Paula the Waldensian

Paula the Waldensian

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paula the Waldensian, by Eva
Lecomte Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to
check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Paula the Waldensian
Author: Eva Lecomte
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7040] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on February 26,
2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English

Character set encoding: Latin-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAULA
THE WALDENSIAN ***

This eBook was produced by Joel Erickson ,
Charles Franks , and Juliet Sutherland

PAULA
THE WALDENSIAN
by Eva Lecomte
_Adapted and translated from the Spanish Version by W. M. Strong_

PREFACE
I Hope and trust that the young people who read this book will have as
much joy in the reading of it as I have had in its writing.
Paula's Saviour wishes to be your Saviour too. Paula was by no means
perfect, but she did love God with all her heart and her neighbor as
herself.
This simple country girl, young and strong, yet so tender-hearted and
forgetful of self, appears to me sometimes like one of the clear brooks
of my beloved land, pure and fresh, slipping noiselessly between
flowered banks of forget-me-nots. It was by love that she
"conquered"--as we shall see!
If some day you should come to my country, do not forget that I would
have great joy in seeing any of those who have read this book. I live in
the little town of Villar at the bottom of the valley, where on every side
there are hills and mountains as far as the eye can reach. To me it is the
loveliest country in the world and I am sure that Paula thought so too.
And so good-bye, dear young reader! I must not keep you any longer,
for I am sure you have a great desire to know about Paula; and anyway,
I suppose you will have done what I would have done at your age,
namely, read the story first, and left my poor preface to the last--for
which I have already pardoned you!
And now, may God bless you, Paula dear, as you walk among these my
young friends who read about you! My prayer is that you may shed

over them the same sweet ray of celestial light that you have already
shed over others.
EVA LECOMTE.
Villar-Pellice, France.

Translator's note:
"Paula" was originally written in French and translated from thence
into Spanish; and the present translator having discovered this literary
and spiritual jewel, felt that it should be given also to the young people
of the English-speaking world, not only that they might know Paula
herself, but that, through her, they might become more intimately
acquainted with Paula's Saviour and accept Him as their own Redeemer
and Lord.
W. M. STRONG.
Coihueco, Chile, South America, 1940.

CONTENTS
PART ONE
1. AN UNEXPECTED LETTER
2. MEMORIES
3. PAULA ARRIVES
4. PAULA'S TREASURES
5. LOUIS' WATCH
6. IN THE MIDST OF DARKNESS
7. CATALINA'S ILLNESS
8. THE FIVE-FRANC PIECE
9. A LITTLE GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN
10. IN THE COUNTRY
11. THE CAT MOTHER
12. A TREASURE RESTORED
13. THE SCHOOL-TEACHER AND HER BROTHER
PART TWO
1. SOME YEARS LATER
2. THE BRETON
3. SAVED!
4. THE YOUNG SCHOOL-MISTRESS

5. THE NIGHT-SCHOOL
6. THE HOUSE OF GOD
7. IN HIS PRESENCE

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE
AN UNEXPECTED LETTER
Clearly engraved on the walls of my memory there still remains a
picture of the great gray house where I spent my childhood. It was
originally used for more than a hundred years as the convent of the
"White Ladies", with its four long galleries, one above the other,
looking proudly down upon the humbler dwellings of the village. On
the side of the house, where ran the broad road from Rouen to Darnetal,
a high rugged wall surrounded a wide yard, guarded at the entrance by
two massive doors, studded with enormous spikes. The naked
barrenness of