Mexico Missouri message., 1903-02-05

Down Upon ST. Pierre.
l. is deepened with awe and mingled
with a feeling of confidence. The
mountain is our protector. He watches
over us and wards Off evil. We never
lose sight of him. We cannot 60 any
where on the island where we do not
see him, and miles and miles of NJ
sea we turn and gaze back at him"
Jacques continued to look with rapt
devotion up at the stately mountain
with head lost in a curtain Of mist.
Wilfrids gaze swept the green Dor
dered circle within which he stood.
A woman who was bending slightly
forward looking into a little lake
turned so that he saw her face. He
sprang forward but that instant she
was gone. Jacques brought his atten-
ton back from Mount Pelee and
turned it with surprise upon his friend,
He had heard Of American nerves, but
was not expecting so violent a demon.
stration of them.
who was that lady?"
what lady? Where? l saw no
one. Perhaps it was some one Mon.
sieur had previously metz"
Yes, had seen her once-just
once"
"Since coming to St. Pierre?"
mo; in France,-three centuries
ago"
Jacques opened his eyes wide. Had
= FTfn
struck with insanity or was it mere
lapse in the language of Martinique?
Sometimes strangers with English
tongues did say funny things. But
the conversation of this visitor had
been unfailingly accurate. 1t was
more comfortable, though, to regard it
as lapse in speech than as a defect
of reason.
ALAS, she has gone" said Wilfrid,
regretfully, gone. l shall never, per-
haps, see her again"
He did see her again three days
later when we went with Jacques on
an excursion to Morne Rouge away
up near the veil of mist that shut the
mountain peak from view. Jeanne de
st. Pierre, they called her. He had
strange fancy that he was listening to
a voice from dead centuries when she
spoke to him and yet there was a
living music in her voice that would
never die.
How charming it is for you to be
named for the beautiful city;-but
Jeanne? How did you come by that
name? 1t was her name, too"
"The bearer of our name" she an
swered, "came from France in the
Revolution. He had lost title, estate,
and saved his life only by leaving his
country After that he was known as
Jean of St. Pierre. inherit the name
of Jeanne from many ancestresses. /
have a poem written by one of them
away back in the generations. II is
poem of France and, think, of her
own heart, too"
He watched her face as she looked
down upon ST. Pierre like a dream
city far below shining Whitley through
sun-tinted mists, The women of st.
Pierre are beautiful and with stately
carriage like the grandes danes Of
poetic tradition. But there was a
holiness in the beauty of Jeanne de
st. Pierre that was different from
them II was thegEace Of that Jeanne
Of long ago that bad looked through
the glory of Wiifrfd's vision.
st. Pierre IS like a flower growing
in the shadow of tall tree" said
Jeanne. looking back at the towering
height Of Mont Pelee. His gaze fol-
lowed hers. The wind had blown the
mist away. II was drifting of into
the air, scattering in feecy wells, A
darker cloud seemed to be forming
directly around the peak, It was rls-
ing, rising slowly and in sudden pyffs
from the mountain
lis not that smoker"
yes, It looks like It. she said
Does It not threaten danger 70 81
Pierre?@
She laughed.
"The dear old mountain neyel
threatens us. He Is only burning n
cense on the altar Of his love for us =