The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-01-01

counsel among themselves If it were
not better to disperSe i order that
each might seek for himself more
fertile pastures. It was while this
grave question was being discussed in
the assembly room-the very chap
ter hall through which [ had just
passed with the conscieree and her
pious dog-that Frere Miron timidly
appeared in the doorway and begged
permission to be heard. Now Frere
Miron was the cowherd of the COM
munity, a simple soul, kind Of heart
and thick Of head, who had never
penetrated deeply into the holy mys-
teries, and whose duties consisted
solely Of driving his COWS to pasture
and reciting his pater nosters. But
his COWS had all been eaten, and his
pater nosters had grown wearisome
by force Of continued repetition.
Finding himself without occupation,
he set himself to thinking-probably
for the first time in his hitherto
tranquil life, and finally, by dint Of
humping upon his shaven bullet
head, had hit upon an idea, an idea
that he was about to communicate to
the assembly and which was destined
to deliver the community from power
ty.
At an early age, said he, he had
been confided to the care Of an aged
aunt, an I'D she-goat, who knew the
secret virtue Of every herb on the
mountain-side and who possessed the
unwritten formula of an incori para
BILE cordial which she manufactured
by mixing six or seven Of these SIM
pies. With the aid Of Sainte Marie
and the permission Of the father ab-
bot, Frere Miron believed he could
recollect the formula Of that r1y&tcr-
ious liquor, it could be bott!ed, sold
at good price, and soon MCntinajour
would be as rich as Chartreu5;c or La
Trappe The abbot fell uf or bis neck
and wept, and the brethren. not Ge-
! tered by certain stains and odors re-
miniseent Of the barnyard, kissed tie
hem Of his threadbare robe,--after
which Frere Miron hied him 10 the
mountains.
At the end of six months the mar
velous elixir was on every shelf from
Aries to Baux, the monks were fat,
and Frere Miron, the cowhord. who
had now become the Reveien1 Pere
Miron. was shut up all. day in an
abandoned chapel, which had been
converted into a distilleryx while a
score Of monks secured the noun
tainside for herbs and simples. All
was we'll.
But one evening during vesrers
Fere Miron entered the church in a
state of extraordinary agitation,
lurchine from side 10 side like a sail
or. wetting his arm up t. the elbow
in the holy water and bowino bef:''e
the organ instead Of the :'::or. Dur
ing the psalm, in lieu IF clanr;Ag the
usual response laun med into 4
rollicking. icentious ballad. TIE :ev-
erend father than topp9el over en-
the floor and was dragged &c his ell
by the neck and heels. sl1nmaril.;, bnt
respectfully >withal, as vas befitting
for the saviour Of the community.
The next morning he confessed
Tipsy on his own liquor. The victim
Of his own invention. The father ab-
bot scratched his head, n,et2itated o.
the splendid revenues which we're
pouring into the monastery treasury,
and granted his unqualified absolu-
ton. The case was simple, said he.
Pere Miron was compelled to taste the
liquor in order to give it the proper
flavor. and he had tasted too free'v;
henceforth it wo1!d be necessary to
count the drops. VOLTA tout. But in
order to forestall trouble he excused
Pere Miron from atte'l ing vesper> III
the future.
Like Frankinstein, Pere Miron
found himself overpowered by the
creature he had brought into being.
He prayed and wrestled with the
temptation, and in the end he count
ed by goblets and not by drops. Sew
eral weeks rolled BY, and then, one
evening, he staggered into the chap
ter hall where all the monks were as
se!nbled to render their accounts to