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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28528-8.txt b/28528-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55d065d --- /dev/null +++ b/28528-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8795 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A California Girl, by Edward Eldridge + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A California Girl + +Author: Edward Eldridge + +Release Date: April 7, 2009 [EBook #28528] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALIFORNIA GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Sarah Sammis, Jen Haines, Roger Frank and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +A CALIFORNIA GIRL + +BY EDWARD ELDRIDGE + + +The Abbey Press +PUBLISHERS + +114 FIFTH AVENUE +NEW YORK + +London Montreal + + +Copyright, 1902 +by The Abbey Press + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + Prologue 5 + + I. Clara Lawton 7 + + II. Ranch Talk 9 + + III. The Marriage of Charles Herne 21 + + IV. Julia Hammond 25 + + V. Ben West 35 + + VI. Stella Wheelwright 39 + + VII. Penloe 43 + + VIII. Ben West's Experience in the Klondike 54 + + IX. An Arrival 63 + + X. Mrs. Marston 70 + + XI. Saunders' Customers 85 + + XII. Penloe's Sermon 88 + + XIII. Return of Ben West 104 + + XIV. Five Years After Marriage 113 + + XV. A Conversation on the Porch 116 + + XVI. Tiestan 124 + + XVII. Penloe's Original Address 143 + + XVIII. Letters Received by Penloe 163 + + XIX. Mrs. West Relates Her Dream 170 + + XX. In the Mountains 174 + + XXI. A Wedding in Orangeville 184 + + XXII. The Herne Party 201 + + XXIII. A Visit from Barker and Brookes 218 + + XXIV. Out of Bondage 233 + + Epilogue 248 + + + + +PROLOGUE. + + +This book is not written for the specialist, but for that restless, +seething multitude known as "the masses." It is written for busy people, +for workers, such as the shop-girl, the factory-girl, the clerk, the +mechanic, the farmer, the merchant, and the busy housewife; but +ministers, lawyers, and doctors may find food for thought within its +covers. + +My heart goes out to God's secular army, composed of those who have +neither time nor opportunity to go through learned treatises and +scholarly essays, yet whose natures are hungering for something better +than they see and hear about them. So I have tried to weave into this +story the best and latest thought that has been given to the world, +believing it to be what the workers most need in the performance of +their daily duties, and what will help them out of bondage. + +People whose reading and observation have been limited may think that I +have drawn on my imagination altogether for most of the material in this +book. I can assure them that such is not the case; much of it is real. + +In regard to Penloe, there have been men who had greater spiritual gifts +than he, and I call to mind one, still living, whose illuminated +countenance and remarkable personality are superior to his. In Penloe is +seen the interior life of the Hindu combined with the best practical +thought of the West. + +Let a youth or maiden commence to live the life described by the man who +won the heart of the "Oriental Lady," related by Penloe in his +"Original Address," and he or she will then realize the facts which have +made the characters of Penloe and Stella. + +To any sensitive, fastidious reader I would say, it becomes an author, +in order to be true to life, to present certain characters as they +really are, and put into their mouths the language they actually use. + +Whatever there is of error in the book is the result of egoism; whatever +of truth and love is the work of Him who has brought me up out of the +marshes and lowlands, and caused me to drink at the crystal fountains of +the hills. + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +A CALIFORNIA GIRL. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CLARA LAWTON. + + +"Well, dear," said Mrs. Lawton to her daughter Clara, "the home you will +enter to-morrow as a bride is very different from the home that I +entered as your father's bride. Our home was a log cabin in the Michigan +woods, with only an acre of clearing, where the growing season is only +about four months long and the winter eight. Snow lay on the ground six +months of the year, from one to three feet deep. In our cabin, we had +the bare necessaries and your father had to work very hard cutting +cord-wood for a living; but we were very happy, for we had love and +health; and need I say, dear, what a joy it was to us when you entered +our cabin as a passenger on the journey of life. + +"My wish for you now is, that you may find as much happiness in the +companionship of Charles Herne as I have had in your father's, and as +much joy in the advent of a little one in your home as I did in you." + +"You have always been one of the kindest and best mothers a girl ever +had," said Clara, warmly. + +"I have tried to be," said Mrs. Lawton, simply. + +Clara Lawton was twenty-two years of age, prepossessing in appearance, +with a bright, happy expression. Her nature was deep and affectionate, +her tastes domestic and social. When she was twenty, Mr. and Mrs. Lawton +had moved to California and settled in the pretty little city of +Roseland, which nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. + +At a camping party Clara had first met Charles Herne, and the outcome of +that meeting was that to-morrow would be Clara's wedding day. + +Who can describe the thoughts that filled the mind of Clara the night +previous to her marriage? Who, indeed, can describe the thoughts that +fill the mind of any maiden as she lays her head on her pillow the night +previous to her marriage? + +All her life she had been taught to consider this the most important +event of her life, the acme of happiness, the end and aim of her +womanhood. The thought of her own little world and the decrees of the +great world at large alike hold her to that belief. That she is a soul +in process of development; that marriage is only one step towards +something higher; that the true union is the joining of hands to work +for humanity, are doctrines which would sound strange in her ears. She +feels that great change that is coming into her life, and her thoughts +are in accordance with her character and circumstances. One bride may be +filled with the sadness of unwilling acquiescence, another with the joy +of complete absorption, a third with the excitement incident upon an +entire change of environment. Clara Lawton's sweet nature prompted only +tender thoughts of the parents she was leaving, strong love for the man +who was to be her husband and the desire to be a true wife and make +their union a happy one. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +RANCH TALK. + + +The road going north from the beautiful little city of Roseland to the +mountains is known as the Walnut road. Six miles from Roseland, on the +Walnut road, is "Treelawn," the home of Charles Herne. A modern +two-story house is built well back from the road, and between the house +and road are lawns decorated with flower-beds, some tall oleanders, +several banana plants, and choice varieties of roses, vines, and +shrubbery. On one side of the house there is a thriving orange and lemon +orchard; on the other fig, almond, and walnut trees; while back of the +house are other extensive orchards of the finest fruits. The house is +very comfortably furnished, much better than most houses in the country; +its arrangement being very convenient and modern. + +Charles Herne, the owner of this property was, at the time our story +opens, a young man of twenty-eight, tall, well built, with a pleasant +open countenance which was a true index of his character. He always +looked closely after his business interests, but at the same time +allowed his generous, kindly spirit full scope. + +When Charles was eighteen his father thought it would be well for him to +go out to work a year or so on other ranches, that he might gain more by +experience, get more ideas and know what it was to depend on himself and +make his own way in the world. After an absence of two years, came the +welcome summons home. On the evening of his return, when Charles and Mr. +Herne were seated comfortably on the porch, the father said: + +"Well, Charles, relate some of your experiences while working on +different ranches." + +"Though I did not speak of it in my letters, father," said Charles, "I +have had a pretty tough time of it since I left home." + +"I thought so," said his father, "and I wish you had written +particulars." + +"I should have done so," replied Charles, "but I wanted to see if there +was any sand in me and what staying qualities I possessed. Well, the +first job I struck was at the Funson ranch, driving a six-mule team +plowing. The leaders were the most contrary animals that ever had +harness on, the swings never would keep in their places, and the near +wheeler was so ugly that Pete, the man who had been driving the team, +said, 'the Devil couldn't hold a candle to him for pure meanness.' He +told me he used to swear at them all day and then lie awake nights +cursing himself for being such a fool as to drive them. He said, one +morning he took the team out to work, and after he had been working them +about an hour, the off mule began to cut up, backing, bucking, and +refusing to pull with the near one. At last Pete lost his temper and +began laying the whip on him, saying he would 'whale the stuffing out of +him'; then the mule got mad, broke the harness and the whole team became +unmanageable and got away from him. He let them go and started toward +the house, pouring out a steady stream of oaths as he went. Just at the +gate he met the boss and greeted him with, 'I'll see that team in Hell +before I'll ever draw another line over their backs.' Funson asked him +what was the trouble, and Pete said, 'that off mule has been raising +hell, and the Devil has got into 'em all, breaking the harness and +running away.' The boss told Pete not to make a fool of himself, but to +go back to the field and get his team together. Pete said, 'I'll see you +in Hell before I'll ever touch that team again. You haven't a well broke +team on the ranch for a man to handle. You buy a lot of half-broken, +bucking, balky teams because you can get 'em cheap. You don't care how +much hell it gives a man to drive 'em.' Funson told him to go and hunt +up some cattle, and sent another man to drive the mules. It's an actual +fact, father, that if a man had told the boss in polite and correct +language what had happened to the team, he would have stared in utter +astonishment and surprise." + +"Quite true, my son, quite true," said the old gentleman. + +"The man that took Pete's place," continued Charles, "drove the team two +days and that let him out. Then I came along and got the job. Didn't +Pete laugh when he came through the field with a bunch of cattle and saw +me trying to take the contrariness out of the leaders. He called out, +'Give 'em hell, give 'em hell!' + +"When I came up to the barn at night, Pete was there putting up his +broncho, and he greeted me with, 'Well, Charles, how do you like your +job?' + +"I said I wasn't stuck on it. + +"'It's hell, ain't it?' said he; then added, 'the only way you can ever +get that team to pull steady is to get right in and cuss 'em good; they +are broke to cussing.' + +"After supper the boys got together in the barn and played cards for two +hours. When they were tired of card-playing, they interested each other +by telling yarns about experiences with women, each striving to make his +story more thrilling than the last, and this entertainment continued +until they were ready to spread out their blankets and sleep. + +"It is pretty cold sleeping in a barn December nights, even in our +California climate; but, as you know, there are few ranches where the +men are allowed to sleep in the house. + +"I had to be up before it was light in the mornings and clean off those +mules, feed and harness them, and then have my breakfast. After +breakfast, just as it was getting light, we started to work. The +mornings were very cold. About dark I would bring my team in and by the +time I had unharnessed them, fed them, and had my supper, I was ready +for bed. + +"After a man has put all his energy into a long, hard, tedious day's +work, he feels more like a worn-out old plug than a man. He has no +surplus force left to expend in elevating mental pursuits, for it has +been all exhausted in severe physical labor. + +"Such labor continually kept up, has a tendency to dull what few good +aspirations a man may have had to bring his animal nature under control. +Therefore, after such a day's work, if he has any desires, they are +those of the brute, and it is no wonder that men should want something +of a sensational, exciting nature at night to keep their minds off +themselves and relieve the monotony of their toil. + +"Well, father, I did lots of thinking when night came, about such +subjects, and came to some very decisive conclusions; but to return to +my story. + +"One night when I was taking the harness off him, the near leader kicked +me on the leg. The pain was so severe that I scarcely slept any that +night. They say a mule will be good and gentle in the barn three hundred +and sixty-four days in the year, for the sake of getting a chance to +kick a man on the three hundred and sixty-fifth day, and I believe it is +so. + +"After dinner one day, we had just left the house when one of the men +said, 'Didn't the old woman give the boss hell, this noon? I tell you +she's got a temper.' 'Yes,' said Pete, 'but she's not very old, not +forty yet. She's always firing up about something; she keeps him in hell +most of the time. The trouble is,' continued he, 'he's got nothing broke +on his ranch; his mules are not broke, his broncho cows are not broke, +his wife is not broke, and the old cuss himself is not broke.' + +"After enduring all the torment and petty aggravation that a man could +stand for three months, I left and went to work at the White Oak Ranch. +The boss there set me to grubbing out oaks, and I can assure you it was +a relief after driving those mules. + +"The third night I was at this place, I was the last to join the men at +the barn, and when I got there I found the teamsters, George and Harry, +making the air blue with oaths. They were giving it to the boss because +he would not get new harnesses, the old ones being mended all over with +wire and baling rope and the lines rotten. Harry's leaders had broken +their lines twice that day, it seemed, and he had nearly lost control of +them in consequence. 'The old fool keeps a-promising and a-promising to +get new harness,' said George, 'but he never gets it; and he hasn't got +a harness on his whole darn ranch that's worth a whoop in hell.' 'My old +plugs broke their harness five times to-day,' said Harry. 'Since I've +been here, the teams have done more damage and lost more than would pay +for a new harness ten times over.' + +"When I had been there about a month, the hot weather began to come on, +and the feed to dry up, and I had to help clean the ditches out, ready +for irrigating. It was a big job, so many willows to grub out, and it +took much longer to finish it because we were so constantly called away +to drive out cattle and hogs that had broken into the orchard and grain +fields. You see, the feed was getting scarce, there was more stock than +there was feed for, and the fences were very shaky. The boss kept +talking about new fences, but he never had them built, he was satisfied +with patching the old ones. + +"Well, we got the ditches cleaned out and commenced to irrigate, using +all the water we could get. I was one to help irrigate and look after +the ditches. The work would have been really pleasant if we could only +have kept the band of hogs out. They would get in after the green feed +and break the ditches, causing the water to wash the soil away. That +band of hogs began to torment me as much as the mules had done. They +were so hungry you could not keep them out. I didn't blame them, poor, +lank, starved creatures, for getting in and getting something to eat. I +would have done the same in their case. + +"At last the boss thought he would shut them up in the barnyard and feed +them. Well, he had forty starved hogs shut up, and he gave them about as +much food each day as ten hogs could eat. Of course, they became like a +pack of wolves, and it was all a man could do to get through the yard. +Forty hogs would come all around him, squealing and yelling as though +they were being butchered, and you had to keep moving lively or they +would bite your legs. Henderson, one of the men, told me they ate up +four cats and three kittens and more chickens than had been on the table +for a year. + +"One Sunday morning, after breakfast, I commenced to wash my shirt and +overalls, when Henderson called to me, 'Cattle in the peach orchard!' +Now, at the further end of the peach orchard there were a hundred nice +young trees, covered with tender foliage, looking fine. It seems the +cattle got into the orchard in the night and ate all the growth off +them, so they looked just like sticks. It really was a shame to see such +fine trees damaged in that way, but the boss would not take time to +build a good fence around them. That afternoon I went to lie down in the +barn; it was hot, the mosquitoes and flies were getting in their best +licks at me. I was trying to sleep, and just as I was about succeeding +Henderson called out: 'Charles, get your shovel and come quick.' 'What's +the matter?' I asked. 'Why, the hogs have played the devil and broke the +ditches and the water is running all over Hell.' Mad as I felt about +being disturbed, I could not help smiling within at the thought of water +running all over hell, and I said to him: 'If those hogs can flood hell +with water they ought to be sent to a dime museum.' We went on in +silence till we reached the orchard gate, when Henderson said: 'Do you +know, I would rather take a licking than open that gate, for it's a +back-breaker. It hasn't got a hinge, and is as heavy as an elephant; you +have to lift it up and drag it along the ground. It takes more time to +hang a gate that way with a band of iron to a post or a bent stick in +the place of the iron, than it would to buy two pairs of hinges; and yet +that is the only kind he has on the place. It seems as if everything on +the place was devised to make work as hard, unhandy, and wrong-end-to as +possible.' + +"That evening when we had gathered together as usual, Harry opened the +conversation by saying: 'What a racket there was to-night at supper! It +seems to me the whole family is raising hell all the time, but I don't +blame the old woman much for giving the boss a jawing about throwing his +old broken harness on her bedroom floor, when he came home in the light +rig this afternoon.' 'He is always doing such things,' said George. 'The +front room is more like an old store-room than anything else. He don't +deserve a house; that man ought to live in a barn.' + +"Another of the men said: 'If ever there was any attraction between the +boss and his wife, it has long ago disappeared; and the children! What a +quarreling gang they are.' Then they proceeded to discuss at length each +member of the family, and I must say, father, that although I had become +accustomed to much of the roughness of the life of these ranches, I was +so shocked over some of the things they said that it took me a long time +to get over it. I was not surprised that the boys should be little +reprobates, because I didn't see how they could be otherwise, living +with such a crew of men around them all the time, but was shocked to +hear what they said about the girls. There were two of them: one fifteen +years old, the other eighteen. Rather pretty girls they were, too. I had +talked with them several times and they seemed modest and quite shy with +me. I hadn't seen them much with the other fellows. Well, father, when +those men had finished talking, they hadn't left those girls a shred of +what the world calls a reputation, and the worst of it was that their +stories were for the most part true, as I afterward ascertained. I could +scarcely speak to the girls for several days; for somehow one expects +more of a girl than of a boy, though I don't know why one should," he +added, thoughtfully. "I'm sure I'd want to be as pure as the girl I +married. + +"Well, I studied over the thing a good deal, and I finally came to this +conclusion: Those girls were not bad; they were simply curious. They led +such narrow, cramped lives that there was nothing for their active +brains to feed on, so they naturally turned to the most interesting +thing at hand, themselves, their physical selves. A superabundance of +vitality overshadowed their small mental equipment. In the absence of +suitable entertainment the physical part of their being had fatally +asserted itself. Ignorant of consequences, they sinned innocently. I +felt sorry for them, and during the rest of my stay there, I tried to +give them some glimpses of a more intellectual life. + +"Well," continued Charles, "I stayed in that hell over a year, then left +and went to the Lonsdale ranch. There we did not use the barn to sleep +in; each man had a bunk to himself in the bunk-house. The interior of +the bunk-house was decorated with several choice works of art, one +representing three young ladies, in abbreviated costumes, enjoying wine +and cigarettes; another showed several men lifting from the water the +nude form of a beautiful young woman who had committed suicide; while a +third was an exciting picture of a jealous woman, in a much torn +garment, holding a pistol to the head of her faithless lover. Some +pictures of Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, and Sharkey also adorned the walls. +Much time was spent in the evenings discussing the various merits and +demerits of the pugilists. I was often surprised at the able and +exhaustive manner in which they would handle the subject, and showed +some remarkable ability in treating of the qualities of the prize +fighting gentlemen. If the same amount of brain power had been turned in +other directions, how useful to their country those men might have +become. I do not wish to convey the idea that they were always handling +such great and momentous topics as the fighting qualities of those noted +gentlemen. Very often, by way of variation, they would talk of those +feminine types of beauty which appeared so conspicuously in the _Police +Gazette_ and the _Sporting Times_. + +"It was astonishing the amount of information they displayed concerning +women, what retentive memories they had, and how very familiar they were +with the subject of woman, her ways, and her sex nature. Their mental +horizon was bounded on the north by the affairs of the ranch, on the +east by the boss and his domestic concerns, on the south by woman as +manifested by the various phases of her sexual nature, and on the west +by the gentry of the prize ring. Within these boundaries was their +mental world, their minds never reaching out and beyond these subjects. + +"The reading matter on the table was the sensational weekly papers. + +"I remember one Sunday to my surprise I saw one of the men reading a +book. On looking at the title, it read: 'The Life of Rattlesnake Pete,' +and another man had a book lying on his blankets, entitled 'The +Adventures of Coyote Bill.' Gambling was their favorite pastime. It was +one round of card playing nights and Sundays. When I first went to work +on the Lonsdale ranch, the boss put me to cutting oak wood. After I had +been at work awhile, he came along and told me that I did not hold the +handle of my axe right. The next day he found fault with me for the way +I used a cross-cut saw. A week later I was piling brush to burn, and the +way I laid the brush did not suit him. He was everlastingly blowing +about himself and telling how he did things. I did not seem to be able +to do anything right. One night after supper we had all assembled in the +bunk-house, when Parsons said: 'I tell you boys, hell went pop this +morning. Plaisted gave the boss hell because he commenced to growl at +him for the way he held the lines. Plaisted told him he was the greatest +old crank that ever run a ranch, and that the devil himself couldn't +suit him. He left the team right in the field and called for his money. +I tell you the boss's face was as red as a beet. He had to give Simmons +six dollars a month more to take the team.' + +"Hendricks said, 'I gave the boss a piece of my mind this morning when I +tried to open the gate leading into the garden. It is a rod long, and as +heavy as hell; the whole weight was on the ground. I told him any man +that had such a gate as that on his ranch never ought to own a ranch. I +said, 'Why in the devil don't you get some hinges and hang your gates?' +Ambrose spoke up, and said, 'Sometimes the boss seems pleasant enough, +but he does like to find fault and tell you what big things he has +done. To hear him talk you would think that his ranch was the only ranch +that was worth anything. He told his visitors to-day that his place +would pay the interest on one hundred thousand dollars. You know, boys, +it wouldn't sell for twelve thousand.' + +"Parsons said: 'The boss has been growling at me ever since I have been +with him, but I pay no attention to him. He thinks if you don't do a +thing as he does, you don't do it right, and any idea that does not +originate in his brain is not worth anything. To hear him talking to +that lady visiting here to-day you would think he was a perfect man +living on a model ranch.' I will never forget how mad Hendricks was with +the boss one Saturday evening. We had just come from supper when +Hendricks lit his pipe and gave vent to his feelings, as follows: 'If I +had had a four-year-old club at the supper table to-night, I felt so +boiling mad that I would have knocked hell out of him. To hear him go on +a nagging and fault-finding with that little woman of his. There she has +been a-working hard all day, set three good meals, doing the churning +and all the housework besides; and all she gets for her patient labor is +a growl.' 'Yes,' said another man, 'she has been working like a slave +all the week and to-morrow is Sunday, and it will be to her just the +same as any other day.' Hendricks said: 'The boss thinks more of his old +plugs than he does of his wife. See what care he takes of his horses. +One lot is resting while the other lot is working; then those that have +been working are put in the pasture, and those that have been resting +are put to work. But he never seems to think that poor worn-out woman of +his needs a rest and change.' + +"Parsons added: 'That is not the worst of it. His wife is a cook-stove +slave, and a wash and butter-making machine. It does not matter how +tired she is or otherwise physically unfit, he demands his marital +privileges as a right, regardless of her wishes or protests. I know it +is a fact, for he brags about it.' Parsons continued: 'When a boy I +used to hear preachers talk about hell, and I could not see what was the +use of sending millions and billions of people to eternal torments, so I +thought there ought to be no such place as hell; but if there is a hell, +then I think the boss deserves to go there.' + +"An intelligent young man from the East by the name of Travers joined in +the conversation by saying: 'When I was a boy I remember how serious my +good father felt because he thought a neighbor had died without his sins +being forgiven, and had gone to hell. At that time the word _hell_ used +to have some meaning on the minds of the people, and produced on my mind +a feeling of fear and awe. But how different it is now. If a minister +was to preach now about all wicked people going to hell, it would +produce no more effect on their minds than water on a duck's back, for +the word hell is now a spent thunderbolt, used uselessly by the mouths +of so many. It may be well for theologians to know (if any of them +believe in hell as preached) whether or not they have got through +discussing hell; their views have no weight whatever on the minds of the +masses, for they are all the time making light, fun, and sport of the +word _hell_.' 'That's so,' joined in the men, and they all laughed. + +"I had been at the Lonsdale ranch about three or four months when I +received your letter asking me to return home." + +"Well, Charles," said the old man Herne, "if I had not worked out for +several years on ranches, I should think your stories slightly colored, +but from my own experience I should say the half has not been told." + +"That is so, father," said Charles. "I have not stated what I have seen +and heard half strongly enough." + +The father said: "When I bought this ranch, the first thing I did was to +build solid fences, raise lots of feed and hang gates on hinges so that +a child could open them with its finger. I always make my plans so that +I have more feed than stock. I did not set out an orchard till the +fences were finished, so that nothing could get in. I made it a point +to avoid losing a lot of work through bad management. My hired men have +always had a good house to sleep in, each man having a room to himself. +The house is cool in the summer through having double porches all round +it, and warm in winter because it is well furnished. Men and teams never +go out to work in the winter till the sun is up. Every man sits down to +supper at six, during the summer months, and they have two hours' +nooning. What is the result? I have always had the best men to work for +me, and they never want to leave. Each man is put upon his honor, and +takes as much interest in doing his best for me as if the place belonged +to him. Everything goes on the same at the ranch when I am away as when +I am there. No man has used anything but the most respectful language to +me. I have heard no swearing at teams. In fact, I have heard no swearing +or low stories at all. I never would allow it. Every day the work is +done well and without friction." + +"Yes," said his son, "I used to think your place was heaven while I was +away." + +Two years from the time this conversation took place, the father died, +leaving the property and some money to his son, Charles, and seven +thousand dollars to his daughter Lena. + +Charles Herne was not a student of political economy nor a reader of +sociology, but what he did was done through an innate sense of justice, +with a spirit of generosity, and the munificent treatment of his men was +the manifestation of his noble, free spirit. To-morrow will be the +greatest event so far in the life of Charles Herne, for he brings to his +home his bride. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MARRIAGE OF CHARLES HERNE. + + +Two miles from the Herne ranch, toward Roseland, lived the Holbrooke +family. + +On the afternoon of the day which was of such importance in the lives of +two of our characters, Mr. Holbrooke returned from a survey of his +orchard, to be met by his wife with a face full of mysterious +importance. + +"I've got some news, James," she said. "Now guess what it is-- + +"Sophia has heard from one of her old beaux," said her husband +immediately. + +"Get a pail of water and throw it over your dad, Sophia," said Mrs. +Holbrooke. "He's always joking you about your beaux. Well," she added, +"I see I'll have to tell you, you'll never guess. Charles Herne has just +gone by here with a bran-new suit of clothes, a bran-new matched team, a +bran-new harness, a bran-new buggy, and a bran-new wife. There! What do +you think of that?" + +"Why," said her husband, "I think you may see them go by here some day +with a brand-new baby." + +"The idea of your talking that way before Sophia; that's the way with +you men, your mind is always run on such things." + +"Well," said her husband, "I don't think such a subject is very foreign +to your mind or Sophia's either." + +"Sophy, let's you and I take your dad and throw him. We can do it," said +Mrs. Holbrooke. + +Since the newly-married couple that caused so much interest in the +Holbrooke family had gone by, Sophia had laid down her novel, "The +Banker's Daughter," and was gazing dreamily out of the window. The young +lady being of a rather romantic turn of mind, had just been saying to +herself, "What a perfect day to be married. Will everything be as +beautiful on my wedding day, I wonder?" + +"Well," said Mrs. Holbrooke, "whoever the lady may be, she has got a +good man and a lovely home." + +"Yes," said her husband, "a good job was done when Charles Herne came +into the world." + +"Don't talk so rough, James. I never saw a man like you in all my life," +said his wife. + +"The old man Herne had a long head on him when he sent Charles out into +the world to cut his own fodder," added Holbrooke, reflectively. + +"Yes," said his wife, "those hired men of his wouldn't be acting like +gentlemen the way they are now if Charles had not gone out and rustled." + +"Two years ago," he continued, "he devoted the entire proceeds from his +orchard for one year, after paying expenses, to fixing up the cottage +for his men. He had it painted and papered; had good carpets laid down +on the floors; large mirrors and pictures on the walls; put in two large +bathrooms with hot and cold water; a billiard table, lots of small +games, all the leading papers and magazines. Bought them a fine piano, +also an organ, and a lot of music, sacred and sentimental. He also +bought a fine matched team with a two-seated buggy, and said: 'Boys, I +want you to keep this team for your own riding out evenings, Saturday +afternoons and Sundays. Take care of it among yourselves, and I hope you +all may have many pleasant rides. There isn't a team in the country gets +more grooming than those colts, and not a man has been known to +overdrive them. I never see anything like it, those hired men at Herne's +live and act as if they were members of some gentlemen's club. They +always wash their hands in warm water in the winter, and are particular +about keeping their finger-nails clean. On Sundays to see those men +dressed up, you would think they had never seen dirt. You don't see +Herne's men on a Sunday morning spending their time in washing overalls, +shirts, and socks. Herne keeps a Chinaman to do that in the week day. +Why, if I was to go and offer one of those men a steady job at ten +dollars a month more than Herne pays, he would turn his nose up at me. +You can't get a man to leave; they stick to him closer than a brother. +He has ten standing applicants to fill the next vacancy he may have. And +did you ever see a place where men worked so orderly, harmoniously, and +thoroughly as they do on the Herne ranch? You don't see any of the trees +in his orchard barked through having careless, mad teamsters while +harrowing and cultivating. Herne's horses, harness, and machinery look +better and last more than twice as long, because the men take great +interest in caring for them. It's not all go out of pocket with Herne in +what he does for his men. Some pretty big returns come back." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holbrooke, "Lena Herne told me that her brother and +herself were sitting on the porch one evening, and she was talking to +Charles about the men and what he had done for them, when he said, +'Lena, I would not give up the love and respect which these men have for +me, and I for them, and the quiet, peaceful understanding that exists +between us, for all the ranches in the county.' She said that she and +her brother very often spent their evenings with the men in games, +singing and a general social time, and there are lots of young people in +the neighborhood that call on them to play croquet and lawn-tennis of a +Saturday afternoon or to spend a pleasant evening. Just think," +continued Mrs. Holbrooke, "those men at Herne's only work five and a +half days in the week, and those days are short ones. I tell you, +Holbrooke, those men have a far better time than you do, though you own +a ranch and they don't; you are a slave compared to them." + +"Some of the men say that Herne don't talk Christianity to them, but he +puts some mighty big Christian principles in practice," said her +husband. + +It was as Sophia had mentally said, "A perfect day to be married on." + +The newly married couple, as they journeyed from Roseland to Treelawn, +found the sun just warm enough to be pleasant, for it was in the early +part of March. The road was in fine condition, for there was neither mud +nor dust. A gentle breeze wafted the sweet scented odors from the +flower-decked fields, with their carpets of green. All nature seemed +smiling, for was it not its mating season? What was all the chattering +going on in the trees and the songs in the bushes, but the feathery +tribe making love to each other. It seemed as if on this day all Nature +was singing one grand anthem with a hallelujah chorus. + +As the happy pair looked at the scene, they forgot for the moment their +own happiness in the contemplation of Nature's grandeur. + +Before them rose the variegated hills of the Sierras, the sun bringing +out the brilliant coloring of the rocks; higher behind these the +glittering snow-covered peaks, and above all the matchless blue of the +heavens. + +To them the world seemed indeed all joy and beauty, and a home together, +a paradise. And so they entered upon the new life. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JULIA HAMMOND. + + +The settlement in which Treelawn was located was called Orangeville, and +covered a large area of country. It had a general store--post-office, +church, school-house, hall, blacksmith-shop, and two saloons. + +For reasons best known to himself, Charles Herne had kept his wedding a +secret from all his neighbors, and it was really more by intuition than +by actual knowledge that Mrs. Holbrooke came into possession of the +fact. + +On the morning after the wedding, Sam Gilmore, like a good husband, had +quietly risen and dressed himself, leaving his spouse to finish her nap. +After seeing that the fire in the kitchen stove was burning brightly and +the tea-kettle set on, he went to the barn. After a short time he +returned to the house, and putting his head into the bedroom, said with +some excitement, "Sarah, I've got some news for you. Charles Herne has +got him a wife." + +When Sarah Gilmore received that piece of astounding intelligence, the +mental shock seemed to produce paralysis, for the garment she was about +to put on remained suspended in the air as she exclaimed: "Well, I swan! +I thought he was married to his hired pets. How did you hear the news, +Sam?" + +"Nettleton told me. He was over to see if I would let him have the bays +to-day." + +"Did you let them go?" asked his wife. + +"No, I told him I was going to use them on the ranch to-day," said Sam, +closing the door and going back to the barn. + +As Sam went out of the bedroom door the paralysis went, too, for no +woman ever moved more quickly in putting on the rest of her garments +than did Sarah Gilmore that morning. + +There was a very good breakfast waiting for Sam when he came in from the +barn, and above all Sarah had made him a plate of light, rich +batter-cakes, which he always relished very much. They were set a little +way into the oven with the door open, to keep warm, his good wife having +buttered and sugared them, all ready for Sam to pour rich cream over +them. + +After breakfast, as Sam was on his way to the barn, he said to himself, +"My! Sarah is a fine cook. I would be willing to bet ten dollars she can +knock the spots out of Charles Herne's wife in cooking; and she is so +cheerful while getting up good meals, and don't make any fuss about it, +either." + +Sam and the bays worked well that morning in doing a little light work. + +Sarah lost no time in putting the breakfast dishes into the dish-pan, +but instead of washing them immediately, as was her way, she was seen +going over a well-beaten trail toward a house where smoke was coming out +of the chimney. When she opened the door, she found Mrs. Green just +wiping a mush-bowl which had been used at breakfast. + +"Well, Carrie," said Sarah Gilmore to Mrs. Green, "what do you think has +happened? Charles Herne has come home with a bride." + +"There, now, Sarah, you surprise me," said Mrs. Green. + +"I guess every body is surprised," said Mrs. Gilmore. + +After a few minutes' more conversation, she hurried back to wash her +dishes and get dinner. + +When Sam came to dinner he found his wife in the best of spirits, with a +big dinner for him to enjoy. Sam's alimentive faculty being in a state +of great activity, he ate heartily, finishing up with two pieces of +Sarah's extra rich peach cobbler. After dinner Sam went to the +fire-place where he sat rocking himself, and soon was enjoying a smoke. +He had been smoking about five minutes when his wife said: "I really +like the smell of the tobacco you smoke, but if you were to smoke such +stinking stuff as Horace does, I would get up and leave you. But yours +does smell real sweet." + +"Horace Green is too stingy to smoke good tobacco," said Sam, after +which remark he brought his hand to the side of his leg each time he let +the smoke curl out of his mouth, feeling well satisfied with himself and +all the world beside. + +Did you ever have the experience of passing through a large barnyard, +and going from one end to the other with a lean, hungry hog after you, +yelling and squealing, trying to eat you up by snapping first at one of +your legs and then at the other? You kick at him with first one foot, +saying, "Sooy, sooy;" then you, with the other foot, kick backwards, +saying, "Sooy, sooy." And after going through this performance many, +many times, you reach the gate and shut it between yourself and the hog, +leaving him on the inside, amidst deafening noise made by his hungry +squeals. After you have left, he does his best to tear down the fence, +so strong are the pangs of hunger in him. + +A few minutes after that you take him a pail of rich buttermilk, then a +large pail of fresh ripe figs, and two dozen ears of sweet corn. You go +out in that barnyard an hour afterwards and you don't hear any hog +noise. You don't see a hog even moving, for he is lying down in the +greatest state of quiet. He will let you do just what you have a mind to +do to him. You can scratch him and you will find him good-natured and he +seems to enjoy your attentions. He is in such a contented, happy state, +that you can roll him or do anything you wish to him. + +So it is with some men. By making love to them through their stomachs, +you will find them in as happy a frame of mind as Sam Gilmore was as he +finished his pipe. His wife saw that he was taking his last puffs, so +she said, "Sam, can I have the bays to go over to the Henshaws' this +afternoon?" + +"Well," replied Sam, "I was going to haul wood, but I guess I can let +that go. What time do you want them?" + +"Two o'clock," said his wife. + +Sarah said that Sam brought the bays around to the front door and was as +lively round her and the team as he was twenty years ago when she was a +maiden and he came courting her at her father's. + +Talk about the diplomacy of Bismarck, d'Israeli, and the Russian +Ambassador in settling the Eastern question at the close of the +Russo-Turkish war; why there are women in Orangeville who can give them +pointers on diplomacy. + +The bays thought that either a peddler or minister was driving them that +afternoon, they made so many short calls. There was one thing +certain--Sarah Gilmore was not to blame if the people of Orangeville did +not know Charles Herne was married. + +When Green entered the house his wife said: "Horace, what do you think? +Charles Herne has brought home a bride." + +"A what?" said her husband. + +"A bride," said his wife. "May be it's so long since you saw a bride, +you have entirely forgotten how one looks. You had better hustle round +and pony up that seventy-five dollars you are owing him. He will need it +to buy silks, satins and laces for the bride." + +"Hell's to pay," said Green. + +Early the same morning Henry Storms entered the "Crow's Nest" saloon in +Orangeville, where two men were talking over the bar to the +saloon-keeper. Storms, walking up to where they were, saluted them by +saying: "Hell's broke loose." + +"What's up now?" said one of the men. + +"Why," said Storms, "Charles Herne has got a running mate." + +"Drinks for four," called out another man. + +When the drinks were ready four men raised their glasses, one saying, +"Drink hearty to Charles Herne and his partner." + +At the conclusion of the toast four glasses of whiskey were emptied down +four men's throats. + +A man went down from his house to the road where his mailbox was nailed +to a redwood post. The stage was just coming in. + +"Any news?" asked the man of the stage-driver as he took his mail. + +"News!" said the driver. "I should say there was. They tell me that +Charles Herne has been, and gone, and done it." + +Saunders, the merchant of Orangeville, told his customers that day that +"Charles Herne had got spliced." + +Tim Collins took a span of kicking mules to Pierce, the blacksmith, to +be shod. + +"Well, Tim, I got some news for you," said Pierce. + +"What is it?" said Tim. + +"Charles Herne has got hitched up." + +Now one could not discern any perceptible change in Charles Herne, if it +were true that he had done all the many and varied things which his +neighbors stated he had; such as "Brought home a brand-new wife," "Got +him a woman," "Got a bride," "Got a running mate," "Been, gone, and done +it," "Got spliced," "Got hitched up," and so on. + +The waves of ether in the atmosphere of Orangeville were pregnant with +all these sayings and produced such an effect on a number of ladies as +to make them call at different times at the Treelawn home. + +When some of the ladies had made a call and had seen Mrs. Herne, and +these ladies saw some others in Orangeville who had not seen Mrs. Herne, +conversation did not drag. And as for speculation. Why the amount of +speculative genius displayed by certain ladies of that locality would +eclipse all speculative talent of Kant, Spencer and Mill. Listen to some +of the inquiries: "Is she proud?" "Is she pretty?" "Has she much style +about her?" "Do you think they will get along well together?" "Is she +fond of children?" "Will they have any babies?" "Is she fond of dress?" +"Is she a society lady?" "Do you think she will get lonesome?" "Can she +do housework?" "Is she much account with a needle?" "Is she close and +saving?" "Is she extravagant?" "Do you think she will put her foot down +on Charles Herne furnishing his men with so many luxuries?" "Is she +happy?" "Is she a scold?" "Will she wear the breeches?" and numerous +other questions which, like problems concerning the Universe, will take +time to solve. + +Clara Herne was very happy in her new home as the wife of Charles Herne. +She found her duties light and pleasant. Everything in the house and +about the house was order and system, no friction, all harmony. She +remarked to her husband one evening: "It pays to have good help. Every +one here takes an interest in what he has to do and does it the very +best he knows how, cheerfully and willingly." + +She respected her husband exceedingly for the generous way in which he +treated his men, and she helped him to still further their comforts. + +On retiring one night after they had both spent the evening with their +men, which they often did, she said to her husband: "How good it is to +have love and respect between employers and employed. Every one speaks +in such a kind way; so considerate for the feelings and interests of +each one." + +"Yes," said her husband, "it makes life worth living to treat your hired +help not as if they were merely machines for the use of getting so much +work out of them, but to live and act towards them as if they were men. +Better still to realize the thought always, that they are our brothers." + +Charles and Clara Herne were very happy as man and wife, because they +were a social unit. They were one in their domestic and social natures; +they were fond of going out to parties, suppers and dances, and enjoyed +entertaining company; they were strictly moral, though not religious, +and occasionally attended church. + +One evening about a year after they had been married, they were sitting +in front of the open fire, interesting themselves in talking about some +of the people in Orangeville who were at the party they had attended the +evening previous. + +"I think last night's party was one of the best we have attended," said +Mrs. Herne. + +"Yes," said her husband, "the Hammonds are great entertainers. They +always make it interesting and pleasant for every one who comes." + +"Of course, their daughter Julia has a tact for receiving company and +making delicacies for a party," added Clara. "What taste she displayed +in the arrangement of the table. Then she herself is personally a great +attraction to the young men. I consider her the belle of Orangeville. +Her age I think is about twenty-one." + +"Yes, but she has a most unusual development for that age. She has such +a commanding form, so erect; there is something very fascinating about +her expression; and those black eyes of hers denote a powerful +magnetism. No wonder she attracts men so strongly." + +"She seemed to pay more attention to that young Webber, I thought, than +to any one else. Certainly, she smiled very sweetly upon him." + +"You don't know Julia," said Mr. Herne, decidedly. "She is like a cat, +as meek as Moses or as full of deviltry as Judas Iscariot. She is just +playing with Webber and he is too vain and foolish to see it. Why, Julia +Hammond would not marry Webber if he were the last man in Orangeville. +The man she wants is Ben West, and she scarcely spoke to him during the +evening; in fact, did not pay him as much attention as she would have +paid to the merest stranger. In most girls such an action would be the +result of shyness and the desire to avoid observation; in Julia, I think +it arises from an inborn, stubborn pride which prevents her from +yielding even to such an uncontrollable feeling. She has an iron will +and though she knows she must yield eventually, she holds herself +defiantly as long as she can." + +"I don't blame her for wanting Ben West, for he is the finest looking +and most popular young man in Orangeville," said Clara. + +"He is, indeed," replied her husband. "Almost any girl in Orangeville +would be glad to marry him, but Julia wants him and she will get him. He +has not lost his heart so far, but Julia has not played her cards yet. +She knows her power and loves to use it. She would do anything to gain +her end." + +"Why, dear, you seem to be well posted on Julia's disposition," said his +wife. + +"You see," he replied, "I have known her ever since she has lived in +Orangeville, which has been twelve years. And now I am going to tell you +something that will surprise you. I got it straight from Hammond +himself, and he and I are close friends, as I have helped him +financially out of some hard places. Several times he has made me a +confidant. Only one or two in Orangeville know what I am going to tell +you. + +"It seems that about four years after Mr. and Mrs. Hammond were married, +Mrs. Hammond received a letter from her cousin, Mrs. Featherstone, +saying that Nat Harrison, a mutual friend, had been shot dead in a +dispute over a faro game. He was under the influence of liquor at the +time of the trouble. He left a wife and a girl baby eighteen months old, +without any means of support, the mother being incompetent to take care +of either herself or the child, and the letter asked would Mrs. Hammond +like to adopt the baby. If so, Mrs. Featherstone was coming to San Diego +in about a month's time and would bring the child (the Hammonds lived at +San Diego then). The mother would make her home with her aunt. + +"Mrs. Hammond said, after reading the letter, 'Poor Annie Harrison. Only +think. I sat beside her at the graduating exercises of Nat Harrison's +class, and remember how pleased she was at the applause which greeted +the oration delivered by Nat, "American Commerce." So many +congratulated him on his talent and thought he would become a rising +member of the bar, and his voice would be heard in the halls of +legislation of the nation. + +"'Annie looked so pretty and sweet that day, you could not have bought +her prospects in life for a million dollars. She thought she had a jewel +of a lover, poor thing, she was so innocent of the nature of men. She +knew nothing of the world, for her mother always treated her as a baby, +never teaching her any self-reliance, and had kept her as a hot-house +plant. She grew up with no higher ideal in life for herself than to be +some rich man's toy and pet, under marriage. She was more adapted to be +a flower in the "Garden of Eden" than to fight the battle of life in the +present state of society.' + +"Nat Harrison had money and was doing well when he married Annie, but +being a man of strong passions and appetites, Annie's freshness and +bloom soon wilted. Then he sought other pastures for his carnal +pleasures, and with that came drinking and gambling. When his estate was +settled up after his death they found he was in debt. + +"Mr. and Mrs. Hammond talked the matter over and decided to adopt the +child. They were both much pleased when they received the baby from Mrs. +Featherstone and saw what a fine child she was. They have loved her and +done everything that parents could do for a child of their own to make +her happy. Julia brought lots of sunshine into their home, and +everything went all right and they took a great deal of comfort with her +till she got to be about fourteen and then she seemed to become +stubborn, grew inattentive to her studies, seemed to care less for her +girl companions, but was always with the boys. All she appeared to care +for was to be in their company. She took less interest in things in the +house, did not care about helping her mother, and would have odd spells. +Sometimes she took a notion to do up the work, and it was then done +quickly and well. Then for quite a time it would be like pulling teeth +to get her to do anything. She has the ability if she would only use +it. The last four years she has given Mr. and Mrs. Hammond many an +anxious thought, and they have wished that Ben West or some other such +man would marry her. They see the older she grows the more the hot blood +of her father shows in her. Hammond told me last night at the party that +Julia was great on dress parade, but was not there when it came to doing +the common every day duties of life with no excitement." + +"Why, Charles, the narrative concerning Julia's life is very +interesting. Some of the people around us would be just as good material +for a novel as those we read about in fiction." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +BEN WEST. + + +About a week after Mr. Herne had told his wife the history of Julia +Hammond, Mr. Hammond, on going to the store for some trifle, was saluted +by Saunders, the merchant, with, "Heard the news, Hammond?" + +Hammond said: "No. What is it?" + +"Why, Ben West is going to the Klondike," said Saunders. + +"Going to the Klondike!" said Hammond. "Why, I don't see what he has to +go there for. He is the only child, his father owns a fine ranch, and he +is always getting big jobs on roads and ditches, making three to four +dollars a day, because he can go ahead and knows just what to do and how +to do it. He has great muscular strength and can lift about twice as +much as any ordinary man." + +"Oh, he wants to make a stake," said Saunders. "He is ambitious." + +Wescott spoke up and said: "Ben is a rustler; he will get there every +time." + +Hammond said: "He has lots of vim and pluck; has got sand and backbone +to him." + +"Yes, he is a hummer," said Saunders. + +"I tell you he has got some ambition and grit," said Stearns, +admiringly. + +It was not long before the news spread all over Orangeville, that Ben +West was going to the Klondike, and the abilities which he possessed as +a worker and money maker, and an all round good fellow were the theme of +conversation in many a household and on many a ranch. + +When the news reached the ears of the young ladies of Orangeville, most +of them felt a shade of disappointment, because Ben had been good to +them. + +Not having shown any decided preference for one, he devoted his +attentions to many, and having a good fast team he was able to give the +young ladies many a pleasant ride to dances, parties and church, so he +was a great favorite with them all. + +Just previous to Ben West's leaving Orangeville, a great farewell supper +and dance was given him. The attendance was very large. The young ladies +appeared in their best toilets. Julia looked superb and was very +graceful in her deportment. This evening she "played her cards" with +evident success, and the result was that as Ben West went home the +feeling that had been flickering for some time had now broken out into a +flame that fired his blood. Julia did indeed know her power and how to +use it, and she intended that some one else should be restless and +disturbed as well as herself. So that night there were two persons in +Orangeville who tried to sleep but could not. Ben West realized that +night that he had become a willing slave. Sometimes the thought seemed +pleasant, then again it would be galling in the extreme. + +A few of the boys went to Roseland to see Ben off, and they had a time +"all to themselves" as they called it in Roseland, the night previous to +his departure. Ben West left with the best wishes and prayers for good +luck following him from all his friends. + +When a rising, popular young man leaves his home and neighborhood for +the purpose of making his fortune, he is full of great expectations, and +this thought is shared by all his friends. He departs with the best +wishes following him, for his companions say: "If a man can strike it +rich he can." There does not seem the least doubt in their minds +regarding his success, for they have unbounded confidence in him. Now +the young man leaving is exceedingly alive to the expressions and +sentiments of his friends, and he feels that he must succeed or die in +the attempt. His attachment to name and fame and his personal self is so +strong, and he is so susceptible and negative to the good opinion of +those around him, that he feels he will never want to come back and show +himself among his friends unless he has struck it rich, for he knows +there is nothing that succeeds like success. + +Talk about the idolatry of the heathen! Is there any idolatry in the +world that is stronger than that which is found in the so-called +"Christian" world in the year 1900? Where do you find any greater +idolatry than that which is bestowed on money and on woman? There are +more devotees at these two shrines than are to be found worshipping the +Divine. Look at a young man fortunate in the financial world. The first +year in speculations he makes fifty thousand dollars. The second year he +is worth two hundred thousand dollars. The third year he has made half a +million. The fourth year he has become a millionaire. Now listen to the +eulogies and encomiums passed upon him. He is the lion of the hour, the +hero of the day, for he has won the victory that to win fifty thousand +other men had tried and failed. He has attained the great end for which +most men think they were born, money making. What a number of young +ladies see so many excellent qualities in the rising young millionaire, +the "Napoleon of Finance." Note how his faults are all glossed over by +their mammas, who are ready to act as if they had received a retaining +fee as his attorneys, so ready are they to defend him at all times to +their daughters and friends. It seems to matter little about his +intellectual gifts or moral character. His financial success covers a +multitude of sins and weaknesses. Should a young lady raise one or two +slight objections in regard to the young millionaire's character, her +mother says: "Why, dear, all young men must sow their wild oats. You +must not expect to find a pure young man. All young men are fast more or +less. It would be hard to find an unmarried man that is moral. After +they are married they get steady and settle down." + +Should a young lady of moderate means marry a young man who has made a +million dollars, there is more rejoicing by the members of her family +than if she had become a saint or a great angel of light. She thinks she +has attained the great end of her existence in marrying a millionaire +and making for herself name and fame and family position. + +Should the young millionaire be a little liberal to a few of his +friends, he becomes more to them than the Lord himself. Other young men, +seeing and knowing all this, are putting forth every effort and +straining every nerve to be successful financiers. They realize that the +power of money is so great to-day in the eyes of many, that unless they +are successful money getters, they are no good to themselves or their +friends. They parody the verse in Proverbs something like this: "With +all thy getting, get money; get it honestly if you can, _but get it +anyway_." + +Such is the gospel that is acted out in the commercial world to-day. All +good intentions, all right convictions, all wise counsels of religious +teachers, are side-tracked and become as a dead letter if they stand in +the way to successful money making. + +Ben West knew what the sentiment of the people of Orangeville was +towards himself, and it fired his ambition to think of the expressions +conveyed to him by his friends, and his heart was fired still more when +he thought of the possibility of possessing the fine form of Julia +Hammond. He made up his mind that he would be willing to endure all +hardships, that he would leave no stone unturned in order to be +successful; for he saw before him the chance of getting a fortune and +the praise, adoration and admiration of the people of Orangeville. + +The form of Julia Hammond seemed to float before the eyes of his mind +day and night; and when he saw, in his imagination, that face with its +sparkling black eyes, and the finely poised head, with its wavy black +hair, her well-rounded bust, and the handsome figure, it made him feel +like removing a mountain of dirt or penetrating the bowels of the earth, +to get the shiny metal which was to open for him the gates of his +earthly paradise. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +STELLA WHEELWRIGHT. + + +One afternoon two men were digging post-holes and setting in redwood +posts on the side of one of the main roads in Orangeville. Everything +had been exceedingly quiet, not a team was seen since dinner. Nothing in +the way of excitement had happened to relieve the monotony of their +work. They were interested and delighted when they heard a noise, and, +looking down the road, saw a vehicle coming, but it was not near enough +to tell whose it was. When it got a little nearer one of the men said: +"Why, Alfred, it is the old man Wheelwright and his girl Stella." + +Alfred replied to James, the man who has just spoken: "Stella was to +school at San José, and her father has been to Roseland to meet the +train which arrived this morning and bring her home." + +"How she has grown," remarked James, "since she went away. She has +improved in her looks very much." + +"Yes," said Alfred, "I think she will make a fine woman, for she has a +bright, intelligent eye, and they say she is real smart in her studies, +away ahead of most of the girls round here. She seems so different to +them. She comes of good stock; her mother is the brightest and best +woman in Orangeville, and her father is a well-posted man." + +"You must be kind of stuck on her and her folks," replied his companion. +"I don't go so much myself on girls who have their heads in books all +the time. What does a fellow want with such a girl as that? She may be +all right to be a school marm, or woman's rights talker, but I don't +want any of them. I say to hell with book women. Give me a girl like +Nance Slater. She is round and plump, don't care much for books or +papers, but is bright and laughing all the day. She is the girl to have +lots of fun with, and when it comes to making a man a good wife, why, +she is the best cook in Orangeville. I was over to Slater's on an errand +the other morning about ten o'clock, and Nance was looking as pretty as +a picture; her cheeks had the blush of the peach on them; her eyes were +sparkling bright, her lips red, and when she laughed, her teeth looked +like the best and whitest ivory you ever saw. She had on such a pretty, +light, calico wrapper, and a white apron with a bib, and was busy taking +out of the oven some mince pies and just putting in some apple pies. She +had a kettle of doughnuts a frying, and a whole lot of cookie paste +ready to cut out and bake. She said: 'James, you must sample my +doughnuts. Mother, give James a cup of coffee to go with them; there is +some hot on the stove.' Nance is a trump. She is straight goods. The +trouble with those Wheelwrights is they live awful close, and instead of +cooking good meals, spend their time in reading books. They starve in +the kitchen to sit in the parlor. The devil take the books, I say. I +wouldn't give a book girl barn room for all the good she would be to +me." + +Alfred replied: "That's all right; every fellow to his own girl, I say. +It would not do for all to be after the same one. As for me, I like +Stella. She has some stability of character. There is something +interesting about a girl like that, and if she don't care about doing +all the cooking, why, I can help her, if she will only let me enjoy her +company." + +The sun went down and the men went each to his own home, being content +in their mind that each man should have his own choice. + +Stella was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright, she being the +only child they ever had had. At the time she returned from school she +was sixteen and would have one year more in school. She was very +precocious, a thorough student, and would allow nothing to divert her +from her studies. She was at that age when the intellectual part of her +nature predominated, though the spiritual was just beginning to tinge +her mind with its coloring. She possessed a strong individuality; she +was a born investigator; would accept no statements without examining +them, and rebelled against a great many of the customs and usages of +society. She did her own thinking, and nothing seemed to please her more +than to take her investigating axe and cut away some of the roots which +held her free spirit in bondage. Problems seemed to be crowding on her +mind thick and fast, and she could not take the time from her studies to +do the necessary amount of reading and thinking to resolve them, and she +was looking forward to the time when her last year would expire. During +this vacation she took much physical exercise, for she did not believe +in developing one side of her nature at the expense of the other. She +rode horseback and climbed the sides of steep mountains, mixed with the +young people in their recreations, such as camping parties, picnics, and +social entertainments. In company she was bright, witty, and +entertaining. She had no fear; was full of confidence, and was better +balanced than her companions in that she was not carried away by +pleasures and the company of the opposite sex. + +When she was not away from home on camping or picnic excursions, she +would find time to visit the cabin of an old man who lived alone, and +had sore eyes so that he could not see to read. She would read to him +whatever he liked, cheer him up by her bright, happy talk, and when she +left the old man often thought to himself that her comings were like +angels' visits, for she seemed to lift him up completely out of himself +into a new world. When she laid her head on her pillow at night, after +having spent the evening with old Andrews, she thought how much greater +a satisfaction she derived from hearing that old man say, on her leaving +him: "God bless you, Stella, you always bring sunshine to me," than she +did from even the most enjoyable pleasure excursion. + +She bestowed the attractions and charm of her social and intellectual +nature less on those outside than those inside her home. You saw her at +her best when talking to her father and mother. + +Some parents let their children outgrow them intellectually, so that +there is a great gulf fixed between parents and children, the latter +having nothing in common with the former. Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright tried +as much as possible to keep themselves in advance of their daughter's +intellectual growth, so that they might always command her respect for +their opinions, and that she might realize that in them she found two +interesting, intelligent companions, whom she could love and confide in. + +The relationship between many parents and their grown children is very +unsatisfactory; for being on the material plane, there is nothing very +permanent in their relationship. The grown son and his father have only +in common business and social interests; that is their world; outside of +that neither one has any life that he realizes. + +It is the same with the grown daughters and their mother. Their life is +mainly in the social and domestic world. Outside of that they apparently +have no existence; but the true ideal parents and children are those +whose life is in the intellectual and spiritual world. They cease to +exist in each other's minds as parents and children, and realize a +stronger and more permanent tie, and intellectual and spiritual union, +which is blessed, glorious, and eternal. They realize daily that "In Him +they live, and breathe, and have their being"; that they are immersed in +an ocean of Divine love, and that Divine love permeates them all through +and through; and that it is in that ocean of Divine love that they +realize that they are one. They feel a blessed nearness and dearness and +oneness to each other, though separated by oceans and continents, for +they have realized through sweet experience that the same intelligent +spiritual thought and love pulses through them all as if they were one +organism. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PENLOE. + + +One afternoon Mrs. Herne received a caller. It was Mrs. Cullom. She had +met Mrs. Herne twice at parties and promised to call on her each time, +but for various reasons she had not been able to fulfil her promise. + +After the usual introductory talk, Mrs. Cullom said: + +"Did you ever see Penloe or his mother, Mrs. Lanair?" + +"No," said Mrs. Herne, "who are they?" + +Mrs. Cullom replied: "They live up about a mile above where I do. It's +rather lonesome where I live, but it is a very lonesome place where they +live. It is not a good road over there. I don't suppose you were ever on +that road were you?" + +"No," said Mrs. Herne, "I have never been over there. Charles said it +was out of the way and a poor road, being muddy in winter and very dusty +in summer." + +"Well," said Mrs. Cullom, "Mrs. Lenair has been on that place about two +years. She seems pleasant, but so different from most women. The second +time I called on her, I got there about two o'clock, and I thought I +would have a nice afternoon chat. So I began talking to her about my +work, and telling her how I worked my butter, and talking to her about +my cooking, and I tried to get her to talk, but she would only say a few +words about such things. About five minutes was as long as I could get +her to talk about her butter and cooking. Why, some women would talk by +the hour on such subjects. Now, she did not appear stuck up or proud, +she seemed so pleasant, her face being very bright and pleasing; and +there seemed to be such a feeling of restfulness about her that I liked +to be with her; but she seems to have so little to say about matters we +are all so much interested in. I could not get her to talk about +herself, so I asked about Penloe, if he was at home. She said, yes, he +had returned from San Francisco last week; that he had been away three +months. That surprised me, Mrs. Herne, because I did not think they were +people who had money to spend in visiting and seeing the sights of a +great city. Why, look at their place, it is not much; she sold the fruit +on the trees for two hundred dollars, and outside of the orchard they +have only pasture enough for four head of stock. Their house has four +rooms, the kitchen is the only room I have been in, but it is kept very +neat. I said to her: 'Does Penloe have much business in San Francisco?' +She smiled and said he had business as long as he washed dishes in a +restaurant. That just took my breath away, for to see Penloe you would +think he would be the last man in the world to do work like that. I +cannot tell you how he looks, but he looks so different from the young +men about here; nothing like them at all. He has a face that I like, but +I don't know him enough to say much to him. + +"Well, after they had been on that place about eighteen months or so, I +said to Dan one morning after breakfast, that I did not feel like going +out to-day, but I wanted some one here to talk to, and I wished him to +hitch up Puss and Bess and go right up and get Mrs. Lenair to come down +and spend the day with me, and to tell her that when she wished to go +home I would take her back. 'Now, if you don't get a move on you, Dan,' +I said, 'you will come home and find a cold stove and no dinner and your +cook gone.' Dan moved round like a cat on hot bricks. That kind of talk +fetches men to time. I did not have to cook much for dinner because the +day before was Dan's birthday. Dan had killed a veal two days previous +and I made two kinds of rich cake, two kinds of pies, and some cream +puffs. They were very rich. Dan is fond of high living, and he ate very +heartily of it all. I laughed at him, and said I never saw a man that +liked to dig his grave with his teeth so well as he did. So you see I +could get up a good dinner for Mrs. Lenair without having to cook much. +It was not long after Dan left before Mrs. Lenair was with me. Well, +after she had taken off her things and we chatted awhile, I thought I +would tell her the news, as she never goes out anywhere. So I said: 'Did +you hear what a hard time Mrs. Dunn had in confinement? The doctor +thought he would have to take the child with instruments;' but Mrs. +Lenair kept looking out of the window, and all she said was, 'Is that +so?' So I said: 'I suppose you have heard about Mrs. Warmstey's case. +She had a doctor from Orangeville and two from Roseland.' Just as I said +that, she rose from her chair and said so sweetly: 'Mrs. Cullom, I do +want to go out and look at your flowers; they look beautiful from the +window.' + +"Well, I was clean took off my feet, because I was just beginning to +tell the most interesting part of Mrs. Warmstey's case. I said: 'Why, +yes, Mrs. Lenair,' and I went out with her. She began to be so chatty I +thought she was some one else for awhile. She appeared delighted with my +flowers, and called them such crack-jaw names, and told me all about +their families, and what relation they were to each other. Why, to hear +her talk, you would think flowers had babies, she went on so about male +and female plants. Then she told me that flowers breathed, and told me +all about their coloring, and how they attracted the bee and dusted +themselves on him, and much more I cannot remember. She talked to and +petted them as if they were alive. You would have thought she had been a +flower herself, the way she went on. She said something about the +pencilings and colorings of the Almighty being in the tulips. + +"When we returned to the house my back was feeling kind of lame, and +gave me one or two of those twister pains. I said: 'Oh, my back! It has +got one of its spells on.' Mrs. Lenair said it would soon go away, and, +to my surprise, it did. Only had it about half an hour, and generally +those spells last me all day. I said: 'Mrs. Lenair, do you have any +ailments? I never hear you complain, if you do.' She said she had not +an ache nor pain in her body for a number of years. I threw my hands up +in astonishment, and said: 'You don't say so?' 'That is the truth,' she +said. And I believe her, for she looks ten years younger than she really +is. 'Why,' I said, 'how different you are from the girls and women +around here. Most all the girls not married are ailing more or less, and +about every married woman has her aches and pains. I can't make you +out.' + +"Mrs. Lenair laughed, and said: 'If I were like other women I should be +ailing as they are.' Well, I got up just as good a dinner as I knew how. +I put on the table fried ham and eggs, baked veal, potatoes, peas, +canned tomatoes, red currant jelly, fig preserve, canned nectarines, +cream puffs, grape pie, lemon pie, plain cake, and frosted cake; and we +had coffee, chocolate, and milk to drink. I did want her to make out a +good meal, because I thought she never cooked much at home. Well, what +do you think? I could not get her to eat any meat. 'Why,' I said, 'I +would starve if I did not have meat two or three times a day with my +meals.' She said she had not eaten meat for seventeen years, and was +much better without it. She just ate a little potatoes, one egg, some +nectarines, bread and butter, and drank a little milk. I told her she +must try my cream puffs if she would not eat any cake or pie. At last I +did get her to eat a cream puff. That woman don't eat much more than +would keep a mouse alive, and yet she is so hearty and well. I told her +as she ate so little, Dan and I would have to make up for her. And we +did, for we ate as if it were a Thanksgiving dinner. Dan and I say it is +our religion not to die in debt to our stomachs. After dinner I felt +more like sleep than anything else, and I said, 'Mrs. Lenair, let you +and me take a nap.' That seemed to please her, so she laid down on the +lounge and I went and laid on my bed. About an hour later I returned to +the room where I had left Mrs. Lenair. + +"'Well,' I said, 'I have just had the boss sleep and feel so much +better. I hope you had a good nap.' + +"Mrs. Lenair said, 'I have had a pleasant time lying here, though I did +not sleep any.' + +"'Why,' I said, 'I could not lie that way. If I was not sleeping I would +be nervous, and want to be sitting up or moving about.' + +"Then I said to her: 'I should think you must get terribly lonesome up +at your place, your son having been away so much, and you all alone with +no one to talk to.' + +"She said: 'I haven't known what it was to be lonesome since I have +lived on the place.' + +"'Why,' I said, 'I would not live like you do for ten dollars a day.' +She smiled, and said, 'You could not.' + +"'I don't see how you can stand it,' I said, 'for it is all I can do to +keep from being lonesome here with Dan, and a team to take me anywhere. +I have more callers in a week than you have in a year. I am fond of +company and so is Dan.' + +"Mrs. Lenair said: 'All you have just said, Mrs. Cullom, shows your +life, your world; we all have different worlds,' she added. + +"I could hardly understand just what she meant, so I changed the subject +and thought I would talk to her about Penloe. + +"'Is he home now,' I asked. + +"She said, 'Yes,' he had got through his work and would be at home most +of the time. + +"I said: 'Did he ever do any of the kind of work he has been doing at +the different places he worked at before he came to Orangeville? For he +don't look to me,' I said, 'as if he had worked on a ranch or done road +work much.' + +"She said, 'He never had done hard work till we came to Orangeville, +having only returned to this country from India about a month before +coming here, and when we were in India, Penloe went to the University of +Calcutta as soon as he was ready to enter as a student. I lived in that +city nineteen years.' + +"'Why, have you lived in India,' I said. + +"Yes,' she answered. 'I left New York a year after I was married. My +husband represented a New York company in India. He died six years ago, +but we continued to reside there until Penloe finished his University +course.' + +"I was clean taken back by what she said. I said, 'It's none of my +business, Mrs. Lenair, but I don't see why a fine looking young man like +Penloe, with the education you say he has had, don't get light, pleasant +work, if he has to work out, instead of working at such hard places with +the toughest crowds of men.' + +"All she said was: 'That is his work.' + +"Why, Mrs. Herne, do you know that he worked on the streets of the city +of Chicago, and for three months with a gang of a thousand men on the +Coast Railroad between Los Angeles and San Francisco! Then he was at the +Oakdale cattle ranch, cowboying it, with that fast gang of boys that +they keep there. Then he worked for awhile at the Simmons ranch, which +is four miles from Roseland, and Simmons always keeps the hardest crew +of men on his place. They go to Roseland every other night or so and +dance at those low dancing-houses with bad women. They get drunk, fight, +and swear all the time. Simmons' ranch has got the name of being the +toughest place to work anywhere round here. + +"One day when Dan was in Roseland, he saw a man he knew from the Simmons +ranch, so he thought he would hear what the fellow had to say about +Penloe, as we both are curious to find out all we can about that +singular young man. + +"Dan said: 'Is Penloe working on the Simmons ranch?' + +"The man said: 'Yes.' + +"Dan said: 'How does he get along?' + +"'Get along!' the man said. 'All I have to say is I wish I could get +along as well.' + +"Dan said: 'What kind of a chap is he, anyway? I kind of want to know, +as he is a neighbor of mine.' + +"'Well,' the man said, 'I will tell you, and then you can judge for +yourself. I never heard him swear or knew of his telling a lie; he don't +drink or tell smutty yarns, or have anything to do with bad women. The +boss says he works well, and when he is not at work he never joins the +boys in their foolish talk. He is by himself a great deal, praying, I +reckon, but he is very sociable if any one will talk sense. Let me tell +you what he did which will show you what kind of a man he is. One cold, +chilly night in December, when we were all sleeping in the barn, each +man having his own blankets, the boys had just turned in when a tramp +came in and asked if he could sleep in the barn. One of the boys said, +'Yes.' The fellow lay down on the hay without any blankets, and as soon +as he was laid down his teeth began to chatter and he shook all over, +for he had a chill. Penloe instantly got up and lit a lantern, took his +blankets over to the tramp and said: 'Here, brother, you have got a +chill. Take my blankets and roll yourself up in them; you will be better +in the morning.' From where I lay I could just see the tramp's face, for +Penloe was holding the lantern so the light went on his face. The fellow +looked up at Penloe thunderstruck. I guess he never had a man speak to +him that way before. He said: 'Well, stranger, you are mighty kind.' So +Penloe helped him to roll the blankets round him, and then he went and +lay down on the hay himself without any covering. The boys did a heap of +thinking that night, but said nothing. The next morning Penloe asked the +tramp how he was, and he said he slept pretty well, but he looked real +miserable, as though he had not had a good square meal for a month and +was weak from chills. Penloe said to the tramp: 'You stay here till I +come back,' and he went to see the boss and told him there was a sick +tramp in the barn, and would he let him stay there and eat at the same +table with us till he got well and strong, and that the boss should take +the tramp's board out of his wages. The boss asked a few questions, +studied awhile, then said, all right, he didn't care. Penloe went back +to the tramp and told him he had seen the boss and he could stay there +till he got well and strong, and to eat his meals with them and it would +not cost him a cent. Tears came in the tramp's eyes, and he tried to +say, 'Thank you, stranger.' + +"During the day one of the men told the boss what Penloe had done last +night; about giving his blankets up to a tramp and laying all night +himself without any covering. After supper the boss called Penloe and +told him there was a bed for him in the house, and he wanted him to +sleep in it as long as the tramp was here, and as for the tramp, he +would let the fellow stay here and board till he got a job in the +neighborhood. He would not charge a cent for his board to Penloe. He +himself had no work for the tramp. + +"When the boys heard what Simmons said and did in regard to the tramp +and Penloe, one of them said he was more taken back than if he had seen +the devil come out of hell. + +"'For you know, Dan,' the man said, 'Old Simmons is a hard nut and as +close-fisted as he can be. Some of the boys think now he has got the +Penloe fever. I think he got a straight look into Penloe's eyes and saw +and felt something he never had seen and felt before. Penloe is a power +when you know him. + +"The tramp stayed three days and got well. We thought it would be a +month before he would be well enough to go to work, but it is that +Penloe's doings, I know. He must have some power for healing like they +say Christ had. Penloe is never sick. Heat or cold, dry or wet, seem +just the same to him. + +"'The boss got the tramp a job at Kent's ranch. When he left he gave +Penloe his hand, seemed to tremble a moment, tried to speak, but walked +away without uttering a word. Penloe told the boss that the way the +tramp bid him good-bye and thanked him was eloquently touching and +powerful. The boss is very much changed; he is not so close and hard, +and you now see a few smiles on his wife's face, where before you only +saw lines of sadness; and the children, instead of being scared, as they +used to be when they heard his footsteps coming, now run to meet him and +hang around him. + +"'Simmons says Penloe was the making of him and family. Simmons has a +high-priced fancy mare that the boys always have said he thought more of +than he did of his family, and no one ever drove her but himself. He +would not loan her out to any one for a day for fifty dollars, yet now +the boys say 'he would let Penloe have the mare to go to hell and back.' + +"'Some of the boys also seem to have caught the fever, and it has made a +great change in their lives. Penloe will leave the Simmons ranch soon, +but his influence is there to stay. The man said, 'If you have any more +men like Penloe in Orangeville, send them down this way, for these God +forsaken ranches need men like him!' + +"Dan says Penloe is like his mother in regard to tramps. Why, that woman +was all alone, and a tramp called at her house to get a job of work. He +said work was scarce and he had no money and needed some food; that he +was hungry. He told Dan some time afterwards that before she replied she +gave him a close look all over. He said her eye seemed to penetrate him, +and after scrutinizing him very closely, she said: 'Come in, friend, you +can stay here till you can find work.' She set before him plenty of +good, hearty food, put a napkin to his plate, and talked to him +interestingly about matters which seemed to make him feel that he was a +better man. What do you think Mrs. Lenair had him do, Mrs. Herne? Why, +he was shown into the bathroom, and given one of Penloe's night-gowns, +and after he had taken his bath she had him sleep in her spare bedroom. +'Why,' I said to Mrs. Lenair, 'how could you do such a thing? I would no +more have done it than I would have slept in a room with a rattlesnake.' + +"She said, 'Mrs. Cullom, that man is my brother, and I treated him as +such, and that thought was so impressed on his mind that it touched his +better nature, and he could only think of me with the best and purest of +feelings. I know that it was impossible for that man to hurt me. I fear +no human being in this world.' The tramp stayed at her house for five +days, and at the end of that time he got a chance at harvesting on the +Thornton ranch. When he came to take leave of Mrs. Lenair, she said to +him: 'You have put in five good full days' work, and here is five +dollars for you'--handing him a five-dollar gold piece. He said: 'You +did not hire me to work, and for what little I have done you have paid +me a thousand times more than it is worth, in your conduct towards me. +You took me, a poor, miserable, worthless, homeless tramp into your +home, as if I had been your own brother, and you acted the true sister +towards me. Now I wish to play the brother's part by giving you my work. +It is the only thing I can do to show you how I appreciate your sisterly +kindness toward me. I can earn all the money I need now at the Thornton +ranch. I shall never forget you, because you are the only woman I ever +met that received me and treated me as a sister would her brother; and +if you ever need any work done on your place, and you have not the money +to pay for its being done, remember I am your brother, and will do it +gladly; more so than if you paid me two dollars a day.' She thanked him +and said he had better take the five dollars, and laid it down on the +table for him to take. He said he never would take it, and left it +there. His last words to her were, 'I am going to be a new man.' + +"Dan was on an errand to her place while the tramp was there. He saw him +working in the orchard as if he was trying to do two days' work in one. +Dan said he couldn't hire a man to work as he was working. + +"I was rather amused at Dan," continued Mrs. Cullom. "When I returned +from having taken Mrs. Lenair home in the evening (on the day that I +told you that Dan went and brought her in the morning to spend the day), +Dan came and took the team. 'Caroline,' he said, 'if you send me after +Mrs. Lenair many times more I shall be falling in love with her, for I +think she is real good, as well as being smart and bright.' 'What! Dan +Cullom,' I said. 'She wouldn't have an awful talking man like you, even +if you had a diamond on the end of every hair on your head.'" + +When Mrs. Cullom was about to leave, Mrs. Herne said: "I have enjoyed +your visit so much, Mrs. Cullom. You have got me interested in Penloe +and his mother. I do so want to see them." + +That evening Mrs. Herne related part of Mrs. Cullom's conversation to +her husband and asked him if he knew Penloe or his mother. + +"Penloe I have seen a few times, but his mother I have never seen," +replied he. + +"What kind of a man is he?" asked his wife. + +"Well," said Charles, "I hardly know him. He is certainly a remarkable +appearing young man. He is so different in his looks and expression from +any man I have ever met or seen; so different from the kind that I have +always associated with, that I could be no judge of such a man any more +than I could be a judge of millinery or silks and satins, for I have had +just about as much to do with one as I have with the other." + +"Well," said his wife, "I want you to arrange in some way so we can meet +them, for I am all worked up over them after what Mrs. Cullom has told +me, and am very curious to see them." + +"Something will happen in some way, so that we will meet them," he +replied. