The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1898-07-28
THE ABBE'S DOG.

Able Sauteu was the cure of a sleepy
little village at the extreme end of Prov
ence-the Provence of the Ulden time,
when doubts had not yet crept in to cor
rupt the simple faith of the peasants.
The old priest lived happily among his
parishioners, kindly souls all of them,
and so obedient to the commandments
of God and our holy mother church
that their lives were real benediction
for their spiritual father. The good man
had no need to touch them up every
now and then with rousipg sermon,
nor did he ask the aid of others more
eloquent than himself to convert his
flock. They were born, lived and died
| in the fold, and their pastor discharged
his simple priestly duties and led in
anticipation the life of the blessed.
The able adored nature, and every
day you could have seen him strolling
among the fields, reading his breviary,
while from time to time he glanced at
the gambols of Oremus, his little dog.
| They were as inseparable as st. Roch
and his famous bowwow. Oremus en-
joyed these strolls as much as his mas
ter, but in a different fashion. The
priests pleasure was purely contempla-
| tive, that of the doggie active.
Oremus firmly believed that God gave
four legs to little dogs SO that they
could be twice as alert as their masters,
who, poor creatures, had but two. So
he raced over the fields, sometimes be-
hind, sometimes ahead of the cure,
jumping, making a corkscrew of his
tail, swapping at the birds and giving
himself up to all the pranks beftting
the well bred dog of priest.
Superfuous to add that Oremus I'M
derstood absolutely all that his master
| said to him and that he could do ev-
erything but speak AS for tricks, our
Oremus could have given points to the
whole canine world. He danced on his
hind legs and shook hands like Chris
tian, and his great feat was to refuse
the most delicious chop, the juiciest
morsel, if offered with the left hand
You may we'll believe that this VIC
tory over the canine flesh was not gain
ed without effort. The able and his dog
the perfecting of this triumph and
evenings after the cure had dined alone
the little dog was put through his PAGES,
always ending the performance with the
famous 'chop act Then the able,
with tears in his eyes, would ask him
self if the good God could have the
heart to refuse a scrap of paradise to
such a creature. Let us hasten to add
that the worthy priest would have died
before giving voice to such sentiment
he, son of the church.
But nothing is perfect in this world,
and one day the sacred calm of Abihc
was turned into confusion. Listen, and
you will learn how. A young conscript,
who had been absent seven years and
who was supposed by the villagers tc
have been killed in the war, reappeared
one fine morning and Immediately took
up his old life of farming So far sc
| good But what a scandal arose, my
friends, when it was known that Lt
Faiard absented himself from mass OF
Sunday, swore like a pirate at every
word, and, more than all, ate meat OF
Friday!
Able Sauteu almost died of mortifica
ton. Night and day he racked his brai1
to find some means of bringing the apos
tate back to the faith of his childhood
AS if by accident M. lie Cure Otter
strolled past the field where LIE Faiart
was working. Almost always he stop
ped to gossip with his black sheep, anC
very often the conversation turned or
the all absorbing question. LIE Faiard
for his part, was only too ready to argue
the point He was pigheaded fellow
who liked to hear himself talk, and FIRE
quently it happened that our good abbt
who was by no means well of learn
ing-found himself foored by the argu
ments which his opponent had picked
up in his military life and which h
reeled off with parrotlike volubility.
One day when LIE Faiard had reduced
his adversary to silence, he asked, as
finishing stroke:
Anyway, father, do you take me TO
saint?''
'Alas, far from it, my son. +"
'The devil fly away with me, then
if you don't demand more of me than
saint or even an apostle is capable Of -
Heaven forbidP' calculated tn,
priest, falling innocently into the snare
"Well, then, father, said LIE Faiard
with sly grin, "did st. Thomas be
lieve on the faith of others? Didn't b,
require miracle, and, trone-de- Dieu
what a miracleI Who can blame mt
for following St. Thomas example
only I ask less than his saintship. Show
me the least little miracle, don't carr
how small, and I'll go to confession
with all my heart. -
Then seeing that the priest was dunn
founded, he added: "Morbleu, father
won't you show me one? That ough
not to feaze friend of Gods"
Then he walked away, in high glee
at the effect produced by his words.