The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-06-19
For the Soul of 2. Soldier

lie nntS
h9 was me admiration of all the nursenaids fo
anu " wiue Among these was pretty Bessie Randall
IN all the glory of her first situation &c ,rso 49,
ne ollS enid OF Mrs CaXton Jones' the wife of a
wealthy brewer. and in the race for This stoIyart
laps. ii'U won ny several
Nothing, however. is perfect in this world and
the absolute truth of this statement ,nust he INV
excuse Tor It's obvlousness.- So although Bessie's
soldier sweetheart all that he ought 10 he i, her
eyes, and really almost as attractive as her fond
fancy painted hlm-which is SAYING a good deal
one dark shadow lowered over her sunshine. and
Inat lay III the fact that he a Protestant When
bessie had hrst come to England, some six months
ago. she had been fervent Catholic and extremely
tlrm as regarded the undesirability of mixed mar
rlages. She was good Catholic STILL but environ
ment tells with all of us and perhaps Just little
OF the fervor was lacking. There is heresy in the
very atmosphere III England and II affects one more
or, less according to the different temperaments of
those who breathe it. Also her feelings concerning
intermarriages between Catholics and Protestants
had undergone considerable change 1t is one thing
for the untempted to hold firm and fixed opinions on
any given subject but when temptation presents
itself to personally. say. in the disguise of a
horse soldier in blue and gold we are apt some of
u.s. to lower our standard and assure ourselves that
circumstances alter cases. And this was what hap
pened to Bessie Randall.
q can't give him up" she said tearfully one day
to her confessor, who also her compatriot. "He
says it'll be good for him to have a Catholic wife
It's great respect he has for our holy faith and
maybe it's himself that will belong to it later on"
Father Ryan shook his head doubtfully He had
lived in England for many years and had heard that
hope expressed often, and he knew by long and
sometimes sad experience that it is the Catholic soul
which suffers and not the Protestant one which
gains.
HAS he agreed that your children if YOU have
any, shall be brought up Catholics |'he asked
gravely.
Bessie flushed and examined her books with
much apparent interest
Sure, Father dear. haven't said anything
about that. [ thought maybe you" she hesitated
and her color grew deeper
'Send him up to me-" said the priest. Il will
speak to him about it, and if he refuses raises
any objections. why then, Bessie you must put the
whole thing out of your head, for | cannot ask for
a dispensation for you under those circumstances.
When l have seen him l viii send for you and tell
you what be says"
Nearly fortnight elapsed before Bessie re-
ceived the expected summons, and the moment she
entered Father Ryan's study she read in his face
the failure of her hopes.
you must be brave girl and give the young
man up" he said to her. There is nothing else to
be done He has apparently no religious principles
and he declares that nothing would induce him to
allow his children to be what he describes Pap
lists"
This by the way was a decidedly bowdlerized
version of the troopers remarks, but even so they
sounded sufficiently appalling in the ears of the
girl who loved him. For an instant she inclined
to REBEL and then her early training stood to her.
"That settles it, / suppose then, Father" she
said, meekly, with that submission to priesty
thority which, curiously enough, distinguishes
nation so averse to any other species Of coercion
Il will tell him it must be all over between US"
That's good girl" returned Father Ryan
with relieved air. He had anticipated tears and
reproaches and being a tender-hearted individual,
had greatly disliked the prospect.
You are Young and you'll get over this, he
added "but if you had married him you would GER
tainly have been miserable later on and the souls
of your children, if you had any, might have been
lost through your fault"
Il may see him, FatherW asked Bessie as she
reached the door.
The priest hesitated. He himself had come just
a trihe under the influence of Trooper Jlm's blue
eyes and winning manner, and he was by no means
inclined to underestimate their probable effect on
feminine heart, yet he very human, which ex.
planned his power over all sorts and conditions OF
men and women.
.'Well, it would be wiser, perhaps, if broke the
news to him. he said at last, but | can't say no
TO Won. YOU have been such a good girl; so see him
yourself and ask our Blessed Lady first that you
NAV have strength to resist temptation"
Bessie glanced gratefully up at him from under
her long lashes.
~T'Il do that Father" she said simply. "And |
can do something more, too. Twas yourself was
saving last Sunday what a grand thing 1t was to
make the First Fridays for all wanted; It's the
first tomorrow. so I'll begin them for Jim's CONVEX
SION
That's grand idea, remarked Father Ryan
heartily ''Who knows but you may get him yet II
it's Gods will!"
And So the following morning Bessie obtained
ncr7nis sion from her mistress to get up an hour
ao~I;er +bo,, usual and 90 to Mass and Communion,
and that done she considered that the first step with
- - her levers conversion had been taken in
an emnently satisfactory manner her interview s'I
with him. which came off the next Sunday lett her
-. "a moral courage to the utmost There
,rae an amount of "comether" about Jim Carey
va: an - extremely difficult for young and
girl to withstand his persuasions and
entreates and when in addition, there IS an enemy