Immaculata Academy - Lilium Convallium Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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30 LILIUM CONVALLIUM along the shore. The bright, handsomely built town with its broad streets, adorned by arcades and elegant squares, was very unlike the gray fortress back of them. Again they pursued their way down a dreary street and Ahmed led the way through a low doorway, down a narrow hall and into a large, open quad- rangle. Men dressed as aviators walked in and out of the huge sheds at the opposite side of the court. One of them, noticing the two, clanked over the rude stones and shook the little Arabian's hand most warmly. Ahmed, you indeed made good speed. Who is your fair companion? After an introduction to Herman, the aviator, Millacent regretted to hear her little friend say, Now, my friends, I am very sorry to take my departure but I have important business in Suez. I trust I shall see you both in the near futuref, Having received sincere thanks from his passenger for bringing about the realization of her dreams, the little man gave his charge over to Herman, hoppd on the rug and was soon a mere speck in the sky. Come, Herman directed, you must dress as befits an aviatrixf, Millacent sat in the flying machine. It hummed up into the blue and with a deafening roar set straight its path over the arid Sahara. On looking down as they sped along, Millacent could see an occasional oasis around which tents of Tibbu and Negroes were placed, protected by date-palms and olive trees. To the far east a caravan could be seen making its weary way over the sand dunes. Incidentally a few black cattle or zebra roamed over a knoll and hid themselves again in some foliage. All at once the air became cooler and more huts appeared. The airship made a dash for the roadway ahead and Millacent knew that she was at Timbuctoo. Together she and Herman walked to the top of the palm-covered hill. This she had done many times in her own imagination, but now she was able to stand with Tennyson viewing with her own eyes the beautiful city with its three mosques in the center and two old forts to the north. Far to the south the lordly Niger flowed and with Longfellow she . . . heard the tinkling caravans Descend the mountain road. She stood as one in ecstasy for a momentg then a mist curtained the scene from her. She looked around her in the gloom. Herman was not to be seen. She looked at her hands. They were no longer clad in leathern gloves but clasped a worn book. At her side lay the Arabian Nightsv. The palm- dates above her changed to acorns. And the light of the setting sun behind the hills of Utah broke in upon the mist. -BIBIANA MAHER, ,27.

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LILIUM CONVALLIUM 29 He was pleased. You are rightg it is quite picturesque. See the workers in the tobacco fields. I think the trees yonder shelter the banks of the Cape Fear Riverf' They sailed swiftly over the lazy stream and soon were floating on a parallel with the waters of the Atlantic. This will be my first ocean voyage, she began, and I am delighted that it is to be on a magic carpet, for I would be very unused to the swaying of a ship. Doesn't it- Her inquiry was interrupted by the pilot's hooting to the helmsman of an ancient brig over which they were passing. The mariner shouted back and the rug sped swiftly on until the vessel disappeared behind the watery horizon. The plump pilot still wore a broad smile when he turned to his passenger. You were about to put a question to me when I hailed my old friend, were you not? Yes, but first tell me who your friend is. I-Ie is Ned Thatch Simon, a namesake of the famous-or infamous- pirate of the early colonies. I have known him ever since my father and I first tried our winged horse over the ocean. I met him at Cape Lookout. You had a flying horse? Yes, but the poor beast died with fright from an aeroplane. Now, out with your question. It has answered itself, because if we keep up this speed it will not take three days as I thought. Oh, dismiss the thought. Our journey will be over in three hours. It took me but an hour to cross from Dakar to Raleigh. How interesting! NVell worn as the phrase was, it proclaimed to Ahmed an appreciation of his manner of discoursing. He soon found opportunity for displaying more of his knowledge when they approached the Azores. He was well acquainted with these islands, he explained, both by study of his native geographer, Erisi, and by frequent visits to them. He gave a long string of the unpronounceable names of his friends there, pointed out many villages, and gave the history of the islands. Wlien at length he had finished, Millacent breathed a sigh of relief and settled deeper into the downy carpet. For the first time since her eventful journey began, she felt strangely unfamiliar with all of her surroundings. Ahmed read her thoughts. . You are on a different