The Irish standard., 1896-07-25


fas feae for tiey
over to g crowd IS spscta-
tors ana asked one III sad he,
|ss.'aaon't yon know those are the telegraph
linesjst u Ma Us aud the moon :? They've Just
Isent a message mp to- ask the moon % turn.
hers lace around and g.veisus fill moon
for the big picnic, because they are gong
tpf e6mes Up. on the steamers by moonlight
Were waiting now to hear what she has to
i. the message is nearly due. Tafs last
struck ME dumb. could understand any
TIL re- e..sse, But when it came to sending
messages to the moon and Mars, i couldn't
say a word s. ~ s. 8Essss Ii
waitHd.swssth the rest and soon there
came a rumble along one Of the lines. The
operator gave the message out and It few
along the crowd and came to me. It was:
Eyes, we will be very happy to oblge the
Earth; and:We will turn our face to you on
Intervening you wish. I"
ts,sAs soon as j could gather myself up
after being almost crushed by these as
founding facts, the same unaccountable
impulse started me on again. / saw many
|sott her strange things, such as a bicycle
drive, I'm. over the heads of the pedestrians,
but nothing impressed me now, after the
Communication with the moon. remem-
be- turning one corner and walking long
way and then noticed an cd building
covered almost, entirely with Ivy. 1t was
one Of the few very old houses n that vi
entity. ana 1t struck me as being familiar,
b,lriI ccufdn t. place it. / was about to
turn away, when the door opened and two
Sisters came out Sisters! robed in the
same habits, that our teachers wore years
ago. Their faces were strange but the
garb of the religious was the same. They
crossed the avenue and went into the next
block. There were five or SIX large build
.ngs on it, and I saw tall steep.e sur
mounted by a cross towering up over 1t all.
OF a sudden it, flashed across my mind that
that was St. Anthony's Church, the old
house: st. Anthony's convent, and OF course
those other buildings were the schools.
was almost overcome with the wave OF Joy
that swept over me al the thought of see
ing some familiar face. l crossed the
street with the intention of going into tha
school. There was no one about, so went
around. to the back of the buildings. The
old gray stone school had an addition of
four rooms, and into this I went and passed
along the hall till I came to the stairs
krew SO well. I assembled the two flights
and came to the door OF our room, where
paused a. few minutes to collect my
thoughts. Then turned the knob and
stepped inside. Teacher and pupils turned
to look at the intruder, and there stood
with every eye upon me-. The third seat
in the first aisle was empty, so gllded
over to my Old place and sat down. But
when looked at the pupils in the seats
around saw not one familiar face. /
turned to the teacher. She was strange! I
| = ~ hofo a
weight of loneliness swept over my soul and
I laid my head on the desk and wepl al il
MY heart would break.
It. was now time for dismissal, so at q
sign from the teacher, the pupils quietly
left the room. Sister waited till my fit OF
weeping was over, then asked me kindly
what the matter was. sObbed out that
years ago had belonged to the graduating.
class of 1896, and couldn't tell how l.
came there or why, but was, on, so lone.
some. A new fit of weeping seized me,
and when it was over Sister asked me tb
she would show me the school. On the way
she told me she had class of ninety, that
would graduate soon. The new buildings
were very handsome and contained a splen-
did gymnasium for the school In general
and laboratory for the higher classes.
The rooms now numbered fourteen, all
well filled. / was proud to hear OF the
high degree Of em.nence to which our
school had risen, and of the learned senol-
ars who had been educated there. After
making a tour of the buildings wish to
see the church took possession Of me, so
left Sister to find my way alone.
AS turned the corner Of the vestry,
saw a. venerable old priest walking slowly.
back and forth under the shade of the
trees. My heart beat as walked rapidly
over to him He stopped and smiled on
me kindly, but started and saw that 1t
wasn't the one / had expected to see l
excused myself, saying l had m:stook him
for Father James OReilly, VINO had been
pastor here and who had taught us Latin.
ssWhy, my child" he said, didn't you
know Father O. Reilly was appointed Bishop
of Peoria forty years ago." could bare
" thank him for his information, and en-
tered the church.
The porch and nave Of the church were
changed, the porch being Ike large ante
chamber. and the floor o. the nave sloping
up towards the back. l went down to the
front, and kneeling in one OF the peWs
looked around. Three large, White affairs
rose up in the sanctuary. The lamp burnt
in front Of the tabernacle as Of yore; tae
pictures. stations statues, banners, and all
the insignia of the church were the same
o. Church, though al things else change
thou alone remainst unchanged! Thou art:
the same now as thou ever shalt be!
AS I knelt there a great calm stole over
me-. I bent my head on my arm, and
awoke, to find my mother vigorously shak-
ing me by the shoulder and commanding
me to come into the house because the dew
was falling and would catch cold.
(The foregoing fanciful sketch was
written by Miss Maud Kelly, 1919 Second
street northeast, and read by her at the re-
cent commencement exercises at st. An
tnony school)