The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-29
MOTHER MARY PAUL, NOW MRS. sABrEN ROSS.

destiny that snatched Mother Mary Paul
from that gentle company to make her
the mother of f1ve children and the help
meet of a chief executive in one Of hu-
manity's most urgent labors.
CHAPTER 1.-THE SISTER.
Strange, indeed, were the tricks by
which destiny shaped the paths Of an
Irish girl and a Russian patriot so that
they should meet In mature life and pro-
duce the spark that no weight of cir
cumstances could smother.
Nellie Kerns had the proudest of Irish
blood in her veins, but misfortune follow
ed her earliest years. She was a baby
when her father and mother died A
warm-hearted aunt travelled from Chi
cago to Dublin to take possession of
her, and the child's earliest conscious i'm
pressions were Of America,
Her temperament seemed to lend itself
to religious contemplation. Though bless
ed with vitality and a robust physique
her mind refused to enter into the diver
sions of other children. She was sweetly
serious prone to self-sacrifice. absorbed
in the simple acts Of watchfu1ness and
worship of the life of the cloister.
This trait of her character might have
suggested to herself and others that
Nellie Kerns was needed in the great
world Of workers, but 1t was not incon-
sistent with a sisterhood that devoted it.
self to works Of mercy.
And since no prompting from the world
had ever entered Nelhe's heart. she took
the veil and was happy
That was thirty-two years ago, when
she was sixteen years old. Having taken
the vows in Chicago, she Travelled to
Omaha and entered the Convent Of the
Sisters of Mercy.
K
Sister Mary Paul who, with grave, girl
ish face looking out from its frame of
white linen backed by the sombre habit
of her order, carried solace to the poor
begged aid for the suffering and taught
the children of Catholic families
The helpfulness that had singled out
Nellie Kerns from her schoolfeIlows
found freer scope in Sister Mary Paul
She was sleepless in her labor of mercy.
The people Of Omaha learned to know her
well, and to reverence her as one whose
| deeds were inspired less by love of duty
than by love of mankind. Into what ever
haunts she penetrated rough voices wers
hushed and evil intent fell back before
her beautiful eyes-Irish eyes, with the
| heavy, curled Iashes, that so often droop-
ed in compassion or prayer.
So the years passed until schlsm arose
| in the sisterhood, owing to a disagree
ment with the late Bishop OConnor.
Sister Mary Paul was one of a devoted
band that Jared forth into the world,
| intent on establishing home and con-
| tinuing their work.
| They settled in Yankton and founded a
| convent. Sister Mary Paul became Moth
| er Mary Paul. Here, as in Omaha, she
! won the yeneration of those without az
We'll as within the sisterhood. To her
| fellow-nuns she was an example of piety
as Well as of energy. She was happy in
her work, in her devotions and in the
| thought Of long, peaceful lifetime in the
service she had made her own.
CHAPTER 1.-THE WIFE.
While Mother Mary Paul thus advanced
! into womanhood as innocent as her
| girlhood had been. destiny was preparing
| DIR. Sabien Ross to awaken and be awak
ened by the real woman that had slum-
bered beneath the habit Of the nun
Ross is not his real his. He is a Rus
| sian. Brilliantly gifted and belonging to
noble race, he imbibed at the university
where he studied medicine that passion
! ate aspiration for freedom which in Rus
sia finds expression in Nihilism.
He Joined in st. Petersburg a Nihiiist
| circle" in which men as we'll born and
highly educated as himself were the bloed
brethren of drosky drivers and gem
darmes.
traitor crept into the councils of the
| circle. His presence was discovered in
time to save the conspirators from ST.
IBERIA, but not In time to obviate the ne
cessity of exDatriation for all. Many of
them came to America, including Sabien
Ross, as he called himself when he
| escaped from Russia.
He encountered some hardships In this
! country, but his gifts helped him In the
struggle, and after awhile he was In q
position to qualify himself for medical