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +BEN WEST'S EXPERIENCE IN THE KLONDIKE. + + +At the time Ben West went to the Klondike, a long tedious journey on a +trail had to be made. He realized that whatever ability he possessed for +making his way in that country, he lacked experience as a miner. So he +was on the lookout to see if he could find one or two men of experience. +He met many men on his journey, some of them having had most remarkable +experience in mining and everything else. He met a man by the name of +Adams that he thought would fill the bill; for he said he had mined in +Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada. From the talk Ben West had with +different men, he knew now that he was in a country where men had no +known reputations to back them; where every man was looked upon by every +other man as being "on the make," without any scruples of conscience; +where you would be laughed at if you took in all men said about +themselves; where a man's word was worth very little and the only thing +that counted was "something was in sight." + +Adams told Ben West if he wished to secure his services, he would have +to pay his expenses to Dawson City and give him five hundred dollars in +cash before leaving Dawson City to go prospecting, and furnish him all +supplies, and he, in return, would give Ben West half of whatever he +found. Ben West, having several thousand dollars with him, was willing +to take chances, and hired Adams. He also met another man in his travels +who had had some experience, but was "dead broke." His name was Dickey, +and he told Ben West if he would grub and stake him and give him one +hundred dollars in cash when in Dawson City, he would give him half of +what he found. Ben West agreed to Dickey's proposition, and the three +men traveled together to Dawson City. + +Their journey was of a most tedious, trying character, the weather being +disagreeable in the extreme. It rained more or less every day, making +the travel exceedingly slow and difficult; it being so muddy and +slippery, you seemed as if you went two steps backward to every one you +went forward. The trail in many places was washed out and had to be +repaired before they could proceed. In some places land-slides had +blocked the trail, and it involved a great amount of labor to clear them +off. Everything around Ben West was of a most discouraging nature. What +with being cold and wet all day; leg weary in the extreme when night +came; bill of fare very meagre, consisting of bread, beans, bacon, and +coffee, the men he hired sometimes felt like throwing up the sponge. For +they met many returning who said the country was hell and no good; many +were sick lying along the side of the trail; some were dying, and they +saw some dead; also a good many dead pack animals were seen. His +surroundings were certainly blue. + +One morning he awoke very early, long before it was time to rise. It was +raining hard, and the thought came to him, another long tedious wet +day's journey; how much longer would this fearful traveling last? Would +they ever reach Dawson City, or would they, like many others, die on the +road? Then he thought, why was he here? He could not help contrasting +the difference between his environments here and those in Orangeville. +Here all around him was black, barren, cold, wet, and dismal; with +nearly every one cursing the country and calling it hell; and some felt +like calling for some small boy to kick them because they were fools +enough to come here. + +Then he thought of his parents in Orangeville with every comfort inside, +and a perfect paradise of fruits and flowers outside. He thought of +California's lovely skies, its balmy, invigorating breezes, and its +many, many sunny days. He said, what would the people who are +journeying along here think if they had a climate like that in +Orangeville, which is matchless this side of heaven? He continued +interrogating himself. Why did I come here? Did I not always have more +of the very best and greatest variety of food than I could eat? Yes. Did +I not always have more fine clothes than I could wear? Yes. Did I not +always have more money than I needed to spend? Yes. Could a man be more +popular than I was in Orangeville? No. In short, could a man have a much +better all round time anywhere than I had in Orangeville? No. Then why +am I here in this strange country, away from friends and loved ones? A +small voice whispered to Ben West, and said: "It is because of your love +for popularity, your greed, and because you are a slave to Julia +Hammond." It was the name of Julia Hammond that roused Ben West from his +reverie, that caused him to be restless, to rise, to proceed on his +journey, and bring his iron will to bear, to overcome all obstacles. + +After enduring over thirty days of disagreeable, rainy, muddy weather, +it changed to cold, freezing weather, with snow falling. Many more +hardships the party endured before reaching Dawson City. + +When they arrived at Dawson City they felt very rocky and completely +played out. The first week they were in Dawson City, they just rested +and took care of themselves and got well and recuperated. Then Adams +said to Ben West he wanted his money. So Ben gave him his five hundred +dollars, and he also paid Dickey one hundred. + +So, after Adams got his money, he said: "Come West, let's see the +sights." + +Ben said: "I am here to make money, not to fool it away." + +Adams said: "Why, West, we have had hell enough in getting here; let's +have some fun to-night. Come, West, and see the show and take in the +elephant." + +Ben West said: "Adams, I know now where most of your money goes that +you have made mining; but women and whiskey will not get mine." + +"Go slow, West, these girls are not respectable according to rules and +regulations of society, and I don't say they are, but look out and see +_that some one woman_ does not get away with your money. She may be +considered respectable as the world goes, but there may not be a great +difference between the one woman and these girls. I have seen the world, +West, and men like you before." + +Adams' remark had the effect of taking the sails out of Ben West's +self-righteous spirit, and he said nothing more. + +It was agreed among the three that they would remain in Dawson City +another week and then they would go prospecting. + +The day before starting to go, Ben West thought he had better get his +men, so he went round to the saloons, dives and dance-houses. After +searching about all such places, he found Adams in a dance-house, and +Dickey in the corner of a saloon. Both men were busted and seemed glad +to have Ben come and take care of them. By the next day he got both men +straightened out, and they proceeded on their prospecting tour. Ben West +was determined to learn from Adams all he could in the way of mining. +After they had been out about a week, Ben sent Dickey in one direction +while he and Adams went in another. He watched Adams very closely and +learned lots from him. When they had been together about a month, Ben +West was getting tired of Adams for several reasons. One day he was +prospecting about a quarter of a mile from Adams, when he found +something rich. He brought a few samples to camp at night and showed +them to Adams. When Adams looked at the samples, he said: "West, you +have struck it." So the next day Adams went with Ben to see the mine, +and by doing more work it proved to be all that Ben West had expected. +Now that a mine had been found, Adams wanted to get a settlement with +Ben West, as he had been away some time and wanted to get back to Dawson +City. Ben West did not think he owed Adams anything, as Adams had not +found the mine, but for some reason Adams thought he ought to have an +interest in what West found; so they had some wordy trouble. After many +hot words, Ben West agreed to give Adams two thousand dollars, which +offer Adams accepted and then returned to Dawson City to see and enjoy +more fun as he called it. Two weeks later an agent representing the +North American Mining Syndicate bought Ben West's claim for fifty +thousand dollars, giving him a draft for forty thousand and ten thousand +in gold coin. + +For a few weeks afterwards Ben West felt rich, then, strange to relate, +a feeling came over him that he was poor, and must make at least half a +million. About a month after he had sold his claim, he met three men +from his native State, California. He was glad to see men from his +State, and they were glad to see him, when they heard him say that he +had sold a claim, as they had very little money and might need some +financial help. Ben West found their company very entertaining and liked +to be with them. After awhile it was decided that all of them should go +in as partners. When they had been out prospecting a few weeks as +partners, it is singular to have to state that there was trouble over +every little show of a claim, and many other matters caused +unpleasantness, though before they became partners they were all great +friends. But the partnership business seemed to make them all at outs +with each other. After they had been out awhile prospecting, Ben West +found out that two of his partners were tender-footed men, never having +had any experience as miners, though they at first tried to make Ben +think they had. + +"I have got through with partners," said Ben West, "and from this time +on I will prospect alone; then what I find will belong to me, and no +second party can claim a share and growl because he can't have it all. +Besides, this partnership is a failure after all. There is more or less +trouble all the time about cooking, packing, getting the fuel for fire, +cleaning up, and putting the things away afterwards. Then how will it +be if a good prospect is found? I shall have all the work to do and only +get half." This resolve was made after a long hard journey of several +days, over a rough slippery trail with now and then deep snow to wade +through, and also over rocky points that one is almost sure to find in +the mountains. + +The two tender-footed men were good fellows, but, like too many others, +when the novelty of the enterprise began to develop into a stern +reality, and there was manual labor to be performed, and hardships to be +endured, and some personal sacrifices to be made, they began to lose +heart, get homesick and weary, and to shirk their part; also to be surly +and disagreeable. "We won't quarrel," said Ben West, "but when we get to +Antelope Springs we will divide our stores and then each one will 'shift +for himself,' as the saying is." + +In a few days they arrived at the Springs and at once divided the +supplies. After a couple of days' stay, Ben West started out again +prospecting, and slow tedious work he found it. He toiled day after day, +tired and weary at night, but blessed with a night of sweet sound sleep +so that in the morning he was fresh and ready for another day's work. +Things went on in this way for awhile, then he came to a place that had +been tried but abandoned. Here he worked for about two days and found +what he was looking for. But it was not rich, though his hopes seemed to +revive once more. Here he brought his camping outfit and went to work in +good earnest for about ten days. He took out from fifteen to thirty +dollars per day, and the prospect looked favorable. A party offered him +twenty thousand dollars for his claim, but he refused it, and after some +bargaining he sold it for thirty thousand dollars. + +He decided now to not only prospect himself but to stake others for a +half interest in what they found. Amongst them was a young fellow by the +name of Lane, of doubtful reputation, and his partner Bruce. Ben West +gave them a six weeks' outfit to go to a part of the country that had +not been looked over at all. After they had been gone about four weeks +Bruce, Lane's partner, came into camp and wanted Ben West. He was out in +the hills looking for another claim, but Bruce went after him to get him +to go with him to where Lane was, for they had found a good prospect +that was very rich. After getting together the few necessary things that +they needed, off the two men went, and sure enough it was a rich mine, +one that was paying three to six hundred dollars per day. "Now," said +Ben West, "I am opposed to any partnership business, and will sell or +buy. Just one half of this claim is mine. I will take twenty-five +thousand dollars or agree to give you the same amount for your half; and +would like an answer at once or as soon as you can decide." + +Lane and Bruce talked the matter over and finally concluded to sell. "It +is a bargain," said Ben West, "and we will now go back to town and I +will give you your money." + +It looked stormy before bedtime and next morning the snow was quite +deep. Though the snow was still falling, they were anxious to get to +town; so they started on the tedious journey of sixty miles through the +snow, then over a foot deep. Their progress was slow and they did not +make half the distance; being exhausted, they stopped for food and rest. +After eating a cold lunch, they fixed a place and spread their slender +allowance of bedding and turned in for the night. It was bitter cold, +but they were tired; so it was not long before they were all soundly +sleeping. When they awoke in the morning they realized that a very hard +day's travel was before them, having about forty miles to make before +supper. + +When Ben West got up he did not feel quite right, for one of his feet +felt kind of odd. It did not take Lane long to find out the foot had +been slightly frozen. So to work they went and thawed it out, wrapped it +up well and started. It did not snow now, but it was cold. Their +progress was slow. When they had traveled about ten miles, Bruce said: +"I will push ahead and get a sled and some of the boys to come and meet +you, so make all the distance you can." + +"All right," said West, "send four men with a sled and something to eat. +I will pay the bill and the men for coming." + +Bruce arrived in town some time after dark, but though very tired and +hungry he did not eat until he had started four good stout men after his +comrades, whom they met some nine or ten miles out. Poor Ben West could +go no further, for his foot was quite painful, and he and Lane both +waited and watched for relief, which came at last. It was almost +midnight when the relief party arrived. They brought a fine lunch and a +bottle of wine, which both enjoyed very much. After the lunch was eaten +all hands started for the town, where they arrived just as the day was +breaking. The frozen foot proved to be worse than at first supposed to +be. It would keep the owner an invalid for at least two weeks. Ben West +said: "Here is a pretty mess. My fortune just at my fingers' end and a +frozen foot tied up for half a month, when I have so much to do. Why did +I not take better care of myself?" + +At this time Bruce came to see how Ben West was getting along. He found +him nervous and a little feverish. "Just be quiet," said Bruce, "it is +the best medicine you can have." After Ben West had paid Lane and Bruce +for their claim, Bruce said to West: "If you like I will go with another +man, that you may name, and work in your mine until you come to us. For +my pay I want fourteen dollars per day and I'll furnish my own grub." +The bargain was made. Bruce and the man started the next day, and just +sixteen days after Ben West was at his mine. + +They had a large pile of pay dirt ready for a clean-up; it was +exceedingly rich and several claim buyers had heard about the rich mine +and were on the ground to buy it from West. After a great deal of talk +West said: "The mine is worth a million, but I want to get out of this +country, and the man that pays me five hundred and fifty thousand +dollars gets the mine." + +An hour afterwards the agent for an English syndicate purchased the +mine. Ben West having now made his pile determined to lose no time in +getting back to Orangeville, but he intended to stay in San Francisco +till he was thoroughly recuperated before going home. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AN ARRIVAL. + + +George Combe has said, "Mankind love their young and take charge of them +with common accord, yet the love of offspring is much more intense in +the female than in the male, and this difference is manifested from +earliest infancy. The boy wants his whip, horse, drum, top or sword, but +observe the little girl occupied with her doll. She decks it in fine +clothes, prepares for it night linen, puts it into the cradle, rocks it, +takes it up, feeds it, scolds it, and tells it stories. When she grows +older she takes charge of her younger brothers and sisters. Nothing +possesses, in her estimation, greater charms than babies. When she has +grown to maturity and become herself a mother, with what sweet emotion +and gushing tenderness does she caress her little ones." + +While the love of offspring is more or less strong in all, yet it does +not manifest itself if there are other tendencies predominant in the +character. Take a woman in whom the love of dress and society is most +active; she will not care for offspring, if her circumstances are such +that it would debar her from enjoying style or society; or if the +artistic inclination is the strongest in her character she would not +want offspring; or if great intellectual tastes are very strong and love +of children only moderate, she would not want offspring; or where +persons have consecrated themselves fully and unreservedly to a +spiritual life in order to become spiritual parents to many, to them +offspring would be a hindrance in their work. But where the domestic +faculties are the strongest, the home is lonesome without children. In +some the maternal instinct is exceedingly strong, for it manifests +itself to such an extent as to become the ruling passion; nothing else +but offspring can satisfy them. And this maternal passion is expressed +in matchless language by Mr. Stephen Phillips:[1] "Lucrezia's sudden +outburst of grief and rage against her lonely fate is, poetically +speaking, one of the finest passages in the play:" + +[Footnote 1: Literary Digest, Dec., 1899.] + + GIOVANNI. + Lucrezia! this is that old bitterness. + + LUCREZIA. + Bitterness--am I bitter? strange, oh strange! + How else? My husband dead and childless left. + My thwarted woman--thoughts have inward turned, + And that vain milk like acid in me eats. + Have I not in my thought trained little feet + To venture, and taught little lips to move + Until they shaped the wonder of a word? + I am long practiced. Oh, those children, mine, + Mine, doubly mine; and yet I cannot touch them. + I cannot see them, hear them--Does great God + Expect I shall clasp air and kiss the wind + Forever, and the budding cometh on? + The burgeoning, the cruel flowering; + At night the quickening splash of rain, at dawn + That muffled call of babes how like to birds; + And I amid these sights and sounds must starve + I with so much to give perish of thrift! + Omitted by His casual dew! + + GIOVANNI. + Well, well, + You are spared much; children can wring the heart. + + LUCREZIA. + Spared! to be spared what was I born to have, + I am a woman, and this very flesh + Demands its natural pangs, its rightful throes, + And I implore with vehemence these pains. + I know that children wound us, and surprise + Even to utter death, till we at last + Turn from a face to flowers; but this my heart + Was ready for these pangs, and had foreseen + Oh! but I grudge the mother her last look + Upon the coffined form--that pang is rich-- + Envy the shivering cry when gravel falls + And all these maimed wants and thwarted thoughts, + Eternal yearning, answered by the wind, + Have dried in me belief and love and fear. + I am become a danger and a menace, + A wandering fire, a disappointed force, + A peril--do you hear, Giovanni? Oh, + It is such souls as mine that go to swell + The childless cavern cry of the barren sea, + Or make that human ending to night wind. + +In Mrs. Charles Herne, this feeling was not quite as strong as that +expressed in the play, but after they had been married two years, she +did some quiet thinking in that line. She would sit alone at times, and +let her imagination be active in the thought, what delight it would give +her if when her husband came in the room where she was, she could take +him over to a little crib and turn back the corner of a fancy worked +cover and show him such a sweet, wee, little face nestled on the pillow, +and what joy it would give her, when her husband came in from his work +to put a little one into his arms and see how delighted he would be to +take the child, and then see him sit down and hear him use language +which belongs to baby talk. Again she thought what pleasure it would +give her to start a little toddling form down the pathway to meet her +husband, and to see the little one stand still when it met its father, +and raise its little arms to be taken up. All these thoughts and many +more passed through the mind of Mrs. Herne, for she now knew for a +certainty that such joys would be hers, and many a pleasant laugh and +joke she and her husband had over the coming of a little tot. + +One day a little later there was started in the most sacred room in the +house a vibration by the doctor which reached the auditory nerve of the +nurse conveying to the brain a most joyous statement, "It is a boy." The +nurse carried it to the kitchen, "It is a boy." The Chinaman cook +carried it to the Jap chore boy, "It is a boy." The Jap chore boy +carried it to the teamsters, "It is a boy." The teamsters carried it to +the men on the ditches, "It is a boy." The ditch men carried it to the +men in the orchard, "It is a boy." The prune trees took up the glad news +and whispered it to the apricot trees, "It is a boy." The apricot trees +whispered it to the peach trees, "It is a boy." The peach trees +whispered it to all the other fruit trees, "It is a boy." + +When Pet, Bell, Blanche and Daisy, with their large udders full of rich +lacteal fluid, heard the news, "It is a boy," they gave forth an extra +flow of milk that night. When the frisky mules in the barn lot heard the +joyful tidings, "It is a boy," they just cut up and threw their hind +feet higher than ever. You could not see them for the dust they made. +The roosters crowed, "It is a boy," and the hens cackled, "It is a boy." +The orioles in the mulberry trees warbled out the song, "It is a boy." +The dogs, Dash and Rover, in their play that evening barked at each +other, "It is a boy." The cats Tom and Malty purred, "It is a boy." It +seemed as if the vibrations in all the buildings and all over the ranch +rang out the glad tidings, "It is a boy." + +In the evening when all Mr. Herne's men congregated in their fine +quarters to have some music, Osborn sat down to the piano and played +while all the men sang, that old negro song: + + "Give 'em more children, Lord, + Give 'em more children; + Give 'em more children, Lord, + Give 'em more children." + +Osborn said to the boys when retiring, "What a feeling of joy the advent +of a little boy has brought to us all on the ranch. Mr. and Mrs. Herne +have got their wish now, for they both wanted a son." + +Barnes said: "What a fine time we will have with the little fellow, when +he is old enough to toddle. We will have him over here most of the +time." + +One day after dinner when the baby was about a month old, a man standing +six feet three inches and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds, +came on the porch where Mrs. Herne was sitting with the baby, and said: +"Mrs. Herne, the boys want me to take the baby to them. They are all +sitting under the mulberry trees." + +Mrs. Herne said: "All right, Frank." But the nurse seemed to be alarmed +lest he might hurt the infant, as he was so large and awkward, not used +to handling a baby four weeks old, so she followed Frank and the baby to +where the boys were. Frank said: "Here boys, each one of you can hold +him just long enough to pass your opinion upon him." The men seemed to +take as much pride and interest in the child as if he were their own. +After the boy had been in each of the men's arms and they had passed +their judgment on him, the nurse wanted to take the child back, but tall +Frank said: "No, I took the baby from Mrs. Herne and I am going to see +the child in her arms safe again." When putting the baby in her lap he +said: "The boys all think he is the brightest baby they ever saw." + +After he was gone the nurse said: "You ought to see how gentle those +great men handled that baby." + +Every day the men always inquired and talked about the baby, and were +eager to watch its growth. + +If you entered the house of an evening about the time the baby was put +to bed, you would hear a very sweet, soft voice singing: + + "Hush! my child, lie still and slumber, + Holy angels guard thy bed. + Heavenly blessings without number + Cluster round thy sacred head." + +There is great talk made among many persons about catching different +kinds of disease and sickness, but how seldom you hear people talk about +the contagious qualities of hope, joy and love. Supposing on a ranch the +owner gets up in the morning and starts the vibrations going, "That All +is life, All is love, All is joy, and All is God," and there is a hearty +response by his wife who takes up the invocation, "All is life, All is +love, All is joy, and All is God." And carrying them into the kitchen, +she adds to them by singing this song: + + "The thorns that pester and vex my life + Have changed to the flowers in June, + All sounds, disorders, pain and strife + Have rounded into tune." + +From the kitchen the chore boy takes up the sayings to the teamsters, +"All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." The teamsters take +up those life-giving words, and instead of swearing at their teams all +day, and talking about hell, their thoughts and talk is, "All is life, +All is love, All is joy, All is God." The men on the ditches and in the +orchards echo the glad thought, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, +All is God." And the birds in the trees sing with gladness, "All is +life, All is love, All is joy, All is God," and that very interesting +ring-neck bird, the kildee, as it runs along the ditches and moist +places in the orchards, speaks in its peculiar way that, "All is life, +All is love, All is joy, All is God." And the music of the waters as it +flows along, rippling in the ditches, sings "All is life, All is love, +All is joy, All is God." The winds talk it to the trees, "All is life, +All is love, All is joy, All is God." The trees whisper it to each +other, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God," and the music +of the insects say the same thing, "All is life, All is love, All is +joy, and All is God." When the God of day, with his effulgent +brightness, rises over the hills in the morning and scatters his +luminous rays on the ranch, and writes in lights and shadows his +hieroglyphics that "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." +And the one grand anthem that is being sung in the hearts and lives of +all on the ranch is, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." + +With an aspiration like that on the ranch, all cursing and swearing +would disappear; smallness, meanness, jealousy, covetousness and greed +could not live in that atmosphere. That spiritual air in circulation +would kill out all lustful thoughts, pride, vanity, love of strong +liquors, and of coarse animal food. Everything would manifest the fruits +of the Spirit, which are peace, joy and love. All sickness and disease +would disappear, because those life-giving, purifying thoughts would +become incorporated and assimilated in the mind, nerve force, and enter +into the blood, flowing through its veins and arteries all over the +whole system, making the entire organism sound and pure, a fit temple +for the dwelling of the Eternal One. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MRS. MARSTON. + + +In the last three years the beautiful little city of Roseland with its +avenues of palms and magnolias had a boom. Large substantial brick and +granite blocks were erected. Very many new and handsome residences were +built, besides putting a new appearance on some of the old buildings. +The commercial, professional and mechanical classes were all doing well, +and living in expectation of doing still better. + +Among those who had prospered by the rise in real estate was a Mrs. +Marston, who owned one of the finest residences in Roseland. At the time +that she enters our story her age was about forty and she had a son who +was twenty years old, a month before he left for Paris, and he had been +gone away four months. Why he had gone to Paris, the stories concerning +his mission to that gay city did not quite harmonize. His father came to +the conclusion ten years ago that his mother was too much like himself, +in being a positive, dominant character; that she was a little too +masculine in her makeup, and he thought he would prefer a lady for a +wife who did not weigh quite as much, and one that was a little sweeter +in disposition, and more playful. When he reflected that he was worth +one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he thought that some of the joys +of having a sweet wife should be his, and particularly when he had seen +Josephine Stearns, whom he thought would more than meet his most +sanguine expectations, for to his mind, she seemed to possess all those +very desirable qualities of disposition which he so much admired. In a +very indirect way he made his mind known to Mrs. Marston, who pretended +she did not like such a proposition, but if he would give her fifty +thousand dollars and let her have the boy, she would consent to a +divorce. Her husband thought it over in this way. He said, "I am not +happy in living with my wife, don't like my home at all, and what good +does it do a man to be worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, if +he is not enjoying some of the greatest pleasures in life. Better have +only a hundred thousand dollars with a pretty sweet young lady like +Josephine, than a hundred and fifty thousand dollars with my present +wife." Next morning he scratched his head, and said in a slow kind of a +way, "I think fifty thousand dollars rather steep, but I do not wish to +have any fuss or quibbling, and you can have the boy, and I will give +you twenty-five thousand dollars in cash, and twenty-five thousand in +real estate," which she accepted. To look at her you could not tell what +her feelings were, but way down deep in her heart she was overflowing +with gladness to think she was free. + +The rise in real estate made her worth in all as much as her husband was +when he left her. She was known in Roseland as being a lady that was +fond of young people's company, and she was great on entertaining. She +was one of those ladies who are proud, fond of dress and style, very +particular about moving in the upper circles of society, but she had no +interest or sympathy with plain, poor people. She loved to dress young +for her years, was fond of going with young ladies and gentlemen bicycle +riding. She generally had as guests one or two very pretty young ladies, +and another of her fads was to make pets of a few sons of rich men. As +she had a fine large house and loved to entertain, the leading young men +in Roseland, and some of the prettiest and most stylish young ladies, +were very often seen in her parlors and on her well-kept lawn. The +lunches and suppers she served to her guests were the talk of the town. +She had a sister who lived in Orangeville, but who was so different in +her tastes and circumstances that there was nothing in common between +them. + +One day she was out driving, and her eyes caught the sight at a little +distance of two persons walking on the sidewalk. She made the team walk +slow when she saw them. They did not see her, but she took in at a +glance what a clear complexion, bright eyes, and lovely form the young +lady had. She said to herself, "How beautiful Stella has grown, but what +plain clothes she has on." She reined the team towards the sidewalk and +said, "Why, Stella, I did not know you had returned from school. Good +morning, David," she said to her sister's husband. "Wont you both come +to the house?" David said that Stella had just come in on the train and +they had been doing a few errands and were expected back by Bertha at a +certain time and could not stop now. + +Mrs. Marston said to Stella, "I want you to come and make me a long +visit. I will be out to-morrow at your house and arrange with your +mother for your coming to visit me." She thanked her aunt for her +invitation and said she would tell her mother. + +Mrs. Marston had remarked on more than one occasion to her sister +Bertha, that she would die if she had to stay in a place like +Orangeville over night. As that lady did not feel she was ready to quit +her material form with all its attachments and desires, she decided to +leave Roseland at eight in the morning and that would give her ample +time to have a long chat with her sister, and she could then be home by +five in the evening in time to dress for dinner and receive whoever +might call. She telephoned to her caterer to have ready next morning at +eight, one quart of orange sherbet and one quart of vanilla ice cream, +put into two nice dishes and packed in a box with ice, then put two wet +sacks over the box and set it in another box with a cover. She +telephoned to the livery stable to have her span of handsome chestnuts +brought to her house next morning at eight. The next morning she was up +bright and early and put on just a good plain dress, and was ready to +take the lines promptly at eight from the man who had brought her team. +She drove round to the caterer's and got her box, then she went to the +meat market and told the man to put up six pounds of steak, she called +at the bakery and had the man put in her buggy one frosted fruit cake, +one plain cake, one lemon pie, and a peach cobbler, and one dozen fresh +baked Astor House rolls. After she had got a little way out from +Roseland she stopped at a Chinaman's garden and purchased a few early +vegetables. When she reached her sister's home it was about ten, and +after a few minutes' chat she said to her sister, "Bertha, I have come +out to have a visit with you and Stella, and I did not want you to be +giving yourselves a lot of work in the way of getting up a big dinner, +so I bought a few things on my way out, and all they need is to set them +on the table, except the vegetables and meat, and I will attend to the +vegetables; the pies and rolls may need just a little warming." + +Mrs. Marston was one of those ladies of skill and ability who could do +anything in the kitchen equal to any hired help when she wished, and +this morning she seemed to be so different to what she generally was, +that her sister Bertha thought she either had improved greatly, or she +had not judged her rightly. She seemed this morning so kind and +thoughtful and so sisterly in her conversation and so ready to assist in +getting dinner. Bertha said to Mrs. Marston, "Why, Helen, you have more +steak here than we can eat in a week." To which Mrs. Marston replied, +that she had brought lots of ice to keep it. + +When David was called to dinner, it certainly did his eyes and stomach +good to see on the table such a spread of luxuries and dainties, which +were so seldom partaken of by the Wheelwright family, as they lived very +simply. All enjoyed the new bill of fare very much, and the repast was +seasoned by a very pleasant family conversation. David seemed to open +his eyes several times at the turn things were taking, because there had +been times when his wife and her sister did not harmonize at all. + +During the morning when not observed, Mrs. Marston feasted her eyes on +Stella's beautiful form in her new cut wrapper, and mentally said to +herself, "When I get some new stylish gowns on that handsome figure, and +that beautiful face under a becoming hat wont those Roseland dudes just +go wild over her?" She laughed to herself and thought what fun she would +have with her pets. + +After dinner was through they sat at the table resting and talking, when +David said he would like to have Stella come out and help him a few +minutes. + +Mrs. Marston spoke up and said, "Yes, dear; you go out and help your +father. Your mother and I will wash the dishes." + +Mrs. Marston thought now is the time to speak to Bertha about Stella +making me a visit. She opened the conversation by saying: "Bertha, I +have seen so little of Stella for several years, that I do wish you +would let her come next week and make me a visit. Not having a daughter, +I feel as if I would like to do something for Stella, that is to give +her a good chance. She is a bright girl and has an exceedingly fine +form, and about all she has ever seen of society are cow-boys and ranch +men, and may be a few ordinary respectable fellows; but I want to +introduce her to bankers' sons, young lawyers, and rich merchants' sons, +and give the girl a show. You see, she is going on eighteen, and if ever +she is going to have an opportunity now is the time. After a young lady +gets past twenty, her chances with the young bloods are not so good." + +"Well," said her sister, "you are very kind, Helen, and I don't know but +what it might be a chance that she needs. You have my consent for her to +make you a visit, and when you give her the invitation you can tell her +what I say." + +"There is one matter, Bertha, that you will pardon me for speaking to +you about, and I hope you will let me do as I wish, and that is in the +matter of fixing up Stella's wardrobe." + +Bertha said: "Helen, she is your girl while she is with you, and you can +do whatever you think best." + +So when Stella came in from helping her father, Mrs. Marston said: +"Stella, I have been talking to your mother about your coming to make me +a visit next week, and she has given her consent and I do hope you will +come and be my daughter for awhile. We will have a fine time, I can +assure you. Only bring the clothes you come in. I will rig you out from +head to foot." + +Stella in her own mind felt this way: that she never had any personal +experience of the circle that her aunt was a prominent figure in, and +all she knew about the young men and young ladies connected with the +swim, was only what she had heard and read. She felt that by personally +coming in contact with those of different environments, it would widen +her experience and give her a better knowledge of the world. So she very +kindly thanked her aunt and it was decided that she would come on +Thursday of the following week. + +When she arrived Stella was warmly welcomed into the elegantly furnished +home of Mrs. Marston. Her aunt kissed her and seemed delighted to have +her niece with her. The bedroom that her aunt said would be hers was a +gem of beauty, being furnished with one of those fine enameled brass +bedsteads, a fine dresser with a long bevel plate French mirror, and on +the dresser was an elegant toilet set. The curtains, carpets and +draperies matched the tints of the ceiling and walls. Fine costly +pictures hung on the walls representing mostly scenes of festivities in +baronial halls and castles, also in modern Fifth Avenue palaces; showing +up so well the gay brilliant throng of ladies and gentlemen in the +height of their enjoyment. The decorations and furnishings of the room +were well in keeping with the lovely figure that was to occupy it. + +Mrs. Marston had a great deal of personal pride, and she did not care +about taking Stella out till her wardrobe had been replenished. After +breakfast next morning the door-bell rang and a minute or two afterwards +Mrs. Rogers, the dressmaker, was announced by the servant to Mrs. +Marston. When Mrs. Marston went in to see her she said: "Good morning, +Mrs. Rogers; my niece is here and I would like you to see her so you can +help me to select what you think would be suitable in the way of dresses +and other garments for her." + +Mrs. Marston called Stella in and introduced her to Mrs. Rogers and +said: "Mrs. Rogers will go with me to do some shopping, and we want you +to leave entirely to us the matter of selecting your dresses. I am sure +you will be pleased when we get through." + +Stella laughed and said: "If you show as much good taste in selecting my +dresses as you have in the furnishing and decorating of my very pretty +room, I am sure I shall be more than pleased." Her aunt was delighted +with the compliment. + +Mrs. Marston said to Mrs. Rogers: "Did you come over on your bicycle?" + +"Yes," said that lady. + +"Well," said Mrs. Marston, "I will get mine and we will go now and do +the shopping." + +At the Marston mansion towards evening several large packages arrived. +Mrs. Marston opened two large ones, looked them over, then said: "Here, +Stella, these are for you." + +After Stella had looked at them she said: "Why, aunt, dear, they are +beautiful, but I am not going to be married now; they are pretty enough +for the most charming bride in Roseland." + +While handling the fancy worked underskirts and nightdresses, the fine +silk underwear and costly fancy silk hosiery, she remarked: "It is very +kind of you, aunt, to get all these fine things." Then a box was opened +and there was a great assortment of the best shoes, so that Stella might +select several pair from it. She was quite pleased with the different +materials her aunt had selected for her dresses, and Mrs. Rogers would +be up next morning to take her measurement. She was going to put on a +force of assistants for completing them as soon as possible. + +Stella was about the same as a prisoner in her aunt's house for a week. +But she had a most enjoyable time in reading some very costly +illustrated books of travel which her aunt had purchased more for style +and appearance than for anything else. + +Her aunt said one day, she did not get any time to look at books, but +she was glad Stella could amuse herself in that way so that she might +not find the time long. + +"No, indeed, aunt," said Stella, "I have enjoyed every minute of the +time I have been with you." + +The week that Stella was a prisoner her aunt had so arranged matters +that there were few callers and Stella did not see them. And she herself +was out most of the time. Stella was not the least sensitive in regard +to the matter of not going out with her aunt till her new dresses were +made, because she saw that she would be a very conspicuous figure among +the well-dressed young ladies of her aunt's circle. She would look like +a speckled bird among a flock of white pigeons. + +After the dress-making was completed Mrs. Rogers went with Mrs. Marston +to the milliner's and purchased a pretty hat, Mrs. Marston saying she +would bring Stella and let her select what more she might need in the +line of millinery. + +The week following was one of excitement for Stella, for every day she +was out riding once or twice with her aunt, and meeting so many young +ladies, and the well-dressed young men were very particular when bowing +to Mrs. Marston to recognize the pretty young face at her side. Towards +the end of the week Mrs. Marston gave a swell reception in honor of her +niece. The very élite of Roseland were there, also a few from other +places who were on a visit to friends in Roseland, and all made a very +gay and brilliant party. But if any young lady that evening looked +attractive, bewitching, fascinating, and possessed the power of making +the blood in some of the dudes present tingle from the roots of their +hair to the end of their toes, it was that fresh young girl from the +country, with her sparkling eye, her ready wit; with resources that +seemed inexhaustible for sustaining interesting conversation together +with a manner so simple, so unconscious in all she said and did and so +unassuming, which added much to the charm of her personality. All these +characteristics were manifested in fine well rounded form. Is it any +wonder that some young gentlemen saw a certain form floating before +them after they had put their heads to their pillows that night, and +their brains were active in planning for further acquaintance with that +young lady? + +Some of Mrs. Marston's pets lost no time in availing themselves of the +standing invitation to call any time. Other parties were soon given by +young ladies in Roseland, at which Stella had very pressing invitations +to be present. The young ladies liked her very much; she was so natural, +so sweet, so unaffected; they observed she was not what is called +"fellow-struck;" while she seemed to enjoy and be perfectly at home in +the society of young gentlemen, the young ladies saw no signs of her +flirting with any of them. There is that peculiarity in the character of +a certain class of young ladies, that while they may think it is their +privilege to flirt and carry on with the young men they know, yet when a +strange young lady is introduced into their circle of gentlemen friends, +they have more respect for her if she shows some originality and does +not behave just exactly as they do. + +Mrs. Marston was delighted at the impression Stella made on her circle +of acquaintances, and now the dudes of Roseland paid Mrs. Marston extra +attention and politeness since they had the pleasure of meeting her +niece. + +Young Ryland, the banker's son, said to Barker, the rising young +attorney at the Arlington Hotel, "Say, Barker, what do you think of that +new flower which Mrs. Marston has put into our garden?" + +"I think," said Barker, "she is the prettiest and most fragrant bud I +have seen; a very rare specimen." + +Ryland said: "She is quite a study; the more you see of her, the more +interesting she grows." + +After Stella had been at her aunt's about a month she was seen less in +her aunt's company riding out, but more in the company of the most +stylish men in the city. Her aunt encouraged her in going out with these +young gentlemen. She talked very much to her about how rich young +Ryland's father, the banker, was; and she expected Barker to become one +of the most brilliant lights at the bar. To-day he was worth twenty-five +thousand dollars in his own name. Then there was young Westbrooke, son +of the leading merchant in Roseland, the only son. He was home from +college, with bright prospects. There was young Brookes, who owned fifty +thousand dollars in real estate, and had traveled in Europe and seen +lots of the world. He was a very great catch, her aunt said. These four +young men, who always dressed with great taste, were Mrs. Marston's +favorite pets. For a while Stella favored each one of these young men +with her company, in buggy riding, but towards the end of the second +month Westbrooke was the only one with whom she was seen riding. + +She never took her aunt into her confidence by relating her experience +in going out with these various young gentlemen. She thought it policy +not to; but to be pleasant to each one of them, even if she had decided +not to keep company with some of them. She remembered she was her aunt's +guest, and should make herself agreeable to her aunt and her aunt's +friends. What she did not relate to her aunt she did to her mother, when +she returned home from her visit the week after the second month of her +stay in Roseland. In conversation with her mother, Stella said, "I am +really glad I went to Aunt Helen's, for I have lived in two months a +year of my life. I have seen so much of a world concerning which I +previously knew nothing only by hearsay. I feel it has done me good in +many ways. Aunt was kind to me, and made everything very pleasant, and +so did her friends. I do say I am glad that I have lived in her world +and tasted of its pleasures, because I don't go now on what I hear about +that world. I know from my own personal experience. It has given me much +to think about, and furnished a great deal of mental food for the study +of character, and I have learned more about my own self. I know better +now than I ever did before my strong points and weak ones." She told her +mother what fine piano players the Miller girls were, what sweet +singers Dr. Lacy's daughters were, and the male quartette was very fine. +Ryland and Westbrooke are members of it, and after relating a number of +other things which she heard and saw, she told her mother she could not +tell her all now, but would some other time. + +So one afternoon, when they were alone, Stella said: "Well, mother, I +will relate to you now some of my funny experiences with some of the +swell young gentlemen of Roseland. They were all aunt's special pets. I +had been out riding with young Ryland, the banker's son, several times, +besides sometimes meeting him at parties. He is very dudish, and dresses +very extravagantly. He is labeled as catch number one, because his +father has said his son should take his place in the bank some day, and +on his wedding day he gets a gift from his father of twenty-five +thousand dollars, with the promise of the bulk of his father's fortune +when he dies. On the first few occasions when I met young Ryland he +seemed reserved and quiet, but the more I went out riding with him I +found he was getting rather soft. He did not seem to show any other +traits of character, and his company was dull, but he made it more +sickening each time with soft, slobbering talk. I only went out with him +to please aunt. The last time I rode out with him he plead so hard for +me to allow him to kiss my hand that I consented grudgingly just to +quiet him, but after he kissed it instead of his being quiet, as I +supposed he would be, it seemed to fire him all the more, so that he +wanted to kiss my cheek. You ought to have heard the way he talked; you +would think he was about to die, and the only remedy there was for him +was to kiss my cheek. If he could only kiss me on the cheek, life would +come back to him and he would feel a new man. In my own mind, I said to +myself, 'This is the last time I ride out with you.' The more I tried to +show how foolish he was to want to kiss a young lady that did not want +any such manifestation of affection, the more he persisted, and said, 'I +must kiss you.' I said, 'If I loved you, it would be a real pleasure to +receive a kiss from you, but instead of loving you I lose all the +respect I ever had for you because you try to force me to accept a kiss +from you when I don't want it.' But he persisted, and said, 'I must kiss +you, it will do me lots of good, and won't hurt you.' I said, 'Have you +no respect for me or yourself to act so senselessly?' He replied, 'It +may appear senseless to you, but I can assure you it would be bliss to +me.' I tried to turn the subject of kissing me to something else, and +did the best I could to entertain him in conversation on other subjects, +but no; he was more stubborn than ever to think of nothing and talk of +nothing but kissing me on the cheek. Not wishing to have any +unpleasantness with him on aunt's account, I said to myself, 'You are +nothing but a simple, little, contrary, foolish child, in a man's form, +and I shall have to humor you as I would a little boy, for you have only +the mind of one.' I told him if he, as a young gentleman of honor, would +never say one word more to me about kissing, he could kiss my cheek just +once, which he did and was quiet afterwards. He was very pleasant during +the remainder of our ride, and when I got out of the buggy I was glad he +did not ask if he could call again on me. When I think of him I cannot +keep from laughing, the foolish simpleton. I would not have him for all +the gold in California. I must tell you about another of aunt's pets I +went out riding with several times. There was more to him than there was +to Ryland; his name is Barker, and he is worth twenty-five thousand +dollars, and aunt says he will become one of the leading lights of the +legal profession. Well, he was full of humor and jokes disposed to be a +little gay in his talk, and from what he related concerning himself one +might infer he had been at times a little swift. One afternoon we were +out in the country riding and he became very animated in his +conversation about taste and style of young ladies' dresses, and from +that went on to say what a fad it was among young men to notice and +admire the bright hosiery which young ladies wore when bicycle riding, +and continued in that style of talk, saying what good taste I displayed +in my dress; he was sure that the pretty, bright hosiery, which he +supposed I wore, would do his eyes good to behold. Just as he was +apparently making a motion as if to inspect my hosiery, his nigh colt +shied at an old post that was leaning over at the side of the road. He +had all he could do to manage the horse. I laughed, and told him 'He had +better keep his mind on the team, and not think about such things as the +kind of hosiery I was wearing, that he must not look upon me as a +dry-goods window.' He acted kind of mad with the colt, and said no more +about ladies' hosiery. That was the last ride we had together. + +"Well, one evening young Brookes, who was said to be worth fifty +thousand dollars in real estate, and had seen much of Europe in his +travels, called to take me to the theater. I had been out riding with +him several times, and met him at every party. After the play was over, +it being rather a warm night, he asked me if I would not like an +ice-cream, and I agreed; so we went into a café, and the waiter showed +us into one of the private boxes. After bringing ice-cream, cake and +soda-water, he drew the curtains. We had a very pleasant chat while +partaking of the refreshments. + +"Brookes asked me if I had any objection to his enjoying a cigarette. + +"I said 'No.' + +"Then he asked me if I would have one with him. + +"I laughed, and said I had not become fashionable enough for that yet. I +would have to live longer in the city. + +"He said, 'Why, the Paris young ladies smoke.' + +"'Yes,' I said, 'but I am not a Paris young lady.' + +"In looking around the little compartment I observed some pictures on +the walls, but I perceived that the artist was not a Rubens or a +Raphael, and they belonged to that class of pictures that one would not +see on the walls of a Sunday-school room. + +"I saw Mr. Brookes was looking at them, and then he started a +conversation about his travels in Europe, which was very interesting, +saying he was a great lover of art and speaking of works of art he saw +there. He said it was astonishing the genius that had been displayed in +marble and on canvas to represent the beautiful form of woman. +Continuing in that strain, and being free in his expressions, he +finished by saying how lovely must be the beautiful work of nature which +was covered up here, putting his hand on my shoulder. I smiled, and +said, 'This work of Nature is not on exhibition this evening; when it +is, I will send you a complimentary ticket.' He took the remark in good +part, and laughed. We got up and went out, and he saw me to aunt's door +in a very pleasant, gentlemanly way. + +"Westbrooke, the merchant's son, was the most sensible young man I met. +He appeared greatly interested in his college studies, and we had lots +of good talks on school studies and other subjects. + +"He asked me if he could come out to see me. + +"I told him 'yes' for I should be pleased to see him. + +"I want to tell you, mother, that when I was out and passing through +those funny experiences with the three different gentlemen, I never felt +in the least timid or scared. I felt just as calm and collected as I do +now. I felt this way about the matter: While I have long ago lost all +prudishness, yet I did not wish to stimulate their over-excited +imaginations of sensuous things." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Stella, if you had not been well balanced, +I should have some doubt about it being best for you to go to your +aunt's. But I knew, dear, your tastes and inclinations were not on the +sense plane, and I thought the opportunity of living in another world +for a while would do you good, for it would be the means of giving you a +better knowledge of yourself than you could get in any other way." + +Stella said: "Mother, the cow-boys and hired ranch hands have a hard +name. Now, I know this class of men well, and my experience with and +observation of them has taught me that any girl who behaves herself when +in their company will always be treated with respect. There is some +manhood about them in that way. But those fine city dudes have such a +polished, underhanded, deep, sly, foxy way of attaining their ends. Dr. +Lacy's girls told me that those fine, city young gentlemen loved nothing +better than to get acquainted with some pretty, young, green, innocent +girl and enjoy the fun of breaking her in. They are skilled in that +art." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SAUNDERS' CUSTOMERS. + + +One day, when business was very quiet in the store in Orangeville, the +following conversation took place: "Who is that young man of striking +appearance, talking to that old man in the road there?" said Hammond to +Saunders, the merchant. + +"That young man," said Saunders, "why, his name is Penloe." + +Hammond said: "Penloe, why that must be the fellow I have heard my wife +talk about. Has he any other name?" + +"That is all," said Saunders. "He does not wish to be called anything +else but Penloe. All his mail comes addressed just 'Penloe, Orangeville, +California.' No. Mr., nor Esquire, nor Rev. nor Dr. nor Prof., nor +anything else. He and his mother are my best customers, in one way. Not +that they buy much, but they never ask my price for the purpose of +beating me down. Nor do they grumble about the quality of my goods. Why, +those two have bought more from this store to give away to those in poor +circumstances, than they have for themselves. And they keep very still +about what they do in giving. There is the Jones family, who have more +children than dollars; they live in that cabin under the hill, on the +Squirrel Creek road. All Jones has is what he knocks out by hard day's +work, and he don't always have work, either. + +"Well, last winter, when his wife was in confinement and had a long sick +spell of two months, and Jones had typhoid fever about the same time, +they were about down to their last dollar and were in debt. When Penloe +and his mother heard about them, they both went down to Jones' house. +Penloe cut some stove-wood and helped round, and his mother took care of +Mrs. Jones. Also, Penloe paid me $37.50 for merchandise, which I had +furnished them. The doctor had been to Jones' about twice before they +came to take care of him and his wife. They paid the doctor, and told +him (to his surprise, as both his patients were very sick) that he need +not come any more. And they cured them without any medicine. When Jones +got well, they told him he could work on their place till he got work +elsewhere. And they gave him his board and one dollar a day in cash for +a month, and then he went to work on the Kelly ranch. + +"Jones and his wife have turned over a new leaf since Penloe and his +mother were with them. They look differently, act differently, and talk +differently. Penloe's mother gave them a little sound talk on family +matters. I feel a better man myself when they are round me. + +"Penloe's mother is away now, and Penloe is not seen much about here; he +is home most of the time, since he quit going out to work." + +"That is a very different story from what you can tell about most of the +young men in Orangeville," said Hammond. After which remark Hammond +walked out of the store, apparently in a deep study. + +Yes, he had much to think about, for he had seen a young man about +twenty-two years of age giving himself, his labor, his money, and his +best thought to help a poor family; to heal them of their sicknesses, to +help them to become self-supporting and independent, by furnishing them +work, and, above, all, to lift them to a higher plane of life, thus +helping them to find within, the "kingdom of Heaven." Yes, he thought of +Penloe's age, it was twenty-two; the very age when most young men think +only of gratifying themselves in every little whim and fancy, of +catering to their pride and vanity, and spending all their time, all +their thought, and all their money on themselves; being lovers of +themselves more than lovers of God or any one else. Or they have become +absorbed in some girl, not because she touches their better nature and +does what she can to lift them to a higher plane, but because she +stimulates the activity of their sensual natures, causing them to live +in bondage to their lower selves. Deluding themselves with the idea that +they are enjoying life, they become so engrossed in the pursuit of +'sense-plane' pleasures that they realize no other life than the +animal-plane of their existence, seeming apparently to be dead to all +high motives, grand ideals and nobleness of purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +PENLOE'S SERMON. + + +The Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was the Congregational minister in Roseland, +but he used to come out every Sunday afternoon to Orangeville and hold +preaching service in the only church there. One Thursday he received +word that his sister, in Oakland, was very sick, and wanted him to come +and see her, and he would have to be away over the Sabbath; so he wished +to get a supply for the two churches, but could not find any one to fill +his place. In talking to the deacons of his Roseland church about the +matter, they told him they would conduct the services at their church if +he could find some one to fill his place at Orangeville. + +It was customary for the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth to spend one day in the +week in visiting the good people of Orangeville. Among the pastoral +calls, he visited the home of Penloe and his mother. He was very much +impressed with the spiritual thought and talk of both, and while neither +were members of his congregation he well understood their position. He +saw that for a man like Penloe to come and listen to the sermons he gave +to the people of Orangeville would be like expecting a student in +Harvard College to attend a kindergarten school, with the expectation of +receiving instruction. The minister was broad-minded enough to perceive +that the spiritual food he gave to his flock was kindergarten talk to +Penloe; it was only milk, it was not meat; not the strong spiritual meat +that Penloe lived on. It was all right for babies, but it was not fit +for men who had attained divine realization in the universal Christ. The +Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was too liberal and charitable to think less of +Penloe for not attending his church. He was glad he had the courage of +his convictions instead of masquerading, as some do, with the appearance +of assent to all that is said and taught; but, being at the same time, +within, at variance and holding views entirely different; but for +policy, business interest, family peace, social position and standing, +love of name and fame or salary, acting the hypocrite because they are +arrant cowards. + +When thinking of some suitable person to fill the Orangeville pulpit on +the Sunday afternoon of his absence, he could find no one so well +adapted by natural talents, education, experience, and deep spiritual +insight, combined with an irreproachable life, as Penloe. So he went out +to Orangeville to see him. Finding Penloe at home, he made known the +object of his visit. Penloe did not answer him at once, but was silent +for a few minutes; he was thinking that this was a call to a work which +was not of his own seeking, and, as the call to the work had come to +him, he decided to accept it and told the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth so. + +The minister then went to Deacon Allen, of Orangeville, and explained +matters to him, telling him that Penloe would select one of the hymns to +sing before the sermon, but Penloe wished Deacon Allen to conduct all +the other parts of the service, including the reading of the hymns. The +minister desired the Deacon not to tell any one who was going to preach +next Sunday, but to explain to the congregation why he was absent, and +then to introduce Penloe. Deacon Allen had only seen Penloe once or +twice, and while he liked the appearance of the man yet he knew very +little about him. But, under the circumstances, he thought the minister +had done the best he could. + +It so happened it was the time of year when there was a number of +visitors in Orangeville, which brought out an unusually large audience, +for it included not only the regular attendants and the visitors, but +those who seldom went to church but did so to-day because they had +company. Mr. and Mrs. Herne, who seldom went, attended to-day, and took +the baby with them, this being the first Sunday of the child being in +short clothes. Of course, some of Herne's hired men had to go, to see +how the baby behaved. + +Stella was another irregular attendant at church, but young Mrs. Sexton, +whose husband was away, came round in her buggy and wanted Stella to go +for company's sake. + +Stella, through being away at school so much and having gone to Roseland +for a while, had only heard about there being such a young man as Penloe +in Orangeville, but had never seen him; neither had her parents. + +Penloe was about the first person at church that Sunday afternoon, and +took a seat in the front pew, next to the pulpit with his back to the +congregation, so, as the people assembled, they saw the back of some one +but did not know who it was. When it was time for the service to +commence the church was about full, but the people all seemed surprised +not to see the minister present. Deacon Allen came forward, and opened +service by giving out a hymn, which was followed by prayer. Then the +choir sang, sweetly, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy +laden, and I will give you rest." Then reading from the Scriptures, +which was followed by the singing of a hymn that Penloe had selected, +and Deacon Allen gave out. The hymn was as follows: + + "See Israel's gentle shepherd stands + With all engaging charms, + Hark, how he calls his tender lambs, + And folds them in his arms. + + "'Permit them to approach,' he cries, + Nor scorn their humble name, + For 'twas to bless such souls as these + The Lord of angels came." + +After singing the hymn, Deacon Allen explained to the congregation the +cause of the minister's absence, and introduced Penloe, to the great +surprise of those present. Penloe, in a simple, unassuming manner, +stepped up to the desk and faced the audience. Casting his eyes over the +mass of upturned faces, he said, in a very pleasant, musical voice: + +"Dear friends, I will speak to you from the following words, 'Suffer +little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the +Kingdom of Heaven.'" + +The sermon was a most remarkable and original discourse. It held the +close attention of every one present, and at its end the congregation +sang: + + "I think, when I read that sweet story of old, + When Jesus was here among men, + How he called little children as lambs to his fold, + I should like to have been with him then. + + "I wish that his hands had been placed on my head, + That his arms had been thrown around me, + And that I might have seen his kind look when He said, + 'Suffer the little ones to come unto me.'" + +Penloe's sermon we will give, as told to her mother by Stella, and also +the version published in the Roseland _Weekly Gazette_. + +When Stella arrived home from church her mother noticed that her +countenance was all animation, and her bright eyes seemed to glisten and +sparkle brighter than ever; but she said nothing, knowing Stella would +relate all she had seen and heard of any interest. + +"Well, mother," said Stella, "I have had the greatest surprise and the +greatest pleasure I ever had in my life." + +"Why, Stella," said her mother, "I am very pleased to see and hear that +something has delighted you so much." + +"Who do you think I saw, and heard preach this afternoon?" said Stella. + +"Why, I suppose the minister," said her mother, which was the same as +saying, "I don't know, but want you to tell me." + +"Well, mother," said Stella, "it was Penloe. I do wish you had been +there to have seen and heard him. His face, when speaking, at times +looked angelic. His eyes are so clear and bright, his voice sweet and +musical, and he is so graceful in his movement, at the same time so +simple and unassuming in his manner. He is symmetrical in his build, and +as handsome as a picture." + +"Is he really all that?" said her mother, with a smile. + +"Yes," said Stella, "and there is something about him that is a thousand +times more than all that; for there is an earnestness and sincerity of +purpose and a power, such as I have never seen or felt before, in all he +says and does. I don't know how to describe it, for he is so different +to any man I ever met or saw; and, as for his subject, why, it was just +grand. But I cannot help laughing when I think of the feelings of +horror, and so much mocked modesty which I saw and heard expressed by +many who were there this afternoon." + +"Well, whatever could his subject have been about, to cause those +feelings?" said her mother. + +"It was this mother; he took for his text, 'Suffer little children to +come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of +Heaven.' + +"He said it was not his purpose this afternoon to describe in detail the +circumstances which led Jesus to utter those words, nor to enter in full +into the history of those people at that time, nor to describe the way +in which they were raised by their parents in those days, nor how +children were treated in general at the time Jesus walked on the earth, +but to dwell on the thought more particularly about how to bring the +children to Jesus now, and how to help them find the Kingdom of Heaven +within. He said the subject was such a large one that he could only +dwell for a short time on one method for bringing the children to +Jesus, and that was how to bring them up pure and make pure men and pure +women of them. For purity of life and thought was one of the first steps +in coming to Jesus, and finding the Kingdom of Heaven within. + +"Penloe said such an innovation introduced into our society would be a +God-send to us all, for it would bring about a change in so many ways +for the advancement of the race, as to make the mind almost bewildered +in the contemplation of the giant strides that humanity would make. I +cannot begin to tell you all he said, mother, and I don't think the +congregation took in the full sweep of his great thought. + +"I will tell you one thing Penloe has done for me. He has cut what few +strings there were which kept me in bondage to my sexual nature. I am +free." And here the beautiful and intellectually bright girl laughed, +and shouted again, "I am free! Free from that awful superstition of +sexual bondage. Bless Penloe for helping me to my freedom," said Stella. + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, there have been millions of women who +have _died deaths of untold agony_ through being in bondage to their +sexual natures." + +"Mother," said Stella, laughing again, "I give you notice that on and +after this I shall speak and act just the same when members of the other +sex are present as I would with my own sex, I don't care what they may +think. I will not be negative to their ideas, for I am free;" and here +she clapped her hands, and said, "I intend to have the courage of my +convictions under all circumstances. + +"I must tell you, mother, there were a number there who were perfectly +disgusted that Penloe should have introduced such a subject. You just +ought to have seen the faces on some of the congregation. + +"The dressmaker, Mrs. Hopkins, and her daughter, said they would not +have come to church if they had known the indecent talk that a strange +man was going to make. The two May girls, with their beaux, were there, +and after the service they acted as if they were afraid to speak to each +other. They went out of the church with their heads down and seemed +afraid to look anywhere; till they saw Deacon Tompkins' wife get in the +buggy, and then the Deacon got in and took the reins and started the +horse. But he had omitted untying the animal from the post, and they all +had a laugh, and that broke the strain they were under, and they were +seen talking to their beaux after that. + +"After service I went up to the desk and gave Penloe my hand and thanked +him for the help he had given me in breaking my bondage. I told him he +had cut the last string of sex superstition for me. He smiled and +pressed my hand and said he was glad to hear it. + +"Mother, I did not know that Orangeville had such a young man as that. +Why, just think of it! A fine Sanskrit scholar; he can read Bengali just +as well as I can English, and by his reference to the Old and New +Testament he shows he understood Hebrew and Greek. And think of it; he +is only twenty-two years of age! He is a fine orator, very eloquent, and +has such a command over himself and his audience. + +"But, mother, great as his scholarship may be, he has a power that is +greater; it is seen in his eyes and in every feature of his handsome +countenance, and felt in the touch of his hand. Its source is not purely +intellectual. I perceive it intuitively, but cannot explain it. + +"Why, mother, I never thought Penloe was the kind of man he is. From +what I had heard about him, I thought he was one of those quiet, +goody-goody men, but instead of that he is a scholar of the most +advanced school of thought." + +Her mother said: "Stella, do you know why Penloe took the subject he did +to-day and spoke from it? I think I know; it was this: not that he liked +such subjects more than any others, and perhaps not so much; but he knew +that if such ideas were presented to the public, it had to be done by +those who were not in bondage to name and fame and salary. It had to be +done by those bold, fearless thinkers who will speak the truth +regardless of frowns and smiles. And Penloe did it because he knew there +was no one else that would do it. It was pioneer work." + +Stella said: "I think so, mother, and he certainly seems well qualified +to do such noble pioneer work." + +Mr. and Mrs. Herne, on their way home from church, talked the matter +over. Mr. Herne said: "Penloe is the most remarkable man I have seen; so +young and yet so gifted in every way. The secret of his power I do not +know anything about, but he possesses a power such as no other man I +have ever seen. I could not keep away from church if he was going to +speak every Sunday." + +Mrs. Herne said: "He has the clearest and brightest eyes I ever saw. I +never get tired of looking into them. At times his face brightened so +much during his speaking it looked angelic." + +They were both very much impressed with the sincerity and earnestness of +the man, but were not prepared to pass an opinion on the subject of his +discourse. They thought well of his ideas, but did not know how they +would work. It set them both to thinking, and it was their intention to +try if possible to cultivate the acquaintance of Penloe. + +The Roseland _Gazette_, which was published every Saturday, had the +following: + +"Last Monday and Tuesday strange stories began to be circulated through +this city by persons coming in from Orangeville, concerning what was +said in the Congregational Church there last Sunday. It seems that the +Rev. B.F. Holingsworth, of this city, was called away to see a sick +sister, and he got a man who goes by the name of Penloe to fill his +place. The stories that were put in circulation are of a wild and varied +character. Some started the rumor that Penloe preached that we all ought +to go naked. Another story was, that he said we all ought to bathe +together, regardless of sex, in a nude state. Then some said, he told +the people that all families ought to sleep in one large room, to appear +as much in a nude condition as possible, so as to satisfy all curiosity. +These and other like stories aroused so much interest among the people +of this city, that it has been the upper-most topic of conversation +among them, and led to the inquiry whether it was so, and was the man a +crazy crank or a fool, and how came such a man to be asked to preach. + +"Our reporter went out to Orangeville to learn what he could concerning +the matter. He first of all went to see Penloe to get a certified +statement, but that gentleman could not be found anywhere. He had an +interview with Mr. Saunders, the merchant of Orangeville, who said he +was at church last Sunday and heard the sermon. + +"When asked if the stories which were circulated in Roseland concerning +Penloe's sermon were correct, he replied that in part they were, and in +part they were not. + +"When asked to state as near as he could remember just what was said: + +"'Well,' said the merchant, 'I am not used to that kind of business, +but, as near as I can remember it now, it was something like this: + +"'In order for children to come to Jesus, they must be pure; that purity +was the basis of all religious growth, and he thought the present mode +of maintaining purity had the very opposite effect to what it was +intended for.' + +"Here Mr. Saunders stopped and told the reporter he had better go and +see Deacon Allen, who would give him a better account than he could. + +"'But I tell you,' continued Mr. Saunders, 'there has been more talk +over this sermon this week in this store, by every one that has come in, +than all other talk put together. This is the first time in the twelve +years that I have kept store, that I ever heard any one talk about any +sermon they heard.' + +"'Well, Mr. Saunders,' said the reporter, 'what seems to be the judgment +of the people about Penloe and the sermon? You have had an opportunity +of hearing all kinds of opinions.' + +"'Well,' said Mr. Saunders, 'I heard the old lady Eastman say, that the +next time she sees her minister, she is going to lecture him for getting +that low-down, vulgar man in the pulpit. Why, his talk was awful. Mrs. +Reamy and Mrs. Roberts said they would have both got up in church and +walked out, only it would cause so much disturbance. Two girls came in +to get a spool of thread. While I was waiting on them one said to the +other, "My mother said this morning that she would never again go to +church, if that nasty talking man was going to preach." The other girl +said, "My father says he is the smartest man that ever spoke in +Orangeville or any other part of California. He wished he would preach +every Sunday. Then, I saw Miss Stella Wheelwright go up to Penloe at the +close of the service and give him her hand, and I was told she thanked +him for helping her to cut the last cords of bondage to sex +superstition. She seemed really delighted with his talk." + +"'I cannot help laughing when I hear a number of persons who were not at +church last Sunday, say, "I wish I had been to meeting last Sunday and +heard the talk." + +"The reporter next called on Deacon Allen and found that gentleman ready +to relate a portion of the sermon. + +"In reply to a question put by the reporter, Deacon Allen said: 'Well, +there is one thing I liked about Penloe's sermon, instead of talking +about the sins of the wicked people in Chicago, New York, London or +Paris, he talked straight and square to the people he was facing, about +their own sins, which were keeping them out of the Kingdom of Heaven, +for it acted like a curtain over the windows of the soul so that one +could not see the Divine, and feel the sacred presence of his power +within. They had polluted the Temple of the Living God, and their eyes +became blinded so that they could not see that they were heirs to a +rich spiritual inheritance.' + +"The reporter asked the Deacon what Penloe said in regard to the best +way of bringing about the new method of raising all children up, as if +they were one sex. + +"The Deacon replied, saying: 'He said: "Character and environments are +so different that each must work from the plane he or she is on. Nothing +but the best judgment and experience will be able to grapple +successfully with the problem, but it can be done; it has been done. And +it will be comparatively easy for the next generation to put into +practice, if it is done by the present. Avoid all kinds of food and +drinks that stimulate the passions. And, above all, keep the mind +interested in pure, elevating thoughts and engage in hearty wholesome +recreations, so that the love for the pure and good in time will +predominate, and the angel rule the animal." + +"'I shall never forget,' continued the Deacon, 'how Penloe's clear, +musical voice rang out through the church, how his brilliant eyes seemed +to penetrate through every one present as he looked them in the face and +put this serious question to them, "What victories have you gained over +yourselves?" + +"The Deacon said: 'It makes me feel disgusted to hear some persons who +were at church on Sunday last talk about Penloe being low and vulgar, +when a purer or more spiritual man never walked in this country; while +their own characters are tarnished by being connected with numerous +scandals. While Penloe is not a member of the same church as I am, yet I +know a good man when I meet him and hear him talk.' + +"Our reporter left Orangeville greatly regretting he did not have the +honor to meet so distinguished a man as Penloe." + +Mrs. Trask, wife of Dr. Trask, of Roseland, called on Stella's aunt, +Mrs. Marston, and after a little general conversation, Mrs. Trask said: +"Mrs. Marston, have you heard or read anything about the horrid talk +that some crank preacher made in Orangeville last Sunday?" + +"Why, no," said Mrs. Marston, "I have not looked at the _Gazette_ and I +have been out but little the past few days, for I have not felt very +well lately, having had a bilious attack." + +Mrs. Trask said: "I know, Mrs. Marston, you will be perfectly shocked +when I tell you. Why, it's all the talk of the town; just think of it; a +man getting up in the pulpit and telling the people that boys and girls +should appear before each other naked, and that they all should be +brought up as if they were one sex." + +Mrs. Marston said: "It's perfectly awful to think about such a thing. +Why, it would be dreadful. The preacher must have come from Paris with +French ideas. According to what my son writes me, I should say that is +just about what they do over there." + +Mrs. Trask said that her husband said, speaking as a medical man, he +would consider it the greatest step towards the downfall of the human +race. Every one would become so corrupt and depraved sexually that the +race would become weak and puny, with no moral stamina. + +After Mrs. Trask had gone, Mrs. Marston got the Roseland _Gazette_ to +see what it said about the matter. When she came to the part where it +stated that her niece had gone up to the desk and given her hand to the +preacher and thanked him for helping her out of sexual bondage, she was +completely overcome and just felt like having a fit. She would rather +have paid a thousand dollars than to have that appear in the paper. +"What a disgrace this is to me, after all I have done for her, +ungrateful hussy! She doesn't think about the shame she brings upon me +by her bold actions, with that vulgar crank." While she was smarting +from the effects of wounded pride, her door-bell rang and soon the +servant came in and told Mrs. Marston that Mr. Barker was in the parlor. +Mrs. Marston kept him waiting a few minutes, till she had composed +herself. Soon she came in, bright, smiling and cordially greeted the +rising young attorney who had manifested so much interest in Stella's +hosiery. + +Mr. Barker was a perfect Chesterfield in dress and manners, and knew +exactly what part of Mrs. Marston's nature to touch to make her feel +good, and to raise himself one hundred per cent. in her estimation. + +Mr. Barker felt as if he had a little grudge against Stella, ever since +the day his wish was not gratified, and now he thought this was his +opportunity to pay her back. + +In course of conversation Mr. Barker said: "Mrs. Marston, have you been +to Orangeville lately?" + +"No," said Mrs. Marston, "I have not been there since Stella returned +home." + +"How is your niece, Mrs. Marston?" said Mr. Barker. + +"The last I heard from her she was very well," said Mrs. Marston. + +Mr. Barker said: "By the way, Mrs. Marston, is there another Miss Stella +Wheelwright in Orangeville besides your niece?" + +"I have not heard of any other young lady by that name," replied Mrs. +Marston. + +"Well," said Mr. Barker, "I was hoping there was, for I did not want to +think it was your niece that the _Gazette_ said went up and gave that +vulgar preacher her hand." + +"I think it must be," replied Mrs. Marston. Continuing, she said: "Of +course, I am greatly shocked over the matter and feel that my niece has +hurt me by her foolish conduct. I blame her mother more than I do her, +for she has encouraged Stella in radical ideas." + +Mr. Barker said: "I don't understand what the man can be thinking about +to talk such vulgar nonsense. He ought to be sent to Stockton Insane +Asylum." + +Mrs. Marston said: "As for the subject he had under discussion, I could +not think of talking about it to a gentleman. I intend to go to +Orangeville to-morrow and see my sister about the matter. I do wish +Stella would come and live with me; where she would be in the company of +well-bred, well-behaved society people, who have common-sense ideas." + +It was always customary for Mrs. Marston when she went to Orangeville to +take a great variety of table dainties, and never mention the real +purpose of her visit till after dinner. Mrs. Marston had been so well +disciplined in the art of concealment through living so much in +fashionable society, that she could put on a very pleasant exterior, +when really she was very much disturbed within. + +So to-day when she visited her sister Bertha, everything was exceedingly +pleasant, and the topics under discussion were such that there was +perfect harmony in all that was said. Mrs. Marston presented the bright +side of everything in regard to Roseland when talking to Stella, telling +her how certain young gentlemen were continually inquiring after her, +and how her young lady friends were wishing she would return to Roseland +soon, for they did want her to come and visit them so much. + +Stella was interested to hear about her friends in Roseland, and enjoyed +her Aunt Helen's talk. + +After dinner was over and settled a little, Mrs. Marston took the +opportunity to say to her sister Bertha (while Stella and her father +were out for awhile): "Is it really true, Bertha, what the Roseland +_Gazette_ says in regard to Stella's going up to that crank preacher at +the close of the service and giving him her hand and saying a lot of +queer stuff about sexual bondage?" + +"I was not there myself, Helen," said her sister, "but this I do know, +that when Stella returned home she told me herself she did such a +thing." + +"Well," said Mrs. Marston, "I always knew Stella was a strange kind of +girl, but I never thought she would disgrace herself and her relatives +in that manner. Why," continued Mrs. Marston, "it's all the talk in +Roseland and among Stella's friends, about the disgrace she has brought +on me and herself in talking to such a vulgar man." + +Stella's mother could not help smiling within herself at her sister +calling Penloe a vulgar man, when she thought of what her daughter +related to her in regard to her experience with some of the "upper ten" +gentlemen. + +Continuing, Mrs. Marston said: "It will never do for Stella to associate +with such an indecent man, who preaches French ideas from the pulpit. +Why, Bertha, it will never do. You had better let Stella come and stay +with me till she is married. She is a great favorite with the young +people in Roseland and there are some splendid catches for her there." + +"Well," said Bertha, "I have no control over her; she can go to Roseland +if she wishes." + +"But," said Mrs. Marston, "it becomes your duty as her mother to show +her the danger of speaking to a man like Penloe. You should keep her +away from his influence and do what you can to encourage her to marry +well." + +Bertha looked her sister Helen in the face and said: "Helen, I have +decided to let Stella choose her own path in life and select her own +mate. If she asks my advice I will give it. She has her own life to +lead, and it does not become me to mark it out for her. She must hew the +way. And, supposing I wanted to, do you think it would do any good? +Helen, you know better than that. Could you keep your son from getting +that waiter girl in trouble? And now the poor girl is homeless and +penniless, with a baby, in a hospital, without a friend to keep her, +while your son is walking the streets of Paris as a well dressed +gentleman." Here Mrs. Marston interrupted her and said: "Oh, my poor +boy! It makes my blood boil when I think how that nasty, dirty hussy got +my poor Henry into disgrace. Don't mention her, Bertha. It would have +served her right to have died before the child was born." + +Bertha said: "Helen, you can invite Stella to Roseland, and if she +wishes to go it is just the same to me as if she stayed here, for I will +not be in Stella's way of exercising her freedom." + +So when Stella came into the house her aunt said: "Stella, I do wish you +would come to Roseland and stay with me." + +"Thank you, Aunt, you are very kind, but I have certain subjects I wish +to study and I want to be where I can be quiet; but, Aunt, dear, I will +return with you and stay a week, if you will bring me back home at the +end of that time." + +"All right, Stella, get yourself ready and we will leave right away." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RETURN OF BEN WEST. + + +About two months before Ben West returned to Orangeville, Mr. Hammond +took a letter out of the Orangeville post-office, which read as follows: + + "_Kohn & Kohn, Bankers and Brokers, Stillman Block._ + "SAN FRANCISCO, April 7, 1899. + + "_Harrison Hammond, Esq., + "Orangeville, Calif._ + + "DEAR SIR: We have been instructed by Benj. West, Esq., + one of the leading capitalists of the Klondike, to send + you a draft for five hundred dollars, with a letter + from that gentleman to you, both of which we have + enclosed. + + "Yours resp't'y, + "KOHN & KOHN." + +The letter from Ben West to Mr. Hammond was as follows: + + "DAWSON CITY, KLONDIKE, Feb. 12, 1899. + "_H. Hammond, Esq., + "Orangeville, Cal._ + + "FRIEND HAMMOND: After sending Julia the jewelry, I + realized that I had got my foot in it, in this way: She + thinks she must have a costly bridal outfit to match + the jewelry. Now, I have written her that as we will be + married in Orangeville, she need not get anything very + extra fine; that what she thinks she may need in the + way of costly dresses, she can get in San Francisco + after we are married, but I realize she might like a + few good clothes, so I send you five hundred dollars to + buy her what she may need in that line, which I hope + you will accept, as I know the income from a ranch + cannot stand any such extravagance. You will receive + the money from my brokers, Kohn & Kohn. Please keep + this confidential and not let Julia know a word about + it. + + "Your friend, + "BEN WEST." + +After reading the letters Mr. Hammond had a good opportunity of talking +the matter over with his wife, as Julia had gone out for the day. + +They both took a sensible view of the matter and thought that under the +circumstances it would be proper to accept the five hundred dollars, as +Julia would wear the clothes as Ben West's wife, and said it was very +thoughtful in him to send the money. + +Mrs. Hammond said, as Julia was going to San Francisco as soon as she +was married, she thought it would be best to go to Fresno and select her +bridal trousseau there. Continuing, she said: "Julia knows you have +money in the bank, but how much she has no idea; therefore, she will not +suspect but you are paying for her bridal outfit yourself." + +So Mrs. Hammond and Julia went to Fresno. On their return Julia seemed +more than pleased with her purchases. It is not to be expected that each +kind of garment that was bought will be mentioned here, neither will we +go into a minute description of the amount of lace, embroidery, +insertion and scallop work on the various garments. + +In the four weeks previous to Julia's wedding day she had numerous +callers to see her jewelry and her bridal trousseau. + +The amount of close inspection, quick observation, speculative thought +and general talk that was given to all articles pertaining to the +bride's wardrobe and jewelry, if devoted to some of the serious social +problems of the nation, would have settled them thoroughly for all time. + +"Is it not strange," remarked Mr. Hammond one evening after some +callers had gone and Julia had retired, "the amount of interest and +thought people take in things that are really of so little consequence +to them; but things which are of the greatest importance to their own +welfare it is hard to get them to give two minutes' consideration to +them? They want excitement, and love it a great deal more than an +intelligent understanding of such issues as are to them of vital +importance. For instance, government ownership of railroads, telegraphs +and telephones to be operated at cost for the benefit of the people; the +issuing and loaning of money by the government to the people, instead of +by the banks to the people; also the adoption by the nation of the +Initiative and Referendum." + +Some of the elderly ladies in Orangeville who had lived in the east many +years before coming to California, brought to Orangeville some of their +old sayings, and one of these sayings began to float through the +atmosphere of Orangeville and was whispered from one to another; namely, +that Julia Hammond had fallen into a tub of butter. Now, on first +hearing such a statement one would think a sad calamity had happened to +the young lady, especially when taking into consideration that in a few +weeks' time she expected to change her name. But upon making an +examination of her wearing apparel, one saw no sign of such an accident, +and when she appeared at the table in her elegant morning wrapper you +could not see any grease spots on her well-fitting garment, and when you +began to wonder what they could mean by saying that Julia Hammond had +fallen into a tub of butter, you resolve you will make a further and +closer scrutiny of that young lady's person. At last it begins to dawn +upon your mind, for you notice that when she puts her elbow on the table +and her hand up to the side of her face, your eyes are almost dazzled by +seeing something on her finger which are brilliant stones set in gold. +When Julia Hammond appeared at the ball the other night, the main talk +of the evening was about her diamond ring, her gold watch set with +diamonds, and her elegant diamond necklace, making that swan-like neck +simply superb. + +As she drove her span of matched bays one morning she passed two young +men in a buggy. Then the following conversation took place between the +men: + +Fred said to Henry, who was a stranger in Orangeville and was making him +a visit: + +"Henry, just look at that in her back hair." + +"That is just elegant," said Henry, as his eyes rested on a very rich +gold hairpin set with diamonds which were sparkling in their beauty, as +the rays of the sun brought out their brilliancy. + +Fred said: "That's Julia Hammond, the bethrothed of Ben West, who went +to the Klondike and struck it rich, having made a little over half a +million dollars." + +The last day Ben West was in Orangeville before leaving for the +Klondike, he had a private talk with Mr. Hammond concerning Julia. Mr. +Hammond gave his consent and wished him prosperity. So it was arranged +that, owing to the long and uncertain carrying of the mails out of the +Klondike country, he would write a letter to Julia as if he had made a +stake, and in the letter make her an offer of marriage, and give it to +Mr. Hammond to hand to Julia when Mr. Hammond received word from Ben by +telegram, saying, "Stake made, give the letter to Julia," and Mr. +Hammond was to wire Ben Julia's answer so he would not be kept long in a +state of suspense. This was all carried out to the letter, and Ben West +received a telegram which read: "Yes. Have written in full. Julia +Hammond." + +Continuing, Fred said: "When Ben West was in San Francisco on his way to +the Klondike, he went into the store of Stein & Co., jewelers, and +selected the jewelry he might want, should he make a stake. So when he +received Julia's answer of acceptance he ordered by wire a diamond ring, +a gold watch set in diamonds, a diamond necklace, and a gold hairpin +set with diamonds. Stein & Co. sent them to Julia with Ben West's love. +He wired Kohn & Kohn, the bankers, to pay Stein & Co. + +"Ben's mother said: 'Those jewels for that girl cost Ben twenty thousand +dollars.'" + +Henry said: "Just think of that fellow's luck. Some men are born rich, +some acquire riches and some have riches thrust upon them." + +Fred said: "Some men are lucky sure. There's Ben West, who is coming to +Orangeville in a week. All the people will just go wild over him and +lionize him. And won't Julia be sweet to him after giving her all that +jewelry. They say, 'If you want honey you must have money.' Ben has got +the money and now he is going to have the honey; and just think, in +three weeks' time he is going to be married, going to have that pretty, +handsome, fresh young girl all to himself. Isn't she a beauty! My! Ben +will be in clover; he will have a picnic sure." + +Henry said: "If I could be in Ben West's shoes for just two months, I +would be willing to spend the balance of my life in hell. I would have +one comfort in thinking what a fine time I had had." + +Fred said: "Ben West will be here to-morrow and he will take good care +to see that not you nor any other man will be in his shoes for two +months from the time he is married." + +When Ben set his foot in Orangeville on his return from the Klondike, +the news flew all over the locality, as if the wind had made it its +mission to carry the intelligence all over the country into every home. +Those who knew him least were just as anxious to see him as those who +had always known him. They did want to see, to talk to and shake hands +with the lion of the day, the hero of the hour, the man whose name was +in every one's mouth. If a man had arrived in Orangeville who had saved +twenty persons from drowning, there would not have been half the desire +to see him or hear him talk on how the persons were saved. Why, Ben West +received nothing but one continued round of hearty hand-shaking and +warm greetings, and his ears heard nothing but eulogies and encomiums +and general admiration for the man who had made himself the owner of the +two great idols that are worshipped by the Western world. + +Ben West had got what most men are seeking but few finding. If you were +in Orangeville you would be told that it was a Christian community; but +if you squared them by the command given by Jesus, "Seek ye first the +Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and all these shall be added +unto you," you would find them sadly wanting, for the Kingdom of Heaven +is the last thing they want. It is, "These things which shall be added +unto you" is what they want. For they want their heaven to be in the +possession of things outside of themselves. + +A great dance was given in honor of Orangeville's coming man. +Predictions were heard that it would not be long before he would be +Governor of California, with a good show for a seat in the United States +Senate. + +Most of the people of Orangeville were great on dances. If they had a +sociable it had to close with a dance; if a political meeting was held, +they had a dance afterwards; a spelling bee wound up with a dance. If +you would let them, they would dance after Sabbath School and preaching. +If you want a big crowd at a meeting, just give out there will be a +dance at the close, and teams will come for miles from all over the +country. Dance; why they want to dance all the time. They simply become +intoxicated with dancing. There is no moderation about it. They leave +the dance hall about four or five o'clock in the morning. Does that kind +of recreation help them physically? How do they feel during the next +day? Does it help them intellectually? Does it help them spiritually? +Then why pursue a course of recreation _so immoderately_ as to be +detrimental to their highest interests? + +When Mr. Hammond heard about the great dance that was coming off in +honor of Ben West, he said it did seem to him as if a dance was the only +thing the people of Orangeville could get up. He had never known them +as a community to get up anything else but a dance, and yet, he said, +there are some very fine people who attend these country dances. Persons +of noble character, who live lives of self-denial in their homes and +meet trials and misfortunes bravely and heroically, I am glad to say. + +Julia did not attend the dance because it was too near her wedding day; +but Ben West had a very enjoyable time, for the leading young ladies in +Orangeville were delighted at having the opportunity of dancing once +more with their old friend. But now a new interest had centered in him, +in the fact of his being the rising man and soon to be married. + +There was a very large crowd at the dance. A number came from Roseland; +in fact, there were more than the hall could accommodate. There were a +number of men wanting to see Ben West a few minutes on the side, to talk +with him about what show there would be for them at the Klondike, as +each of them wished to be successful like Ben West. + +For three weeks previous to his being married, Ben did not know whether +he was afoot or on horseback. What with the joy his father and mother +manifested at having him back again in their home, and the real, sweet, +loving and delightful hours he spent with Julia, who was free in her +demonstrations of affection, he being so worthy of it. + +At last that day which always seems so long in coming, but which always +comes, came to Ben West and Julia Hammond. They had a quiet wedding in +the morning; then came the wedding dinner, after which they went to +Roseland, taking in the theater in the evening and stopping at the +Arlington Hotel that night. The next day they took the Flyer for San +Francisco. On arriving in that city they went to the Clifton Hotel. In +the evening they attended the opera. + +As Julia had never been to San Francisco, they decided to spend a week +in sight-seeing. The second week they spent in looking at elegant +houses. After looking round for six days they bought a mansion on Van +Ness avenue for eighty thousand dollars. It originally cost one hundred +and thirty thousand. Then, the third week they spent in selecting +furniture, which cost them twenty thousand dollars. The fourth week they +bought a fine matched team and a carriage, for which they paid fifteen +hundred dollars, and kept them at a livery stable. They also purchased +two bicycles and an automobile, and got three servants, a maid for +Julia, a woman to do the housework, and a Chinese cook. All laundry work +was done out of the house. The second month was spent in going to many +interesting places outside of San Francisco as well as taking in more of +the city. Everything so far had run very smoothly. + +Then a conversation arose regarding what business Mr. West had better +turn his attention to to occupy himself. After a little talk, Julia +said: "You have now about four hundred thousand dollars. I do wish you +could make it a million. How proud I should be of you, Ben, to have a +millionaire for a husband. Just think what the people of Orangeville +will say when they hear you have become a millionaire. Why, dear, I +should just worship you to think that I had got a husband that was such +a successful man as to make a million dollars in so short a time. When +you become a millionaire, Ben, we will go to Europe in style, and what a +gay time we will have in Paris, dear." + +What a power some women's soft words and smiles have on a man; he is +owned by them, and it was so in the case of Ben West. + +Ben said: "Well, dear Julia, I suppose I will have to go to the Klondike +again to make my pile a million." + +Julia pouted and looked her prettiest and said: "I do hate to have you +go to that cold and disagreeable country, Ben, and it will be so +lonesome for me without you, dear; but, Ben, make your pile quick and +come home." + +Ben West did not express all he felt in having to go back to the +Klondike, but he had such a pretty, handsome woman for a wife, who +pleased him so much and he was so proud of her, and he loved her +admiration and approval of himself as much as he did his life. So he +decided to return to the Klondike in a month's time. That would give +him, in all, three months of honeymoon. Then he would leave for the cold +regions of the Klondike. + +The last week Ben West was with his wife she seemed at times so sad +about his leaving, and would pet him and make so much of him, that she +became doubly dear to him. He said, "This is bliss, indeed." + +At last the sad day for his parting came. They did the best they could +by cheering each other up, with the expectation of Ben's quick return +and coming back as a millionaire. + +Now, when a handsome young bride is left with an eighty-thousand-dollar +house and twenty thousand dollars worth of furniture, three servants, a +carriage and a handsome span of horses, two bicycles and an automobile, +with a good fat bank account to draw on, she is not going to spend many +sad days in the house alone, longing for the return of her husband. Nor +will she be contented to remain at home and become fascinated in reading +Milton's "Paradise Lost" or Moody's sermons. No. She is going to have +company, and gay companions, and they will not be all of her own sex +either. About a month after Ben West had returned to the Klondike, Julia +had made new acquaintances of persons who had time, money, and elegant +leisure. Returning home from a swell party one evening, Julia said to +herself, "What freedom there is in being married. Your market is made, +and you can have lots of fun dancing, flirting, and so on; while a girl +that is unmarried has to be more careful of herself and her conduct, +because it might hinder her making a desirable match. It is fine to be +married to a good-natured man." