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Updated: May 23, 2025
He gazed at his friends with some of the pain of his coming solitude in his eyes. "Good-bye. Shall we meet again?" Michael answered: "We shall meet again. Your pain may be very great; but there is an end. He who sets his foot on this Road has a promise which makes even pain a blessing." Callovan was left behind, for Orville and Michael climbed faster than he.
You probably may go along with him, when you reach him, for you both see the Cross, and perhaps you will be allowed to aid him up the mountain." They had by this time reached the first steps of the climb. "But the Cross draws much of the pain out of it," said Michael. "We must leave you here, sir," he said to Callovan, turning to him.
"You had more charity than he, and when you did give you gave with better motives; yet he always saw the Cross more plainly than you. He was filled with Faith." "Is it possible that I will be able to help him when I get to his side?" asked Callovan. "I think," replied Michael, "that you may; but you could have helped him better in life by prayers and the Great Sacrifice.
"It will be hard to climb to the Cross with these burdens, Michael," said Orville. "Yes, sir, it will," said Michael, "but you must carry them. You brought them here. They are the burdens of your wealth. They will hamper you; but you saw the Cross, and in the end all will be well." "Then these burdens, Michael, are our riches?" asked both Orville and Callovan in the same breath.
You shall not go by The Road of Pain and Hope, even though you might have to climb till Judgment. You shall go with us." Screaming in terror, the old man was dragged away. They could hear his voice in the distance, as the multitude drove him along The Road without Ending. "Alas, I understand now," sadly said Callovan.
"Yes, sir, it is true that you did give much, but," answered Michael, "the gifts were offerings more often to your own vanity than they were to God. Motives alone govern the value of sacrifice in the Land of Death. Look, now, behind you. There is one who can best answer your question." Callovan turned to see an old and venerable looking man at the fork of the roads.
"It was a miracle of grace that he could see the Cross at all." "I knew that man in life," said Callovan. "But why is not my burden heavier than his? I was richer by far." "You lightened it by more charity than he," said Michael, "but you did not lighten it sufficiently: Had you given even one-tenth of all that you had, you would now be even as I am free of all burden."
One priest, after your funeral, will offer the Great Sacrifice for you. He was a friend whom you helped to educate. He will remember you at your burial, and again, too, before the climb is over." "But, Michael," said Callovan, "I gave a great deal to many good works. Will none of the gifts count for me?"
Orville was tall and straight. The ghost of a black mustache was on his lip. His hair was scanty, and was parted carefully. His dress showed taste, but not fastidiousness. He was handsome, well groomed and particular, without obtrusiveness in any one of the points. He was just a little taller than Callovan; but he was grayer and a great deal more thoughtful.
"Your car is not here yet, Mr. Orville," said the doorman, when the three moved to leave the club. "Very unlike your careful Michael," remarked Callovan. Orville came at once to the defense of his exemplary chauffeur. "I gave him permission to go to St. Mary's to-night for confession," he said. "Michael will be here in a moment.
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