The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-05-09


| Brother Marten, you wrong him; but
my son, if you do not care to hear
him, go down to Walston's church.
Goodnight" said William, with
much emphasis, though he had just
risen from the breakfast table. mot
on your life, Ma, dear. Here's where
your little Willie fades away. Maybe
I'll go to st. Patrick's with Tom
Doran."
What" gasped Mrs. Marcy. ooh
Willie, of course you don't mean it.
you wouldn't do such a thing, you
mustn't. Father, this is your work
forbid him, | insist, forbid him.
Billy retired hastily before his ia.
theirs guns could be brought into
action.
Mr.. Marcy gave no evidence of
alarm, tom is a fine young fellow.
You may be glad to have Bill with
him, he'll never take him to any
place you need be ashamed of, you
may be sure of that"
This is what comes of making
friends of these people. We never
should have bought a house so near
Catholic Church"
What harm have the Dorans or
the Maheneys done us? Could we
have had better neighbors?"
"No-no-they are as good and
kind as possible, and I wish my fam
lily were as true to their religion as
our neighbors are to theirs, but that
makes their influence the more dan
gerous."
Nonsense" said Mr.. Marcy, they
are good people and their influence is
good, and it can't be good and bad at
once Don't worry"
Mrs. Marcy felt she had reason to
worry, aside from the dangers Of her
neighbours influence, for Billy was not
always with Tom Doran.
you'll be late for church if you
don't start, Mother"-it was Evelyn,
the only daughter, and the baby of the
family, who was reminding her. Mrs.
Marcy sighed as she put on her bon
net-Evelyn was another source of
uneasiness. Evelyn had been docility
itself until Mr.. Marcy's invalidism had
developed; her fathers need gave her
excuse to free herself from the bonds
the Free Evangelical was striving to
forge for her. Her mother never
dreamed that methods of evangelism
familiar to her from childhood were
a horror to her child. Her fathers
keen intelligence was hers, her sensi-
tiveness was all her own, and she re
sented as desecration the crudeness
of the personal plea to publicly con-
fess her sins in the prayer-meeting
and turn to God," resented with all
the fire of her youth and innocence
being publicly prayed for as a
"wretched and sin-sick soul,' soul
''hated by Cod for it's hardness and
pride.
IT don't see why God should hate
me-" poor Evelyn cried to herself. 81
want to be a good child, want to
love Him, as Agnes and Molly do, but
they won't let me. l don't believe
what they say! I don't believe it!'
To Mrs. Marcy, who had never had
an outlook wider than the most puri-
tanical orthodoxy, who had enjoyed all
the thrills and excitement attendant
on public conversion, to whom Eek
perience meetings" and revivals were
the breath of life, her daughters atti'
tude was beyond comprehension. She
asked Brother Marten to labor with
Evelyn in private, but after one such
effort Mr.. Marcy refused to permit a
repetition.
You can have your minister here
when you choose, but he must let
Evelyn alone" was his dictum.
"She is my child and l must save
her SOUL" poor Mrs. Marcy cried.
"She is my child, too, and am not
going to have her tormented," was her
husbands quiet response.
Accustomed as she was to having
her own way, she knew when he
spoke it was useless to protest
further. She resorted to diplomacy
and turned the case over to the Rev.
Walston.
Evelyn openly flouted her brother,
"You may pray that way all you want
to, but not while I'm around" was
her prompt encouragement of his adj
vances. His efforts to "save" her
father increased her bitterness
Heaven must be a queer place ii
Walston can get in and father can't,
she reflected.
Her father was her ideal of all a
man should be, and as his weakness
became more apparent her tenderness
and devotion developed too. She NO
longer repined that she could not
have part in the fun the young Dor
ans and Maheneys were always CON
cocting. Billy shared it, and she had
chafed at the restraint her mother
had put upon her, refusing her all the
natural pleasures of her age. Agnes
and Molly went to church every
morning and spoke of holy things
with a matter-of-coarse familiarity
that shocked Mrs. Marcy but attracted
her daughter. She would have liked
to ask them about their religion as
Billy did Tom, but her mothers per
mission to be with them was condi
tional-religion must not be mention
ed. Nothing mattered now, though
except father, she could not bear tc
leave him when he ordered her to run
out for some fresh air. The sympathy
and fellowship that had been her CHIEF
delight from childhood strengthened