Page:Dellada - The Woman and the Priest, 1922.djvu/109

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE WOMAN AND THE PRIEST

I saw him once when I went up into the mountains with my father: he was sitting amongst the rocks in the sun, with a dog and a tame eagle beside him and all sorts of dead animals all round. That is not how God orders us to live!"

"What does He order, then?"

"He orders us to live amongst men, to cultivate the ground, and not to hide our money, but to give it to the poor."

The little sacristan spoke with a man's confidence, and the priest's mother was touched and smiled. After all, if Antiochus could say such sensible things it was because he had been taught by her Paul. It was her Paul who taught them all to be good, wise and prudent; and when he really wished to he succeeded in convincing even old men whose opinions were already fixed, and even thoughtless children. She sighed, and bending down to draw the coffee-pot nearer the glowing embers, she said:

"You talk like a little saint, Antiochus; but it remains to be seen if you will do as you say

103