ven hundred, they lived at great distances from each
other, the churches to which he ministered being in some cases as much
as eighty miles apart, separated by gorges and mountain-passes, for
the most part impassable in winter. Neff's district extended in one
direction from Vars to Briancon, and in another from Champsaur in the
valley of the Drac to San Veran on the slope of Monte Viso, close to
the Italian frontier. His residence was fixed at La Chalp, above
Queyras, but as he rarely slept more than three nights in one place,
he very seldom enjoyed its seclusion.

The labour which Neff imposed upon himself was immense; and it was
especially in the poorest and most destitute districts that he worked
the hardest. He disregarded alike the summer's heat and the winter's
cold. His first visit to Dormilhouse, in Val Fressinieres, was made in
January, when the mountain-paths were blocked with ice and snow; but,
assembling the young men of the village, he went out with them armed
with hatchets, and cut steps in the ice to enable the worshippers from
the lower hamlets to climb up to service in the village church. The
people who first came to hear him preach at Violens brought wisps of
straw with them, which they lighted to guide them through the snow,
while others, who had a greater distance to walk, brought pine
torches.

Nothing daunted, the valiant soldier, furnished with a stout staff and
shod with heavy-nailed shoes, covered with linen socks to prevent
slipping on the snow, would set out with his wallet on his back across
the Col d'Orcieres in winter, in the track of the lynx and the
chamois, with the snow and sleet beating against his face, to visit
his people on the other side of the mountain. His patience, his
perseverance, his sweetness of temper, were unfailing. "Ah!" said one
unbelieving Thomas of Val Fressinieres in his mountain patois, "you
have come among us like a woman who attempts to kindle a fire with
green wood; she exhausts her breath in blowing it to keep the little
flame alive, but the moment she quits it, it is instantly
extinguished."

Neff nevertheless laboured on with hope, and neither discouragement
nor obstruction slackened his efforts. And such labours could not fail
of their effect. He succeeded in inspiring the simple mountaineers
with his own zeal, he evoked their love, and excited their
enthusiastic admiration. When he returned to Dormilhouse after a brief
absence, the whole village would tu