THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DID WRONG.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 7, 14 February 1907, Page 5

THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DID WRONG.

The housekeeper announced, ' Miss Tallon, Father ! ' Fat/her U{ Connor set his book-mam in at the eviction scene of Luke Delmege,' and with a momentary compression" of the lips that- muant facing a frequent and not altogether agreeable civvy,. passed into tiie parlor. «

This was the. meeting day- of the Society of St Martha, and Miss-. -Tallon always called on him directly after adjournment. Through several years' experience he knew that these calls always meant complaints— ' more m sorrow than in anger, to be sure— of the other officers or of certain members ; with a contrast hardly conscious of her own fidelity to duty, and the sacrifices she had made for the society and its beneficiaries . For Miss Tallon was president of the society. She was ' the head of everything among the Catholic women of Bruce town,' as any member of St. Joseph's parish would' have explained to a tsflranger. Indeed if the Golden Rose or the Laetare Medal were to be ■ given, in Brucetown, the people would have deemed it Miss Tallon's inalienable right.. ' ' Truly, she had many claims, ancestral and personal, on local (Jatholic gratitude, - Her grandfather had given the site of. at. uose^ph's, now one of thie most > valuable properties in the town, together with a generous offering to the building fund. At the dedication of the church, her father's gift was the 'high altar and two memorial windows-; and on her parents' death ' Miss Tallon and her brothers and sisters— all married but herself— had given a beautiful marble altar in keeping with her father's earlier gift, to the Lady Chapel In wealth and respectability, the Tallons " had lone been the foremost Catholics in Brucetown. Miss Tallon as the eldest and most masterful, held life tenure of the family residence, a few blocks from St. Joseph's where her aged uncle and two maids growing cray iA the service of the house, abode with her. * - She was nearing her fortieth year in single blessedness and ably keeping up the family tradition of generosity to religion ; adding thereunto new forms of social service, -noti only among t«he familiar poor, but among the oft-times needy foreigners drawn so numerously to Brucetown in recent years by the big wicker furniture manufactory.

Yet, while everyone respected Miss Tallon and acknowledged all her claims, there was hardly one who would not have braced himself for a private interview with her just as Father O'Connor did i S°T ' you ' Julie ? ' &sked the P ries^» Pleasant- " 7 / + v every one of the third generation of the Tallons, and had seen this one grow from infancy to her prime maturity ; he himself verged on his - vigorous and young-hearted old age. ' • Well, considering everything,' sighed the lady, standing respectfully, as the priest settled himself as well ' as he could in the slippery horse-hair arm chair • opposite her. " ■

t^ II 11I 1 ™ st thero is no double, in the family,' said Father O'Connor, with kindly solicitude. '.Nov indeed, we never have trouble,- in the ordinary acceptation of the word,' rejoined Miss Tallon, with- a perceptible stiffening of her exceedingly erect person: . i* mi. Tallons were as Proper as Miss Tallon herself. The young- people were, the painful models of the various school* they attended. On their occasional visits to Brucetown, Father O'Connor would" have' given much to see one of these decorous nephews hanging on behind 'to a grocer's cart ; or one- of~ the nieces with a torn gown or hair disordered in healthful play ; _ just as he wished for an occasionallapse from grammatical accuracy, or a hearty, laugh from the anodel aunt herself. ' - r « mJ- * . thou g*»t of possible illness,' said "the priest gently. This is a sickly season.' „

