THE REAR GUARD

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3, 30 January 1908, Page 37

THE REAR GUARD

He strolls in to Mass at the ' Sanctus,' • ..- Or maybe a moment before ; - - A-nd, lest he should bother his neighbors, He drops on one -knee at the door. Good seats near the altar are vacant, In fact there is room and to spare ; But why should he- push himself forward? He'd be so conspicuous there"! He doesn't look up at the altar, But keeps his gaze bent on the floor ; We notice him yawning a little, As though it all were a bore. . -. He squats for the last Benediction, And then, dre the service is through, We look for him there in the background And find he has melted from -view.So strange ! Now we thought we saw him. Last night at the vaudeville show ; It seemed to us then he was fighting . To get in the very front row. He must have been there before seven— Oh, surely some minutes before ; Hte headed the line that was waiting Outside of the gallery door. And when the door opened, good gracious ! How active he was in the race Upstairs, and then over the benches And down to the very front place. My ! how he applauded the singing, And laughed at the jokes that -were cracked— His eyes never left the footlights, Transfixed till the very last act. This can't be the same man this morning, The slowest and dullest of chaps ; We must have seen some other f Jlow Last evening— his brother, perhaps. ' Catholic Standard and Times.,,'