Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-09-26
THE UNSEEN WOMAN.

Halfway up the valley rose the Trap
pist monastery of Mahota. Although the
first SHOWS of winter had just fallen, the
Ottawa river was not yet frozen.
In spite of the perpetual silence
of the brethren, in the outbuildings
of the monastery there were signs
of active preparations for the COM
ing cold The cattle had been called up
from distant fields, and the lay brother
who usually spent the late summer and
autumn peeling potatoes in the open air
| at the back of the monastery now sought
shelter by the kitchen stove from the
keen cold of coming winter, On the hills
surrounding the monastery serried rows
of maple stood leatless and rigid, the dull
| green of occasional pines showing SOM
| berly against the leaden sky Habitants,
! bringing milk to the cheese factory, shook
| their heads knowingly as they prOphesled
the rapidly approaching snowfall-a
| blanket of white, which would shut them
| from the outer world until spring. The
coming of the snow always brought with
| it feeling of awe, although they were
| proyisioned to stand winter siege, and
| would lie as snugly in their little houses
a
Inside the monastery barn the monks
were busily engaged knocking up stalls
for the large herd of cattle to be fed
and sheltered there Most of the monks
had tied their brown robes round their
waists; the only sounds which broke the
| stiffness were the occasional buzz of a
saw, or the ringing of hammer on a
nail head. The rules of the order for
bade the monks to SPEAK. they worked
in silence, only leaving off at intervals to
wipe the sweat from their brOws as the
monastery bell tolled every quarter of an
hour to remind them that they were NOR
tai In the little burial ground of the
monastery there was also half-dug
grave which served to fulfill the same
purpose When monk feared death, he
went into the graveyard and lay down in
the half-flled grave. Then he came back
to his work and prayed in silence as he
| toied.
II was a hard life of constant inter
cession. prayer and work. Most of the
monks who labored in the barn bore upon
| their brows the seal of silence. Some
faces were good, some bad, some divinely
| peaceful and happy, others diabolicaily
wicked. But upon them all was the in
! effaceable brand which separated them
| from their fellows. These men had vol
UNFAIRLY quilted the world for a living
tomb; whether they regretted it or not,
| there was no retracing their steps. What
use had the world for a man who was
| false to his obligations? If he left the
| monastery, he would be Stunned and de-
| spised; if he remained there he con
| demned himself to perpetual silence, shut
out all the sweetness of living, became.
| practically, dead man who still walked
the earth brooding over the wrongs or
| sulferings OF his past life.
The monks entered this dormtories at
| NJ n ba md
| SHIPPED for three hours in the monastery
chapel. Then they went forth into the
fields after a scanty breakfast of bread
and water, and labored until midday
There was short rest for recreation
after dinner, and the monotonous round
began again until the evening meal. The
cost of each monks food was about q
halfpenny n day. The brethren made
their own clothes and shoes. An absolute
familiarity with death had robbed il OF
all tcrrors. If monk died he was car
ried coiinless in his brown robe To- tn,
graveyard, there,
To take his fill
OF deep and liquid rest, forgetful Of a.
ILL.,
That was ALL He was made one will
nature, his place knew him no more
When the monday bell rang, Brother
Hyacinthe, tall, Swarthy, muscular, thin
laid down his saw with an air Of relief
folded his hands, and walked slowly il
= the direction of the monastery. Once, on
the threshold, he raised his eyes 10 tn,
sky with a despairing look, gave an eX
pTessive shrug of his brawny shoulders
and went down the long passage which
r led 10 the corridor where the monks as
f | sembled for their hour of recreation
4 | halfway down the corridor he stopped
10 gaze through an open door-the doc
Of mcanly-turnlShed little room il
] which great stove gave out an oyerpow
: ering heat \ mild-faced monk sat Al
) a small table making robes for the breth
rem. Long strips of rough, heavy ma
terial, out of which the robes Were fash
toned. hung from nails on the wooder
| walls. Great irons Were being heated Al
! the stove 10 press the seams of an al
I ready completed robe. AS Brother Hva
I | ciuthe looked into the room. his eyes fel
% upon the frail, STOPPING form of Brother
= Colomhe. Brother Colombo was thir
and Worn from much fasting; he cougheC
e patiently from time 10 time; his face wa,
5 ansclcally sweet. When he looked III
and met the fiery glance Of Brother Hya
: cnthe. he crossed himself and turned
p away with n sigh.
1t was easy to see that these two hat
I met in the world, that there was som,
= ! bond of love or hate between them from
/. | which neither could escapc--some bonC
4
Q a bond made more bitter by the enforce,
o silence Of monastic days. Where one
was, the other instinctiyely felt his pres
10 encc. For years past the savage hate il
. Brother Hyacinthe's heart. in Spite Of
= prayer aud penal scourge, had steadily
accumulated, By some strange chance
o in that far distant world v hich was al
? ready half blotted from their memories
they had loved the same woman. Sh,
had been equally false to both. Over
{ come by the raging madness of despair
r and unknown TO each other they sough-
- the monastery of Mahola. there 10 escap,
all thought of this woman whom the,
%? loved-thls woman who had slain then
: both rs surely as though she had put IN,
2, knife against their thrpats ana gashed .
4 gaping wound.
=. But even in the Soul-kilEng routine o
the monastery there was no escape from
l. her. When they prayed 10 the Virgin
i her eyes were she eyes Of & woman
n they had loved; when they went fortl
n into the fields TO perform their dali,
tasks, she accompanied them, unseel