"Oh, no!" said Paula. "The goats don"t like the cold."
"Well, I declare!" said Catalina, "I wouldn"t have believed that! Well, run and ask permission of Teresa."
And Teresa dressed us up as if we were going on a voyage to the North Pole and gave us a thousand instructions. "Above all things don"t "dilly-dally"
on the way," she said. "The Breton was released from jail today, and you may depend on it he will not be in a very good humor. What a shame that Celestina should have such a terrible neighbor. You can never tell what a man like that may do. If my rheumatism would only let me, I would gladly go with you."
"What on earth would we do if we happened to meet the Breton?" I questioned Paula, and terror began to grip my heart as we drew near the drunkard"s house.
"Don"t you be afraid, Lisita," said Paula, taking my trembling hand in hers.
Celestina received us with exclamations of surprise and delight.
Overcome with emotion, she said, "To think of your coming to see me through all this terrible storm! I never would have expected you on such a day!"
We noticed a shade of sadness in her tone, and Paula questioned her as to the reason.
The old lady shook her head. "No, there"s nothing particular," she said; "the Lord seems to heap good things upon me; but at times on nearing the end of the journey the pilgrim gets a bit tired and longs for the blessed final rest." Then she paused and turned to us once more with a smile. "And you, young people, how goes the journey with you?"
"I too find," said Paula gravely, "that at times the way is difficult, but as we put our hand in that of the Lord Jesus, He helps and strengthens us."
The old lady"s eyes were full of amus.e.m.e.nt as she answered, "My, oh, me!
You talk as wisely as an old traveler who is about to finish his long journey instead of being still at the bottom of the hill. And your uncle!
Has he begun to go with you yet?" "My uncle," and Paula hesitated, "at least he permits us to serve the Lord."
"But he doesn"t let you attend church yet?"
"No, but I think he will some day."
"Courage, Paula," said the old woman, "the Lord Jesus has said, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life!" How happy I shall be when your uncle permits you to attend with us. I know the Lord has saved you and given you eternal life, and He will do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think. I"ve learned to say to Him, "Thy will be done!" While here on this earth we"re all students in His school. Sometimes the hours are long and the bench is hard, but if we are attentive and apt in the learning of our lessons, He is faithful, and oh, so generous in giving us of His good things! Some things He"s tried to teach me, but I"m too dull yet to comprehend, but I do know that some day He"ll let me see it all quite clearly. For example, it"s difficult to understand why He should have given me the Breton and his children for neighbors. Do you know the family?" she asked us.
"Oh, yes, indeed," said I; "I should say we did." This long conversation had made me sleepy, but the mention of the Breton had brought me wide-awake again.
"It I had known," continued the old lady, "that on the other side of the part.i.tion I was to hear nothing but quarrels and fightings and cursing, I would never have moved in here, but more that that, not content with disturbing the peace from within his own apartment, he even comes over to my side to torment me here in my small room. The Breton indeed is a terrible man when he"s drunk. I have tried to talk to him to see if I could do something to change his evil ways, but so far all my efforts have been useless."
I interrupted her to ask if she knew he had been liberated from the jail that very day.
"Oh, yes," she said; "he made a terrible scene this morning bullying his poor wife around. The poor soul is certainly worthy of our pity. But here I am talking on and on without enquiring once as to Catalina"s health."
"It was Catalina herself who sent us with this package for you," said Paula. "For me!" cried the old lady. "What"s all this?" and she nervously untied the strings. Then as she saw the good warm dress, her eyes filled with tears. "May the Lord bless the dear girl! He surely must have revealed to her my need!"
"Would you mind, please, putting it on? Catalina wanted us to find out if it fits you," I said.
The good woman nothing loath tried on the dress as she exclaimed, "My, oh me, how handsome I am for once in my life, at least," and a merry twinkle danced in old Celestina"s eyes, "I"ll have to keep this for Sunday wear only."
"No," said Paula, "Catalina said to be sure to tell you it was for everyday wear, for you see how it keeps out the cold."
"Well, then," said the old lady, "I suppose I must obey orders. But my, how beautiful it is, too beautiful for the likes of me!" And Celestina stroked the lovely cloth with her gnarled and withered fingers. "How very good the dear Lord is! And now if you don"t mind, let us pray together here to thank Him for all His mercies." Celestina who could not kneel, placed her hands on our bowed heads, and after a heartfelt prayer of thanks asked the Lord to bless us each one and each member of our family, her neighbors, and lastly herself.
Hardly had she finished when uncertain steps were heard coming down the pa.s.sage. The door suddenly burst open and a man staggered into the room.
"What"s this you"re doing?" he shouted.
"We"re praying," the old woman answered tranquilly.
"No more praying then! Do you hear me? I forbid you!" he shouted again in such a terrible voice that it was all I could do to keep from screaming with fright "You know very well," said Celestina calmly, "that you cannot prohibit my doing the thing that pleases me in my own house."
"And what pleasure do you get out of praying, tell me, you pious old hypocrite!"
"Well, if you"ll sit down calmly in that chair yonder, I"ll answer your questions."
"And suppose I don"t care to sit down! Do I look as if I were tired?"
"Perhaps not, but when you visit your friends you should try to please them, shouldn"t you?"
"What! Do you count me as one of your friends?"
"And why not?"
"This is why!" and the Breton shook his great fist in the old lady"s face.
"Oh, I"m a bad one I am! I could kill all three of you in a jiffy! Why, I just finished a month in the jail for "regulating" a fellow-worker at the factory, and I don"t mind doing another month for regulating you people!"
And the poor fellow"s face was more terrible than his words, and I thought our "time had come," as the saying is.
"Now, don"t you be afraid," whispered Celestina, as she drew me close; "G.o.d is with us; don"t forget that!"
"Why do you wish to harm us?" she said aloud, fixing her eyes on the poor drunken brute, in such a calm, loving and compa.s.sionate way that it seemed to calm him a bit.
"We"ve done nothing against you, and I can"t for the life of me see how we could have offended you. I am glad they let you go free. Now if you care to accept our hospitality I will make you a cup of coffee. It"s not the best quality but you"re welcome to what I have."
The Breton looked at the old lady in an astonished sort of way. "You"re certainly different from the rest of "em. Here I threaten to kill you, and you offer me a cup of coffee! That"s not what I deserve," and here he broke out laughing immoderately, and sat down by the stove where a fire was briskly burning.
"Well, this is a whole lot better than the prison anyway," said the Breton coolly, as he settled himself to enjoy the warmth.
"I should say so," said Celestina, "and there"s no reason for you to go back there either."
"Now none of your sermons, you know, for if you come on with anything like that I"ll be leaving at once," and it was clear that the Breton"s bad humor was returning.
"Well, that would be to your disadvantage on a cold day like this," said Celestina with a dry little smile.
"That"s a fact, that"s a fact. Brr! What weather!" and the poor drunkard drew closer to the fire. "Aren"t you two afraid to go out in such a snowstorm?" he said, turning to Paula and me.
Celestina answered for us that we lived in the big house at "The Convent,"
and that we had come to deliver a good warm dress for her to wear. With that the good woman poured out three cups of coffee, which she set before the Breton, Paula and myself. "And where"s yours?" said the Breton as he swallowed his coffee in one great gulp.
"Oh, some other time I"ll have a cup myself."
"Well, just as you please," said our unwelcome guest. "My! but that warms one up though! My wife never so much as thought to get me a cup of coffee."
"And do you know why?" questioned Celestina severely.