The Last Heights 



After the death of Mme. Fabre in 1912, a 

 nursing Sister of the Congregation of Saint- 

 Roch de Viviers was installed at the 

 Harmas; her name was Sister Adrienne. 



The old man appreciated her services so 

 greatly that he was overcome with dejection 

 by the very thought that she might be re- 

 called by her superiors, according to the rule 

 of her Order, after the lapse of a certain 

 period of time. And he would gratefully 

 press her hand when the good Sister sought 

 to relieve his anxiety and inspire him with 

 the hope that she would be allowed to re- 

 main in his service till the end of his days. 



He found her simplicity, her delicacy, her 

 good nature, and her devotion so delightful 

 that he could not refrain from telling her so 

 plainly in the direct, forcible manner familiar 

 to him: " You are invaluable, Sister; you are 

 admirable. I love religion as you practise 

 it." 



" He has often told me," she writes, 

 " that when he could not sleep at night, he 

 used to pray, to think of God, and address to 

 Him a prayer which he would himself com- 

 pose." 



In the spring of 1914 the aged naturalist, 

 who was more than ninety years of age, felt 

 that his strength was failing more per- 

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