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FIVE YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. + + +It was one of those lovely days in March when nature is decorated in her +best; for each day she adds to her wreath of glory new beauties in the +form of buds and flowers. The trees in the orchard were a sight to +behold in their beautiful and variegated colors. The soft, balmy air +coming up the cañon was full of the perfume of flowers. The birds were +warbling their sweetest notes in the mulberry and walnut trees, and the +hum of the bees were heard around the flowers. All Nature sang through +these various forms, that All is life, All is love, All is joy, and All +is God. + +On this day two ladies were sitting out on the porch of the Herne +residence, one was a lady with gray hair, the other was her daughter. +Both were sitting in silence. The younger was thinking how very much +like this beautiful day was, to the one five years ago when she entered +her new home as the wife of Charles Herne. Many thoughts were crowding +upon her mind; she was thinking how perfectly, supremely happy she was +on that occasion. Every thing about her seemed to respond to the happy +thought within, and her cup of joy was overflowing. Then the thought +came to her why was it not so to-day? Nature seemed just as beautiful, +her home was more beautiful, and the returns from the sale of their +fruit each year had exceeded their expectations. Her health was good, +she was in harmony with her neighbors, and enjoyed her life among the +people in Orangeville. And above all she had experienced the joys of +motherhood, having a son two years old, and her husband was just as kind +and attentive to her as ever, and yet--and yet--and yet, must she +confess, yes, she very reluctantly told her thoughts to her mother to +see if she could explain and give her light on those feelings which had +come to the surface many a time, only to be suppressed. But they would +rise again, and the more they were put down, the more they would rise, +till at last she would relieve her mind by telling her mother, who she +knew had had more experience. + +"Mother," said Clara, "why is it, when everything about me is as good +and some things much better than when I was married, and Charles is just +as kind, thoughtful, and loving as a husband and father can be, and yet +after five years of happy, harmonious life, there is less attraction +between us, than when we were first married? Of course, I have never let +Charles think that I felt this way, but I noticed that after we had been +married two months, Charles' kisses, touches, and pettings did not +produce that pleasurable thrill they once did, and it has been growing +more and more that way ever since. Why, even when he kisses my hand, it +does not produce any more pleasure than if I had kissed my own hand. I +remember the time when Charles' kisses used to send an electric thrill +of joy through me; the sound of his coming footsteps was a delight which +gave me more pleasure than a kiss does now." + +"Well, Clara," said her mother, "you don't expect to have the +high-strung, pleasurable excitement of a bride all the time, do you? I +know my experience was like yours, Clara, and I think from all those I +have heard talk about such matters that theirs is also the same. So I +take it for granted that is how it should be, and cannot be made +different. I would not let my mind dwell on it if I were you, Clara; for +you have got one of the best men for a husband, a fine boy, and a very +comfortable home." + +After hearing what her mother had to say, Clara thought it best not to +say any more, for her mother had given her no satisfactory answer, and +seemed to know no more about such matters than she herself did. But she +kept thinking, "Did it have to be so?" + +During the time that Clara was busy with these thoughts and talks with +her mother, there was a man walking through his orchard, apparently +looking at the fruit buds, but his mind was pre-occupied with another +subject. He was thinking that it was five years ago since he and Clara +were married, and he was thinking how happy he was when he brought her +to his home. He was thinking also of the thrills of joy and pleasure her +presence gave him before marriage, and for a month or two afterwards, +when she took his hand in hers and then kissed it; how soothing and +delightful it was; and what an attractive power she had. But now, how +different. + +"It is just the same as if I kissed myself. She is just as good, just as +loving a wife, so kind and thoughtful, and we never have had any words, +but there is something. I cannot find words to express what I mean. Is +it tameness? Are other married persons like that?" And he began to think +about the married life of some of his friends. "There was Winchester and +his wife, I remember them when they were courting, they seemed +inseparable, and for a while after they were married they could not see +any one else but each other. If they were out anywhere they would sit +together holding each other's hands, and not wishing to say much to any +one else. After they had been married six months I notice they have quit +holding each other's hands, and now you seldom see them together much. +With how few married couples who have been married six years do you see +that suppleness and alertness, that zeal to please each other, and be +with one another that you see in couples about to be married." + +Charles Herne thought, "Why is this so?" Why could not the same +attractive power which exists between some couples when they are married +be continued? Charles Herne did not know, his wife Clara Herne was no +wiser than he on that subject, though neither of them had made their +feelings known to the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A CONVERSATION ON THE PORCH. + + +Penloe had heard several times in regard to Charles Herne being an +exceptionally fine man, liberal in thoughts, as far as he went, very +just and generous to his men, so that the day that Penloe received a +very kind invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Herne to be their guest for a few +days, he accepted it knowing intuitively that he had a work to do there. +As a guest Penloe was not always talkative, but what he did say was very +interesting. He made himself one with men and they all took a great +liking to him; Mr. and Mrs. Herne were very much impressed with the +personality of their distinguished guest, and they enjoyed his visit +with them. He had been several times there since his first visit, and +they had become great friends. + +Charles Herne remarked to his wife one day: "What a genial, sociable, +humorous companion Penloe is; while of course, he is thoroughly in +earnest and has but one purpose in all he does, which is to manifest +what he calls the Divine, yet he is not serious, sober, and grave all +the time; he is so joyous, hopeful, and full of good-natured fun, but he +never lets it overcome him. I like him because he never says and does +anything for effect or to be considered smart; he is so simple, humble, +and unassuming in his manners, keeping himself in the background. His +influence on me is so different to that of any other man, and impresses +me very deeply. I always feel a better man after a talk with him. In +short, I feel his fine influence in the room even when he is silent. He +gave the men a powerful talk in their parlors the other evening. He has +a faculty for adapting himself to each one; just knows what to say, when +to say it, and how to say it. Several of the men have made the remark +to me that he is a very dear brother to them." + +He had visited the men several times since, and they had become great +friends. Any one in a very short acquaintance with Penloe could not help +being impressed with his sincerity of character, his genuineness and +honesty of purpose, as well as his deep spirituality. Therefore, it +naturally follows that he would attract the confidence of his friends. +It was so natural for them to give him their confidence, they could not +withhold it from him, for it seemed to belong to him. Then again, there +are some persons who possess that power of discernment, that spiritual +insight for seeing through and through any one; nay, more, they appear +to have the power of entering into your most secret thoughts, they enter +as if by right, the rooms of your soul and see all its furniture; they +open even the secret chambers, and enter as if they had been there +before many a time, and when you think you are about to take them into +your confidence, you find that they know what you are about to tell +them. + +Penloe possessed that gift, and Mrs. Herne realized that he had read her +book of secrets, that he knew all, and, therefore, when she took him +into her confidence, she did so with the half thought that he was there +some time before. She knew that Penloe was competent to give information +on any subject, and he was her true friend, and, therefore, she could +trust him fully. + +One day when Penloe and Mrs. Herne were sitting on the porch admiring +the beauties of Nature all around them, Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, don't +you think this is a beautiful place?" + +When she made that remark, he knew what she was going to speak to him +about. + +Penloe replied: "There is not a ranch in Orangeville that has so much in +the way of the expression of fine taste and natural beauty as your +home." + +Mrs. Herne said: "I shall never forget how delighted I was when I came +here as a bride, and thought could I wish for more, for my cup seemed +full to overflowing. With this comfortable house and beautiful grounds, +and such a feeling of brotherhood existing between my husband and the +men, and everything running so harmoniously, nothing appeared to be +wanting." + +"Yes," said Penloe. "You certainly have an exceptionally fine man in +some respects for a husband; I admire him very much." + +"And I know he does you," replied Mrs. Herne; continuing, she said: +"Since you have favored us with your company and he has been with you +more, I can just begin to see some kind of change come over him; I +hardly know how to describe it; for it is only just commencing; I notice +it a little at times." + +Penloe seemed to be absorbed in thought and made no reply. + +Mrs. Herne waited a minute or two, and then said: "I often think how +thankful I ought to be that I have such a fine man for a husband, and +yet, in one way, I have not realized my ideal, even with all these fine +surroundings, and such a good husband." + +"Do you think that is strange?" asked Penloe. + +"Well," said Mrs. Herne, "that is what I don't know; it is a query with +me, whether any one realizes her ideal in marriage; what do you think +about the matter, Penloe?" + +"Well, I think there are quite a number who realize their ideal in +marriage," replied Penloe. + +Mrs. Herne said: "Please, Penloe, describe those kind of marriages to +me, for I am interested; it being a matter I have thought a great deal +about." + +"Certainly," said Penloe, "but which is it you wish me to describe: What +is an ideal marriage? or what are the ideals of those who get married, +and who realize them?" + +"It is the first I am most interested in now, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne, +"because I know that is your ideal, and therefore, would be the correct +one to aim for, but Penloe, while I hope you will tell me that, yet, I +ask you as a trusted friend, can you tell me why I have not realized my +ideal?" said Mrs. Herne. + +"I can when you tell me what your ideal is like," said Penloe. + +"I am afraid you will laugh when I tell you for I know it is so +different from yours," replied Mrs. Herne. + +"One need never fear a true friend," said Penloe. "To a true friend, if +it is necessary, one can speak of his ignorance or weaknesses, and it +may be a great help to him, because a true friend has only one motive in +friendship, and that is to lift the other up to a higher plane of +thought; I mean that is the highest kind of friendship, and is a good +test with which to gauge friendship." + +Mrs. Herne was very much impressed with Penloe's idea of friendship; so +high and pure. + +Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, you are so near and dear to me as a friend, +that I don't fear to tell you anything, and to show my confidence in +your friendship, I am going to reveal to you something, that I have +never thought it best to tell my husband." + +"Your confidence shall never be betrayed by me," said Penloe. + +"Thank you, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne. "Now, let me tell you what it is. +Previous to my marriage to Charles Herne there was something in addition +to his true worth and genuine character that attracted me to him; +something about his personality, for I always felt a thrill of joy when +with him; even if I only heard the sound of his coming footsteps, or he +happened to touch my dress, there was a sensation of pleasure; and when +he took my hand, and pressed it and kissed me, it was bliss. Well, I +married him and we came to this beautiful home, and that thrill of +delight continued between me and Charles for about two months, and +during that time I was living in my ideal world. But after two months I +noticed a little less of that feeling, and it kept growing less and +less, till now there is none at all. I love him with my whole heart, and +am devoted to him, my environments are the same, or better in many ways, +seeing that I am a happy mother, and the place has now more comforts and +conveniences than when I came here as a bride; yet that attraction has +gone so that when Charles kisses me or touches me it seems as if it was +my own self kissed me and touched me--to make the union a perfect one, +the delight of attraction should always be present; in that way I have +not realized my ideal." + +Penloe said: "Do you know, Mrs. Herne, there are more than a million +couples whose experience is exactly like your own; and if your +environments had not been so pleasant, and both of your dispositions +well blended, and well balanced, you would have separated long ago, as +many have done, not knowing the real cause, and thinking it was +something else. You see," continued Penloe, "before you were married, +you and your husband had both led pure, virtuous lives; and each of you +was like a strong electric battery, charged with the life forces of the +body, which produced this pleasant feeling of attraction, and when you +were married both of you thought and acted like most other married +people." + +Mrs. Herne said: "Thank you, Penloe; the ideas you have advanced should +become common property of the many." + +Penloe replied: "Yes; but there are some who have these ideas, but don't +wish to put them in practice." + +Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, suppose that two married persons having been +living as most married persons do, and one of the two wished to live the +better way which you have just described, while the other wished to live +as they have been doing, what would be best to do in a case like that?" + +Penloe replied: "That is a matter that requires the best judgment +possible, so as not to give offence. Great diplomacy must be used where +hard feelings are liable to be produced; but there is one thing that +must always be kept in view and that is that the one who wishes to live +the better way must be true to himself or herself. The matter should be +presented in a very kindly way, showing that it is as much for the +interest of the one not wishing to live the new way as it is for the one +desiring it. Patience must be used, and, above all, kindness and love. + +"I am going to ask you now, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne, "to tell me from +your standpoint, what kind of unions would you consider the best ones?" + +To Mrs. Herne's astonishment, Penloe replied: "All marriages are the +best ones; even where they are so unhappy as to separate the next day. +The two can only work out their unfoldment from the plane they are now +on, and not from any other plane or place." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Herne, "but supposing I am living the old way, and +after hearing you explain the new way, I wish to live that way." + +Penloe said: "That would show that you were tired of living on your old +plane, and you were now ready to leave a lower plane for the higher one. +But, supposing I had seen you a week before you were married to Charles +Herne, and explained to you the new way, do you think you would have +been ready to commence your married life by living the new way?" + +Mrs. Herne laughed, and said: "I see it all now; I had to go through +this experience in marriage in order to be ready for the better way. But +are there not some who are ready to live the better way without having +any experience?" + +"Yes," said Penloe, "because they were already on a higher plane. +Supposing I take a watch and explain its works to you and your husband; +after I get through, you understand all about its movements because you +were on the mechanical plane to receive the instruction, but your +husband does not, because he has not reached the mechanical plane to +receive it. So it is in regard to receiving ideas on any social, moral, +or spiritual plane." + +"I understand it now," said Mrs. Herne, "for you have the faculty of +making any subject very clear; but I am going to push my question and +get you to describe the grades of the higher planes in marriage." + +Penloe replied: "There are very, very few persons who are living the +pure life in marriage who have not reached that plane through +experience. Now, it is possible that of two who are about to be +married, one previous to that union may have reached the plane of purity +through experience; while the other, not having had any such experience, +and intending in the main to live purely under marriage, but for several +reasons desires to have some experience before living the pure life. + +"Again, where the purpose of the union is to live the pure life, then +the union belongs to the higher plane. But the highest plane of all is +where the two, at the time of marriage, consecrate themselves to each +other and to the service of the Lord in His humanity, keeping their +bodies, as the temples of God, pure and sacred; where both live above +all lustful desires for each other, keeping the life forces for making +the mind and body strong, and fitting themselves to be instruments of +the Divine. Such a union brings the highest bliss to each of them, and +the greater good to the world at large. They do not require children to +make them happy, for their life is in the Divine One. They fully realize +that in Him they live, move, breathe, and have their being, and they +forego for themselves the pleasures of parentage in order to become a +spiritual father and a spiritual mother to the many." + +Mrs. Herne gave Penloe her hand, and said: "I sincerely thank you for +the light you have this day given me." + +That evening Clara Herne told her husband Penloe's ideas on the marriage +relationship. After listening very closely to all she said, Mr. Herne +sat thinking for a while, then said: "Clara, for a long time I have been +reflecting on that subject, and it perplexed me much, but now that +Penloe has made it so very clear, it seems like so many other things +which are hard to find out and understand, but when explained by a +master mind like Penloe, appear simple. + +"Clara, can you estimate what a great gift Penloe gave you in imparting +those very important truths? and the knowledge he gave you, he knew you +would tell me; therefore, I feel he has given us both a precious gift, +more than if we had received a present of five thousand dollars. We +cannot prize such a dear friend too highly." + +They had an hour's very agreeable talk on the matter, and they were both +of one mind, and decided that there and then they would live the new +way; and they both sealed their sacred vow with a pure love kiss. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +TIESTAN. + + +A few days after Stella had returned home from her visit to her aunt in +Roseland, she and her mother went to call on Penloe; for Mrs. +Wheelwright was as anxious to see such an original man, as Stella was to +set her eyes on a face that had such a beautiful expression. + +As we have said, Penloe was living all alone, his mother's work being +for the present in Chicago. + +When Penloe came to the door he received Stella in such an agreeable way +as to make her feel perfectly at ease. + +Taking his hand, she said: "Penloe, this is my mother, Mrs. Wheelwright; +my name is Stella." + +With the same grace and ease did he welcome Mrs. Wheelwright, and the +two ladies had not sat in his library more than five minutes before they +felt as if they had known Penloe all their lives, and they seemed to +have a consciousness as if Penloe had known them always. And as wave +after wave of thought came to their minds, Penloe met it and gave them +just what information and truth each one needed in chaste and polished +language; and yet there was no effort at studied phrases on his part, +for it was his natural mode of expression. When talking on certain +subjects and to an interested listener, his discourse seemed like a +string of sapphires, diamonds, pearls, and rubies. + +Stella and her mother had sat there looking into those deep, luminous, +spiritual orbs, while the conversationalist was interesting them, so +that two hours had flown before they thought an hour had passed. + +As they were about to leave Penloe saw Stella's longing, wistful eyes +glancing over the rows of books. He anticipated the wish by saying: +"Stella, any book or books you see here you are at liberty to take +home." + +If Penloe had made her a present of a thousand dollars in actual gold +coin, she could not have felt as grateful as she did when he gave her +the use of his whole library. It was like pouring water on thirsty land. +Stella was thirsting for information on so many subjects, and now her +wish was gratified. She had the opportunity of getting the reading +matter she longed for so much, but did not have the means to purchase. +And, above all, when Penloe told her he would be pleased to help her in +any line of thought she might wish to investigate, it seemed to her as +if her happiness was complete. Her eyes and her hand expressed it all on +taking leave of Penloe. + +The ladies said little in going home. It seemed mutually understood that +they would not give expression to their thoughts till they were home and +sitting together in the evening. + +When Stella entered the house she had in her possession three of +Penloe's books. One was "Macomber's Oriental Customs," another "Woman's +Freedom in Tiestan" by Burnette, and the third was "Woman's Bondages" by +Stuart. + +After supper was over and the dishes washed and put away, Stella and her +mother sat down and Stella said somewhat abruptly: "Mother, sometimes I +wish I had never seen Penloe." Her mother was not very much surprised to +hear her express herself in that way, for she had observed that Stella's +mind was somewhat agitated. + +Her mother said: "Why, dear, what do you mean?" + +Stella said: "Mother, I mean this: that I can never be contented and +happy in the society of any young man other than Penloe. How can I?" + +It was a very hard question for her mother to answer, who knew full well +that Penloe had unintentionally made an impression on her daughter's +heart that time could never efface, and she had refrained from saying +much in praise of Penloe, for she knew that it would only be adding fuel +to a very great flame, which it would be impossible for Stella to +quench. She knew that Stella had seen in Penloe a young man greatly +beyond her expectations; even beyond her ideal. Penloe lived in a world +that Stella had only just a faint conception of. It was his intellect, +his exceptionally fine personality, manifested in such a fine, manly +form she admired. But, above all, Stella could see that he had emptied +himself of all save love. And that was so broad, so deep, so far +reaching, so universal in its sympathies, that it stirred her whole +nature. + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "I think my daughter has lost something." + +"Yes," said Stella, "I lost it when Penloe delivered his sermon on that +Sunday at church, for I saw in him more than I ever dreamed of seeing in +any man, and when I went up and thanked him for his address, and those +discerning spiritual eyes of his looked so deeply and searchingly into +mine, that he read my secret." + +Mrs. Wheelwright went to Stella and pressed her to herself, and kissed +her many times. After awhile Stella said: + +"Mother, what I want to find in a man is true companionship. Now, look +at the young men in Orangeville. There are a very few that are kind, +steady young men, but then not one of them would be any companion to me. +I don't want to listen to horse talk, or cattle talk, or hog talk, or +some old back East yarns all the time. They all live in the social and +domestic world; there is nothing intellectual about them; they are not +moved by any broad, grand, sweeping, noble impulses. Their ranch, their +home, and the excitement of their barterings and dickerings, and the +doings of a few of their neighbors constitute the world they live in. +And most of them think all that a woman is good for, is to cook, wash, +and raise babies. And mother, I told you what kind of young men I met in +Roseland; now, they are a sample of the top notch of society. All that +many of them want is just the use of a young lady as a toy. And when +they use up the flower, like the bee, they go to another. As for real +manly worth, interesting, intelligent companionship, it is badly wanting +in many of them. Some very few are much better than the rest. + +"You know, dear mother, it is not that I want to know a man as a man, +but it is natural that I should want and love an interesting male +companion. When I think what Penloe is, and then think how little and +insignificant I am, a mere child beside him, and only about four years +difference in our ages, it makes me feel discouraged." + +"Penloe's talk this afternoon," said her mother, "shows that he does not +look at it in that way. Don't you remember his saying, 'I have traveled +much, been among people of royalty, title and nobility, have lived among +the rich, and great society leaders, also among great politicians, +learned men, spiritual giants, business people, also among the poor, +also the illiterate, the abandoned, the offscouring, and the outcasts of +society; and I have yet to see the person that is not as good as I.' So +you see he thinks that you are just as good as he. Now, dear, don't be +discouraged in the least. I know just how my daughter feels; she wants +Penloe as her life companion and wishes she could be to Penloe what he +is to her. Stella, dear, calm your mind and remember that if Penloe is +for you, you need not have the least anxiety about the matter; for there +is no power in the universe that can hinder your being made one. But if +he is not for you, then it does not matter how good or great, how grand +or noble he may be, how intellectually brilliant he may shine, he should +be the last man in the world you should think of as a life companion. +For if there is anything that is true it is those lines of Emerson: + + "'Whate'er in Nature is thine own, + Floating in air or pent in stone, + Will rive the hills and swim the sea, + And like thy shadow follow thee.' + +"Also remember the saying, 'My own will come to me.'" + +Nothing more was said. Stella commenced reading "Woman's Freedom in +Tiestan," by Burnette. It occupied most of her spare time the next day, +and she finished it before supper, so that evening after supper Stella +said: "O, mother, I have finished reading 'Woman's Freedom in Tiestan.' +It is most interesting. Tiestan is a place little known to the Western +world, very few travelers having ever visited the country. I want to +read a little of it to you." + +Her mother replied: "I shall be delighted to have you," for she always +interested herself in anything her daughter was pleased with, so that +she might be her companion and confidant when needed. + +Stella opened at page 79, and read, as follows: + +"When the traveler arrives in the city of Semhee, which is the most +important in the country of Tiestan, his guide asks him whether he would +like to go to the Menegam, which means Foreigners' Home, or to the +Eshandam, which means Natives' Home. I told my guide I would go to the +Menegam, which would be conducted after the manners and customs of the +other parts of the Orient, which I had visited. Then, when I had become +accustomed to the ways and manners of the people of Tiestan, I would go +to the Eshandam. Now, while it is very true that very few travelers from +the Western world have ever visited Tiestan, yet the travel from the +other parts of the Orient is great and the people of Tiestan are +familiar with the ideas of the Western world, through the Oriental +travelers. They also have many of the modern improvements from thence, +which they have purchased from Bombay and Calcutta. After making the +necessary arrangements for a week's stay at the Menegam, I took a walk +through some of the most important streets of the city of Semhee. The +first impression which a traveler received in making a tour through the +city is from the fine physique of the girls and women. One is struck +with their independence, graceful carriage, and, as they only wear two +or three garments, it is self evident that they are not dependent on +corsets or waist stiffening for their erect bearing. I noticed there +were very few doctors, and what few there were of the medical profession +were equally divided between the sexes, there being three women and +three men doctors. The city educates them and pays them to keep the +people well. More than two-thirds of the people they heal without +medicine. The profession of dentistry is represented by four women and +four men. They receive their education at the public expense, and their +business is to keep the teeth of the people sound, and put in new ones +where required. Even the judges, lawyers, and city officials are equally +divided between the sexes. I noticed the same rule prevailed in +merchandise, hairdressing, and all kinds of business. There was not a +single employment that was distinctively male or female, for no +distinction was made between them. The same custom prevailed in all +kinds of ball games and sports. + +"Another impression one quickly notices is that the extremes of riches +and poverty are not seen among the people, for there are no very rich or +very poor; everyone having all the necessary comforts of life and many +of its luxuries. + +"After staying a week at the Menegam, I felt I was prepared to adopt the +customs of the people of Tiestan; so I engaged a room and board at the +Eshandam, or Natives' Home. Most of those who stop at the Eshandam are +natives who live in the province of Tiestan, they having come to Semhee +either on business or pleasure. Only two meals a day are served: +Breakfast from 7.30 to 9 a.m., and dinner from the hours of 1 to 3 p.m. + +"I arrived in time for dinner. Persons staying at the Eshandam are all +looked upon while there as members of one family, and it becomes the +duty of the manager to see that all persons sitting at the same table +have been introduced. It would be considered a breach of etiquette to +eat the meal quickly and in silence. I never was in a hotel dining room +where there seemed to be so much freedom and enjoyment among the guests +while taking their meals. Everyone has plenty of time to eat his meal +leisurely. Most of the guests coming from the different parts of the +province of Tiestan, and being well informed, and all able to converse +in two languages, and all having their minds free from uncertain +business enterprises, made their conversation very interesting and +elevating, and their company a pleasure to enjoy. Meat is never seen on +the table. They would feel indignant and be as much disgusted if meat +were set before them, as we would be to have a cooked baby brought to +the table. Eggs are used in some of their cooking; they are also served +in various ways. Their bread and pastry cannot be excelled anywhere. The +dessert consists of a large variety of nuts, confectionery, and fruits. +From two to five o'clock guests are entertained with music in the +beautiful hotel gardens, where fountains are playing, sending water out +in the form of leaves, umbrellas, hats, rings, and other interesting +forms. After the music is over some indulge in games, others read or +write, others chat. In the evening for those who wish to attend are +classes for literature, science, and spiritual philosophy. It is the +business of the hotel to supply all the wants of its patrons; to see +that the intellectual and spiritual natures are fed as well as to see to +the wants of the body. The reason that the people in the city of Semhee +have so much time, is that all labor and business is performed in six +hours. Six hours make a day's work. No one is idle, every well person is +busy at some productive employment. At the hotel they have no such room +as 'Ladies' Parlor,' the parlor being equally for the use of both sexes, +for the ladies are willing that the men hear any subject they are +talking to each other about. No one smokes in that country. The bedrooms +have two doors. One door leads from the hallway into the bedroom, the +other leads from the bedroom into the bath department, which was twelve +feet wide and was as long as the row of bedrooms. Opposite each room was +a bath-tub and a large movable basin, so that a guest could take a +sponge bath or immerse himself. + +"The first thing every well person does on rising in the morning is to +go into the bath department and take a cold bath. On my right was a +newly married couple whom I had the pleasure of conversing with at the +dinner yesterday, and on my left was a young lady and her mother with +whom I had the pleasure of enjoying a conversation in the hotel gardens +the day before. I exchanged greetings with all of them in the bath +department, and the feeling was exactly the same as if we all had been +dressed and met at the breakfast. As my room was about the center of the +row I could look each way, and perhaps there were over twenty persons of +both sexes and all ages taking their bath. On the door leading from the +bedroom to the bath department was a writing in hieroglyphics +illuminated and framed, which when deciphered read: 'Sex is an illusion, +illusion is a bondage, break the bondage and be free. The truth shall +make you free.' + +"After we had taken our baths those who wished were shown into the room +for devotion. When I had entered the room and had sat for a few minutes +I began to realize what a sacred, peaceful influence was in the place. +It seemed to come up from the floor, down from the ceiling, and out from +the walls, and from everything in the room. No talking is allowed in the +room. It is used only for devotion. I performed my devotions and gave +the room my hearty benedictions. I noticed that the forms of devotion +were not all the same, some using one kind of form and some another, but +they all led to the same goal. The devotions were all carried on in +silence. They consisted first of all of breathing exercises; then +bringing the mind to a state of calmness, by repeating mentally, looking +to the East, 'May all beings be happy. May all beings be peaceful. May +all beings be blissful.' Then looking to the South, repeat the same; +then looking to the West, repeat the same, and looking to the North, +repeat the same. After which some of them say mentally: 'Help me to +meditate upon the glory of Him who projected this universe. May He +enlighten my mind.' Then they pray in silence for light and knowledge; +also they repeat in silence: 'May I this day live without discontent, +without self-seeking, and without anxiety.' Then follow concentration +and meditation. + +"After the devotional exercises we had breakfast. I cannot help +remarking that the mind is in a better condition spiritually for +performing and enjoying sacred devotions before breakfast than it is +after it. To have family prayers after breakfast, as many do in the +Western world, hinders the freedom and adaptation that the Orientals +have in their devotion. In the Western world many are present out of +respect or rule, having no sympathy with the devotions, sending out +antagonistic aura which neutralizes the effect of worship, and makes it +cold, formal, flat, dead, and dull, for there is not the right +concentrated spiritual thought in the room, which is very essential for +profitable spiritual exercises. + +"On leaving the devotional room for breakfast, I could not help thinking +what a fine preparation for the day! With such a commencement as that, +no wonder the day's work is done well, without friction and in perfect +harmony. + +"The people in Semhee being of a social nature and free from all +conventionalities of modern society, it was not long before I made the +acquaintance of many very interesting families. + +"I received an invitation to make my home with one of them during my +stay in the city of Semhee, which I was glad to accept. I found the life +in the home to be very much like that in the hotel, so far as bathing, +devotions, and meals were concerned. One evening a young lady called at +the house to see a young man who is a son of my host. The young lady +stayed about two hours, making herself very agreeable to the young man, +and upon taking her leave she invited him to accompany her the next +evening to a concert. He accepted. The next evening she came and called +for him, took him to the concert and saw him home. It seemed she had +been very friendly with him for about two months. The following Sunday +afternoon the young lady called for the young man and took him to the +park, and as I was informed afterwards when the two were in a very +secluded place, surrounded by shrubbery, she, in a very pretty way, told +him that the more she was with him and the more she saw of him, the more +she felt impressed that she loved him, and had found in him a true +companion, and wished to know how he felt towards her. As he was in +exactly the same state of mind towards her as she was towards him, they +were engaged to be married. I became interested in this couple, and +observed that sometimes the young lady would call and see him and take +him out, and sometimes the young man would call and see the young lady +and take her out. I do not wish to give the reader the impression that +the young ladies of Tiestan always commence the courtship, for it is as +customary for a young man to commence a courtship as for a young lady. +The privilege and pleasure of commencing a courtship belongs as much to +one sex as the other. + +"One afternoon I was walking along the banks of the beautiful river +which flows through the suburbs of the city of Semhee, and saw a number +of boys and girls, also men and women, all enjoying themselves swimming. +They would swim awhile and then come out, stand or sit on the bank of +the river for another while. Sometimes there would be seen several +hundred persons of all ages on the banks of the river. They no more +thought about their respective natures than they did about the number of +hairs on their head. Among those I saw on the banks of the river was +this very young man and young lady who were engaged to be married. They +were standing up side by side ready to take a plunge in the river, and +in they went and swam about very gracefully. While they were in the +water they both saw me standing on the bank opposite to where they had +stood on the other. They swam to where I was, and came out of the water +to me, and we had a little chat. + +"If the young lady was invited to stay over night at the young man's +house, she would take her bath with the other members of the family in +the morning, and if the young man received an invitation to stay all +night at the home of the young lady, he, in the morning, would take his +bath with the members of her family. + +"About a month after the engagement the two were married. The city +Semhee employs four persons who can perform the marriage ceremony, two +men and two women. They were married at the home of the young man. A +lady came to perform the ceremony. She told the couple to stand up and +take hands, and then she asked the young man--calling him by name--if he +would have this woman--calling her by name--to be his wife, and he +answered, 'Yes.' Then she asked the young lady--calling her by her +name--would she have this man--calling him by his name--as her husband, +and she answered, 'Yes.' Then she said: 'In the presence of these +witnesses I declare you to be man and wife.' The two then signed a +document stating they were man and wife, which was put on record, and +that ended the ceremony. They were very happy, for each one found in the +other a true, loving companion, and they were one intellectually and +spiritually. + +"As women are engaged in the professions, in business, and perform all +kinds of service as men do, receiving the same compensation, they are +just as financially independent as men are, and, therefore, have no +other motive for marrying than that of true, pure love, finding in each +other a true intellectual and spiritual companion. Of children they have +few, for they believe in quality, and not quantity. + +"The intellectual and spiritual life predominates over the animal in all +its inhabitants. Do not think from what I have written about the ladies +of Tiestan that they are masculine women. Far from it. They are just as +sweet, pretty, entertaining, attractive, and graceful as any women to be +found in the world. Yes, far more so, for their hours of duty are short. +They have no care, anxiety or sickness to speak of, and their +environments are such as to bring to the surface all that is pure, good, +noble, and sweet; and, above all, the traveler finds the ladies of +Semhee to be _real_, genuine, and sincere in character." + +When Stella had finished reading her selection from Burnette's book, her +mother had a big laugh, and asked her if she wanted to go to Semhee. + +"No, mother, it is not Semhee I wish to visit just now, though some day +I certainly would like to see the city of Semhee and meet the +accomplished, enlightened, and free women of Tiestan. What I do want to +see is the women of this country, where there is so much boast of +liberty and freedom, free themselves from the awful bondage of sex +superstition, and all other bondages that have been heaped upon them by +people of the Dark Ages because they are women. Even those who talk so +much about woman's rights, are in bondage up to their necks. Look at +Laura Stevenson in Orangeville; a fine bright young girl, who makes a +hobby of woman's rights, and yet see the bondage she is in. A fine young +man whom she was supposed to respect very much, lay sick in his cabin +all alone, and with all her talk about her independence and freedom, she +never went to see him because he was alone and there was no woman there. +She being a young woman, thought it would not be proper for her to do +it. Laura Stevenson's independence and liberty consist in having her own +way in a few things. She does not know what freedom is. Her freedom is +all sham, and with no reality in it. Then there is Nora Parks, who is +supposed to be advanced, and talks much on woman's freedom; but watch +her how very particular she is in her conduct with young men who are +good, lest she should excite the jealousy of her husband. Therefore, she +is not free, but in bondage to his foolish, uncalled for jealous +feelings. Talk about women being free, they don't know anything about +freedom, for they are all in bondage of some kind or other." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, among the many fine thoughts which +Burnette brings out in the description of the women of Semhee, that is a +great one _which shows woman to be financially independent of man, +previous to marriage and after marriage, too_. Therefore, she can have +no other motive for marrying a man than that of mating herself to a true +companion. When that is done the two act as one light, whose rays reach +out and shine on all around them. Blessed is such a life." + +"Mother," said Stella, "I do not fully understand the meaning of the +writing on the bedroom door, which Burnette describes. You remember that +part which reads: 'Sex is an illusion.' I understand too well the +meaning of being in bondage to sex, but that sex is an illusion I do not +see the meaning of, because we know that sex is real and has its use and +purpose." + +"I cannot enlighten you, my dear," said her mother. "You will have to +ask Penloe when you return the books." + +"Well, mother," said Stella, "I am going to put some of my theories into +practice. I say my theories, but I do not exactly mean that; but I am +going to put some advanced ideas into practice in regard to woman's +freedom. I will now tell you one of them, and another later on. + +"Mother," continued Stella, "when a man lives alone and a woman wishes +to go to his house to see him, she has to take another woman with her +because it is not thought proper for a woman to be seen going alone +calling at a house, particularly where a young man lives by himself. But +if a woman lives alone and a man wants to see her he does not get some +other man to go with him. No, he goes alone, and it is thought all +right. Now, mother, I will be free, and, therefore, when I return the +books to Penloe I will go alone." + +"All right, my dear," said her mother. "I am glad, Stella, you have the +courage to practise your convictions. This talk of woman's rights and +freedom we hear so much about and woman's liberty that we read of in the +newspapers, is just so much evasion. A woman who may have known a good +man for several years dare not call on him if he lives alone. One ounce +of practice, Stella, is worth a thousand tons of big talk. Go ahead, my +daughter, I am proud of you," said Mrs. Wheelwright. + +The week after Stella went to the house of Penloe to return the books. +Penloe was in his library writing. When he heard a knock he arose and +went to the door in a mechanical kind of way, his mind being more on the +subject of his writing than upon who might be at the door. When he +opened the door Stella said: + +"Good morning, Penloe; I have come to return your books." + +Stella's voice seemed to recall Penloe to where he was, and to notice +who had come to see him. + +In a soft, musical voice, he said: "Glad to see you, Stella; walk in," +giving her his hand, and Stella was shown in to the library. + +When she was seated Penloe said: "Excuse me for a minute or two," and +Stella was pleased to do so, for she wanted to be in the room alone and +take notes. But no sooner had Penloe left the room when a different +state of mind came over her, and she did not feel like giving her +attention to anything in the room. For such a wave of peace came over +her mind as she had never experienced before, so that the room seemed to +be full of peace. It was not a dead, sleepy peace, nor a dreamy peace, +but a peace that was refreshing, strengthening, and was exactly what her +mind needed. She sat in perfect bliss drinking in all she could, when +Penloe came into the room. He seemed to her to be all peace. This +delightful condition put her mind in a state of equipoise, such as she +had never felt before; for it was a peace that was tinged with a Divine +quality; and it was about to awaken her more than ever to the +possibilities of the real world, the Divine world, the spiritual world, +the world whose realization so far she had not a knowledge of. For her +supreme life was in her intellectual tastes and in her deep, loving, +true nature, which loved to see what was fitting, right, and just, +actually lived; possessing at the same time the boldness and courage to +be a pioneer of advanced thought, and, above all, she loved to live her +ideas. + +On returning to the room Penloe opened the conversation by saying: +"Well, Stella, could you find anything interesting in the books?" + +"Interesting, Penloe," said Stella. "Why, I have had a very rich treat +in the perusal of them. I felt as if I could not put them down till I +had finished them, for they contain just the light I have been seeking, +and now they have become a part of my own mentality. But I wish you +would explain the meaning of the expression, 'Sex is an illusion.'" + +"Why, certainly, Stella, I will be glad to do so, for if there is +anything that appears real it is what is known as sex, the qualities of +male and female, we see in all nature. It is said to exist in some +precious stones, and we know it exists in the vegetable world, and in +all animal life. And if there is anything that is real to a boy or girl, +it is that he or she is a boy or girl, and if there is anything that is +real to a man or a woman, it is that he or she is a man or woman. So +strongly has this thought become the life thought of the human race, +that the members of each sex look upon themselves as being just what +their material forms stand for. That is, a woman believes that she will +be a purified woman through all eternity, that the woman is permanent, +real, immortal, and that she will continue on, as a woman, with her +womanly traits of character greatly expanded. While man thinks that as a +man he is real, permanent, and immortal; that he will continue his +existence as a man through all eternity, and that he will always be +known as a man, and always look upon woman as woman. Any thought +contrary to the reality of sex, the masses in the Western world will not +accept, for they live in a sex world, and at present do not wish to rise +above it, for they are in bondage to the reality of sex. In the +prehistoric period of humanity there lived a race of gods, that is, a +race whose members were intellectual and spiritual giants, many of them +spending their whole life in thought, living on a very meagre diet, +needing very little in the way of clothing and shelter, having no +material desires or ambitions to gratify. They, therefore, had an +abundance of time for searching for and investigating spiritual truths. +They were fitted by nature and by their environments for that life, and +they were gifted with revelations of the unseen. + +"They were called seers or sages, because they could see spiritual +truths which others could not, and it was at this period and through one +of these seers that a voice spoke, 'That which exists is one, men call +it by various names.' That was the conclusion that many other eminent +seers and sages had come to. For they saw that there was one great +Infinite Life Force manifesting itself in all and through all. That +there is a correlation of spiritual forces, and that all the various +phenomena are the one manifestation of this Infinite Life, which is +called by some God, by others Lord, by others Brahma, by others Jehovah, +by others Allah, the meaning of them all being exactly the same as that +expressed in the Bible by the name of God, in whom we live, move, and +breathe and have our being; that we are the manifestation of Him. In +short, our real entity, our real life, our real self (the Atman), our +soul (the Purusa) is Spirit eternal and immortal. Now the life of the +Spirit has no sex in it, but the spirit manifests itself in these +various forms of male and female. The sexual form is only the +instrument, not the Being. For the Being is not sex, and, therefore, +there is nothing connected with sex, that is spiritual and eternal. It +belongs to the external world and the material plane, and is, therefore, +a temporary manifestation suitable to the earth plane. It becomes +necessary, in order to get a true conception of what we really are (that +we are spiritual beings, being neither male nor female) that we get away +from the illusion of sex, and not be in bondage to it. But the man must +look upon the woman as a spiritual being and not think of her only for +what her material form stands for. If he does he is under an illusion, +being in bondage to her body, which becomes a barrier to realizing the +Divine within, and if the woman looks upon the material form of the man +as being the man and that for which he stands, then she is under an +illusion and is in bondage to his material form, looking upon his male +body as the all of man. And such a thought becomes a hindrance to her +realizing her Divine nature. + +"Remember, Stella, that sex is only apparent, not real. It belongs to +the phenomenal world." + +Stella said: "To accept the idea you have just advanced I shall have to +begin and lay a new foundation to build upon, for you have swept away +many things I considered truths." + +Penloe said: "Stella, you are merely casting off old garments that you +have outgrown, and you are now ready for a new robe that fits you. But +remember never to quarrel with the old clothes you once wore. They have +served their purpose and should always be respected." + +Stella said: "Penloe, the truth you have advanced regarding sex will +take me some time to fully digest." + +"Certainly," said Penloe, "but it will not be long before you will +comprehend it fully in all its relativity and make it a part of your own +mentality." + +Stella said: "Have you any reading matter to lend me which touches on +this subject, Penloe?" + +"Yes," said Penloe, "here are some lectures by the Swami Vivekanada; one +is 'The Real and the Apparent Man,' another is 'Reincarnation,' and two +lectures on the 'Cosmos.' And here are also two books for you to read." + +Stella was delighted to receive the lectures and books. After thanking +Penloe she gave him her hand, and said: "I must go, now." + +Penloe held her hand, and said: "Stella, I see you are very fond of +books, and they are a very great help, and I prize my library very, very +much; but remember, Stella, the whole library of the universe is within +you. Stella, accept a suggestion from one who is your true friend. Be +much in prayer; let your prayer be for light and knowledge; meditate +much on Divine things; and you will be surprised how a flood of light +will sweep over you at times. Pray that the Divine, which was manifested +in such a degree in Jesus, may be manifested in you." Pressing her hand, +he said: "God bless you, Stella, and may you ever feel the presence of +your own Divine nature." + +Stella will never forget that warm hand grasp and those spiritual words. +For it seemed to her at that very moment that that spiritual fire, which +was always burning with such a glow in Penloe and shining so brightly +through his angelic face, had caused the spark which had been growing +brighter and stronger within her, to burst into a flame, and what sweet +season of soul experience did she realize on her way home. + +Stella had much to think about that evening. She said little to her +parents; her mind was so pre-occupied she could not give attention to +much else. She realized she must make the matter thoroughly clear to +herself so as to have all her thoughts and ideas harmonize, before +communicating them even to her parents. She did not even look into the +literature which Penloe had lent her that evening. She felt like +retiring and thinking. When she laid her head on the pillow that night +it seemed as if it was not to sleep; it was to think. The leaven was +working in Stella's mind. The truths which she had just received were +powerful; it seemed as if she could not get away from them, even if she +wished, for truths possess us, we do not possess them. Nothing in the +universe is more powerful than truth. + +After the first wave of the novelty, the beauty, the grandeur and the +thrilling depth of the truth had subsided only temporarily (to be +superseded by a far more powerful wave of the same character), there +came over Stella's mind during this lull, a strong feeling of attachment +to some of the old ideas she had held. It was very easy for her to let +some of her garments drop from her mental form, and be clothed with new +ones, but there were some that seemed rather hard to loosen; and which +were they? One was this: While it cannot be said that Stella was vain or +self-conceited, there was that strong attachment to the personal I, +which is generally seen in positive dominant characters in the Western +world. And as a woman she had everything to make her feel proud of her +form and beauty, with a graceful carriage, combined with a bright mind +and noble purpose. She had realized her power over the opposite sex. Her +dominant thought had been, that as a woman she was going to lead her +sisters out of bondage; that because she was a woman she had a right to +vote; because she was a woman she should not be in bondage to forms, +ceremonies, and customs; because she was a woman she should not be a +slave to sex superstition. But now all this had been swept away, and it +was hard for her to let go all the grand thoughts she had entertained +about woman as woman. But, blessed, noble, courageous girl, she said: "I +will follow truth whithersoever it may lead," and she inscribed truth on +her banner, saying, "That will I follow." + +So she let the last of her old garments drop from her, saying: "I will +clothe myself with the garment of truth." The battle had now been fought +and the victory won; and now a wave came sweeping over her mind, more +powerful, with more beauty, with greater grandeur, penetrating far +deeper, stirring the very depths of her nature, and she felt such +freedom as she had never realized in her life before. With this rock, +the corner-stone of truth, she commenced to lay a foundation which is +eternal and immortal. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +PENLOE'S ORIGINAL ADDRESS. + + +The Roseland _Gazette_ was very pleased to get something of a +sensational character in its columns, like the different stories which +had been brought to that city concerning Penloe's sermon delivered in +Orangeville. The State Legislature not being in session (to see how much +money they could get out of the pockets of the people for the benefit of +its members and their friends), there were no sensational charges of +bribery or boodle to report; and as Congress had closed there was no +news concerning laws passed in the interests of bankers, railroad +corporations, sugar trusts, whiskey and other trusts which are able to +furnish members of Congress with funds to carry their schemes through. +It happened to be at a time when news was scarce and dull, and therefore +the press made the most of the matter by writing an editorial on the +subject of sex relationship, which appeared in the paper the following +week, and was as follows: + +"In our last issue we gave as correct a report of the remarkable sermon +preached by Penloe in the church at Orangeville, as our reporter could +get. Since then most all other subjects of conversation have subsided in +this county and the main topic of conversation has been Penloe and the +sex question. As to Penloe, it is not our purpose in this article to +discuss the man, but some of his ideas. The sex question is a very +peculiar one to the minds of many. Penloe's ideas are so radical that it +gives us a shock all over even to think of attempting to bring the +people to that mode of living. The thought we have concerning our sex is +instilled into us by custom, precept and example, so that from earliest +infancy to introduce such an innovation as Penloe proposes would +apparently, to our minds, seem like undermining our social structure and +its very foundations. While we admit the state of society is morally +low, yet what can be done to improve it? Can we ever reconcile ourselves +to persons of both sexes and all ages undressing in the presence of each +other and all bathing together naked? We question whether society is +ready for such a change? Penloe's theories are like many other theories, +very fine on paper but when you put them in practice they won't work. +What say you, readers? We would like to hear also from our brothers of +the press." + +And they did hear from their brethren of the press. For other county +papers took the matter up, being very glad to get something sensational +for their columns; and from county papers the subject got into the big +city dailies throughout California, and they printed very sensational +articles concerning Penloe and his sermon, discussing the sex question +at great length. It was not very long before the Eastern papers had long +articles about Penloe and his sermon, and they wrote much on the +subject. Then the matter reached the magnitude of what is known as a +wave; which swept through the press all over the continent, causing as +much comment and talk as Markham's poem, "The Man with the Hoe." + +Penloe's mail increased in size rapidly, and he was now receiving twenty +times more letters than all the other mail in Orangeville combined. It +was amusing to see how the letters were addressed. They read, "Dr. +Penloe, Rev. Dr. Penloe, Rev. Penloe, Penloe, Esq., Prof. Penloe, D.D., +and LL.D." Letters came to him from every state in the Union. Here is +one: + + "MR. PENLOE: + + "DEAR SIR:--I am shocked and disgusted with you. You + never ought to be allowed to talk from the pulpit in + such a way. The people of Orangeville ought to tar and + feather you and ride you on a rail out of the county." + +Another letter was as follows: + + "CRANK PENLOE: + + "Of all the cranks I ever did read about or hear tell + on, you are the darndest. The women folks in my house + are as hot as hell, ever since they read in the paper + what you talked in church. My wife said, 'What a crank + you must be,' and my mother-in-law said hell is too + good for such as you. What a rumpus you have made all + over the country; it seems as if hell is to pay for all + this." + +Penloe also received some powerful scorching letters from orthodox +ministers, while on the other hand the liberal and radical elements of +society poured forth eulogies and commendations for his bold original +utterances, for his fearlessness in treating the subject in the +courageous way he did; calling him a brave pioneer and they themselves +would start Penloe Clubs for putting his ideas in practice. He received +many letters from churches in some of the large cities, like the +following: + + "REV. DR. PENLOE: + + "DEAR SIR:--Our church in this city is an elegant + structure and will seat twelve hundred persons. For + some months we have been looking for a popular young + man to fill our pulpit. It has been very difficult to + find an up-to-date man, one that will draw a + congregation to fill our church, for the audience keeps + growing less every Sunday, because we have not got a + real, live smart man to preach to us. We think if we + could secure your services you would draw the largest + congregation in this city, for your popularity has + swept the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and + we feel sure you are the right man. Our people are very + sociable and well to do, many of our members being + rich. We are willing to pay you a salary of seven + thousand dollars a year, and the use of a handsome + house elegantly furnished, and will allow you two + months' vacation, besides paying your expenses to come + here. We will say that, should you accept our offer, + our people will be glad to receive you into their + hearts and homes." + +Penloe always answered all such communications, but as for accepting one +of them it was out of the question; for he knew it was not his field of +labor, and if the salary had been a hundred thousand dollars a year, it +would have been no temptation or an inducement to him to accept the +offer. For money, name and fame touched him not; and nothing could +induce him to leave his path of labor for the sake of going into some +new field of work which only held out large material rewards. He also +received many offers from the owners of papers and magazines, asking him +to write his views. The New York _Monthly Magazine_ offered him one +thousand dollars for an eight-page article on the sex question; provided +he would not write on the subject for any other magazine or paper. +Penloe accepted the offer because he considered that was the best +channel to communicate to the world his views on the sex question. Its +readers were of a class that could comprehend the subject in the spirit +in which it was offered. And as for the thousand dollars Penloe had a +sacred purpose he wished to use that money for. A man wrote to Penloe +offering him forty thousand dollars if he would consent to lecture for +one year in all the large cities in the United States. The man told a +friend of his, he was sure after paying Penloe his forty thousand +dollars and all other expenses, he would clear about sixty thousand +dollars himself. + +How true it is that a prophet is not without honor, save in his own +country. For Orangeville was the last place to feel the Penloe wave +which swept over all the country. At last the people of Orangeville +reading so much about him in their papers and magazines, began to think +he was something more than a crank, that they must have a great man +amongst them, or else he would never have received such big offers of +money for his services as the papers stated he had, and there would not +have been so much written about him if he was of no account. + +Quite a change had come over the people in Roseland concerning Penloe, +and they began to feel differently towards him since his wave of +popularity had swept over the country. Even Stella's aunt had +experienced a change of heart towards him, for she was heard to say, +"People's ideas are changing now in regard to the sex question. They +look at the subject so differently now from what they did when I was a +girl. I did not think Penloe was such a smart man as the papers say he +is. He must be, or else he never would have received an offer of forty +thousand dollars to lecture for one year." + +A man may possess all the characteristics of a saint and a martyr +combined, and yet the average person is not attracted to him; but as +soon as money and popularity flow towards him, then in his eyes he +becomes next to a God; for people love to be touched on the material +side of their nature rather than on the spiritual. They consider the +spiritual well enough to talk about, and when a friend of theirs dies +they may love to sing "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and "Safe in the Arms of +Jesus," but what they really desire for themselves and families, above +everything else, is a rich blessing of material things; that which makes +well for the body and which puts them in a position to have full play of +the emotional and sensational part of their natures. + +So great was the desire among the people of Orangeville and Roseland, +and in fact the whole county, to hear Penloe speak, and to see the man +that so much had been said and written about, that a committee was sent +to him with a request signed by the leading citizens, asking him to +deliver an address to them in Roseland. Penloe accepted the invitation +to speak. The committee secured the use of a large packing house for the +meeting, and fixed it up so that it seated a very large audience, for +they knew that the Penloe wave was at its height, and about every team +from every ranch in the county would be out on that occasion. As the +committee had well advertised more than a week ahead, that Penloe would +deliver a public address, the news reached to many parts outside the +county, so that when the day came for the meeting to be held a number +of strangers from different parts of the state were seen in Roseland. + +We will copy from a San Francisco paper a report of the meeting, as that +paper had a special reporter there who gave a full report of the +address. + +----------- + +AN IMMENSE CROWD + +LISTENS + +TO PENLOE'S ORIGINAL ADDRESS. + +Meeting Opened by the Mayor of Roseland. + +----------- + +If a stranger had been in Roseland to-day he certainly would have +thought from seeing the livery stables crowded with teams from the +country, and every vacant lot and square also filled with teams, and the +crowds of people on the streets all going in one direction, that some +great attraction was going on, and he would be under the impression that +if he went out into the country he would not expect to see a person or a +team, for there never was any occasion before that brought such a large +gathering of people to Roseland. Long before the time of commencement, +the seating capacity of the building was taxed to its utmost. Promptly +at 2 P.M. the Mayor of Roseland and Penloe appeared on the platform. The +Mayor opened the meeting by introducing Penloe in the following words: +"Ladies and gentlemen:--It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you +this afternoon a gentleman whom you all have heard and read so much +about. Whatever your views may be about his teaching, I can positively +assert the lecturer is a scholar and a gentleman, every inch of him. +Very often a speaker's remarks fail to have the full weight they are +entitled to because persons say he has an axe to grind, or, he is paid +to talk that way. Now I have not the least idea of the subject the +speaker is going to talk to you upon, but this I can say, he is here +this afternoon only because he was invited to come and speak. He refused +all offers of money for his services, saying, he wished his labors to be +a free will offering to you. Therefore I hope you will give him your +closest attention, remembering he gives you the best product of his mind +acquired through years of study, thought and observation; and that is +the richest gift one can give another. + +"Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the honor of introducing to you the +speaker, known as Penloe." + +Penloe rose and came forward to the front of the platform; first bowing +to the Mayor and then to the audience; and as he did so he faced a sea +of upturned faces, who gazed upon one of the most remarkable men this +country has produced. Not very many of the audience had seen Penloe +before, and they were agreeably surprised to see on the platform before +them, so distinguished a personality. It seemed a delight to look upon +him. But few present could begin to size up such a man as he was. Some +of the remarks which one could hear whispered were like the following: + +A young lady said: "What beautiful clear eyes he has. It seems as if you +could see his soul in them." + +A gentleman was heard to say: "He has the most striking personality of +any one I have ever seen." + +A lady remarked: "Is he not handsome?" + +A man said: "What a fine head and noble countenance he has. It seems as +if the Almighty had stamped himself on him." + +"Yes," said his wife who was sitting at his side. "And did you ever see +a more perfect specimen of physical manhood than he is, so symmetrical +in his build?" + +Such was the man who faced the large audience and opened his address by +saying: + + * * * * * + +"DEAR FRIENDS: + +"The Mayor was correct in calling what I am about to say to you 'a +talk,' for if any one has come here expecting a grand oration, with +flowery language, rounded periods, and finished diction, he will be +disappointed. + +"Now, dear friends, I love you all, and that is why I call you dear +friends, and that is why I am here this afternoon to talk to you, +because I love you all. Yes, every one of you. I don't care what you +apparently are. Some of you may be greedy and grasping, and some may be +tyrannical and overbearing, or weak and negative; with no backbone or +grit or will; or you may be vain, selfish, ambitious, self-conceited, +carrying your head too high; or you may be one who lives to dance; loves +the whirl and excitement of pleasure; or you may be one who loves to +enjoy eating and drinking and sensual delights. I say, and I repeat it +again, I don't care what you apparently are, I love you all just the +same. I look at you from an entirely different standpoint from which you +look at yourselves. Now you all look at yourselves and at others +according to sex and your environments. Before me I see men who say of +themselves, I am a lawyer; I am a preacher; I am a banker; I am a +doctor; I am a merchant; I am a mechanic; I am an artist; I am a +musician; I am a farmer; I am a common laborer. Before me I see women +who say, I am a dressmaker; I am a milliner; I am a teacher; I am a +clerk; I am a bookkeeper; I am a typewriter; or I am a lawyer's wife, or +banker's wife, or doctor's wife, or merchant's wife, or preacher's wife, +or mechanic's wife, or farmer's wife. You think of yourselves according +to that position you occupy to make your living, or according to the +relationship you hold as wife, mother, daughter, or according to the +family you are a member of. Then again you all esteem yourselves +according to the degree of comfort, luxuries, health, money or property +which each of you may or may not possess. Also whether you are young, +middle aged or old. + +"Dear brothers and sisters, I do not rate you nor judge you nor look at +you in any way according to your conditions, age, sex or environments. I +look at you to-day not as you look at yourselves, but I look at you all +as spiritual beings, pure and perfect; nay, I look upon you all as +being still more than that, for I look upon you all as being the +manifestation of the One great Infinite Spirit. + +"Let me make it clearer to you by an illustration: In a certain province +of an Oriental country it was customary at one time for any young lady +who was distinguished in any way for her beauty or her riches or her +titles or her accomplishments, to set a day for receiving her suitors, +and grant each an opportunity to tell what he had to offer her as an +inducement to her to become his bride. In this province there was a +young lady whose beauty of countenance and lovely form, language is +inadequate to describe. In addition to that, her sweet souled character +exceeded her beautiful form and her many accomplishments. So superior +had that character become in its spiritual manifestation, that many +stories were told of her healing the sick, of her spiritual words and +presence reforming the lives of many; and of her having knowledge of +things, persons and subjects that she had neither heard nor read about. +Her youth, her beauty, her spiritual gifts and her many accomplishments +became known throughout the length and breadth of the province, and she +had many suitors for her heart and hand. So a day was set for her to +receive them all, to hear what each one had to offer, and select the one +of her choice. A suitable room was prepared for receiving them. At the +farther end the floor was raised two feet and on this raised part she +took a seat in the centre and near the front, with all her suitors on +her right seated on the lower floor and facing her. + +"The first suitor that had a hearing was a rich merchant. He said to +her, 'Dearest lady, I have heard much of thee and it now does my eyes +good to behold thee in all thy beauty. I am glad you have consented to +give me the opportunity of telling you what I have to offer you to +become my bride. I am a rich merchant and have a palatial home on the +borders of a beautiful lake. Inside my home is a collection of the +riches and products of skill from all lands that I have traded in. I +have gold and ivory, laces, shawls, silks, fancy wares, rugs, mattings, +spices and perfumes; and I have brought with me some as an offering to +you' (and here he ordered his servants to bring the presents in and +display them before her). 'Be my bride, most gracious lady, and the +wealth from all lands shall be thine.' + +"The lady smiled on him and told him to take a seat on her left and have +his servants remove the presents. + +"The next that appeared before the lady was a great warrior. + +"He said, 'Lovely lady, I am a great warrior. I have led to battle large +armies, and have always been victorious. I have met hand to hand +captains and generals, and have slain them with one blow from my sword' +(and here he drew it out of its sheath and showed it to her. It was a +fine piece of skilled workmanship). 'Should you become my bride no harm +shall ever befall you, no enemy shall come nigh you, and no serpent or +wild beast shall hurt you; for I have killed all kinds of animals and +reptiles. Most lovely one, if thou wilt become my bride, all my soldiers +shall obey thy word, and I will be thy true protector.' + +"With a smile she motioned him to a place on her left. + +"The next that appeared as her suitor, said, 'Dear lady, I have a +beautiful home and all it needs is thee, and shouldst thou see fit to +become my bride, you will be a happy and a joyous mother, and in the +love of each other, and in our home, and in our children, will our +happiness be found. Dearest lady, become my bride and thou shalt be the +head of the happiest home in the land.' + +"She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left. + +"The next suitor that came forward was attired in rich cloth trimmed +with lace and gold. + +"He said, 'Most charming lady, I am a Prince, and if thou wilt become my +bride, I will make thee a Princess. Thou shall have a lovely court, many +servants, costly robes to wear, and millions of people to worship thee, +and do thee homage.' + +"She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left. + +"Other suitors made offers to her. The last suitor that appeared before +the sweet lady was different from all the rest. He was dressed plainly; +he needed nothing to improve his natural appearance, for his majestic +form, his noble countenance and lustrous eyes, surpassed in +attractiveness all the other suitors. When you once saw him you felt as +if you wished to take another look at him, for it seemed to do one's +eyes good to feast them on so grand a man. + +"He said, 'Thou pure, sweet one. When a youth I was wandering through a +forest and saw a man sitting under a tree. He had a sweeter countenance +than I had ever seen before. He said, "My youthful friend, if thou wilt +learn from me thou shalt become good, wise and very happy." + +"'I thought of my companions and myself in regard to what he said, and +the more I thought about us all, I could not think of one that was +becoming good and wise, or was truly happy. For we were all restless, +going here, and going there, trying this and doing the other to find +happiness. So I thanked him and said, I will be thy pupil, for I wish to +become good, wise and truly happy. He said, "Commence to-morrow morning, +and as soon as you awake rise immediately; never lay after you are +awake, for it is not good for one of your age. Then when you rise bathe +in cold water. After you have dressed," he said, "read out of this book +which I give you; read every morning for fifteen minutes or half an +hour; then spend a little time in prayer and meditation." And he gave me +instructions in such and said, "Live on plain food, eat no meat, avoid +bad companions as you would a Bengal tiger, and before going to rest at +night spend half an hour in prayer and meditation. Continue faithfully +in the performance of these practices for three months, and then come +here to me." I did so, carrying them out to the letter, and at the end +of three months I returned to him. He looked at me and said, "I see by +your countenance you have changed." I replied, "Yes, I feel changed +altogether." "Tell me," he said, "in what way do you feel different?" + +"'I said, "When you saw me three months ago my mind was confused more or +less, my imagination ran too much after vain and sensuous objects. I +had too much personal sensitiveness, being attached to myself so much. I +was easily irritated, and always restless, wanting something I did not +have. But now my mind is calm and peaceful, my imagination dwells on the +pure, the good and the beautiful. I no longer feel envious or jealous or +greedy; for love seems to be taking the place of those feelings." + +"'Continuing, my teacher said, "Let your prayer be for light and +knowledge, and ask the Blessed Infinite One to help you to love all; let +love rule; never mind what others may say about you, or how meanly they +may treat you. Be in earnest to love all. Rise every morning with this +thought: 'How beautiful my brother is; how precious is my sister.' You +may not love a person's ways, but you should always love the person. +Separate the two in your mind and it will help you much. Start the day +with this thought, 'I will live this day without discontent, without +self-seeking, and without anxiety.' Say, 'Lord, deliver me from all +selfish ambitions, and from pride and vanity, and may I become teachable +as a little child.'" + +"'I did so, for I was very desirous of advancing in the Divine life. + +"'In six months' time I returned to him. He said, "Why, brother, how +happy you look; how clear and bright your eyes are; how sweet your +expression has become." + +"'"Yes," I said, "I am becoming like you." He said, "God bless your +efforts in living the Divine life. Let your prayer be: Do thou manifest +thyself in me, thou Blessed Infinite One. See that I want Thee and +nothing else." + +"'I did so, for the more I followed his instructions the more of the +Divine life did I realize, and I knew that the angel was ruling the +animal within me. After being his disciple for several years, he said, +"Thou art ready now to become a teacher like myself." + +"'I replied, "Dear Guru, my prayer is that in becoming a teacher like +thee, I may be able to lead others in the Divine life as thou hast led +me." I kissed the holy man and he gave me his blessing which has +followed me ever since, and it is with pleasure that I can say in the +spirit of thankfulness and humility, there have been those whose lives +are all the sweeter and brighter through my life and instructions. Sweet +lady, you know what I mean when I say, having obtained freedom through +renunciation I realized illumination, and through the light which I have +received I am in the possession of knowledge which the many know little +about, and through the light and knowledge which I have received I came +to know you long before seeing you to-day. I have seen you many, many +times though you were hundreds of miles away from me, and I seem to have +been in communication with you, though I never have spoken or written a +word to you. Not only so, sweet lady, but it has been my happiness to +receive from you many uplifting thoughts and I felt as if I was led by +the Divine Spirit which is in us all to come here to-day and say to you: +Thou sweet spirit, I have no houses nor lands, no money nor wealth, no +name nor fame, but I have attained realization, and through that +attainment I see the Divine in you; and its manifestation to such an +eminent degree in you has attracted me towards you, and I say to you +now, sweet one, that in your becoming my bride our lives will be +expanded, and we will attain unfoldment that we could obtain in no other +way. Thou bright one, what sweet communings of soul with soul, we will +have; for having consecrated our bodies to the Eternal One, we will each +day manifest a brighter light, and both of us shine as one in our love +for each other, and for all. And, dear one, in that beautiful light and +life will our cup of bliss be filled, and many besides ourselves will +drink therefrom.' + +"The lady smiled very sweetly on him and bade him take a seat on her +right. Then rising and facing her other suitors she said, 'Friends, I +thank you for the interest and kindness you have shown towards me, but +you all made one mistake, and that is in thinking I am merely just what +this material form stands for, in thinking I am a woman and only a +woman, and nothing but a woman. And in thinking so you come, one with +gifts of silks, laces, gold, ivory, spices and many other things, as if +that was all I needed. Another offers bravery and protection for me, +thinking I was a weak woman and could not take care of myself; another +wants to make me a Princess, so as to excite my pride and vanity, by +causing so many to bow down to me, as if my joy consisted in having my +pride and vanity fed, and in looking upon my fellow beings as my slaves, +whose whole life is to contribute to my enjoyment. Then another offers +me a home and to make me the mother of many children; as if that was the +highest attainment for a spiritual being; while still another offers me +money, good things to eat and drink and wear, only what this body of +mine seems in his eyes. No, I will have to decline all your offers, +because you are under the illusion that I am only a woman.' + +"Turning to the one on her right she said, 'By a life of self-denial and +discipline through prayer and meditation, and in cultivating the spirit +of love for all, and in making your life a free will offering to +humanity, you attained illumination. The angel now rules the animal and +you have arrived now to the state of realization of the Divine within +you. Not being in bondage to either the man or the woman, for you see +that each is a spiritual being like the other, therefore you look upon +me as a spiritual being manifested in the form of a woman. You have seen +that my wants and desires are spiritual, not material. All that I need +in the material world is very little and comes to me; for as Jesus has +said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things +(material) shall be added unto you." + +"'Dear friend, you have appealed to my self, my spiritual nature. I now +respond, and, dear one, what I possess in the way of love shall be +yours, for I love you so dearly it will be a joy for me to give you my +love and live in your love, and we will both consecrate ourselves to +each other and to the Lord, in His humanity.'" + +Penloe, looking earnestly at his audience, said: "That is the way, dear +friends, I look on you all this day; not for what your material forms +stand for, not for the environments each of you is placed in, but I look +upon you all as spiritual beings. I look upon you as Divine, and it is +this great, grand and glorious thought that each one of you is Divine. I +want you to take it home with you; I want you to repeat it over and over +again, '_I am Divine_'; I want you to think about it till it becomes +part of your own mentality, till it becomes part of the cells of your +brain, till it becomes a part of the life blood of your body, flowing +through your arteries and veins; and all your actions shall have their +source in the grand thought that you are Divine. When you reach to that +plane, your whole course in life will change, and each one of you before +me here will become so changed that you or your neighbors will hardly +know yourselves. For you have been going about with this thought, 'I am +a poor, weak human being.' That man over there says, 'All there is to me +is this body with its appetites and desires. I drink, I swear, I live a +life of lust and that is what I am.' I say no! a thousand times no! All +the qualities of the Divine are within you; but you have not realized +them. Don't look upon yourself any longer as being that drinking, +swearing, lustful man. But look upon yourself as being Divine; that all +the qualities of the universe are within you, and in you are all the +powers of the universe. That poor woman over there whose life is one of +hard, monotonous toil in the house; you are the mother of too many +children. Your life is one round of work, care and anxiety, and when you +look in the glass you see that work, worry and passion have taken the +bloom off your cheeks, the brightness out of your eyes; you are faded; +and it seems as if the light and life of the world had left you, and you +see no bright future. Hardly anything in it for you worth the having. + +"It is to you I bring this grand message, my discouraged sister, wake up +and get out of the illusion that you are what that poor worn-out body of +yours stands for. No, dear sister, a thousand times no; for you are +'Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute.' + +"The reason that you and your sex are where you are to-day, is because +you are in bondage to your material forms, looking upon yourselves and +wishing men to look upon you also for what you are in body, instead of +women looking upon themselves as spiritual beings and having men do the +same. The reason that men are where they are to-day is because they are +in bondage to their material forms, looking upon themselves as being +men, and also expecting women to look upon them as such, instead of men +looking upon themselves as pure spiritual beings possessing the +qualities of the Divine, and looking upon women as being exactly the +same spiritually as themselves. + +"You have all drawn veils over your Divine nature through this illusion, +and from this illusion springs all the acts which keep you from +realizing your Divine nature. Your greed, your vanity, your +self-conceit, your love of praise, your love of self, your attachment to +yourself, and all that is yours, your appetites all act as shades over +the windows of the soul. When will you break these various bonds and be +free? + +[2]"There is a story that the king of gods, 'Indra,' once became a pig, +wallowing in mire. He had a she pig and a lot of baby pigs and was very +happy. Then some other angels saw his plight, came to him and told him, +'You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods to command. Why are +you here?' But Indra said, 'Let me be. I am all right here, I don't care +for the heavens while I have the sow and little pigs.' The poor gods +were at their wits' end what to do. After a time they decided to come +now and again and slay one of the little pigs and then another, until +they had slain all the pigs and the sow, too. When all were dead Indra +began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig body open and he +come out of it, and began to laugh. What a hideous dream he had had. He, +the king of gods, to have become a pig and to think that pig life was +the only life. Not only so but to have wanted the whole universe to come +into the pig life. + +[Footnote 2: Vivekananda in Raja Voga.] + +"The soul when it identifies itself with nature forgets that it is pure +and Infinite. The soul does not live, it is life itself. It does not +exist, it is existence itself. The soul does not know, it is knowledge +itself. It is an entire mistake to say the soul lives, or knows, or +loves. Love and existence are not the qualities of the soul, but its +essence. When they get reflected on that something you may call them the +qualities of that something. Remember what you read in Hindu philosophy, +that the finer body, and what is called in Christian theology the +spiritual body, is not the soul. The soul is beyond them all. It is this +soul which is Divine. + +"Now let us follow out this thought that all of you are Divine and that +each one of you looks upon himself as being Divine, and that you look +upon all others as being Divine also. What is the result? Let's see. The +Divine nature is one of love, one of purity, one of justice, one of +harmony, one of peace. As a Divine being you are looking within for all +your happiness and are not dependent on things outside of yourself to +make you happy. As a Divine being you are not grasping and wanting +things that don't belong to you, and making yourself and others +miserable by wishing you were where you cannot go, or you want things +you cannot have. As a Divine being your conduct towards others under all +circumstances is one of love. Therefore you are not stirring up +contentions and strifes and you are trying, as far as possible, to make +those around you happy, and are yourself striving to be the same under +all circumstances. All things which disturb you keep you from realizing +the Divine. Therefore you have control over your temper and are +manifesting peace and harmony. As you are Divine, you should do your +work in the world without attachment to things of the world. You should +not be owned by the external world, for all forms and things perish, but +the life of the spirit is eternal. + +"As a Divine being you will be honest and truthful to yourself and +others; you will practise no deception; you will not want what belongs +to others; and try in trade or barter to cheat another, for you look +upon all as Divine like yourself. As a Divine being you will want to +earn your living by the sweat of your own brow, instead of by the sweat +of others as many do to-day. + +"Let that thought enter the life of the family and instead of the +husband and father being cross and cranky at times, he will always be +the same; trying each day in some new way to make his wife and children +better and happier, and they in return will be a joy to themselves and a +comfort to him. What a happy home where that thought reigns. + +"Let that thought be carried into the affairs of the County, State and +Nation, and see what a revolution of peace and happiness it would bring. +The first change would be that all women would have the same right to +vote as men have; not because they are women, but because they are +Divine, like man. In short because they are spiritual beings like men. + +"The aphorism, 'Equal rights to all and special privileges to none,' +will be lived out, because no one who is living the thought that all are +Divine, will wish to have opportunities that they deny to others. + +"'An injury to one is the concern of all,' is a maxim that would be put +into practise. 