was afraid of sleeping alone in a room. What he openly denied he secretly believed.
Two Children Saved by their Piety
We ought to invoke our angel guardians and ask their protection. In a remote town in the Tyrol the alarm bell one night woke all the inhabitants out of their sleep. Two of the largest houses were in flames. From one of these the inmates escaped by the staircase only with the greatest difficulty. In their hurry and alarm they forgot to rescue two children who were sleeping in the attic. These two children — both girls, one aged eight, the other twelve years — only awoke when they were startled by the crackling of the boards constituting the flooring of their rooms, which had caught fire from below. They sprang up and rushed to the door; but on opening it they were almost stifled by the smoke and flames that met them, and hardly succeeded in closing it again. The elder girl then ran to the window, saying: “We must jump out of the window. I will jump first, and if I get to the ground without being hurt, do you come after me.” Calling on her angel guardian to help her, she sprang out. She fell on the ground but, instantly rising, she cried out joyously, “ Come along, Jenny, I am not a bit hurt! ” The other child then took the perilous leap, and she, too, escaped without the slightest injury. She also had invoked the aid of her guardian angel. The parents of the children were delighted and thankful to God to see them safe and sound.
