The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-12-19
A GREEN CHRISTMAS

The Stannard sisters-the towns
people often spoke of them as the
"Stannard girls" ironically : looked
with faded eyes on the bare landscape.
Like the street they gazed upon, they
themselves had not changed in the
memory of many of the village folk.
They stood alone, sentinels of a van
ishing past, on Sundays the last oc-
cupants of the once well-flled Stannard
pew in the Congregationalist meeting
house on the hill. Petty and self
centred, their lives had run their
narrow-gauge course. Love never
raped at, their easement windows,
or if he, did, had found them closed
and double-barred.
8 There they come"
Ellen parted the curtains, ever SO
little. She was an adept at the vii
lage art of seeing without being seen.
Its only the Egan family"
They saw a stocky man in his early
thirties, smiling down at his wife. Be-
side him trudged a little girl, while
the wife gave her hand to small boy
who was tugging to get free and join
an older brother, older by hardly more
than year, who was close on the
heels of a small dog. His way seemed
to lead direct to the Stannard lawn.
Prudence Stannard raised thimble
from the Work-basket beside her, ready
to tap against the window-pane in the
event that the sacredness of her yard
and well-spaded flower plots were in
vaded. But the dog saw something
more to his fancy on the other side of
the street and darted across the road
way, followed by the boy. Prudence
folded her hands under her apron and
turned her head from the window.
Hes the man who bought the place
next door,"
The speaker knew that her sister
was perfectly aware that Jack Egan
and his family had been their next
door neighbors for months. She had
even made a surreptitious visit to a
furniture van, that had come down
from the city and stood over night
near the side lawn when the family
was moving in. But Prudence and
her sister had fallen back to the easy
refuge of the weak, shutting out un-
pleasant and unwelcome facts.
Il never saw anything like 1.-THE
number of Catholics there are in this
town-especially since they built a
new church on the shore road. The
street is lined with buggies and auto
mobiles of Sunday now. This town
will be overrun with Catholics before
we know it." Prudence began
They've probably been to Mass on
Christmas. | saw the Tunney's ma
chine pass recently Ellen put in.
There's something heathenish about
them" Prudence leaned forward
gripping the arms of her chair. I'm
told they hate anybody who isn't a
Catholic, and would shoot them if they
had a chance. Catholics never do
anything for person who isn't a mem
Der of their Church. / wouldn't be
surprised if we had another massacre
of st. Bartholomew right here, when
they get powerful enough"
ct is terrible" said the younger
sister. But we can't do anything that
| I know Of DR.. Wright of our church
told me the other day how he had
read that the Catholics are trying to
get control of the Government here
and make the Pope king of America. .
They are idolators, too," Prudence
interrupted. Il wouldn't have believed
it without the testimony of my own
eyes. So one day l walked into big
church in Boston, and there 1 saw a
woman kneeling down in front of a
statue"
But Mr. Egan does not look like a
bad man." Ellen protested, land l saw
the priest on the street the other day.
He had a kind face"
That's the worst part of it. You
can't tell from their looks It's their
religion that makes them bad"
A light rap at the rear door inter
rupted the sisters observations Both
women went to answer it. In the door.
way stood a little girl with soft cur1s
and eyes as blue as the lakes of Kill