'All for one and one for all' would be acted out in all +the business of life, for all are Divine. All persons in office would +see how best they can serve the public, instead of seeing, as is done +now, how best they can feather their own nests, at the expense of the +public. + +"State legislators would meet, not to see how much there is in it for +themselves, in passing laws, but would pass laws in the interest of the +masses. All forms of corruption would cease, and bribery would +disappear, because all are looked upon as one, and that one is Divine; +and _Greed_ cannot live where that thought predominates. Congress, +instead of passing laws in the interest of bankers, railroad +corporations, manufacturers, and trust companies, would be there for +one purpose, that of making laws in the interest of the whole nation, +and what is known as class legislation would disappear. + +"All persons engaged in adulterating merchandise would cease their +disgraceful and dishonest business. For, realizing their Divine nature, +they would only make pure articles, and everything would be what it is +marked. All business would be done with honesty of purpose and love of +justice; in fact the character of the Divine would be seen in all +dealings. No longer would the great dailies be owned by the money power, +and intellectual prostitutes write the editorials of their columns, +blinding and deceiving the minds of the people that the classes may +fleece them. In short the ethics of Christ would enter into the +industrial and social systems. Usury would be abolished. Instead of +having Christ so much in prayer and song, in poetry and prose, in marble +and on canvas, we would have him in the halls of legislation, in +railroad operations, in manufactories, in stores, on farms and in the +home. In short he would enter into all the walks of life, and men's +actions would be governed by his teachings, viz.: 'Whatsoever ye would +that men should do unto you do ye also unto them; and as we all wish to +have love and justice shown us, realizing our Divine nature, we would +show it unto others. + +"Now, I beseech each one of you, I beseech you because I love you, start +to-day with the soul elevating thought, with this grand truth, that 'You +are the Divine,' and live according to your Divine nature and not be +ruled by your animal instincts. If ever you are in doubt about what you +should do and what you should not do, I would say, do whatever would +make you strong physically, whatever would make you strong +intellectually, whatever would make you strong spiritually, and do not +do what would make you weak physically, intellectually, or spiritually. +In living the pure Christ life you always will be well. Remember the +body is the instrument through which the Divine manifests itself; +therefore take care of the body and don't abuse it by too much work or +too much social excitement, or too much of anything. Be moderate and +temperate in all your actions, bathe every morning and have times for +meditation and prayer, and it will not be long before you will make the +whole State of California what it ought to be, a heaven on earth. For +having heaven within, you will make all about you heaven; and let me +tell you that when you leave your material bodies, the only heaven you +will find is that which you will take with you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +LETTERS RECEIVED BY PENLOE. + + +While Penloe was delivering his address there was a man in the audience +who sat near the platform, following the remarks of the speaker very +closely. Looking in his face you could see the marks of dissipation; the +color and lines which drink and carnality leave on the countenance. To +judge his age by his face you might take him to be a man of fifty, but +he was only about thirty years old; for he had lived twenty years in +five. His form was large and well proportioned; naturally he was a +strong man. His clothing consisted of a shirt, a pair of overalls, both +dirty, a pair of suspenders and a pair of shoes. + +When Penloe finished his address, and the audience was about to leave, +this man made a rush for the platform, and going up to Penloe under +great emotion, he said in broken utterances with tears in his eyes: "God +bless you for showing me that my real nature is Divine. I have been +living the life of a beast, but now I will live the Divine life." That +man afterwards said: "The look that Penloe gave me and the way he +pressed my hand will be with me as long as I live." + +Penloe saw that if he stayed on the platform or did not leave the +building, he would have a crowd round him. Not wishing to give a +reception and thinking it best to keep the people's minds on what he +said, instead of having them diverted from the subject to him +personally, he hastily left the building. But he received a number of +letters from persons who heard his address. We will copy three as +samples. + +The first letter we have copied was from the wife of the leading lawyer +in Roseland and read as follows: + + "ROSELAND. + "DEAR MR. PENLOE: + + "I would very much have liked to have had an + opportunity of meeting you, that I might tell you what + I am about to write and very much more. Since I heard + your address I so wanted to have a talk with you, as I + have so many questions to ask you, and above all to + tell you what your message has done for me. + + "I am the wife of a lawyer, and at the age of + twenty-two I graduated from college. A year afterwards + I married Mr. Horton and have been married seven years. + My tastes have always been intellectual with a strong + desire to lead and to be above those around me. I had + little sympathy for the poor and ignorant, and those I + had little in common with I kept aloof from. My friends + looked to me as an authority on most subjects, as I + travelled in Europe two years after I was married. It + will do me good now to confess to you and tell you, I + was cold, vain, self-conceited and my purpose in + reading and travelling was not to help those around me, + but to add glory and fame to myself, and to be thought + a very superior minded person. I carried my head very + high and associated with but few. After seeing you and + listening to your address, I can hardly describe the + state of mind it left me in. But it was something like + a lady might feel when she is dressed in her best and + is very proud of her attire. While she is in that frame + of mind she meets some one who has garments much + superior to hers, and she sees that the clothes she is + wearing are unbecoming and do not fit her, and that she + has been under an illusion in thinking they were so + rich and fine. For when the other garments are shown + her, she feels she had been the most mistaken person in + the world and longs to cast off the garments she is + wearing, that she may put on these superior ones. + + "Now that was my case exactly. I was the woman attached + to what I thought were my fine clothes. You were the + one with the elegant new gowns, and when you showed me + so clearly that my own costume was nothing but filthy + rags, I was ready to take the superior garments with + which you presented me. + + "When I think what a foolish, proud, vain woman I have + been, I feel like covering my face with shame; like + hiding my head somewhere. I intend that these feelings + of remorse shall stimulate me towards manifesting the + Divine, in love, in patience, in humility, and in + meekness. + + "I will go among the poor and ignorant and become one + with them, in order to raise them to the realization of + their Divine nature. + + "May they see in me that love for them which I saw in + you for all, and it will give me pleasure to tell those + of my own circle how sweet the Divine life has become + to me, and may I be a spiritual help to them. + + "My husband was touched by your words, I am glad to + say, and we are both trying to live the Divine life. + + "When you come to Roseland, be sure and come to our + home. We shall be very pleased to see you and have you + stay with us as long as you can. + + "Your friend, + "CARRIE HORTON." + +Another letter we will copy was from the leading banker of Roseland: + + "First National Bank. + "G. Holmes, President. R. Wells, Cashier. + "ROSELAND, Cal. + "DEAR BROTHER PENLOE: + + "It gives me great pleasure to address you as such, + though I am a perfect stranger to you; but after + hearing your address I feel at liberty to call you + brother. I felt your great heart of love throbbing + through all you said in your lecture. Now I must tell + you that a man entered the building to hear you speak + just out of curiosity. He would have laughed if any + one had told him that he might hear something that he + had not heard before or might be impressed by the + lecture, for he felt settled, sure and certain in his + own mind concerning all subjects of interest to him. + But when he heard your clear and forcible remarks, it + knocked him off his feet, taking the last prop away he + leaned on, and there was nothing left for him to do but + to get on the same foundation that you are on. Bless + God, I have done so, and now I am beginning to live as + a new man, the Divine man. + + "I used to walk the streets thinking I was a great man, + the leading financier in Roseland, and the grand + thought I had of myself was that I was a banker, being + looked up to by those around me because of my financial + standing. But those thoughts are now to me hay and + stubble, and I have burned them. + + "From this time forth my money and myself will be + consecrated to the service of manifesting the Divine, + and in helping others to do the same. As a proof of my + sincerity I enclose a check for five thousand dollars + for you to use as you think best in spreading the grand + truth which you presented so clearly in your address. + May you, my dear brother, always realize in the highest + degree the presence of your Divine nature. + + "Your brother, + "GEORGE HOLMES." + +The following letter is one that is prized very much by Penloe. It came +from the wife of a poor ranchman and bore the marks of its proximity to +the wash-tub, the churn, a child's dirty finger marks, and the hot tears +of a woman overcome with joy: + + "TANGLEWOOD RANCH, ORANGEVILLE ... + "MR. PENLOE: + + "DEAR SIR:--O, I have so much to say and don't know + where to begin. I don't get any time to write, have + been waiting for a spell, but don't get any, for one + thing after another keeps crowding me. I have just + wiped the suds from my hands, having left the wash-tub + for a few minutes, saying I would not put off writing + to you any longer. + + "Well, we went to your meeting and never heard any one + talk like you did before. + + "My husband and I have not much learning, but you made + it so simple and plain that we could not help + understanding what you meant. I want to say how glad we + both are that we went, because our lot in life has been + dark and hard. I married my husband when a girl of + seventeen. I knew so little, was so green, but was full + of hope and expectations. What a hard experience I have + had, for I have been married ten years and have six + small children; so much sickness, so much hard work. O, + dear! my life has been so hard. I cannot write any more + now, as I must finish getting my washing out. + + "Well, my clothes are on the line and I am going to + take a few minutes' rest and write a little more. Yes, + life has been hard. How little a poor ignorant girl + thinks or knows what is before her when she gets + married. My husband has felt all discouraged, so many + babies, so much hard work, such hard times to get a + dollar, always in debt to doctors; it made us both grow + cross and cranky and just as soon die as live. Our love + for each other grew cold, and the attraction we had for + each other died out. I told my husband he must take me + out somewhere or else I would go crazy. Every day the + same thing over again from morning to night, tending + babies, standing over a cook-stove, then over a + wash-tub, then churning, no end of dish-washing and + washing babies' clothes. I am going to churn now, when + I take a rest again I will write more. + + "Well, the butter has come, I will rest and write you + more. + + "I was telling you how dark our married life has been. + We heard there was going to be a big meeting in + Roseland, and my husband said he would go and see what + it was like. So we went and heard you talk. What you + said made us look at the world and ourselves different + to what we ever did before. We both liked your talk + very much; we talked lots about what you said. When we + got home that day after supper my husband said: 'If I + am Divine, I don't need to chew tobacco, and I quit + right now and will put what tobacco I have got in the + stove.' I said, 'O, Charles, how glad I am.' 'Yes, + Maud,' said Charles, 'I am going to live the Divine + life. Will you help me?' I said, 'Yes, dear Charles, + you know I will.' 'Well, Maud,' said he, 'we thought + our life hard and bitter, but I see now it was through + our not living the Divine life. Maud, I will try and + make your life a little better than I have done,' and + he kissed me. The children looked at us both with great + surprise, for they had never seen my husband kiss me + before. It seemed as if the same feelings had come back + that we had in our courting days. He said, 'You have + the hardest time of it, let me put the children to bed + and you rest; for if I am Divine I must live a life of + love and show my love in helping you all I can.' I + cannot help it, sir, but hot tears are falling fast on + this letter, for the light and love have entered our + home, where before it was darkness and despair. How + sweet it is trying to live the Divine life. I am doing + my best to live that life. We are not going to worry + any more. My husband now is so bright and hopeful, does + all he can to cheer me up, and I am the same for it is + catching like a fever. + + "Well, my object in writing this to you is to tell you + what your talk has done for us. My husband said, 'If + ever a man had a heart full of love for all, he knows + it is you, and your great heart has touched our hearts. + How can I thank you for what you have done for us? May + God bless you. I shall always pray that you may help + others as you have us. My husband said, 'Tell him I am + a changed man;' and I know he is, and I am a changed + woman. + + "Excuse this letter for having dirt marks on it. While + I was tending the baby one of the children put its + dirty fingers on the letter, but I am going to send it + just as it is. + + "Your friend, + "MAUD NEVE." + +Mrs. Marston for several reasons went to hear Penloe deliver his +address. One reason was curiosity to hear and see the man that had +caused so much talk everywhere, and another one that the newspapers from +the Atlantic to the Pacific had printed so much about him. Still another +reason was she knew that about all her friends would be there, and they +would be talking about him, and she wished to be posted on a subject +that her friends would be conversing about and to be able to take her +part in the conversation. If there was anything that Mrs. Marston +admired and loved, it was a handsome man. She took great pride in the +fine appearance of her four Roseland young gentlemen guests. A look of +astonishment came over that lady's face when Penloe appeared at the +front of the platform, and she turned her eyes for the first time on +that fine physique, with its symmetrical form and noble countenance. She +was heard to say, "That is the handsomest man I have ever seen in my +life." She thought her favorites could not compare with Penloe. She +remarked to a friend of hers: "I was surprised when I saw Penloe, for I +thought of him as being a man past middle age, with long hair, unkempt +beard and slovenly dress; but when I saw the best looking young man I +have ever looked upon in my life, and finely dressed, too, I could not +help thinking what a fine society man he would make. I am not surprised +that Stella is taken with him. Why, if that man would only put his time +into making money, he could have his pick of any of our best society +young ladies. What a fine lawyer he would make." + +Mrs. Marston thought Penloe a very fine, interesting speaker, but that +lady was not prepared, at present, to give up her sense-plane +enjoyments, in order to live the Divine life. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MRS. WEST RELATES HER DREAM. + + +Mrs. West, the mother of Ben West, had breakfast ready just as her +husband came in from doing the chores about the barn. After Mrs. West +had poured out two cups of Mocha and Java for her husband and herself, +Mr. West, like a good husband, had his wife help herself first and then +himself, after which he began to enjoy the good things she had prepared +for their morning meal. + +He noticed that Mrs. West only sipped her coffee occasionally and did +not touch the food on her plate. Seeing in her face that something was +not quite right, he said: "What is the matter, dear, you look as if +something troubled you? Have you lost your appetite?" + +His wife replied: "No, William, but I had a dream that disturbed me." + +"Why, what could it be to affect you in that way?" said her husband. + +"Well, I will tell you," said his wife. "I dreamt I saw our colt Prince; +he seemed as if he did not eat the grain hay you gave him. Then seeing +he did not eat the grain hay, you gave him some alfalfa hay. He did not +eat much of that either, so you thought you would give some crushed +barley. When you saw that he did not eat that, you turned him out of the +barn into your fine alfalfa pasture. He ate a little of the green feed, +but was still very restless and discontented. So you turned him out +where he could get wild feed and have plenty of chance to run. After you +turned him out he just browsed a little, and ran up the road and down +the road snorting and arching his neck very prettily; his smooth, sleek, +glossy, black coat shining in the sun made him look fine and handsome. +You could not make out what was the matter with him, for he seemed well +but was so restless; not contented in any place or liking any kind of +feed. So you thought he might be lonesome and you turned out some horses +to run with him. But he seemed to pay no attention to them, ate little +and was getting more restless and discontented all the time, not even +enjoying his freedom nor knowing what to do with it. He would every now +and then run up and down the road as if not knowing what to do with +himself. + +"Once in his restless mood he went down the road, and there was a +beautiful young lady sitting near the gate leading to her house. She saw +him coming and noticed how handsome he was, and she thought how fine it +would be to have that noble looking horse to ride and keep it for her +use. So she opened the gate and came to the road and stood waiting for +the colt. When he came to where she was, he looked at her and arched his +neck, and she thought he was handsome; and smiling she went up to him +and just placed her hand on his neck and patted him: then she talked +sweetly to him and passed her hand over his face several times, and he +seemed so quiet and gentle that you would have thought that it was her +he had been wanting, and she seemed to know by intuition that she had +got him in her power; so she opened the gate and he followed her in. +Then she knew she had got him sure, and he was just what she had wanted. +She petted him a little more, then put a bridle on him and then a +saddle. Then she mounted him and off they went and you could not tell +which was the most delighted the colt or the young lady. At first she +was very good to him, and only rode him short distances and fed him +high. He was perfectly docile and she had full control over him. +Afterwards she exacted more service from him, would ride him longer +distances, and later along she not only rode him long distances but rode +him hard and fast and fed and petted him less. Sometimes the horse was +exhausted and about to give out, but in order to revive him all she had +to do was to make a little of him, talk coaxingly and pet him; and +instantly his eye would brighten, animation would come back to him, and +he would do his best to travel. But this kind of usage was telling on +the horse and he was growing poorer all the time. Still she was exacting +and demanded as much from him as ever. After awhile, he could not begin +to travel as he once did, for he was getting weaker and weaker, and even +her pettings were losing power to put life into him, for it seemed at +times as if it had all gone out of him. + +"One hot day when she was riding him and he seemed very much fatigued, +they were going along the road where there was a fine rich pasture well +fenced, with some fine young horses feeding in it. When they saw Prince +and his mistress they ran round the field, then along the fence where +the road was, and every now and then would look at the poor worn-out +colt carrying his mistress. Then they would run a piece, throw up their +hind legs, toss their heads, showing how much freedom they enjoyed. +Again they would run along the fence and look at him. One of the horses +in the field said to the other, "Why, there is our old companion Prince. +I would not have known him, he looks so old and poor. How thin he has +become. Why don't he throw that woman off and be free like ourselves? +Don't you see how she is wearing him out by inches?" "Ah!" said another +horse, "He was free like ourselves at one time. There is not a horse in +this pasture that looks as handsome and fat as he did, but he could not +enjoy his freedom. He was restless, till he became a willing slave to +that woman's smiles, caresses and pettings. He won't live long; she is +too hard and makes too many demands on him. But notice even now his eye +will brighten if she pats him on his neck a little and says a few kind +sweet words to him, how he tries to go faster, but it is only for a very +few yards; then he is back again to his old gait, more tired than +before. Do you notice how fresh and fine she looks, but how poor and +worn out he is? She knew her power and has used it for her self +gratification regardless of what might become of him. Poor fool, he +could not see that her kind talk and pettings were only a means +employed to gain her end. She cared nothing for him, only as he +contributed to her pleasure; _and there are so many many more very green +colts just like him_. One day the young lady had been out with Prince on +a long hard ride, and they were coming home. Prince could hardly put one +foot before the other, so weak and tired was he. At last when she got +him to the stable he fell down and seemed to be in much pain. She called +in assistance and men came with medicine and used much of it on him, but +it was no good; he gave one look at her and died. She cried over him and +put her head on his body and said, "He was the best horse that ever was +and I will never have any other horse. I can never love another as I did +him." About a month afterwards she was seen riding on a fine young bay +colt, and both seemed just as happy as Prince and she did the first time +she rode him." + +Here Mrs. West stopped. + +Her husband said: "That was a very strange dream, but I don't see why +that should affect you, for I was out to the barn this morning and +Prince was all right, with a big appetite for his breakfast." + +No, Mr. West could not see why that dream could make her feel sad, but +Mrs. West knew, for there was a portion of the dream she did not relate, +and that was, when Prince gave the lady a look just as he was about to +expire, that look on his face Mrs. West saw to be the look and face of +her son Ben West, and the young lady that rode him was Julia Hammond +West, his wife. A short time afterwards Mr. West saw more in his wife's +dream, for he received word stating that his son had died from exposure +in the Klondike. Mr. West saw the notice in a paper about a month later, +of the marriage of their son's wife. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +One afternoon Penloe was expected to take supper with the Wheelwrights. +He had had a standing invitation for some time, but for certain reasons +had not accepted it till now. The last time he saw Stella, he said: "If +it will be agreeable to you all, I will take supper at your house next +Tuesday evening." They were all in high spirits at the thought of his +coming, for a more agreeable, interesting, and intelligent visitor could +not be found. + +What little time there was between the time of his arrival and supper, +he kept them laughing by relating some very interesting experiences. + +At the supper table he was given the seat of honor, Mrs. Wheelwright +being on his right and Stella on his left. Stella had on a fine, white +dress, with white satin ribbon at the neck and sleeves, and, as her +complexion was dark and her hair jet black, it became her exceedingly +well. There are some young ladies who need to have very fine dresses to +make them at all presentable; they are so dependent on the style of the +dress for giving them a good form and fine appearance, but it was not so +with Stella. Her fine form and graceful movements would make any dress +look well; she set off the dress. The table was laid with a snowy-white +damask tablecloth, moss-rose pattern, with napkins to match. Also a +moss-rose tea set. The table did not groan with a lot of heavy, greasy +food; no, there was very fine bread, good sweet butter, nectarine sauce +and blackberry jelly, cake, pineapple sherbet, vanilla ice-cream, milk, +weak tea, and some sweetmeats, and nuts. + +The meal was eaten very leisurely, for the conversation was very +interesting, all taking part in it. Penloe had that rare gift of a good +conversationalist, being able to make others talk their best instead of +doing all the talking himself. Stella and Penloe were both good at +repartée. The ladies talked more than Penloe, and there seemed to be a +real genuine feeling, as if one spirit pervaded them all. + +After supper, Mr. Wheelwright had an opportunity of talking to Penloe, +on the porch, about subjects that he was most interested in, while the +ladies washed the dishes. Later on, the ladies joined them, and a most +agreeable evening was spent. Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright excused themselves +when their regular time for retiring came, and as it was such a lovely +moonlight evening, Stella invited Penloe to keep her company on the +porch, saying, "The evening is so beautiful." Yes, it was beautiful. It +was one of those matchless evenings in California that must be seen and +enjoyed to be fully appreciated, and by a soul in touch with the +sublime. To realize the grandeur of the sky, with its clear atmosphere, +on those fine evenings, is to experience one of the richest joys of +existence. Language is inadequate to describe such beauty. + +The two souls on the porch were in touch with the Divine, which +manifested Itself in all these glories, and they were drinking it in to +their fullest capacity. They had sat in silence for a while, when Penloe +said: "Stella, I have not had anything that has given me more +satisfaction, or that has pleased me more, and given me encouragement in +my work, so much as the courageous spirit manifested by you on the day +that you in a public way freed yourself from bondage. You taught the +people a lesson they will never forget. That was a grand act, Stella, +and you built into your character on that day qualities which will stand +all trials and temptations; you made a good karma for yourself. Think +how your act has helped others out of bondage." + +Stella said: "Penloe, it gives me pleasure to hear your approval of what +I have done. But is it not only the fruits of your own work, after all? +Did you not take Stella, a green, ignorant girl as she was, and lead her +to her freedom?" + +Penloe said: "Yes, Stella, I did one kind of work, and you did another; +my work was easy compared to yours. I instructed you, but it was you who +put the instruction in practice, and that counts." + +"Penloe," said Stella, taking his hand in hers, "I realize that fully, +for no one but you could have taught me as you did. No one but you could +have given me the light and knowledge I so much needed, no one but you +could help me open the door which led me into the spiritual world, and +when I entered that world, you were there as my spiritual companion. + +"Penloe, you have been my very dear social companion, you have been my +very dear intellectual companion, and you have been my very dear +spiritual companion. Your companionship has been that of the truest +friendship, for your every act and thought has been to raise me up to a +higher plane, and I would not be true to my highest and best nature if I +did not tell you that I love you as I can love no other man. You +possessed my heart long before to-night. Do you love Stella, Penloe, and +do you want her to be your life companion, to help you in your noble +work, to love you, and to live the Divine life with you?" + +Penloe said: "Stella, dear, what I have done for you I would do for any +one; but darling, I love you intensely. Yes, dear one, your love to me +is bliss, and there is no one whose companionship I love and enjoy more +than yours, dear Stella, for I see so much of the Divine manifested in +you." And here Penloe took the dear girl to him, and they were both lost +in bliss. + +I looked at the moon just then in its silvery brightness, and as it +looked down on that hallowed scene it sent forth such a glow of light as +illuminated the whole heavens and earth. I looked at the planets +witnessing that blissful scene. They were more brilliant than ever, and +vied with each other in sending forth their bright lights. I looked at +the whole canopy of the heavens and, just as the two embraced, an +unusual number of stars of the first magnitude appeared and the whole +sky was decked with millions of fiery worlds. And why should the +heavens not be brilliant on an occasion when the love in two divine ones +is plighted? + +Their little whisperings at intervals during the silence, which they are +enjoying, are too sacred to record here; and while they are in that +exceedingly blissful state of mind the thought came to me to note the +nature of kisses. There is the cold kiss, which upon receiving one +wishes he had not been kissed. Then there is the average common kiss. +Then there is the kiss of friendship. Then there is the ordinary love +kiss. Then there is the warm, passionate kiss. But superior to them all +is the pure, spiritual kiss, so intensely sweet, but so very, very rare. +To give such a kiss, and even to enjoy receiving it, one must have a +very high quality of organism. The cells of the brain, the blood which +flows through the arteries and veins, the tissues of the whole body must +have been formed and built up by that all powerful agent, thought. And +that thought must be of the highest order; it must have emptied itself +of all but love, that love which takes in all, and from that thought and +life comes the manifestation of harmony, purity, sweetness, truth and +love. Blessed, thrice blessed indeed, is such a person. + +When two persons of that type of character come together in love, giving +each other through kisses, the expression of their affection, that +kissing is bliss indeed. + +After the silence and whisperings of deep love thoughts were over, +Stella with her face looking so beautiful, being flushed from the +realization of her love, said: "Penloe, dear, I knew that you were +different from most men in not being dependent on the love of a woman +for your happiness; for you had within you a deep well of living water +from whence came all your joy, and you drank deep draughts from it +daily. Yes, dear, I knew your thoughts, your hopes, your happiness was +centered in that Blessed Infinite One and He was the source of your +peace, your joy and your love. Though I loved you so much, the question +arose in my mind whether you needed my love and companionship." + +Penloe said: "Stella, darling, it is all true, what you say about my +living in the Eternal One, and that from Him springs all my strength, my +hope and my love; but if that Blessed Infinite One brings another joy to +me in the form of dear Stella's love, why should I not accept it gladly? +Yes, dear, your interesting self, your love is all a gift to me from the +Infinite Spirit. It is an additional joy and pleasure which He has +bestowed upon me, and my prayer is that I may always and fully meet your +expectations, and my self and my love may give you as much joy as yours +gives me." + +Stella said: "Penloe, dear, my cup is full to overflowing; how good God +is to me." + +Penloe said: "Stella, darling, I wish to express a thought concerning +love, and it is this. Many times you see two persons in love, and +instead of that experience broadening and intensifying their love and +sympathies, it has a tendency to narrow them down and contract them and +bring them to a very small selfish life, causing them to take no thought +or interest in any one but themselves. They seem to form a mutual +admiration society, and live to gain the praise of each other. After +all, when you analyze them, it is not so much love of each other as it +appears to be, but love of each one for himself. Then there is that kind +of love union which exists between two where, instead of narrowing and +contracting the lovers, it has a tendency to broaden them out in their +love, and make their sympathies universal in their scope; their love +being of that high order which seems to quicken all that is grand and +noble in their natures; and their lives seem to be those of intense love +for each other, and intense love for the Lord in His humanity." + +Then they sat in blissful silence for a little while, when Penloe said: +"Stella, darling, have you thought over what you may have to give up +through becoming a life companion to me? Of course, dear, you know I +have consecrated my life and my endeavors as a free will offering to the +world, and it is not my work nor mission to raise a family. Now, the +instinct to become a mother is very strong in some women's natures." + +Stella said: "Why, Penloe, dear, I do not have to give up anything in +becoming a life companion to you, for instead of being a material mother +I will become a spiritual mother to many, which is a far higher joy, and +the world has too few spiritual mothers, but too many material ones of a +low grade." + +Penloe said: "Have you thought over the practical side of our union? You +see, I am not a man that is rustling for dollars from morning till +night, and in my life and work we may, at times perhaps, only have a log +cabin to live in, with bare walls and floors; and our food may be of the +plainest kind, and not much of that either. Your wardrobe may consist of +only one cotton wrapper and flour-sack underwear." + +Penloe could not say any more, for Stella put her hand over his mouth +and said, laughingly: "You cannot scare me so easily, for it will take +more than only having in my possession one cotton wrapper and wearing +flour-sack underwear, and living in a log cabin with bare walls and +floors, to discourage me. Those things are not of my world; all I hope +is that if I shall have to put on such garments as flour-sack underwear, +it will not offend your artistic eye." + +They both had a good laugh, for they feared nothing in this Universe; +least of all that great bugaboo, poverty. + +Penloe said: "Well, Stella, to be serious, I have made arrangements for +leaving Orangeville for six months. In about a week's time I will go up +into the mountains and live in a log cabin in the pines. I will be six +miles from any human being, and twenty-five miles from Orangeville. It +is necessary that I should be away for awhile from all psychological +influences and cross-currents, and live in the silence. I realize that I +need it to fit me for my work. It is necessary for my spiritual +unfoldment. Christ went up into the mountains and out on the plains to +be alone, so he might gain spiritual strength. All great spiritual +teachers have times for being alone. As I said, I need to make this +change to fit me for my work, for I want to get my mind freed from all +individuality and relativity, so as to see more clearly the Oneness +throughout the Universe. For, as the Swami Vivekananda has said in his +lecture on 'Maya and the Evolution of the Conception of God': 'He who +sees in this world of manifoldness that One running through it all; in +this world of death, he who finds that one infinite life; and in this +world of insentience and ignorance, he who finds that one light and +knowledge, unto him belongs eternal peace.' It is more of that light and +knowledge that I need, Stella. In short, it is to commune more with the +Father; it is to realize in a greater degree the presence of the Divine +within, and to have my mind freed from the illusion of the phenomenal +world; for by so doing I become qualified to become a healer of disease, +and also fitted to help many a poor sin-sick life. Now, Stella, having +clearly made known my purpose to you; I want to tell you that it is +better for you that I leave this time. It will enlighten you more +spiritually in this way. Most persons would think that it should be the +greatest pleasure to us both to be together now as much as we can, so as +to see and enjoy the society of each other. That thought is all right +for the many, but not for you and me. It is better for us both that we +do not hear from one another for three months, and at the end of that +time I want you to come up and live three months with me in that cabin. +At the end of that time we will come back to the world and be made man +and wife in the eyes of the law. + +"All this to some may seem strange and hard, but not to you, Stella, for +I think you have already attained to that plane where you can see the +great good to you which will come from following such a course. If you +follow certain instructions which I will give you, after we have been +separated two weeks, you will have a feeling of my presence with you, +and you will not feel the need of correspondence, for we will be +independent of all letter writing, because we can be in communion with +each other at any time we may wish it." + +Stella said: "Through you, dear, I have attained to that plane where I +can see it all true what you have said and all for the best; and, +Penloe, dear, Stella will be with you in your cabin at the end of the +first three months," and here she kissed him and he returned the same. +After a little more talk they bid each other farewell. + +The next morning after the most eventful evening in Stella's life, when +that young lady kissed her mother good-morning, Mrs. Wheelwright did not +need to be told what had happened on the previous night, for the way +Stella kissed her mother, and the way she moved about to get breakfast +made Mrs. Wheelwright smile inwardly. Just as the three were about +finishing their morning meal, Stella told her parents all that had +happened. They were both delighted in the extreme and Stella received +their blessings and kisses. + +Mrs. Wheelwright said to Stella: "I am so glad you found a man worthy of +your love, and he certainly is. I could not have made one to order to +suit you as well. All I feared was that he would live without a wife, +because I knew how much you loved him, and no one else would ever fill +his place in your affections. I rejoice daily that we have such a dear +daughter; one that Penloe has seen fit to love and cherish as a life +companion." + +"Mother," said Stella, "there is no such thing as disappointment in love +to those who are living on the plane that Penloe and I are on, for we +are led by the promptings of the Blessed Infinite One, to each other." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Oh, if more would only live on the spiritual +plane, how much happier they would be in all that pertains to this +life." + +Stella said: "I am going to write to aunt to-day and tell her of my +engagement to Penloe." So later in the day she sat down and wrote the +following letter: + + "MY DEAR AUNT: As you have always taken so much + interest in my future happiness, I think it no more + than right that I should inform you of my engagement to + Penloe. Yes, dear Aunt, I proposed to him last evening + and he accepted me and has given me his love in return. + + "Let me thank you, dear Aunt, for your kindness to me, + and I hope that our being engaged may meet with your + approval. Penloe is going to live in the pines for the + next six months. After he has been there three months I + am going up there to live with him, and will be his + log-cabin companion for three months. After that we + will be united in marriage. + + "Mother and father join me in love to you. As ever, + + "Your Affect. Niece, + "STELLA WHEELWRIGHT." + +From that time till Stella went to the mountains to live with Penloe, +she was busy in two ways. Her time was occupied in one direction in +writing a little book on the sex question. Barker and Brookes told her +if she would write the book they would pay for having it printed and +would circulate thousands of copies free. Those two young men were now +Stella's co-workers in the grand field of removing bondage. The other +way in which Stella was very busy was in following a certain course of +mental and spiritual exercise as marked out for her by Penloe. + +When the three months had expired, Mr. Wheelwright took Stella up to the +pines within one mile of Penloe's cabin. They arrived there at four in +the afternoon. Stella told her father to satisfy him that she would go +up to Penloe's cabin, and then come right back and stay with him over +night, and in the morning after he was gone Penloe would come down and +take her and her valise up with him. + +Her father not being sure about the mental telegraphy carried on +between Stella and Penloe, wanted to make sure Penloe was there and all +right before he left his daughter. + +It was Penloe's wish for no person to come near his cabin except Stella. + +When Stella returned to her father, after having gone up to Penloe's +cabin to see if he was all right, she told her father Penloe was well, +and he could see by his daughter's face that everything was all right. + +On the next morning Mr. Wheelwright wished his daughter good-bye, +leaving her where they had camped over night. + +A few minutes afterwards Penloe appeared, and taking Stella's valise +they both walked up to the cabin. Stella was perfectly charmed with the +beautiful spot where the cabin was located. Some large pines were in +front of the cabin and some very handsome redwoods a few rods in the +rear. A sparkling, rippling brook flowed near the cabin, singing merrily +as it went along. + +They lived on two meals a day and found that was all the nourishment +they needed, as they were doing no manual labor, and there was no great +strain on their nervous system. + +They spent their time in the following manner: Part of the day was +devoted to prayer, meditation and concentration, and part of the time in +the practise of mental telegraphy; and the balance of the time in doing +what little work there was to do and in walks and talks. + +Stella did enjoy the life so very much, and she was rapidly advancing +physically, intellectually and spiritually. As for lonesomeness, she and +Penloe did not know what that was, their minds being too active to be +lonesome. They seemed to be new to each other every morning and fresh +every evening, their life being a perfect joy and delight in its highest +sense; for they realized each day more and more of their Divine natures. +Each day they came in touch with the Infinite, and when they came down +from the mountain their faces shone as Moses' did of old; for they had +walked and talked with God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A WEDDING IN ORANGEVILLE. + + +After Mrs. Marston had been in San Francisco about a month, she received +a cablegram from Paris stating that her son had been shot by a jealous +Frenchman and died two hours afterwards. When she had recovered from her +first grief she thought it best to stay in San Francisco two weeks +longer and then return to Roseland. She had not been home long when she +realized how great the change had been on the sex question, and how +Stella's popularity had risen, and of course Mrs. Marston's mind had to +conform to the new thought, which her circle of friends and most of the +community had accepted. It was that lady's creed to have her ideas in +style as much as her dress. It seemed to please her greatly to hear her +niece praised and looked up to as a leader of the new thought on the sex +question; for deep down in her heart she loved Stella, even if she did +not understand some of her strange ways, and now that her son was dead +her affections went out more towards her niece. + +When she received the letter from Stella stating she was engaged to +Penloe, she had a good laugh about her proposing to him, and said the +next thing she would hear would be that Stella had bought a wedding-ring +to put on Penloe's finger. Since Mrs. Marston had seen Penloe there was +no man she admired more than him; not on account of his spiritual +thought, but for his distinguished personality, his graceful manners, +and his polished expressions. So when she read about her niece being +engaged to him, she was delighted, for she felt proud of them both and +remarked, "They would make the finest appearing couple to be seen +anywhere." + +And she now looked forward to the time when they would be married, that +she might have the pleasure of seeing them again. She was forming plans +as to what she would do for Stella. She felt that she was able to do +much for her, as her property was rising in value all the time, and her +income far exceeded her expenditures. Her idea was that a couple, to be +in style when they are married, should visit Europe or some other +country; and, furthermore, it would be also nice for her to be able to +say her niece had gone abroad on her wedding tour. She also remembered +how delighted Stella was to read books of travel when she was at her +house, and she heard her say, "I do hope some day I will be able to see +my own and other countries, for the extent of my travel has only been +from Orangeville to San José and return." + +About a week before the day set for Stella's wedding, Mrs. Wheelwright +went to Roseland and called on her sister, Mrs. Marston. In course of +conversation, Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Helen, it is Penloe's and +Stella's wish to have no one invited to the wedding but yourself; for, +if they invited friends, they could not draw the line and they could not +invite all, and not only so but they think it far better to have a quiet +wedding. Their marriage is so different to that of any other couple, +there being none of that peculiar excitement connected with their +marriage." + +Mrs. Marston said: "I thought that would be about the kind of wedding +they would have. What I would have liked would be to give Stella a big +wedding at my own house, with all her friends present, but I knew she +would wish to be married at her home in a very quiet way." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Helen, we shall look for you on Wednesday +of next week. They will be married at eleven in the morning, by the Rev. +B.F. Holingsworth." + +On the morning of the wedding, Stella's aunt arrived at ten, Penloe and +the minister came half an hour later. At eleven Penloe and Stella stood +up to be made one in the eyes of the law. The Blessed Infinite Spirit +had made them one some time ago. It is not necessary to remark how +lovely the bride looked, for she always looked lovely, and she did not +wear at her wedding a white silk or satin gown; for she wore a rich +white dress, and it was one that she could wear any time; it became her +exceedingly well. After the usual marriage ceremony was over, the +minister offered a short fervent prayer, after which Penloe and Stella +stood in silent prayer for about two minutes, then Penloe kissed Stella. +The joyful couple then received the congratulations of their relatives. +When Mrs. Marston kissed Stella, she gave her a little package. A few +minutes later Stella excused herself and went to her room, to open the +package her aunt had given her. On opening the package, she found it +contained a small, light-brown covered book, with a note which read as +follows: + + "SUNNYDOWN, Roseland, Calif. + + "MY DEAR NIECE:--Knowing you had always a strong desire + to travel and see something of the world, I know of no + better time for you to travel than now, on your wedding + tour. + + "In the bank book you will see a sum deposited in your + name, sufficient to take you and Penloe around the + world in first-class style. + + "Wishing you much joy, dear, with love to you both, + + "YOUR AUNT HELEN." + +Stella opened the bank book to see the amount deposited to her credit, +and to her joy and surprise there were five figures in the amount. Such +a handsome gift touched Stella very much. She realized then the +genuineness of her aunt's interest in her material welfare and the love +she bore her. + +When Stella returned to the room where the company was she went to her +aunt, and put her arms round her and kissed her affectionately, and +said: "How good you have been to me." Her aunt looked at the beautiful +girl with pride, and seemed delighted to see her so happy. She said: +"Stella, dear, I have only you to love, and you deserve all I can do for +you." + +Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright were very much gratified by the handsome gift +Stella received from her aunt, and Penloe, whose face was always the +picture of repose, had now an unusual bright smile as he saw Stella's +delight. He went and sat beside Mrs. Marston, and entertained her with +his brilliant conversation, much to that lady's pleasure, for she +enjoyed receiving attention from Penloe. + +In course of conversation with Mrs. Marston (while Stella was absent +from the room), in a very becoming and graceful way, he paid a glowing +tribute to Stella's nobility of character and her intrinsic worth, which +pleased Mrs. Marston greatly. Stella's aunt could not think of sitting +down to a very plain meal on such an occasion as her niece's marriage, +neither did she wish to see her sister or Stella with flushed faces +through being over a hot cook-stove. So she had her caterer come from +Roseland, with everything necessary, and take charge of the wedding +dinner. They all had a very sociable time at the table, the topics of +conversation being general, such as Mrs. Marston would be interested in. + +After dinner, Stella had a few words in private with her aunt before +leaving for Roseland. The gist of the talk was that she, when speaking +of them, was not to say, "'Mr. Penloe Lenair' or 'Mrs. Penloe Lenair,' +or have inserted in the newspapers 'Penloe Lenair, Esq., and wife, are +visiting you, but always speak of us as 'Penloe and Stella,' because we +wish to live in the realization that we are all members of one family, +and to say Mr. or Mrs. is cold, formal and distant; but in being called +by our given names we come near to those who are talking to us, and they +come near to and in touch with us." + +After the minister and Mrs. Marston had left, Stella said to Penloe: "I +may just as well begin to initiate you into the new order of things now +as any other time, for you are my husband. So I am going to tell you +that we are living in a new age, and instead of the wife obeying her +husband the husband has to obey the wife." + +Penloe smiled, and said: "I am perfectly willing to obey such a wife as +you are. What are your orders, my dear?" + +Stella laughed, and said: "Well, Penloe, I have been thinking that I +would like to take you over to see an old friend of mine, who has sore +eyes. You have never seen him, and he would be so pleased to have us +come; for he must have many lonely times, because very few persons ever +call on him, and, Penloe, dear, we have such a lot of good things left +from aunt's big wedding dinner that she gave us, and I thought we would +take some of the nice things along with us for the old man to enjoy. He +seldom has anything very good to eat." + +Penloe said: "So you are going to make a ministering angel of me, are +you, my dear?" + +Stella said, smiling: "I am not going to make you too angelic, Penloe, +because you might take wings and fly away from me, and I want you to be +an angel on the ground and not a soaring one. So get yourself ready to +carry a basket." + +Penloe said: "I am at your service, my dear." + +Stella went into the kitchen, and selected some choice eatables, such as +she knew the old man would most enjoy, and the two were soon on their +way to the cabin. As they were walking along Stella related to Penloe +all she knew of the history of the old man, as he was called, though he +was not more than fifty-eight years old. + +When they arrived at the cabin, the old man was busy getting stove-wood. + +As soon as Stella spoke to him he knew instantly who it was. His sight +being in that condition that he could see Penloe's form, but could not +see clearly his features, he could distinguish a man's form from that of +a woman's, but that was all. Stella introduced Penloe to him, and told +the old man that they were married this morning, whereupon the old man +instantly congratulated them and showered his blessings on both of +them, saying: "Mr. Penloe, what an angel you have got for a wife!" And +went on telling Penloe how good she had been to him. + +Stella did not check him, because she knew it would do him good to have +some one to express his feelings to. After the old man had finished his +eulogies on Stella, she told him what she had brought him and said she +would put them where they belonged, for she had cleaned up his cabin +many a time. He was touched to the heart by such thoughtful kindness, +that on their wedding day she should think of him, and he did not know +just what to say he was so overcome; he seemed choked. They very soon +put him at his ease, and in about ten minutes afterwards conversation +had quieted down. + +Just then Stella received a mental telegram from Penloe, and it was not +long before the old man was sitting in his rocking chair, fast asleep. +While he was in that condition, Penloe and Stella went into the silence, +remaining in that state for about an hour, when Penloe asked Stella to +get a basin, with some water, a clean cloth, and a towel. When she had +got everything ready, the old man seemed to be waking up. When he was +fully awake, he said: "How much better I feel." Stella said: "I have a +basin here, with some water. Let me bathe your eyes." While she was +bathing them, she said: "Andrew, you are going to see so that you can +read just as well as you could before your eyes became sore." (As Andrew +had always associated Stella in his mind as being a member of the +angelic band, he was ready to believe anything she said.) + +He said: "Am I? Praise God! (he was a good man). How fine your touch +does feel to my face." + +When she had finished bathing his eyes, she gave him a towel to wipe his +eyes with. After he had wiped them, he opened and closed them several +times, when, with his eyes open, he said: "Yes, I can see! O, I can see +so much better. I keep seeing clearer all the time." And in a few +minutes he could see Penloe and Stella just as well as they could see +themselves. + +The old man was overcome with joy. Looking at Stella, he said: "Bless +God! I can see your dear face." And when he cast his eyes on the +features of Penloe he became silent, then he looked at Stella, then at +Penloe, and he seemed in a dream, for he did not know which was the +greater surprise to him, having his sight restored or seeing the angelic +countenances of the two before him. + +Penloe took a newspaper and gave it to him, saying: "See if you can read +that?" + +Andrew took the paper, and to his great delight he could read it just as +well as when he was a young man. The old man put the paper down, then in +a little while he took it up again and read more, saying: "Yes, it is +true. I can see to read to myself. Bless the Lord! I can see to read." +He looked at them both again, and a feeling came over him as if there +was a great distance between him and them. For he said, in speaking to +Stella: + +"Mrs. Penloe." + +Whereupon Stella laughed, and told him: "I am not Mrs. Penloe, for I am +just the same now as I was before I was married. I am your sister +Stella, and my husband is your brother Penloe. Both of us look upon all +boys and men as our brothers, and all girls and women as our sisters, +for we are all members of one family." + +The old man sat in silence after Stella spoke; he seemed to be amazed. + +Stella said: "We must go now." + +As she wished him good-bye, he said to them: "What must I do in return +for the great blessing of sight which has been given me to-day?" + +Penloe said: "Live much in prayer, live in the realization of Divine +love. Remember your body is the temple of God. Keep it as such, and help +others to live the Divine life." + +Was there ever a bride so happy as Stella was on the after noon of her +wedding day, when she was returning home to tell her mother the joyful +news that Andrew had recovered his sight. The world has never seen a +happier bride than she was on that afternoon. + +Stella had not been in the house but a few minutes before she told her +parents all about Andrew receiving his sight through Penloe's healing +power. + +Penloe said: "Why, Stella, were you not the instrument through which +Andrew received his sight? Did he not think that you were the embodiment +of all goodness, all power, and all truth? And when you said to him, +'Andrew, you are going to see so you can read yourself,' he believed +you, and was he not healed according to his faith?" + +Stella said: "He would not have had his sight restored if you had not +been present. The first time you called on him his sight was restored, +while I have been to his cabin many times before, but never helped him +to see." + +Penloe said: "Stella, dear, you were not on the spiritual plane that you +are now on when you visited Andrew before. You had not spent much time +in prayer, in meditation, in concentration, in being up in the +mountains, walking and talking with God daily, and living in the +realization of the Kingdom of Heaven within. All this has helped to make +you a healer." + +Stella said: "Penloe, all you say is true, but I cannot help thinking +that you were the healer." + +Penloe said: "Stella, dear, you spoke the healing word." + +Mrs. Wheelwright, smiling inwardly, said: "Children, you have only been +married a few hours, and have got a bone of contention already. I am +surprised at you both." + +Stella, putting on a serious face, said: "Well, mother, I know it was +Penloe;" and Penloe said: "Well, mother, I know it was Stella." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Children, I cannot stay with you while you +quarrel this way," and out she went into the kitchen, happy and +laughing to herself; at the same time rejoicing greatly that the poor +man had received his sight. + +There were two others who laughed after Mrs. Wheelwright left the room, +for they knew it was neither Penloe or Stella that healed the man, but +the power of the Blessed Infinite Spirit in both of them, they being +only the instruments through which the healing power was manifested. + +The evening of Stella's wedding day the two were sitting on the porch. +It was just as lovely a night as it was on the night when they were +plighted. They had been engaged in conversation for a while, when Penloe +said: "Stella, I have not given you any wedding ring. It is not because +I have not got one for you, but I wish to give you the history of the +ring before presenting you with it." + +Stella said: "You will have a very ready listener, Penloe, I can assure +you." + +Penloe said: "While attending the University in Calcutta I made the +acquaintance of a young Hindu, who was a student there also. He was in +some respects the brightest of the students, for he had the faculty for +mastering his studies quickly and perfectly, was also very original in +character and full of resources. Though he was a born student, yet he +was well-balanced and did not always have his head in books or in the +clouds; neither did he indulge in social dissipation. While being social +in his nature, he always took sufficient physical recreation to keep +himself well and strong, but nothing more; he never let it get away with +him, as many do in the Western World. He lived up to the highest light, +regulating his conduct so as to make himself strong intellectually and +spiritually. I found him a very interesting companion, and our +friendship was of a very profitable character, in this way, that when we +saw the faults in each other we did in love what we could to help one +another. To overcome our weak points, we coöperated together for the +highest object, and it was our sacred purpose to always touch the +highest and noblest in each other's nature; and to-night it is with +pleasure that I call to mind the sweetness of his disposition, the +sincerity of his purpose, and the brilliancy of his mind. + +"His family had outgrown caste, and when I first visited them at their +home I was introduced to his father and mother, also to a sister about +eighteen years of age, who made up the family. I noticed what a peculiar +expression passed over his sister's face when she looked into mine for +the first time. She had a dreamy, far-away look about her, and then +again I noticed later that she had the very opposite expression on her +physiognomy, being all 'right here'; intensely so, taking in everything +around her. I was very much attracted towards her in this way, not as a +youth would be towards a maiden--there was none of that feeling +whatever. I felt she was a mystic, a powerful one, and she interested me +greatly. When sitting in the room with all the members of the family, I +noticed at times she would eye me very closely; and if I returned the +gaze I saw such an expression in her face as if she did not belong here +at all, but was living on some other planet. She talked very little, and +such a thing as my coming near to her in conversation, or her saying +anything to bring herself near to me, was not to be expected, with her +peculiar makeup, and yet when she would give me her hand in receiving +me, she had such a peculiar sweet way of welcoming me, that one might +think we were very near to each other. And when I took leave of her with +the other members of the family, her partings seemed very pleasant as +she gave me her hand and wished me good-night. + +"Those eyes of hers seemed as if you could see worlds in them, and when +you looked into them your mind seemed taken away from everything about +you, and you would have to check yourself or else you would feel as if +you had left the body and were passing through the ethereal regions. + +"She had a remarkable organism, being so very fine in quality. The first +impression one would have on seeing her would be that of distinction, +she was so superior in her makeup to all her kind. Her features were +finely moulded, and her whole contour was perfect. She had a wonderful +presence; so much silent power went with it. I could not help being +conscious of it when in the room with her. I felt as if something of an +elevating nature was coming from her to me all the time. I always felt a +better man after having been in her company. And before I attained to +the plane I am now on, when at times I would be depressed or discouraged +and went into her presence with those feelings, it would not be long +before they left me and I felt as if I was the strongest and most +hopeful man living. She being the most powerful of the two brought me +into her condition and made me feel strong, like a giant refreshed with +new wine. + +"After visiting at her house many times, I conceived the impression that +for some cause she took a great interest in me, not because I was a +young man, but for some other reason. + +"Sometimes I would visit the family and she would not be at home, and +late in the evening she would return all alone. She would go anywhere at +any time. I have seen her late at night walking through the slums of +Calcutta all alone. She was free in the truest sense of the word, not +being in bondage to her material form, or in recognizing family or +social standing; she had no superstitions; she was above and beyond them +all. I noticed she was loved very much by her parents and brother, and +seemed to possess a deep affectionate nature herself. Her peculiar +qualities were fully recognized by the family, she having no household +duties to perform, only as the notion might take her. + +"I was always a welcomed guest at the house, and I felt as much at home +as if I were a member of their family. + +"After I had known the family about a year, I called at the house one +evening just about the time it was getting dark. Wavernee was sitting in +the door-way. She seemed very pleased to see me and invited me in, +saying: 'The other members of the family are all away.' + +"The room we went into we entered at its center, and she turned to the +left and walked to the end of the room. She gave me a seat so that I sat +at the extreme end of the room. She closed the door and took a low seat +on my left. To my great surprise, she commenced a conversation about +common things, and talked as interestingly as any intelligent young lady +would talk. We chatted about fifteen minutes, and by that time the room +was dark so I could not see one object from another. + +"She became silent and I received an impression that she did not wish me +to speak, so we both sat in the silence for about ten minutes, when the +room became illuminated and she herself seemed to be the brightest +object in it. I never saw a room so bright as that in my life. After a +few minutes everything in the room appeared dark except the wall at the +further end; and where it was light there seemed to be a white covering +such as is used for magic lantern pictures. I was looking at it when +there appeared a picture which covered the whole cloth. It represented +men and women of all tribes and nations bending beneath heavy loads of +bondage. I observed their bondages were not all the same. There was a +difference in the kind of bondages the men were bound with to those that +held women in slavery. Then I saw that the men had some bondages the +same as the women had. I observed the bondages of the women were not all +the same. For instance, the American's woman's bondage in some respects +was different from that of the Japanese woman, and the bondages of the +Hindu woman were not the same as that of the Chinese woman. It was a sad +sight. As they were all presented, they appeared to be living, moving +figures. + +"There were a few Hindu men and women who were free, going among them +trying to lift them out of bondage, but it was very hard, for they +seemed to love being in bondage. Only those who were tired of their +bondages were helped by the workers. Wavernee kept her eyes intently on +the picture all the time, and when she turned her face towards me the +scene disappeared and the whole room became dark. In about ten minutes +the whole room was again illuminated and I never saw Wavernee look so +much like the embodiment of perfect love as she did then. She seemed as +if she had been touched with a live coal from off the altar, the sacred +fire was so bright in her eyes. The atmosphere was one of sacred +blissful love. Whatever there was of lukewarmness or indifference in me +in regard to humanity was licked up, as it were, by a fiery flame of +love. I felt as if my whole nature had become white-heat with love. The +most miserable creature seemed dear and sweet to me. + +"While I was in that frame of mind the room became dark, except the +further end, and I saw another living scene on the canvas. It was +Wavernee walking along a hot dusty road a few miles from Calcutta. She +seemed indifferent to the heat and dust, and was looking exactly the +same as I have just described her. As she was walking along, I noticed a +little way in front of her was a young woman sitting down on the side of +the road with only a few dirty rags on her poor body. Her face and form +showed marks of sin and disease. When she saw Wavernee coming near her, +she put her hands to her face and held her head down. O, the apparent +contrast between the two! Wavernee sat down beside the young woman and +took one of her hands and held it awhile, meanwhile talking to her. Then +she opened a basket she had and took out a bottle and poured the +contents into a glass and gave it to her to drink. There was a label on +the bottle and glass which read 'love,' and the young woman drank the +glass empty. After awhile Wavernee stood up and the young woman stood +up, too, and as she did so her rags fell from her and she was clothed +like Wavernee, and when I looked into her face I saw no difference +between them. + +"The scene disappeared, but it was quickly replaced by another which +represented Wavernee and some other native workers clearing large tracts +of land. Then they ploughed and harrowed it. As fast as they prepared +one tract of land for the seed they commenced clearing another piece. +On the land that had been cleared I saw myself and some one else with me +that had a veil over head and face, so I could not see who the person +was; but we were both engaged in the same occupation of sowing seed, +each one of us having a large measure containing the seed. On the +outside of the measure was the word truth. We would sow one piece of +land and then go to another piece that had been cleared and sow that. On +the ground that I had sowed, a crop came up in the form of many men and +some women who were all out of bondage. They were free. Where the person +with me had sowed, there was a crop of many women and some few men who +were out of bondage. They were all free. I wish I could convey to your +mind how happy and joyful they all were. + +"As this last scene disappeared the whole room became illuminated. +Wavernee looked at me with eyes of celestial love and said: 'Penloe, +thou hast seen all. What appeared before thy vision will convey to thy +mind more than any words of mine. Before you is a future that angels +might desire. Be true to thy highest light, then wilt thou realize what +thy eyes have seen. Your co-worker is one that I love. She knows me not, +but I know her, and when she becomes one with you in your life and work +of love, give her this ring (taking it from her finger and giving it to +me) with my love and tell her to accept it as a symbol of your union in +love and work. + +"'This ring has a history. It was worn by a beautiful young Indian +princess who, after having been a wife to a prince for two years, became +disgusted with her life, and, weary of all the luxuries of the court, +she left one night in disguise, saying to herself: "I can live here no +longer, for I am a greater slave than the poorest of the Pariah women. +My nature cries out for freedom. I would rather be free in poverty than +be a slave in luxury. Give me freedom or give me death!" She lived for +many years in the realization of her own highest nature. She looked on +all about her as being God and showed that love and reverence for all +as she did for the Divine Being. Her whole life was devoted to being a +blessing to many others; particularly to the elevation of those of her +own sex. Just before she died she gave it to my Guru's (Spiritual +Teacher) mother, who was then a young woman, saying: "Wear this as a vow +that thy life will be consecrated to lifting thy sisters out of +bondage." My Guru gave it to me with its history, saying: "My mother +lived and died for woman's freedom. May you live for the same noble +purpose."' Then Wavernee rose and took from a shelf this beautiful +little box, saying: 'Keep the ring in this box.' + +"After I thanked her she said: 'This is the last time you will see me, +for I am going away and when I return you will have left this country.' +I received a mental suggestion not to ask any questions, and there +seemed to be nothing left for me to say, but to part with such a sweet +exalted character in the way and manner that two spiritual friends +should take leave of each other. + +"Stella, she was the greatest mystic I ever met in that land of +mystics." + +When Penloe finished his narrative he looked at Stella and saw she was +deeply moved. Neither spoke for a few minutes, then Stella leaned her +head towards Penloe and said in a soft touching voice: + +"Penloe, dear, I have just seen Wavernee. Oh, what a beautiful loving +soul she is; her countenance is something wonderful! For a few moments I +seemed to be with her in a sacred room in her home in India. As I +entered she came forward and greeted me in a most affectionate manner. +Leading me to a small altar at one end of the room, we both kneeled for +devotion, after which I looked up and saw on the wall the inscription: +'Our lives are consecrated to the Lord in His humanity." + +"After I read that everything disappeared, and I realized I was here on +this porch with you, my mind being full of your exceedingly interesting +story." + +After a pause Penloe remarked: "I am not surprised, Stella, at the +experience you have just had of seeing Wavernee, for I have seen her +twice since I have been in Orangeville. It is a gift which comes to some +in their higher unfoldment. I am very glad you saw Wavernee, for it is +an inspiration to see such a person." + +Stella replied: "Yes, Penloe, she is all you have described her to me, +and much more. Her presence has a remarkable power of elevating. She is +my ideal, for she is highly gifted and still only full of pure love. +What you have related and what I have seen has been a great revelation +to me, and fills me with joy in the thought of being your co-worker in +living the life as Wavernee saw us as dispensers of truth, and helpers +of humanity through love." + +Penloe said: "Yes, dear Stella, it is a great blessing and privilege to +be of service to others. It is the test of greatness of character; for +Jesus said: 'He that is greatest of all must be servant of all.'" + +After a little silence in which both were thinking about the great work +before them, Stella's attention was called to the box containing the +ring, by Penloe handing it to her. On taking it she said: "Is not the +box beautiful?" Then opening it she took out the ring. It was a cinnamon +garnet ring, made from Ceylon stone, with hieroglyphics outside and +inside beautifully cut. It was a fine piece of skilled workmanship. + +Stella said: "Penloe, do tell me the meaning of the hieroglyphics on the +ring. I am very desirous to know." + +Penloe said: "Outside it reads, 'All are one in God.' Inside it reads, +'The fire of spirituality burns by continual devotion.'" + +Stella remarked: "How true is the beautiful thought contained in the +outside inscription, 'All are one in God,' for it makes our own union +feel sacred and precious as well as bringing us close to all others. The +inside inscription is an exceedingly fine one, 'The fire of spirituality +burns by continual devotion.' Because without devotion the spiritual +life droops and withers as a flower without water." Continuing, she +said: "There are two kinds of devotion, one consisting of heartfelt +prayer and singing from the soul, sacred hymns; and the other kind +consists in rendering service to others. They are both essential for +spiritual growth." + +Stella was very much interested in the history of the ring, and putting +it on her finger she said: "What a true symbol of the nature of our +union is the ring. I am so glad it is not made of gold and set with +diamonds. If it were I never could wear it, for it would neutralize all +the good I could do. Supposing it had been one of those very handsome +gold rings set with diamonds such as Indian princesses wear. Every +lady's eye, young and old, would be on the ring, while their minds would +be speculating on its great value, and their thoughts so taken up with +its beauty that what I might say to instruct them would have very little +effect, and even the influence of my own life would be small. No, +Penloe, I never would wear a costly ring, not even if you gave it to me; +for it would have a tendency to keep myself and all who saw it in +bondage. This ring is not costly or very attractive, but its history is +rich and the truths cut into it are precious." Here she kissed Penloe +for the ring and spoke again in loving terms concerning Wavernee. + +That evening the moon looked down on no happier couple than Penloe and +Stella, for they were both free and attracted towards them all that was +joyous and beautiful in the Universe. + +On that porch so sacred in blissful associations, before retiring, they +spent a few minutes in silent prayer, after which I heard them sing so +softly and sweetly, their voices blending in harmony and melody. I never +heard such singing before. I looked up in the starry firmament, and did +my eyes see some of the angelic host looking down on them as they sang? + + "If such the sweetness of the streams + What must the fountain be!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE HERNE PARTY. + + +Mr. and Mrs. Herne had become greatly interested in Stella, and they +made their house feel like a home to her whenever she favored them with +a visit, which she did many times previous to her living with Penloe in +the mountains. They were very much attracted towards her and loved her, +for she always brought sunshine with her, and her charming presence, her +agreeable manners, together with her fresh, bright, original character, +so sweet and beautiful, could not but help making her a very desirable +member of the Herne family, for they had come to look upon her as such +since her engagement to Penloe, for Penloe to them was a dear brother, +and now they looked upon Stella as a dear sister. + +On the evening that Penloe was relating the story of the ring to Stella, +Charles and Clara Herne were sitting on the porch enjoying the beautiful +evening and entertaining themselves in a conversation about the newly +married couple who were expected to come to-morrow and be their guests +for several days. + +While they were talking about the leading part Stella had taken on the +sex question, Clara said to her husband: "If Penloe had a wife made to +order he could not have had a more suitable mate than Stella. That match +was made in heaven." + +Her husband, who had picked up some of Penloe's ideas, said: "Why, +Clara, she was made to order for him." + +Clara laughed and said: "Well, Charles, do you think I was made to order +for you?" + +"Certainly, and I was made to order for you, my dear," replied he. + +Mrs. Herne said: "It is very easy to believe that persons so suited to +each other as you and I, and Penloe and Stella, were made to order for +each other, but how about Fred Thaxter and his wife, who were married a +year ago? Mrs. Simmons called on me yesterday and told me she had heard +that Fred was about to apply for a divorce." + +Clara said: "I feel sorry for them both. Charles, so far, you and I have +not taken any active part in the sex reform movement which has been just +started. While we are of the same mind as Penloe and Stella in thought, +yet we have so far been silent, except in the circle of our own home, +and I think the time has come for us to show our colors." + +Charles said: "My dear, I am ready to hoist the flag whenever you say +the word." + +Clara made answer: "I say the word now, Charles." + +Charles said: "We will have a talk with Penloe and Stella and see what +way we can help the movement forward." + +Clara said: "I think, Charles, we had better retire early to-night, for +to-morrow Penloe and Stella will be with us for several days, and we +never retire early when they are our guests, and the day after to-morrow +we give a party in their honor." + +Early next day, according to an understanding, Mr. Herne sent a man with +his two-seated surrey to Mr. Wheelwright's for his guests, and about +eleven the handsome span of blacks were reined up in front of the Herne +residence, and there were two warm hearts on the porch to greet the +newly married couple. Charles Herne came forward and received Stella as +if she had been his own sister, and she kissed him as if he were her own +brother, and Clara Herne received Penloe in the same way, for they lived +what they taught, and Penloe and Stella called them Charles and Clara. + +Just after dinner Clara was talking about the invited guests to the +party to-morrow, saying that she had received a note from Mrs. Hardy, a +lady who had been married about five years, which read that she could +not come to-morrow as she was sick with her old complaint, but she +wants you both to call on her before starting on your wedding tour. + +Continuing, Clara said: "How much that poor lady has suffered. I have +heard her talk very strongly of her mother for being so close-mouthed +with her concerning matters that she ought to have enlightened her +about. I remember calling on her at one time and found her lying on the +lounge. At times she was in great pain. I was telling her about the +interest which had just begun to be aroused in the sex reform movement. +She said: 'Oh, if I could only be put back ten years with the knowledge +I have, what an active part I would take in the movement, for I don't +want other girls and women to suffer what I have, through ignorance and +fear.'" + +Penloe said: "Stella, we had better call on Phebe this afternoon, for +neither of us have seen her since we lived our mountain life, and we +will have more time to-day than later." + +Stella answered: "I am ready any time." + +Charles Herne asked Penloe: "What time would you like to leave here?" + +Penloe said: "About two." + +"Well," said Charles, "I will have the boy bring the team round for you +at that time." + +It was two o'clock but the team had not yet been brought to the front of +the house. Charles Herne had gone out to the orchard and Clara was +elsewhere in the house. Penloe and Stella were in the parlor. + +Penloe said: "Stella, I will go up to the barn and see if the team is +ready." So out he went. + +While Penloe had gone to the barn for the team, Clara Herne entered the +parlor, with a paper in her hand, and called Stella's attention to a +criticism on the sex reform movement. + +When Clara entered the parlor, Stella was standing looking at an oil +painting on the wall. Stella took the paper, and sat down on the nearest +chair. Mrs. Herne went out in the kitchen, and there was Mrs. Wentworth +and her child, who was about three years of age. Mrs. Wentworth's +husband was poor, and they lived on a small, rented place, near the +Herne ranch. Mrs. Wentworth belonged to that type of woman who has very +little inclination for solving the problems of the Universe or settling +the affairs of the nation, but who seem always to have a great amount of +leisure to devote to the doings of her neighbors. It was seldom that +Mrs. Herne had company but that Mrs. Wentworth found some kind of errand +to her house. + +One day at dinner Mrs. Herne, in a humorous way, said: "I think Mrs. +Wentworth is owing me for about twenty-seven lots of yeast, forty-two +little lots of butter, sufficient matches to light all the fires in +Orangeville for six months, enough loaves of bread to feed a multitude, +for she often is out of bread or had bad luck with her baking. I have +let her have more milk than would be required to drown herself in, and, +as for coal-oil, why the quantity that she has borrowed would illuminate +many dark places of the earth; and my tea and coffee seem just suited to +her taste." Then, after a pause, she said: "Well, the poor woman is +welcome to all she has had." + +"Yes," said her husband, "they have a hard time." + +To-day she came to get Mrs. Herne to read a letter she had received, +saying: "There are some parts that neither my husband or myself can make +out." + +While Mrs. Herne was engaged in reading the letter, Mrs. Wentworth's +child, seeing the door leading from one room to another open, took the +opportunity of doing a little exploring. It was not long before he was +in the parlor. When he entered Stella just looked up from the paper she +was reading, to see who it was, and went on with her reading, which she +was absorbed in. She had seen the child about the house on other +occasions. Now, where Stella was sitting, there was another chair at the +back of Stella's chair, and this vacant one was against the wall. On the +wall just over the chair was a pretty shelf, with a fancy +bright-colored ball fringe all around it, which attracted the child's +attention. So he climbed up in the chair, and when he stood up on the +seat he saw on the shelf a small, fancy, cut-glass bottle, with a very +shining silver-like top to it; so he put his hand out and took it from +the shelf, after which he turned round and faced the back of Stella's +chair. In passing the bottle from one hand to the other, in order to +help himself down with his possessions, his faculty of weight not being +as yet well trained, he let go of the bottle before he had got a firm +hold of it with the other hand, and the result was that it fell on +Stella's shoulder. Fortunately the stopper did not come off till it +reached her lap, when she received the whole contents of a bottle of ink +on her wedding dress. + +Just about that time Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I must go and +see what that child is doing;" and she arrived in the room just as the +bottle of ink fell into Stella's lap. Mrs. Wentworth took the situation +in at a glance and the hot blood instantly flew to her face, and hotter +words came from her mouth; and, among other things she said, was: + +"My God! that brat of mine has spoiled your fine, white dress;" and she +took the boy, and was spanking him amidst hot words and the cries of the +child. + +Stella said: "Please don't hurt the child; it's nothing, it's nothing, +Mrs. Wentworth." But the mother paid no attention to Stella's protests, +but left the room with the child just as Mrs. Herne entered. + +Clara said: "Why, Stella, dear, what is the matter?" Stella laughed, and +said: "I have got some new figures on my wedding dress. Don't you think +they are pretty?" + +On seeing Stella's skirt and underskirt all saturated with ink in +places, Clara was not quite prepared to enter into the same laughable +mood as her guest, but said: + +"Stella, dear, how well you take it! I wish I could be that way." + +To which Stella replied: "I would not have a disturbed mind for a dozen +of the best dresses ever made. Clara, nothing is so dear and sacred to +me as 'the peace of mind which passeth all understanding.'" + +Clara said: "I see you kept the ink from going on my new carpet, by +rolling your skirts up. It's just like your thoughtfulness, dear." + +Mrs. Wentworth came running into the room, saying: "Penloe is waiting +outside with the team. What will you do?" Stella smiling, went to the +door, and holding out the front of her dress said, laughing, "Penloe, +how do you like these hieroglyphics on my dress?" + +Penloe laughed, and said: "They are different to any I have ever seen +deciphered." + +In about fifteen minutes Stella took her seat beside Penloe, with some +new garments on, which she had brought with her, and they went on their +way to Mrs. Harding's. + +After they were gone, Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I never seen +anything like those two in all my life. If that had happened to me I +would have been so mad that I would have cursed and swore, and felt like +warming the child's hide. And as for my husband, do you think he would +have laughed and sat in the buggy, like a hen on her nest? No, he would +have been in and out of the buggy many times; every minute he would be +looking up at the house to see if I was coming, and now and then calling +out to ask me if it took me all day to change my dress. Then he would +think he had something to do about the horse's head, then back to his +seat, then out again, doing something to the back of the buggy, then he +would look up at the house again, with a frown on his face, and call +out, 'Are you never coming?' He would be as restless as a fox in a +cage." + +Mrs. Herne smiled at the description of Mr. Wentworth's disposition, as +given by his wife, and said, in a quiet tone: "We all need more patience +and self-control." + +On the following day all were very busy in the Herne household, making +preparations for the party. Penloe and Stella attended to the +rearranging of the furniture and decorating the rooms, while Clara +superintended the supplies for the table. The guests arrived a few +minutes after five. To Clara Herne's great surprise, the last guest to +arrive came in the form of Mrs. Harding. Clara Herne, in receiving her, +said: "What, Phebe, I am so glad you are able to come." + +When they were all alone in the room where the ladies left their wraps +and hats, Clara said: "Do tell me, Phebe, what has made you so much +better, for after reading your note I had no idea of seeing you to-day." + +"No more had I when I wrote the note," said Phebe. "But, Clara, have you +not heard? Did not Penloe or Stella tell you?" + +"No," said Clara; "when I asked them how you were, Stella told me what +you said about your condition when she asked you how you were." + +"Well, Clara, I will tell you," said Mrs. Harding. "Penloe and Stella +were with me about an hour. After they had been in the room with me +about ten minutes, they talked very little. About half an hour +afterwards such a sweet feeling of peace and rest came over me; all pain +had left me, and when they said 'good-bye,' I felt healed and I keep +feeling better all the time. Clara, my heart is full of joy and +gratitude to that man of God and his angel wife. What beautiful +countenances they have." + +At half past five the company sat down at a long table which was +tastefully spread with viands and dainties to tempt the appetite of the +most fastidious epicure. Penloe sat on Clara's right, and Stella sat on +the left of Charles Herne. Four of Mr. Herne's men waited on the table; +so well did they perform this service that a stranger could not have +told them from professional waiters. + +The meal was thoroughly enjoyed amidst mirth and laughter, wit and +humor, jokes and short stories, for the whole company were in the best +of spirits. + +After supper some of the guests sat on the porch, others walked about +the grounds, and some played croquet. Among the invited guests were +Prof. French and wife, a couple who had been married about a year; they +were both professional musicians, living in San Francisco, and were +visiting their relatives, the King family, and they received an +invitation with the King family to the party. + +Among those who were sitting on the porch were Mr. and Mrs. Bates. They +had always been very friendly with the Hernes and lived only about two +miles distant from them. + +A little later in the evening the croquet players and those who had been +strolling about the grounds were coming towards the house, just as Mr. +Bates was relating to Mr. and Mrs. Herne what to him had been a very +trying experience. Mr. Bates always called Mr. Herne Charles. He said: + +"Charles, I don't know that I would have been here to-night if it had +not been for my wife." + +"Why, how is that?" said Mr. Herne. + +Mr. Bates replied: "Well, I will tell you. This morning, Weeks' boy was +playing with my boy in the barn. There were a number of sacks of barley +and wheat on the floor. The boys got to scuffling, one boy trying to +throw the other down. At last my boy got Weeks' boy down and gave him a +blow and ran out of the barn with Weeks' boy after him. They both ran +out into the orchard and then over the fence to Page's barn. Now, when +Weeks' boy ran after my lad he left the barn door open. There was no one +about the barn at the time the boys left. My man and I were at the +further end of the ranch fixing the line fence. When we came up at noon +we found the barn door open and that fine four-year-old colt of mine and +a lot of hogs were all in the barn eating grain. They had torn every +sack open and had eaten more than half of it. The colt had eaten so much +as to make him bloat. When I saw it all I felt so mad I had to use some +hot words. When I went to the house I told my wife about it. At first +she seemed put out, but when she saw how wrathy I was she tried to cool +me down. I asked where the boy was, and she said, 'Weeks' boy was here +and asked for our boy to go to his place to play and have dinner. They +said they were going to get Page's boy to play with them.' I felt so +worried about the colt and so mad at the boys I could not eat my dinner. +I told my wife I did not feel like coming here to-night, and when I said +that I saw I had made matters worse, so I went out to the barn and +worked over the colt some more. When the boy came home I had him tell me +all about it. I told him if he or any boy with him ever left the barn +door open again he would not want to sit down for a week." + +Just here Mrs. Bates said to Mrs. Herne: "Henry does take such things so +hard. It seems as if he can never get over it." + +Mr. Bates spoke up a little louder and said: "Such thoughtless, careless +doings as that are enough to make any one lose his temper. Why, I came +very near losing the colt, besides the damage the hogs did to the +grain." + +Mrs. Herne said: "Mr. Bates, I must tell you what an experience Stella +had yesterday, and see if you don't think she had something to disturb +her." + +Mr. Bates said: "Would like to hear it; misery always loves company." + +So Mrs. Herne commenced telling about the bottle of ink falling into +Stella's lap. Just as she commenced to relate the incident Penloe came +on the porch with Mrs. French, and they took a seat near Mrs. Herne. +About two minutes later Prof. French and Stella joined the group, and +before Mrs. Herne had got to that part of the story where she asks +Stella, "What is the matter?" and Stella laughed and said: "I got some +new figures on my wedding dress, don't you think they are pretty?" about +all the guests were now grouped about Mrs. Herne. They were either +sitting on the wide porch or standing near by. When Mrs. Herne had +finished, Mr. Bates said in a comical kind of way: "If that had been my +wedding dress, I would have felt so mad that I would feel like throwing +the youngster out of the window and swearing a blue streak." + +Turning to Stella, he said: "I have got no such control over myself as +you have. I wish I had." + +Mrs. French said: "Stella, how could you take it so cheerfully? Why, if +that had been my wedding dress, I would have felt too mad to speak; in +fact, I don't know just what I would do." + +Pretty Miss Grace Nettleton, a young lady full of fun and always the +life of any party, laughingly said: "As I intend to be an old maid, no +bottle of ink will ever fall on my wedding dress, but if such a thing +should happen I would feel like going to bed and having a good cry." + +Several other ladies remarked: "I don't see how Stella could have been +so peaceful and pleasant. I know I never could." + +Miss Baker, the school teacher, who had many trying pupils, remarked to +Mrs. French: "I wish I could control myself like Stella; how easy I +could govern the scholars." + +Penloe said: "Did any of you ever hear the story of Shuka?" + +Several answered: "No." + +Mrs. French said: "Do tell it, Penloe." