This
accounted for their finding me. As to my wound, I was informed by
the surgeon who attended me that it had missed being inflicted in
a mortal part by less than a quarter of an inch, and that, as it
was, nothing but the action of the night air in coagulating the
blood over the place, had, in the first instance, saved my life.
To be brief, I recovered after a long illness, returned to Paris,
and was called to the priesthood. The will of my superiors
obliged me to perform the first duties of my vocation in the
great city; but my own wish was to be appointed to a cure of
souls in your province, Gabriel. Can you imagine why?"
The answer to this question was in Gabriel's heart; but he was
still too deeply awed and affected by what he had heard to give
it utterance.
"I must tell you, then, what my motive was," said Father Paul.
"You must know first that I uniformly abstained from disclosing
to any one where and by whom my life had been attempted. I kept
this a secret from the men who rescued me--from the surgeon--from
my own friends even. My reason for such a proceeding was, I would
fain believe, a Christian reason. I hope I had always felt a
sincere and humble desire to prove myself, by the help of God,
worthy of the sacred vocation to which I was destined. But my
miraculous escape from death made an impression on my mind, which
gave me another and an infinitely higher view of this
vocation--the view which I have since striven, and shall always
strive for the future, to maintain.
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