The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-06-20
A PAIR OF BROWN BEADS

That Mark Gaylord steadfastly de-
clined to become a Catholic was a
constant source of grief and disap-
pointment to his devout wife. A grief,
| however, that never found express
sion; a disappointment that never
clouded the happiness of an ideal
home life.
"Do not try to force him." advised
the old priest to whom she had con-
fded her secret sorrow. Nothing
would be gained and much might be
lost. You want him to become Cath
Ollie, not through sentiment, not
through desire for your approval
nor yet through fear of your reproach,
but through knowledge and convic-
ton of the Truth. Pray, my daughter,
pray, and let your life give evidence
of the faith that is in you. On the
teachings of the Church give sugges-
tions for information if such would be
welcomed. Otherwise be. silent. Re
double your prayers and leave the rest
to God"
Thus had begun the bitter soul
struggle in which, after six long years,
Helen Gaylord was forced to acknowl-
edge defeat. But she chung even yet
to the faint hope that some time the
victory would be won, though she
might not be there to witness the
final triumph There was little to en-
courage her, however, in her husbands
present attitude.
While he did not openly scott at her
religion-he was too much a gentle
man to do that-he still seemed to
hold it lightly. He had, as matter
of course, consented to Margaret's
baptism, and he was glad that she had
been taught to say her prayers. That
was a necessary part of childs
training; and that she would kneel
at her mothers knee while she lisped
the syllables was quite the conven-
tional and withal the picturesque thing
to do. The group pleased his artistic
sense. Mrs Gaylord, however, had for
other reasons, chosen the library as
the place of Margaret's evening pray
ers. 1t was there that she and Mar
garet's father read or discussed affairs
for an hour or so after dinner, and it
had seemed best that the little daugh-
ters invocations be made in the
fathers presence. But later, when the
prayers had heightened bit, Mark
Gaylord had been plainly bored and
as plainly relieved when his wife had
casually remarked to Margaret's
nurse, one night:
ct think Hannah, that Margaret is
old enough now to have her evening
devotions in her own room. After to-
night you need not bring her here"
Not even Margaret's father detected
the note of sorrow that sounded
through the quietly given decision, and
he would have been both surprised and
grieved to learn that his increasing
irritation each evening had been pain
fully observed. Instead, he was
honestly glad that, in the natural or
der of things as it seemed to him, now
that Margaret was five years old, the
practise was to be discontinued with
out any decree from him. He was not
sure how much longer he could have
complacently borne it.
He had WINGED guilti1y that night at
the childish treble, "GoG bless daddy"
And to overcome his embarrassment,
he had noisily Strengthened out the
evening paper, crinkled and crushed
repeatedly while the little girl had
prayed. His restlessness was not lost
upon the anxious wife who, recogniz-
ing the inexpediency of continuing
the present course, had so worded her
acceptance of defeat as to make the
change appear rather as part of a
pre-conceiyed plan than the blind i'm
pulse born of the necessity of the
moment. And it was quite in keep
| ing with his obduracy in matters of
religion that he failed to see the
price being paid by his wife to pur-
chase his comfort. Along other lines
of thought he was man of keen per-
ceptions and was not naturally selfish.
The decision brought an unexpected
sorrow into Margaret's life. This visit
| to the library was such precious
thing. It was something to which she
looked forward each day. Kneeling at
mothers chair, she could touch dad
dy's by just reaching out her hand.
OF course, this she never did, since
her hands were clasped together, but
then the sense of his nearness was
! just as strong as if she had thus tested
! it. And now this was to be taken
from her. and it was because she was
growing older. Truly increasing age
had its advantageous and it brought
great deprivations. Instinctively, she
knew that it was improbable her