The Irish standard., 1915-04-03
THE MIDNIGHT VOICE
An Easter Story
By CELIA HORD KENNY

It was midsummer late in the aft
ernoon and the place was camping
shack near a lake. The two young
men that were outing it together were
widely different in physical type but
quite similar in wholesome nature
They were admirable comrades. From
chance acquaintance they had grown
to be close friends during the few
weeks of their joint sojourn in the
woods. 1t had been in June that one
of them, Dave, college boy, had set
out to spend his vacation in the heart
of nature with no companionship save
the class-skipping studies he had plot
ted out to accomplish before the forth
coming fall.
1t was neat little bower that he
fitted out for himself in what had
been tiny deserted carriage house
erected before the dwelling it was
built for had been moved into the
nearby village.
Dave was very ingenious. He soon
had the weather beaten, neglected lit
tie hut transformed into . coy cot,
neatly painted and papered, supplied
and decorated with college taste. The
nearby village was stylish summer
resort with all modern appurtenances
so that he was able to light it cleo
trically and to provide it with every
comfortable and labor saving device.
His zeal for study must have been
great when it had the power of bring
ing an unexpected tutor. One evening
just before dark, on one of the first
days of his solitary habitation young
man knocked at his door to make
some inquiry regarding the automobile
road between the shack and the lake.
The young man was fine looking. Dave
observed that he was tall, blue eyed
and of distinguished mein, at the
same time that the young man discov-
cred that Dave was dark eyed, me-
dunn sized and youthfully frank. They
like each other instantly, and, despite
the eight years difference in their ages,
for the stranger was twenty-six-it
was very short step from first sight
into an agreement to share the cot
tage and each others work and study.
Raymond, the newcomer, was employ
ed in rural canvassing and both of
the campers soon settled down very
successfully to system of mutual
aid.
II like to work up my studies just
before going to bed at night" said
Dave. IF I get all the terms of a
problem into my mind or all the points
of an argument they work themselves
out in the night just as our breakfast
cooks itself in the fireless cooker and
in the morning the solution gets clear
in my mind while am taking the
breakfast out of the fireless."
So thereafter they used to call the
mental storehouse the sphynx and
both of them used to play at coming
problems over night by sleeping on
the preamble of them, asking each
other the next morning, "What does
the sphynx say about it,"
| Raymond had singularly pleasant
way of making their evenings enter
tanning after it grew too dark to watch
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singer and choir leader Of Catholic
choir now temporarily disbanded for
the summer and he was full of anus
ing "reminiscences of rehearsals and of
enthusiastic recollections of festival
choir programs. His voice was
sweet, rich tenor and his talk was
often interpolated with beautiful
hymns alluded to in his narrative.
Neither of them smoked and their
favorite way of closing the day grew
to be lying on their cots side by side
in the dark while Raymond talked and
sang until they were both asleep.
One night, while lying thus in the
dark, Raymond sang beautiful set
ting of the Salve Regina and at the
end of it he began to utter his aris-
ing thoughts on devotion to the
Mother of God.
ut is the lovely beginning of the
reverence for all good women" he
was saying, (which sets them above
being made use of, even beneficially
l don't even like to hear people talk
of their uplifting effect as if they were
instruments of reformatory conve-
niences. Not even for the highest pur-
poses is a woman a tool"
Were you ever in love, Ray?" asked
Dave, deferential as he always was
to the others pretty tone of chivalry.
NO" answered Ray, land l hope
nothing will ever happen to shake my
| idea of the way want to love If
ever d." and then he drifted back to
his choir "reminiscences and he began
to tell of the music in the church
on the previous Easter Sunday Dave
listened eagerly. in the darkness.
eve sang a beautiful arrangement
of the Regina Coeli," said Ray. enthu
siastically, "it began with a solo b,
the tenor like this" and he sang 8
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