PAULA

THE WALDENSIAN

by Eva Lecomte

_Adapted and translated from the Spanish Version by W. M. Strong_



PREFACE

I Hope and trust that the young people who read this book will have as much
joy in the reading of it as I have had in its writing.

Paula's Saviour wishes to be your Saviour too. Paula was by no means
perfect, but she did love God with all her heart and her neighbor as
herself.

This simple country girl, young and strong, yet so tender-hearted and
forgetful of self, appears to me sometimes like one of the clear brooks of
my beloved land, pure and fresh, slipping noiselessly between flowered
banks of forget-me-nots. It was by love that she "conquered"--as we shall
see!

If some day you should come to my country, do not forget that I would have
great joy in seeing any of those who have read this book. I live in the
little town of Villar at the bottom of the valley, where on every side
there are hills and mountains as far as the eye can reach. To me it is the
loveliest country in the world and I am sure that Paula thought so too.