The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-10-08
AN OLD MANS STORY.

! want you please TO translate these TWO lines
#.rme. The officer who was here last autumn sand
L.a well you spoke French
Iho old man who was sitting in an arm chair
the fire. smiled as he took his pipe from his lips.
la- who should know it if not ] e he said. II
was four years in France, and after that | served
iathe army. Show me the lines
I1, boy brought his lesson book to his grand
fathers side But the daylight was fast waning.
aid agc had dimmed the old mans sight
Sd" have not my glasses. Read the lines to me,
iaa"
Tie boy obeyed
~~ L. nom. de Marie-dans ton occur est grave.
pirl pcrIcrin noube. de lar saluer d IN Aver
The old man listened attentivey, and made the
10y repeat the lines two or three times correcting
Il- pronunciation. Then he said:
ri hose words seem familiar me- / must have
read them somewhere at some time" And he PASSED
I- hand slowly over his wrinlled brow, as If there
Iv to awaken memories of days long past. All,
have itn' he exclaimed presently. ii was long
ago. long ago; but there are things which it is i'm
possible to forget. 1t in Luxembourg, at the
CORNER of a street in the upper part Of the town
y .arge image of the Blessed Virgin stood there in
4 niche with lamp always burning before it. I'm
oowearI those words were Inscribed in gold letters
ou a Slab in marble. | well remember standing
there once at midnight with the friend Of my boy
hood. Anthony Mier-on the eve of our departure
from home to seek our fortunes in France We
liked the motto under the statue so much that we
wrote it down and learned it by heart"
But what does 1t mean" interrupted the boy.
His grandfather made him read it again. slow
jy and carefully Then he said:
This Is what it means:
off the name Of Holy Mary is craven on thy heart
Say am Ave, pious pilgrim. wheresoever thou art
"A beautiful motto, is it not. And advise you
my boy to lay it well to heart. | have never for
gotten it, and my friend, Anthony ALiller-God
rest In, soul. He died two years ago-hed it al
his life in high esteem. And truly he had good
I. +l,, -+ar1+ IA
which he obeyed the cXhortation conveyed in this
beautiful and expressive couplet he owed his de
lVorancc from imminent danger of death, his life
and his subsequent good fortune. You know that
the NiIler's well-to-do-ther business has
proved very lucrative one But you are too young
dear, to understand | viii tell YOU the motto
sawed the life Of my friend. Again [ have heard
the story from his lips
Tell it to me now, grandfather" the boy
eagerly exclaimed. "Do-pIease do.
The old man filled his pipe afresh. lighted It
with great deliberation. settled himself comfort
ably In his arm chair, and began his tale.
''It was in Luxembourg. as my friend, Anthony
Miller, and myself strolling through the
streets one dark night attracted by the
gmmer of the lamp which hung before the image
oil the Madonna. We approached nearer and read
the Inscription which made deep impression
tn our hearts. We were both young, merry and
light-hearted; but young people very different
nowadays from what they were then. We were
poor In the goods of this word-two itinerant ar
ri-anS the whole of whose possessions were con-
tanned in two cosely-packed knapsacks, and whose
small sum of money was carried in their pockets,
my friend being merely cooper, while l was a
loclsInith. But when left our homes we bore
with us priceless treasure which we Inherited from
: pious mother. | mean sincere and earnest rellg-
iouS feeling. and tender devotion to Nary the
Blessed Mother of God It brought us many bless
iuus and preserved Us from much that evil
which cannot but see and hear III the WIDE, VIDE
world, delivering us from many peris that threat
the young and inexperienced IN the course OF
their voyage over the stormy ocean Of life. Before
that statue of our Blessed Lady we both promised
FL repeat the Angelic Salutation at least once
every day. and never 10 pass by an image OF the
Madonna without greeting our Heavenly Mother
with an Ave Maria
The resolution was a wise one; it brought US
..n good fortune As we failed to find employ
..uf n Luxembourg. went on straight to Paris.
NJ Sawed there two years worked hard and learned
great deal Then the love of wandering awokc
FL u- again, and we went on farther to the south
France. In Bordeaux we separated. i wished
20 ia LYONS and thence to Geneva, because III
Both cities the oebsmith's art had attained high
degree of perfection and ! desired to learn many
"details of which ] was as yet ignorant, and TO quail
l.v myself to return to my beloved home IN Ger
MANY and set up in business for myself IN my ma
t.r,. town. 1t was well for me that / dad so. My
a.rlIualfap wandered farther afeld; he wished 10
a...r Spain and behold the beauty Of the far land
-It would have been better for him if he had
done otherwise. for the times were troublous Just
aH. and the northern provinces OF the Spanish
.l-uIa through which he took his way were a
pray ID, unrest and civil war, No work was to be
..,: .nl as be was totally ignorant Of the Ian
.go of the country he found himself confronted
difficulties Of every kind. On one occasion he
taken prisoner by the troops Of the govern
u..r a- 4 supposed spy and would IN all prop
iI.ts have been shot if at the last moment an
.r.r Who was conversant with the German
..amining his papers which were all in order,
Sid convincing himself Of the inoffensive char
a.r Of the young German artisan lie was aa-
-. II auit Is soon as possible such dangerous
ground and make his way with all speed over the
French frontier But this was easy under
taking: for it was in the Basque provinces th nat
Evil war was raging most fiercely; deadly
.--. I, ,5-,r. .,f everyday occurrence, and all