hemisphere now, and your advent bears with it an odd sensation which will soon be overcome. Lo! we are come to the pass of Hercules! They passed over the gigantic mountain of rock and came above the vast waters that divide two continents. As the girl stood up to view the novel scene, the kindly breeze fanned her flushed face. She listened with unusual interest to her conductor. To the north across the Sierras stands the mystic Alhambra. I should fain bring you closer but the sun is well up in the west and we must hasten. Witli a magic word the pilot had the rug flying as an arrow and they were soon floating above the city of Algiers. The magic air ship was brought to a halt on the summit of the Casbah, the ancient residence of the deys. After rolling the carpet up, Ahmed said, Before we go to the aeroplane station, let us take a view of the modern towng there is a fine outlook at the end of this street. Together the travelers strolled down the narrow, crooked, street, walled by strong, prison-like houses. At length they came out of the shadows of the frowning edifices into the sunlight. Below, Algiers spread from the slope and

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iw i i LILIETIVIfCgONVALLIUM 31 Fra Angelico Fra Angelico was born at Vicchio in 1387. His real name was Guido or Guidolino. The beautiful surname Angelico was given him in later years because he excelled in painting angels. The history of his early life is extremely obscure. In 1407, at the age of twenty, he with his younger brother, entered the Dominican Order in Fiesole. Both were artists and wished to give their lives and talents to God. When they received the white habit of St. Dominic, the elder was called Giovanni and the younger, Benedetto. Fra Angelico began his artistic career as a miniaturist in the school of Masolino. This was probably before 1407. His gift for painting, however, was first fully recognized by his fellow religious. In the eloisters Fra Angelico painted frescoes of the chief Dominican Saints and decorated the cells of the monks with sacred subjects, chiefly scenes from the life of Christ, intended to assist the devout meditation of the brethren. Many of these were hastily painted and are badly injured, but they still retain a great measure of Angelico's peculiar charm. His figures are idealized and sanctified and exhibit a deep religious feeling. For him art was an act of adoration, a sacred duty of prayer and praise. In 1446 Pope Eugenius IV, who had visited Florence and stayed at San Marco for the dedication of the convent four years before, summoned Fra Angelico to Rome to decorate a chapel in St. Peter's. Soon after Fra Angelico's arrival in Rome the Pope died and his successor, Nicholas V, induced the painter to continue his work. By June the decoration of the chapel was completed, and Fra Angelico accepted an invitation to spend the summer months at Orvieto and adorn the newly erected chapel of St. Brizio. After this he returned to Rome, where he spent the next three years in decorating the Pope's Oratory with scenes from the life of Saint Stephen and Saint Lawrence. In the picture of the trial and death of St. Stephen, the bitter hatred on the faces of the Pharisees, the puzzled and suspicious look of the high priest, the curiosity of the spectators, and the indifference of the Roman soldiers are all depicted with a sympathy and insight that bring Fra Angelico before us in an entirely new light. It is said of him that while he painted the crucifixion, tears streamed down his cheek in sympathy with the agony of his beloved Christ. The pictures of a man who painted in such a spirit are not mere works of art. They are more. They lay bare a human soul, making the thoughts he thought our own, and the devotion and sympathy he felt, a part of our own lives. Unfortunately, these frescoes which reveal the painter in the fulness of his powers, are the only works of his in Rome that have escaped destruction. The chapel which he decorated in the old basilica of St. Peter's and the frescoes which he painted in the Dominican Church and Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva have all perished, and this oratory of Pope Nicholas in the Vatican alone remains to show that che earlier art of Florence is not unworthy of a place beside Raphael's. His work contrasted with Giotto's shows a more delicate appreciation of beauty. Giotto, like a narrative poet, gives us incidents and makes them livc by depicting movement and dramatic expression. His aim is to interest the mind. Fra Angelico, like a lyric poet, immortalizes moments of intense feeling. His aim is to touch the heart. The face expression of Angelico's saints is more saintly than those of any other master. His delicate and elegant shading speak to us of heaven and lift us above the things of earth. In this the mission of the angelic friar is fulfilled, for to him painting was only a means of glorifying God. il