The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-05-14

of Victory, presented to Lila as New York pres
ent.
1t must suffer to be beautiful, as the French
saying goes, Mrs. Girdwood is in TRUTH more lovely
than ever. There silver threads in the bonnie
brown hair; but the soft blue eyes are tender
STILL the exquisite lips have softer curves In the
hour OF prosperity she has not been unmlndful OF
the poor the forsaken the afflicted. The exile OF
Erin has blessed her. as has the desoate widow. The
hungry, the broken-hearted, the forsaken-all have
found benefactress in her. Even her husbands
creditors have respected her heroism; and some OF
them have come forward and helped her to start
small manufacturing business the familiar lines
And the dear, brave little woman has nobly re-
sponded has been what she herself playfully calls
Lady Commercial
On that sunny Sabbath morning she reached the
convent chapel just the priest walked to the al
tar, and took her place at end of long bench
not seeing aged in wOrkhouse garb at
the other end. When Mass was and she had
said her last prayer, the woman came close to her
and whispered:
Good bless you this day, dear Mistress!'
81 do not remember you'' Lila replied gently.
''Sure I'm the Widow Sheridan-Johns moth
err
Then Lila remembered The speaker was an ex-
chiffoniere ragpicker, whom she befriended in
the day of prosperity, and of whom she had long
lost sight
myself that recollects how you found place for
my poor dead gossoon, Johnnie, and looked to him
till the end. I've never forgotten you at ALL at all;
and asked the Blessed Virgin to care for you when
the black storm came"
The trembling old hand sought Lila's and the
pair knelt side by side and again prayed silently.
Both of these women have suffered. The Widow
Sheridan has gone through the streets of the city
with bag on her back, begging for the children
when they were young; and when they were near
ing manhood and aiding her to bear life's burden,
she saw them die of the F'White man IS scourge -
consumption. Lila Girdwoods crosses have also
been many, but she is looking toward sunset.
Of all the gifts given to her, only her children's
love has remained. Their pet for her is Lit
tie Snow Curls.''
1t is winter-a hard, old-fashioned English win
ter. The whirling snowflakes fall thicky the
great manufacturing city of Ribchester, and
lvled window just outside Of it. They fall too,
a newly made grave-the first thing to be dug in
a lately cOnSecrated Catholic cemetery. How shall
|, who loved her. write the words7 They fall on the
last wrestling place of dear '|Little Snow Curls,"
the brave, loveable woman, who as her hair grew
winter, grew even gentler, meeker, sweeter till to
love her was friend declared, literally 'liber-
al education
Great, indeed, were Lila Girdwood's troubles
when the firm which, to a common saying, kept
the small house in the Ringing Town going went
bankrupt. She and her children moved to Ribches-
ter and fought the battle of life there All rowed
in the same boat. But when her son had by the
aid of his mother and sisters, established a small
manufacturing business, he secretly married wom-
of extravagant tastes which he INDUCED; and as
one OF the two homes must know those hard things,
pinch and spare, his mothers home had to know
them
In spite of this grave drawback, however, Lila
Girdwood's closing years were happy. Her daugh-
tiers loved her more her hair grew winter Her
faltering footsteps often approached Gods altar
All she could do for the Church she SO loved, she
did. Once, in dream, she saw the Immaculate
standing on the top of ladder whose rungs were of
gold and which, like Jacobs ladder reached from
earth to heaven, Nevermore did the worlds cold
wind blow her. Very truly could it be said of
her.
The minds dark cottage battered and decayed.
Lets in the light through chnks that time has made
And what ight-morning light pure and white;
evening light golden and mellow, such as fell on
old Boston town when she resisted temptation! The
statue of Our Lady of Victory looks on her empty
place. She has fought the good fight and finished
her and surely won her unfading crown
Nora Ryeman, in The Ave Maria.