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Herne, "we all would like to hear it." The company +became very attentive while Penloe related the following story with +telling effect: + +"There was a great sage called Vyasa.[3] This Vyasa was the writer of +the Vedanta philosophy, a holy man. His father had tried to become a +very perfect man and failed; his grandfather tried and failed; his +great-grandfather tried and failed; he himself did not succeed +perfectly, but his son Shuka was born perfect. He taught this son, and +after teaching him himself, he sent him to the court of King Janaka. He +was a great king and was called Videha. Videha means 'outside the +body.' Although a king, he had entirely forgotten that he had a body; he +was a spirit all the time. The boy was sent to be taught by him. The +king knew that Vyasa's son was coming to him to learn, so he made +certain arrangements beforehand, and when the boy presented himself at +the gates of the palace, the guards took no notice of him whatsoever. +They only gave him a place to sit, and he sat there for three days and +nights, nobody speaking to him, nobody asking who he was or whence he +was. He was the son of this great sage, his father was honored by the +whole country, and he himself was a most respectable person; yet the low +vulgar guards of the palace would take no notice of him. + +[Footnote 3: Karma Yoga, Vivekananda.] + +"After that, suddenly, the ministers of the king and all the high +officials came there and received him with the greatest honors. They +took him in and showed him into splendid rooms, gave him the most +fragrant baths and wonderful dresses, and for eight days they kept him +there in all kinds of luxury. That face did not change; he was the same +in the midst of this luxury as at the door. Then he was brought before +the king. The king was on his throne, music was playing, and dancing and +other amusements going on. The king gave him a cup of milk, full to the +brim, and asked him to go round the hall seven times without spilling a +drop. The boy took the cup and proceeded in the midst of this music and +the beautiful faces. Seven times he went round, and not a drop was +spilled. The boy's mind could not be attracted by anything in the world +unless he allowed it. And when he brought the cup to the king, the king +said to him: 'What your father has taught you and what you have learned +yourself, I only repeat; you have known the truth. Go home.'" + +When Penloe had finished Mrs. Herne said: "Thank you, Penloe, that is +very good, for it brings out the idea so well." + +Mrs. French said: "Is not that very fine, Penloe? I never heard that +thought expressed before. It is new to me." + +Dr. Finch, who was a well educated young dentist, said: "That thought, +though old to the people of the Orient, is just beginning to come to the +front in the literature of the West. I was very much gratified in +listening to Penloe." + +Saunders, the merchant, laughed and said: "If it had been me sitting at +the gate, instead of Shuka, I would have got mad in ten minutes and gone +home, if the guards had treated me in that manner." + +It began to get a little cool on the porch and the company were invited +into the large double parlors to play some games. After enjoying a +variety of games for an hour, it was proposed to have some music. The +Hernes had a fine-toned piano, and it was always kept in tune. Several +young gentlemen asked Miss Grace Nettleton for a song, and all the other +members of the company joined in the request. Miss Nettleton said she +would like some one to play the accompaniment, and Prof. French said: "I +will play for you." + +As Miss Grace Nettleton was a young lady of romantic turn of mind and +very fond of reading love stories and singing love songs, she selected +one to sing according to her taste, from which we give the following +verse: + + "Sitting on the garden gate, + Where the little butterfly reposes, + Now I hate to tell, but then I must, + 'Twas love among the roses." + +Some of the young people being delighted with that sentimental song, +called for another, for they could not think of her taking her seat +after singing only one; so she very kindly sang another. In a very soft, +sweet voice, she sang a song containing the following verse: + + "I love to think of thee, when evening closes, + Over landscapes bright and fair, + I love to think of thee when earth reposes, + To calm a grief which none can share. + When every eyelid hovers + When every heart but mine is free, + 'Tis then, O then, I love to think of thee." + +If the true feeling of one or two young gentlemen present could be told, +they certainly would like to have had Miss Grace Nettleton think of them +in that way. After receiving many compliments from the company, the +young lady took her seat. Mrs. French, who was a professional musician +like her husband, was called for and sang with fine effect, "I am +dreaming, yes I am dreaming, the happy hours away," etc, etc. Her fine +cultivated voice was much appreciated by the company and they were eager +to have Mrs. French sing again, but she wished to save her voice, and +got her husband to sing "Beautiful Isle of the Sea." His fine baritone +voice was a great treat to the guests, for it was seldom such talent as +that of himself and wife was heard in the parlors of Orangeville. + +Stella was called for and Professor French played the accompaniment, +while she in a very sweet and feeling voice sang, "Hark! I Hear an Angel +Sing." As her graceful form stood beside the instrument with her face +and eyes turned a little upwards, she seemed to be lost to everything +mundane, and when she sang those soul-melting words that she heard the +angel sing, the effect was complete, for it seemed to those present as +if it was the voice of an angel singing those words and not that of a +human being. + +The attention was so great that when she finished you could have heard a +pin drop. The effect was very fine. There were some there who will never +forget that song. Professor French and his wife were very much taken +with Stella's singing; both of them pressed her hand and thanked her for +her sweet song. They afterwards said, in all their musical career they +never heard anything to equal it of its kind. The song was entirely new +to every one present. + +Mrs. French, who was half in doubt in her own mind as to whether Penloe +had any musical talent or not, said: "Perhaps Penloe will favor us with +some music." + +Prof. French said: "Yes, Penloe, I would like to hear you very much." +Mrs. Herne laughed and said: "It seems strange to think that, though +Penloe has made many visits to our house, I never thought to ask him if +he could play, for we always have so much interesting conversation that +I never think about music." + +Stella laughed and said: "Why, Clara, I don't know myself whether Penloe +can play the piano, for he is so modest about his attainments. We have +sung together many times, but I am like you, I never thought to ask him +if he could play." Turning to Penloe, she said: "Now, Penloe, I do want +to hear you play so much"; and when he rose to take his seat at the +instrument curiosity reached its height in the minds of Mr. and Mrs. +Herne as well as Stella, so eager were they to see his personality +manifested in music. + +The eyes of each member of the company were now riveted on that +remarkable figure who had just begun to finger a few keys with one hand. +He did not do as some would-be performers sometimes do, strike eight to +ten keys as soon as they touch the piano, but, strange to say, he +commenced playing with one hand. + +We will here give the words concerning Penloe's performance as told to a +friend in San Francisco by Mrs. French in her own unique way, as +follows: + +"My husband and I being at a party one evening given by Mr. and Mrs. +Herne in Orangeville, I met a gentleman there by the name of Penloe, who +certainly is the most gifted man I ever have met in all my travels. +There is a power in his personality that is irresistible; you cannot +help being drawn towards him. But his power is of that kind that is +uplifting and elevating, and there is something very sweet in his +nature. After supper I took a little walk with him about the grounds, +and his conversation was exceedingly interesting. I will never forget +the talk I had with him. He seemed to be able to bring out of me ideas +which I had never expressed before; in fact, making me talk, as it were, +above myself. In thinking it over, I must say my own conversation was a +surprise to me; and as for him, while he does not take you all of a +sudden into great depths of thought, or attach wings to you and have you +flying through the heavens, yet he has the genius of taking the most +commonplace subjects and causing you to see such an interest and beauty +in them as you never saw before. After we all assembled in the large +double parlors and had some games, there were several who favored the +company with instrumental and vocal music, when I thought it would be no +more than proper to ask Penloe to play. After he had been seated at the +piano a few minutes, I was a little in doubt whether I had not made a +mistake in asking him, for he commenced playing with one hand and only +touching one key at a time, more like a child playing. He still went on +playing with one hand, but touching two and three keys at a time. I +noticed some ladies and gentlemen began looking at each other and then +at Penloe, hardly knowing what to make of such playing. As he proceeded +further in his performance with one hand, though the playing was simple, +yet there was a peculiarity about it that can hardly be expressed as he +went along with his apparently amateur performance. Then he used his +other hand and fingered a few more keys occasionally, and I felt an +interest growing in me, and also those around me seemed to share the +same feeling. A little later and the fingers of both hands were going a +little more rapidly over the key-board, and the childish and amateur +performer had ceased and the playing began to impress me as being that +of a young professional. I began to feel myself more drawn into the +playing, and when the playing of a young professional had given place to +the experienced professional, I was all attention; but it was not long +before the professional had disappeared and I knew that the music I was +listening to now was that of a genius. I was conscious a great master +was at the instrument, and after that I seemed not to be conscious of +the performer or those about me, and how long I was in that condition I +do not know. When I came to myself again, the music had ceased, there +was no performer there, for Penloe had left the room. + +"In talking with some others of the party about Penloe's playing, it +seemed to have produced exactly the same effect on them as it did on me. +I will, in a very inadequate way, tell you as near as I can the +impression it made upon me. I felt, when he first commenced to play in +his child-like way, as if all our minds were very much scattered; that +is, I mean as if a great separateness and distinction existed, and as he +proceeded with his playing it seemed to have the effect of collecting +our minds and bringing them together till we all seemed to be just one +mind. Then there arose in this one mind a desire, and the desire grew +till it created a disturbance, and it kept increasing and growing more +powerful till it burst into a storm of passion, and the storm became +furious within; for it seemed at times as if it would rend and tear me +to pieces, and I was about to be conquered by it. I felt like saying, +'Must I yield? Is yielding the only way out of this? Must I give way and +let it have full sway over me?' I said, 'Must I let it die out by +consuming its own self?' And as I was about to cry out in despair, +'There is no other way; I will feed the fire till there is nothing left +for it to burn;' and just as I was on the brink, on the edge of the +precipice, as it were, the fury of the storm being at its very height, +then all of a sudden I saw a light and the storm began to lose some of +its fury, and the clouds appeared not so black, and the light seemed +growing brighter. At last the storm ceased within me, and the dark +clouds were disappearing fast, till the last one had gone and a wave of +sunshine swept over my soul, and I felt like saying, 'How peaceful it is +after the storm,' and while I was enjoying that sweet feeling of peace a +change came over me, I began to be lifted, as it were out of my little +self, and myself and the world seemed to be larger than I had ever +imagined. I began, as it were, to rise, and great as the world had +grown I had grown greater still. Then I entered a much larger world than +even the great one I had lived in, and when I had outgrown that grand +world, I went into another still more beautiful, and on I went rising +out of one beautiful world into another far superior till I reached a +condition that human language cannot convey the blissful state of the +soul in me. Oh, the happiness I then realized. I shall never forget. My +husband, in speaking of the piece Penloe played, said: 'That music was +never composed on earth, it was born in heaven,' Mr. Herne heard my +husband make that remark, and said, 'In order to play that kind of +music, you have got to live in the same world as Penloe does. That is +how it has its birth.'" + +It is true, as Mrs. French told her friend, that after the music had +lost some of its power over her she realized that Penloe had left the +room. The piano being near the door, which was open, and no one sitting +between the door and the piano, when Penloe ceased playing he quietly +left the room and sat in a chair on the porch. About five minutes later, +a soft footstep was heard on the porch and the sound of a light rustle +of a dress, for Stella had taken a seat beside Penloe. His performance +at the piano had stirred the dear girl's nature to its greatest depths +and also had scaled its lofty heights. On that porch, gazing at the +grand canopy of the heavens, those two souls listened to such strains of +music as only the purified hear. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A VISIT FROM BARKER AND BROOKES. + + +About ten o'clock the next morning after the party, Mr. Herne was in the +front yard, superintending some work, when he saw a buggy coming towards +his house and he recognized the occupants as being Mr. Herbert Barker +and Mr. Stanley Brookes, of Roseland. When the team stopped in front of +the house. Mr. Herne was there to receive the two gentlemen. + +After shaking hands and exchanging a few pleasant words, Mr. Barker +asked: "Are Penloe and Stella here?" + +Mr. Herne said: "Yes, they are, come in, gentlemen," and gave them seats +in the parlor, saying, "You had better stay to dinner, and I will have a +man take care of your team," an invitation which they gladly accepted. +Mr. Herne entered the sitting-room to tell Penloe and Stella that Barker +and Brookes were in the parlor waiting to see them. Since those two +gentlemen had become Stella's co-workers for sex reform consequently +they had seen much of each other, and had come to a mutual understanding +that they would lay aside all formalities and act as brother and sister; +therefore, instead of addressing each other as Mr. or Mrs., they called +each other by their given names. + +When Penloe and Stella entered the parlor, the two gentlemen rose from +their seats and came forward to tender their congratulations to the +newly married couple. After a lively social chat, Stanley Brookes made +known the object of their morning call in the following words. Looking +at Stella, he said: "Since you were with us last in Roseland, we have +been receiving information through various channels concerning certain +persons, in a number of towns and cities, who may be considered +advanced enough to profit by our literature. In most cases the persons +receiving it have written for more, to circulate among their friends. +Since sending a second lot, we have been in receipt of a number of +letters, like the following, and here Brookes took one from a large +package of letters, and read it to Penloe and Stella. It was as follows: + + "LOS ANGELES, Cal. + "_Stanley Brookes, Esq.,_ + "_Roseland, Cal.:_ + + "DEAR SIR: The literature which you kindly sent me I + placed where I knew it would do the most good. It gives + me pleasure to inform you that the California idea is + gaining ground here, and interest is growing faster + than I anticipated. I was not aware there were so many + ready for the sex reform thought; but in talking with + some of the more advanced, they said that they had done + a little thinking along this line for some time, but + their ideas were only half formed, and this reading + matter was just what they needed to let the light into + their minds. They are all now anxious to have a + meeting, and want to know if you could get Penloe and + Stella to come here and speak. They think the largest + hall in this city would not hold the crowd that would + want to hear and see those two + much-talked-of-and-written-about persons. I will see + that all their expenses are paid, if you will see to + getting them here. I know if they come it will give the + movement a big lift. Write as soon as you know if they + are coming. + + "Yours for Reform, + "HAROLD CHAMBERS." + +At the conclusion of reading the letter Brookes said: "It seems that +some of our literature got into the State of Colorado. The papers in +that State called it the 'California Idea,' and as the 'C.I.' began to +grow they called it the 'California Movement.' Some of the papers in +this State have used the same expression, and the people in California +seem to be pleased with the names given the new sex thought." + +Stella laughed, and said: "Well, Stanley, I rather like the names C.I. +and C.M. Don't you, Penloe?" + +Penloe said: "Yes, the term or name 'Sex Reform Thought' I think very +ambiguous, but C.I. and C.M. are names which convey to the mind the +ideas they are intended to express." + +Brookes said: Stella, I will read you another letter I received from a +friend of mine in Bakersfield: + + "BAKERSFIELD, Cal. + "_Stanley Brookes, Esq.,_ + "_Roseland, Cal.:_ + + "DEAR FRIEND BROOKES: Yes, it is just as you say, + Bakersfield may be a very fast town, but there are some + people here who are ripe for the 'C. Movement.' My + experience and what I see here about me every day have + made me so sick of the old ideas concerning sex that it + does me good to see the interest people are taking in + the literature you sent me. One woman told me that the + pamphlet I gave her had been read by nine persons. Say, + old boy, don't you think you could get Penloe and + Stella to come here and wake us up a little more. My, + they would be a drawing-card! I will see that they are + not out anything by coming. Now, do your level best to + get them here, for they would start the ball a-rolling + in fine shape. + + "Yours for the 'C.I.,' + "ARTHUR PAINE." + +Holding up the package of letters, Brookes said: "Here are letters from +Ventura, San José, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Oakland, +Sacramento, and a number of other places, all asking the same question, +'Could I get you both to come to their places to speak.' They all seem +so anxious to see and hear the leaders of the great C.M., and that is +why Herbert and I are here this morning to see if you both will accept +these pressing invitations to speak in a cause which is so dear to you." + +Stella said: "I appreciate your kind thoughtfulness in coming out here +to see us, and thus give us an opportunity of talking the matter over +together." Then she was silent, and Barker and Brookes both said +afterwards they never saw Stella look so serious and sober since they +knew her as she looked then. It seemed as if a struggle was going on +within her. After a few minutes' silence, there seemed to be a feeling +in Stella's voice as she spoke. Looking straight at the two young men +before her, she said: "To you I can speak in confidence. My aunt (Mrs. +Marston) has known for a year or two that I had a great desire to travel +and see the world. Since I first met Penloe that desire has grown much +stronger. On my wedding day, aunt gave me a bank book with ten thousand +dollars placed to my credit, saying it was to be used for the purpose of +enjoying our honeymoon on a long journey around the world. I can hardly +tell you how delighted I was when I thought what had been only a dream +to me was about to be realized. Next week we were going to Roseland to +visit aunt, then we were going abroad. Yes, Penloe and I have had such +delightful talks about the countries we were going to visit. We talked +much about some of the places and people in India we expected to see. +Penloe has told me about the Sannyasins and the great Yogis of India, +saying he could arrange matters so that we could live with some of them +for a while. The thought of seeing and talking with those wonderful +spiritual giants has kept me awake at night, my mind filled with joyous +thoughts. He said, 'The great Yogi Kattakhan has conquered all nature, +and at any time he could put himself in a mental condition so that he +could give the contents of any book in any part of the world.' + +"I remember the last time I was with you in Roseland, both of you were +telling me you had read Burnette's book on 'The Freedom of the Women of +Tiestan,' also Wharburton's 'The Land of Surprises.' Well, we had +decided to visit the city of Semhee, in Tiestan, and see those +remarkable people. Till now I had not thought of there being anything to +prevent our going." + +Barker said: "Well, Stella, all we had heard was that you were married, +and we did not know anything about your contemplated tour." + +Stella said: "It was quite right for you to come and see us, and I am +very glad you have. Of course, we intended calling on you both before we +left for the Orient. Now, what I have told you is that you may see and +know exactly how we are situated in regard to accepting the invitation +to speak in the various places. The C.M. is dear to me, yes, very dear. +I rejoice in the progress the movement is making through the efforts of +you both, and before giving you an answer I must go and think it over, +so you will please excuse me." + +As her graceful figure was leaving the room, she said: "Penloe, come to +our room about fifteen minutes before dinner. Clara told me that they +were going to have dinner at one o'clock to-day." + +After Stella had left the room, Penloe chatted with the young men about +the C.M., and then said: "Would you like to take a walk about the +place?" and they both said, "Yes, this is our first visit to Treelawn." + +This was the first time Barker and Brookes had met Penloe. They had +heard him deliver his address in Roseland, and were now pleased to have +the opportunity of enjoying his company. Penloe was about their age, and +the three became interested in relating some of their college +experiences. Barker and Brookes were eager to have Penloe tell them all +about the Hindu students, and what kind of men the Hindu professors are. +They had many a laugh while Penloe was relating some experiences which +seemed very peculiar to them. Penloe's interesting conversation had made +time pass very rapidly with them, and it was near the dinner hour before +they were aware of it. + +Penloe said: "Please excuse me, I hear Stella calling." Taking out his +watch he said: "It is about time I was in the room; I did not think it +was so late." + +After Penloe had left them, Barker said to Brookes: "Did you hear Stella +calling Penloe?" + +"No," said Brookes, "did you?" + +"No, I never heard her voice," said Barker, "but what did he mean by +saying she called him?" + +"He meant she called him by what they call mental telegraphy," said +Brookes. + +When Stella left the parlor and went to her room and had taken a seat, +her mind was filled with many conflicting thoughts and emotions. She +said to herself: "I was so unprepared for this; it was only last night I +remarked to Penloe, in about two weeks we would be on the ocean going to +Japan." "And, why can you not go?" said a powerful voice within her. +"You surely are not going to disappoint your aunt, are you, by not +going, after she has shown such love towards you as to give you ten +thousand dollars to travel on?" A little voice spoke within her and +said: "Are you and Penloe not the leaders of the C.M., and would it be +right for you to leave just as an interest is being awakened?" The +powerful voice said: "Stella, this is your wedding tour, and you have +accepted the money given you to go and you would not be doing yourself +justice to stay at home now." The little voice said: "Stella, what +effect do you think your influence would have on Barker and Brookes and +other young workers, if they see you indifferent to the calls? You have +always talked as if you would be willing to sacrifice everything for the +cause which is so dear to you." The strong voice said: "Yes, but if you +put off going now you will have to return the money to your aunt, and +when you are ready to go you may not have the money to go with." The +little voice said: "Stella, can you not give up the pleasure of a +wedding tour for the sake of helping others out of bondage into freedom, +thus making their lives happier and brighter?" The powerful voice said: +"It is only idle curiosity on the part of the people wanting to see you. +Do not be influenced by them; just think how it will help you in your +future labors to have visited the Oriental countries and sat at the feet +of those great Spiritual luminaries of India. If you go now, you have +got the money and you have got Penloe, who is the most interesting +traveling companion you could have. He knows many languages and can +master the Japanese and Chinese in a month or two. If you don't go now, +but postpone it till you think you can go, then perhaps Penloe might be +dead and how could you enjoy traveling without him?" That suggestion +touched Stella very deeply. After awhile the little voice said: "Stella, +dear, have the people of Japan, of China, of Persia, or of India sent an +invitation to come and speak to them? Are the great Sannyasins and Yogis +looking forward to receiving a visit from you? If the people of the +Orient had given you a special call, it would be right for you to go +now. They have not called you at all; but the people of California have. +They want you to follow up the grand noble work you so heroically +commenced, a work so dear to you that you were willing to make every +sacrifice in order to be true to yourself and thus free others from +bondage. Go into the silence, Stella, ask the Blessed Spirit for light +and knowledge and he will show you which path to choose." + +And that is just what Stella did. When she came out of the silence her +face was radiant and her mind settled and clear. + +When Penloe entered the room Stella spoke in a serious tone and said: "I +have half a mind to be just a wee bit put out with you, because you have +acted so indifferently in regard to our wedding tour. Why, it does not +seem to concern you whether we go or stay here." With a half twinkle in +her eye she said: "I must say, you don't act like most men would who had +just married a young lady with ten thousand dollars to spend on a +wedding tour." + +Penloe said: "I will answer you, Stella, dear, as if you spoke in +earnest." + +Stella said: "That is just what I want you to do, Penloe." + +He said: "Stella, why should I care whether I am here or going on a +wedding tour through the Orient with you? All I have to do is to realize +and manifest the Divine. Stella, I have learned this one lesson, _that I +am not in it_, for it is He that is doing it all. It was He that placed +me in certain environments in India for my spiritual unfoldment. It was +He that brought me to Orangeville. It was He that caused you and me to +come together as co-workers in a cause which is so dear to us. It was He +that made us man and wife. It was He that caused you to pass through +this struggle which you have just had with yourself and brought you out +victorious. It was He that caused you just now to cut the last cord of +attachment and made you free." + +Penloe had been standing while he talked and just here Stella rose from +her seat and, going up to him, put her arms round his neck and said: +"Yes, dear, it is He, it is He. He hath done it all and He has given me +you as my husband and spiritual teacher." She kissed him and said: +"Bless you, dear." + +Continuing, she said: "Do you know that the fight I have just had has +been the most trying and severe I ever experienced?" + +"Yes, dear," said Penloe, "I know all about it, and when a youth I +thought I was free from all attachment, till I passed through the most +trying experience in my life, which showed me I was not free from all +desire and attachment. In coming out of that struggle I cut the last +cord which bound me to the external, and since then I have been free, +and illumination followed, and that is why I have received light, and +knew before I rose the next morning after our wedding we would not go +now on a wedding tour, but would speak all through the State of +California. I knew what a struggle you were going to have, and I knew it +was necessary in order that you might be free from all attachment, for +the love of traveling through the Orient owned you just a little, and +now that you have become truly free illumination will be yours." He +ceased speaking and kissed her. + +Stella said: "I must take care and let nothing own me, for I see that as +soon as I allow myself to be owned I become its slave, and you know, +dear, that freedom from everything is my goal." + +Penloe and Stella entered the dining-room just as Mrs. Herne had seated +Barker and Brookes at the table. As Stella took her seat the two young +men thought they had never seen her face so beautiful, with its sweet +smile and calm expression. Her vivacity brought out the wit and humor of +the two guests, who were always considered good company at any one's +table. Penloe said little, because he saw how the two young men were +enjoying Stella's bright conversation. After dinner the company +adjourned to the parlor. + +Stella seated herself between her two friends, and looking at Barker she +said: "I must tell you and Stanley that we have given up going on our +wedding tour through the Oriental countries. We both feel we are wanted +here and we will stay where our work calls us." + +Barker replied saying: "Your decision is grand and we will feel much +encouraged in having you with us." + +Stella said: "We will spend a week with aunt before starting out to +speak. During our stay in Roseland we will see much of each other and +have opportunities for perfecting our plans." + +Two days later Penloe and Stella became the guests of Mrs. Marston, +arriving at that lady's house about four in the afternoon, which was an +hour before Stella's aunt dined. Mrs. Marston was delighted to receive +her niece and her husband, for she was at her best when she had company. +After dinner, as it was a little chilly, a fire was lit in the open +grate and the three sat round to enjoy a social time. + +Mrs. Marston said: "Stella, I suppose you and Penloe have all your plans +made for your wedding tour." + +Stella said: "Well, Aunt, we had made many plans and I had built several +castles which I expected to occupy during our journey, but we received a +visit from Herbert and Stanley while we were at Charles' and Clara's +and they brought with them a number of letters containing invitations +for us to speak on the 'California Idea,' as it is now called, and we +think it best to give up our wedding tour and do what we can to help +forward the California movement; and, Aunt, the money which you so very +kindly gave me to use for a wedding tour, I feel I ought to return to +you, as we are not going; and so here is a check for the full amount of +your gift made payable to your order." + +Mrs. Marston received the check from Stella and said: "I had hoped you +would have gone on your tour." + +And added in a laughing tone: "You two are the strangest persons I have +ever met. The idea of giving up ten thousand dollars and losing the +opportunity of seeing the most interesting countries in the world, for +the sake of talking to persons who are curious to see how you both look +because they have read about you in the papers." + +"I appreciate your gift just the same, Aunt, as if we had used the +money," said Stella. + +Mrs. Marston said: "Of course, I want you both to do whatever you think +best." As they continued their conversation the door-bell rang and four +of Stella's friends called to see her. They were Dr. Lacey's two +daughters and two young gentlemen. They spent the evening in games and +music, and when they left it was late. Mrs. Marston, Penloe and Stella +sat in front of the fire a few minutes before retiring, and just before +Stella rose from her seat to wish her aunt good-night, Mrs. Marston +said: "Stella, dear, I thought I would have a little fun with you so I +accepted the check, but I had no intention of taking the money back. No, +dear, I want you to keep it and use it as you think best"; and taking +the check off the mantel with a laugh she threw it into the fire. + +Stella rose from her seat to wish her aunt good-night, and thanked her +again for her handsome gift. + +Mrs. Marston's guests spent a very pleasant time in Roseland. As they +were very popular, they received many invitations to dinner. They saw +Barker and Brookes every day and had chats about the C.M. After several +consultations in regard to making arrangements for the work, they at +last reached the conclusion that it would be best for Penloe and Stella +to go to Southern California and commence their labors there. At +Penloe's request the two young men agreed to accompany them, as Penloe +said there was a kind of work to be done that they were adapted for and +their services would be really needed. And as Charles and Clara Herne +wished to be actively engaged in the C.M., it was decided to transfer +the head office from Roseland to Orangeville, where the Hernes would see +to the sending out of literature and do all the correspondence, and so +that would relieve Barker and Brookes, and they could travel with Penloe +and Stella, and Mr. Herne could do their work and see to his ranch. +Barker said: "Brookes and I will pay all our own expenses connected with +the work," and Penloe said: "For the present we will do likewise, as we +do not wish to accept money from any one for our services; for by so +doing our influence will be much greater." + +Brookes said: "Why, Penloe, the people who have invited you and Stella +to speak have expressed a wish to pay all expenses and remunerate you +both for your services as well. When I think how hard you worked to get +what few dollars you may have saved from your earnings, I hardly think +you are called upon to use your hard earnings when there are so many +more financially able to pay your expenses." + +"I thank you, Stanley," said Penloe, "for your interest in my financial +welfare, but I see you are under the same impression that many others +are, in thinking that I worked out for the money there was in it. If it +had been money I wanted, I could have accepted a very fine offer from a +university to fill the Chair of Oriental Languages; but instead of being +Professor of Sanskrit and drawing a fine salary, I took the position as +dishwasher in a restaurant in San Francisco for awhile. Then I worked +with pick and shovel on the Pacific Coast Road. Next I worked on the +streets in the City of Chicago. I returned to Orangeville and took a +position as cowboy on a great cattle ranch near Orangeville. Then I +worked out as a ranch hand. I did all this hard, disagreeable work for +my spiritual unfoldment. I did it to bring myself in touch with the hard +lot of the masses. I did it also to show that if a man is upright in his +purpose he can live the Divine life anywhere. Again, I did it that I +might minister to the needs and necessities of that class of men who see +and hear so little in their lives to touch their Divine nature. That was +excellent for me; it helped to broaden and fit me for other work." + +Brookes said: "It must have been exceedingly disagreeable to a man of +your tastes, culture and refinement, to perform such hard muscular work +in such rough surroundings, among coarse animal men." + +Penloe said: "It would have been all that you have just expressed had it +not been for the fact that neither my work, my rough, tough companions, +nor my disagreeable environments were my world. No, they were not my +world. I built a wall around me and allowed none of these things to +enter my inner thought. My life was one of bliss, for I was all the time +drinking deep at the fountain of Divine love, and by His help I trained +and disciplined myself so that I saw Him in my hard manual toil. I saw +Him in all my uninviting environments, and, above all, I saw Him in my +animal companions." + +Barker and Brookes saw such a glow of spiritual fire in Penloe's face as +he finished his last remark as they had never seen there before. They +realized they were in the presence of a divine man, and their natures +had been touched by his discourse. + +After a pause Penloe said: "My father left me property which brings me +an income sufficient to make me independent of receiving financial +support from those we intend to address." + +After further talk in regard to perfecting arrangements, it was decided +that Barker and Brookes should go to Los Angeles and arrange for Penloe +and Stella to speak on Thursday evening of the following week. The +committee of arrangements in Los Angeles saw the need of securing the +largest hall in the city, for the city dailies had taken up the matter +of their coming and dwelt upon it, so that interest in the subject +combined with curiosity to see and hear two such remarkable personages +caused the committee to do their best to provide accommodations for the +large crowd they expected. Before the time for opening the meeting every +seat in the large hall had been taken and standing room was all that was +left, and that even was taken by the time the meeting was opened. + +The Mayor of Los Angeles opened the meeting in the following language: + +"It gives me great pleasure this evening to see before me this large and +intelligent audience. I am proud to think that this audience before me +to-night has demonstrated the wisdom and good sense of the leaders of +the C.I. in selecting this city, above all others in this State, to open +the campaign for the C.M. In order that you may feel better acquainted +with the persons who will address you to-night, I will let you into a +little secret which came to me in a very indirect way. It seems that the +gentleman and lady who are on the platform were about to start on their +wedding tour through the Oriental countries, and they had received the +gift of a handsome sum of money to defray their traveling expenses; but +when Los Angeles and other places sent pressing invitations to them to +speak they gave up their wedding tour and returned the money to the +giver in order that they might be able to accept the call which you and +other cities have given them. I must say, in justice to the giver, it +was subsequently returned. They are here at their own expense, they +receive no remuneration whatever. I tell you this so you may appreciate +their nobility and fidelity of character, their honesty of purpose in so +grand a cause. Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the honor of +introducing to you Penloe and Stella, the leaders of the C.I., who will +address you this evening." + +When Penloe and Stella came forward the whole audience rose and saluted +them. + +In regard to the meeting, we will quote a few extracts from one of the +Los Angeles dailies: "However various the views on the C.I. the audience +may have which heard Penloe and Stella last night, there can be but one +thought in regard to the speakers themselves, and that is they are the +two most remarkable and distinguished personalities that ever appeared +before a Los Angeles audience. As speakers, they are brilliant, logical +and impressive, and soon inspire you with their sincerity of purpose and +with confidence in themselves. It seems there _is tacked on to the C.I. +'Woman's Suffrage'_, for it is claimed that a woman is still in bondage +till she stands equal before the law, and has all the rights and +privileges that a man has. + +"Penloe's remarks were addressed more particularly to men, looking at +the C.I. from the standpoint of a man, while Stella presented the +woman's view. + +"Penloe put these questions to the men of the audience: 'Is there a man +here to-night who does not think that the average woman is as +intelligent as the average man? Is there a man here to-night who does +not think that woman has a divine nature the same as man? I would like +to see the man rise in this audience who thinks he has a divine nature, +but does not wish another being who has a divine nature to enjoy the +same privileges as he himself enjoys?'... Stella portrayed in a telling +manner the sufferings and misery which have been woman's lot through +being in bondage to her material form.... We here give a few notes from +Stella's address: + +"A woman who is in bondage to her material form can never rise above the +idea that she is just a woman and nothing more." + +"A woman to be free must have a higher idea of herself than that she is +only a woman." + +"A woman can only advance as her thought concerning herself advances." + +"When woman looks upon herself as an intellectual and spiritual being, +and not as just being a woman only, and her whole thought is to adorn +her mind and manifest the qualities of her soul, then will man look upon +her with the same eyes as she looks upon herself." + +"It is not man that keeps woman in bondage, but woman keeps herself in +bondage through the thought she has concerning herself."... "Stella +said we are not here on a flying visit, we have decided to remain in +Southern California till two-thirds of its inhabitants are not only +talking of _but living_ the C.I., and we will stay here till we get a +vote of two-thirds from all males over twenty-one, and all women over +eighteen, in favor of woman's suffrage. It does not matter how pressing +the calls to speak elsewhere may be, we shall not accept them till the +work is completely done in Southern California." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +OUT OF BONDAGE. + + +The next day after the meeting Barker and Brookes were busy with the +C.I. Committee of Los Angeles in dividing the work up and organizing, so +that each ward of the city had its committee, whose business it was to +do all it could in enlightening the people of the ward in which the +committee lived. + +Penloe and Stella devoted one afternoon and evening to informal talks in +each ward in the city, those present having the privilege of asking +questions. After Penloe and Stella had worked in every ward, they went +with Barker and Brookes to San Diego and spent a week there; then they +worked all the other towns in Southern California, and then returned to +Los Angeles. On their return they were more than satisfied with the +progress of the C.M. What helped the movement very much was the +character which Penloe and Stella gave it. When some of the more +conservative element suggested the impropriety or immodesty of the C.I., +they were met with the answer: "Look at Penloe and Stella, who live the +idea every day of their lives. Are there any purer-minded persons than +they are? Do not the best people of the city open their houses to +welcome them? Did they not tell how living the life helped them +intellectually and spiritually?" Those replies quieted all opposition +and gave courage to those who were a little timid and fearful, also to +those in doubt whether it was right or not. As the movement was gaining +ground rapidly, persons began to think how very foolish it was to +entertain such thoughts as they had been accustomed to concerning the +sexes. The movement in Southern California showed how the movement would +work elsewhere in this way. It was one of those movements that needed a +few intelligent, courageous spirits in a locality to start it, and when +once it got a going, most of the other members of the community fell in +line, and when it was about universally adopted in one locality, the +people living in the next county soon joined the movement. After three +months' labor in Los Angeles a vote was taken. For Woman's Suffrage, +eighty-five per cent. voted "Yes," and by a very careful estimate +seventy-five per cent. had put in practice in one form or another the +C.I. Soon San Diego followed Los Angeles, then Pasadena and Riverside, +and soon after all the other towns in Southern California fell in line. +The result was wired all over the State and nation. + +During the progress of the movement in Southern California, Mr. and Mrs. +Herne were not idle. They put their hands in their pockets freely, and +paid for much of the printed matter they circulated. + +Now that Southern California had gone overwhelmingly for the C.I. Penloe +and Stella, Barker and Brookes, felt at liberty to accept some of the +many urgent calls from other parts of the State. They were continually +receiving calls from other States, but would accept none till the same +condition prevailed throughout the whole State as now existed in +Southern California and the State Legislature had granted to woman the +same legal standing in the eyes of the law that man had. + +The next places visited by the workers were Bakersfield, Hanford, +Tulare, Visalia, Fresno, Oakland, and San Francisco. In all these places +they found the work in a more or less advanced state. The fact that +Southern California had gone for the C.I. was a great help in forwarding +the movement in other places, so that after about eight months' work in +these cities just named, and some other places, it was found that the +entire State had been carried for the C.M. and Woman's Suffrage, except +one county. The Legislature was about to meet in a month's time, and +would give to woman the suffrage, and place her, in other respects, on +an equality with man in the eyes of the law. + +Great work was being done in the last county, so that it joined the rest +of California for progressive thought, and the whole State was carried +for the C.I. just as the Legislature passed the necessary acts for +woman's legal freedom. The news was wired to every State in the Union, +and California was one scene of rejoicing throughout the entire State. +It was a great day for California when her men and women threw off the +yoke of superstition and ignorance and thus cut some of the bonds which +had held them in ignorance. They had taken one great stride toward the +goal of freedom. California now took her true place among the States in +the Union, for she led the way toward freedom in its highest sense. + +The leaders of advanced thought in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho +were very active in working for the C.I. All these States having granted +woman the suffrage before the C.M. was started, the workers found it +easy to get them to follow California in the grand procession for +freedom. + +Wyoming, which was the first to grant the suffrage to woman, was the +next to join California; then came Colorado, then Utah, and then Idaho +wheeled into line. + +Penloe and Stella were receiving calls to labor from other States, and +finally decided to go to Illinois. Kansas wired the following message to +the Central Committee of California: "Kansas is all ablaze with the C.M. +from its center to its circumference, and its fires have leaped the +borders into Nebraska, Iowa, and reached Minnesota." + +After the C.I. had been practised in Southern California a few months, +if a young gentleman had just returned to the East from Los Angeles, his +friends wanted to know immediately how the C.I. worked. + +Mr. Franklin Hart, of New York, a young gentleman who had just returned +from Los Angeles, was sitting in a parlor with some young friends, and +they all wanted him to relate his impressions of the C.I. in Los +Angeles. When he was describing its workings, two or three young ladies +put their hands to their faces and laughed, one saying, "How strange and +funny it must have seemed." Another young lady remarked, "There has been +too much foolishness about such things." Mr. Franklin Hart said: "After +you have been there about a week the old idea seems stranger than the +new. You wonder to yourself however such thoughts could have fastened +themselves on us for generations and generations." + +Prof. Dawson, of Boston, visited Los Angeles two years after the C.I. +had been in operation, and wrote a letter to the leading Boston daily, +as follows: + + "DEAR SIR: Being naturally of a conservative turn of + mind, I came to Los Angeles with ideas unfavorable to + the C.M. I had not taken the least stock in what the + papers said or the people of California wrote in regard + to the practical workings of the C.I. I expected the + defenses of morality and modesty had been swept away by + such ideas, and that the communities of Southern + California had sunk into licentiousness. I had spent + two years in California about eight years ago, and I + considered at that time that the morals of the people + were not of a high order. So I expected to find society + in a still worse moral condition now. I have been here + six months, and, in justice to truth, I must state the + facts even if they show that my previous opinions were + incorrect. To those who study the people closely in + regard to sex matters, I can say truthfully that sexual + excitement has fallen fifty per cent., and that obscene + pictures and stories have no attraction for the people. + The low places of amusement, that used to be run under + the name of 'Variety Theaters,' and other such names, + are closed up, for the reason, as a former proprietor + of one of these resorts expressed it, 'A leg and bosom + show has no attraction for the people since the C.I. + has been in operation.' Houses of prostitution are + less in number by forty per cent., so the chief of + police informed me, and I saw a large number of them + closed. The low dives are closed, and places where + girls made exhibitions of themselves for the sole + purpose of exciting passion in man are no more. They + died for want of patronage. The forms of each sex are + looked at now with eyes which see purity and beauty. + + "I notice, also, the conversation among young people + has improved greatly, being of a higher and purer kind. + Now I practised the C.I. myself, and came in contact + with many of both sexes. After very careful observation + in Los Angeles, and other towns in Southern California, + I feel I am in a position to know and I can state that + I now consider the C.I. is the greatest reform movement + that the world has ever seen. + + "Yours truly, + "ROBERT DAWSON." + +In about a year later the four progressive States known as Kansas, +Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa, had removed all barriers from woman's +political freedom and placed her, in the eyes of the law, where +California had. The C.I. having become the predominant thought, it was +lived throughout these four States. The C.M. received a great impetus +when they fell into line with the other advanced States. + +Penloe and Stella, with Barker and Brookes and other workers, had worked +for over a year in Illinois, and now they were concentrating all their +forces in Chicago, the other part of the State being all right. It was +in that city that a great battle for reform had to be fought. The +opposition was strong. It consisted of society ladies and gentlemen, who +thought woman's position was above politics; that is, to their minds it +was far higher for a woman to be prettily and daintily dressed, and to +be a petted slave, than to use her God-given intellect for the benefit +of herself and the nation in which she lived. The other wing of the +opposition consisted of those who were making money in the saloon +business and running low places of amusement. They did not want woman to +vote in making laws which might be detrimental to their business +interests. As the opposition became strong in its concerted action to +overthrow the influence of the reform forces, the two great +figure-heads, the two grand leaders of the C.M. seemed to acquire +increased energy and power. Listen to what Barker and Brookes said, +after having attended a meeting in the great Auditorium of the Lake +City, when over a thousand had to be turned away for want of room: + +"Though I have been so much with Penloe and Stella like yourself, and +one would naturally think that the influence of their personality had +become common, yet such is not my experience," said Brookes. + +Barker replied: "Is not that strange, where we see them almost every +day, as we have done for about two years? Instead of their influence +becoming tame and commonplace, it seems to take a renewed force and +power with each day, and they appear to carry a newness and freshness +with them continually. Their efforts to-night were the greatest of their +lives." + +Brookes said: "I saw the power of the Yogi to-night as I never had +witnessed it, to such a degree, before. Did you notice, Barker, that at +the close of the meeting, instead of having some prominent person +speaking against the C.M., there was not one dissenting voice when +opportunity was given, but the short speeches which were made by +prominent members of the audience were all in favor of the movement. +Just think of the number of invitations that poured in upon them to +deliver the same address in other parts of the city. The battle is won, +Barker, for no opposition can withstand that power which was manifested +to-night." + +It was as Brookes said, the opposing forces had to yield, for there was +a seen and an unseen power sent out which swept and overcame all +opposition, and a month later Illinois was counted in with the +procession which California was leading. A year later the great States +of Ohio and Pennsylvania had joined the ranks, followed by the old Bay +State with its conservative element, and Boston became the scene of +illumination and rejoicing. The influence of these great States was felt +in many smaller ones, and they also helped to swell the wave of the C.M. +by joining the ranks. Quite a large percentage of that element in the +big cities, who profited by pandering and catering to the depraved +tastes of human nature, had left the city in which they carried on their +places of business now that the C.I. was practised, and they had gone to +the City of New York, thinking the element to which they belonged was +too powerful in Gotham ever to be driven out by the C.M., and it was in +this city where the greatest of all battles for reform thought was +fought. + +When Penloe and Stella with Barker and Brookes left Chicago, they went +to the City of New York, staying in Boston a week on their way. They had +now been in this city for over a year and had called together picked +workers from many other States who were in the procession for reform. +The opposition was the same as that encountered in Chicago, only ten +times as strong. + +When they had been in the city eighteen months, some few of the churches +had helped forward the work, just as some churches did in other cities. +Penloe decided that every church and every society of every kind that +had for its basis of organization love and justice, should receive a +special invitation to join in this great moral reform movement, and +special work should be allotted them. Penloe and Stella made a personal +visit to the leaders of the various sects, denominations and societies, +and ably presented the case for their consideration, showing that the +life of their organization depended upon their members being active +living workers for truth, purity and justice. He put each society on +record as to where they stood, whether its organization was merely that +of a social club, or whether it was ready to stand and work for the +principles it claimed to have for its foundation. Be it said to the +credit of each society, sect and organization, they all responded +heartily and coöperated with Penloe and Stella in helping forward the +grand reform; for they saw it was useless to prate about love, purity, +justice and freedom, with woman debarred by law from her legal and +political rights and tolerating a social custom which excited the worst +passions and bred prurient curiosity. It was a grand and glorious sight, +such as the world had not witnessed before, to see Catholics, +Unitarians, Methodists, Universalists, Baptists, Episcopalians, +Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Theosophists, members of the Jewish +Synagogue, representatives of the Vedanta, together with the Y.M.C.A. +and Y.W.C.A., Christian Union, Christian Science and Socialists +Societies, and all other such societies join in the work. The members of +these various bodies coming in contact with those two great spiritual +luminaries, seemed to receive such an influx of the Divine as purified +their own organizations and made them what they should always be, a +_great power for good_. With such concentrated efforts by such an army +of workers, the enemy gave way and New York City became the beacon light +to travelers from other nations; not as it had been a city of greed and +lust, but a city where woman stood before the law the same as man, and +where its citizens were beginning to walk a little more in the line of +purity and freedom. + +Just before the battle was won in the State of New York, the agitation +which had been going on in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland for over +two years culminated in a victory for the reform forces. Two years after +the State of New York was won, the C.M. had carried every State in the +Union, and also Canada. Australia and New Zealand not wishing to be +behind in all that stood for advanced thought and freedom, fell in line +with the other English-speaking countries. + +Penloe and Stella did not consider the work finished yet, and they +called for a congress of representative workers to meet in the +Auditorium in Chicago at a suitable date, which would give all time to +be present. Each State and country were to send two delegates, one man +and one woman. Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, +Ireland, Canada, and every State in the Union were all represented at +the Congress. + +When the Congress assembled, it was unanimously agreed that Stella +should preside. + +After the meeting had been opened and some preliminaries had been gone +through, Penloe said: "In the call for this congress it was stated that +its purpose was to consider how best to carry on this great work in +foreign countries, but before doing so I think it would be best to +change the name of the work. It seems necessary that some names, as well +as races, should pass through the period of evolution. The reason why I +will briefly state, as follows: In some countries where it is necessary +to carry on this work, they are not in bondage, and the name C.I. would +not convey the meaning of the full scope of our work; for while it is +true they do not discriminate between the sexes, yet they are in bondage +in many other different ways, and while the work originally started with +the idea of freeing men and women from the shackles of sexual bondage +with the name of 'Sex Reform Movement,' yet afterwards it was called the +'California Idea,' and the name included Woman's Suffrage, so as to make +her free before the law, before man, and before the whole world. And as +it grew its name changed to 'California Movement.' But now that the work +has grown to such gigantic proportions, having about taken in all the +English speaking countries, the work has also grown in its scope of +usefulness and its object now is not only to free the mind from sexual +bondage, not only to see that woman holds the same place as man in the +eyes of the law of the land that she lives in, but still more, to FREE +HUMANITY FROM ALL BONDAGES OF EVERY KIND OR CHARACTER. Therefore, I +propose that the name to be given to the movement shall be '_Reform +Forces_,' for under this name and banner all can work." + +After a little discussion the name given by Penloe was adopted +unanimously. + +The next business was to hear from some of the delegates in regard to +plans for carrying on the work in foreign countries. After hearing many +different plans proposed, and listening to various suggestions from many +of the delegates, the plan mapped out by Penloe was finally carried +unanimously. + +It was something like this: That each country or State should have its +special work. Europe was portioned off to England, Wales, Scotland, +Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. They were to divide the +work among themselves. New York took Southern India, Pennsylvania took +Northern India. The northern half of China was allotted to Illinois, the +southern half, to Ohio. Mexico was given to Texas. The islands of the +Pacific to California. South America was portioned off to other States. +Massachusetts was given Japan, Egypt was given to Michigan. Persia to +Indiana. Every State had a certain work of its own in some foreign +country separate from that which was done by other States and countries. +Each State or country was to send just four teachers to the country they +had taken to enlighten. The teachers must be all round characters, with +high intellectual attainments, and possessing at the same time rich +spiritual gifts and free from family ties. + +The line of work marked out for the teachers was as follows: First, to +locate themselves in the largest city in the country to which they are +sent. + +To make themselves thoroughly familiar with the writings and teachings +of the founders of the predominant religion of the country to which they +are sent. + +To find out all that is known of the leading saints and sages who have +lived in their lives the prevailing religion of the country in which +they lived. + +To study thoroughly the habits, customs and bondages of the people of +the country to which they are sent. Then to cultivate the acquaintance +of the most intellectual and spiritually inclined native men and women +and get them interested in the work of the Reform Forces. To appeal to +them, and reach them through the teachings of the founders of their own +religion, as well as by what has been written and said by their own +saints and sages. Get the intelligent natives of both sexes to become +the leaders and teachers to their people. Get the native teachers to +work to strike at some of the bondages which they think the people are +ready to free themselves from first, and when the people have thrown off +one bondage then to work to get them to be free from other bondages. + +After the teachers have got a group of intelligent native workers in the +line of the Reform Forces in one city, they are to go to another city +and do the same till the whole country has native workers in every part +working along the line of the Reform Forces. + +From Penloe's remarks before the Congress, concerning the religions of +other nations, we will copy the following extract. "If any one will +study the teachings of the saints and sages of other religions, he will +find that the essence of spiritual thought contained in them all is +about the same as that contained in Christianity. The mistake which has +been made by missionaries and others lie in thinking that the ritual and +practices of the masses represent the thoughts of the great spiritual +luminaries of those religions. The masses of the Oriental countries no +more represent the real thoughts of the great spiritual teachers of +those countries than the commercial cannibalism of the West represents +the teachings of Christ. In fact, the masses of the Oriental countries +are in ignorance of the real spiritual thought of their own religion, as +much as the masses of the Western World are of theirs, and the teachers +who are sent out by the West would help forward the work of the Reform +Forces by showing the natives that the ideas of the reform forces are +in the line of thought of their own great saints and sages. There is not +a delegate present who is not able to show that the work of the Reform +Forces is in accordance with the teachings of Christianity. I can also +clearly show to you from the teachings of the Zendavesta, of the Koran, +of Buddha, of Krishna, of Lord Gauranga, of Seyed, Mohammed Ali, and of +Rama Krishna, that the spiritual thought of the Reform Forces is in +accordance with those teachings. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Gauranga, and +Rama Krishna, were all the manifestation of God in the flesh. They +towered head and shoulders above all others in the manifestation of the +Divine. + +"Supposing I was a true follower of Buddha and a person who was a true +follower of Jesus spoke to me about the grand life and teachings of +Jesus, what would his opinion of me be if he saw that I was jealous +because he said nothing about Buddha, or because I thought the more +beauty and glory he saw in Jesus it lessened and belittled the character +of Buddha. Would he not be right in thinking I was ignorantly and +foolishly jealous, and that that feeling ought not to exist in a true +follower of Buddha? What then when you speak to a follower of Jesus +about the divine life of Buddha or Krishna, if he should become incensed +in manner and speech and manifest a feeling of jealousy, acting as it +were that in seeing the Divine in Buddha or Krishna made you think less +of Jesus. And yet that is a common experience which one meets with among +very many of the followers of Jesus. No, for in proportion as you live +the true Buddha life or Krishna life, so do you live the true Christ +life, and if I have imbibed the spiritual thought of Jesus, I have also +imbibed the true spiritual thought of Buddha and Krishna. Thinking that +the Divine was manifested in Buddha or Krishna, does not lessen the +exalted conception which one may have of the Divine manifested in Jesus. +_The Divine is in all_, but is manifested in some persons to a much +greater degree than in others." + +Just before the Congress closed Mr. Rattenbury, one of the delegates +from California, rose to make a statement. He said: "Since the Congress +had assembled he and the lady delegate from California had been in the +receipt of numerous telegrams from persons living in different parts of +the State they represented, to the effect that California did not wish +to take the Philippine Islands, but they would take the other islands of +the Pacific, and also they would send Penloe and Stella to make a tour +through the Oriental countries to help forward the work of the Reform +Forces as they saw best. The delegation from California has made +arrangements with the delegation from New Zealand and Australia, so that +the latter take the Philippine Islands as their field of labor, as those +islands are near to them. Therefore the delegation from England and the +other countries who have taken Europe as their field of work, have +kindly consented to release Australia and New Zealand from helping them, +so that they might take the Philippine Islands. It might be well for me +to state that the delegation from California has waited on Penloe and +Stella, to ask them if they would go East, and I am pleased to say that +they have consented." + +He added, further: "It is with mingled feelings of pride and pleasure +that I stand to-day as one of the delegates from California. I am proud +to represent that grand State, with its past achievements. Her boast +before has always been of her fertility and marvelous resources, such as +her rich mines, her large wheat fields, her prolific orchards, bearing +fruits belonging to many climes, her fine vineyards, with clusters of +luscious grapes, superior to those of Eschol, her grand floral display, +her great forests, and her oil wells. But now we can boast that in its +genial climate, surrounded by its grand scenery and its lofty peaks, +which lift their heads to heaven, that Stella, the pearl of womanhood, +should be born. It was under these influences, surrounded by advanced +liberal thought that she grew up. On the soil that she was born did she +consecrate herself and all that was dear to her to liberating humanity +from its many bondages. Starting out with the idea of helping those of +her own sex to throw off a bondage which has held them in superstition +and ignorance, and which also has been the cause of untold suffering and +misery as well as millions of deaths, she labored heroically under +social persecution and ostracism. But when the purity and nobility of +her grand character was fully known, those obstacles to her work +disappeared as snow does before the heat of the sun, for her whole +nature being of intense love, its heat melted all prejudices before it. +All of you are familiar with the grand work in her own State. I need not +touch on her work in other States, for you all know it so well. I am +glad to state that California which has always been so proud of her +material resources is now far prouder of the fact that on its soil was +born '_The Coming Woman_,' '_The Ideal Woman_,' '_The Glory of +California_,' and that her shores attracted the great Yogi Penloe. +California having already given Penloe and Stella to the Nation, now +bestows them to the World. When they travel through many countries +scattering light and knowledge wherever they go, they will always know +that wherever they are, even in the furthest corner of the earth, that +back of them, in all their travels, are the wealth and great hearts of +the people of the Golden State." + + * * * * * + +Two days before Penloe and Stella left San Francisco for Japan, I was +seated in the parlor of Treelawn, in front of the large bay window. On +my right was Penloe and on my left was Stella. The windows were raised +and a gentle breeze wafted the fragrant odors from the flower beds into +the room, filling the parlor with perfume. At times the muslin curtains +puffed out gracefully by the gentle breeze, and the external atmosphere +was like the internal of my companions' sweetness and harmony. The other +members of the company were Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright and Mr. and Mrs. +Herne. Many reminiscences were gone over. Penloe in a very nice way +spoke of the influence on owners of ranches, through Mr. Herne's noble +example of the treatment of his men, and there was a great improvement +in the treatment that ranchers gave to their hired help, and the ranches +became more profitable accordingly. + +Clara Herne expressed her thoughts and feelings in regard to how +different the world and herself looked to her now, to what it did when +she first entered her home as a bride. She added: "The world within me +has become so beautiful, so bright, and so very large. How lovely life +has become, what a pleasure it is _to live_." + +It did me good to look into the faces of Stella's parents. That grand +old couple who had lived a life of purity under marriage, and who gave +to the world, Stella, "The Pride of California." + + + + +EPILOGUE. + + +I must now part with two very dear friends, two whom I have known so +well, two whom I have loved with all the warmth of an intense nature, +two who have been an inspiration to my life. + +The consoling thought I have in taking leave of them is, that though +visibly they are not with me, yet they are always with me in proportion +as I manifest the same spiritual life which has made them so dear to me. +May they both be to you, dear reader, what they are to me. + + +[Illustration: THE END] + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +Quotation marks are used inconsistently through the book; these have +been left as printed. + +Inconsistent and unorthodox spelling (Lanair/Lenair, wont/won't, +Vivekanada/Vivekananda, bethrothed) has been retained. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A California Girl, by Edward Eldridge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALIFORNIA GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 28528-8.txt or 28528-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/2/28528/ + +Produced by Sarah Sammis, Jen Haines, Roger Frank and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A California Girl + +Author: Edward Eldridge + +Release Date: April 7, 2009 [EBook #28528] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALIFORNIA GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Sarah Sammis, Jen Haines, Roger Frank and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1> A <br /> +<span class="smcap">California Girl</span></h1> + +<h2><br /><small>BY</small><br /><br /> +EDWARD ELDRIDGE</h2> + +<p class="titlepage1"><br /><br /><br />THE</p> +<p class="titlepage3">Abbey Press</p> + +<p class="titlepage1">PUBLISHERS</p> + +<p class="titlepage1"></p> + +<div class="center after4"> +<table border="0" summary="Publisher Locations"> +<tr><td></td><td class="titlepage1"><span class="smcap">114 Fifth Avenue</span></td><td></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left"><small>London</small> </td> +<td class="titlepage1">NEW YORK</td> +<td class="right"> <small>Montreal</small></td> +</tr></table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> +<p class="titlepage2 newpg">Copyright, 1902</p> + +<p class="titlepage1">by</p> + +<p class="titlepage1">THE</p> + +<p class="titlepage3">Abbey Press<br /><br /><br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="newpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" summary="Table of Contents with Hyperlinks"> + +<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2"><small>CHAPTER</small></td> + <td class="td3"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="td2">Prologue</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#PROLOGUE">5</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td class="td1">I.</td> + <td class="td2">Clara Lawton</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">II.</td> + <td class="td2">Ranch Talk</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">III.</td> + <td class="td2">The Marriage of Charles Herne</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">IV.</td> + <td class="td2">Julia Hammond</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">V.</td> + <td class="td2">Ben West</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">VI.</td> + <td class="td2">Stella Wheelwright</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">39</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">VII.</td> + <td class="td2">Penloe</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">VIII.</td> + <td class="td2">Ben West's Experience in the Klondike</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">IX.</td> + <td class="td2">An Arrival</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">X.</td> + <td class="td2">Mrs. Marston</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XI.</td> + <td class="td2">Saunders' Customers</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XII.</td> + <td class="td2">Penloe's Sermon</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XIII.</td> + <td class="td2">Return of Ben West</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XIV.</td> + <td class="td2">Five Years After Marriage</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XV.</td> + <td class="td2">A Conversation on the Porch</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XVI.</td> + <td class="td2">Tiestan</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XVII.</td> + <td class="td2">Penloe's Original Address</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XVIII.</td> + <td class="td2">Letters Received by Penloe</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XIX.</td> + <td class="td2">Mrs. West Relates Her Dream</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">170</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XX.</td> + <td class="td2">In the Mountains</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XXI.</td> + <td class="td2">A Wedding in Orangeville</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">184</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XXII.</td> + <td class="td2">The Herne Party</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XXIII.</td> + <td class="td2">A Visit from Barker and Brookes</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">218</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XXIV.</td> + <td class="td2">Out of Bondage</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="td2">Epilogue</td> + <td class="td3"><a href="#EPILOGUE">248</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="newpg"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="PROLOGUE" id="PROLOGUE"></a>PROLOGUE.</h2> + +<p>This book is not written for the specialist, but for that +restless, seething multitude known as "the masses." It is written +for busy people, for workers, such as the shop-girl, the +factory-girl, the clerk, the mechanic, the farmer, the merchant, +and the busy housewife; but ministers, lawyers, and doctors may +find food for thought within its covers.</p> + +<p>My heart goes out to God's secular army, composed of those who +have neither time nor opportunity to go through learned treatises +and scholarly essays, yet whose natures are hungering for +something better than they see and hear about them. So I have +tried to weave into this story the best and latest thought that +has been given to the world, believing it to be what the workers +most need in the performance of their daily duties, and what will +help them out of bondage.</p> + +<p>People whose reading and observation have been limited may think +that I have drawn on my imagination altogether for most of the +material in this book. I can assure them that such is not the +case; much of it is real.</p> + +<p>In regard to Penloe, there have been men who had greater +spiritual gifts than he, and I call to mind one, still living, +whose illuminated countenance and remarkable personality are +superior to his. In Penloe is seen the interior life of the Hindu +combined with the best practical thought of the West.</p> + +<p>Let a youth or maiden commence to live the life described by the +man who won the heart of the "Oriental Lady," related by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> Penloe +in his "Original Address," and he or she will then realize the +facts which have made the characters of Penloe and Stella.</p> + +<p>To any sensitive, fastidious reader I would say, it becomes an +author, in order to be true to life, to present certain +characters as they really are, and put into their mouths the +language they actually use.</p> + +<p>Whatever there is of error in the book is the result of egoism; +whatever of truth and love is the work of Him who has brought me +up out of the marshes and lowlands, and caused me to drink at the +crystal fountains of the hills.</p> + +<p class="p2">The Author. +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="A_California_Girl" id="A_California_Girl"></a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span><span + class="smcap">A California Girl.</span></h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h4>CLARA LAWTON.</h4> + +<p>"Well, dear," said Mrs. Lawton to her daughter Clara, "the home +you will enter to-morrow as a bride is very different from the +home that I entered as your father's bride. Our home was a log +cabin in the Michigan woods, with only an acre of clearing, where +the growing season is only about four months long and the winter +eight. Snow lay on the ground six months of the year, from one to +three feet deep. In our cabin, we had the bare necessaries and +your father had to work very hard cutting cord-wood for a living; +but we were very happy, for we had love and health; and need I +say, dear, what a joy it was to us when you entered our cabin as +a passenger on the journey of life.</p> + +<p>"My wish for you now is, that you may find as much happiness in +the companionship of Charles Herne as I have had in your +father's, and as much joy in the advent of a little one in your +home as I did in you."</p> + +<p>"You have always been one of the kindest and best mothers a girl +ever had," said Clara, warmly.</p> + +<p>"I have tried to be," said Mrs. Lawton, simply.</p> + +<p>Clara Lawton was twenty-two years of age, prepossessing in +appearance, with a bright, happy expression. Her nature was deep +and affectionate, her tastes domestic and social. When she was +twenty, Mr. and Mrs. Lawton had moved to California and settled +in the pretty little city of Roseland, which nestled in the +foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.</p> + +<p>At a camping party Clara had first met Charles Herne, and the +outcome of that meeting was that to-morrow would be Clara's +wedding day. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>Who can describe the thoughts that filled the mind of Clara the +night previous to her marriage? Who, indeed, can describe the +thoughts that fill the mind of any maiden as she lays her head on +her pillow the night previous to her marriage?</p> + +<p>All her life she had been taught to consider this the most +important event of her life, the acme of happiness, the end and +aim of her womanhood. The thought of her own little world and the +decrees of the great world at large alike hold her to that +belief. That she is a soul in process of development; that +marriage is only one step towards something higher; that the true +union is the joining of hands to work for humanity, are doctrines +which would sound strange in her ears. She feels that great +change that is coming into her life, and her thoughts are in +accordance with her character and circumstances. One bride may be +filled with the sadness of unwilling acquiescence, another with +the joy of complete absorption, a third with the excitement +incident upon an entire change of environment. Clara Lawton's +sweet nature prompted only tender thoughts of the parents she was +leaving, strong love for the man who was to be her husband and +the desire to be a true wife and make their union a happy one.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2 class="newpg"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h4>RANCH TALK.</h4> + +<p>The road going north from the beautiful little city of Roseland +to the mountains is known as the Walnut road. Six miles from +Roseland, on the Walnut road, is "Treelawn," the home of Charles +Herne. A modern two-story house is built well back from the road, +and between the house and road are lawns decorated with +flower-beds, some tall oleanders, several banana plants, and +choice varieties of roses, vines, and shrubbery. On one side of +the house there is a thriving orange and lemon orchard; on the +other fig, almond, and walnut trees; while back of the house are +other extensive orchards of the finest fruits. The house is very +comfortably furnished, much better than most houses in the +country; its arrangement being very convenient and modern.</p> + +<p>Charles Herne, the owner of this property was, at the time our +story opens, a young man of twenty-eight, tall, well built, with +a pleasant open countenance which was a true index of his +character. He always looked closely after his business interests, +but at the same time allowed his generous, kindly spirit full +scope.</p> + +<p>When Charles was eighteen his father thought it would be well for +him to go out to work a year or so on other ranches, that he +might gain more by experience, get more ideas and know what it +was to depend on himself and make his own way in the world. After +an absence of two years, came the welcome summons home. On the +evening of his return, when Charles and Mr. Herne were seated +comfortably on the porch, the father said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Charles, relate some of your experiences while working on +different ranches." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Though I did not speak of it in my letters, father," said +Charles, "I have had a pretty tough time of it since I left +home."</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said his father, "and I wish you had written +particulars."</p> + +<p>"I should have done so," replied Charles, "but I wanted to see if +there was any sand in me and what staying qualities I possessed. +Well, the first job I struck was at the Funson ranch, driving a +six-mule team plowing. The leaders were the most contrary animals +that ever had harness on, the swings never would keep in their +places, and the near wheeler was so ugly that Pete, the man who +had been driving the team, said, 'the Devil couldn't hold a +candle to him for pure meanness.' He told me he used to swear at +them all day and then lie awake nights cursing himself for being +such a fool as to drive them. He said, one morning he took the +team out to work, and after he had been working them about an +hour, the off mule began to cut up, backing, bucking, and +refusing to pull with the near one. At last Pete lost his temper +and began laying the whip on him, saying he would 'whale the +stuffing out of him'; then the mule got mad, broke the harness +and the whole team became unmanageable and got away from him. He +let them go and started toward the house, pouring out a steady +stream of oaths as he went. Just at the gate he met the boss and +greeted him with, 'I'll see that team in Hell before I'll ever +draw another line over their backs.' Funson asked him what was +the trouble, and Pete said, 'that off mule has been raising hell, +and the Devil has got into 'em all, breaking the harness and +running away.' The boss told Pete not to make a fool of himself, +but to go back to the field and get his team together. Pete said, +'I'll see you in Hell before I'll ever touch that team again. You +haven't a well broke team on the ranch for a man to handle. You +buy a lot of half-broken, bucking, balky teams because you can +get 'em cheap. You don't care how much hell it gives a man to +drive 'em.' Funson told him to go and hunt up some cattle, and +sent another man to drive the mules. It's an actual fact, +father,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +that if a man had told the boss in polite and correct +language what had happened to the team, he would have stared in +utter astonishment and surprise."</p> + +<p>"Quite true, my son, quite true," said the old gentleman.</p> + +<p>"The man that took Pete's place," continued Charles, "drove the +team two days and that let him out. Then I came along and got the +job. Didn't Pete laugh when he came through the field with a +bunch of cattle and saw me trying to take the contrariness out of +the leaders. He called out, 'Give 'em hell, give 'em hell!'</p> + +<p>"When I came up to the barn at night, Pete was there putting up +his broncho, and he greeted me with, 'Well, Charles, how do you +like your job?'</p> + +<p>"I said I wasn't stuck on it.</p> + +<p>"'It's hell, ain't it?' said he; then added, 'the only way you +can ever get that team to pull steady is to get right in and cuss +'em good; they are broke to cussing.'</p> + +<p>"After supper the boys got together in the barn and played cards +for two hours. When they were tired of card-playing, they +interested each other by telling yarns about experiences with +women, each striving to make his story more thrilling than the +last, and this entertainment continued until they were ready to +spread out their blankets and sleep.</p> + +<p>"It is pretty cold sleeping in a barn December nights, even in +our California climate; but, as you know, there are few ranches +where the men are allowed to sleep in the house.</p> + +<p>"I had to be up before it was light in the mornings and clean off +those mules, feed and harness them, and then have my breakfast. +After breakfast, just as it was getting light, we started to +work. The mornings were very cold. About dark I would bring my +team in and by the time I had unharnessed them, fed them, and had +my supper, I was ready for bed.</p> + +<p>"After a man has put all his energy into a long, hard, tedious +day's work, he feels more like a worn-out old plug than a man. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +He has no surplus force left to expend in elevating mental +pursuits, for it has been all exhausted in severe physical labor.</p> + +<p>"Such labor continually kept up, has a tendency to dull what few +good aspirations a man may have had to bring his animal nature +under control. Therefore, after such a day's work, if he has any +desires, they are those of the brute, and it is no wonder that +men should want something of a sensational, exciting nature at +night to keep their minds off themselves and relieve the monotony +of their toil.</p> + +<p>"Well, father, I did lots of thinking when night came, about such +subjects, and came to some very decisive conclusions; but to +return to my story.</p> + +<p>"One night when I was taking the harness off him, the near leader +kicked me on the leg. The pain was so severe that I scarcely +slept any that night. They say a mule will be good and gentle in +the barn three hundred and sixty-four days in the year, for the +sake of getting a chance to kick a man on the three hundred and +sixty-fifth day, and I believe it is so.</p> + +<p>"After dinner one day, we had just left the house when one of the +men said, 'Didn't the old woman give the boss hell, this noon? I +tell you she's got a temper.' 'Yes,' said Pete, 'but she's not +very old, not forty yet. She's always firing up about something; +she keeps him in hell most of the time. The trouble is,' +continued he, 'he's got nothing broke on his ranch; his mules are +not broke, his broncho cows are not broke, his wife is not broke, +and the old cuss himself is not broke.'</p> + +<p>"After enduring all the torment and petty aggravation that a man +could stand for three months, I left and went to work at the +White Oak Ranch. The boss there set me to grubbing out oaks, and +I can assure you it was a relief after driving those mules.</p> + +<p>"The third night I was at this place, I was the last to join the +men at the barn, and when I got there I found the teamsters, +George and Harry, making the air blue with oaths. They were +giving it to the boss because he would not get new harnesses, the +old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +ones being mended all over with wire and baling rope and the +lines rotten. Harry's leaders had broken their lines twice that +day, it seemed, and he had nearly lost control of them in +consequence. 'The old fool keeps a-promising and a-promising to +get new harness,' said George, 'but he never gets it; and he +hasn't got a harness on his whole darn ranch that's worth a whoop +in hell.' 'My old plugs broke their harness five times to-day,' +said Harry. 'Since I've been here, the teams have done more +damage and lost more than would pay for a new harness ten times +over.'</p> + +<p>"When I had been there about a month, the hot weather began to +come on, and the feed to dry up, and I had to help clean the +ditches out, ready for irrigating. It was a big job, so many +willows to grub out, and it took much longer to finish it because +we were so constantly called away to drive out cattle and hogs +that had broken into the orchard and grain fields. You see, the +feed was getting scarce, there was more stock than there was feed +for, and the fences were very shaky. The boss kept talking about +new fences, but he never had them built, he was satisfied with +patching the old ones.</p> + +<p>"Well, we got the ditches cleaned out and commenced to irrigate, +using all the water we could get. I was one to help irrigate and +look after the ditches. The work would have been really pleasant +if we could only have kept the band of hogs out. They would get +in after the green feed and break the ditches, causing the water +to wash the soil away. That band of hogs began to torment me as +much as the mules had done. They were so hungry you could not +keep them out. I didn't blame them, poor, lank, starved +creatures, for getting in and getting something to eat. I would +have done the same in their case.</p> + +<p>"At last the boss thought he would shut them up in the barnyard +and feed them. Well, he had forty starved hogs shut up, and he +gave them about as much food each day as ten hogs could eat. Of +course, they became like a pack of wolves, and it was all a man +could do to get through the yard. Forty hogs would come +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> all +around him, squealing and yelling as though they were being +butchered, and you had to keep moving lively or they would bite +your legs. Henderson, one of the men, told me they ate up four +cats and three kittens and more chickens than had been on the +table for a year.</p> + +<p>"One Sunday morning, after breakfast, I commenced to wash my +shirt and overalls, when Henderson called to me, 'Cattle in the +peach orchard!' Now, at the further end of the peach orchard +there were a hundred nice young trees, covered with tender +foliage, looking fine. It seems the cattle got into the orchard +in the night and ate all the growth off them, so they looked just +like sticks. It really was a shame to see such fine trees damaged +in that way, but the boss would not take time to build a good +fence around them. That afternoon I went to lie down in the barn; +it was hot, the mosquitoes and flies were getting in their best +licks at me. I was trying to sleep, and just as I was about +succeeding Henderson called out: 'Charles, get your shovel and +come quick.' 'What's the matter?' I asked. 'Why, the hogs have +played the devil and broke the ditches and the water is running +all over Hell.' Mad as I felt about being disturbed, I could not +help smiling within at the thought of water running all over +hell, and I said to him: 'If those hogs can flood hell with water +they ought to be sent to a dime museum.' We went on in silence +till we reached the orchard gate, when Henderson said: 'Do you +know, I would rather take a licking than open that gate, for it's +a back-breaker. It hasn't got a hinge, and is as heavy as an +elephant; you have to lift it up and drag it along the ground. It +takes more time to hang a gate that way with a band of iron to a +post or a bent stick in the place of the iron, than it would to +buy two pairs of hinges; and yet that is the only kind he has on +the place. It seems as if everything on the place was devised to +make work as hard, unhandy, and wrong-end-to as possible.'</p> + +<p>"That evening when we had gathered together as usual, Harry +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +opened the conversation by saying: 'What a racket there was +to-night at supper! It seems to me the whole family is raising +hell all the time, but I don't blame the old woman much for +giving the boss a jawing about throwing his old broken harness on +her bedroom floor, when he came home in the light rig this +afternoon.' 'He is always doing such things,' said George. 'The +front room is more like an old store-room than anything else. He +don't deserve a house; that man ought to live in a barn.'</p> + +<p>"Another of the men said: 'If ever there was any attraction +between the boss and his wife, it has long ago disappeared; and +the children! What a quarreling gang they are.' Then they +proceeded to discuss at length each member of the family, and I +must say, father, that although I had become accustomed to much +of the roughness of the life of these ranches, I was so shocked +over some of the things they said that it took me a long time to +get over it. I was not surprised that the boys should be little +reprobates, because I didn't see how they could be otherwise, +living with such a crew of men around them all the time, but was +shocked to hear what they said about the girls. There were two of +them: one fifteen years old, the other eighteen. Rather pretty +girls they were, too. I had talked with them several times and +they seemed modest and quite shy with me. I hadn't seen them much +with the other fellows. Well, father, when those men had finished +talking, they hadn't left those girls a shred of what the world +calls a reputation, and the worst of it was that their stories +were for the most part true, as I afterward ascertained. I could +scarcely speak to the girls for several days; for somehow one +expects more of a girl than of a boy, though I don't know why one +should," he added, thoughtfully. "I'm sure I'd want to be as pure +as the girl I married.