The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-06-19

phita when the nurse carried her INTO |
the street, and her father seemed trou-
bled, and he talked with the priest and
wanted to pay some more money TO the
church, but they wouldn't have any
more ceremonies for Seraphita, and the
priests tried 10 make the people stop
talking. What they said was non
sense But 1t was not nonsense, and
so they went on talking among them
selves, and they would take their own
children out of the way when Seraphlta
was old enough to play about.
$50 she grew up all alone except for
her father and her nurse and the priest
who went to live In the house, which
showed that the church thought there
was something in It, else why should n
priest 20 and live In the houseI
zone day when Seraphita was out
walking she came across some little
boys who We're stoning black kitten
to kill 1t. for everybody knows that
black cats belong to the devil. And
Seraphita ran right in among the flying
stones, and not one of them hit her, for
the devil held his hand between her
and the stones, and she caught up the
DEVILS kitten and Rugged 1t tight, while
the stones fell Mt her feet, and the boys
cried out. Devils BRAT Devils cat!"
"Peplta," said |, "she seemed to me
TO have been u very nice, soft hearted
little girl"
"Oh, no, Sonora Maria Madalenal You
see, black eats belong TO the devil, and
II she had had any soul she couldn't
have taken one in her arms.
"She carried II home, and she used to
feed it, and she had to hide it away, be-
cause, OF course, nobody wanted to
have n devils cat around, and the cat
would run and jump into Seraphita's
arms whenever she came near, but 1t
would fly like mad and its hair would
all stand ON end when any one else
came around. which shows, does 1t not,
that something was wrong? And an
other thing showed that all was not
right with Seraphita; the priest began
to teach, and she learned faster than
any child should. There was an evil
spirit that whispered the words into
her ear, so that she did not have To
study.
"She had power over horses, too, and
IL she Just put her lips to II horses ear
he would turn and rub his nose on her
face. You see horses have no soul, and
they knew that Seraphita hadn't any.
"And, besides that, she always looked
very old and grave when anybody WIS
near, bat when she WIS alone In the
fields or In the woods she would laugh
out loud. and they could hear her talk
with the birds, for she knew bird Ian
guage, and she would lean over the wa
ter and talk to herself or to the fishes.
Oh, It was true, she had no soul"
well what became of herr" | asked
as Pepita paused to emphasize her
statement.
"She grew up so beautiful TINT stran-
gers would stop In the street and look
at her as she passed. but of course ey-
erybody soon found out oil about har,
and then they would not look Mt her-at
least they would not look her in the eye
unless they had a charm on"
"Do you mean that she had the 'evll
eyer"
"Oh. yes! Why. she could make any
one have bad luck just by looking at
them, and she could make flowers grow
and blossom and be more colors than
any other flowers. She knew she had
the 'evil eye for she never went any
where or visited the sick or the poor,
though she had plenty OF money. She
used to send the priest with food or
clothes. You see. she knew"
"And what became OF poor little Ser
aphitaf"
"Why, you see, when she was about
20 years old she was very Ill again, and
she lay I'm a trance for three days. The
doctors wouldn't go near her, and her
own old nurse had died. and they
couldn't get any one to take care OF her
TIL finally the priest sent TO the convent
for one of the sisters She was very
good woman, and she went TO the
house, and, creeping on her hands and
knees SO that the devil could not get
hold of her, she went right into the
room and prayed all night Her pray
ers went straight up to heaven, and she
prayed tbnt Seraphita might die and
that before she died her soul should be
given back to her.
ADut sonora DdTlu A1uuUleDu, JuSl |
as the sky began to grow pink in the
east and the white mist blew across
the vega and the birds began to call |
what do you think happened2
"a beautiful white dove flew into the |
window and allghted on Seraphtas |
breast. and. laying It's bill close to her |
mouth. 1t breathed n soul into her, and |
then the dove just vanished, and Sera-
phita was dead.
"Then, because God had been good TO |
him and had given Seraphita n soul
again, her father built an orphan asy- |
lum and called it after her, The Sc |
raphita,' and you can see It over there,
with the sun shining ON It. 1t looks like
gold"
1T is pretty story, Pepita, but do
you believe she had no soulP
THE sonora knows | am English on
my fathers side, but my mother was
Spanish"
$50 you are half Spanish and half be-
leve 1t. Is that so, PepitaP