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Show Tale of the Annunciation (Written for the Intermountain Catholic.) The great feast of the "Annunciation" "Annuncia-tion" was drawing near, and little Dominica Do-minica Ferri sat, musing and wishing that he had something to offer the Blesssd Virgin on that day. He was so fond of her that he wished to give her some little gift that was all his own. But, he was very poor. He and his little sister, Lacine. had been left orphans. or-phans. His father and mother died of a malignant fever, within a week of each other, and had left the children to the care of old Margeretta, the herTi- woman, who was their grandmother. Now- be was 12 years old. and his sister sis-ter was 10. As long as he could remember re-member he had loved the Blessed Virgin, Vir-gin, calling her "Madre Mia" from the time he was able to talk. And when ho was a little child of between -1 and 5. he would sit beside his grandmother during the whole service of the mass looking at the face of the statue of the Blessed Virgin with such a wise and wistful expression, that people won- I dered if he saw strange things there, j It was no wonder, then, that when he grew older he drew her picture even I on the rocks when he went up into the hills to gather herbs for his grandmother. grand-mother. But he always drew her with such a sad face, that his littl companions compan-ions joked and laughed at him for trying try-ing to make the blessed mother cry, as they thought. Dominico lived in a picturesque little village in the mountains, famous for the beautiful scenery surrounding it-He it-He loved to roam over the hills and ', gather herbs for his grandmother, who was too feeble to climb now; she made Liiein miu medicine anu poultices tor the village folks. Sometimes she got pay and sometimes she did not: but. she never complained. "Never mind." she used t say, "the good Master will reward us." And he did. She had been incl.ned'to murmur, and considered it a great cross when the two children were left to her care, one 4 years old and the ther 2. It was a gre.at struggle strug-gle for a few years, as she was so poor and not very strong; but they soon proved to be a great blessing to her in many ways, especially Dominico, who helped her all he could, i "He grows more and more like my poor Lucy," she said one day to the good priest; "and he has inherited her love for the BUsed Virgin, too." "A great inheritance, Margeretta! A great inheritance: May the blessed mother be kind to him." said the priest. aTifl Vi c uh.jii v,.i.-a a,..- t c .. ...lu... nuic iiiicw jmu ui beads that I have." With these very beads in his pocket. Dominico would go up into the hills and kneel before the crude picture of the Blessed Virgin which he had drawn, and say his rosary sometimes three or four times. It was after one of these excursions into the mountains that we find him at the opening of our sto.y, so dejected and unhappy. He wanted to honor his blessed mother on her feast day, but had not the means. He always honored her by prayers, but his little heart was so filled with love for her that he wanted to do more. After sitting quietly for some time, he stood up, and with a determined lcok on his face, he made his wav to the home of Andre, the blind artist, as j the villagers called him. He was not I blind, but was nearly so. Marie, the artist's little granddaughter, was the constant companion and playmate of leucine and her brother; so it was to the old artist that Dominico went to confide his trouble, and with whom he j was a great favorite. Whatever their conference was, they arrived at a satisfactory termination, because, when half an hour later Do- I minico made his appearance, it was with a happy light in his eyes, and a bounding step, that he went on his way homeward. After that Dominico made a visit every day to the old artist. And so, on the eve of the "Annuncia-! "Annuncia-! tion," after the altar was dressed and ! every one had gone home, Dominico came hurrying into the church with something under hi3 little jacket, which he guarded carefully. He walked directly di-rectly to the altar of the Blessed Virgin Vir-gin and laid it at the foot of the statue. It was a picture of the divine infant,' beautiful in expression, with the same I ho'y sadness that he had given to the mother's face. Perhaps it was the shadow of the cross, the suffering that was to come, that he depicted there. Kneeling down beside the altar, he clasped his little hands and said: "Madre "Ma-dre Mia! Take your little baby it is the best I can do! And, Madre Mia! Dominico loves you! Take that, too!" With