</p> + +<p>"Well, I studied over the thing a good deal, and I finally came +to this conclusion: Those girls were not bad; they were simply +curious. They led such narrow, cramped lives that there was +nothing for their active brains to feed on, so they naturally +turned to the most interesting thing at hand, themselves, their +physical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +selves. A superabundance of vitality overshadowed their +small mental equipment. In the absence of suitable entertainment +the physical part of their being had fatally asserted itself. +Ignorant of consequences, they sinned innocently. I felt sorry +for them, and during the rest of my stay there, I tried to give +them some glimpses of a more intellectual life.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued Charles, "I stayed in that hell over a year, +then left and went to the Lonsdale ranch. There we did not use +the barn to sleep in; each man had a bunk to himself in the +bunk-house. The interior of the bunk-house was decorated with +several choice works of art, one representing three young ladies, +in abbreviated costumes, enjoying wine and cigarettes; another +showed several men lifting from the water the nude form of a +beautiful young woman who had committed suicide; while a third +was an exciting picture of a jealous woman, in a much torn +garment, holding a pistol to the head of her faithless lover. +Some pictures of Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, and Sharkey also adorned +the walls. Much time was spent in the evenings discussing the +various merits and demerits of the pugilists. I was often +surprised at the able and exhaustive manner in which they would +handle the subject, and showed some remarkable ability in +treating of the qualities of the prize fighting gentlemen. If the +same amount of brain power had been turned in other directions, +how useful to their country those men might have become. I do not +wish to convey the idea that they were always handling such great +and momentous topics as the fighting qualities of those noted +gentlemen. Very often, by way of variation, they would talk of +those feminine types of beauty which appeared so conspicuously in +the <i>Police Gazette</i> and the <i>Sporting Times</i>.</p> + +<p>"It was astonishing the amount of information they displayed +concerning women, what retentive memories they had, and how very +familiar they were with the subject of woman, her ways, and her +sex nature. Their mental horizon was bounded on the north +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>by the +affairs of the ranch, on the east by the boss and his domestic +concerns, on the south by woman as manifested by the various +phases of her sexual nature, and on the west by the gentry of the +prize ring. Within these boundaries was their mental world, their +minds never reaching out and beyond these subjects.</p> + +<p>"The reading matter on the table was the sensational weekly +papers.</p> + +<p>"I remember one Sunday to my surprise I saw one of the men +reading a book. On looking at the title, it read: 'The Life of +Rattlesnake Pete,' and another man had a book lying on his +blankets, entitled 'The Adventures of Coyote Bill.' Gambling was +their favorite pastime. It was one round of card playing nights +and Sundays. When I first went to work on the Lonsdale ranch, the +boss put me to cutting oak wood. After I had been at work awhile, +he came along and told me that I did not hold the handle of my +axe right. The next day he found fault with me for the way I used +a cross-cut saw. A week later I was piling brush to burn, and the +way I laid the brush did not suit him. He was everlastingly +blowing about himself and telling how he did things. I did not +seem to be able to do anything right. One night after supper we +had all assembled in the bunk-house, when Parsons said: 'I tell +you boys, hell went pop this morning. Plaisted gave the boss hell +because he commenced to growl at him for the way he held the +lines. Plaisted told him he was the greatest old crank that ever +run a ranch, and that the devil himself couldn't suit him. He +left the team right in the field and called for his money. I tell +you the boss's face was as red as a beet. He had to give Simmons +six dollars a month more to take the team.'</p> + +<p>"Hendricks said, 'I gave the boss a piece of my mind this morning +when I tried to open the gate leading into the garden. It is a +rod long, and as heavy as hell; the whole weight was on the +ground. I told him any man that had such a gate as that on his +ranch never ought to own a ranch. I said, 'Why in the devil don't +you get some hinges and hang your gates?' Ambrose spoke up, and +said, 'Sometimes the boss seems pleasant enough, but he does +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +like to find fault and tell you what big things he has done. To +hear him talk you would think that his ranch was the only ranch +that was worth anything. He told his visitors to-day that his +place would pay the interest on one hundred thousand dollars. You +know, boys, it wouldn't sell for twelve thousand.'</p> + +<p>"Parsons said: 'The boss has been growling at me ever since I +have been with him, but I pay no attention to him. He thinks if +you don't do a thing as he does, you don't do it right, and any +idea that does not originate in his brain is not worth anything. +To hear him talking to that lady visiting here to-day you would +think he was a perfect man living on a model ranch.' I will never +forget how mad Hendricks was with the boss one Saturday evening. +We had just come from supper when Hendricks lit his pipe and gave +vent to his feelings, as follows: 'If I had had a four-year-old +club at the supper table to-night, I felt so boiling mad that I +would have knocked hell out of him. To hear him go on a nagging +and fault-finding with that little woman of his. There she has +been a-working hard all day, set three good meals, doing the +churning and all the housework besides; and all she gets for her +patient labor is a growl.' 'Yes,' said another man, 'she has been +working like a slave all the week and to-morrow is Sunday, and it +will be to her just the same as any other day.' Hendricks said: +'The boss thinks more of his old plugs than he does of his wife. +See what care he takes of his horses. One lot is resting while +the other lot is working; then those that have been working are +put in the pasture, and those that have been resting are put to +work. But he never seems to think that poor worn-out woman of his +needs a rest and change.'</p> + +<p>"Parsons added: 'That is not the worst of it. His wife is a +cook-stove slave, and a wash and butter-making machine. It does +not matter how tired she is or otherwise physically unfit, he +demands his marital privileges as a right, regardless of her +wishes or protests. I know it is a fact, for he brags about it.' +Parsons continued: 'When a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> boy I used to hear preachers talk +about hell, and I could not see what was the use of sending +millions and billions of people to eternal torments, so I thought +there ought to be no such place as hell; but if there is a hell, +then I think the boss deserves to go there.'</p> + +<p>"An intelligent young man from the East by the name of Travers +joined in the conversation by saying: 'When I was a boy I +remember how serious my good father felt because he thought a +neighbor had died without his sins being forgiven, and had gone +to hell. At that time the word <i>hell</i> used to have some meaning +on the minds of the people, and produced on my mind a feeling of +fear and awe. But how different it is now. If a minister was to +preach now about all wicked people going to hell, it would +produce no more effect on their minds than water on a duck's +back, for the word hell is now a spent thunderbolt, used +uselessly by the mouths of so many. It may be well for +theologians to know (if any of them believe in hell as preached) +whether or not they have got through discussing hell; their views +have no weight whatever on the minds of the masses, for they are +all the time making light, fun, and sport of the word <i>hell</i>.' +'That's so,' joined in the men, and they all laughed.</p> + +<p>"I had been at the Lonsdale ranch about three or four months when +I received your letter asking me to return home."</p> + +<p>"Well, Charles," said the old man Herne, "if I had not worked out +for several years on ranches, I should think your stories +slightly colored, but from my own experience I should say the +half has not been told."</p> + +<p>"That is so, father," said Charles. "I have not stated what I +have seen and heard half strongly enough."</p> + +<p>The father said: "When I bought this ranch, the first thing I did +was to build solid fences, raise lots of feed and hang gates on +hinges so that a child could open them with its finger. I always +make my plans so that I have more feed than stock. I did not set +out an orchard till the fences were finished, so that nothing +could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> get in. I made it a point to avoid losing a lot of work +through bad management. My hired men have always had a good house +to sleep in, each man having a room to himself. The house is cool +in the summer through having double porches all round it, and +warm in winter because it is well furnished. Men and teams never +go out to work in the winter till the sun is up. Every man sits +down to supper at six, during the summer months, and they have +two hours' nooning. What is the result? I have always had the +best men to work for me, and they never want to leave. Each man +is put upon his honor, and takes as much interest in doing his +best for me as if the place belonged to him. Everything goes on +the same at the ranch when I am away as when I am there. No man +has used anything but the most respectful language to me. I have +heard no swearing at teams. In fact, I have heard no swearing or +low stories at all. I never would allow it. Every day the work is +done well and without friction."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his son, "I used to think your place was heaven while +I was away."</p> + +<p>Two years from the time this conversation took place, the father +died, leaving the property and some money to his son, Charles, +and seven thousand dollars to his daughter Lena.</p> + +<p>Charles Herne was not a student of political economy nor a reader +of sociology, but what he did was done through an innate sense of +justice, with a spirit of generosity, and the munificent +treatment of his men was the manifestation of his noble, free +spirit. To-morrow will be the greatest event so far in the life +of Charles Herne, for he brings to his home his bride.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h4>THE MARRIAGE OF CHARLES HERNE.</h4> + +<p>Two miles from the Herne ranch, toward Roseland, lived the +Holbrooke family.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the day which was of such importance in the +lives of two of our characters, Mr. Holbrooke returned from a +survey of his orchard, to be met by his wife with a face full of +mysterious importance.</p> + +<p>"I've got some news, James," she said. "Now guess what it is—</p> + +<p>"Sophia has heard from one of her old beaux," said her husband +immediately.</p> + +<p>"Get a pail of water and throw it over your dad, Sophia," said +Mrs. Holbrooke. "He's always joking you about your beaux. Well," +she added, "I see I'll have to tell you, you'll never guess. +Charles Herne has just gone by here with a bran-new suit of +clothes, a bran-new matched team, a bran-new harness, a bran-new +buggy, and a bran-new wife. There! What do you think of that?"</p> + +<p>"Why," said her husband, "I think you may see them go by here +some day with a brand-new baby."</p> + +<p>"The idea of your talking that way before Sophia; that's the way +with you men, your mind is always run on such things."</p> + +<p>"Well," said her husband, "I don't think such a subject is very +foreign to your mind or Sophia's either."</p> + +<p>"Sophy, let's you and I take your dad and throw him. We can do +it," said Mrs. Holbrooke.</p> + +<p>Since the newly-married couple that caused so much interest in +the Holbrooke family had gone by, Sophia had laid down her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +novel, "The Banker's Daughter," and was gazing dreamily out of +the window. The young lady being of a rather romantic turn of +mind, had just been saying to herself, "What a perfect day to be +married. Will everything be as beautiful on my wedding day, I +wonder?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Holbrooke, "whoever the lady may be, she has +got a good man and a lovely home."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her husband, "a good job was done when Charles Herne +came into the world."</p> + +<p>"Don't talk so rough, James. I never saw a man like you in all my +life," said his wife.</p> + +<p>"The old man Herne had a long head on him when he sent Charles +out into the world to cut his own fodder," added Holbrooke, +reflectively.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his wife, "those hired men of his wouldn't be acting +like gentlemen the way they are now if Charles had not gone out +and rustled."</p> + +<p>"Two years ago," he continued, "he devoted the entire proceeds +from his orchard for one year, after paying expenses, to fixing +up the cottage for his men. He had it painted and papered; had +good carpets laid down on the floors; large mirrors and pictures +on the walls; put in two large bathrooms with hot and cold water; +a billiard table, lots of small games, all the leading papers and +magazines. Bought them a fine piano, also an organ, and a lot of +music, sacred and sentimental. He also bought a fine matched team +with a two-seated buggy, and said: 'Boys, I want you to keep this +team for your own riding out evenings, Saturday afternoons and +Sundays. Take care of it among yourselves, and I hope you all may +have many pleasant rides. There isn't a team in the country gets +more grooming than those colts, and not a man has been known to +overdrive them. I never see anything like it, those hired men at +Herne's live and act as if they were members of some gentlemen's +club. They always wash their hands in warm water in the winter, +and are particular about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> keeping their finger-nails clean. On +Sundays to see those men dressed up, you would think they had +never seen dirt. You don't see Herne's men on a Sunday morning +spending their time in washing overalls, shirts, and socks. Herne +keeps a Chinaman to do that in the week day. Why, if I was to go +and offer one of those men a steady job at ten dollars a month +more than Herne pays, he would turn his nose up at me. You can't +get a man to leave; they stick to him closer than a brother. He +has ten standing applicants to fill the next vacancy he may have. +And did you ever see a place where men worked so orderly, +harmoniously, and thoroughly as they do on the Herne ranch? You +don't see any of the trees in his orchard barked through having +careless, mad teamsters while harrowing and cultivating. Herne's +horses, harness, and machinery look better and last more than +twice as long, because the men take great interest in caring for +them. It's not all go out of pocket with Herne in what he does +for his men. Some pretty big returns come back."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holbrooke, "Lena Herne told me that her brother +and herself were sitting on the porch one evening, and she was +talking to Charles about the men and what he had done for them, +when he said, 'Lena, I would not give up the love and respect +which these men have for me, and I for them, and the quiet, +peaceful understanding that exists between us, for all the +ranches in the county.' She said that she and her brother very +often spent their evenings with the men in games, singing and a +general social time, and there are lots of young people in the +neighborhood that call on them to play croquet and lawn-tennis of +a Saturday afternoon or to spend a pleasant evening. Just think," +continued Mrs. Holbrooke, "those men at Herne's only work five +and a half days in the week, and those days are short ones. I +tell you, Holbrooke, those men have a far better time than you +do, though you own a ranch and they don't; you are a slave +compared to them."</p> + +<p>"Some of the men say that Herne don't talk Christianity to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> them, +but he puts some mighty big Christian principles in practice," +said her husband.</p> + +<p>It was as Sophia had mentally said, "A perfect day to be married +on."</p> + +<p>The newly married couple, as they journeyed from Roseland to +Treelawn, found the sun just warm enough to be pleasant, for it +was in the early part of March. The road was in fine condition, +for there was neither mud nor dust. A gentle breeze wafted the +sweet scented odors from the flower-decked fields, with their +carpets of green. All nature seemed smiling, for was it not its +mating season? What was all the chattering going on in the trees +and the songs in the bushes, but the feathery tribe making love +to each other. It seemed as if on this day all Nature was singing +one grand anthem with a hallelujah chorus.</p> + +<p>As the happy pair looked at the scene, they forgot for the moment +their own happiness in the contemplation of Nature's grandeur.</p> + +<p>Before them rose the variegated hills of the Sierras, the sun +bringing out the brilliant coloring of the rocks; higher behind +these the glittering snow-covered peaks, and above all the +matchless blue of the heavens.</p> + +<p>To them the world seemed indeed all joy and beauty, and a home +together, a paradise. And so they entered upon the new life.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h4>JULIA HAMMOND.</h4> + +<p>The settlement in which Treelawn was located was called +Orangeville, and covered a large area of country. It had a +general store—post-office, church, school-house, hall, +blacksmith-shop, and two saloons.</p> + +<p>For reasons best known to himself, Charles Herne had kept his +wedding a secret from all his neighbors, and it was really more +by intuition than by actual knowledge that Mrs. Holbrooke came +into possession of the fact.</p> + +<p>On the morning after the wedding, Sam Gilmore, like a good +husband, had quietly risen and dressed himself, leaving his +spouse to finish her nap. After seeing that the fire in the +kitchen stove was burning brightly and the tea-kettle set on, he +went to the barn. After a short time he returned to the house, +and putting his head into the bedroom, said with some excitement, +"Sarah, I've got some news for you. Charles Herne has got him a +wife."</p> + +<p>When Sarah Gilmore received that piece of astounding +intelligence, the mental shock seemed to produce paralysis, for +the garment she was about to put on remained suspended in the air +as she exclaimed: "Well, I swan! I thought he was married to his +hired pets. How did you hear the news, Sam?"</p> + +<p>"Nettleton told me. He was over to see if I would let him have +the bays to-day."</p> + +<p>"Did you let them go?" asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"No, I told him I was going to use them on the ranch to-day," +said Sam, closing the door and going back to the barn.</p> + +<p>As Sam went out of the bedroom door the paralysis went, too,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> for +no woman ever moved more quickly in putting on the rest of her +garments than did Sarah Gilmore that morning.</p> + +<p>There was a very good breakfast waiting for Sam when he came in +from the barn, and above all Sarah had made him a plate of light, +rich batter-cakes, which he always relished very much. They were +set a little way into the oven with the door open, to keep warm, +his good wife having buttered and sugared them, all ready for Sam +to pour rich cream over them.</p> + +<p>After breakfast, as Sam was on his way to the barn, he said to +himself, "My! Sarah is a fine cook. I would be willing to bet ten +dollars she can knock the spots out of Charles Herne's wife in +cooking; and she is so cheerful while getting up good meals, and +don't make any fuss about it, either."</p> + +<p>Sam and the bays worked well that morning in doing a little light +work.</p> + +<p>Sarah lost no time in putting the breakfast dishes into the +dish-pan, but instead of washing them immediately, as was her +way, she was seen going over a well-beaten trail toward a house +where smoke was coming out of the chimney. When she opened the +door, she found Mrs. Green just wiping a mush-bowl which had been +used at breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Well, Carrie," said Sarah Gilmore to Mrs. Green, "what do you +think has happened? Charles Herne has come home with a bride."</p> + +<p>"There, now, Sarah, you surprise me," said Mrs. Green.</p> + +<p>"I guess every body is surprised," said Mrs. Gilmore.</p> + +<p>After a few minutes' more conversation, she hurried back to wash +her dishes and get dinner.</p> + +<p>When Sam came to dinner he found his wife in the best of spirits, +with a big dinner for him to enjoy. Sam's alimentive faculty +being in a state of great activity, he ate heartily, finishing up +with two pieces of Sarah's extra rich peach cobbler. After dinner +Sam went to the fire-place where he sat rocking himself, and soon +was enjoying a smoke. He had been smoking about five minutes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +when his wife said: "I really like the smell of the tobacco you +smoke, but if you were to smoke such stinking stuff as Horace +does, I would get up and leave you. But yours does smell real +sweet."</p> + +<p>"Horace Green is too stingy to smoke good tobacco," said Sam, +after which remark he brought his hand to the side of his leg +each time he let the smoke curl out of his mouth, feeling well +satisfied with himself and all the world beside.</p> + +<p>Did you ever have the experience of passing through a large +barnyard, and going from one end to the other with a lean, hungry +hog after you, yelling and squealing, trying to eat you up by +snapping first at one of your legs and then at the other? You +kick at him with first one foot, saying, "Sooy, sooy;" then you, +with the other foot, kick backwards, saying, "Sooy, sooy." And +after going through this performance many, many times, you reach +the gate and shut it between yourself and the hog, leaving him on +the inside, amidst deafening noise made by his hungry squeals. +After you have left, he does his best to tear down the fence, so +strong are the pangs of hunger in him.</p> + +<p>A few minutes after that you take him a pail of rich buttermilk, +then a large pail of fresh ripe figs, and two dozen ears of sweet +corn. You go out in that barnyard an hour afterwards and you +don't hear any hog noise. You don't see a hog even moving, for he +is lying down in the greatest state of quiet. He will let you do +just what you have a mind to do to him. You can scratch him and +you will find him good-natured and he seems to enjoy your +attentions. He is in such a contented, happy state, that you can +roll him or do anything you wish to him.</p> + +<p>So it is with some men. By making love to them through their +stomachs, you will find them in as happy a frame of mind as Sam +Gilmore was as he finished his pipe. His wife saw that he was +taking his last puffs, so she said, "Sam, can I have the bays to +go over to the Henshaws' this afternoon?" <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," replied Sam, "I was going to haul wood, but I guess I can +let that go. What time do you want them?"</p> + +<p>"Two o'clock," said his wife.</p> + +<p>Sarah said that Sam brought the bays around to the front door and +was as lively round her and the team as he was twenty years ago +when she was a maiden and he came courting her at her father's.</p> + +<p>Talk about the diplomacy of Bismarck, d'Israeli, and the Russian +Ambassador in settling the Eastern question at the close of the +Russo-Turkish war; why there are women in Orangeville who can +give them pointers on diplomacy.</p> + +<p>The bays thought that either a peddler or minister was driving +them that afternoon, they made so many short calls. There was one +thing certain—Sarah Gilmore was not to blame if the people of +Orangeville did not know Charles Herne was married.</p> + +<p>When Green entered the house his wife said: "Horace, what do you +think? Charles Herne has brought home a bride."</p> + +<p>"A what?" said her husband.</p> + +<p>"A bride," said his wife. "May be it's so long since you saw a +bride, you have entirely forgotten how one looks. You had better +hustle round and pony up that seventy-five dollars you are owing +him. He will need it to buy silks, satins and laces for the +bride."</p> + +<p>"Hell's to pay," said Green.</p> + +<p>Early the same morning Henry Storms entered the "Crow's Nest" +saloon in Orangeville, where two men were talking over the bar to +the saloon-keeper. Storms, walking up to where they were, saluted +them by saying: "Hell's broke loose."</p> + +<p>"What's up now?" said one of the men.</p> + +<p>"Why," said Storms, "Charles Herne has got a running mate."</p> + +<p>"Drinks for four," called out another man.</p> + +<p>When the drinks were ready four men raised their glasses, one +saying, "Drink hearty to Charles Herne and his partner." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the conclusion of the toast four glasses of whiskey were +emptied down four men's throats.</p> + +<p>A man went down from his house to the road where his mailbox was +nailed to a redwood post. The stage was just coming in.</p> + +<p>"Any news?" asked the man of the stage-driver as he took his +mail.</p> + +<p>"News!" said the driver. "I should say there was. They tell me +that Charles Herne has been, and gone, and done it."</p> + +<p>Saunders, the merchant of Orangeville, told his customers that +day that "Charles Herne had got spliced."</p> + +<p>Tim Collins took a span of kicking mules to Pierce, the +blacksmith, to be shod.</p> + +<p>"Well, Tim, I got some news for you," said Pierce.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" said Tim.</p> + +<p>"Charles Herne has got hitched up."</p> + +<p>Now one could not discern any perceptible change in Charles +Herne, if it were true that he had done all the many and varied +things which his neighbors stated he had; such as "Brought home a +brand-new wife," "Got him a woman," "Got a bride," "Got a running +mate," "Been, gone, and done it," "Got spliced," "Got hitched +up," and so on.</p> + +<p>The waves of ether in the atmosphere of Orangeville were pregnant +with all these sayings and produced such an effect on a number of +ladies as to make them call at different times at the Treelawn +home.</p> + +<p>When some of the ladies had made a call and had seen Mrs. Herne, +and these ladies saw some others in Orangeville who had not seen +Mrs. Herne, conversation did not drag. And as for speculation. +Why the amount of speculative genius displayed by certain ladies +of that locality would eclipse all speculative talent of Kant, +Spencer and Mill. Listen to some of the inquiries: "Is she +proud?" "Is she pretty?" "Has she much style about her?" "Do you +think they will get along well together?" "Is she fond of +children?" "Will they have any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> babies?" "Is she fond of dress?" +"Is she a society lady?" "Do you think she will get lonesome?" +"Can she do housework?" "Is she much account with a needle?" "Is +she close and saving?" "Is she extravagant?" "Do you think she +will put her foot down on Charles Herne furnishing his men with +so many luxuries?" "Is she happy?" "Is she a scold?" "Will she +wear the breeches?" and numerous other questions which, like +problems concerning the Universe, will take time to solve.</p> + +<p>Clara Herne was very happy in her new home as the wife of Charles +Herne. She found her duties light and pleasant. Everything in the +house and about the house was order and system, no friction, all +harmony. She remarked to her husband one evening: "It pays to +have good help. Every one here takes an interest in what he has +to do and does it the very best he knows how, cheerfully and +willingly."</p> + +<p>She respected her husband exceedingly for the generous way in +which he treated his men, and she helped him to still further +their comforts.</p> + +<p>On retiring one night after they had both spent the evening with +their men, which they often did, she said to her husband: "How +good it is to have love and respect between employers and +employed. Every one speaks in such a kind way; so considerate for +the feelings and interests of each one."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her husband, "it makes life worth living to treat +your hired help not as if they were merely machines for the use +of getting so much work out of them, but to live and act towards +them as if they were men. Better still to realize the thought +always, that they are our brothers."</p> + +<p>Charles and Clara Herne were very happy as man and wife, because +they were a social unit. They were one in their domestic and +social natures; they were fond of going out to parties, suppers +and dances, and enjoyed entertaining company; they were strictly +moral, though not religious, and occasionally attended church. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>One evening about a year after they had been married, they were +sitting in front of the open fire, interesting themselves in +talking about some of the people in Orangeville who were at the +party they had attended the evening previous.</p> + +<p>"I think last night's party was one of the best we have +attended," said Mrs. Herne.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her husband, "the Hammonds are great entertainers. +They always make it interesting and pleasant for every one who +comes."</p> + +<p>"Of course, their daughter Julia has a tact for receiving company +and making delicacies for a party," added Clara. "What taste she +displayed in the arrangement of the table. Then she herself is +personally a great attraction to the young men. I consider her +the belle of Orangeville. Her age I think is about twenty-one."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but she has a most unusual development for that age. She +has such a commanding form, so erect; there is something very +fascinating about her expression; and those black eyes of hers +denote a powerful magnetism. No wonder she attracts men so +strongly."</p> + +<p>"She seemed to pay more attention to that young Webber, I +thought, than to any one else. Certainly, she smiled very sweetly +upon him."</p> + +<p>"You don't know Julia," said Mr. Herne, decidedly. "She is like a +cat, as meek as Moses or as full of deviltry as Judas Iscariot. +She is just playing with Webber and he is too vain and foolish to +see it. Why, Julia Hammond would not marry Webber if he were the +last man in Orangeville. The man she wants is Ben West, and she +scarcely spoke to him during the evening; in fact, did not pay +him as much attention as she would have paid to the merest +stranger. In most girls such an action would be the result of +shyness and the desire to avoid observation; in Julia, I think it +arises from an inborn, stubborn pride which prevents her from +yielding even to such an uncontrollable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> feeling. She has an iron +will and though she knows she must yield eventually, she holds +herself defiantly as long as she can."</p> + +<p>"I don't blame her for wanting Ben West, for he is the finest +looking and most popular young man in Orangeville," said Clara.</p> + +<p>"He is, indeed," replied her husband. "Almost any girl in +Orangeville would be glad to marry him, but Julia wants him and +she will get him. He has not lost his heart so far, but Julia has +not played her cards yet. She knows her power and loves to use +it. She would do anything to gain her end."</p> + +<p>"Why, dear, you seem to be well posted on Julia's disposition," +said his wife.</p> + +<p>"You see," he replied, "I have known her ever since she has lived +in Orangeville, which has been twelve years. And now I am going +to tell you something that will surprise you. I got it straight +from Hammond himself, and he and I are close friends, as I have +helped him financially out of some hard places. Several times he +has made me a confidant. Only one or two in Orangeville know what +I am going to tell you.</p> + +<p>"It seems that about four years after Mr. and Mrs. Hammond were +married, Mrs. Hammond received a letter from her cousin, Mrs. +Featherstone, saying that Nat Harrison, a mutual friend, had been +shot dead in a dispute over a faro game. He was under the +influence of liquor at the time of the trouble. He left a wife +and a girl baby eighteen months old, without any means of +support, the mother being incompetent to take care of either +herself or the child, and the letter asked would Mrs. Hammond +like to adopt the baby. If so, Mrs. Featherstone was coming to +San Diego in about a month's time and would bring the child (the +Hammonds lived at San Diego then). The mother would make her home +with her aunt.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hammond said, after reading the letter, 'Poor Annie +Harrison. Only think. I sat beside her at the graduating +exercises of Nat Harrison's class, and remember how pleased she +was at the applause which greeted the oration delivered by Nat,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +"American Commerce." So many congratulated him on his talent and +thought he would become a rising member of the bar, and his voice +would be heard in the halls of legislation of the nation.</p> + +<p>"'Annie looked so pretty and sweet that day, you could not have +bought her prospects in life for a million dollars. She thought +she had a jewel of a lover, poor thing, she was so innocent of +the nature of men. She knew nothing of the world, for her mother +always treated her as a baby, never teaching her any +self-reliance, and had kept her as a hot-house plant. She grew up +with no higher ideal in life for herself than to be some rich +man's toy and pet, under marriage. She was more adapted to be a +flower in the "Garden of Eden" than to fight the battle of life +in the present state of society.'</p> + +<p>"Nat Harrison had money and was doing well when he married Annie, +but being a man of strong passions and appetites, Annie's +freshness and bloom soon wilted. Then he sought other pastures +for his carnal pleasures, and with that came drinking and +gambling. When his estate was settled up after his death they +found he was in debt.</p> + +<p>"Mr. and Mrs. Hammond talked the matter over and decided to adopt +the child. They were both much pleased when they received the +baby from Mrs. Featherstone and saw what a fine child she was. +They have loved her and done everything that parents could do for +a child of their own to make her happy. Julia brought lots of +sunshine into their home, and everything went all right and they +took a great deal of comfort with her till she got to be about +fourteen and then she seemed to become stubborn, grew inattentive +to her studies, seemed to care less for her girl companions, but +was always with the boys. All she appeared to care for was to be +in their company. She took less interest in things in the house, +did not care about helping her mother, and would have odd spells. +Sometimes she took a notion to do up the work, and it was then +done quickly and well. Then for quite a time it would be like +pulling teeth to get her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> to do anything. She has the ability if +she would only use it. The last four years she has given Mr. and +Mrs. Hammond many an anxious thought, and they have wished that +Ben West or some other such man would marry her. They see the +older she grows the more the hot blood of her father shows in +her. Hammond told me last night at the party that Julia was great +on dress parade, but was not there when it came to doing the +common every day duties of life with no excitement."</p> + +<p>"Why, Charles, the narrative concerning Julia's life is very +interesting. Some of the people around us would be just as good +material for a novel as those we read about in fiction."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h4>BEN WEST.</h4> + +<p>About a week after Mr. Herne had told his wife the history of +Julia Hammond, Mr. Hammond, on going to the store for some +trifle, was saluted by Saunders, the merchant, with, "Heard the +news, Hammond?"</p> + +<p>Hammond said: "No. What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Ben West is going to the Klondike," said Saunders.</p> + +<p>"Going to the Klondike!" said Hammond. "Why, I don't see what he +has to go there for. He is the only child, his father owns a fine +ranch, and he is always getting big jobs on roads and ditches, +making three to four dollars a day, because he can go ahead and +knows just what to do and how to do it. He has great muscular +strength and can lift about twice as much as any ordinary man."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he wants to make a stake," said Saunders. "He is ambitious."</p> + +<p>Wescott spoke up and said: "Ben is a rustler; he will get there +every time."</p> + +<p>Hammond said: "He has lots of vim and pluck; has got sand and +backbone to him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is a hummer," said Saunders.</p> + +<p>"I tell you he has got some ambition and grit," said Stearns, +admiringly.</p> + +<p>It was not long before the news spread all over Orangeville, that +Ben West was going to the Klondike, and the abilities which he +possessed as a worker and money maker, and an all round good +fellow were the theme of conversation in many a household and on +many a ranch.</p> + +<p>When the news reached the ears of the young ladies of +Orangeville,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> most of them felt a shade of disappointment, +because Ben had been good to them.</p> + +<p>Not having shown any decided preference for one, he devoted his +attentions to many, and having a good fast team he was able to +give the young ladies many a pleasant ride to dances, parties and +church, so he was a great favorite with them all.</p> + +<p>Just previous to Ben West's leaving Orangeville, a great farewell +supper and dance was given him. The attendance was very large. +The young ladies appeared in their best toilets. Julia looked +superb and was very graceful in her deportment. This evening she +"played her cards" with evident success, and the result was that +as Ben West went home the feeling that had been flickering for +some time had now broken out into a flame that fired his blood. +Julia did indeed know her power and how to use it, and she +intended that some one else should be restless and disturbed as +well as herself. So that night there were two persons in +Orangeville who tried to sleep but could not. Ben West realized +that night that he had become a willing slave. Sometimes the +thought seemed pleasant, then again it would be galling in the +extreme.</p> + +<p>A few of the boys went to Roseland to see Ben off, and they had a +time "all to themselves" as they called it in Roseland, the night +previous to his departure. Ben West left with the best wishes and +prayers for good luck following him from all his friends.</p> + +<p>When a rising, popular young man leaves his home and neighborhood +for the purpose of making his fortune, he is full of great +expectations, and this thought is shared by all his friends. He +departs with the best wishes following him, for his companions +say: "If a man can strike it rich he can." There does not seem +the least doubt in their minds regarding his success, for they +have unbounded confidence in him. Now the young man leaving is +exceedingly alive to the expressions and sentiments of his +friends, and he feels that he must succeed or die in the attempt. +His attachment to name and fame and his personal self is so +strong,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> and he is so susceptible and negative to the good +opinion of those around him, that he feels he will never want to +come back and show himself among his friends unless he has struck +it rich, for he knows there is nothing that succeeds like +success.</p> + +<p>Talk about the idolatry of the heathen! Is there any idolatry in +the world that is stronger than that which is found in the +so-called "Christian" world in the year 1900? Where do you find +any greater idolatry than that which is bestowed on money and on +woman? There are more devotees at these two shrines than are to +be found worshipping the Divine. Look at a young man fortunate in +the financial world. The first year in speculations he makes +fifty thousand dollars. The second year he is worth two hundred +thousand dollars. The third year he has made half a million. The +fourth year he has become a millionaire. Now listen to the +eulogies and encomiums passed upon him. He is the lion of the +hour, the hero of the day, for he has won the victory that to win +fifty thousand other men had tried and failed. He has attained +the great end for which most men think they were born, money +making. What a number of young ladies see so many excellent +qualities in the rising young millionaire, the "Napoleon of +Finance." Note how his faults are all glossed over by their +mammas, who are ready to act as if they had received a retaining +fee as his attorneys, so ready are they to defend him at all +times to their daughters and friends. It seems to matter little +about his intellectual gifts or moral character. His financial +success covers a multitude of sins and weaknesses. Should a young +lady raise one or two slight objections in regard to the young +millionaire's character, her mother says: "Why, dear, all young +men must sow their wild oats. You must not expect to find a pure +young man. All young men are fast more or less. It would be hard +to find an unmarried man that is moral. After they are married +they get steady and settle down."</p> + +<p>Should a young lady of moderate means marry a young man who has +made a million dollars, there is more rejoicing by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> members +of her family than if she had become a saint or a great angel of +light. She thinks she has attained the great end of her existence +in marrying a millionaire and making for herself name and fame +and family position.</p> + +<p>Should the young millionaire be a little liberal to a few of his +friends, he becomes more to them than the Lord himself. Other +young men, seeing and knowing all this, are putting forth every +effort and straining every nerve to be successful financiers. +They realize that the power of money is so great to-day in the +eyes of many, that unless they are successful money getters, they +are no good to themselves or their friends. They parody the verse +in Proverbs something like this: "With all thy getting, get +money; get it honestly if you can, <i>but get it anyway</i>."</p> + +<p>Such is the gospel that is acted out in the commercial world +to-day. All good intentions, all right convictions, all wise +counsels of religious teachers, are side-tracked and become as a +dead letter if they stand in the way to successful money making.</p> + +<p>Ben West knew what the sentiment of the people of Orangeville was +towards himself, and it fired his ambition to think of the +expressions conveyed to him by his friends, and his heart was +fired still more when he thought of the possibility of possessing +the fine form of Julia Hammond. He made up his mind that he would +be willing to endure all hardships, that he would leave no stone +unturned in order to be successful; for he saw before him the +chance of getting a fortune and the praise, adoration and +admiration of the people of Orangeville.</p> + +<p>The form of Julia Hammond seemed to float before the eyes of his +mind day and night; and when he saw, in his imagination, that +face with its sparkling black eyes, and the finely poised head, +with its wavy black hair, her well-rounded bust, and the handsome +figure, it made him feel like removing a mountain of dirt or +penetrating the bowels of the earth, to get the shiny metal which +was to open for him the gates of his earthly paradise.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h4>STELLA WHEELWRIGHT.</h4> + +<p>One afternoon two men were digging post-holes and setting in +redwood posts on the side of one of the main roads in +Orangeville. Everything had been exceedingly quiet, not a team +was seen since dinner. Nothing in the way of excitement had +happened to relieve the monotony of their work. They were +interested and delighted when they heard a noise, and, looking +down the road, saw a vehicle coming, but it was not near enough +to tell whose it was. When it got a little nearer one of the men +said: "Why, Alfred, it is the old man Wheelwright and his girl +Stella."</p> + +<p>Alfred replied to James, the man who has just spoken: "Stella was +to school at San José, and her father has been to Roseland to +meet the train which arrived this morning and bring her home."</p> + +<p>"How she has grown," remarked James, "since she went away. She +has improved in her looks very much."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Alfred, "I think she will make a fine woman, for she +has a bright, intelligent eye, and they say she is real smart in +her studies, away ahead of most of the girls round here. She +seems so different to them. She comes of good stock; her mother +is the brightest and best woman in Orangeville, and her father is +a well-posted man."</p> + +<p>"You must be kind of stuck on her and her folks," replied his +companion. "I don't go so much myself on girls who have their +heads in books all the time. What does a fellow want with such a +girl as that? She may be all right to be a school marm, or +woman's rights talker, but I don't want any of them. I say to +hell with book women. Give me a girl like Nance Slater. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> is +round and plump, don't care much for books or papers, but is +bright and laughing all the day. She is the girl to have lots of +fun with, and when it comes to making a man a good wife, why, she +is the best cook in Orangeville. I was over to Slater's on an +errand the other morning about ten o'clock, and Nance was looking +as pretty as a picture; her cheeks had the blush of the peach on +them; her eyes were sparkling bright, her lips red, and when she +laughed, her teeth looked like the best and whitest ivory you +ever saw. She had on such a pretty, light, calico wrapper, and a +white apron with a bib, and was busy taking out of the oven some +mince pies and just putting in some apple pies. She had a kettle +of doughnuts a frying, and a whole lot of cookie paste ready to +cut out and bake. She said: 'James, you must sample my doughnuts. +Mother, give James a cup of coffee to go with them; there is some +hot on the stove.' Nance is a trump. She is straight goods. The +trouble with those Wheelwrights is they live awful close, and +instead of cooking good meals, spend their time in reading books. +They starve in the kitchen to sit in the parlor. The devil take +the books, I say. I wouldn't give a book girl barn room for all +the good she would be to me."</p> + +<p>Alfred replied: "That's all right; every fellow to his own girl, +I say. It would not do for all to be after the same one. As for +me, I like Stella. She has some stability of character. There is +something interesting about a girl like that, and if she don't +care about doing all the cooking, why, I can help her, if she +will only let me enjoy her company."</p> + +<p>The sun went down and the men went each to his own home, being +content in their mind that each man should have his own choice.</p> + +<p>Stella was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright, she +being the only child they ever had had. At the time she returned +from school she was sixteen and would have one year more in +school. She was very precocious, a thorough student, and would +allow nothing to divert her from her studies. She was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> at that +age when the intellectual part of her nature predominated, though +the spiritual was just beginning to tinge her mind with its +coloring. She possessed a strong individuality; she was a born +investigator; would accept no statements without examining them, +and rebelled against a great many of the customs and usages of +society. She did her own thinking, and nothing seemed to please +her more than to take her investigating axe and cut away some of +the roots which held her free spirit in bondage. Problems seemed +to be crowding on her mind thick and fast, and she could not take +the time from her studies to do the necessary amount of reading +and thinking to resolve them, and she was looking forward to the +time when her last year would expire. During this vacation she +took much physical exercise, for she did not believe in +developing one side of her nature at the expense of the other. +She rode horseback and climbed the sides of steep mountains, +mixed with the young people in their recreations, such as camping +parties, picnics, and social entertainments. In company she was +bright, witty, and entertaining. She had no fear; was full of +confidence, and was better balanced than her companions in that +she was not carried away by pleasures and the company of the +opposite sex.</p> + +<p>When she was not away from home on camping or picnic excursions, +she would find time to visit the cabin of an old man who lived +alone, and had sore eyes so that he could not see to read. She +would read to him whatever he liked, cheer him up by her bright, +happy talk, and when she left the old man often thought to +himself that her comings were like angels' visits, for she seemed +to lift him up completely out of himself into a new world. When +she laid her head on her pillow at night, after having spent the +evening with old Andrews, she thought how much greater a +satisfaction she derived from hearing that old man say, on her +leaving him: "God bless you, Stella, you always bring sunshine to +me," than she did from even the most enjoyable pleasure +excursion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>She bestowed the attractions and charm of her social and +intellectual nature less on those outside than those inside her +home. You saw her at her best when talking to her father and +mother.</p> + +<p>Some parents let their children outgrow them intellectually, so +that there is a great gulf fixed between parents and children, +the latter having nothing in common with the former. Mr. and Mrs. +Wheelwright tried as much as possible to keep themselves in +advance of their daughter's intellectual growth, so that they +might always command her respect for their opinions, and that she +might realize that in them she found two interesting, intelligent +companions, whom she could love and confide in.</p> + +<p>The relationship between many parents and their grown children is +very unsatisfactory; for being on the material plane, there is +nothing very permanent in their relationship. The grown son and +his father have only in common business and social interests; +that is their world; outside of that neither one has any life +that he realizes.</p> + +<p>It is the same with the grown daughters and their mother. Their +life is mainly in the social and domestic world. Outside of that +they apparently have no existence; but the true ideal parents and +children are those whose life is in the intellectual and +spiritual world. They cease to exist in each other's minds as +parents and children, and realize a stronger and more permanent +tie, and intellectual and spiritual union, which is blessed, +glorious, and eternal. They realize daily that "In Him they live, +and breathe, and have their being"; that they are immersed in an +ocean of Divine love, and that Divine love permeates them all +through and through; and that it is in that ocean of Divine love +that they realize that they are one. They feel a blessed nearness +and dearness and oneness to each other, though separated by +oceans and continents, for they have realized through sweet +experience that the same intelligent spiritual thought and love +pulses through them all as if they were one organism.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h4>PENLOE.</h4> + +<p>One afternoon Mrs. Herne received a caller. It was Mrs. Cullom. +She had met Mrs. Herne twice at parties and promised to call on +her each time, but for various reasons she had not been able to +fulfil her promise.</p> + +<p>After the usual introductory talk, Mrs. Cullom said:</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see Penloe or his mother, Mrs. Lanair<!-- TN: original mis-spelling retained -->?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Herne, "who are they?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Cullom replied: "They live up about a mile above where I do. +It's rather lonesome where I live, but it is a very lonesome +place where they live. It is not a good road over there. I don't +suppose you were ever on that road were you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Herne, "I have never been over there. Charles +said it was out of the way and a poor road, being muddy in winter +and very dusty in summer."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Cullom, "Mrs. Lenair has been on that place +about two years. She seems pleasant, but so different from most +women. The second time I called on her, I got there about two +o'clock, and I thought I would have a nice afternoon chat. So I +began talking to her about my work, and telling her how I worked +my butter, and talking to her about my cooking, and I tried to +get her to talk, but she would only say a few words about such +things. About five minutes was as long as I could get her to talk +about her butter and cooking. Why, some women would talk by the +hour on such subjects. Now, she did not appear stuck up or proud, +she seemed so pleasant, her face being very bright and pleasing; +and there seemed to be such a feeling of restfulness about her +that I liked to be with her; but she seems to have so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> little to +say about matters we are all so much interested in. I could not +get her to talk about herself, so I asked about Penloe, if he was +at home. She said, yes, he had returned from San Francisco last +week; that he had been away three months. That surprised me, Mrs. +Herne, because I did not think they were people who had money to +spend in visiting and seeing the sights of a great city. Why, +look at their place, it is not much; she sold the fruit on the +trees for two hundred dollars, and outside of the orchard they +have only pasture enough for four head of stock. Their house has +four rooms, the kitchen is the only room I have been in, but it +is kept very neat. I said to her: 'Does Penloe have much business +in San Francisco?' She smiled and said he had business as long as +he washed dishes in a restaurant. That just took my breath away, +for to see Penloe you would think he would be the last man in the +world to do work like that. I cannot tell you how he looks, but +he looks so different from the young men about here; nothing like +them at all. He has a face that I like, but I don't know him +enough to say much to him.</p> + +<p>"Well, after they had been on that place about eighteen months or +so, I said to Dan one morning after breakfast, that I did not +feel like going out to-day, but I wanted some one here to talk +to, and I wished him to hitch up Puss and Bess and go right up +and get Mrs. Lenair to come down and spend the day with me, and +to tell her that when she wished to go home I would take her +back. 'Now, if you don't get a move on you, Dan,' I said, 'you +will come home and find a cold stove and no dinner and your cook +gone.' Dan moved round like a cat on hot bricks. That kind of +talk fetches men to time. I did not have to cook much for dinner +because the day before was Dan's birthday. Dan had killed a veal +two days previous and I made two kinds of rich cake, two kinds of +pies, and some cream puffs. They were very rich. Dan is fond of +high living, and he ate very heartily of it all. I laughed at +him, and said I never saw a man that liked to dig his grave with +his teeth so well as he did. So you see I could get up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> a good +dinner for Mrs. Lenair without having to cook much. It was not +long after Dan left before Mrs. Lenair was with me. Well, after +she had taken off her things and we chatted awhile, I thought I +would tell her the news, as she never goes out anywhere. So I +said: 'Did you hear what a hard time Mrs. Dunn had in +confinement? The doctor thought he would have to take the child +with instruments;' but Mrs. Lenair kept looking out of the +window, and all she said was, 'Is that so?' So I said: 'I suppose +you have heard about Mrs. Warmstey's case. She had a doctor from +Orangeville and two from Roseland.' Just as I said that, she rose +from her chair and said so sweetly: 'Mrs. Cullom, I do want to go +out and look at your flowers; they look beautiful from the +window.'</p> + +<p>"Well, I was clean took off my feet, because I was just beginning +to tell the most interesting part of Mrs. Warmstey's case. I +said: 'Why, yes, Mrs. Lenair,' and I went out with her. She began +to be so chatty I thought she was some one else for awhile. She +appeared delighted with my flowers, and called them such +crack-jaw names, and told me all about their families, and what +relation they were to each other. Why, to hear her talk, you +would think flowers had babies, she went on so about male and +female plants. Then she told me that flowers breathed, and told +me all about their coloring, and how they attracted the bee and +dusted themselves on him, and much more I cannot remember. She +talked to and petted them as if they were alive. You would have +thought she had been a flower herself, the way she went on. She +said something about the pencilings and colorings of the Almighty +being in the tulips.</p> + +<p>"When we returned to the house my back was feeling kind of lame, +and gave me one or two of those twister pains. I said: 'Oh, my +back! It has got one of its spells on.' Mrs. Lenair said it would +soon go away, and, to my surprise, it did. Only had it about half +an hour, and generally those spells last me all day. I said: +'Mrs. Lenair, do you have any ailments? I never hear you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +complain, if you do.' She said she had not an ache nor pain in +her body for a number of years. I threw my hands up in +astonishment, and said: 'You don't say so?' 'That is the truth,' +she said. And I believe her, for she looks ten years younger than +she really is. 'Why,' I said, 'how different you are from the +girls and women around here. Most all the girls not married are +ailing more or less, and about every married woman has her aches +and pains. I can't make you out.'</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lenair laughed, and said: 'If I were like other women I +should be ailing as they are.' Well, I got up just as good a +dinner as I knew how. I put on the table fried ham and eggs, +baked veal, potatoes, peas, canned tomatoes, red currant jelly, +fig preserve, canned nectarines, cream puffs, grape pie, lemon +pie, plain cake, and frosted cake; and we had coffee, chocolate, +and milk to drink. I did want her to make out a good meal, +because I thought she never cooked much at home. Well, what do +you think? I could not get her to eat any meat. 'Why,' I said, 'I +would starve if I did not have meat two or three times a day with +my meals.' She said she had not eaten meat for seventeen years, +and was much better without it. She just ate a little potatoes, +one egg, some nectarines, bread and butter, and drank a little +milk. I told her she must try my cream puffs if she would not eat +any cake or pie. At last I did get her to eat a cream puff. That +woman don't eat much more than would keep a mouse alive, and yet +she is so hearty and well. I told her as she ate so little, Dan +and I would have to make up for her. And we did, for we ate as if +it were a Thanksgiving dinner. Dan and I say it is our religion +not to die in debt to our stomachs. After dinner I felt more like +sleep than anything else, and I said, 'Mrs. Lenair, let you and +me take a nap.' That seemed to please her, so she laid down on +the lounge and I went and laid on my bed. About an hour later I +returned to the room where I had left Mrs. Lenair.</p> + +<p>"'Well,' I said, 'I have just had the boss sleep and feel so much +better. I hope you had a good nap.' <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lenair said, 'I have had a pleasant time lying here, though +I did not sleep any.'</p> + +<p>"'Why,' I said, 'I could not lie that way. If I was not sleeping +I would be nervous, and want to be sitting up or moving about.'</p> + +<p>"Then I said to her: 'I should think you must get terribly +lonesome up at your place, your son having been away so much, and +you all alone with no one to talk to.'</p> + +<p>"She said: 'I haven't known what it was to be lonesome since I +have lived on the place.'</p> + +<p>"'Why,' I said, 'I would not live like you do for ten dollars a +day.' She smiled, and said, 'You could not.'</p> + +<p>"'I don't see how you can stand it,' I said, 'for it is all I can +do to keep from being lonesome here with Dan, and a team to take +me anywhere. I have more callers in a week than you have in a +year. I am fond of company and so is Dan.'</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lenair said: 'All you have just said, Mrs. Cullom, shows +your life, your world; we all have different worlds,' she added.</p> + +<p>"I could hardly understand just what she meant, so I changed the +subject and thought I would talk to her about Penloe.</p> + +<p>"'Is he home now,' I asked.</p> + +<p>"She said, 'Yes,' he had got through his work and would be at +home most of the time.</p> + +<p>"I said: 'Did he ever do any of the kind of work he has been +doing at the different places he worked at before he came to +Orangeville? For he don't look to me,' I said, 'as if he had +worked on a ranch or done road work much.'</p> + +<p>"She said, 'He never had done hard work till we came to +Orangeville, having only returned to this country from India +about a month before coming here, and when we were in India, +Penloe went to the University of Calcutta as soon as he was ready +to enter as a student. I lived in that city nineteen years.'</p> + +<p>"'Why, have you lived in India,' I said.</p> + +<p>"Yes,' she answered. 'I left New York a year after I was married. +My husband represented a New York company in India.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> He died six +years ago, but we continued to reside there until Penloe finished +his University course.'</p> + +<p>"I was clean taken back by what she said. I said, 'It's none of +my business, Mrs. Lenair, but I don't see why a fine looking +young man like Penloe, with the education you say he has had, +don't get light, pleasant work, if he has to work out, instead of +working at such hard places with the toughest crowds of men.'</p> + +<p>"All she said was: 'That is his work.'</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Herne, do you know that he worked on the streets of +the city of Chicago, and for three months with a gang of a +thousand men on the Coast Railroad between Los Angeles and San +Francisco! Then he was at the Oakdale cattle ranch, cowboying it, +with that fast gang of boys that they keep there. Then he worked +for awhile at the Simmons ranch, which is four miles from +Roseland, and Simmons always keeps the hardest crew of men on his +place. They go to Roseland every other night or so and dance at +those low dancing-houses with bad women. They get drunk, fight, +and swear all the time. Simmons' ranch has got the name of being +the toughest place to work anywhere round here.</p> + +<p>"One day when Dan was in Roseland, he saw a man he knew from the +Simmons ranch, so he thought he would hear what the fellow had to +say about Penloe, as we both are curious to find out all we can +about that singular young man.</p> + +<p>"Dan said: 'Is Penloe working on the Simmons ranch?'</p> + +<p>"The man said: 'Yes.'</p> + +<p>"Dan said: 'How does he get along?'</p> + +<p>"'Get along!' the man said. 'All I have to say is I wish I could +get along as well.'</p> + +<p>"Dan said: 'What kind of a chap is he, anyway? I kind of want to +know, as he is a neighbor of mine.'</p> + +<p>"'Well,' the man said, 'I will tell you, and then you can judge +for yourself. I never heard him swear or knew of his telling a +lie; he don't drink or tell smutty yarns, or have anything to do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +with bad women. The boss says he works well, and when he is not +at work he never joins the boys in their foolish talk. He is by +himself a great deal, praying, I reckon, but he is very sociable +if any one will talk sense. Let me tell you what he did which +will show you what kind of a man he is. One cold, chilly night in +December, when we were all sleeping in the barn, each man having +his own blankets, the boys had just turned in when a tramp came +in and asked if he could sleep in the barn. One of the boys said, +'Yes.' The fellow lay down on the hay without any blankets, and +as soon as he was laid down his teeth began to chatter and he +shook all over, for he had a chill. Penloe instantly got up and +lit a lantern, took his blankets over to the tramp and said: +'Here, brother, you have got a chill. Take my blankets and roll +yourself up in them; you will be better in the morning.' From +where I lay I could just see the tramp's face, for Penloe was +holding the lantern so the light went on his face. The fellow +looked up at Penloe thunderstruck. I guess he never had a man +speak to him that way before. He said: 'Well, stranger, you are +mighty kind.' So Penloe helped him to roll the blankets round +him, and then he went and lay down on the hay himself without any +covering. The boys did a heap of thinking that night, but said +nothing. The next morning Penloe asked the tramp how he was, and +he said he slept pretty well, but he looked real miserable, as +though he had not had a good square meal for a month and was weak +from chills. Penloe said to the tramp: 'You stay here till I come +back,' and he went to see the boss and told him there was a sick +tramp in the barn, and would he let him stay there and eat at the +same table with us till he got well and strong, and that the boss +should take the tramp's board out of his wages. The boss asked a +few questions, studied awhile, then said, all right, he didn't +care. Penloe went back to the tramp and told him he had seen the +boss and he could stay there till he got well and strong, and to +eat his meals with them and it would not cost him a cent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> Tears +came in the tramp's eyes, and he tried to say, 'Thank you, +stranger.'</p> + +<p>"During the day one of the men told the boss what Penloe had done +last night; about giving his blankets up to a tramp and laying +all night himself without any covering. After supper the boss +called Penloe and told him there was a bed for him in the house, +and he wanted him to sleep in it as long as the tramp was here, +and as for the tramp, he would let the fellow stay here and board +till he got a job in the neighborhood. He would not charge a cent +for his board to Penloe. He himself had no work for the tramp.</p> + +<p>"When the boys heard what Simmons said and did in regard to the +tramp and Penloe, one of them said he was more taken back than if +he had seen the devil come out of hell.</p> + +<p>"'For you know, Dan,' the man said, 'Old Simmons is a hard nut +and as close-fisted as he can be. Some of the boys think now he +has got the Penloe fever. I think he got a straight look into +Penloe's eyes and saw and felt something he never had seen and +felt before. Penloe is a power when you know him.</p> + +<p>"The tramp stayed three days and got well. We thought it would be +a month before he would be well enough to go to work, but it is +that Penloe's doings, I know. He must have some power for healing +like they say Christ had. Penloe is never sick. Heat or cold, dry +or wet, seem just the same to him.</p> + +<p>"'The boss got the tramp a job at Kent's ranch. When he left he +gave Penloe his hand, seemed to tremble a moment, tried to speak, +but walked away without uttering a word. Penloe told the boss +that the way the tramp bid him good-bye and thanked him was +eloquently touching and powerful. The boss is very much changed; +he is not so close and hard, and you now see a few smiles on his +wife's face, where before you only saw lines of sadness; and the +children, instead of being scared, as they used to be when they +heard his footsteps coming, now run to meet him and hang around +him. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Simmons says Penloe was the making of him and family. Simmons +has a high-priced fancy mare that the boys always have said he +thought more of than he did of his family, and no one ever drove +her but himself. He would not loan her out to any one for a day +for fifty dollars, yet now the boys say 'he would let Penloe have +the mare to go to hell and back.'</p> + +<p>"'Some of the boys also seem to have caught the fever, and it has +made a great change in their lives. Penloe will leave the Simmons +ranch soon, but his influence is there to stay. The man said, 'If +you have any more men like Penloe in Orangeville, send them down +this way, for these God forsaken ranches need men like him!'</p> + +<p>"Dan says Penloe is like his mother in regard to tramps. Why, +that woman was all alone, and a tramp called at her house to get +a job of work. He said work was scarce and he had no money and +needed some food; that he was hungry. He told Dan some time +afterwards that before she replied she gave him a close look all +over. He said her eye seemed to penetrate him, and after +scrutinizing him very closely, she said: 'Come in, friend, you +can stay here till you can find work.' She set before him plenty +of good, hearty food, put a napkin to his plate, and talked to +him interestingly about matters which seemed to make him feel +that he was a better man. What do you think Mrs. Lenair had him +do, Mrs. Herne? Why, he was shown into the bathroom, and given +one of Penloe's night-gowns, and after he had taken his bath she +had him sleep in her spare bedroom. 'Why,' I said to Mrs. Lenair, +'how could you do such a thing? I would no more have done it than +I would have slept in a room with a rattlesnake.'</p> + +<p>"She said, 'Mrs. Cullom, that man is my brother, and I treated +him as such, and that thought was so impressed on his mind that +it touched his better nature, and he could only think of me with +the best and purest of feelings. I know that it was impossible +for that man to hurt me. I fear no human being in this world.' +The tramp stayed at her house for five days, and at the end of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +that time he got a chance at harvesting on the Thornton ranch. +When he came to take leave of Mrs. Lenair, she said to him: 'You +have put in five good full days' work, and here is five dollars +for you'—handing him a five-dollar gold piece. He said: 'You did +not hire me to work, and for what little I have done you have +paid me a thousand times more than it is worth, in your conduct +towards me. You took me, a poor, miserable, worthless, homeless +tramp into your home, as if I had been your own brother, and you +acted the true sister towards me. Now I wish to play the +brother's part by giving you my work. It is the only thing I can +do to show you how I appreciate your sisterly kindness toward me. +I can earn all the money I need now at the Thornton ranch. I +shall never forget you, because you are the only woman I ever met +that received me and treated me as a sister would her brother; +and if you ever need any work done on your place, and you have +not the money to pay for its being done, remember I am your +brother, and will do it gladly; more so than if you paid me two +dollars a day.' She thanked him and said he had better take the +five dollars, and laid it down on the table for him to take. He +said he never would take it, and left it there. His last words to +her were, 'I am going to be a new man.'</p> + +<p>"Dan was on an errand to her place while the tramp was there. He +saw him working in the orchard as if he was trying to do two +days' work in one. Dan said he couldn't hire a man to work as he +was working.</p> + +<p>"I was rather amused at Dan," continued Mrs. Cullom. "When I +returned from having taken Mrs. Lenair home in the evening (on +the day that I told you that Dan went and brought her in the +morning to spend the day), Dan came and took the team. +'Caroline,' he said, 'if you send me after Mrs. Lenair many times +more I shall be falling in love with her, for I think she is real +good, as well as being smart and bright.' 'What! Dan Cullom,' I +said. 'She wouldn't have an awful talking man like you, even if +you had a diamond on the end of every hair on your head.'" <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Mrs. Cullom was about to leave, Mrs. Herne said: "I have +enjoyed your visit so much, Mrs. Cullom. You have got me +interested in Penloe and his mother. I do so want to see them."</p> + +<p>That evening Mrs. Herne related part of Mrs. Cullom's +conversation to her husband and asked him if he knew Penloe or +his mother.</p> + +<p>"Penloe I have seen a few times, but his mother I have never +seen," replied he.</p> + +<p>"What kind of a man is he?" asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Charles, "I hardly know him. He is certainly a +remarkable appearing young man. He is so different in his looks +and expression from any man I have ever met or seen; so different +from the kind that I have always associated with, that I could be +no judge of such a man any more than I could be a judge of +millinery or silks and satins, for I have had just about as much +to do with one as I have with the other."</p> + +<p>"Well," said his wife, "I want you to arrange in some way so we +can meet them, for I am all worked up over them after what Mrs. +Cullom has told me, and am very curious to see them."</p> + +<p>"Something will happen in some way, so that we will meet them," +he replied.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h4>BEN WEST'S EXPERIENCE IN THE KLONDIKE.</h4> + +<p>At the time Ben West went to the Klondike, a long tedious journey +on a trail had to be made. He realized that whatever ability he +possessed for making his way in that country, he lacked +experience as a miner. So he was on the lookout to see if he +could find one or two men of experience. He met many men on his +journey, some of them having had most remarkable experience in +mining and everything else. He met a man by the name of Adams +that he thought would fill the bill; for he said he had mined in +Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada. From the talk Ben West had +with different men, he knew now that he was in a country where +men had no known reputations to back them; where every man was +looked upon by every other man as being "on the make," without +any scruples of conscience; where you would be laughed at if you +took in all men said about themselves; where a man's word was +worth very little and the only thing that counted was "something +was in sight."</p> + +<p>Adams told Ben West if he wished to secure his services, he would +have to pay his expenses to Dawson City and give him five hundred +dollars in cash before leaving Dawson City to go prospecting, and +furnish him all supplies, and he, in return, would give Ben West +half of whatever he found. Ben West, having several thousand +dollars with him, was willing to take chances, and hired Adams. +He also met another man in his travels who had had some +experience, but was "dead broke." His name was Dickey, and he +told Ben West if he would grub and stake him and give him one +hundred dollars in cash when in Dawson City, he would give him +half of what he found. Ben West agreed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> Dickey's proposition, +and the three men traveled together to Dawson City.</p> + +<p>Their journey was of a most tedious, trying character, the +weather being disagreeable in the extreme. It rained more or less +every day, making the travel exceedingly slow and difficult; it +being so muddy and slippery, you seemed as if you went two steps +backward to every one you went forward. The trail in many places +was washed out and had to be repaired before they could proceed. +In some places land-slides had blocked the trail, and it involved +a great amount of labor to clear them off. Everything around Ben +West was of a most discouraging nature. What with being cold and +wet all day; leg weary in the extreme when night came; bill of +fare very meagre, consisting of bread, beans, bacon, and coffee, +the men he hired sometimes felt like throwing up the sponge. For +they met many returning who said the country was hell and no +good; many were sick lying along the side of the trail; some were +dying, and they saw some dead; also a good many dead pack animals +were seen. His surroundings were certainly blue.</p> + +<p>One morning he awoke very early, long before it was time to rise. +It was raining hard, and the thought came to him, another long +tedious wet day's journey; how much longer would this fearful +traveling last? Would they ever reach Dawson City, or would they, +like many others, die on the road? Then he thought, why was he +here? He could not help contrasting the difference between his +environments here and those in Orangeville. Here all around him +was black, barren, cold, wet, and dismal; with nearly every one +cursing the country and calling it hell; and some felt like +calling for some small boy to kick them because they were fools +enough to come here.</p> + +<p>Then he thought of his parents in Orangeville with every comfort +inside, and a perfect paradise of fruits and flowers outside. He +thought of California's lovely skies, its balmy, invigorating +breezes, and its many, many sunny days. He said, what would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the +people who are journeying along here think if they had a climate +like that in Orangeville, which is matchless this side of heaven? +He continued interrogating himself. Why did I come here? Did I +not always have more of the very best and greatest variety of +food than I could eat? Yes. Did I not always have more fine +clothes than I could wear? Yes. Did I not always have more money +than I needed to spend? Yes. Could a man be more popular than I +was in Orangeville? No. In short, could a man have a much better +all round time anywhere than I had in Orangeville? No. Then why +am I here in this strange country, away from friends and loved +ones? A small voice whispered to Ben West, and said: "It is +because of your love for popularity, your greed, and because you +are a slave to Julia Hammond." It was the name of Julia Hammond +that roused Ben West from his reverie, that caused him to be +restless, to rise, to proceed on his journey, and bring his iron +will to bear, to overcome all obstacles.</p> + +<p>After enduring over thirty days of disagreeable, rainy, muddy +weather, it changed to cold, freezing weather, with snow falling. +Many more hardships the party endured before reaching Dawson +City.</p> + +<p>When they arrived at Dawson City they felt very rocky and +completely played out. The first week they were in Dawson City, +they just rested and took care of themselves and got well and +recuperated. Then Adams said to Ben West he wanted his money. So +Ben gave him his five hundred dollars, and he also paid Dickey +one hundred.</p> + +<p>So, after Adams got his money, he said: "Come West, let's see the +sights."</p> + +<p>Ben said: "I am here to make money, not to fool it away."</p> + +<p>Adams said: "Why, West, we have had hell enough in getting here; +let's have some fun to-night. Come, West, and see the show and +take in the elephant."</p> + +<p>Ben West said: "Adams, I know now where most of your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> money goes +that you have made mining; but women and whiskey will not get +mine."</p> + +<p>"Go slow, West, these girls are not respectable according to +rules and regulations of society, and I don't say they are, but +look out and see <i>that some one woman</i> does not get away with +your money. She may be considered respectable as the world goes, +but there may not be a great difference between the one woman and +these girls. I have seen the world, West, and men like you +before."</p> + +<p>Adams' remark had the effect of taking the sails out of Ben +West's self-righteous spirit, and he said nothing more.</p> + +<p>It was agreed among the three that they would remain in Dawson +City another week and then they would go prospecting.</p> + +<p>The day before starting to go, Ben West thought he had better get +his men, so he went round to the saloons, dives and dance-houses. +After searching about all such places, he found Adams in a +dance-house, and Dickey in the corner of a saloon. Both men were +busted and seemed glad to have Ben come and take care of them. By +the next day he got both men straightened out, and they proceeded +on their prospecting tour. Ben West was determined to learn from +Adams all he could in the way of mining. After they had been out +about a week, Ben sent Dickey in one direction while he and Adams +went in another. He watched Adams very closely and learned lots +from him. When they had been together about a month, Ben West was +getting tired of Adams for several reasons. One day he was +prospecting about a quarter of a mile from Adams, when he found +something rich. He brought a few samples to camp at night and +showed them to Adams. When Adams looked at the samples, he said: +"West, you have struck it." So the next day Adams went with Ben +to see the mine, and by doing more work it proved to be all that +Ben West had expected. Now that a mine had been found, Adams +wanted to get a settlement with Ben West, as he had been away +some time and wanted to get back to Dawson City. Ben<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> West did +not think he owed Adams anything, as Adams had not found the +mine, but for some reason Adams thought he ought to have an +interest in what West found; so they had some wordy trouble. +After many hot words, Ben West agreed to give Adams two thousand +dollars, which offer Adams accepted and then returned to Dawson +City to see and enjoy more fun as he called it. Two weeks later +an agent representing the North American Mining Syndicate bought +Ben West's claim for fifty thousand dollars, giving him a draft +for forty thousand and ten thousand in gold coin.</p> + +<p>For a few weeks afterwards Ben West felt rich, then, strange to +relate, a feeling came over him that he was poor, and must make +at least half a million. About a month after he had sold his +claim, he met three men from his native State, California. He was +glad to see men from his State, and they were glad to see him, +when they heard him say that he had sold a claim, as they had +very little money and might need some financial help. Ben West +found their company very entertaining and liked to be with them. +After awhile it was decided that all of them should go in as +partners. When they had been out prospecting a few weeks as +partners, it is singular to have to state that there was trouble +over every little show of a claim, and many other matters caused +unpleasantness, though before they became partners they were all +great friends. But the partnership business seemed to make them +all at outs with each other. After they had been out awhile +prospecting, Ben West found out that two of his partners were +tender-footed men, never having had any experience as miners, +though they at first tried to make Ben think they had.</p> + +<p>"I have got through with partners," said Ben West, "and from this +time on I will prospect alone; then what I find will belong to +me, and no second party can claim a share and growl because he +can't have it all. Besides, this partnership is a failure after +all. There is more or less trouble all the time about cooking, +packing, getting the fuel for fire, cleaning up, and putting the +things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> away afterwards. Then how will it be if a good prospect +is found? I shall have all the work to do and only get half." +This resolve was made after a long hard journey of several days, +over a rough slippery trail with now and then deep snow to wade +through, and also over rocky points that one is almost sure to +find in the mountains.</p> + +<p>The two tender-footed men were good fellows, but, like too many +others, when the novelty of the enterprise began to develop into +a stern reality, and there was manual labor to be performed, and +hardships to be endured, and some personal sacrifices to be made, +they began to lose heart, get homesick and weary, and to shirk +their part; also to be surly and disagreeable. "We won't +quarrel," said Ben West, "but when we get to Antelope Springs we +will divide our stores and then each one will 'shift for +himself,' as the saying is."</p> + +<p>In a few days they arrived at the Springs and at once divided the +supplies. After a couple of days' stay, Ben West started out +again prospecting, and slow tedious work he found it. He toiled +day after day, tired and weary at night, but blessed with a night +of sweet sound sleep so that in the morning he was fresh and +ready for another day's work. Things went on in this way for +awhile, then he came to a place that had been tried but +abandoned. Here he worked for about two days and found what he +was looking for. But it was not rich, though his hopes seemed to +revive once more. Here he brought his camping outfit and went to +work in good earnest for about ten days. He took out from fifteen +to thirty dollars per day, and the prospect looked favorable. A +party offered him twenty thousand dollars for his claim, but he +refused it, and after some bargaining he sold it for thirty +thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>He decided now to not only prospect himself but to stake others +for a half interest in what they found. Amongst them was a young +fellow by the name of Lane, of doubtful reputation, and his +partner Bruce. Ben West gave them a six weeks' outfit to go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> to a +part of the country that had not been looked over at all. After +they had been gone about four weeks Bruce, Lane's partner, came +into camp and wanted Ben West. He was out in the hills looking +for another claim, but Bruce went after him to get him to go with +him to where Lane was, for they had found a good prospect that +was very rich. After getting together the few necessary things +that they needed, off the two men went, and sure enough it was a +rich mine, one that was paying three to six hundred dollars per +day. "Now," said Ben West, "I am opposed to any partnership +business, and will sell or buy. Just one half of this claim is +mine. I will take twenty-five thousand dollars or agree to give +you the same amount for your half; and would like an answer at +once or as soon as you can decide."</p> + +<p>Lane and Bruce talked the matter over and finally concluded to +sell. "It is a bargain," said Ben West, "and we will now go back +to town and I will give you your money."</p> + +<p>It looked stormy before bedtime and next morning the snow was +quite deep. Though the snow was still falling, they were anxious +to get to town; so they started on the tedious journey of sixty +miles through the snow, then over a foot deep. Their progress was +slow and they did not make half the distance; being exhausted, +they stopped for food and rest. After eating a cold lunch, they +fixed a place and spread their slender allowance of bedding and +turned in for the night. It was bitter cold, but they were tired; +so it was not long before they were all soundly sleeping. When +they awoke in the morning they realized that a very hard day's +travel was before them, having about forty miles to make before +supper.</p> + +<p>When Ben West got up he did not feel quite right, for one of his +feet felt kind of odd. It did not take Lane long to find out the +foot had been slightly frozen. So to work they went and thawed it +out, wrapped it up well and started. It did not snow now, but it +was cold. Their progress was slow. When they had traveled about +ten miles, Bruce said: "I will push ahead and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> get a sled and +some of the boys to come and meet you, so make all the distance +you can."</p> + +<p>"All right," said West, "send four men with a sled and something +to eat. I will pay the bill and the men for coming."</p> + +<p>Bruce arrived in town some time after dark, but though very tired +and hungry he did not eat until he had started four good stout +men after his comrades, whom they met some nine or ten miles out. +Poor Ben West could go no further, for his foot was quite +painful, and he and Lane both waited and watched for relief, +which came at last. It was almost midnight when the relief party +arrived. They brought a fine lunch and a bottle of wine, which +both enjoyed very much. After the lunch was eaten all hands +started for the town, where they arrived just as the day was +breaking. The frozen foot proved to be worse than at first +supposed to be. It would keep the owner an invalid for at least +two weeks. Ben West said: "Here is a pretty mess. My fortune just +at my fingers' end and a frozen foot tied up for half a month, +when I have so much to do. Why did I not take better care of +myself?"</p> + +<p>At this time Bruce came to see how Ben West was getting along. He +found him nervous and a little feverish. "Just be quiet," said +Bruce, "it is the best medicine you can have." After Ben West had +paid Lane and Bruce for their claim, Bruce said to West: "If you +like I will go with another man, that you may name, and work in +your mine until you come to us. For my pay I want fourteen +dollars per day and I'll furnish my own grub." The bargain was +made. Bruce and the man started the next day, and just sixteen +days after Ben West was at his mine.</p> + +<p>They had a large pile of pay dirt ready for a clean-up; it was +exceedingly rich and several claim buyers had heard about the +rich mine and were on the ground to buy it from West. After a +great deal of talk West said: "The mine is worth a million, but I +want to get out of this country, and the man that pays me five +hundred and fifty thousand dollars gets the mine." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>An hour afterwards the agent for an English syndicate purchased +the mine. Ben West having now made his pile determined to lose no +time in getting back to Orangeville, but he intended to stay in +San Francisco till he was thoroughly recuperated before going +home.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h4>AN ARRIVAL.</h4> + +<p>George Combe has said, "Mankind love their young and take charge +of them with common accord, yet the love of offspring is much +more intense in the female than in the male, and this difference +is manifested from earliest infancy. The boy wants his whip, +horse, drum, top or sword, but observe the little girl occupied +with her doll. She decks it in fine clothes, prepares for it +night linen, puts it into the cradle, rocks it, takes it up, +feeds it, scolds it, and tells it stories. When she grows older +she takes charge of her younger brothers and sisters. Nothing +possesses, in her estimation, greater charms than babies. When +she has grown to maturity and become herself a mother, with what +sweet emotion and gushing tenderness does she caress her little +ones."</p> + +<p>While the love of offspring is more or less strong in all, yet it +does not manifest itself if there are other tendencies +predominant in the character. Take a woman in whom the love of +dress and society is most active; she will not care for +offspring, if her circumstances are such that it would debar her +from enjoying style or society; or if the artistic inclination is +the strongest in her character she would not want offspring; or +if great intellectual tastes are very strong and love of children +only moderate, she would not want offspring; or where persons +have consecrated themselves fully and unreservedly to a spiritual +life in order to become spiritual parents to many, to them +offspring would be a hindrance in their work. But where the +domestic faculties are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> the strongest, the home is lonesome +without children. In some the maternal instinct is exceedingly +strong, for it manifests itself to such an extent as to become +the ruling passion; nothing else but offspring can satisfy them. +And this maternal passion is expressed in matchless language by +Mr. Stephen Phillips:<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" + class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +"Lucrezia's sudden outburst of grief and +rage against her lonely fate is, poetically speaking, one of the +finest passages in the play:"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Giovanni.</span><br /></span> +<span class="i8">Lucrezia! this is that old bitterness.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Lucrezia.</span><br /></span> +<span class="i8">Bitterness—am I bitter? strange, oh strange!<br /></span> +<span class="i8">How else? My husband dead and childless left.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">My thwarted woman—thoughts have inward turned,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">And that vain milk like acid in me eats.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Have I not in my thought trained little feet<br /></span> +<span class="i8">To venture, and taught little lips to move<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Until they shaped the wonder of a word?<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I am long practiced. Oh, those children, mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Mine, doubly mine; and yet I cannot touch them.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I cannot see them, hear them—Does great God<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Expect I shall clasp air and kiss the wind<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Forever, and the budding cometh on?<br /></span> +<span class="i8">The burgeoning, the cruel flowering;<br /></span> +<span class="i8">At night the quickening splash of rain, at dawn<br /></span> +<span class="i8">That muffled call of babes how like to birds;<br /></span> +<span class="i8">And I amid these sights and sounds must starve<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I with so much to give perish of thrift!<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Omitted by His casual dew!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Giovanni.</span><br /></span> +<span class="i8">Well, well,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">You are spared much; children can wring the heart.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Lucrezia.</span><br /></span> +<span class="i8">Spared! to be spared what was I born to have,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I am a woman, and this very flesh<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Demands its natural pangs, its rightful throes,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">And I implore with vehemence these pains.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I know that children wound us, and surprise<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Even to utter death, till we at last<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Turn from a face to flowers; but this my heart<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Was ready for these pangs, and had foreseen<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Oh! but I grudge the mother her last look<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Upon the coffined form—that pang is rich—<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Envy the shivering cry when gravel falls<br /></span> +<span class="i8">And all these maimed wants and thwarted thoughts,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Eternal yearning, answered by the wind,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Have dried in me belief and love and fear.