Show A a M A jar HUI NE ND of the most famous cathedrals in G germany e r m a n 7 possesses as Us its most s sacred acred relic tho the swaddling dUng clothes of the infant jesus it Is a sweet and beautiful possession which many visitors como come irom from afar to venerate sf one christmas eve tho the sacristan 4 was alTa arranging nging the treasure confided to his care which was to be exposed to view on the great fet fete e of the morrow tho the sacristan was a little hump backed bahea man bandy legged and red nosed and it was to this ugly person that the privilege was reserved of always caring tor for the adored relic wo we must not be astonished at this but must reflect that often tho the most hum 1 ble and unattractive are chosen to bo be nearer the kingdom of heaven but unfortunately the humpbacked hump backed sacristan had no idea that he was one of the elect and the marvelous character of bis 1116 task gave him no extraordinary am emotion fotion during the 20 years that he had snuffed the candles of the cathe catbe dral and been in dally daily contact with tho the treasure ho he had received no enlightenment lighten ment he never made the sign of the cross before touching tho the sa cred linen and he treated it with the same mechanical indifference with W which aich he had hammered the soles 0 of t tho the boots in his former occupation of cobbler this day on opening the cupboard hi In which the linen of the infant jesus I 1 was carefully enclosed he whistled a little dance tune and thought ugh its not nice weather outside A violent wind was blowing in the town unhooking the signboards sign boards ot of the shops and making the chimneys shake on all the pointed roofs tho the man on entering tho the sacristy listened to the moaning of the wind and thought that the fury of nature T did not accord well with the fete tor for which ho he was preparing but doubtless there was a striking symbol in tho the storm and the unloose un loosed Ll elements might calm themselves suddenly when the words of pardon and pity were said ald on earth peace good will to ward men the sacristan went vent to put his coarse hand band carelessly on the divine relic when an unheard ot of event happened tho the window in the sacristy opened suddenly pushed by a great rush of wind the storm entered like an invasion of the barbarians it rushed over all in the room knocking down tho the sacred objects and the linen of tho the infant jesus taken up in the whirling tempest was blown out of the window the humpback hump back remained for a moment batup d and stricken then recovering himself ho be rushed linto the hurch crying saint joseph saint martin help help they havo have taken tho the linen at this alarming cry the people rau ran from all parts the priests in ili their I 1 ces tho the beadle in his cap the swiss with his halberd the old women wha had been praying ran with pale faces ces and terrified eyes and rive everyone cried out what are you saying holy moth cry er what aro are you saying the little humpback hump back tort tore to the do door ho be seemed stricken with madness ness the linen what rn misery isery the lin on cn by the window A puff of wind run quickly to catch it again then in the road was sudden tumult everyone began to run in pursuit of I 1 f the stolen relic the noses turned up to the houses res resembled drawled notes of interrogation there there said som 0 one no no they discovered it at last it was lying close to a crest high up on the root roof of tile the church one would havo have za said that the fretwork column chilled with cold had taken refuge in the sheltering folds there it Is there it la I 1 everyone cried out together but how were they to reach it its the sacristans stans stanla duty to go up it was he who let it go the hump back whistled whistle d no longer suddenly a courageous man came forward he crawled up the columns he hooked himself to the fr fretwork dvork ho he hung from the projections af after ter a thousand perils ho he arrived at the place and extended his arm to take the linen but at this moment the linen unfurled itself and was blown to a neighboring root roof people rushed to catch it it waited until the hands were quite close then it hew flew off to the other side of the street now began an extraordinary race from street to street from root roof to roof the divine divin e sw swaddling addlin clothes flow flew pursued by the crowd what a chase the priests red with indignation stifling lifting their arms crying orders and gesticulating madly the swiss followed with his useless halberd the little humpbacked hump backed sacristan ran also as fast as his bandy legs lega would go and behind came the old women limping pitying themselves and invoking the name of mary the whole town was rapidly ra raised teed by this great agitation to the maddened priests and the old devotees was joined a population running and excited some brought poles others brought ladders and some brought crucifixes cruci fixes or sprigs of blessed box tree with which they thought they could seize the linen attracted attract edby by this holy magnet thio th firemen soon arrived increase in ing the disorder of the strident dolse with their horns and the galloping of their horses but the swaddling clothes seemed to mock the priests and their exorcisms the devout with their crucifixes cruci fixes the firemen with their ladders sometimes the linen placed itself at the edge of a cornice and rolled itself itsek round a chimney from up there an end of the stuff floated ironically near the crowd seeming to scoff at it and when with difficulty some one gained the roof hoping to have caught it goodby good by it would go further yet without any respect of person after an hour of this game it sud |