4 Our family rarely has illness. All the children have inherited sound constitutions and get the best of care. i\oi; it is a little worry auout our St. Martha's Socieiy. "-To be Lank with you, Father O'Connor, it was a mistake, to admit Mrs. 'i Horn ton ' to membership.' - l Why, she seems" to be a very constant and- eligible visitor among the poor.' ' - -. 1 That is not • the' .question, Father.,' It -.is her bad N influence at the 'meetings. She is \sb very frivolous; - alt for dress and joKes and- the notice' of men, as if--she were a badly brought vp 1 - "girl of eighteen, instead' 1 of . There, look at her now ! \ ' -The lady in question was passing,- evidently happy in the company of the tall man" of middle age, who, beaming with good fellowship," bad :.to bend a bit to catch the words of the bright-faced, gaily dressed little widow. '' '•--,• '1 suppose it's only a matter of taste, V said the priest, keeping his mind on the spoken criticisjnx, and ignoring Mrs. "Thornton's escort.- l \A/ young- woman adorning herself always seems to be Me -a. bird sitting on a bough and preening its feathers. It's nature, and so long as. it's modest — — ' ' ' but Mrs. Thornton is far from young : she is at least as. old as I^am.' • And you are still a young girl to me,' he 'answered. But Miss Tallon was not. to be placated- nor diverted from her grievance. • Was it ' zeal undefiled for righteousness, or was it John Hamilton's apparent admiration for the little widow that opened the eyes of a woman who never blundered, to the shortcomings of her frailer sister ? The human heart is a labyrinth in which the wanderer is' as often surprised by unlookedfor evil as by unlooked-for good. Few knew its tortuous windings better than Father O'Connor. Miss Tallon's-' might have beens ' as to Holy Matrimony had better ground than most of those maiden ladies verging on middle age. Was she not an heiress and good to look at even yet, though a little sharp", of feature and angular of figure ? Who in Brucetown^ or even in the city a hundred miles east, of- it,' where most of her family dwelt, equalled herein delicate-refine-ment of dress— the result, no doubt, "of observant ' - sojourns in Paris, with a well-filled purse.' • .But the advances of all suitors were, repelled with gentle but unmistakable coldness ; arid only one besides herself realised that John Hamilton, ' the playmate of her childhood, who having acquired a competence, could not be, suspected of mercenary - motives, might at any time have had that well-controlled heart ' for the asking. True, he had sacrificed' many of his best years to the claims of filial and brotherly duty, but at last he was free. And now, if he paid to any woman attention in wlAch the little world of" Brucetown could read the slightest significance, it was to this gaudy, flippant stranger. ■ - : This was the thought, albeit vague and unacknowledged, which tortured Miss Tallon during the uncomfortable silence which had fallen between herself ■ and her old friend. _ ' But there is nothing so wrong as to be ground for remonstrance,' said the priest at; last. . ' . ' Only that she is slangy and, flippant to the verge of irreverence, brazen in her ''pursuit of men's attentions, and, having a ready though hardly refined humor, she has cast a sort of spell over all our younger members. But knowing her brothers and sisters as we do, what could we expect ? ' The priest had no answer, for he had himself accounted it a miracle of g-ace that the youngest of the wild and godless family in queslion^had been brought. through her widowhood and the death of her : idolized " child" within .the range of his influence, and finally into the Church. ' -- ~ 1 I had hoped so much for both from a possible friendship between you,' he said regretfully. 1 I can't imagine what Mrs. Thornton could; Tiave done for me,' sa4d Miss Tallon coldly. But,'* prising, ' I must go. I have already taken far too much of your valuable time. - - ' -' Don't mention it. My- thought was-rather oE what you might have done for Mrs. ' Thornton. "At - least, dear child, knowing all the good. God delivered her from in bringing her into the Church, you will "make allowance for some little foolishness, not yet, outgrown, and pray for. her perseverance. We who have always had the faith cannot quite enter into the difficulties of a convert.' ' 1 It strikes me that- we are more likely to err .the side, of over-indulgencß than of neglect, where con.verts are concerned. Good evening; .Father.'-

Miss Tallon was down the steps of. the rectory before Father O'Connor had found another parting word.

■Now that his attention had been called to it, the good priest had to admit Mrs. Thornton's i&ppancy, and her ready and thoughtless wit that seldom' stopped" to note where its sharp arrows pierced. Had 1 , he not nore than once in his occasional' visils to the Society of St. Martha, seCh the droll twinkle of the eye with which she received the measured utterances of . the stately president Had he not even caught her in £ telling caricature of the " president's good manner ? , The offender received' his remonstrances with a.penitent sigh, but her. lowered. * eyelids scarcely veiled two mirthful sparkles. There' was no doubt, too, that- she made the most of her -widow's privileges in leading honest John Hamileon on a dance - for her amusement." ~ ■■ Yet among the poorest of his flock her name was never mentioned except in benediction ; her coming the herald of unfajiling; relief and gladness. But Miss Tallon also was assiduous in her visits to the poor ; generous with material goods, lavish of advice and correction. As one victim of adverse fortune was -wont to put it : "Yes, I know she has given me many a thing, but she makes a body feel like a worm .of the earth .at the same time. Its " Why don't you keep- yourself clean ? " and " Why don't you mend your clothes ? " as if a body had two pairs of hands and. could be goin' ail day, after being up all night with a sick baby, to say nothin' of a drunken husband thrown in now and again. But the little woman, God bless her ! In shle comes, and not a word about the dirt, but she takes up the baby herself, and bathes him as nice as you please, and makes me lie down for a couple of hours while she straightens up tlAngs and leaves a bit of dinner ready for us before she's - off. . ' And I've known her many a time to go down on. her knees and wash poor old Granny Grogan's feet, makin' nothin' but a joke of it ; and the other day she was at the Polack's, * way down the road where nobody else goes. The poor mother had hardly the clothes to ; cover her, and didn't that good little creature slip 'off her old warm woollen skirt, savin 1 your presence, and put rt right onto Mrs. Zamfoxy, or whatever you call her. '

Sometimes the priest found a poor sick room made beautiful with the flowes Mrs. Thornton had 'carried thither. Often he came upon her perfectly at home in some wretched hovel, while shie mended the tattered clothing of the children and made them .presentable for school. She had not 'much to give. She had to manage her little income well to keep up appearances, but she gave of her time and labor - without stint, and forgot the charities of the day in the girlish pranks of flirtation of the evening:" '.After all,' mused Father O'Connor, •' she has .never an ill word of anyone, and if she only had the vocation she would make a . grand Sister of Charity.' But he smiled in spite of himself at the thought of Mrs. Thornton in a convent ; the while he prayed for something to soften the daily increasing bitterness of Miss Tallon's heart toward Mrs. Thornton.