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">I am become a danger and a menace,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">A wandering fire, a disappointed force,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">A peril—do you hear, Giovanni? Oh,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">It is such souls as mine that go to swell<br /></span> +<span class="i8">The childless cavern cry of the barren sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Or make that human ending to night wind.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +</div></div> + +<p>In Mrs. Charles Herne, this feeling was not quite as strong as +that expressed in the play, but after they had been married two +years, she did some quiet thinking in that line. She would sit +alone at times, and let her imagination be active in the thought, +what delight it would give her if when her husband came in the +room where she was, she could take him over to a little crib and +turn back the corner of a fancy worked cover and show him such a +sweet, wee, little face nestled on the pillow, and what joy it +would give her, when her husband came in from his work to put a +little one into his arms and see how delighted he would be to +take the child, and then see him sit down and hear him use +language <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>which belongs to baby talk. Again she thought what +pleasure it would give her to start a little toddling form down +the pathway to meet her husband, and to see the little one stand +still when it met its father, and raise its little arms to be +taken up. All these thoughts and many more passed through the +mind of Mrs. Herne, for she now knew for a certainty that such +joys would be hers, and many a pleasant laugh and joke she and +her husband had over the coming of a little tot.</p> + +<p>One day a little later there was started in the most sacred room +in the house a vibration by the doctor which reached the auditory +nerve of the nurse conveying to the brain a most joyous +statement, "It is a boy." The nurse carried it to the kitchen, +"It is a boy." The Chinaman cook carried it to the Jap chore boy, +"It is a boy." The Jap chore boy carried it to the teamsters, "It +is a boy." The teamsters carried it to the men on the ditches, +"It is a boy." The ditch men carried it to the men in the +orchard, "It is a boy." The prune trees took up the glad news and +whispered it to the apricot trees, "It is a boy." The apricot +trees whispered it to the peach trees, "It is a boy." The peach +trees whispered it to all the other fruit trees, "It is a boy."</p> + +<p>When Pet, Bell, Blanche and Daisy, with their large udders full +of rich lacteal fluid, heard the news, "It is a boy," they gave +forth an extra flow of milk that night. When the frisky mules in +the barn lot heard the joyful tidings, "It is a boy," they just +cut up and threw their hind feet higher than ever. You could not +see them for the dust they made. The roosters crowed, "It is a +boy," and the hens cackled, "It is a boy." The orioles in the +mulberry trees warbled out the song, "It is a boy." The dogs, +Dash and Rover, in their play that evening barked at each other, +"It is a boy." The cats Tom and Malty purred, "It is a boy." It +seemed as if the vibrations in all the buildings and all over the +ranch rang out the glad tidings, "It is a boy."</p> + +<p>In the evening when all Mr. Herne's men congregated in their fine +quarters to have some music, Osborn sat down to the piano and +played while all the men sang, that old negro song: <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"Give 'em more children, Lord,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Give 'em more children;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Give 'em more children, Lord,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Give 'em more children."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Osborn said to the boys when retiring, "What a feeling of joy the +advent of a little boy has brought to us all on the ranch. Mr. +and Mrs. Herne have got their wish now, for they both wanted a +son."</p> + +<p>Barnes said: "What a fine time we will have with the little +fellow, when he is old enough to toddle. We will have him over +here most of the time."</p> + +<p>One day after dinner when the baby was about a month old, a man +standing six feet three inches and weighing two hundred and +twenty-five pounds, came on the porch where Mrs. Herne was +sitting with the baby, and said: "Mrs. Herne, the boys want me to +take the baby to them. They are all sitting under the mulberry +trees."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "All right, Frank." But the nurse seemed to be +alarmed lest he might hurt the infant, as he was so large and +awkward, not used to handling a baby four weeks old, so she +followed Frank and the baby to where the boys were. Frank said: +"Here boys, each one of you can hold him just long enough to pass +your opinion upon him." The men seemed to take as much pride and +interest in the child as if he were their own. After the boy had +been in each of the men's arms and they had passed their judgment +on him, the nurse wanted to take the child back, but tall Frank +said: "No, I took the baby from Mrs. Herne and I am going to see +the child in her arms safe again." When putting the baby in her +lap he said: "The boys all think he is the brightest baby they +ever saw."</p> + +<p>After he was gone the nurse said: "You ought to see how gentle +those great men handled that baby." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>Every day the men always inquired and talked about the baby, and +were eager to watch its growth.</p> + +<p>If you entered the house of an evening about the time the baby +was put to bed, you would hear a very sweet, soft voice singing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"Hush! my child, lie still and slumber,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Holy angels guard thy bed.<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Heavenly blessings without number<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Cluster round thy sacred head."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There is great talk made among many persons about catching +different kinds of disease and sickness, but how seldom you hear +people talk about the contagious qualities of hope, joy and love. +Supposing on a ranch the owner gets up in the morning and starts +the vibrations going, "That All is life, All is love, All is joy, +and All is God," and there is a hearty response by his wife who +takes up the invocation, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, +and All is God." And carrying them into the kitchen, she adds to +them by singing this song:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"The thorns that pester and vex my life<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Have changed to the flowers in June,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">All sounds, disorders, pain and strife<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Have rounded into tune."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From the kitchen the chore boy takes up the sayings to the +teamsters, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." +The teamsters take up those life-giving words, and instead of +swearing at their teams all day, and talking about hell, their +thoughts and talk is, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All +is God." The men on the ditches and in the orchards echo the glad +thought, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." And +the birds in the trees sing with gladness, "All is life, All is +love, All is joy, All is God," and that very interesting +ring-neck bird, the kildee, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> runs along the ditches and +moist places in the orchards, speaks in its peculiar way that, +"All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." And the music +of the waters as it flows along, rippling in the ditches, sings +"All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." The winds +talk it to the trees, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All +is God." The trees whisper it to each other, "All is life, All is +love, All is joy, All is God," and the music of the insects say +the same thing, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, and All is +God." When the God of day, with his effulgent brightness, rises +over the hills in the morning and scatters his luminous rays on +the ranch, and writes in lights and shadows his hieroglyphics +that "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." And the +one grand anthem that is being sung in the hearts and lives of +all on the ranch is, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All +is God."</p> + +<p>With an aspiration like that on the ranch, all cursing and +swearing would disappear; smallness, meanness, jealousy, +covetousness and greed could not live in that atmosphere. That +spiritual air in circulation would kill out all lustful thoughts, +pride, vanity, love of strong liquors, and of coarse animal food. +Everything would manifest the fruits of the Spirit, which are +peace, joy and love. All sickness and disease would disappear, +because those life-giving, purifying thoughts would become +incorporated and assimilated in the mind, nerve force, and enter +into the blood, flowing through its veins and arteries all over +the whole system, making the entire organism sound and pure, a +fit temple for the dwelling of the Eternal One.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h4>MRS. MARSTON.</h4> + +<p>In the last three years the beautiful little city of Roseland +with its avenues of palms and magnolias had a boom. Large +substantial brick and granite blocks were erected. Very many new +and handsome residences were built, besides putting a new +appearance on some of the old buildings. The commercial, +professional and mechanical classes were all doing well, and +living in expectation of doing still better.</p> + +<p>Among those who had prospered by the rise in real estate was a +Mrs. Marston, who owned one of the finest residences in Roseland. +At the time that she enters our story her age was about forty and +she had a son who was twenty years old, a month before he left +for Paris, and he had been gone away four months. Why he had gone +to Paris, the stories concerning his mission to that gay city did +not quite harmonize. His father came to the conclusion ten years +ago that his mother was too much like himself, in being a +positive, dominant character; that she was a little too masculine +in her makeup, and he thought he would prefer a lady for a wife +who did not weigh quite as much, and one that was a little +sweeter in disposition, and more playful. When he reflected that +he was worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he thought +that some of the joys of having a sweet wife should be his, and +particularly when he had seen Josephine Stearns, whom he thought +would more than meet his most sanguine expectations, for to his +mind, she seemed to possess all those very desirable qualities of +disposition which he so much admired. In a very indirect way he +made his mind known to Mrs. Marston, who pretended she did not +like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> such a proposition, but if he would give her fifty thousand +dollars and let her have the boy, she would consent to a divorce. +Her husband thought it over in this way. He said, "I am not happy +in living with my wife, don't like my home at all, and what good +does it do a man to be worth one hundred and fifty thousand +dollars, if he is not enjoying some of the greatest pleasures in +life. Better have only a hundred thousand dollars with a pretty +sweet young lady like Josephine, than a hundred and fifty +thousand dollars with my present wife." Next morning he scratched +his head, and said in a slow kind of a way, "I think fifty +thousand dollars rather steep, but I do not wish to have any fuss +or quibbling, and you can have the boy, and I will give you +twenty-five thousand dollars in cash, and twenty-five thousand in +real estate," which she accepted. To look at her you could not +tell what her feelings were, but way down deep in her heart she +was overflowing with gladness to think she was free.</p> + +<p>The rise in real estate made her worth in all as much as her +husband was when he left her. She was known in Roseland as being +a lady that was fond of young people's company, and she was great +on entertaining. She was one of those ladies who are proud, fond +of dress and style, very particular about moving in the upper +circles of society, but she had no interest or sympathy with +plain, poor people. She loved to dress young for her years, was +fond of going with young ladies and gentlemen bicycle riding. She +generally had as guests one or two very pretty young ladies, and +another of her fads was to make pets of a few sons of rich men. +As she had a fine large house and loved to entertain, the leading +young men in Roseland, and some of the prettiest and most stylish +young ladies, were very often seen in her parlors and on her +well-kept lawn. The lunches and suppers she served to her guests +were the talk of the town. She had a sister who lived in +Orangeville, but who was so different in her tastes and +circumstances that there was nothing in common between them.</p> + +<p>One day she was out driving, and her eyes caught the sight at a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +little distance of two persons walking on the sidewalk. She made +the team walk slow when she saw them. They did not see her, but +she took in at a glance what a clear complexion, bright eyes, and +lovely form the young lady had. She said to herself, "How +beautiful Stella has grown, but what plain clothes she has on." +She reined the team towards the sidewalk and said, "Why, Stella, +I did not know you had returned from school. Good morning, +David," she said to her sister's husband. "Wont you both come to +the house?" David said that Stella had just come in on the train +and they had been doing a few errands and were expected back by +Bertha at a certain time and could not stop now.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said to Stella, "I want you to come and make me a +long visit. I will be out to-morrow at your house and arrange +with your mother for your coming to visit me." She thanked her +aunt for her invitation and said she would tell her mother.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston had remarked on more than one occasion to her sister +Bertha, that she would die if she had to stay in a place like +Orangeville over night. As that lady did not feel she was ready +to quit her material form with all its attachments and desires, +she decided to leave Roseland at eight in the morning and that +would give her ample time to have a long chat with her sister, +and she could then be home by five in the evening in time to +dress for dinner and receive whoever might call. She telephoned +to her caterer to have ready next morning at eight, one quart of +orange sherbet and one quart of vanilla ice cream, put into two +nice dishes and packed in a box with ice, then put two wet sacks +over the box and set it in another box with a cover. She +telephoned to the livery stable to have her span of handsome +chestnuts brought to her house next morning at eight. The next +morning she was up bright and early and put on just a good plain +dress, and was ready to take the lines promptly at eight from the +man who had brought her team. She drove round to the caterer's +and got her box, then she went to the meat market and told the +man to put up six pounds of steak, she called at the bakery and +had the man put in her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> buggy one frosted fruit cake, one plain +cake, one lemon pie, and a peach cobbler, and one dozen fresh +baked Astor House rolls. After she had got a little way out from +Roseland she stopped at a Chinaman's garden and purchased a few +early vegetables. When she reached her sister's home it was about +ten, and after a few minutes' chat she said to her sister, +"Bertha, I have come out to have a visit with you and Stella, and +I did not want you to be giving yourselves a lot of work in the +way of getting up a big dinner, so I bought a few things on my +way out, and all they need is to set them on the table, except +the vegetables and meat, and I will attend to the vegetables; the +pies and rolls may need just a little warming."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston was one of those ladies of skill and ability who +could do anything in the kitchen equal to any hired help when she +wished, and this morning she seemed to be so different to what +she generally was, that her sister Bertha thought she either had +improved greatly, or she had not judged her rightly. She seemed +this morning so kind and thoughtful and so sisterly in her +conversation and so ready to assist in getting dinner. Bertha +said to Mrs. Marston, "Why, Helen, you have more steak here than +we can eat in a week." To which Mrs. Marston replied, that she +had brought lots of ice to keep it.</p> + +<p>When David was called to dinner, it certainly did his eyes and +stomach good to see on the table such a spread of luxuries and +dainties, which were so seldom partaken of by the Wheelwright +family, as they lived very simply. All enjoyed the new bill of +fare very much, and the repast was seasoned by a very pleasant +family conversation. David seemed to open his eyes several times +at the turn things were taking, because there had been times when +his wife and her sister did not harmonize at all.</p> + +<p>During the morning when not observed, Mrs. Marston feasted her +eyes on Stella's beautiful form in her new cut wrapper, and +mentally said to herself, "When I get some new stylish gowns on +that handsome figure, and that beautiful face under a becoming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +hat wont those Roseland dudes just go wild over her?" She laughed +to herself and thought what fun she would have with her pets.</p> + +<p>After dinner was through they sat at the table resting and +talking, when David said he would like to have Stella come out +and help him a few minutes.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston spoke up and said, "Yes, dear; you go out and help +your father. Your mother and I will wash the dishes."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston thought now is the time to speak to Bertha about +Stella making me a visit. She opened the conversation by saying: +"Bertha, I have seen so little of Stella for several years, that +I do wish you would let her come next week and make me a visit. +Not having a daughter, I feel as if I would like to do something +for Stella, that is to give her a good chance. She is a bright +girl and has an exceedingly fine form, and about all she has ever +seen of society are cow-boys and ranch men, and may be a few +ordinary respectable fellows; but I want to introduce her to +bankers' sons, young lawyers, and rich merchants' sons, and give +the girl a show. You see, she is going on eighteen, and if ever +she is going to have an opportunity now is the time. After a +young lady gets past twenty, her chances with the young bloods +are not so good."</p> + +<p>"Well," said her sister, "you are very kind, Helen, and I don't +know but what it might be a chance that she needs. You have my +consent for her to make you a visit, and when you give her the +invitation you can tell her what I say."</p> + +<p>"There is one matter, Bertha, that you will pardon me for +speaking to you about, and I hope you will let me do as I wish, +and that is in the matter of fixing up Stella's wardrobe."</p> + +<p>Bertha said: "Helen, she is your girl while she is with you, and +you can do whatever you think best."</p> + +<p>So when Stella came in from helping her father, Mrs. Marston +said: "Stella, I have been talking to your mother about your +coming to make me a visit next week, and she has given her +consent and I do hope you will come and be my daughter for +awhile. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> will have a fine time, I can assure you. Only bring +the clothes you come in. I will rig you out from head to foot."</p> + +<p>Stella in her own mind felt this way: that she never had any +personal experience of the circle that her aunt was a prominent +figure in, and all she knew about the young men and young ladies +connected with the swim, was only what she had heard and read. +She felt that by personally coming in contact with those of +different environments, it would widen her experience and give +her a better knowledge of the world. So she very kindly thanked +her aunt and it was decided that she would come on Thursday of +the following week.</p> + +<p>When she arrived Stella was warmly welcomed into the elegantly +furnished home of Mrs. Marston. Her aunt kissed her and seemed +delighted to have her niece with her. The bedroom that her aunt +said would be hers was a gem of beauty, being furnished with one +of those fine enameled brass bedsteads, a fine dresser with a +long bevel plate French mirror, and on the dresser was an elegant +toilet set. The curtains, carpets and draperies matched the tints +of the ceiling and walls. Fine costly pictures hung on the walls +representing mostly scenes of festivities in baronial halls and +castles, also in modern Fifth Avenue palaces; showing up so well +the gay brilliant throng of ladies and gentlemen in the height of +their enjoyment. The decorations and furnishings of the room were +well in keeping with the lovely figure that was to occupy it.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston had a great deal of personal pride, and she did not +care about taking Stella out till her wardrobe had been +replenished. After breakfast next morning the door-bell rang and +a minute or two afterwards Mrs. Rogers, the dressmaker, was +announced by the servant to Mrs. Marston. When Mrs. Marston went +in to see her she said: "Good morning, Mrs. Rogers; my niece is +here and I would like you to see her so you can help me to select +what you think would be suitable in the way of dresses and other +garments for her." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston called Stella in and introduced her to Mrs. Rogers +and said: "Mrs. Rogers will go with me to do some shopping, and +we want you to leave entirely to us the matter of selecting your +dresses. I am sure you will be pleased when we get through."</p> + +<p>Stella laughed and said: "If you show as much good taste in +selecting my dresses as you have in the furnishing and decorating +of my very pretty room, I am sure I shall be more than pleased." +Her aunt was delighted with the compliment.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said to Mrs. Rogers: "Did you come over on your +bicycle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said that lady.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Marston, "I will get mine and we will go now +and do the shopping."</p> + +<p>At the Marston mansion towards evening several large packages +arrived. Mrs. Marston opened two large ones, looked them over, +then said: "Here, Stella, these are for you."</p> + +<p>After Stella had looked at them she said: "Why, aunt, dear, they +are beautiful, but I am not going to be married now; they are +pretty enough for the most charming bride in Roseland."</p> + +<p>While handling the fancy worked underskirts and nightdresses, the +fine silk underwear and costly fancy silk hosiery, she remarked: +"It is very kind of you, aunt, to get all these fine things." +Then a box was opened and there was a great assortment of the +best shoes, so that Stella might select several pair from it. She +was quite pleased with the different materials her aunt had +selected for her dresses, and Mrs. Rogers would be up next +morning to take her measurement. She was going to put on a force +of assistants for completing them as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>Stella was about the same as a prisoner in her aunt's house for a +week. But she had a most enjoyable time in reading some very +costly illustrated books of travel which her aunt had purchased +more for style and appearance than for anything else.</p> + +<p>Her aunt said one day, she did not get any time to look at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +books, but she was glad Stella could amuse herself in that way so +that she might not find the time long.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, aunt," said Stella, "I have enjoyed every minute of +the time I have been with you."</p> + +<p>The week that Stella was a prisoner her aunt had so arranged +matters that there were few callers and Stella did not see them. +And she herself was out most of the time. Stella was not the +least sensitive in regard to the matter of not going out with her +aunt till her new dresses were made, because she saw that she +would be a very conspicuous figure among the well-dressed young +ladies of her aunt's circle. She would look like a speckled bird +among a flock of white pigeons.</p> + +<p>After the dress-making was completed Mrs. Rogers went with Mrs. +Marston to the milliner's and purchased a pretty hat, Mrs. +Marston saying she would bring Stella and let her select what +more she might need in the line of millinery.</p> + +<p>The week following was one of excitement for Stella, for every +day she was out riding once or twice with her aunt, and meeting +so many young ladies, and the well-dressed young men were very +particular when bowing to Mrs. Marston to recognize the pretty +young face at her side. Towards the end of the week Mrs. Marston +gave a swell reception in honor of her niece. The very élite of +Roseland were there, also a few from other places who were on a +visit to friends in Roseland, and all made a very gay and +brilliant party. But if any young lady that evening looked +attractive, bewitching, fascinating, and possessed the power of +making the blood in some of the dudes present tingle from the +roots of their hair to the end of their toes, it was that fresh +young girl from the country, with her sparkling eye, her ready +wit; with resources that seemed inexhaustible for sustaining +interesting conversation together with a manner so simple, so +unconscious in all she said and did and so unassuming, which +added much to the charm of her personality. All these +characteristics were manifested in fine well rounded form. Is it +any wonder that some young gentlemen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> saw a certain form floating +before them after they had put their heads to their pillows that +night, and their brains were active in planning for further +acquaintance with that young lady?</p> + +<p>Some of Mrs. Marston's pets lost no time in availing themselves +of the standing invitation to call any time. Other parties were +soon given by young ladies in Roseland, at which Stella had very +pressing invitations to be present. The young ladies liked her +very much; she was so natural, so sweet, so unaffected; they +observed she was not what is called "fellow-struck;" while she +seemed to enjoy and be perfectly at home in the society of young +gentlemen, the young ladies saw no signs of her flirting with any +of them. There is that peculiarity in the character of a certain +class of young ladies, that while they may think it is their +privilege to flirt and carry on with the young men they know, yet +when a strange young lady is introduced into their circle of +gentlemen friends, they have more respect for her if she shows +some originality and does not behave just exactly as they do.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston was delighted at the impression Stella made on her +circle of acquaintances, and now the dudes of Roseland paid Mrs. +Marston extra attention and politeness since they had the +pleasure of meeting her niece.</p> + +<p>Young Ryland, the banker's son, said to Barker, the rising young +attorney at the Arlington Hotel, "Say, Barker, what do you think +of that new flower which Mrs. Marston has put into our garden?"</p> + +<p>"I think," said Barker, "she is the prettiest and most fragrant +bud I have seen; a very rare specimen."</p> + +<p>Ryland said: "She is quite a study; the more you see of her, the +more interesting she grows."</p> + +<p>After Stella had been at her aunt's about a month she was seen +less in her aunt's company riding out, but more in the company of +the most stylish men in the city. Her aunt encouraged her in +going out with these young gentlemen. She talked very much to her +about how rich young Ryland's father, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> banker, was; and she +expected Barker to become one of the most brilliant lights at the +bar. To-day he was worth twenty-five thousand dollars in his own +name. Then there was young Westbrooke, son of the leading +merchant in Roseland, the only son. He was home from college, +with bright prospects. There was young Brookes, who owned fifty +thousand dollars in real estate, and had traveled in Europe and +seen lots of the world. He was a very great catch, her aunt said. +These four young men, who always dressed with great taste, were +Mrs. Marston's favorite pets. For a while Stella favored each one +of these young men with her company, in buggy riding, but towards +the end of the second month Westbrooke was the only one with whom +she was seen riding.</p> + +<p>She never took her aunt into her confidence by relating her +experience in going out with these various young gentlemen. She +thought it policy not to; but to be pleasant to each one of them, +even if she had decided not to keep company with some of them. +She remembered she was her aunt's guest, and should make herself +agreeable to her aunt and her aunt's friends. What she did not +relate to her aunt she did to her mother, when she returned home +from her visit the week after the second month of her stay in +Roseland. In conversation with her mother, Stella said, "I am +really glad I went to Aunt Helen's, for I have lived in two +months a year of my life. I have seen so much of a world +concerning which I previously knew nothing only by hearsay. I +feel it has done me good in many ways. Aunt was kind to me, and +made everything very pleasant, and so did her friends. I do say I +am glad that I have lived in her world and tasted of its +pleasures, because I don't go now on what I hear about that +world. I know from my own personal experience. It has given me +much to think about, and furnished a great deal of mental food +for the study of character, and I have learned more about my own +self. I know better now than I ever did before my strong points +and weak ones." She told her mother what fine piano players the +Miller<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> girls were, what sweet singers Dr. Lacy's daughters were, +and the male quartette was very fine. Ryland and Westbrooke are +members of it, and after relating a number of other things which +she heard and saw, she told her mother she could not tell her all +now, but would some other time.</p> + +<p>So one afternoon, when they were alone, Stella said: "Well, +mother, I will relate to you now some of my funny experiences +with some of the swell young gentlemen of Roseland. They were all +aunt's special pets. I had been out riding with young Ryland, the +banker's son, several times, besides sometimes meeting him at +parties. He is very dudish, and dresses very extravagantly. He is +labeled as catch number one, because his father has said his son +should take his place in the bank some day, and on his wedding +day he gets a gift from his father of twenty-five thousand +dollars, with the promise of the bulk of his father's fortune +when he dies. On the first few occasions when I met young Ryland +he seemed reserved and quiet, but the more I went out riding with +him I found he was getting rather soft. He did not seem to show +any other traits of character, and his company was dull, but he +made it more sickening each time with soft, slobbering talk. I +only went out with him to please aunt. The last time I rode out +with him he plead so hard for me to allow him to kiss my hand +that I consented grudgingly just to quiet him, but after he +kissed it instead of his being quiet, as I supposed he would be, +it seemed to fire him all the more, so that he wanted to kiss my +cheek. You ought to have heard the way he talked; you would think +he was about to die, and the only remedy there was for him was to +kiss my cheek. If he could only kiss me on the cheek, life would +come back to him and he would feel a new man. In my own mind, I +said to myself, 'This is the last time I ride out with you.' The +more I tried to show how foolish he was to want to kiss a young +lady that did not want any such manifestation of affection, the +more he persisted, and said, 'I must kiss you.' I said, 'If I +loved you, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> would be a real pleasure to receive a kiss from +you, but instead of loving you I lose all the respect I ever had +for you because you try to force me to accept a kiss from you +when I don't want it.' But he persisted, and said, 'I must kiss +you, it will do me lots of good, and won't hurt you.' I said, +'Have you no respect for me or yourself to act so senselessly?' +He replied, 'It may appear senseless to you, but I can assure you +it would be bliss to me.' I tried to turn the subject of kissing +me to something else, and did the best I could to entertain him +in conversation on other subjects, but no; he was more stubborn +than ever to think of nothing and talk of nothing but kissing me +on the cheek. Not wishing to have any unpleasantness with him on +aunt's account, I said to myself, 'You are nothing but a simple, +little, contrary, foolish child, in a man's form, and I shall +have to humor you as I would a little boy, for you have only the +mind of one.' I told him if he, as a young gentleman of honor, +would never say one word more to me about kissing, he could kiss +my cheek just once, which he did and was quiet afterwards. He was +very pleasant during the remainder of our ride, and when I got +out of the buggy I was glad he did not ask if he could call again +on me. When I think of him I cannot keep from laughing, the +foolish simpleton. I would not have him for all the gold in +California. I must tell you about another of aunt's pets I went +out riding with several times. There was more to him than there +was to Ryland; his name is Barker, and he is worth twenty-five +thousand dollars, and aunt says he will become one of the leading +lights of the legal profession. Well, he was full of humor and +jokes disposed to be a little gay in his talk, and from what he +related concerning himself one might infer he had been at times a +little swift. One afternoon we were out in the country riding and +he became very animated in his conversation about taste and style +of young ladies' dresses, and from that went on to say what a fad +it was among young men to notice and admire the bright <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>hosiery +which young ladies wore when bicycle riding, and continued in +that style of talk, saying what good taste I displayed in my +dress; he was sure that the pretty, bright hosiery, which he +supposed I wore, would do his eyes good to behold. Just as he was +apparently making a motion as if to inspect my hosiery, his nigh +colt shied at an old post that was leaning over at the side of +the road. He had all he could do to manage the horse. I laughed, +and told him 'He had better keep his mind on the team, and not +think about such things as the kind of hosiery I was wearing, +that he must not look upon me as a dry-goods window.' He acted +kind of mad with the colt, and said no more about ladies' +hosiery. That was the last ride we had together.</p> + +<p>"Well, one evening young Brookes, who was said to be worth fifty +thousand dollars in real estate, and had seen much of Europe in +his travels, called to take me to the theater. I had been out +riding with him several times, and met him at every party. After +the play was over, it being rather a warm night, he asked me if I +would not like an ice-cream, and I agreed; so we went into a +café, and the waiter showed us into one of the private boxes. +After bringing ice-cream, cake and soda-water, he drew the +curtains. We had a very pleasant chat while partaking of the +refreshments.</p> + +<p>"Brookes asked me if I had any objection to his enjoying a +cigarette.</p> + +<p>"I said 'No.'</p> + +<p>"Then he asked me if I would have one with him.</p> + +<p>"I laughed, and said I had not become fashionable enough for that +yet. I would have to live longer in the city.</p> + +<p>"He said, 'Why, the Paris young ladies smoke.'</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' I said, 'but I am not a Paris young lady.'</p> + +<p>"In looking around the little compartment I observed some +pictures on the walls, but I perceived that the artist was not a +Rubens or a Raphael, and they belonged to that class of pictures +that one would not see on the walls of a Sunday-school room.</p> + +<p>"I saw Mr. Brookes was looking at them, and then he started a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +conversation about his travels in Europe, which was very +interesting, saying he was a great lover of art and speaking of +works of art he saw there. He said it was astonishing the genius +that had been displayed in marble and on canvas to represent the +beautiful form of woman. Continuing in that strain, and being +free in his expressions, he finished by saying how lovely must be +the beautiful work of nature which was covered up here, putting +his hand on my shoulder. I smiled, and said, 'This work of Nature +is not on exhibition this evening; when it is, I will send you a +complimentary ticket.' He took the remark in good part, and +laughed. We got up and went out, and he saw me to aunt's door in +a very pleasant, gentlemanly way.</p> + +<p>"Westbrooke, the merchant's son, was the most sensible young man +I met. He appeared greatly interested in his college studies, and +we had lots of good talks on school studies and other subjects.</p> + +<p>"He asked me if he could come out to see me.</p> + +<p>"I told him 'yes' for I should be pleased to see him.</p> + +<p>"I want to tell you, mother, that when I was out and passing +through those funny experiences with the three different +gentlemen, I never felt in the least timid or scared. I felt just +as calm and collected as I do now. I felt this way about the +matter: While I have long ago lost all prudishness, yet I did not +wish to stimulate their over-excited imaginations of sensuous +things."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Stella, if you had not been well +balanced, I should have some doubt about it being best for you to +go to your aunt's. But I knew, dear, your tastes and inclinations +were not on the sense plane, and I thought the opportunity of +living in another world for a while would do you good, for it +would be the means of giving you a better knowledge of yourself +than you could get in any other way."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Mother, the cow-boys and hired ranch hands have a +hard name. Now, I know this class of men well, and my experience +with and observation of them has taught me that any girl who +behaves herself when in their company will always be treated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +with respect. There is some manhood about them in that way. But +those fine city dudes have such a polished, underhanded, deep, +sly, foxy way of attaining their ends. Dr. Lacy's girls told me +that those fine, city young gentlemen loved nothing better than +to get acquainted with some pretty, young, green, innocent girl +and enjoy the fun of breaking her in. They are skilled in that +art."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h4>SAUNDERS' CUSTOMERS.</h4> + +<p>One day, when business was very quiet in the store in +Orangeville, the following conversation took place: "Who is that +young man of striking appearance, talking to that old man in the +road there?" said Hammond to Saunders, the merchant.</p> + +<p>"That young man," said Saunders, "why, his name is Penloe."</p> + +<p>Hammond said: "Penloe, why that must be the fellow I have heard +my wife talk about. Has he any other name?"</p> + +<p>"That is all," said Saunders. "He does not wish to be called +anything else but Penloe. All his mail comes addressed just +'Penloe, Orangeville, California.' No. Mr., nor Esquire, nor Rev. +nor Dr. nor Prof., nor anything else. He and his mother are my +best customers, in one way. Not that they buy much, but they +never ask my price for the purpose of beating me down. Nor do +they grumble about the quality of my goods. Why, those two have +bought more from this store to give away to those in poor +circumstances, than they have for themselves. And they keep very +still about what they do in giving. There is the Jones family, +who have more children than dollars; they live in that cabin +under the hill, on the Squirrel Creek road. All Jones has is what +he knocks out by hard day's work, and he don't always have work, +either.</p> + +<p>"Well, last winter, when his wife was in confinement and had a +long sick spell of two months, and Jones had typhoid fever about +the same time, they were about down to their last dollar and were +in debt. When Penloe and his mother heard about them, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>they both +went down to Jones' house. Penloe cut some stove-wood and helped +round, and his mother took care of Mrs. Jones. Also, Penloe paid +me $37.50 for merchandise, which I had furnished them. The doctor +had been to Jones' about twice before they came to take care of +him and his wife. They paid the doctor, and told him (to his +surprise, as both his patients were very sick) that he need not +come any more. And they cured them without any medicine. When +Jones got well, they told him he could work on their place till +he got work elsewhere. And they gave him his board and one dollar +a day in cash for a month, and then he went to work on the Kelly +ranch.</p> + +<p>"Jones and his wife have turned over a new leaf since Penloe and +his mother were with them. They look differently, act +differently, and talk differently. Penloe's mother gave them a +little sound talk on family matters. I feel a better man myself +when they are round me.</p> + +<p>"Penloe's mother is away now, and Penloe is not seen much about +here; he is home most of the time, since he quit going out to +work."</p> + +<p>"That is a very different story from what you can tell about most +of the young men in Orangeville," said Hammond. After which +remark Hammond walked out of the store, apparently in a deep +study.</p> + +<p>Yes, he had much to think about, for he had seen a young man +about twenty-two years of age giving himself, his labor, his +money, and his best thought to help a poor family; to heal them +of their sicknesses, to help them to become self-supporting and +independent, by furnishing them work, and, above, all, to lift +them to a higher plane of life, thus helping them to find within, +the "kingdom of Heaven." Yes, he thought of Penloe's age, it was +twenty-two; the very age when most young men think only of +gratifying themselves in every little whim and fancy, of catering +to their pride and vanity, and spending all their time, all their +thought, and all their money on themselves; being lovers of +themselves more than lovers of God or any one else. Or they have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +become absorbed in some girl, not because she touches their +better nature and does what she can to lift them to a higher +plane, but because she stimulates the activity of their sensual +natures, causing them to live in bondage to their lower selves. +Deluding themselves with the idea that they are enjoying life, +they become so engrossed in the pursuit of 'sense-plane' +pleasures that they realize no other life than the animal-plane +of their existence, seeming apparently to be dead to all high +motives, grand ideals and nobleness of purpose.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h4>PENLOE'S SERMON.</h4> + +<p>The Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was the Congregational minister in +Roseland, but he used to come out every Sunday afternoon to +Orangeville and hold preaching service in the only church there. +One Thursday he received word that his sister, in Oakland, was +very sick, and wanted him to come and see her, and he would have +to be away over the Sabbath; so he wished to get a supply for the +two churches, but could not find any one to fill his place. In +talking to the deacons of his Roseland church about the matter, +they told him they would conduct the services at their church if +he could find some one to fill his place at Orangeville.</p> + +<p>It was customary for the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth to spend one day +in the week in visiting the good people of Orangeville. Among the +pastoral calls, he visited the home of Penloe and his mother. He +was very much impressed with the spiritual thought and talk of +both, and while neither were members of his congregation he well +understood their position. He saw that for a man like Penloe to +come and listen to the sermons he gave to the people of +Orangeville would be like expecting a student in Harvard College +to attend a kindergarten school, with the expectation of +receiving instruction. The minister was broad-minded enough to +perceive that the spiritual food he gave to his flock was +kindergarten talk to Penloe; it was only milk, it was not meat; +not the strong spiritual meat that Penloe lived on. It was all +right for babies, but it was not fit for men who had attained +divine realization in the universal Christ. The Rev. B.F. +Holingsworth was too liberal and charitable to think less of +Penloe for not attending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> his church. He was glad he had the +courage of his convictions instead of masquerading, as some do, +with the appearance of assent to all that is said and taught; +but, being at the same time, within, at variance and holding +views entirely different; but for policy, business interest, +family peace, social position and standing, love of name and fame +or salary, acting the hypocrite because they are arrant cowards.</p> + +<p>When thinking of some suitable person to fill the Orangeville +pulpit on the Sunday afternoon of his absence, he could find no +one so well adapted by natural talents, education, experience, +and deep spiritual insight, combined with an irreproachable life, +as Penloe. So he went out to Orangeville to see him. Finding +Penloe at home, he made known the object of his visit. Penloe did +not answer him at once, but was silent for a few minutes; he was +thinking that this was a call to a work which was not of his own +seeking, and, as the call to the work had come to him, he decided +to accept it and told the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth so.</p> + +<p>The minister then went to Deacon Allen, of Orangeville, and +explained matters to him, telling him that Penloe would select +one of the hymns to sing before the sermon, but Penloe wished +Deacon Allen to conduct all the other parts of the service, +including the reading of the hymns. The minister desired the +Deacon not to tell any one who was going to preach next Sunday, +but to explain to the congregation why he was absent, and then to +introduce Penloe. Deacon Allen had only seen Penloe once or +twice, and while he liked the appearance of the man yet he knew +very little about him. But, under the circumstances, he thought +the minister had done the best he could.</p> + +<p>It so happened it was the time of year when there was a number of +visitors in Orangeville, which brought out an unusually large +audience, for it included not only the regular attendants and the +visitors, but those who seldom went to church but did so to-day +because they had company. Mr. and Mrs. Herne, who seldom went, +attended to-day, and took the baby with them, this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> being the +first Sunday of the child being in short clothes. Of course, some +of Herne's hired men had to go, to see how the baby behaved.</p> + +<p>Stella was another irregular attendant at church, but young Mrs. +Sexton, whose husband was away, came round in her buggy and +wanted Stella to go for company's sake.</p> + +<p>Stella, through being away at school so much and having gone to +Roseland for a while, had only heard about there being such a +young man as Penloe in Orangeville, but had never seen him; +neither had her parents.</p> + +<p>Penloe was about the first person at church that Sunday +afternoon, and took a seat in the front pew, next to the pulpit +with his back to the congregation, so, as the people assembled, +they saw the back of some one but did not know who it was. When +it was time for the service to commence the church was about +full, but the people all seemed surprised not to see the minister +present. Deacon Allen came forward, and opened service by giving +out a hymn, which was followed by prayer. Then the choir sang, +sweetly, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and +I will give you rest." Then reading from the Scriptures, which +was followed by the singing of a hymn that Penloe had selected, +and Deacon Allen gave out. The hymn was as follows:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2p5">"See Israel's gentle shepherd stands<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With all engaging charms,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Hark, how he calls his tender lambs,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And folds them in his arms.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2p5">"'Permit them to approach,' he cries,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nor scorn their humble name,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For 'twas to bless such souls as these<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Lord of angels came."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>After singing the hymn, Deacon Allen explained to the +congregation the cause of the minister's absence, and introduced +Penloe, to the great surprise of those present. Penloe, in a +simple, unassuming manner, stepped up to the desk and faced the +audience. Casting his eyes over the mass of upturned faces, he +said, in a very pleasant, musical voice:</p> + +<p>"Dear friends, I will speak to you from the following words, +'Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for +of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.'"</p> + +<p>The sermon was a most remarkable and original discourse. It held +the close attention of every one present, and at its end the +congregation sang:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"I think, when I read that sweet story of old,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">When Jesus was here among men,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">How he called little children as lambs to his fold,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">I should like to have been with him then.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"I wish that his hands had been placed on my head,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That his arms had been thrown around me,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And that I might have seen his kind look when He said,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'Suffer the little ones to come unto me.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Penloe's sermon we will give, as told to her mother by Stella, +and also the version published in the Roseland <i>Weekly Gazette</i>.</p> + +<p>When Stella arrived home from church her mother noticed that her +countenance was all animation, and her bright eyes seemed to +glisten and sparkle brighter than ever; but she said nothing, +knowing Stella would relate all she had seen and heard of any +interest.</p> + +<p>"Well, mother," said Stella, "I have had the greatest surprise +and the greatest pleasure I ever had in my life."</p> + +<p>"Why, Stella," said her mother, "I am very pleased to see and +hear that something has delighted you so much." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who do you think I saw, and heard preach this afternoon?" said +Stella.</p> + +<p>"Why, I suppose the minister," said her mother, which was the +same as saying, "I don't know, but want you to tell me."</p> + +<p>"Well, mother," said Stella, "it was Penloe. I do wish you had +been there to have seen and heard him. His face, when speaking, +at times looked angelic. His eyes are so clear and bright, his +voice sweet and musical, and he is so graceful in his movement, +at the same time so simple and unassuming in his manner. He is +symmetrical in his build, and as handsome as a picture."</p> + +<p>"Is he really all that?" said her mother, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Stella, "and there is something about him that is a +thousand times more than all that; for there is an earnestness +and sincerity of purpose and a power, such as I have never seen +or felt before, in all he says and does. I don't know how to +describe it, for he is so different to any man I ever met or saw; +and, as for his subject, why, it was just grand. But I cannot +help laughing when I think of the feelings of horror, and so much +mocked modesty which I saw and heard expressed by many who were +there this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Well, whatever could his subject have been about, to cause those +feelings?" said her mother.</p> + +<p>"It was this mother; he took for his text, 'Suffer little +children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the +Kingdom of Heaven.'</p> + +<p>"He said it was not his purpose this afternoon to describe in +detail the circumstances which led Jesus to utter those words, +nor to enter in full into the history of those people at that +time, nor to describe the way in which they were raised by their +parents in those days, nor how children were treated in general +at the time Jesus walked on the earth, but to dwell on the +thought more particularly about how to bring the children to +Jesus now, and how to help them find the Kingdom of Heaven +within. He said the subject was such a large one that he could +only dwell for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> short time on one method for bringing the +children to Jesus, and that was how to bring them up pure and +make pure men and pure women of them. For purity of life and +thought was one of the first steps in coming to Jesus, and +finding the Kingdom of Heaven within.</p> + +<p>"Penloe said such an innovation introduced into our society would +be a God-send to us all, for it would bring about a change in so +many ways for the advancement of the race, as to make the mind +almost bewildered in the contemplation of the giant strides that +humanity would make. I cannot begin to tell you all he said, +mother, and I don't think the congregation took in the full sweep +of his great thought.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you one thing Penloe has done for me. He has cut +what few strings there were which kept me in bondage to my sexual +nature. I am free." And here the beautiful and intellectually +bright girl laughed, and shouted again, "I am free! Free from +that awful superstition of sexual bondage. Bless Penloe for +helping me to my freedom," said Stella.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, there have been millions of women +who have <i>died deaths of untold agony</i> through being in bondage +to their sexual natures."</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Stella, laughing again, "I give you notice that on +and after this I shall speak and act just the same when members +of the other sex are present as I would with my own sex, I don't +care what they may think. I will not be negative to their ideas, +for I am free;" and here she clapped her hands, and said, "I +intend to have the courage of my convictions under all +circumstances.</p> + +<p>"I must tell you, mother, there were a number there who were +perfectly disgusted that Penloe should have introduced such a +subject. You just ought to have seen the faces on some of the +congregation.</p> + +<p>"The dressmaker, Mrs. Hopkins, and her daughter, said they would +not have come to church if they had known the indecent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> talk that +a strange man was going to make. The two May girls, with their +beaux, were there, and after the service they acted as if they +were afraid to speak to each other. They went out of the church +with their heads down and seemed afraid to look anywhere; till +they saw Deacon Tompkins' wife get in the buggy, and then the +Deacon got in and took the reins and started the horse. But he +had omitted untying the animal from the post, and they all had a +laugh, and that broke the strain they were under, and they were +seen talking to their beaux after that.</p> + +<p>"After service I went up to the desk and gave Penloe my hand and +thanked him for the help he had given me in breaking my bondage. +I told him he had cut the last string of sex superstition for me. +He smiled and pressed my hand and said he was glad to hear it.</p> + +<p>"Mother, I did not know that Orangeville had such a young man as +that. Why, just think of it! A fine Sanskrit scholar; he can read +Bengali just as well as I can English, and by his reference to +the Old and New Testament he shows he understood Hebrew and +Greek. And think of it; he is only twenty-two years of age! He is +a fine orator, very eloquent, and has such a command over himself +and his audience.</p> + +<p>"But, mother, great as his scholarship may be, he has a power +that is greater; it is seen in his eyes and in every feature of +his handsome countenance, and felt in the touch of his hand. Its +source is not purely intellectual. I perceive it intuitively, but +cannot explain it.</p> + +<p>"Why, mother, I never thought Penloe was the kind of man he is. +From what I had heard about him, I thought he was one of those +quiet, goody-goody men, but instead of that he is a scholar of +the most advanced school of thought."</p> + +<p>Her mother said: "Stella, do you know why Penloe took the subject +he did to-day and spoke from it? I think I know; it was this: not +that he liked such subjects more than any others, and perhaps not +so much; but he knew that if such ideas were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> presented to the +public, it had to be done by those who were not in bondage to +name and fame and salary. It had to be done by those bold, +fearless thinkers who will speak the truth regardless of frowns +and smiles. And Penloe did it because he knew there was no one +else that would do it. It was pioneer work."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "I think so, mother, and he certainly seems well +qualified to do such noble pioneer work."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Herne, on their way home from church, talked the +matter over. Mr. Herne said: "Penloe is the most remarkable man I +have seen; so young and yet so gifted in every way. The secret of +his power I do not know anything about, but he possesses a power +such as no other man I have ever seen. I could not keep away from +church if he was going to speak every Sunday."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "He has the clearest and brightest eyes I ever +saw. I never get tired of looking into them. At times his face +brightened so much during his speaking it looked angelic."</p> + +<p>They were both very much impressed with the sincerity and +earnestness of the man, but were not prepared to pass an opinion +on the subject of his discourse. They thought well of his ideas, +but did not know how they would work. It set them both to +thinking, and it was their intention to try if possible to +cultivate the acquaintance of Penloe.</p> + +<p>The Roseland <i>Gazette</i>, which was published every Saturday, had +the following:</p> + +<p>"Last Monday and Tuesday strange stories began to be circulated +through this city by persons coming in from Orangeville, +concerning what was said in the Congregational Church there last +Sunday. It seems that the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth, of this city, +was called away to see a sick sister, and he got a man who goes +by the name of Penloe to fill his place. The stories that were +put in circulation are of a wild and varied character. Some +started the rumor that Penloe preached that we all ought to go +naked. Another story was, that he said we all ought to bathe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +together, regardless of sex, in a nude state. Then some said, he +told the people that all families ought to sleep in one large +room, to appear as much in a nude condition as possible, so as to +satisfy all curiosity. These and other like stories aroused so +much interest among the people of this city, that it has been the +upper-most topic of conversation among them, and led to the +inquiry whether it was so, and was the man a crazy crank or a +fool, and how came such a man to be asked to preach.</p> + +<p>"Our reporter went out to Orangeville to learn what he could +concerning the matter. He first of all went to see Penloe to get +a certified statement, but that gentleman could not be found +anywhere. He had an interview with Mr. Saunders, the merchant of +Orangeville, who said he was at church last Sunday and heard the +sermon.</p> + +<p>"When asked if the stories which were circulated in Roseland +concerning Penloe's sermon were correct, he replied that in part +they were, and in part they were not.</p> + +<p>"When asked to state as near as he could remember just what was +said:</p> + +<p>"'Well,' said the merchant, 'I am not used to that kind of +business, but, as near as I can remember it now, it was something +like this:</p> + +<p>"'In order for children to come to Jesus, they must be pure; that +purity was the basis of all religious growth, and he thought the +present mode of maintaining purity had the very opposite effect +to what it was intended for.'</p> + +<p>"Here Mr. Saunders stopped and told the reporter he had better go +and see Deacon Allen, who would give him a better account than he +could.</p> + +<p>"'But I tell you,' continued Mr. Saunders, 'there has been more +talk over this sermon this week in this store, by every one that +has come in, than all other talk put together. This is the first +time in the twelve years that I have kept store, that I ever +heard any one talk about any sermon they heard.' <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Well, Mr. Saunders,' said the reporter, 'what seems to be the +judgment of the people about Penloe and the sermon? You have had +an opportunity of hearing all kinds of opinions.'</p> + +<p>"'Well,' said Mr. Saunders, 'I heard the old lady Eastman say, +that the next time she sees her minister, she is going to lecture +him for getting that low-down, vulgar man in the pulpit. Why, his +talk was awful. Mrs. Reamy and Mrs. Roberts said they would have +both got up in church and walked out, only it would cause so much +disturbance. Two girls came in to get a spool of thread. While I +was waiting on them one said to the other, "My mother said this +morning that she would never again go to church, if that nasty +talking man was going to preach." The other girl said, "My father +says he is the smartest man that ever spoke in Orangeville or any +other part of California. He wished he would preach every Sunday. +Then, I saw Miss Stella Wheelwright go up to Penloe at the close +of the service and give him her hand, and I was told she thanked +him for helping her to cut the last cords of bondage to sex +superstition. She seemed really delighted with his talk."</p> + +<p>"'I cannot help laughing when I hear a number of persons who were +not at church last Sunday, say, "I wish I had been to meeting +last Sunday and heard the talk."</p> + +<p>"The reporter next called on Deacon Allen and found that +gentleman ready to relate a portion of the sermon.</p> + +<p>"In reply to a question put by the reporter, Deacon Allen said: +'Well, there is one thing I liked about Penloe's sermon, instead +of talking about the sins of the wicked people in Chicago, New +York, London or Paris, he talked straight and square to the +people he was facing, about their own sins, which were keeping +them out of the Kingdom of Heaven, for it acted like a curtain +over the windows of the soul so that one could not see the +Divine, and feel the sacred presence of his power within. They +had polluted the Temple of the Living God, and their eyes became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +blinded so that they could not see that they were heirs to a rich +spiritual inheritance.'</p> + +<p>"The reporter asked the Deacon what Penloe said in regard to the +best way of bringing about the new method of raising all children +up, as if they were one sex.</p> + +<p>"The Deacon replied, saying: 'He said: "Character and +environments are so different that each must work from the plane +he or she is on. Nothing but the best judgment and experience +will be able to grapple successfully with the problem, but it can +be done; it has been done. And it will be comparatively easy for +the next generation to put into practice, if it is done by the +present. Avoid all kinds of food and drinks that stimulate the +passions. And, above all, keep the mind interested in pure, +elevating thoughts and engage in hearty wholesome recreations, so +that the love for the pure and good in time will predominate, and +the angel rule the animal."</p> + +<p>"'I shall never forget,' continued the Deacon, 'how Penloe's +clear, musical voice rang out through the church, how his +brilliant eyes seemed to penetrate through every one present as +he looked them in the face and put this serious question to them, +"What victories have you gained over yourselves?"</p> + +<p>"The Deacon said: 'It makes me feel disgusted to hear some +persons who were at church on Sunday last talk about Penloe being +low and vulgar, when a purer or more spiritual man never walked +in this country; while their own characters are tarnished by +being connected with numerous scandals. While Penloe is not a +member of the same church as I am, yet I know a good man when I +meet him and hear him talk.'</p> + +<p>"Our reporter left Orangeville greatly regretting he did not have +the honor to meet so distinguished a man as Penloe."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Trask, wife of Dr. Trask, of Roseland, called on Stella's +aunt, Mrs. Marston, and after a little general conversation, Mrs. +Trask said: "Mrs. Marston, have you heard or read anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> about +the horrid talk that some crank preacher made in Orangeville last +Sunday?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no," said Mrs. Marston, "I have not looked at the <i>Gazette</i> +and I have been out but little the past few days, for I have not +felt very well lately, having had a bilious attack."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Trask said: "I know, Mrs. Marston, you will be perfectly +shocked when I tell you. Why, it's all the talk of the town; just +think of it; a man getting up in the pulpit and telling the +people that boys and girls should appear before each other naked, +and that they all should be brought up as if they were one sex."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said: "It's perfectly awful to think about such a +thing. Why, it would be dreadful. The preacher must have come +from Paris with French ideas. According to what my son writes me, +I should say that is just about what they do over there."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Trask said that her husband said, speaking as a medical man, +he would consider it the greatest step towards the downfall of +the human race. Every one would become so corrupt and depraved +sexually that the race would become weak and puny, with no moral +stamina.</p> + +<p>After Mrs. Trask had gone, Mrs. Marston got the Roseland +<i>Gazette</i> to see what it said about the matter. When she came to +the part where it stated that her niece had gone up to the desk +and given her hand to the preacher and thanked him for helping +her out of sexual bondage, she was completely overcome and just +felt like having a fit. She would rather have paid a thousand +dollars than to have that appear in the paper. "What a disgrace +this is to me, after all I have done for her, ungrateful hussy! +She doesn't think about the shame she brings upon me by her bold +actions, with that vulgar crank." While she was smarting from the +effects of wounded pride, her door-bell rang and soon the servant +came in and told Mrs. Marston that Mr. Barker was in the parlor. +Mrs. Marston kept him waiting a few minutes, till she had +composed herself. Soon she came in, bright, smiling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> and +cordially greeted the rising young attorney who had manifested so +much interest in Stella's hosiery.</p> + +<p>Mr. Barker was a perfect Chesterfield in dress and manners, and +knew exactly what part of Mrs. Marston's nature to touch to make +her feel good, and to raise himself one hundred per cent.<!-- TN: period invisible in original --> in her +estimation.</p> + +<p>Mr. Barker felt as if he had a little grudge against Stella, ever +since the day his wish was not gratified, and now he thought this +was his opportunity to pay her back.</p> + +<p>In course of conversation Mr. Barker said: "Mrs. Marston, have +you been to Orangeville lately?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Marston, "I have not been there since Stella +returned home."</p> + +<p>"How is your niece, Mrs. Marston?" said Mr. Barker.</p> + +<p>"The last I heard from her she was very well," said Mrs. Marston.</p> + +<p>Mr. Barker said: "By the way, Mrs. Marston, is there another Miss +Stella Wheelwright in Orangeville besides your niece?"</p> + +<p>"I have not heard of any other young lady by that name," replied +Mrs. Marston.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Barker, "I was hoping there was, for I did not +want to think it was your niece that the <i>Gazette</i> said went up +and gave that vulgar preacher her hand."</p> + +<p>"I think it must be," replied Mrs. Marston. Continuing, she said: +"Of course, I am greatly shocked over the matter and feel that my +niece has hurt me by her foolish conduct. I blame her mother more +than I do her, for she has encouraged Stella in radical ideas."</p> + +<p>Mr. Barker said: "I don't understand what the man can be thinking +about to talk such vulgar nonsense. He ought to be sent to +Stockton Insane Asylum."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said: "As for the subject he had under discussion, I +could not think of talking about it to a gentleman. I intend to +go to Orangeville to-morrow and see my sister about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> matter. +I do wish Stella would come and live with me; where she would be +in the company of well-bred, well-behaved society people, who +have common-sense ideas."</p> + +<p>It was always customary for Mrs. Marston when she went to +Orangeville to take a great variety of table dainties, and never +mention the real purpose of her visit till after dinner. Mrs. +Marston had been so well disciplined in the art of concealment +through living so much in fashionable society, that she could put +on a very pleasant exterior, when really she was very much +disturbed within.</p> + +<p>So to-day when she visited her sister Bertha, everything was +exceedingly pleasant, and the topics under discussion were such +that there was perfect harmony in all that was said. Mrs. Marston +presented the bright side of everything in regard to Roseland +when talking to Stella, telling her how certain young gentlemen +were continually inquiring after her, and how her young lady +friends were wishing she would return to Roseland soon, for they +did want her to come and visit them so much.</p> + +<p>Stella was interested to hear about her friends in Roseland, and +enjoyed her Aunt Helen's talk.</p> + +<p>After dinner was over and settled a little, Mrs. Marston took the +opportunity to say to her sister Bertha (while Stella and her +father were out for awhile): "Is it really true, Bertha, what the +Roseland <i>Gazette</i> says in regard to Stella's going up to that +crank preacher at the close of the service and giving him her +hand and saying a lot of queer stuff about sexual bondage?"</p> + +<p>"I was not there myself, Helen," said her sister, "but this I do +know, that when Stella returned home she told me herself she did +such a thing."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Marston, "I always knew Stella was a strange +kind of girl, but I never thought she would disgrace herself and +her relatives in that manner. Why," continued Mrs. Marston, "it's +all the talk in Roseland and among Stella's friends,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> about the +disgrace she has brought on me and herself in talking to such a +vulgar man."</p> + +<p>Stella's mother could not help smiling within herself at her +sister calling Penloe a vulgar man, when she thought of what her +daughter related to her in regard to her experience with some of +the "upper ten" gentlemen.</p> + +<p>Continuing, Mrs. Marston said: "It will never do for Stella to +associate with such an indecent man, who preaches French ideas +from the pulpit. Why, Bertha, it will never do. You had better +let Stella come and stay with me till she is married. She is a +great favorite with the young people in Roseland and there are +some splendid catches for her there."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Bertha, "I have no control over her; she can go to +Roseland if she wishes."</p> + +<p>"But," said Mrs. Marston, "it becomes your duty as her mother to +show her the danger of speaking to a man like Penloe. You should +keep her away from his influence and do what you can to encourage +her to marry well."</p> + +<p>Bertha looked her sister Helen in the face and said: "Helen, I +have decided to let Stella choose her own path in life and select +her own mate. If she asks my advice I will give it. She has her +own life to lead, and it does not become me to mark it out for +her. She must hew the way. And, supposing I wanted to, do you +think it would do any good? Helen, you know better than that. +Could you keep your son from getting that waiter girl in trouble? +And now the poor girl is homeless and penniless, with a baby, in +a hospital, without a friend to keep her, while your son is +walking the streets of Paris as a well dressed gentleman." Here +Mrs. Marston interrupted her and said: "Oh, my poor boy! It makes +my blood boil when I think how that nasty, dirty hussy got my +poor Henry into disgrace. Don't mention her, Bertha. It would +have served her right to have died before the child was born."</p> + +<p>Bertha said: "Helen, you can invite Stella to Roseland, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> if +she wishes to go it is just the same to me as if she stayed here, +for I will not be in Stella's way of exercising her freedom."</p> + +<p>So when Stella came into the house her aunt said: "Stella, I do +wish you would come to Roseland and stay with me."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Aunt, you are very kind, but I have certain subjects +I wish to study and I want to be where I can be quiet; but, Aunt, +dear, I will return with you and stay a week, if you will bring +me back home at the end of that time."</p> + +<p>"All right, Stella, get yourself ready and we will leave right +away."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h4>RETURN OF BEN WEST.</h4> + +<p>About two months before Ben West returned to Orangeville, Mr. +Hammond took a letter out of the Orangeville post-office, which +read as follows:</p> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="right"> +<span style="margin-right: 1em;">"<i>Kohn & Kohn, Bankers and Brokers, Stillman Block.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 0.5em;">"<span class="smcap">San Francisco</span>, April 7, 1899.</span><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"<i>Harrison Hammond, Esq.,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">"<i>Orangeville, Calif.</i></span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"Dear Sir</span>: We have been instructed by Benj. West, Esq., +one of the leading capitalists of the Klondike, to send +you a draft for five hundred dollars, with a letter +from that gentleman to you, both of which we have +enclosed. </p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">"Yours resp't'y,</span></p> +<p class="p3">"Kohn & Kohn."<br /><br /> +</p></div> + +<p>The letter from Ben West to Mr. Hammond was as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"> +<span style="margin-right: 0.5em;">"<span class="smcap">Dawson City, Klondike</span>, Feb. 12, 1899.</span><br /> +</p><p><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"<i>H. Hammond, Esq.,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">"<i>Orangeville, Cal.</i></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Friend Hammond</span>: After sending Julia the jewelry, I +realized that I had got my foot in it, in this way: She +thinks she must have a costly bridal outfit to match +the jewelry. Now, I have written her that as we will be +married in Orangeville, she need not get anything very +extra fine; that what she thinks she may need in the +way of costly dresses, she can get in San Francisco +after we are married, but I realize she might like a +few good clothes, so I send you five hundred dollars to +buy her what <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>she may need in that line, which I hope +you will accept, as I know the income from a ranch +cannot stand any such extravagance. You will receive +the money from my brokers, Kohn & Kohn. Please keep +this confidential and not let Julia know a word about +it. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Your friend,</p><!-- TN: opening quote added. In original this is on last line of preceding paragraph --> +<p class="p3">"Ben West."</p></div> + +<p>After reading the letters Mr. Hammond had a good opportunity of +talking the matter over with his wife, as Julia had gone out for +the day.</p> + +<p>They both took a sensible view of the matter and thought that +under the circumstances it would be proper to accept the five +hundred dollars, as Julia would wear the clothes as Ben West's +wife, and said it was very thoughtful in him to send the money.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hammond said, as Julia was going to San Francisco as soon as +she was married, she thought it would be best to go to Fresno and +select her bridal trousseau there. Continuing, she said: "Julia +knows you have money in the bank, but how much she has no idea; +therefore, she will not suspect but you are paying for her bridal +outfit yourself."</p> + +<p>So Mrs. Hammond and Julia went to Fresno. On their return Julia +seemed more than pleased with her purchases. It is not to be +expected that each kind of garment that was bought will be +mentioned here, neither will we go into a minute description of +the amount of lace, embroidery, insertion and scallop work on the +various garments.</p> + +<p>In the four weeks previous to Julia's wedding day she had +numerous callers to see her jewelry and her bridal trousseau.</p> + +<p>The amount of close inspection, quick observation, speculative +thought and general talk that was given to all articles +pertaining to the bride's wardrobe and jewelry, if devoted to +some of the serious social problems of the nation, would have +settled them thoroughly for all time.</p> + +<p>"Is it not strange," remarked Mr. Hammond one evening after <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>some +callers had gone and Julia had retired, "the amount of interest +and thought people take in things that are really of so little +consequence to them; but things which are of the greatest +importance to their own welfare it is hard to get them to give +two minutes' consideration to them? They want excitement, and +love it a great deal more than an intelligent understanding of +such issues as are to them of vital importance. For instance, +government ownership of railroads, telegraphs and telephones to +be operated at cost for the benefit of the people; the issuing +and loaning of money by the government to the people, instead of +by the banks to the people; also the adoption by the nation of +the Initiative and Referendum."</p> + +<p>Some of the elderly ladies in Orangeville who had lived in the +east many years before coming to California, brought to +Orangeville some of their old sayings, and one of these sayings +began to float through the atmosphere of Orangeville and was +whispered from one to another; namely, that Julia Hammond had +fallen into a tub of butter. Now, on first hearing such a +statement one would think a sad calamity had happened to the +young lady, especially when taking into consideration that in a +few weeks' time she expected to change her name. But upon making +an examination of her wearing apparel, one saw no sign of such an +accident, and when she appeared at the table in her elegant +morning wrapper you could not see any grease spots on her +well-fitting garment, and when you began to wonder what they +could mean by saying that Julia Hammond had fallen into a tub of +butter, you resolve you will make a further and closer scrutiny +of that young lady's person. At last it begins to dawn upon your +mind, for you notice that when she puts her elbow on the table +and her hand up to the side of her face, your eyes are almost +dazzled by seeing something on her finger which are brilliant +stones set in gold. When Julia Hammond appeared at the ball the +other night, the main talk of the evening was about her diamond +ring, her gold watch set with diamonds, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> her elegant diamond +necklace, making that swan-like neck simply superb.</p> + +<p>As she drove her span of matched bays one morning she passed two +young men in a buggy. Then the following conversation took place +between the men:</p> + +<p>Fred said to Henry, who was a stranger in Orangeville and was +making him a visit:</p> + +<p>"Henry, just look at that in her back hair."</p> + +<p>"That is just elegant," said Henry, as his eyes rested on a very +rich gold hairpin set with diamonds which were sparkling in their +beauty, as the rays of the sun brought out their brilliancy.</p> + +<p>Fred said: "That's Julia Hammond, the bethrothed<!-- TN: original misspelling retained --> of Ben West, who +went to the Klondike and struck it rich, having made a little +over half a million dollars."</p> + +<p>The last day Ben West was in Orangeville before leaving for the +Klondike, he had a private talk with Mr. Hammond concerning +Julia. Mr. Hammond gave his consent and wished him prosperity. So +it was arranged that, owing to the long and uncertain carrying of +the mails out of the Klondike country, he would write a letter to +Julia as if he had made a stake, and in the letter make her an +offer of marriage, and give it to Mr. Hammond to hand to Julia +when Mr. Hammond received word from Ben by telegram, saying, +"Stake made, give the letter to Julia," and Mr. Hammond was to +wire Ben Julia's answer so he would not be kept long in a state +of suspense. This was all carried out to the letter, and Ben West +received a telegram which read: "Yes. Have written in full. Julia +Hammond."</p> + +<p>Continuing, Fred said: "When Ben West was in San Francisco on his +way to the Klondike, he went into the store of Stein & Co., +jewelers, and selected the jewelry he might want, should he make +a stake. So when he received Julia's answer of acceptance he +ordered by wire a diamond ring, a gold watch set in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>diamonds, a +diamond necklace, and a gold hairpin set with diamonds. Stein & +Co. sent them to Julia with Ben West's love. He wired Kohn & +Kohn, the bankers, to pay Stein & Co.</p> + +<p>"Ben's mother said: 'Those jewels for that girl cost Ben twenty +thousand dollars.'"</p> + +<p>Henry said: "Just think of that fellow's luck. Some men are born +rich, some acquire riches and some have riches thrust upon them."</p> + +<p>Fred said: "Some men are lucky sure. There's Ben West, who is +coming to Orangeville in a week. All the people will just go wild +over him and lionize him. And won't Julia be sweet to him after +giving her all that jewelry. They say, 'If you want honey you +must have money.' Ben has got the money and now he is going to +have the honey; and just think, in three weeks' time he is going +to be married, going to have that pretty, handsome, fresh young +girl all to himself. Isn't she a beauty! My! Ben will be in +clover; he will have a picnic sure."</p> + +<p>Henry said: "If I could be in Ben West's shoes for just two +months, I would be willing to spend the balance of my life in +hell. I would have one comfort in thinking what a fine time I had +had."</p> + +<p>Fred said: "Ben West will be here to-morrow and he will take good +care to see that not you nor any other man will be in his shoes +for two months from the time he is married."</p> + +<p>When Ben set his foot in Orangeville on his return from the +Klondike, the news flew all over the locality, as if the wind had +made it its mission to carry the intelligence all over the +country into every home. Those who knew him least were just as +anxious to see him as those who had always known him. They did +want to see, to talk to and shake hands with the lion of the day, +the hero of the hour, the man whose name was in every one's +mouth. If a man had arrived in Orangeville who had saved twenty +persons from drowning, there would not have been half the desire +to see him or hear him talk on how the persons were saved. Why, +Ben West received nothing but one continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> round of hearty +hand-shaking and warm greetings, and his ears heard nothing but +eulogies and encomiums and general admiration for the man who had +made himself the owner of the two great idols that are worshipped +by the Western world.</p> + +<p>Ben West had got what most men are seeking but few finding. If +you were in Orangeville you would be told that it was a Christian +community; but if you squared them by the command given by Jesus, +"Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and +all these shall be added unto you," you would find them sadly +wanting, for the Kingdom of Heaven is the last thing they want. +It is, "These things which shall be added unto you" is what they +want. For they want their heaven to be in the possession of +things outside of themselves.</p> + +<p>A great dance was given in honor of Orangeville's coming man. +Predictions were heard that it would not be long before he would +be Governor of California, with a good show for a seat in the +United States Senate.</p> + +<p>Most of the people of Orangeville were great on dances. If they +had a sociable it had to close with a dance; if a political +meeting was held, they had a dance afterwards; a spelling bee +wound up with a dance. If you would let them, they would dance +after Sabbath School and preaching. If you want a big crowd at a +meeting, just give out there will be a dance at the close, and +teams will come for miles from all over the country. Dance; why +they want to dance all the time. They simply become intoxicated +with dancing. There is no moderation about it. They leave the +dance hall about four or five o'clock in the morning. Does that +kind of recreation help them physically? How do they feel during +the next day? Does it help them intellectually? Does it help them +spiritually? Then why pursue a course of recreation <i>so +immoderately</i> as to be detrimental to their highest interests?</p> + +<p>When Mr. Hammond heard about the great dance that was coming off +in honor of Ben West, he said it did seem to him as if a dance +was the only thing the people of Orangeville could get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> up. He +had never known them as a community to get up anything else but a +dance, and yet, he said, there are some very fine people who +attend these country dances. Persons of noble character, who live +lives of self-denial in their homes and meet trials and +misfortunes bravely and heroically, I am glad to say.</p> + +<p>Julia did not attend the dance because it was too near her +wedding day; but Ben West had a very enjoyable time, for the +leading young ladies in Orangeville were delighted at having the +opportunity of dancing once more with their old friend. But now a +new interest had centered in him, in the fact of his being the +rising man and soon to be married.</p> + +<p>There was a very large crowd at the dance. A number came from +Roseland; in fact, there were more than the hall could +accommodate. There were a number of men wanting to see Ben West a +few minutes on the side, to talk with him about what show there +would be for them at the Klondike, as each of them wished to be +successful like Ben West.</p> + +<p>For three weeks previous to his being married, Ben did not know +whether he was afoot or on horseback. What with the joy his +father and mother manifested at having him back again in their +home, and the real, sweet, loving and delightful hours he spent +with Julia, who was free in her demonstrations of affection, he +being so worthy of it.</p> + +<p>At last that day which always seems so long in coming, but which +always comes, came to Ben West and Julia Hammond. They had a +quiet wedding in the morning; then came the wedding dinner, after +which they went to Roseland, taking in the theater in the evening +and stopping at the Arlington Hotel that night. The next day they +took the Flyer for San Francisco. On arriving in that city they +went to the Clifton Hotel. In the evening they attended the +opera.</p> + +<p>As Julia had never been to San Francisco, they decided to spend a +week in sight-seeing. The second week they spent in looking at +elegant houses. After looking round for six days they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> bought a +mansion on Van Ness avenue for eighty thousand dollars. It +originally cost one hundred and thirty thousand. Then, the third +week they spent in selecting furniture, which cost them twenty +thousand dollars. The fourth week they bought a fine matched team +and a carriage, for which they paid fifteen hundred dollars, and +kept them at a livery stable. They also purchased two bicycles +and an automobile, and got three servants, a maid for Julia, a +woman to do the housework, and a Chinese cook. All laundry work +was done out of the house. The second month was spent in going to +many interesting places outside of San Francisco as well as +taking in more of the city. Everything so far had run very +smoothly.</p> + +<p>Then a conversation arose regarding what business Mr. West had +better turn his attention to to occupy himself. After a little +talk, Julia said: "You have now about four hundred thousand +dollars. I do wish you could make it a million. How proud I +should be of you, Ben, to have a millionaire for a husband. Just +think what the people of Orangeville will say when they hear you +have become a millionaire. Why, dear, I should just worship you +to think that I had got a husband that was such a successful man +as to make a million dollars in so short a time. When you become +a millionaire, Ben, we will go to Europe in style, and what a gay +time we will have in Paris, dear."</p> + +<p>What a power some women's soft words and smiles have on a man; he +is owned by them, and it was so in the case of Ben West.</p> + +<p>Ben said: "Well, dear Julia, I suppose I will have to go to the +Klondike again to make my pile a million."</p> + +<p>Julia pouted and looked her prettiest and said: "I do hate to +have you go to that cold and disagreeable country, Ben, and it +will be so lonesome for me without you, dear; but, Ben, make your +pile quick and come home."</p> + +<p>Ben West did not express all he felt in having to go back to the +Klondike, but he had such a pretty, handsome woman for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> wife, +who pleased him so much and he was so proud of her, and he loved +her admiration and approval of himself as much as he did his +life. So he decided to return to the Klondike in a month's time. +That would give him, in all, three months of honeymoon. Then he +would leave for the cold regions of the Klondike.</p> + +<p>The last week Ben West was with his wife she seemed at times so +sad about his leaving, and would pet him and make so much of him, +that she became doubly dear to him. He said, "This is bliss, +indeed."</p> + +<p>At last the sad day for his parting came. They did the best they +could by cheering each other up, with the expectation of Ben's +quick return and coming back as a millionaire.</p> + +<p>Now, when a handsome young bride is left with an +eighty-thousand-dollar house and twenty thousand dollars worth of +furniture, three servants, a carriage and a handsome span of +horses, two bicycles and an automobile, with a good fat bank +account to draw on, she is not going to spend many sad days in +the house alone, longing for the return of her husband. Nor will +she be contented to remain at home and become fascinated in +reading Milton's "Paradise Lost" or Moody's sermons. No. She is +going to have company, and gay companions, and they will not be +all of her own sex either. About a month after Ben West had +returned to the Klondike, Julia had made new acquaintances of +persons who had time, money, and elegant leisure. Returning home +from a swell party one evening, Julia said to herself, "What +freedom there is in being married. Your market is made, and you +can have lots of fun dancing, flirting, and so on; while a girl +that is unmarried has to be more careful of herself and her +conduct, because it might hinder her making a desirable match. It +is fine to be married to a good-natured man."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h4>FIVE YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE.</h4> + +<p>It was one of those lovely days in March when nature is decorated +in her best; for each day she adds to her wreath of glory new +beauties in the form of buds and flowers. The trees in the +orchard were a sight to behold in their beautiful and variegated +colors. The soft, balmy air coming up the cañon was full of the +perfume of flowers. The birds were warbling their sweetest notes +in the mulberry and walnut trees, and the hum of the bees were +heard around the flowers. All Nature sang through these various +forms, that All is life, All is love, All is joy, and All is God.</p> + +<p>On this day two ladies were sitting out on the porch of the Herne +residence, one was a lady with gray hair, the other was her +daughter. Both were sitting in silence. The younger was thinking +how very much like this beautiful day was, to the one five years +ago when she entered her new home as the wife of Charles Herne. +Many thoughts were crowding upon her mind; she was thinking how +perfectly, supremely happy she was on that occasion. Every thing +about her seemed to respond to the happy thought within, and her +cup of joy was overflowing. Then the thought came to her why was +it not so to-day? Nature seemed just as beautiful, her home was +more beautiful, and the returns from the sale of their fruit each +year had exceeded their expectations. Her health was good, she +was in harmony with her neighbors, and enjoyed her life among the +people in Orangeville. And above all she had experienced the joys +of motherhood, having a son two years old, and her husband was +just as kind and attentive to her as ever, and yet—and yet—and +yet, must she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> confess, yes, she very reluctantly told her +thoughts to her mother to see if she could explain and give her +light on those feelings which had come to the surface many a +time, only to be suppressed. But they would rise again, and the +more they were put down, the more they would rise, till at last +she would relieve her mind by telling her mother, who she knew +had had more experience.