"
Van Cheele gave way to his aunt in most things, but he flatly
refused to subscribe to the Gabriel-Ernest memorial.
THE SAINT AND THE GOBLIN
The little stone Saint occupied a retired niche in a side aisle of
the old cathedral. No one quite remembered who he had been, but
that in a way was a guarantee of respectability. At least so the
Goblin said. The Goblin was a very fine specimen of quaint stone
carving, and lived up in the corbel on the wall opposite the niche
of the little Saint. He was connected with some of the best
cathedral folk, such as the queer carvings in the choir stalls and
chancel screen, and even the gargoyles high up on the roof. All the
fantastic beasts and manikins that sprawled and twisted in wood or
stone or lead overhead in the arches or away down in the crypt were
in some way akin to him; consequently he was a person of recognised
importance in the cathedral world.
The little stone Saint and the Goblin got on very well together,
though they looked at most things from different points of view.
The Saint was a philanthropist in an old fashioned way; he thought
the world, as he saw it, was good, but might be improved. In
particular he pitied the church mice, who were miserably poor. The
Goblin, on the other hand, was of opinion that the world, as he knew
it, was bad, but had better be let alone. It was the function of
the church mice to be poor.
"All the same," said the Saint, "I feel very sorry for them.
Pages:
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59