a sigh of relief he took his beads from his pockets 'and began to pray. Oh, how fervently he prayed! The time passed so swiftly that he had not noticed the darkening of the shadows sha-dows around him. Now that the strain of the last few weeks was over, he was tired out, and the little form crept closer to the altar, till he almost leaner! against it, "Madre Mia!" he prayed, "Don't forget grandmother's ankle tomorrow, to-morrow, and remember that Lucine ' and me wants to learn to read." He prayed for all his companions, and at last, as the tired head leaned against the altar and the dark eyes began be-gan to close, he said, "Madre Mia, you must help Andre's eyes, he was so good to " , The beads felt from his fingers and in a moment he was asleep, asleep and dreaming. He dreamed that the statue had become r' - and that the Blessed Mother reacl.i . down and kissed it, then handed it to a tall gentleman standing near the altar. , !T nii-nbi. Ti-ifn u .1.. IU. j up and xioked to see if his picture was where he had placed it. Satisfied that everything was all right, he went i home. The next morning was as bright and I beautiful as could be wished for. even under Italian skies. For miles the villagers vil-lagers came trooping down the roads leading to the church, all dressed In holiday attire. It was a pretty sight! The girls and women with gay colored handkerchiefs on "their heads, the picturesque pic-turesque costumes of the men, the flashing dark eyes and laughing faces. All were coming in their simple, happy-way happy-way to honor Our Lord and liis blessed mother. The church, torr-had taken on a holiday holi-day appearance. The altars were laden With wild hlfiwnmo j with sweet-scented shrubs. Numerous candles twinkled here and there; lov-, lov-, ing hands had done all that could be : done to make the place beautiful, and j God's peace hovered over all. When mass was over -a number of people came forward to pray at the foot of the Blessed Virgin's altar. Among them was a distinguished-looking gentleman, gen-tleman, a stranger evidently, for he j had neither the manner nor dress of those around him. When Tie had finished fin-ished his prayers-, he made his way into the sacristy, and after saluting the good priest, said: "I beg pardon, father, fath-er, does the picture of the infant on the Blessed Virgin's altar belong to you?" The father answered that he had not seen it, "but bo doubt," he added "it Vielono-o tr. ti j:., " "-.""oa iu lie UlU not Know Ot any one else who could have placed a I picture there. That afternoon old Andre was sur- I prised to receive a visit from the j stranger, who had obtained his address ad-dress from the priest, and who was ! none other than Signor Leonardo Dell Sarta. a wealthy, patron of art, who lived in Milan. He had been traveling over the mountains and had decided to remain in the village, till after the feast. ' "I only gave the materials to Domi nico and guided him a little." said Andre An-dre in answer to Signor Dell Salta s questions about the picture. "He drew and painted the picture himself. "It is marvelous for one so young. The expression and coloring are fine; he is singularly gifted." said the signor. On learning how Dominico was situated, situ-ated, and all the circumstances ot his life, Signor Dell Salta was more interested inter-ested than ever. Evening found him a visitor at Dominico's home. He was charmed by the boy's intelligence anu modesty, and was very much Interested in his desire for knowiedge. This was not his last visit, and he resolved that if he could get Margeretta's consent he would take the boy with him to Milan j and place him at school under, one of the best masters in drawing and painting. paint-ing. Margeretta was very reluctant to let her boy go from her. He was so witling to help her, and was such a comfort . i,... v.,,t v,.. TM-llo in him nnrl her good wishes tor his. -future conquered, and so she consented, after having a good cry. "I know it is the dear blessed mother that "has brought this to him." she said, "and if she is salis-j salis-j tied, I will be: He deserves it all." I Eight years passed away: eight years of hard study, and one morning all Mi- lan was ringing with praise of a gifted young artist whose picture had been hung in the Academy. Dcminico's first thought-was one of thankfulness: then, "grandmother and Lucine. thall have everything they need." He became one of the foremost reli- j gious painters of the day. and people said that he always came and knelt for a long time at the Blessed Virgin's altar before he began his pictures. Perhaps all his inspirations came from her. R. M. |