Part 40 (1/2)
Desn, and had triumphed In Tottenham he lived a quiet and uneventful life, content to do his duty conscientiously, and pass his leisure hours with his brother-priests and in the society of his books
Father Desood, honest, hard-working priest, one of that splendid arainst huy liked and respected him none the less because he was a cheerful companion, not above an occasional joke
Father Des a practical joke as he hurried on his sick call this hot su, and his lips occasionally relaxed into a smile as he considered the details of this piece of drollery Once he remarked to himself, half-audibly:
”I est the necessary details”
Thus did he go, s to hi aspect of that which he was considering struck him
So pleasant was his face that a man whom he met paused to ask the direction to a certain street that he well knew When Father O'Connor had answered his question, the man asked him:
”Are you a Roman Catholic priest?”
”I a you, sir, but you looked so happy and pleasant that I thought I would like to speak to you You reo--Deshed aloud at the re I were to tell you I was he, would you believe er shook his head emphatically
”No, sir, I would not believe it, even fro O'Connor, half-fun and half-earnest He was an Agnostic, while I profess to be a Christian of no denomination--just a Christian You are not he”
”I am Desmond O'Connor, and your name, if my memory is correct, is Laceby, a reporter for the 'News' If you care to have a chat with e's Presbytery, in Nixon Street”
”But how did you happen----,” Laceby began
”To changestory, which I will tell you if you call
You must excuse me at present I have to attend a sick call at St
Luke's Hospital”
They shook hands, and bade one another good-night Laceby stood watching Father O'Connor until he had disappeared round a corner
”A strange army, the priesthood,” he said to himself ”Every race and every rank of life--men who have always had a creed, and men who have had none Soldiers, sailors, men from trades and professions, drawn to the Standard by an irresistible impulse that they term a vocation--but fine fellows, every one of them”
All the world knows St Luke's Hospital, its Mother Superioress, and the devoted nuns who labour for the sick poor Within the wards reat healer has served an apprenticeshi+p, and many a sorely-diseased man or woman has been snatched from death There is no charitable institution in which the Catholics of Australia have oyne-avenue, its brick walls tower towards the sky, one storey above another, while beside it the s, now the convent, reht to a great success
Father O'Connor was met at the door by a Sister in the black habit of the Order, a sweet-faced, gentle nun, s as kindly as the priest himself
”Well, Sister Bernardine!” he cried ”What makes you always smile? One would expect a serious face in a place like this”
”A smile never made a sick man worse,” she answered ”The Mother Superioress would like to speak to you before you see Mrs Clarence”
”Certainly, Sister I am never the worse for a ith Mother Superioress Where is she?”
”In the convent expecting you I think you should be as quick as you can; the poor woman is seriously injured”
The Mother Superioress bea and respect for the young priest, for she recognised that beneath his hu sense of duty, akin to her own