The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-02-18
Continued from Page 81
THE WAKING or MADAME
CASTELLI.

SCOTuIully. 0uCu Ill luSd 1S q pre-
posterous. !"
And the invention of grasping
priesthood" added Miss Caldwell
laughing. Il finish your sentence for
you 1t is the stock-in-trade accusa-
ton. You do not know how presump-
tuous the denial of Purgatory seems to
a Catholic. Imagine anyone with all
his human faults thinking himself
ready to go at once into the presence
of God! It argues surely poor
knowledge of the Divine holiness. But
all this, suppose, has little to do with
your original contention. If we do
believe in purgatory, if we do believe
that the hottest of souls may
need our prayers on the other side OF
the grave, then we ought to be allowed
to say such prayers in peace without
being deemed for doing it-pardon
me-'vulgar Irish"
"But if it were all prayer" said the
Madame; "but drinking and smok-
ing! You certainly do not try to
prove that this is the wish of God"
IF there are abuses" said the girl,
"the Church is not to be blamed for
them any more than for the other sins
of her children. I have attended
many wakes and funerals and never
have I seen anything but Christian
decorum. Surely man may smoke
or man may take a drink and still
be a good Christian. If there are
abuses, and you seem to know that
there are, then the guilty will answer
are arguing to no purpose. To kill
the preconceived notions of people
against the Church is beyond my poor
skill"
"Then up let proceed to the lesson, .
said the Madame, eager to close the
discussion.
81 am afraid that I cannot stay
longer" said the girl.
"You are not offended" said Ma
dame, alphabetically.
mot at ALL" said the girl. "But I
simply came today to make arrange
ments for resuming lessons. You can
tell that ] have bad cold now"
"And if you don't get an addition to
it in this cold room I will be much
surprised" said the Madame laughing.
Next time you come I will have heat
in the studio. Will it be next Thurs
day
"That will suit me nicely said the
girl, rising to go.
"And rmember me to your dear
papa and mamma" said Madame, "and
do forgive me if / have hurt you. 1t
was not Intentional"
'T am not hurt" said the girl. l
always allow for the early notions in
stilled into people. / am glad the
question arose. Perhaps I have per
suaded you that we Irish are not
savages, and that when we do things
which you do not understand it is be-
actions"
you will convert me if you keep
on" said the Madame in an attempt
to remove any resentE-nt which
might exist, fearing that she had al.
lowed her Professionalism to go too far
i
any rate l may pray-pray that when
you come to die there will be someone
to say a prayer for you, to help you to
Heaven. 1t will be very different
| then"
When the girl had gone Madame
Castelli returned to her disgruntled
state of mind. The suavity which had
been one of her most valuable assets
| in the matter of holding pupils had
woefully deserted her in her first in
terview with her star pupil. Why
she asked herself, had she allowed re
ligious discussions to interfere with
business? Miss Caldwell would tell
her father all about the interview and
the patriotic Irishman would persuade
her to seek new teacher. 1t was
Castelli,. and the piano groaned again
under the leit-motif of her discomfort
But suddenly the woman stopped
and closed the piano with more firm
ness than gentleness. The chill was
getting into her bones. She turned
the key in the door, pulled the couch
from it's place by the window, drew il
into the middle of the room, piled the
pillows upon the piano bench, and
snuggled under the heavy blanket, set
tied down for a siesta.
Anyway" she said to herself
there's no use freezing to death wait
ing for pupils that never come. was
really afraid she unused aloud as
she fell into a doze, that ] offended
henry best pupil, too-and SO re
fned-and to think she believes all
those things how she fiared up
was a fool-she looked real forgiving
when she was going-and she said
she'd pray-she said she would pray
that would have someone to pray fol
me to get me to heaven-pshaw!-
heaven depends on that Til never
4 never"
-"
4 The Madame was asleep.
There was strange light in the