The Press., 1901-09-26

she wore a veil, even in the house, and
she hid her eyes as If she was afraid,
and she prayed day and night. Nobody
knew what she prayed. because she did
not dare to tell even her husband.
"By and by she grew so afraid and
sad because Seraphita somehow didn't
seem to her any more like her own
child. She was like a beautiful wax
doll, but she, was not wax, and she
looked Just like herself to everybody
else, only to. her mother she seemed
strange, and she could not get the
warm love back into her heart, even
though she pressed Seraphita to her
bosom night and day.
"The little baby grew in spite Of that,
and she grew prettier and prettier all
the time. Everybody loved her except
her mother. and that was just what the
devil wanted.
''The day Seraphita was year old
her mother could not bear 1t any lon
ger, and She went to her priest and
confessed to him all about it, and then
very soon she died, because she had
kept her secret so long it had just burn
ed her heart out.
"After that, 10 one knew how 1t hap
pened, but pretty soon everybody began
to whisper and look queerly at Sera-
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 to make the people stop
talking. What they said was non
sense But it was not nonsense, and
SO they went on talking among them
selves, and they would take their own
children out of the way when Seraphita
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 a
priest go and live in the house?
Zone day when Seraphita was out
walking she came across some little
boys who were stoning a black kitten
to kill it, 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 it tight, while
the stones fell at her feet, and the boys
cried out: Devils brat! Devils cat!"
"Pepita," said I, "she seemed to me
to have been very nice, soft hearted
little girl"
"Oh, no, Sonora Maria Madalena! You
see. black, cats belong to the devil, and
IL she had had any soul she couldn't
have taken one in her arms.
"She carried it home, and she used to
feed it, and she had to hide it away, be-
cause, Of course, nobody wanted to
have a 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 it's hair would
all stand on end when any one else
came around, which shows, does it 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
If she just put her lips to a 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 was
near, but when she was 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" I asked
as Pepita paused to emphasize her
| statement.
"She grew up so beautiful that stran-
gers would stop in the street and look
at her as she passed, but of course ev-
erybody soon found out all about her,
and then they would not look at her-at
least they would not look her in the eye
unless they had charm on"
10 you tuedu CIhC she udu tue cFA
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
aphita"
"Why, you see, when she was about
20 years old she was very i'll again, and
she lay in a trance for three days. The
| doctors wouldn't 60 near her, and her
| own old nurse had died, and they
couldn't get any one to take care Of her
till finally the priest sent to the convent
for one of the sisters. She was a 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