Page 58 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

38 To AMERTcA AcArN

their last meeting in Ghent. Neither had Father De Smet
forgotten it.
Father Verhaegen was thirty-six: three years younger
than Ryken. A natural executive, he had been the leader
of a group of Netherlanders who had come to America
in 1821 to join the Jesuits so that they could become
missionaries among the Indians. Six of seven had per-
severed: the hard core of the forty-five Jesuits on the
IVlissouri Nlission.
Verhaegen could not convince Ryken that Indians in
fact and in fiction were worlds apart and that the Potta-
\Matomi, among whom Ryken had lived, were not typical.
They had come seeking a Blackrobe.
Verhaegen was a realist. One of his first visitations
as the new Provincial in June, 1836, was to the Jesuit
permanent mission among the Kickapoo Indians. On
his return to headquarters in St. Louis, he had discussed
rvith his Council the advisability of abandoning this
mission as a waste of man power. Progress had been
negligible and the dfficulties insurmountable.
After several days spent in trying to get Verhaegen to
change his attitude, Ryken had to leave without a letter
of recommendation. Father De Smet reported that he
heard hirn muttering in Flemish, "My plan is now gone
to the deuce,"
Back at St. Louis College, Ryken sought refuge in
the chapel. After a long period of prayer, he went to
Father Helias who, evidently in answer to a note of in-
quiry, informed Father Verhaegen what was said at the
conference:
The individual in question returned from the
Novitiate completely cast down. . . .
It will be no doubt a pleasure for you to learn
that our Founder is favored with visions.
On the receipt of your letter in Belgium, he was