The evening Republican., 1902-05-13
STORY FOR AN
IDLE MOMENT.

are Watching lOI tilC uo WING AA6,
So many faces toward the skies
Are weary Of the night"
The little bow-legged Marist
Brother was a student of literature,
and 30 per cent. OF the money
he could handle went to the old
spectacled bookseller down in Nou-
mea. The old book trader knew his
amiable customers ttste to a fine
point, and when additions to his
stock came in by the mail steamer
from Sydney he carefully put aside
such pathetic stories and poetry as
he felt would be welcome to the lit
tie missionary. In that way Brother
Paul came across the tiny volume
of the Hoosier poets works, and as
he was "a good linguist he amused
himself in the translation OF suitable
passages from the delectation OF the
humble Kanaka friends who hung
upon his sympathetic words OF Wis
dom. and followed his sage advice
in the conduct OF theil. lives. That
was how Brother Paul. whether
holding lazy class at Saint Louis, OF
supelintending the plantation work,
or relaxing himself with a stroll
through the leafy avenues of Alma
Square, would always be found
mumbling verse of the lyric that
had touched his heart for the mo
ment:-
$50 many falling prayers that reel,
And stagger upward Through the
storm,
So many hands that reach and feel
No pressure true and warm. y
When these things were defLly
turned into good and Rhythmic Kan
aka by the little missionary, tirst cali
euDon them WAS invariably enjoyed by
| Meri Lealii,. lhe 70 ye,tr old kanaka
beauty. who was the life. aud soul of
| The mission stalipn,at. saipt; Louis, as
| she was one of the most useiul ltcl pers
the MarIst fraternity had ever had
in that wicked end OF wild New CLlc-
donia.
-Four years before, the thought that
she would Cross the porch OF Saint
Louis would have been u strange one
to the mind OF Mcri Eoani. Her lover
young chief who was heir to one OF
the finest jam patches in the rich
valley behind BouraiI and who was
the slnarteSL turtle catcher On the
gloomy coast, had meant other Things
by and Tor her
But the Kanaka rebellion has
come about, and the young chiei
was bound to take his place in the
lighting line among his kith and kin
He and his people had found ne
good in the French who had settled
about Bourail, for, in truth, these
were poor specimens of high-spirit-
ed GalIic race beicg for the greater
| part liberes aud evades iron the
penal establishments about Nollna
The war of the rebellion was +
bloody one enough; the letestet
| 'Kai- -oui' settlers We're ruthless
ly wiped out by the avenginu KAN
akas, and Meli Foani' Is sallaut youns
man had stepped his hands Yer,
deeply in blood. Then the military
forces went out from Nounlea, ant
the recalcitrant Kanakas, Were nov
mown like cOooanut trees before s
umbu-sOmDu.
While he was penued up at Nou
mea Awaiting the transport, Mer1
climbed her way in TO him one black
night while the guard were muddlee
with cognac, and took her farewell o
the Iuckcss youth promising to wait
for the day when he would be free G
return to tho brown valleys of his
old home by BouraII.
The four years that had now pass
ed seemed like 40 eternity TO Mer
Foani. When her lover had been
| taken off to dlstans Saigon. Mer
; turned her back upon the world TO-
| the time being, and made of for'
shelter and solHee to the great hom
for all at Saint Louis, where th
/ strangely wild principles Of the new
system under JEST karistu had beel
brought into practical operation
Many boys and girls whom she ha
known us sinners in BourM andabou
pestilentai Noumea had found res
and comfort from their wild lives i
| l1uspltab;e Saint Louis, and Mel
vent straight to the place with COZ
iidence in her clean heart.
She had seen the transport pas
ont from the roadstead at Noumes
with all she cared for on cart
aboard, and had watched the sun
: down in. the blue waters beyont
She inwalely cursed the French IL
" ever coming to New Caledonia, an
with a heavy heart stepped into til
calm atmosphere ct the misslo
station.
Meri had not been long at Sai1
n Louis when she fell under the b.
niyn influence of Brother Paul, an
. before long she was one of the mi
sionarys most useful and tr1stt
helpers among the Kanakas in tt
bush and about the slums of No1
, mea.
Brother Paul translated appropl
~ ate Biblical passages for her, talS1
= her snatches OF the best poetry fro
= the French, English and 9th
tongues, and NO armed, she wi
always gayly happy in her Wol'
I'd The Hoosier poets Some Day" b:
struck her deeply, as it had do'
. the sentimental brother, and 80
] too, was ever repeating its lines:
SO many hearts, whose erlnlsop win
= Is wasted to a purple stain,
And blsrred. and streak d With GRO
of brine ,ey