It had been a trying day for Miss Tallon. Mrs. Thornton's absence from the meeting of the Society of St. Martha had not been a relief ; for on all sides there were regrets for her.

1 She is so handy about making things over, and so ready ta show ~ one how,' said even Rosa Deering, erstwhile Miss Tallon' s shy and silent worshipper. For once Miss Tallon did not call on- Father - O'Connor after the meetttfg. -.She hastened " back toAfoe stately solitude of her own home, where she might be " free of bitter thoughts of the woman who was supplanting her, and whose mischievous qualities seethed hidden from all eyes save her own. " She would have denied herself even to Mr. Hamilton, who still visited her now and then, but that she met -him face to face in \ the haW before t?h)e maid • could announce him. Almost on his heels came Father O'Connor. - 'I haven't seen Mrs. .Thornton for. more than a week. What has became of her ?' ■ asiked the Hornier: His hostess had heard the same words forty times that afternoon. This was the last straw. A bitter, word that could never have been recalled sprang" to. her lips, but the priest's heavier voice drowned it unheard. . , * . 1 Oh, "Mrs. -Thornton ! Why, the children of those ■poor Zamofskys, down the road from the hollow, all have malignant diphtheria ; the mother is in a bad way •herself, and could Ret no help, so Mrs. Thornton .wen t over last week, and shut herself up with them, " for better or worse," as she says. I found it out only this afternoon. Dr. Stone- thinks the- children will came through ! all right— she's a. great- little nurse— but he fears" for her, for all that she makes so light of it. ■

'She's a brick!' cried John Hamilton, ' but she must be .relieved. Did you 'ever- hear- of anything finer Miss Tallon ? ' . The • pi'iest held his breath ; but the demon was exorcised. • • ■" .

' The woman is a saint,' said Miss Tallon, ' and I am not worthy to loose the shoes^from her feet.' ' Oh, Miss Tallon, you would have done as\ much if you knew.' There was no mistaking 'the sincerity of the man's voice and eyes. .' 'No 'matter about me. The question is of relieving her,' said Miss Tallon, -hurrying to the telephone, as .she spoke,. She was a woman who always had her wits about her in an emergency. " - Butr the relief came too late. The Zambfsky children would recover, but their brave little nurse was poisoned through and through with the malignant disease. ' I suspected it,' Mrs. Thornton said calmly, when Father O'-Connor told her, and bade her prepare " for her last hour. She was in Miss Tallon's best " chamber; with an experienced nurse in attendance. Realising her change of abode,' she smiled faintly. ' Well, Father, in this case »Lt will be as blessed to receive as to give. She is a good woman, with a Puritan streak ,in her,, and I- -have -been her -torment. . . . I meant no harm. . . I never cared a pin for John Hamilton. . . nor he for me . . . but 1.was full of .... levity, • you call it . % . and her seriousness drew out all .my mischief. .. ■. " You_,hever knew ; but there's insanity in our- family ... a-nd I was fearing it, fighting it all the time .... my " own happy hours were when I , was in church or with the poor. . . Then I forgot. . . -The rest- of the- time tt jtost h)a!d to kee,pi " fooling-,- .• „ Tell her, and tell her, too, I'm glad to die her debtor. . . God was so good to give me that chance" with the Zamofskys. ... It will count— won't it, Father ? ' - '

' Count, my ~ child ! Haven't you laid down your life for those poor strangers ?-. You know what our Lord has promised for even a. cup of cold water given in His name ; and" you have given your all.

The tears were on the old priest's cheeks as he gave the last Sacraments to the dying woman, and stood 1 by her through her agony, terrible, "but mercifully short.

After Mrs. Thornton's death, Brucetown folknoticed a great change in Miss Tallon. The- poor people down in the hollow said she was like their little favorite come back — only without the fun. ? Instead, were winning gentleness" and humanity which they could .not quite express, but which, they came to like as well. But no one' found the change- sweeter than John Hamilton, and when, by and by,, he and Miss Tallon decided 'to spend the rest of their days " together, their little world was sure that this was one of --the marriages made in Heaven.—' Monitor.'*

The Queensland Irish Association (Brisbane)- makes a good showing in its annual report. The ( >year „ began with a nominal credit "balance of £35 1951 d," the - c assets being £357 16s lOd, with liabilities amounting, to. £74 15s sd, leaving a debit balance of £38 16s 4d. 'At. the end •of the yeaj "the assets amounted to £570 19s 4d, including a credit balance of £234 14s 9d, while the-lia-bilities ,were nil. During the year 156- new members were" admitted,' and after accounting for* losses. by. death, resignation, "etc., there were 290 financial members- on the register.

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