Holy fihostl' he said an
i, he flung the accursed thing far, far OH
10 into the moonlight 'Me-me-me, 1
IS called thrice over as 1t sped through tn
air, and by that time its voice had grow
Nc to be the voice of d woman. Then it fe
II into the lake, and either the water rose
IT meet 1t or it fell in, and the waves close
lover Its horned head.
X MY father never waited to see which /
,riwas. He leaped out of the cart on tn
.e other side, and 1t was not 10 minutes
/. no, nor five, before he was knocking at tn
door Of the priest $ house and calling upo
IL his reverence to help him. In the dus
rim the dust, in the dust, he said, and h
'lknelt there all the time good Don Gabriel
.tIwas waking from his first sleep and gel
t. Ting into his bucklcd shoes and his cassocE
d And that was how my own father cor
5 quered the devil, but he was good Chri,
' tian, you see, not like you others from ou
= side, said Miehelina, warming her littl
4 feet before the studio firc.-George Flem
Ii ing in Sketch.