men in one bed.... Two women grinding at the mill.... One is taken and
the other left." Here were persons of all ages--from six to eighty, I
should guess--of all characters, ranks, experiences; of both sexes. Some
were religious, some grocers, some of the nobility, a retired soldier or
two, and so on. They were not distinguished for holiness, it seemed. I
had heard heartbreaking little stories of the ten lepers over again--one
grateful, nine selfish. One or two of the girls, I heard, had had their
heads turned by flattery and congratulation; they had begun to give
themselves airs.

And, now again, here was this day, this almost obvious occasion. It was
the Jubilee Year; everything was about on a double scale. And nothing
had happened! Further, five of the sick had actually died at Lourdes
during their first night there. To come so far and to die!

On what principle, then, did God act? Then I suddenly understood, not
God's principles, but my own; and I went home both ashamed and
comforted.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] The official numbers of those at the afternoon procession were 341.




VI.


I said a midnight Mass that night in the same chapel of the Rosary