The Connecticut labor press., 1920-04-03
''I'll write to the bishop about

yelled. 'I'll write to the bishop about you.'
 Crash went the singlestick. "Are you going to have me arrested?" in quired Father Lucfen.
 "No," muttered Simeon, covering his head with his hands.
 Crash! Simeon's hands flew apart as if they were attached to springs Are you going to write to the bish- opp" asked the cure.
 you d. bully!"
 Simeon snatched at the knob on the end of the singlestick nearest him. but movement 4 provides for that, and the crack of a broken finger was distinctly audible to the intensely interested spectators.
 ''When are you going to close down, SfmeOn? demanded Father Lucien, standing over the prostrate liquor seller.
 At once'!" yelled Simeon, bursting into tears. "For Gods sake don't hit me again!'
 Simeon looked so abject that the 1 cure had not the heart to continue his punishment. He looked about him. A singlestfck describes a circle having a radius of several feet. Exercise 2 cleared the counter in a jiffy, leaving a wreck of reeking spirits and broken glass.
 | When the cure turned upon the en- thusiastic, shouting throng, the grins died off their faces.
 l "Get out of here, my children!" he shouted. And, twirling his singlestick with indescribable velocity, he brought it down on one head after another, 1 much as one might strike a row of fence posts. The terrible implement seemed to fly in all directions at the same time. Father Lucien cracked the last man across the shoulders and sent him flying into the street. For Gods sake don't leave me alone in here with him !" moaned Sim con from the floor.
 | Father Lucien came back and stood over him. twirling his singlestick ] meditatively. At last he laid it down upon the counter.
 "It's all right, Simeon, my son." he said gently. 'I think I've cured you now. Pm going to hear your confes- sion. A man never knows when he's l going to be sick, Simeon. Let me hear you say your Act of Contrition, if you haven't forgotten it."
 Wait a minute" pleaded Simeon. Are you going to see my brother Louisa afterward?"
 i've seen him." answered the cure.
 And Jean Pouliot, and Albert Drouin, and George Moisan, and"
 ''Pm going to-" replied the cure grimly. So Simeon, with a new ex- pression of qualification, came back into the church.
 When, fifteen minutes later, Father Lucien emerged from the shanty, Ste. Marie was an extraordinary sight. Every drink-shop had locked up, their l owners had fled, and the streets were packed with crowds which. at the sight of the priest, set up yell of delight. The women pressed about him, sob- ping their gratitude. It was with diff ficulty that he could make his way l through the feminine bodyguard that accompanied him along his way, and after he had persuaded them to go home the distant cheering still rang in his ears. .a "I snail come back every week." was l Father Lucien's last promise to Ste. Marie. q shall break the head of every man who has brandy in his house." D God bless you, father" came back | from a hundred throats. 2 And, being at last satisfied that Ste. Marie was closed as tightly as it was ever likely to be, Father Luclen took the homeward road to St. Boniface again.
 He went through the limits instead of along the shore, and was nearing the village when he encountered Lafe. Hello, Father Lucy Where do you come from?" asked the latter. I i've just been paying pastoral visit to Ste. Marie," said the cure de 1 murely. .
 Lafe stared at him. "What d'you 1 call that?" he demanded "That Is a singlestick," said Fa- ther Lucien. "It is good exerciser for old men like you and me, Lafe."
 Sort of light double club" said Lafe. "What's that hair on the end. | father? Say, that looks like blood, don't it?'
 That is Simeon DuvaPs, ,"e the cure 1 answered. You see, MT. Lafe-" Lafe stopped short. Father Lucy, d'you mean to tell me you've knocked | out Simeon?" , .. "I'm afraid so. MT. Lafe. couldn't l get into his soul in any other way. l But, Pm getting there. Next time | shall have learned some more eXer- l cises, and then"
 | "You closed up Ste. Marie?" l ''Well, for the present, yes" ad- | mitted the cure. "But next time" Shake, father,". said Lafe, stretch ing out his hand. By George, you do 1 get results after all when you start in. But why didn't you do that be | fore?" .". l "It was your friend, Monsieur As kew. who put the thought into my | head" said Father Lucien. By the way. Mir. Lafe, have a letter from a | friend in St. Joseph"
 "st. Joseph? Why, that's where | Nanette Bonnat-" s = Precisely. And she has fold every thing about the visit to the island, concerning which. as you are aware. Mademoiselle Rosny-" -
 Lafe shook his head. "1t ain't any use, father" he said. "I been to see her and told her. She knows that l yarn ain't true. But she's like all