ROBBED OF HIS FAITH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7, 20 February 1908, Page 7

ROBBED OF HIS FAITH.

' There ! The sigml's up and the train's 'just due. Off you go, Louis, ?nd look outi for your lady.' It was the statijn -master at Interlaken who shouted this to his companion— a tall, fair, mountaineer in the unmistakable garb of % guide— as he himself bustled on to the platform of tha Thunersee Railway. Puffing and blowing, sh ieMng and whistling, the great engine steamed into the station, and the man addressed as Louis ran along its side, peering into every carriage as it raised. He was not long in finding the object ha sought. A thin, middle-aged lady, plainly but elegantly dressjd, appeared at one of the windows, and wlen tbe door was opened' sprang lightly to the ground, followed by her maid. 'Ah ! there you -are, Louis,' she exclaimed, as the man stood bowing respectfully before her. 'It is gooi of ,you to come and meet mo.' Then noticing he was in mourning, 'So you have 10-t poor Babette. I'm so sorry for you. You must tell me all about it, my poor f How.' ' I ■will wait upon madnme to-morrow,' .replied the guide, taking her handbag from her. ' Nothing of the kind ; I want to see you to-night. Come up to" th a Victoria and get something to eat. I'm not at all tired, and shall te ready to see you as soon as I've had my dinner.' So saving, she turned to her maid, who had been looking after the luggage, and entering one of the large carrinsres outside the s'ation, drove off to the hotel. Miss Aranella Wilson was an English lady of independent means, an Evangelical Protestant by profession and ereitly aiven to active wor' s of charity. She lived at FolVes'one, where, rot ciring for society, she_ # spent most of her diys in visiting the poor and looking after tnrlds, clubs, a-d hospitals. But though Evangelical to the' extreme, she was not bigoted, and gave freely and ki-i'dly to all who stood in need of her bounty wilho'it fmv fit<em>"t at rrosplvtizing. Naturally she looked unon Catholics as heathens and idolators, and. if sh" siw an opportunity would make them a present of a Vi^le or a few tracis, bait never went out of her w-v to do so. She ' left them to the Lord,' she said. Busy and occupied as Miss Wilson was, she only allowed herself one holiday a year, ' and that was to Switzerland. She always went to the same place— ln terlaken ; always to the same hotel — the Victoria, and always had Ihs same guide— Louis Muller. Climbing the Alps was her greatest delight, and thoue-h ' she never ventured on any dan^ermis expedition, which she looked unon 'as tempting Provid-nce, she ir-ed to ascend as ■hi"'h as h»r clever rniide deemed safe or practicable. Every possible day Miss Wilon and Lo^is Muller went some>wihNre, awd, if h'umejry, she won Id 1 entber the cottage's rf the v'iUigers or the baits of the mountaineers and rarta y e eft their simple rrfrpstoments as thoutrh she wore one of themselves. Sho piever took "any of her ■bfles or tncts to th-m. ' I've come to enioy myself;' sh^ said. ' I'm n^t a missionary, pndif I can make any of thes" poor people hi-rxpy by ga^ina; them a few pieces rf silver, why ennnt I do so without troubling my- ► s-lf aVo'it their faith ?' As no^e of the Peasants or n^rt^men on the Alnsl c^uld s^eak "or read n w n r^ of English, but" only* a kind of German n^t^is, Miss Wilson's "bibles r>nd tr»c+s wn^Vl hnve do^e them neither h">rm nor food, and probafily havp served +o b p ln "hoi'l tin 'Vp-ft 1 ? in t^e wm+er. n n^ of thp 'firs* visits sh°-«alwavs Paid was to vh* o-^+t^p-e rf the "Muito", t>e - T>ir,tnrpsciue viTa^e of Alppnb°re. on, the route to Griixlelwald. Ba-btettp, the * dtelicate little wife of the sturdy

mountaineer, received her with .unbounded pleasure, and the .six bdu&-eyed flaxem-haired children .gazed at her with unmitigated delight, well knowing, the basket she carried was full of ca...es and toys andsweets.' One of the children, a handsome little lad .of about five years old, was Miss Wilsons special favorite,' and' h^x liiiing for him was greatly increased by his evident devotion to herself. She had seen him a baby "in his mother s arms ; she had watched his growth year after jear, and though other children were born to Louis .and babette, none took her fancy as did little Joseli. As the child grew older he always had a bunch beautiful Alpine flowers or a basket of wild strawberries .to present to her on her arrival, and his greatest delict was to go out with her into the meadows,, or take her to see the cows and the goats that ; his brother Karl minded on the mountain tide. ' i Therefore, it was with more than usual haste that on this occasion Miss Wilson made her way to Alpenberg. 'I must see those poor children who have lost their rro'.her,' she said to Louis, ' and I shall want to g,o to the cemetery to see Babette's grave.' The great sturdy fellow flushed uneasiLy, and his eyes looked suspiciously moist. ' Madame does us honor,' he reolied, ' but she will find things, very different to what they were last year. The children have no one to look after them now, and -.they run a bit wild.' ' I suppose nons of them can earn anything yet ?' remarked Miss Wilson, thoughtfully. ' Nothing to speak of, 1 replied Louis. ' Karl, the eldest "boy, minds a few cows for Farmer Christian, but lam obliged to keep Margaretta at home to look after the rest. The girl does 'her best, and we trust in God and His Blessed Mother.' ' Yes, trust in God, Louis,' exclaimed Miss Wilson, ignoring his mention of the Blessed Virgin. ' God never forsakes those who put all their confidence in Him.' When the benevolent lady arrived at Alpenbterg she found things far worse than she suspected. The children looked untidy and half-starved, and the state of the house betrayed the povert3' that reigned within. For though Louis Muller was a thoroughly .respectable and irustworthy man, his living was precarious, and the last year was a bad one for him. The little ones Fhourted with delight when- they beheld their kind benefactress, and crowded round her in exuberant glee. But she missed the restraining, hand of the gentle mother, whose one word or look was sufficient to keep those turbulent spirits in due subjection. But Mi r s Wilson was e-ual to the occasion. She ga r *e the eldest girl money to buy some food in the village ; snoke kindly but firmly to hpr little friends, and sit hers-lf down on a wooden bench while two of the boys tried to tidy up the room. As for Joseli, nothing, could induce him to leive her side. He knelt there, 1001 ing into her face with mute adoration, touching • her dress with his chiiibtoy finders, and/ wondering if J she vould take him out with her into the meadows where the flowers grew. . Miss Wilson's heart was touched with pity, and her pity took the form of real charity, for she never left the Mullnrs want while she was . in Switzerland a period of fully six weeks. She went over and over again to see the children, and cane up some of her most cherished excursions in order to pass the time with her humble proteges. About a week before her departure for England she spnt for Louis to come and see her at the Victoria Hotel, and, making hira sit down, came to the point at ones. ' Louis, my man,' she said, ' I've a proposal to maice to you which I want you to think seriously over, an-d let me tonow vovr derision as soon as you ' me VJ^n* l l m l ?-° Se% - an l if 70U Will dye him to me, I will a-dont him', eiv e him a good profession when he grows un, and lea^e him well off when T clip ' TJ" ,S»i'de fairly sorted with surprise. If MSss Wilson hajd announced her intention of descpnding into a cre-ssP. Ino-der to see what was at the bottom, he cold not < have f*lt more astounded. What! she. ■ the rirh Rpgiis?,. l«,dv. their benefactress and Mend to f+ onP I ., nf his and adopt Mm for her own? it vas h-e a Mrv tale— it could not he true ! J (To be concluded next week.) *