Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-10-19
A RosE-ScENTED MEMORY

"a little act that I saw one of my boys
perform last night" remarked man OF
family, reminded me of something that
happened to me when I was about his age.
/ took the youngster to the theater last
night and of course, when we got home
his mother and the rest of the children
were in bed. The boy Jagged behind me
when we entered the house to get some
thing to cat in the pantry. and went up
stairs. He was downstairs nibbling on a
sandwich for about five minutes and then
he started upstairs. I leaned over the
stairway on the third floor and called down
to him to turn out the hall gas before he
came up. He obeyed orders, but 1 could
see from where 1 was watching him that
he didn't much like the idea of beng left
alone down there on the first floor in the
oark-hes only youngster of about ten
yet. He put his hand on the gas key and
gave 1t sudden twist and turned off the
light and found himself in utter black
darkness. I could hear him racing for the
stairs, and he virtually fell all the way up
in his panic. Never heard a boy get up
stairs SO fast as he did, and when he at
length got to where 1 stood on the third
floor landing he looked as scared rs if he'd
been chased by whole tribe of Indians.
well, when was his age l wasn't any
too fond of the dark myself, and that's
how I happened to get to thinking about
this incident that occurred to me. was
an acolyte at about his time of life in a far
western cathedral: very beautiful cathe-
dral 1t was, too, built in anticipation of a
great growth of the city in which it was
erected, but the city didn't grow In propor-
ton to the majesty of the cathedral, so
that the fine edi1ce still looks oddly out
of place in the town.
WELL one night I was serving as chief
acolyte at the May vesper services-and,. to
drift away just for a second, it's odd how
have remembered all through life the fra
of hn f,,l holt WILD Sfoyv.
roses with which the great altar used to
be decorated during those May services and
the pungent perfume of the incense from
the censor which used to swing. and all
of those little details-I never catch the
smell of rose down to this day that my
mind isn't carried back to that great rose
strewn altar and the rolling of the organ
and the chanting Of those May vesper
roses In their hair, too, most Of them.
well, on this night, was chief acolyte
There were probably sixty boys on the
altar. and I was naturally vain and pulled
up owing to the fact that was the censor
bearer and chief acoiyte. I am afraid that
in consequence l staggered about terribly
in my little surplice and cassock, for re-
member seeing the bishop regarding me
rather amusedly out Of the corner of his
eye as I strutted about the altar in my con-
ceit
But if the Office Of chief acoiyte had its
compensations, it also had it's responsible
acting. as chief acolyte to extfnguish all Of
the candles on the altar after the services.
So, on this night. as soon as the services
were over. 1 hurried into the sacristy to
look for the extinguisher. I had some tfeu-
BILE in finding it, and by the time I eventu-
ally did get hold of it the congregation
had passed out, all Of the other altar boys
had rid themselves Of their SUPPLIES and
cassOcks, the bishop and priests had doffed
their vestments and left the sacristy, and
all Of the gas throughout The catheGI al
had been automatically extinguished, leaS-
ing the many candles on the altar to sned
Elimination about. The church was very
silent indeed when 1 assembled the steps
of the altar and began to put the extin-
guisher on the candles. After I had ac-
complished the job of extinguishing the
smaller candles there still remained The
task of putting out the six huge candles
that lowered high above the reach of the
extinguisher. In order t, put out these
around behind the altar, mount high step
ladder, and get at those six candles that
way with the extinguisher. Well. I was
feeling bit eerie then, but I gatheredinyl
stepladder to finish off the job of dark
ening the altar. / at length got all # tie
six big candles but one extinguisheao rand
then hesitated.
would leave me in black inky darkness.
and I'd have to feel my way to the sa-
cristy and out of the sacristy door, and
the thought of that kind of unnerved me.
However, swallowing a gulp two, I
finally got the extinguisher over the last
big candle when-bang!-a pile of books or
something fell with a crash in the choir.
or one Of the front doors Of the cathedral
way, the reverberation was terrific That
settled me. 1 dropped the extinguisher,
pulling the great candle over as I did So.
Then I descended that high stepladderL
r 1~,f f1n F~1, 49, 49,
Of 1t to the floor. 1t was, as I had Of
course known it was going to be, black
dark. Picking up my cassock, rushed for
the sacristy. butting my head against what
l deemed to be a million protuberances.
and adamantine ones at that; and thus
finally gained the door leading from the
altar to the sacristy. Afraid? Was I
afraid? Why. it's wonder 1 didn't die
ing Of many footsteps coming from the
front Of the cathedral-a noise caused by
the wind entering some Of the partly opened
windows, and I sure did think that all of
the black beings from the neither regions
were right on my trail. A faint streak of
moonshine was streaming into the sacristy
and lighting up the glass-covered closet
filled with pale-looking vestments. and
these looked nightly like ghostly figures
didn't descend the sacristy stairs. either
fell down them, all the way to the bot
TOM How l ever gained the exit to the
sacristy l don't know-but the speed at
sidering how must have been impeded by
my long cassock, which 1 still had on, of
course. must have been something phe-
nomenal.
"Then like the champion all-around ath-
lete Of the world-as l have often thought
since. In thinking 1t oyer-I leaped at one
bound the high fence surrounding the rear
churchyard, took down the alley, cut across
vacant lots and through muddy streets
the town was but little lighted In that
neighborhood-and finally, breathless and
as white as sheet as I heard afterward.
and with my surplice torn to rags and my
cassock caked with mud, I burst in upon
EN- at home-they were all sitting around
the evening table, and my dad was play
Ing the violin. A pretty alarming appari-
ton l must have been at that, for the
young children screamed when thew saw
me and hid their faces in my mothers
dress. I didn't tell them how it ali ham
pened. I didn't want to own up that I'd
been so scared by the dark-me, chief AGO.
lyte-that I'd run home at steeplechase
horse speed with my altar vestments still
clinging to my frame I ought to add that
I was never permitted to be chief acoIvfe
at vespers again on account of that over
turned candle-but I didn't mind that:
wouldn't have undertaken the Job of lea w.
ing myself in midnight bIackness in that
great cathedral again for million dollars.
And all this came back to me last night
when I saw nv yOun eSfer r,,y, ~, th, ,aS,-