Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-09-11

ed alone on the top OF the CHI.
"You are very solitary up there
remarked. But, as a compensation,
you are quiet. | suppose that your
parishioners, innocent souls that they
are, are model neighbors.'
Hum, hunt" coughed the priest
This was partly an expression of doubt
as to the fervor and saintliness of his
people and partly a result of his
breathlessness caused by our ascent
although we had progressed very
slowly.
wondered at both for had always
believed seagoing folks to be very de-
vout; and | also would have thought
that Able Morice, who was barely
thirty-three, and large and strong be-
sides, could have mounted the steep
ascent even more easily than | could.
He halted to take breath. and turned
his rather pale, handsome face toward
me. Then, with a smile on his fresh
lips and in his blue eyes. that had
taken their tints from the sea ut which
he looked so often, he replied.
Innocent souls, Model neighbors!
They are far from it. l can assure you
that ! have trouble enough to save
their souls for the Lord. My two enc
mics are liquor and superstition. They
expose me to rough assaults. Then.
too. on nights of shipwreck, | cannot
prevent men, women. and children
from rushing to the reefs to look for
plunder \ sound from an alarm-gun
on Il foggy afternoon a distress-signal
on a stormy night. and the hereditary
instinct of the pirate springs to life in
an instant in the breasts of these pco-
pie
The Abb6 was silent for a moment
and his expression became thoughtful
at the remembrance of cruel and bar
barous scenes, doubtless; then he con
tinued:
"Ah. yes. I have much to contend
with, but do not complain. | am not
one of those who become a priest to ac-
cept easy places. II, after five years
in Tonkin and six in China, took this
charge. which no one else wanted. il
was because | felt myself to be a true
soldier Of the Faith, and because love
the fight Here. as there. ] consider
myself a missionary, as the perform
ance Of my duties is not without real
danger"
We now resumed our ascent. \ few
yards further on the Able was obliged
to halt again to get his breath When
anu
whistling.
But. primitive and rough as my peo-
pie are" he said. the worst among
them are many times better than the
rogucs from your large cities. | have
occasion to know something about
them. There is a state prison "A few
miles from here. and it is a sorry lot
of fellows that come and go from it.
When their terms have expired, the
authorities turn these beasts of prey
loose on the highway. and the first
houses they come to are my church and
home. They stop to tell me their
troubles, and To rail at the injustice
of justice. | listen. for | am here for
that purpose. and | try to sift out "A
grain of truth from the chaff of false
hood Finally they ask me for charity.
and | give il, for giving is my profes-
sion. Certain of them note the solitude
of the place with their practiced eyes.
and while their left hands are stretch
ed out for aims, their right clutch their
stick. Those are dangerous moments,
and one has need of a solid foot. firm
fist and a watchful eye"
Have you no beadle, gardener or
SERVANT"
MY beadle is a cartman who comes
up on Sundays. | am my own gar
dener, and my old housekeeper would
only embarrass me with her fears and
cries if there was any danger. | have
managed to come out of it all Nretty
WELL
Were you ever attacked by the Jail
birds?"
Three times only in two years That
isn't so bad. The first one tried to kill
me with a club. He did not know
that | am an expert in boxing and
fencing. My ten years of military SER
vice were not for nothing. | used to
floor the inspecting colonel: | floored
my rogue now. | wrenched his club
from him, and turned him out-of-doors
The second was one-eyed fellow
short and thick-set under his blue
blouse. He whined and sobbed and
feigned repentance so well that. profit
ing by the absence of Toinon. who had
gone to the village, | gave him some
thing to eat, and emptied my purse
into his pocket. He left the house at
nightfall. When | was about to retire
at ten o'clock. for some reason or
another the fellow came into my mind
had not liked his sullen, hangdog eX-
preston, and | thought at once of my
mte-bOX in the church. | took my cud
gel, tiptOed out so as not to waken
Toinon. and crossed the cemetery ia
go to the church. The front door was
fastened | went around to the side
door; this | found open, and my rogue
was just about to cut into the money
box. If | had not had my stick
/ should have been lost AS it was,
used the cudgel, the alms-box, and my
shoes as well, I believe. forced the
thief towards the door so as not to
wound him inside my church. He saw
that he had the worst of it, so he ran
out across the cemetery. When he was
at safe distance, knowing that he
could run if l chased him, he turned
and howled out threats of vengeance
coupled with oaths enough to make the
saints tremble."
And the thrd?" I asked. more dis
turbed by what l had just heard than
the Able himself seemed to be.
81 had not told my old servant of the
attacks | had received for fear she
would take every beggar for a thief
/ was congratulating myself on having
escaped further annoyance, for the end
of autumn had now come. One rainy
afternoon in the first week of Deem
Der the twilight fell so early on ouI
deserted cliff that Toinon went to lock
the church at three o'clock. She came
running back in a few moments, and