Cape Breton's Magazine

ly road they had, this was the old road. He called at MacDougalls' on his way home-- he had tea there--and he started for Glen? garry. Very dark night. And years gone by, they'd have lanterns on wagons, to see if there was another man coming your way. Any? way, he mistook the lantern on the wagon, he made the mistake of running into the other horse. He had half a barrel of flour, with other things, and when the wagon tipped at the Crooked Bridges down here, the half-a-barrel of flour struck him on the back as he was falling out, and that's what broke his back. They sent for the priest, but Father Mac? Kenzie was sick. And then they sent to St. Peters, priest up there. And it was get? ting stormy. And gale. It was in October. And the priest said to the man who went there, "If Jim Maclnnes needs the priest before he dies, he'll wait for me--and if he doesn't," he said, "God will take him." So that's what happened. Jim Maclnnes died the next morning. He died before he saw the priest. If he needed a priest, he would have waited till the priest would come. (Does that indicate he didn't need the priest?) Like I said before, a good- living man, no matter who they are, if they know they're dying, I'm sure that they're asking God for forgiveness. We're all only going to do the same thing, when we know we're going, when we're sure we're going--and he was sure. And the priest knew Jim Maclnnes. (It wasn't that the priest was just lazy.) No, no. Oh no, they weren't lazy. It wasn't that. (But your point is that he was a good-living man.) I don't say he was an exceptional man--you can't say that about anybody. You can't read a person's mind or heart, but you know what a person does. If you're good to people, if you're helping people, and if you're kind to them--isn't that part of the deal? (It's interesting how you tied that in for me, that the spring at Glengarry may have had holy properties.) It did. It was blessed. It was blessed. There are gifts of God every day but the world's too pagan to see them. It was put there for the peo? ple, and they were going to find out in God's good time--that it would cure. They'd find out when they needed it. And they needed it when they did find it. Our thanks to Don MacGillivray, who first told us about Glengarry Mineral Spring and who, along with Joe Neil MacNeil and DaviS Dow, guided us to people and printed sources. Thanks as well to Greg MacMillan who drove us to the Mineral Spring. There is a good road now, built by the pulp com? pany- -and you pass the upland farms that were Glengarry community. We found only standing water in the spring, and we DO NOT recommend that you drink it. Stephen W. MacNeil: But you see, a few years ago, five now or four, the Power Commission went throughout that country, right through to Glace Bay with high ten? sion wires. And they had bulldozers and everything, and they crossed this brook-- there's a brook there--and just about as far as the wall is from the brook. The Spring was there, and they pushed-their bulldozers across there and The Spring was lost, and it's lost yet. The government was giving at that time job creation grants--and the boys from out here thought they'd spend some on The Spring and get it, and they went out digging. There was real? ly nobody with them that knew where The Spring was at. So they dug, and they made a nice job. They put a concrete form, you know, and stone, and made a lovely job-- but it's not where The Spring was. But there's some of the water seeping in the ground, you know, into where they dug. But it's not half or a quarter as strong. The soil's taking a lot of the pep out of it before it gets there. In the old spring, you could see two rocks or the mountain it? self, I guess--you could see where it was cracked and coming up through the crack. You could see it pumping like blood pres? sure, this stuff. If they'd strike that spot. I'd say it's 8 or 10 feet away from where the spring should be. The Townhouse restaurant You can relax in the comfortable surroundings of the Townhouse any time. Enjoy a full-course meal or simply a cup of coffee or tea with your friends. The Townhouse is open 24 hours a day for your convenience. Corner George & Dorchester Streets, Sydney. Fully Licensed 539-7109 (35)