</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Clara, "why is it, when everything about me is as +good and some things much better than when I was married, and +Charles is just as kind, thoughtful, and loving as a husband and +father can be, and yet after five years of happy, harmonious +life, there is less attraction between us, than when we were +first married? Of course, I have never let Charles think that I +felt this way, but I noticed that after we had been married two +months, Charles' kisses, touches, and pettings did not produce +that pleasurable thrill they once did, and it has been growing +more and more that way ever since. Why, even when he kisses my +hand, it does not produce any more pleasure than if I had kissed +my own hand. I remember the time when Charles' kisses used to +send an electric thrill of joy through me; the sound of his +coming footsteps was a delight which gave me more pleasure than a +kiss does now."</p> + +<p>"Well, Clara," said her mother, "you don't expect to have the +high-strung, pleasurable excitement of a bride all the time, do +you? I know my experience was like yours, Clara, and I think from +all those I have heard talk about such matters that theirs is +also the same. So I take it for granted that is how it should be, +and cannot be made different. I would not let my mind dwell on it +if I were you, Clara; for you have got one of the best men for a +husband, a fine boy, and a very comfortable home."</p> + +<p>After hearing what her mother had to say, Clara thought it best +not to say any more, for her mother had given her no satisfactory +answer, and seemed to know no more about such matters than she +herself did. But she kept thinking, "Did it have to be so?"</p> + +<p>During the time that Clara was busy with these thoughts and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +talks with her mother, there was a man walking through his +orchard, apparently looking at the fruit buds, but his mind was +pre-occupied with another subject. He was thinking that it was +five years ago since he and Clara were married, and he was +thinking how happy he was when he brought her to his home. He was +thinking also of the thrills of joy and pleasure her presence +gave him before marriage, and for a month or two afterwards, when +she took his hand in hers and then kissed it; how soothing and +delightful it was; and what an attractive power she had. But now, +how different.</p> + +<p>"It is just the same as if I kissed myself. She is just as good, +just as loving a wife, so kind and thoughtful, and we never have +had any words, but there is something. I cannot find words to +express what I mean. Is it tameness? Are other married persons +like that?" And he began to think about the married life of some +of his friends. "There was Winchester and his wife, I remember +them when they were courting, they seemed inseparable, and for a +while after they were married they could not see any one else but +each other. If they were out anywhere they would sit together +holding each other's hands, and not wishing to say much to any +one else. After they had been married six months I notice they +have quit holding each other's hands, and now you seldom see them +together much. With how few married couples who have been married +six years do you see that suppleness and alertness, that zeal to +please each other, and be with one another that you see in +couples about to be married."</p> + +<p>Charles Herne thought, "Why is this so?" Why could not the same +attractive power which exists between some couples when they are +married be continued? Charles Herne did not know, his wife Clara +Herne was no wiser than he on that subject, though neither of +them had made their feelings known to the other.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h4>A CONVERSATION ON THE PORCH.</h4> + +<p>Penloe had heard several times in regard to Charles Herne being +an exceptionally fine man, liberal in thoughts, as far as he +went, very just and generous to his men, so that the day that +Penloe received a very kind invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Herne to +be their guest for a few days, he accepted it knowing intuitively +that he had a work to do there. As a guest Penloe was not always +talkative, but what he did say was very interesting. He made +himself one with men and they all took a great liking to him; Mr. +and Mrs. Herne were very much impressed with the personality of +their distinguished guest, and they enjoyed his visit with them. +He had been several times there since his first visit, and they +had become great friends.</p> + +<p>Charles Herne remarked to his wife one day: "What a genial, +sociable, humorous companion Penloe is; while of course, he is +thoroughly in earnest and has but one purpose in all he does, +which is to manifest what he calls the Divine, yet he is not +serious, sober, and grave all the time; he is so joyous, hopeful, +and full of good-natured fun, but he never lets it overcome him. +I like him because he never says and does anything for effect or +to be considered smart; he is so simple, humble, and unassuming +in his manners, keeping himself in the background. His influence +on me is so different to that of any other man, and impresses me +very deeply. I always feel a better man after a talk with him. In +short, I feel his fine influence in the room even when he is +silent. He gave the men a powerful talk in their parlors the +other evening. He has a faculty for adapting himself to each one; +just knows what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. +Several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> of the men have made the remark to me that he is a very +dear brother to them."</p> + +<p>He had visited the men several times since, and they had become +great friends. Any one in a very short acquaintance with Penloe +could not help being impressed with his sincerity of character, +his genuineness and honesty of purpose, as well as his deep +spirituality. Therefore, it naturally follows that he would +attract the confidence of his friends. It was so natural for them +to give him their confidence, they could not withhold it from +him, for it seemed to belong to him. Then again, there are some +persons who possess that power of discernment, that spiritual +insight for seeing through and through any one; nay, more, they +appear to have the power of entering into your most secret +thoughts, they enter as if by right, the rooms of your soul and +see all its furniture; they open even the secret chambers, and +enter as if they had been there before many a time, and when you +think you are about to take them into your confidence, you find +that they know what you are about to tell them.</p> + +<p>Penloe possessed that gift, and Mrs. Herne realized that he had +read her book of secrets, that he knew all, and, therefore, when +she took him into her confidence, she did so with the half +thought that he was there some time before. She knew that Penloe +was competent to give information on any subject, and he was her +true friend, and, therefore, she could trust him fully.</p> + +<p>One day when Penloe and Mrs. Herne were sitting on the porch +admiring the beauties of Nature all around them, Mrs. Herne said: +"Penloe, don't you think this is a beautiful place?"</p> + +<p>When she made that remark, he knew what she was going to speak to +him about.</p> + +<p>Penloe replied: "There is not a ranch in Orangeville that has so +much in the way of the expression of fine taste and natural +beauty as your home."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "I shall never forget how delighted I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> when +I came here as a bride, and thought could I wish for more, for my +cup seemed full to overflowing. With this comfortable house and +beautiful grounds, and such a feeling of brotherhood existing +between my husband and the men, and everything running so +harmoniously, nothing appeared to be wanting."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Penloe. "You certainly have an exceptionally fine man +in some respects for a husband; I admire him very much."</p> + +<p>"And I know he does you," replied Mrs. Herne; continuing, she +said: "Since you have favored us with your company and he has +been with you more, I can just begin to see some kind of change +come over him; I hardly know how to describe it; for it is only +just commencing; I notice it a little at times."</p> + +<p>Penloe seemed to be absorbed in thought and made no reply.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne waited a minute or two, and then said: "I often think +how thankful I ought to be that I have such a fine man for a +husband, and yet, in one way, I have not realized my ideal, even +with all these fine surroundings, and such a good husband."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that is strange?" asked Penloe.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Herne, "that is what I don't know; it is a +query with me, whether any one realizes her ideal in marriage; +what do you think about the matter, Penloe?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I think there are quite a number who realize their ideal +in marriage," replied Penloe.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "Please, Penloe, describe those kind of +marriages to me, for I am interested; it being a matter I have +thought a great deal about."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Penloe, "but which is it you wish me to +describe: What is an ideal marriage? or what are the ideals of +those who get married, and who realize them?"</p> + +<p>"It is the first I am most interested in now, Penloe," said Mrs. +Herne, "because I know that is your ideal, and therefore, would +be the correct one to aim for, but Penloe, while I hope you will +tell me that, yet, I ask you as a trusted friend, can you tell me +why I have not realized my ideal?" said Mrs. Herne. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can when you tell me what your ideal is like," said Penloe.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid you will laugh when I tell you for I know it is so +different from yours," replied Mrs. Herne.</p> + +<p>"One need never fear a true friend," said Penloe. "To a true +friend, if it is necessary, one can speak of his ignorance or +weaknesses, and it may be a great help to him, because a true +friend has only one motive in friendship, and that is to lift the +other up to a higher plane of thought; I mean that is the highest +kind of friendship, and is a good test with which to gauge +friendship."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne was very much impressed with Penloe's idea of +friendship; so high and pure.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, you are so near and dear to me as a +friend, that I don't fear to tell you anything, and to show my +confidence in your friendship, I am going to reveal to you +something, that I have never thought it best to tell my husband."</p> + +<p>"Your confidence shall never be betrayed by me," said Penloe.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne. "Now, let me tell you what +it is. Previous to my marriage to Charles Herne there was +something in addition to his true worth and genuine character +that attracted me to him; something about his personality, for I +always felt a thrill of joy when with him; even if I only heard +the sound of his coming footsteps, or he happened to touch my +dress, there was a sensation of pleasure; and when he took my +hand, and pressed it and kissed me, it was bliss. Well, I married +him and we came to this beautiful home, and that thrill of +delight continued between me and Charles for about two months, +and during that time I was living in my ideal world. But after +two months I noticed a little less of that feeling, and it kept +growing less and less, till now there is none at all. I love him +with my whole heart, and am devoted to him, my environments are +the same, or better in many ways, seeing that I am a happy +mother, and the place has now more comforts and conveniences than +when I came here as a bride; yet that attraction has gone so that +when Charles kisses me or touches me it seems as if it was my own +self<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> kissed me and touched me—to make the union a perfect one, +the delight of attraction should always be present; in that way I +have not realized my ideal."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Do you know, Mrs. Herne, there are more than a +million couples whose experience is exactly like your own; and if +your environments had not been so pleasant, and both of your +dispositions well blended, and well balanced, you would have +separated long ago, as many have done, not knowing the real +cause, and thinking it was something else. You see," continued +Penloe, "before you were married, you and your husband had both +led pure, virtuous lives; and each of you was like a strong +electric battery, charged with the life forces of the body, which +produced this pleasant feeling of attraction, and when you were +married both of you thought and acted like most other married +people."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "Thank you, Penloe; the ideas you have advanced +should become common property of the many."</p> + +<p>Penloe replied: "Yes; but there are some who have these ideas, +but don't wish to put them in practice."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, suppose that two married persons having +been living as most married persons do, and one of the two wished +to live the better way which you have just described, while the +other wished to live as they have been doing, what would be best +to do in a case like that?"</p> + +<p>Penloe replied: "That is a matter that requires the best judgment +possible, so as not to give offence. Great diplomacy must be used +where hard feelings are liable to be produced; but there is one +thing that must always be kept in view and that is that the one +who wishes to live the better way must be true to himself or +herself. The matter should be presented in a very kindly way, +showing that it is as much for the interest of the one not +wishing to live the new way as it is for the one desiring it. +Patience must be used, and, above all, kindness and love.</p> + +<p>"I am going to ask you now, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> "to tell +me from your standpoint, what kind of unions would you consider +the best ones?"</p> + +<p>To Mrs. Herne's astonishment, Penloe replied: "All marriages are +the best ones; even where they are so unhappy as to separate the +next day. The two can only work out their unfoldment from the +plane they are now on, and not from any other plane or place."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Herne, "but supposing I am living the old way, +and after hearing you explain the new way, I wish to live that +way."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "That would show that you were tired of living on +your old plane, and you were now ready to leave a lower plane for +the higher one. But, supposing I had seen you a week before you +were married to Charles Herne, and explained to you the new way, +do you think you would have been ready to commence your married +life by living the new way?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne laughed, and said: "I see it all now; I had to go +through this experience in marriage in order to be ready for the +better way. But are there not some who are ready to live the +better way without having any experience?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Penloe, "because they were already on a higher plane. +Supposing I take a watch and explain its works to you and your +husband; after I get through, you understand all about its +movements because you were on the mechanical plane to receive the +instruction, but your husband does not, because he has not +reached the mechanical plane to receive it. So it is in regard to +receiving ideas on any social, moral, or spiritual plane."</p> + +<p>"I understand it now," said Mrs. Herne, "for you have the faculty +of making any subject very clear; but I am going to push my +question and get you to describe the grades of the higher planes +in marriage."</p> + +<p>Penloe replied: "There are very, very few persons who are living +the pure life in marriage who have not reached that plane through +experience. Now, it is possible that of two who are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> about to be +married, one previous to that union may have reached the plane of +purity through experience; while the other, not having had any +such experience, and intending in the main to live purely under +marriage, but for several reasons desires to have some experience +before living the pure life.</p> + +<p>"Again, where the purpose of the union is to live the pure life, +then the union belongs to the higher plane. But the highest plane +of all is where the two, at the time of marriage, consecrate +themselves to each other and to the service of the Lord in His +humanity, keeping their bodies, as the temples of God, pure and +sacred; where both live above all lustful desires for each other, +keeping the life forces for making the mind and body strong, and +fitting themselves to be instruments of the Divine. Such a union +brings the highest bliss to each of them, and the greater good to +the world at large. They do not require children to make them +happy, for their life is in the Divine One. They fully realize +that in Him they live, move, breathe, and have their being, and +they forego for themselves the pleasures of parentage in order to +become a spiritual father and a spiritual mother to the many."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne gave Penloe her hand, and said: "I sincerely thank you +for the light you have this day given me."</p> + +<p>That evening Clara Herne told her husband Penloe's ideas on the +marriage relationship. After listening very closely to all she +said, Mr. Herne sat thinking for a while, then said: "Clara, for +a long time I have been reflecting on that subject, and it +perplexed me much, but now that Penloe has made it so very clear, +it seems like so many other things which are hard to find out and +understand, but when explained by a master mind like Penloe, +appear simple.</p> + +<p>"Clara, can you estimate what a great gift Penloe gave you in +imparting those very important truths? and the knowledge he gave +you, he knew you would tell me; therefore, I feel he has given us +both a precious gift, more than if we had received a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> present of +five thousand dollars. We cannot prize such a dear friend too +highly."</p> + +<p>They had an hour's very agreeable talk on the matter, and they +were both of one mind, and decided that there and then they would +live the new way; and they both sealed their sacred vow with a +pure love kiss.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h4>TIESTAN.</h4> + +<p>A few days after Stella had returned home from her visit to her +aunt in Roseland, she and her mother went to call on Penloe; for +Mrs. Wheelwright was as anxious to see such an original man, as +Stella was to set her eyes on a face that had such a beautiful +expression.</p> + +<p>As we have said, Penloe was living all alone, his mother's work +being for the present in Chicago.</p> + +<p>When Penloe came to the door he received Stella in such an +agreeable way as to make her feel perfectly at ease.</p> + +<p>Taking his hand, she said: "Penloe, this is my mother, Mrs. +Wheelwright; my name is Stella."</p> + +<p>With the same grace and ease did he welcome Mrs. Wheelwright, and +the two ladies had not sat in his library more than five minutes +before they felt as if they had known Penloe all their lives, and +they seemed to have a consciousness as if Penloe had known them +always. And as wave after wave of thought came to their minds, +Penloe met it and gave them just what information and truth each +one needed in chaste and polished language; and yet there was no +effort at studied phrases on his part, for it was his natural +mode of expression. When talking on certain subjects and to an +interested listener, his discourse seemed like a string of +sapphires, diamonds, pearls, and rubies.</p> + +<p>Stella and her mother had sat there looking into those deep, +luminous, spiritual orbs, while the conversationalist was +interesting them, so that two hours had flown before they thought +an hour had passed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p><p>As they were about to leave Penloe saw Stella's longing, wistful +eyes glancing over the rows of books. He anticipated the wish by +saying: "Stella, any book or books you see here you are at +liberty to take home."</p> + +<p>If Penloe had made her a present of a thousand dollars in actual +gold coin, she could not have felt as grateful as she did when he +gave her the use of his whole library. It was like pouring water +on thirsty land. Stella was thirsting for information on so many +subjects, and now her wish was gratified. She had the opportunity +of getting the reading matter she longed for so much, but did not +have the means to purchase. And, above all, when Penloe told her +he would be pleased to help her in any line of thought she might +wish to investigate, it seemed to her as if her happiness was +complete. Her eyes and her hand expressed it all on taking leave +of Penloe.</p> + +<p>The ladies said little in going home. It seemed mutually +understood that they would not give expression to their thoughts +till they were home and sitting together in the evening.</p> + +<p>When Stella entered the house she had in her possession three of +Penloe's books. One was "Macomber's Oriental Customs," another +"Woman's Freedom in Tiestan" by Burnette, and the third was +"Woman's Bondages" by Stuart.</p> + +<p>After supper was over and the dishes washed and put away, Stella +and her mother sat down and Stella said somewhat abruptly: +"Mother, sometimes I wish I had never seen Penloe." Her mother +was not very much surprised to hear her express herself in that +way, for she had observed that Stella's mind was somewhat +agitated.</p> + +<p>Her mother said: "Why, dear, what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Mother, I mean this: that I can never be contented +and happy in the society of any young man other than Penloe. How +can I?"</p> + +<p>It was a very hard question for her mother to answer, who knew +full well that Penloe had unintentionally made an impression on +her daughter's heart that time could never efface, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> she had +refrained from saying much in praise of Penloe, for she knew that +it would only be adding fuel to a very great flame, which it +would be impossible for Stella to quench. She knew that Stella +had seen in Penloe a young man greatly beyond her expectations; +even beyond her ideal. Penloe lived in a world that Stella had +only just a faint conception of. It was his intellect, his +exceptionally fine personality, manifested in such a fine, manly +form she admired. But, above all, Stella could see that he had +emptied himself of all save love. And that was so broad, so deep, +so far reaching, so universal in its sympathies, that it stirred +her whole nature.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "I think my daughter has lost something."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Stella, "I lost it when Penloe delivered his sermon +on that Sunday at church, for I saw in him more than I ever +dreamed of seeing in any man, and when I went up and thanked him +for his address, and those discerning spiritual eyes of his +looked so deeply and searchingly into mine, that he read my +secret."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright went to Stella and pressed her to herself, and +kissed her many times. After awhile Stella said:</p> + +<p>"Mother, what I want to find in a man is true companionship. Now, +look at the young men in Orangeville. There are a very few that +are kind, steady young men, but then not one of them would be any +companion to me. I don't want to listen to horse talk, or cattle +talk, or hog talk, or some old back East yarns all the time. They +all live in the social and domestic world; there is nothing +intellectual about them; they are not moved by any broad, grand, +sweeping, noble impulses. Their ranch, their home, and the +excitement of their barterings and dickerings, and the doings of +a few of their neighbors constitute the world they live in. And +most of them think all that a woman is good for, is to cook, +wash, and raise babies. And mother, I told you what kind of young +men I met in Roseland; now, they are a sample<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> of the top notch +of society. All that many of them want is just the use of a young +lady as a toy. And when they use up the flower, like the bee, +they go to another. As for real manly worth, interesting, +intelligent companionship, it is badly wanting in many of them. +Some very few are much better than the rest.</p> + +<p>"You know, dear mother, it is not that I want to know a man as a +man, but it is natural that I should want and love an interesting +male companion. When I think what Penloe is, and then think how +little and insignificant I am, a mere child beside him, and only +about four years difference in our ages, it makes me feel +discouraged."</p> + +<p>"Penloe's talk this afternoon," said her mother, "shows that he +does not look at it in that way. Don't you remember his saying, +'I have traveled much, been among people of royalty, title and +nobility, have lived among the rich, and great society leaders, +also among great politicians, learned men, spiritual giants, +business people, also among the poor, also the illiterate, the +abandoned, the offscouring, and the outcasts of society; and I +have yet to see the person that is not as good as I.' So you see +he thinks that you are just as good as he. Now, dear, don't be +discouraged in the least. I know just how my daughter feels; she +wants Penloe as her life companion and wishes she could be to +Penloe what he is to her. Stella, dear, calm your mind and +remember that if Penloe is for you, you need not have the least +anxiety about the matter; for there is no power in the universe +that can hinder your being made one. But if he is not for you, +then it does not matter how good or great, how grand or noble he +may be, how intellectually brilliant he may shine, he should be +the last man in the world you should think of as a life +companion. For if there is anything that is true it is those +lines of Emerson:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2p5">"'Whate'er in Nature is thine own,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Floating in air or pent in stone,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Will rive the hills and swim the sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And like thy shadow follow thee.'<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Also remember the saying, 'My own will come to me.'"</p> + +<p>Nothing more was said. Stella commenced reading "Woman's Freedom +in Tiestan," by Burnette. It occupied most of her spare time the +next day, and she finished it before supper, so that evening +after supper Stella said: "O, mother, I have finished reading +'Woman's Freedom in Tiestan.' It is most interesting. Tiestan is +a place little known to the Western world, very few travelers +having ever visited the country. I want to read a little of it to +you."</p> + +<p>Her mother replied: "I shall be delighted to have you," for she +always interested herself in anything her daughter was pleased +with, so that she might be her companion and confidant when +needed.</p> + +<p>Stella opened at page 79, and read, as follows:</p> + +<p>"When the traveler arrives in the city of Semhee, which is the +most important in the country of Tiestan, his guide asks him +whether he would like to go to the Menegam, which means +Foreigners' Home, or to the Eshandam, which means Natives' Home. +I told my guide I would go to the Menegam, which would be +conducted after the manners and customs of the other parts of the +Orient, which I had visited. Then, when I had become accustomed +to the ways and manners of the people of Tiestan, I would go to +the Eshandam. Now, while it is very true that very few travelers +from the Western world have ever visited Tiestan, yet the travel +from the other parts of the Orient is great and the people of +Tiestan are familiar with the ideas of the Western world, through +the Oriental travelers. They also have many of the modern +improvements from thence, which they have purchased from Bombay +and Calcutta. After making the necessary arrangements for a +week's stay at the Menegam, I took a walk through some of the +most important streets of the city of Semhee. The first +impression which a traveler received in making a tour through the +city is from the fine physique of the girls and women. One is +struck with their independence, graceful carriage, and, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> they +only wear two or three garments, it is self evident that they are +not dependent on corsets or waist stiffening for their erect +bearing. I noticed there were very few doctors, and what few +there were of the medical profession were equally divided between +the sexes, there being three women and three men doctors. The +city educates them and pays them to keep the people well. More +than two-thirds of the people they heal without medicine. The +profession of dentistry is represented by four women and four +men. They receive their education at the public expense, and +their business is to keep the teeth of the people sound, and put +in new ones where required. Even the judges, lawyers, and city +officials are equally divided between the sexes. I noticed the +same rule prevailed in merchandise, hairdressing, and all kinds +of business. There was not a single employment that was +distinctively male or female, for no distinction was made between +them. The same custom prevailed in all kinds of ball games and +sports.</p> + +<p>"Another impression one quickly notices is that the extremes of +riches and poverty are not seen among the people, for there are +no very rich or very poor; everyone having all the necessary +comforts of life and many of its luxuries.</p> + +<p>"After staying a week at the Menegam, I felt I was prepared to +adopt the customs of the people of Tiestan; so I engaged a room +and board at the Eshandam, or Natives' Home. Most of those who +stop at the Eshandam are natives who live in the province of +Tiestan, they having come to Semhee either on business or +pleasure. Only two meals a day are served: Breakfast from 7.30 to +9 a.m., and dinner from the hours of 1 to 3 p.m.</p> + +<p>"I arrived in time for dinner. Persons staying at the Eshandam +are all looked upon while there as members of one family, and it +becomes the duty of the manager to see that all persons sitting +at the same table have been introduced. It would be considered a +breach of etiquette to eat the meal quickly and in silence. I +never was in a hotel dining room where there seemed to be so much +freedom and enjoyment among the guests while taking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> their meals. +Everyone has plenty of time to eat his meal leisurely. Most of +the guests coming from the different parts of the province of +Tiestan, and being well informed, and all able to converse in two +languages, and all having their minds free from uncertain +business enterprises, made their conversation very interesting +and elevating, and their company a pleasure to enjoy. Meat is +never seen on the table. They would feel indignant and be as much +disgusted if meat were set before them, as we would be to have a +cooked baby brought to the table. Eggs are used in some of their +cooking; they are also served in various ways. Their bread and +pastry cannot be excelled anywhere. The dessert consists of a +large variety of nuts, confectionery, and fruits. From two to +five o'clock guests are entertained with music in the beautiful +hotel gardens, where fountains are playing, sending water out in +the form of leaves, umbrellas, hats, rings, and other interesting +forms. After the music is over some indulge in games, others read +or write, others chat. In the evening for those who wish to +attend are classes for literature, science, and spiritual +philosophy. It is the business of the hotel to supply all the +wants of its patrons; to see that the intellectual and spiritual +natures are fed as well as to see to the wants of the body. The +reason that the people in the city of Semhee have so much time, +is that all labor and business is performed in six hours. Six +hours make a day's work. No one is idle, every well person is +busy at some productive employment. At the hotel they have no +such room as 'Ladies' Parlor,' the parlor being equally for the +use of both sexes, for the ladies are willing that the men hear +any subject they are talking to each other about. No one smokes +in that country. The bedrooms have two doors. One door leads from +the hallway into the bedroom, the other leads from the bedroom +into the bath department, which was twelve feet wide and was as +long as the row of bedrooms. Opposite each room was a bath-tub +and a large movable basin, so that a guest could take a sponge +bath or immerse himself. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The first thing every well person does on rising in the morning +is to go into the bath department and take a cold bath. On my +right was a newly married couple whom I had the pleasure of +conversing with at the dinner yesterday, and on my left was a +young lady and her mother with whom I had the pleasure of +enjoying a conversation in the hotel gardens the day before. I +exchanged greetings with all of them in the bath department, and +the feeling was exactly the same as if we all had been dressed +and met at the breakfast. As my room was about the center of the +row I could look each way, and perhaps there were over twenty +persons of both sexes and all ages taking their bath. On the door +leading from the bedroom to the bath department was a writing in +hieroglyphics illuminated and framed, which when deciphered read: +'Sex is an illusion, illusion is a bondage, break the bondage and +be free. The truth shall make you free.'</p> + +<p>"After we had taken our baths those who wished were shown into +the room for devotion. When I had entered the room and had sat +for a few minutes I began to realize what a sacred, peaceful +influence was in the place. It seemed to come up from the floor, +down from the ceiling, and out from the walls, and from +everything in the room. No talking is allowed in the room. It is +used only for devotion. I performed my devotions and gave the +room my hearty benedictions. I noticed that the forms of devotion +were not all the same, some using one kind of form and some +another, but they all led to the same goal. The devotions were +all carried on in silence. They consisted first of all of +breathing exercises; then bringing the mind to a state of +calmness, by repeating mentally, looking to the East, 'May all +beings be happy. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be +blissful.' Then looking to the South, repeat the same; then +looking to the West, repeat the same, and looking to the North, +repeat the same. After which some of them say mentally: 'Help me +to meditate upon the glory of Him who projected this universe. +May He enlighten my mind.' Then they pray in silence for light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +and knowledge; also they repeat in silence: 'May I this day live +without discontent, without self-seeking, and without anxiety.' +Then follow concentration and meditation.</p> + +<p>"After the devotional exercises we had breakfast. I cannot help +remarking that the mind is in a better condition spiritually for +performing and enjoying sacred devotions before breakfast than it +is after it. To have family prayers after breakfast, as many do +in the Western world, hinders the freedom and adaptation that the +Orientals have in their devotion. In the Western world many are +present out of respect or rule, having no sympathy with the +devotions, sending out antagonistic aura which neutralizes the +effect of worship, and makes it cold, formal, flat, dead, and +dull, for there is not the right concentrated spiritual thought +in the room, which is very essential for profitable spiritual +exercises.</p> + +<p>"On leaving the devotional room for breakfast, I could not help +thinking what a fine preparation for the day! With such a +commencement as that, no wonder the day's work is done well, +without friction and in perfect harmony.</p> + +<p>"The people in Semhee being of a social nature and free from all +conventionalities of modern society, it was not long before I +made the acquaintance of many very interesting families.</p> + +<p>"I received an invitation to make my home with one of them during +my stay in the city of Semhee, which I was glad to accept. I +found the life in the home to be very much like that in the +hotel, so far as bathing, devotions, and meals were concerned. +One evening a young lady called at the house to see a young man +who is a son of my host. The young lady stayed about two hours, +making herself very agreeable to the young man, and upon taking +her leave she invited him to accompany her the next evening to a +concert. He accepted. The next evening she came and called for +him, took him to the concert and saw him home. It seemed she had +been very friendly with him for about two months. The following +Sunday afternoon the young lady called for the young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> man and +took him to the park, and as I was informed afterwards when the +two were in a very secluded place, surrounded by shrubbery, she, +in a very pretty way, told him that the more she was with him and +the more she saw of him, the more she felt impressed that she +loved him, and had found in him a true companion, and wished to +know how he felt towards her. As he was in exactly the same state +of mind towards her as she was towards him, they were engaged to +be married. I became interested in this couple, and observed that +sometimes the young lady would call and see him and take him out, +and sometimes the young man would call and see the young lady and +take her out. I do not wish to give the reader the impression +that the young ladies of Tiestan always commence the courtship, +for it is as customary for a young man to commence a courtship as +for a young lady. The privilege and pleasure of commencing a +courtship belongs as much to one sex as the other.</p> + +<p>"One afternoon I was walking along the banks of the beautiful +river which flows through the suburbs of the city of Semhee, and +saw a number of boys and girls, also men and women, all enjoying +themselves swimming. They would swim awhile and then come out, +stand or sit on the bank of the river for another while. +Sometimes there would be seen several hundred persons of all ages +on the banks of the river. They no more thought about their +respective natures than they did about the number of hairs on +their head. Among those I saw on the banks of the river was this +very young man and young lady who were engaged to be married. +They were standing up side by side ready to take a plunge in the +river, and in they went and swam about very gracefully. While +they were in the water they both saw me standing on the bank +opposite to where they had stood on the other. They swam to where +I was, and came out of the water to me, and we had a little chat.</p> + +<p>"If the young lady was invited to stay over night at the young +man's house, she would take her bath with the other members of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +the family in the morning, and if the young man received an +invitation to stay all night at the home of the young lady, he, +in the morning, would take his bath with the members of her +family.</p> + +<p>"About a month after the engagement the two were married. The +city Semhee employs four persons who can perform the marriage +ceremony, two men and two women. They were married at the home of +the young man. A lady came to perform the ceremony. She told the +couple to stand up and take hands, and then she asked the young +man—calling him by name—if he would have this woman—calling +her by name—to be his wife, and he answered, 'Yes.' Then she +asked the young lady—calling her by her name—would she have +this man—calling him by his name—as her husband, and she +answered, 'Yes.' Then she said: 'In the presence of these +witnesses I declare you to be man and wife.' The two then signed +a document stating they were man and wife, which was put on +record, and that ended the ceremony. They were very happy, for +each one found in the other a true, loving companion, and they +were one intellectually and spiritually.</p> + +<p>"As women are engaged in the professions, in business, and +perform all kinds of service as men do, receiving the same +compensation, they are just as financially independent as men +are, and, therefore, have no other motive for marrying than that +of true, pure love, finding in each other a true intellectual and +spiritual companion. Of children they have few, for they believe +in quality, and not quantity.</p> + +<p>"The intellectual and spiritual life predominates over the animal +in all its inhabitants. Do not think from what I have written +about the ladies of Tiestan that they are masculine women. Far +from it. They are just as sweet, pretty, entertaining, +attractive, and graceful as any women to be found in the world. +Yes, far more so, for their hours of duty are short. They have no +care, anxiety or sickness to speak of, and their environments are +such as to bring to the surface all that is pure, good, noble, +and sweet;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> and, above all, the traveler finds the ladies of +Semhee to be <i>real</i>, genuine, and sincere in character."</p> + +<p>When Stella had finished reading her selection from Burnette's +book, her mother had a big laugh, and asked her if she wanted to +go to Semhee.</p> + +<p>"No, mother, it is not Semhee I wish to visit just now, though +some day I certainly would like to see the city of Semhee and +meet the accomplished, enlightened, and free women of Tiestan. +What I do want to see is the women of this country, where there +is so much boast of liberty and freedom, free themselves from the +awful bondage of sex superstition, and all other bondages that +have been heaped upon them by people of the Dark Ages because +they are women. Even those who talk so much about woman's rights, +are in bondage up to their necks. Look at Laura Stevenson in +Orangeville; a fine bright young girl, who makes a hobby of +woman's rights, and yet see the bondage she is in. A fine young +man whom she was supposed to respect very much, lay sick in his +cabin all alone, and with all her talk about her independence and +freedom, she never went to see him because he was alone and there +was no woman there. She being a young woman, thought it would not +be proper for her to do it. Laura Stevenson's independence and +liberty consist in having her own way in a few things. She does +not know what freedom is. Her freedom is all sham, and with no +reality in it. Then there is Nora Parks, who is supposed to be +advanced, and talks much on woman's freedom; but watch her how +very particular she is in her conduct with young men who are +good, lest she should excite the jealousy of her husband. +Therefore, she is not free, but in bondage to his foolish, +uncalled for jealous feelings. Talk about women being free, they +don't know anything about freedom, for they are all in bondage of +some kind or other."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, among the many fine thoughts +which Burnette brings out in the description of the women of +Semhee, that is a great one <i>which shows woman to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> financially +independent of man, previous to marriage and after marriage, +too</i>. Therefore, she can have no other motive for marrying a man +than that of mating herself to a true companion. When that is +done the two act as one light, whose rays reach out and shine on +all around them. Blessed is such a life."</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Stella, "I do not fully understand the meaning of +the writing on the bedroom door, which Burnette describes. You +remember that part which reads: 'Sex is an illusion.' I +understand too well the meaning of being in bondage to sex, but +that sex is an illusion I do not see the meaning of, because we +know that sex is real and has its use and purpose."</p> + +<p>"I cannot enlighten you, my dear," said her mother. "You will +have to ask Penloe when you return the books."</p> + +<p>"Well, mother," said Stella, "I am going to put some of my +theories into practice. I say my theories, but I do not exactly +mean that; but I am going to put some advanced ideas into +practice in regard to woman's freedom. I will now tell you one of +them, and another later on.</p> + +<p>"Mother," continued Stella, "when a man lives alone and a woman +wishes to go to his house to see him, she has to take another +woman with her because it is not thought proper for a woman to be +seen going alone calling at a house, particularly where a young +man lives by himself. But if a woman lives alone and a man wants +to see her he does not get some other man to go with him. No, he +goes alone, and it is thought all right. Now, mother, I will be +free, and, therefore, when I return the books to Penloe I will go +alone."</p> + +<p>"All right, my dear," said her mother. "I am glad, Stella, you +have the courage to practise your convictions. This talk of +woman's rights and freedom we hear so much about and woman's +liberty that we read of in the newspapers, is just so much +evasion. A woman who may have known a good man for several years +dare not call on him if he lives alone. One ounce of practice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +Stella, is worth a thousand tons of big talk. Go ahead, my +daughter, I am proud of you," said Mrs. Wheelwright.</p> + +<p>The week after Stella went to the house of Penloe to return the +books. Penloe was in his library writing. When he heard a knock +he arose and went to the door in a mechanical kind of way, his +mind being more on the subject of his writing than upon who might +be at the door. When he opened the door Stella said:</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Penloe; I have come to return your books."</p> + +<p>Stella's voice seemed to recall Penloe to where he was, and to +notice who had come to see him.</p> + +<p>In a soft, musical voice, he said: "Glad to see you, Stella; walk +in," giving her his hand, and Stella was shown in to the library.</p> + +<p>When she was seated Penloe said: "Excuse me for a minute or two," +and Stella was pleased to do so, for she wanted to be in the room +alone and take notes. But no sooner had Penloe left the room when +a different state of mind came over her, and she did not feel +like giving her attention to anything in the room. For such a +wave of peace came over her mind as she had never experienced +before, so that the room seemed to be full of peace. It was not a +dead, sleepy peace, nor a dreamy peace, but a peace that was +refreshing, strengthening, and was exactly what her mind needed. +She sat in perfect bliss drinking in all she could, when Penloe +came into the room. He seemed to her to be all peace. This +delightful condition put her mind in a state of equipoise, such +as she had never felt before; for it was a peace that was tinged +with a Divine quality; and it was about to awaken her more than +ever to the possibilities of the real world, the Divine world, +the spiritual world, the world whose realization so far she had +not a knowledge of. For her supreme life was in her intellectual +tastes and in her deep, loving, true nature, which loved to see +what was fitting, right, and just, actually lived; possessing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> at +the same time the boldness and courage to be a pioneer of +advanced thought, and, above all, she loved to live her ideas.</p> + +<p>On returning to the room Penloe opened the conversation by +saying: "Well, Stella, could you find anything interesting in the +books?"</p> + +<p>"Interesting, Penloe," said Stella. "Why, I have had a very rich +treat in the perusal of them. I felt as if I could not put them +down till I had finished them, for they contain just the light I +have been seeking, and now they have become a part of my own +mentality. But I wish you would explain the meaning of the +expression, 'Sex is an illusion.'"</p> + +<p>"Why, certainly, Stella, I will be glad to do so, for if there is +anything that appears real it is what is known as sex, the +qualities of male and female, we see in all nature. It is said to +exist in some precious stones, and we know it exists in the +vegetable world, and in all animal life. And if there is anything +that is real to a boy or girl, it is that he or she is a boy or +girl, and if there is anything that is real to a man or a woman, +it is that he or she is a man or woman. So strongly has this +thought become the life thought of the human race, that the +members of each sex look upon themselves as being just what their +material forms stand for. That is, a woman believes that she will +be a purified woman through all eternity, that the woman is +permanent, real, immortal, and that she will continue on, as a +woman, with her womanly traits of character greatly expanded. +While man thinks that as a man he is real, permanent, and +immortal; that he will continue his existence as a man through +all eternity, and that he will always be known as a man, and +always look upon woman as woman. Any thought contrary to the +reality of sex, the masses in the Western world will not accept, +for they live in a sex world, and at present do not wish to rise +above it, for they are in bondage to the reality of sex. In the +prehistoric period of humanity there lived a race of gods, that +is, a race whose members were intellectual and spiritual giants, +many of them spending their whole life in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> thought, living on a +very meagre diet, needing very little in the way of clothing and +shelter, having no material desires or ambitions to gratify. +They, therefore, had an abundance of time for searching for and +investigating spiritual truths. They were fitted by nature and by +their environments for that life, and they were gifted with +revelations of the unseen.</p> + +<p>"They were called seers or sages, because they could see +spiritual truths which others could not, and it was at this +period and through one of these seers that a voice spoke, 'That +which exists is one, men call it by various names.' That was the +conclusion that many other eminent seers and sages had come to. +For they saw that there was one great Infinite Life Force +manifesting itself in all and through all. That there is a +correlation of spiritual forces, and that all the various +phenomena are the one manifestation of this Infinite Life, which +is called by some God, by others Lord, by others Brahma, by +others Jehovah, by others Allah, the meaning of them all being +exactly the same as that expressed in the Bible by the name of +God, in whom we live, move, and breathe and have our being; that +we are the manifestation of Him. In short, our real entity, our +real life, our real self (the Atman), our soul (the Purusa) is +Spirit eternal and immortal. Now the life of the Spirit has no +sex in it, but the spirit manifests itself in these various forms +of male and female. The sexual form is only the instrument, not +the Being. For the Being is not sex, and, therefore, there is +nothing connected with sex, that is spiritual and eternal. It +belongs to the external world and the material plane, and is, +therefore, a temporary manifestation suitable to the earth plane. +It becomes necessary, in order to get a true conception of what +we really are (that we are spiritual beings, being neither male +nor female) that we get away from the illusion of sex, and not be +in bondage to it. But the man must look upon the woman as a +spiritual being and not think of her only for what her material +form stands for. If he does he is under an illusion, being in +bondage to her body, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> becomes a barrier to realizing the +Divine within, and if the woman looks upon the material form of +the man as being the man and that for which he stands, then she +is under an illusion and is in bondage to his material form, +looking upon his male body as the all of man. And such a thought +becomes a hindrance to her realizing her Divine nature.</p> + +<p>"Remember, Stella, that sex is only apparent, not real. It +belongs to the phenomenal world."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "To accept the idea you have just advanced I shall +have to begin and lay a new foundation to build upon, for you +have swept away many things I considered truths."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, you are merely casting off old garments +that you have outgrown, and you are now ready for a new robe that +fits you. But remember never to quarrel with the old clothes you +once wore. They have served their purpose and should always be +respected."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Penloe, the truth you have advanced regarding sex +will take me some time to fully digest."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Penloe, "but it will not be long before you +will comprehend it fully in all its relativity and make it a part +of your own mentality."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Have you any reading matter to lend me which +touches on this subject, Penloe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Penloe, "here are some lectures by the Swami +Vivekanada<!-- TN: original misspelling retained -->; one is 'The Real and the Apparent Man,' another is +'Reincarnation,' and two lectures on the 'Cosmos.' And here are +also two books for you to read."</p> + +<p>Stella was delighted to receive the lectures and books. After +thanking Penloe she gave him her hand, and said: "I must go, +now."</p> + +<p>Penloe held her hand, and said: "Stella, I see you are very fond +of books, and they are a very great help, and I prize my library +very, very much; but remember, Stella, the whole library of the +universe is within you. Stella, accept a suggestion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> from one who +is your true friend. Be much in prayer; let your prayer be for +light and knowledge; meditate much on Divine things; and you will +be surprised how a flood of light will sweep over you at times. +Pray that the Divine, which was manifested in such a degree in +Jesus, may be manifested in you." Pressing her hand, he said: +"God bless you, Stella, and may you ever feel the presence of +your own Divine nature."</p> + +<p>Stella will never forget that warm hand grasp and those spiritual +words. For it seemed to her at that very moment that that +spiritual fire, which was always burning with such a glow in +Penloe and shining so brightly through his angelic face, had +caused the spark which had been growing brighter and stronger +within her, to burst into a flame, and what sweet season of soul +experience did she realize on her way home.</p> + +<p>Stella had much to think about that evening. She said little to +her parents; her mind was so pre-occupied she could not give +attention to much else. She realized she must make the matter +thoroughly clear to herself so as to have all her thoughts and +ideas harmonize, before communicating them even to her parents. +She did not even look into the literature which Penloe had lent +her that evening. She felt like retiring and thinking. When she +laid her head on the pillow that night it seemed as if it was not +to sleep; it was to think. The leaven was working in Stella's +mind. The truths which she had just received were powerful; it +seemed as if she could not get away from them, even if she +wished, for truths possess us, we do not possess them. Nothing in +the universe is more powerful than truth.</p> + +<p>After the first wave of the novelty, the beauty, the grandeur and +the thrilling depth of the truth had subsided only temporarily +(to be superseded by a far more powerful wave of the same +character), there came over Stella's mind during this lull, a +strong feeling of attachment to some of the old ideas she had +held. It was very easy for her to let some of her garments drop +from her mental form, and be clothed with new ones, but there +were some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> that seemed rather hard to loosen; and which were +they? One was this: While it cannot be said that Stella was vain +or self-conceited, there was that strong attachment to the +personal I, which is generally seen in positive dominant +characters in the Western world. And as a woman she had +everything to make her feel proud of her form and beauty, with a +graceful carriage, combined with a bright mind and noble purpose. +She had realized her power over the opposite sex. Her dominant +thought had been, that as a woman she was going to lead her +sisters out of bondage; that because she was a woman she had a +right to vote; because she was a woman she should not be in +bondage to forms, ceremonies, and customs; because she was a +woman she should not be a slave to sex superstition. But now all +this had been swept away, and it was hard for her to let go all +the grand thoughts she had entertained about woman as woman. But, +blessed, noble, courageous girl, she said: "I will follow truth +whithersoever it may lead," and she inscribed truth on her +banner, saying, "That will I follow."</p> + +<p>So she let the last of her old garments drop from her, saying: "I +will clothe myself with the garment of truth." The battle had now +been fought and the victory won; and now a wave came sweeping +over her mind, more powerful, with more beauty, with greater +grandeur, penetrating far deeper, stirring the very depths of her +nature, and she felt such freedom as she had never realized in +her life before. With this rock, the corner-stone of truth, she +commenced to lay a foundation which is eternal and immortal.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h4>PENLOE'S ORIGINAL ADDRESS.</h4> + +<p>The Roseland <i>Gazette</i> was very pleased to get something of a +sensational character in its columns, like the different stories +which had been brought to that city concerning Penloe's sermon +delivered in Orangeville. The State Legislature not being in +session (to see how much money they could get out of the pockets +of the people for the benefit of its members and their friends), +there were no sensational charges of bribery or boodle to report; +and as Congress had closed there was no news concerning laws +passed in the interests of bankers, railroad corporations, sugar +trusts, whiskey and other trusts which are able to furnish +members of Congress with funds to carry their schemes through. It +happened to be at a time when news was scarce and dull, and +therefore the press made the most of the matter by writing an +editorial on the subject of sex relationship, which appeared in +the paper the following week, and was as follows:</p> + +<p>"In our last issue we gave as correct a report of the remarkable +sermon preached by Penloe in the church at Orangeville, as our +reporter could get. Since then most all other subjects of +conversation have subsided in this county and the main topic of +conversation has been Penloe and the sex question. As to Penloe, +it is not our purpose in this article to discuss the man, but +some of his ideas. The sex question is a very peculiar one to the +minds of many. Penloe's ideas are so radical that it gives us a +shock all over even to think of attempting to bring the people to +that mode of living. The thought we have concerning our sex is +instilled into us by custom, precept and example, so that from +earliest infancy to introduce such an innovation as Penloe +proposes would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> apparently, to our minds, seem like undermining +our social structure and its very foundations. While we admit the +state of society is morally low, yet what can be done to improve +it? Can we ever reconcile ourselves to persons of both sexes and +all ages undressing in the presence of each other and all bathing +together naked? We question whether society is ready for such a +change? Penloe's theories are like many other theories, very fine +on paper but when you put them in practice they won't work. What +say you, readers? We would like to hear also from our brothers of +the press."</p> + +<p>And they did hear from their brethren of the press. For other +county papers took the matter up, being very glad to get +something sensational for their columns; and from county papers +the subject got into the big city dailies throughout California, +and they printed very sensational articles concerning Penloe and +his sermon, discussing the sex question at great length. It was +not very long before the Eastern papers had long articles about +Penloe and his sermon, and they wrote much on the subject. Then +the matter reached the magnitude of what is known as a wave; +which swept through the press all over the continent, causing as +much comment and talk as Markham's poem, "The Man with the Hoe."</p> + +<p>Penloe's mail increased in size rapidly, and he was now receiving +twenty times more letters than all the other mail in Orangeville +combined. It was amusing to see how the letters were addressed. +They read, "Dr. Penloe, Rev. Dr. Penloe, Rev. Penloe, Penloe, +Esq., Prof. Penloe, D.D., and LL.D." Letters came to him from +every state in the Union. Here is one:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Mr. Penloe</span>:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"Dear Sir</span>:—I am shocked and disgusted with you. You +never ought to be allowed to talk from the pulpit in +such a way. The people of Orangeville ought to tar and +feather you and ride you on a rail out of the county." </p></div><p>Another letter was as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">"Crank Penloe</span>:</p> + +<p>"Of all the cranks I ever did read about or hear tell +on, you are the darndest. The women folks in my house +are as hot as hell, ever since they read in the paper +what you talked in church. My wife said, 'What a crank +you must be,' and my mother-in-law said hell is too +good for such as you. What a rumpus you have made all +over the country; it seems as if hell is to pay for all +this." </p></div> + +<p>Penloe also received some powerful scorching letters from +orthodox ministers, while on the other hand the liberal and +radical elements of society poured forth eulogies and +commendations for his bold original utterances, for his +fearlessness in treating the subject in the courageous way he +did; calling him a brave pioneer and they themselves would start +Penloe Clubs for putting his ideas in practice. He received many +letters from churches in some of the large cities, like the +following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">"Rev. Dr. Penloe</span>:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"Dear Sir</span>:—Our church in this city is an elegant +structure and will seat twelve hundred persons. For +some months we have been looking for a popular young +man to fill our pulpit. It has been very difficult to +find an up-to-date man, one that will draw a +congregation to fill our church, for the audience keeps +growing less every Sunday, because we have not got a +real, live smart man to preach to us. We think if we +could secure your services you would draw the largest +congregation in this city, for your popularity has +swept the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and +we feel sure you are the right man. Our people are very +sociable and well to do, many of our members being +rich. We are willing to pay you a salary of seven +thousand dollars a year, and the use of a handsome +house elegantly furnished, and will allow you two +months' vacation, besides paying your expenses to come +here. We will say that, should you accept our offer, +our people will be glad to receive you into their +hearts and homes." </p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>Penloe always answered all such communications, but as for +accepting one of them it was out of the question; for he knew it +was not his field of labor, and if the salary had been a hundred +thousand dollars a year, it would have been no temptation or an +inducement to him to accept the offer. For money, name and fame +touched him not; and nothing could induce him to leave his path +of labor for the sake of going into some new field of work which +only held out large material rewards. He also received many +offers from the owners of papers and magazines, asking him to +write his views. The New York <i>Monthly Magazine</i> offered him one +thousand dollars for an eight-page article on the sex question; +provided he would not write on the subject for any other magazine +or paper. Penloe accepted the offer because he considered that +was the best channel to communicate to the world his views on the +sex question. Its readers were of a class that could comprehend +the subject in the spirit in which it was offered. And as for the +thousand dollars Penloe had a sacred purpose he wished to use +that money for. A man wrote to Penloe offering him forty thousand +dollars if he would consent to lecture for one year in all the +large cities in the United States. The man told a friend of his, +he was sure after paying Penloe his forty thousand dollars and +all other expenses, he would clear about sixty thousand dollars +himself.</p> + +<p>How true it is that a prophet is not without honor, save in his +own country. For Orangeville was the last place to feel the +Penloe wave which swept over all the country. At last the people +of Orangeville reading so much about him in their papers and +magazines, began to think he was something more than a crank, +that they must have a great man amongst them, or else he would +never have received such big offers of money for his services as +the papers stated he had, and there would not have been so much +written about him if he was of no account.</p> + +<p>Quite a change had come over the people in Roseland concerning +Penloe, and they began to feel differently towards him since<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> his +wave of popularity had swept over the country. Even Stella's aunt +had experienced a change of heart towards him, for she was heard +to say, "People's ideas are changing now in regard to the sex +question. They look at the subject so differently now from what +they did when I was a girl. I did not think Penloe was such a +smart man as the papers say he is. He must be, or else he never +would have received an offer of forty thousand dollars to lecture +for one year."</p> + +<p>A man may possess all the characteristics of a saint and a martyr +combined, and yet the average person is not attracted to him; but +as soon as money and popularity flow towards him, then in his +eyes he becomes next to a God; for people love to be touched on +the material side of their nature rather than on the spiritual. +They consider the spiritual well enough to talk about, and when a +friend of theirs dies they may love to sing "Nearer, My God, to +Thee" and "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," but what they really +desire for themselves and families, above everything else, is a +rich blessing of material things; that which makes well for the +body and which puts them in a position to have full play of the +emotional and sensational part of their natures.</p> + +<p>So great was the desire among the people of Orangeville and +Roseland, and in fact the whole county, to hear Penloe speak, and +to see the man that so much had been said and written about, that +a committee was sent to him with a request signed by the leading +citizens, asking him to deliver an address to them in Roseland. +Penloe accepted the invitation to speak. The committee secured +the use of a large packing house for the meeting, and fixed it up +so that it seated a very large audience, for they knew that the +Penloe wave was at its height, and about every team from every +ranch in the county would be out on that occasion. As the +committee had well advertised more than a week ahead, that Penloe +would deliver a public address, the news reached to many parts +outside the county, so that when the day came for the meeting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> to +be held a number of strangers from different parts of the state +were seen in Roseland.</p> + +<p>We will copy from a San Francisco paper a report of the meeting, +as that paper had a special reporter there who gave a full report +of the address.</p> + +<div class="p4"> +<hr /> +AN IMMENSE CROWD <br /> LISTENS <br /> TO PENLOE'S<br /> +ORIGINAL ADDRESS.<br /> +<br /> +Meeting Opened by the Mayor of Roseland.<br /> +<hr /> +</div> + +<p>If a stranger had been in Roseland to-day he certainly would have +thought from seeing the livery stables crowded with teams from +the country, and every vacant lot and square also filled with +teams, and the crowds of people on the streets all going in one +direction, that some great attraction was going on, and he would +be under the impression that if he went out into the country he +would not expect to see a person or a team, for there never was +any occasion before that brought such a large gathering of people +to Roseland. Long before the time of commencement, the seating +capacity of the building was taxed to its utmost. Promptly at 2 P.M. +the Mayor of Roseland and Penloe appeared on the platform. +The Mayor opened the meeting by introducing Penloe in the +following words: "Ladies and gentlemen:—It gives me great +pleasure to introduce to you this afternoon a gentleman whom you +all have heard and read so much about. Whatever your views may be +about his teaching, I can positively assert the lecturer is a +scholar and a gentleman, every inch of him. Very often a +speaker's remarks fail to have the full weight they are entitled +to because persons say he has an axe to grind, or, he is paid to +talk that way. Now I have not the least idea of the subject the +speaker<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> is going to talk to you upon, but this I can say, he is +here this afternoon only because he was invited to come and +speak. He refused all offers of money for his services, saying, +he wished his labors to be a free will offering to you. Therefore +I hope you will give him your closest attention, remembering he +gives you the best product of his mind acquired through years of +study, thought and observation; and that is the richest gift one +can give another.</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the honor of introducing to you +the speaker, known as Penloe."</p> + +<p>Penloe rose and came forward to the front of the platform; first +bowing to the Mayor and then to the audience; and as he did so he +faced a sea of upturned faces, who gazed upon one of the most +remarkable men this country has produced. Not very many of the +audience had seen Penloe before, and they were agreeably +surprised to see on the platform before them, so distinguished a +personality. It seemed a delight to look upon him. But few +present could begin to size up such a man as he was. Some of the +remarks which one could hear whispered were like the following:</p> + +<p>A young lady said: "What beautiful clear eyes he has. It seems as +if you could see his soul in them."</p> + +<p>A gentleman was heard to say: "He has the most striking +personality of any one I have ever seen."</p> + +<p>A lady remarked: "Is he not handsome?"</p> + +<p>A man said: "What a fine head and noble countenance he has. It +seems as if the Almighty had stamped himself on him."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his wife who was sitting at his side. "And did you +ever see a more perfect specimen of physical manhood than he is, +so symmetrical in his build?"</p> + +<p>Such was the man who faced the large audience and opened his +address by saying:</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Friends</span>:</p> + +<p>"The Mayor was correct in calling what I am about to say to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>you +'a talk,' for if any one has come here expecting a grand oration, +with flowery language, rounded periods, and finished diction, he +will be disappointed.</p> + +<p>"Now, dear friends, I love you all, and that is why I call you +dear friends, and that is why I am here this afternoon to talk to +you, because I love you all. Yes, every one of you. I don't care +what you apparently are. Some of you may be greedy and grasping, +and some may be tyrannical and overbearing, or weak and negative; +with no backbone or grit or will; or you may be vain, selfish, +ambitious, self-conceited, carrying your head too high; or you +may be one who lives to dance; loves the whirl and excitement of +pleasure; or you may be one who loves to enjoy eating and +drinking and sensual delights. I say, and I repeat it again, I +don't care what you apparently are, I love you all just the same. +I look at you from an entirely different standpoint from which +you look at yourselves. Now you all look at yourselves and at +others according to sex and your environments. Before me I see +men who say of themselves, I am a lawyer; I am a preacher; I am a +banker; I am a doctor; I am a merchant; I am a mechanic; I am an +artist; I am a musician; I am a farmer; I am a common laborer. +Before me I see women who say, I am a dressmaker; I am a +milliner; I am a teacher; I am a clerk; I am a bookkeeper; I am a +typewriter; or I am a lawyer's wife, or banker's wife, or +doctor's wife, or merchant's wife, or preacher's wife, or +mechanic's wife, or farmer's wife. You think of yourselves +according to that position you occupy to make your living, or +according to the relationship you hold as wife, mother, daughter, +or according to the family you are a member of. Then again you +all esteem yourselves according to the degree of comfort, +luxuries, health, money or property which each of you may or may +not possess. Also whether you are young, middle aged or old.</p> + +<p>"Dear brothers and sisters, I do not rate you nor judge you nor +look at you in any way according to your conditions, age, sex or +environments. I look at you to-day not as you look at yourselves, +but I look at you all as spiritual beings, pure and perfect; nay, +I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> look upon you all as being still more than that, for I look +upon you all as being the manifestation of the One great Infinite +Spirit.</p> + +<p>"Let me make it clearer to you by an illustration: In a certain +province of an Oriental country it was customary at one time for +any young lady who was distinguished in any way for her beauty or +her riches or her titles or her accomplishments, to set a day for +receiving her suitors, and grant each an opportunity to tell what +he had to offer her as an inducement to her to become his bride. +In this province there was a young lady whose beauty of +countenance and lovely form, language is inadequate to describe. +In addition to that, her sweet souled character exceeded her +beautiful form and her many accomplishments. So superior had that +character become in its spiritual manifestation, that many +stories were told of her healing the sick, of her spiritual words +and presence reforming the lives of many; and of her having +knowledge of things, persons and subjects that she had neither +heard nor read about. Her youth, her beauty, her spiritual gifts +and her many accomplishments became known throughout the length +and breadth of the province, and she had many suitors for her +heart and hand. So a day was set for her to receive them all, to +hear what each one had to offer, and select the one of her +choice. A suitable room was prepared for receiving them. At the +farther end the floor was raised two feet and on this raised part +she took a seat in the centre and near the front, with all her +suitors on her right seated on the lower floor and facing her.</p> + +<p>"The first suitor that had a hearing was a rich merchant. He said +to her, 'Dearest lady, I have heard much of thee and it now does +my eyes good to behold thee in all thy beauty. I am glad you have +consented to give me the opportunity of telling you what I have +to offer you to become my bride. I am a rich merchant and have a +palatial home on the borders of a beautiful lake. Inside my home +is a collection of the riches and products of skill from all +lands that I have traded in. I have gold and ivory, laces, +shawls, silks, fancy wares, rugs, mattings, spices and perfumes;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +and I have brought with me some as an offering to you' (and here +he ordered his servants to bring the presents in and display them +before her). 'Be my bride, most gracious lady, and the wealth +from all lands shall be thine.'</p> + +<p>"The lady smiled on him and told him to take a seat on her left +and have his servants remove the presents.</p> + +<p>"The next that appeared before the lady was a great warrior.</p> + +<p>"He said, 'Lovely lady, I am a great warrior. I have led to +battle large armies, and have always been victorious. I have met +hand to hand captains and generals, and have slain them with one +blow from my sword' (and here he drew it out of its sheath and +showed it to her. It was a fine piece of skilled workmanship). +'Should you become my bride no harm shall ever befall you, no +enemy shall come nigh you, and no serpent or wild beast shall +hurt you; for I have killed all kinds of animals and reptiles. +Most lovely one, if thou wilt become my bride, all my soldiers +shall obey thy word, and I will be thy true protector.'</p> + +<p>"With a smile she motioned him to a place on her left.</p> + +<p>"The next that appeared as her suitor, said, 'Dear lady, I have a +beautiful home and all it needs is thee, and shouldst thou see +fit to become my bride, you will be a happy and a joyous mother, +and in the love of each other, and in our home, and in our +children, will our happiness be found. Dearest lady, become my +bride and thou shalt be the head of the happiest home in the +land.'</p> + +<p>"She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left.</p> + +<p>"The next suitor that came forward was attired in rich cloth +trimmed with lace and gold.</p> + +<p>"He said, 'Most charming lady, I am a Prince, and if thou wilt +become my bride, I will make thee a Princess. Thou shall have a +lovely court, many servants, costly robes to wear, and millions +of people to worship thee, and do thee homage.'</p> + +<p>"She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left.</p> + +<p>"Other suitors made offers to her. The last suitor that appeared +before the sweet lady was different from all the rest. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> was +dressed plainly; he needed nothing to improve his natural +appearance, for his majestic form, his noble countenance and +lustrous eyes, surpassed in attractiveness all the other suitors. +When you once saw him you felt as if you wished to take another +look at him, for it seemed to do one's eyes good to feast them on +so grand a man.</p> + +<p>"He said, 'Thou pure, sweet one. When a youth I was wandering +through a forest and saw a man sitting under a tree. He had a +sweeter countenance than I had ever seen before. He said, "My +youthful friend, if thou wilt learn from me thou shalt become +good, wise and very happy."</p> + +<p>"'I thought of my companions and myself in regard to what he +said, and the more I thought about us all, I could not think of +one that was becoming good and wise, or was truly happy. For we +were all restless, going here, and going there, trying this and +doing the other to find happiness. So I thanked him and said, I +will be thy pupil, for I wish to become good, wise and truly +happy. He said, "Commence to-morrow morning, and as soon as you +awake rise immediately; never lay after you are awake, for it is +not good for one of your age. Then when you rise bathe in cold +water. After you have dressed," he said, "read out of this book +which I give you; read every morning for fifteen minutes or half +an hour; then spend a little time in prayer and meditation." And +he gave me instructions in such and said, "Live on plain food, +eat no meat, avoid bad companions as you would a Bengal tiger, +and before going to rest at night spend half an hour in prayer +and meditation. Continue faithfully in the performance of these +practices for three months, and then come here to me." I did so, +carrying them out to the letter, and at the end of three months I +returned to him. He looked at me and said, "I see by your +countenance you have changed." I replied, "Yes, I feel changed +altogether." "Tell me," he said, "in what way do you feel +different?"</p> + +<p>"'I said, "When you saw me three months ago my mind was confused +more or less, my imagination ran too much after vain and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +sensuous objects. I had too much personal sensitiveness, being +attached to myself so much. I was easily irritated, and always +restless, wanting something I did not have. But now my mind is +calm and peaceful, my imagination dwells on the pure, the good +and the beautiful. I no longer feel envious or jealous or greedy; +for love seems to be taking the place of those feelings."</p> + +<p>"'Continuing, my teacher said, "Let your prayer be for light and +knowledge, and ask the Blessed Infinite One to help you to love +all; let love rule; never mind what others may say about you, or +how meanly they may treat you. Be in earnest to love all. Rise +every morning with this thought: 'How beautiful my brother is; +how precious is my sister.' You may not love a person's ways, but +you should always love the person. Separate the two in your mind +and it will help you much. Start the day with this thought, 'I +will live this day without discontent, without self-seeking, and +without anxiety.' Say, 'Lord, deliver me from all selfish +ambitions, and from pride and vanity, and may I become teachable +as a little child.'"</p> + +<p>"'I did so, for I was very desirous of advancing in the Divine +life.</p> + +<p>"'In six months' time I returned to him. He said, "Why, brother, +how happy you look; how clear and bright your eyes are; how sweet +your expression has become."</p> + +<p>"'"Yes," I said, "I am becoming like you." He said, "God bless +your efforts in living the Divine life. Let your prayer be: Do +thou manifest thyself in me, thou Blessed Infinite One. See that +I want Thee and nothing else."</p> + +<p>"'I did so, for the more I followed his instructions the more of +the Divine life did I realize, and I knew that the angel was +ruling the animal within me. After being his disciple for several +years, he said, "Thou art ready now to become a teacher like +myself."</p> + +<p>"'I replied, "Dear Guru, my prayer is that in becoming a teacher +like thee, I may be able to lead others in the Divine life as +thou hast led me." I kissed the holy man and he gave me his +blessing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> which has followed me ever since, and it is with +pleasure that I can say in the spirit of thankfulness and +humility, there have been those whose lives are all the sweeter +and brighter through my life and instructions. Sweet lady, you +know what I mean when I say, having obtained freedom through +renunciation I realized illumination, and through the light which +I have received I am in the possession of knowledge which the +many know little about, and through the light and knowledge which +I have received I came to know you long before seeing you to-day. +I have seen you many, many times though you were hundreds of +miles away from me, and I seem to have been in communication with +you, though I never have spoken or written a word to you. Not +only so, sweet lady, but it has been my happiness to receive from +you many uplifting thoughts and I felt as if I was led by the +Divine Spirit which is in us all to come here to-day and say to +you: Thou sweet spirit, I have no houses nor lands, no money nor +wealth, no name nor fame, but I have attained realization, and +through that attainment I see the Divine in you; and its +manifestation to such an eminent degree in you has attracted me +towards you, and I say to you now, sweet one, that in your +becoming my bride our lives will be expanded, and we will attain +unfoldment that we could obtain in no other way. Thou bright one, +what sweet communings of soul with soul, we will have; for having +consecrated our bodies to the Eternal One, we will each day +manifest a brighter light, and both of us shine as one in our +love for each other, and for all. And, dear one, in that +beautiful light and life will our cup of bliss be filled, and +many besides ourselves will drink therefrom.'</p> + +<p>"The lady smiled very sweetly on him and bade him take a seat on +her right. Then rising and facing her other suitors she said, +'Friends, I thank you for the interest and kindness you have +shown towards me, but you all made one mistake, and that is in +thinking I am merely just what this material form stands for, in +thinking I am a woman and only a woman, and nothing but a woman. +And in thinking so you come, one with gifts of silks, laces, +gold, ivory,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> spices and many other things, as if that was all I +needed. Another offers bravery and protection for me, thinking I +was a weak woman and could not take care of myself; another wants +to make me a Princess, so as to excite my pride and vanity, by +causing so many to bow down to me, as if my joy consisted in +having my pride and vanity fed, and in looking upon my fellow +beings as my slaves, whose whole life is to contribute to my +enjoyment. Then another offers me a home and to make me the +mother of many children; as if that was the highest attainment +for a spiritual being; while still another offers me money, good +things to eat and drink and wear, only what this body of mine +seems in his eyes. No, I will have to decline all your offers, +because you are under the illusion that I am only a woman.'</p> + +<p>"Turning to the one on her right she said, 'By a life of +self-denial and discipline through prayer and meditation, and in +cultivating the spirit of love for all, and in making your life a +free will offering to humanity, you attained illumination. The +angel now rules the animal and you have arrived now to the state +of realization of the Divine within you. Not being in bondage to +either the man or the woman, for you see that each is a spiritual +being like the other, therefore you look upon me as a spiritual +being manifested in the form of a woman. You have seen that my +wants and desires are spiritual, not material. All that I need in +the material world is very little and comes to me; for as Jesus +has said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these +things (material) shall be added unto you."</p> + +<p>"'Dear friend, you have appealed to my self, my spiritual nature. +I now respond, and, dear one, what I possess in the way of love +shall be yours, for I love you so dearly it will be a joy for me +to give you my love and live in your love, and we will both +consecrate ourselves to each other and to the Lord, in His +humanity.'"</p> + +<p>Penloe, looking earnestly at his audience, said: "That is the +way, dear friends, I look on you all this day; not for what your +material<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> forms stand for, not for the environments each of you +is placed in, but I look upon you all as spiritual beings. I look +upon you as Divine, and it is this great, grand and glorious +thought that each one of you is Divine. I want you to take it +home with you; I want you to repeat it over and over again, '<i>I +am Divine</i>'; I want you to think about it till it becomes part of +your own mentality, till it becomes part of the cells of your +brain, till it becomes a part of the life blood of your body, +flowing through your arteries and veins; and all your actions +shall have their source in the grand thought that you are Divine. +When you reach to that plane, your whole course in life will +change, and each one of you before me here will become so changed +that you or your neighbors will hardly know yourselves. For you +have been going about with this thought, 'I am a poor, weak human +being.' That man over there says, 'All there is to me is this +body with its appetites and desires. I drink, I swear, I live a +life of lust and that is what I am.' I say no! a thousand times +no! All the qualities of the Divine are within you; but you have +not realized them. Don't look upon yourself any longer as being +that drinking, swearing, lustful man. But look upon yourself as +being Divine; that all the qualities of the universe are within +you, and in you are all the powers of the universe. That poor +woman over there whose life is one of hard, monotonous toil in +the house; you are the mother of too many children. Your life is +one round of work, care and anxiety, and when you look in the +glass you see that work, worry and passion have taken the bloom +off your cheeks, the brightness out of your eyes; you are faded; +and it seems as if the light and life of the world had left you, +and you see no bright future. Hardly anything in it for you worth +the having.</p> + +<p>"It is to you I bring this grand message, my discouraged sister, +wake up and get out of the illusion that you are what that poor +worn-out body of yours stands for. No, dear sister, a thousand +times no; for you are 'Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, +and Bliss Absolute.' <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The reason that you and your sex are where you are to-day, is +because you are in bondage to your material forms, looking upon +yourselves and wishing men to look upon you also for what you are +in body, instead of women looking upon themselves as spiritual +beings and having men do the same. The reason that men are where +they are to-day is because they are in bondage to their material +forms, looking upon themselves as being men, and also expecting +women to look upon them as such, instead of men looking upon +themselves as pure spiritual beings possessing the qualities of +the Divine, and looking upon women as being exactly the same +spiritually as themselves.</p> + +<p>"You have all drawn veils over your Divine nature through this +illusion, and from this illusion springs all the acts which keep +you from realizing your Divine nature. Your greed, your vanity, +your self-conceit, your love of praise, your love of self, your +attachment to yourself, and all that is yours, your appetites all +act as shades over the windows of the soul. When will you break +these various bonds and be free?</p> + +<p><a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2" href="#Footnote_2_2" + class="fnanchor">[2]</a>"There is a story that the king of gods, 'Indra,' once became +a pig, wallowing in mire. He had a she pig and a lot of baby pigs +and was very happy. Then some other angels saw his plight, came +to him and told him, 'You are the king of the gods, you have all +the gods to command. Why are you here?' But Indra said, 'Let me +be. I am all right here, I don't care for the heavens while I +have the sow and little pigs.' The poor gods were at their wits' +end what to do. After a time they decided to come now and again +and slay one of the little pigs and then another, until they had +slain all the pigs and the sow, too. When all were dead Indra +began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig body open +and he come out of it, and began to laugh. What a hideous dream +he had had. He, the king of gods, to have become <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>a pig and to +think that pig life was the only life. Not only so but to have +wanted the whole universe to come into the pig life.</p> + +<p>"The soul when it identifies itself with nature forgets that it +is pure and Infinite. The soul does not live, it is life itself. +It does not exist, it is existence itself. The soul does not +know, it is knowledge itself. It is an entire mistake to say the +soul lives, or knows, or loves. Love and existence are not the +qualities of the soul, but its essence. When they get reflected +on that something you may call them the qualities of that +something. Remember what you read in Hindu philosophy, that the +finer body, and what is called in Christian theology the +spiritual body, is not the soul. The soul is beyond them all. It +is this soul which is Divine.</p> + +<p>"Now let us follow out this thought that all of you are Divine +and that each one of you looks upon himself as being Divine, and +that you look upon all others as being Divine also. What is the +result? Let's see. The Divine nature is one of love, one of +purity, one of justice, one of harmony, one of peace. As a Divine +being you are looking within for all your happiness and are not +dependent on things outside of yourself to make you happy. As a +Divine being you are not grasping and wanting things that don't +belong to you, and making yourself and others miserable by +wishing you were where you cannot go, or you want things you +cannot have. As a Divine being your conduct towards others under +all circumstances is one of love. Therefore you are not stirring +up contentions and strifes and you are trying, as far as +possible, to make those around you happy, and are yourself +striving to be the same under all circumstances. All things which +disturb you keep you from realizing the Divine. Therefore you +have control over your temper and are manifesting peace and +harmony. As you are Divine, you should do your work in the world +without attachment to things of the world. You should not be +owned by the external world, for all forms and things perish, but +the life of the spirit is eternal.</p> + +<p>"As a Divine being you will be honest and truthful to yourself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +and others; you will practise no deception; you will not want +what belongs to others; and try in trade or barter to cheat +another, for you look upon all as Divine like yourself. As a +Divine being you will want to earn your living by the sweat of +your own brow, instead of by the sweat of others as many do +to-day.</p> + +<p>"Let that thought enter the life of the family and instead of the +husband and father being cross and cranky at times, he will +always be the same; trying each day in some new way to make his +wife and children better and happier, and they in return will be +a joy to themselves and a comfort to him. What a happy home where +that thought reigns.</p> + +<p>"Let that thought be carried into the affairs of the County, +State and Nation, and see what a revolution of peace and +happiness it would bring. The first change would be that all +women would have the same right to vote as men have; not because +they are women, but because they are Divine, like man. In short +because they are spiritual beings like men.</p> + +<p>"The aphorism, 'Equal rights to all and special privileges to +none,' will be lived out, because no one who is living the +thought that all are Divine, will wish to have opportunities that +they deny to others.</p> + +<p>"'An injury to one is the concern of all,' is a maxim that would +be put into practise. 'All for one and one for all' would be +acted out in all the business of life, for all are Divine. All +persons in office would see how best they can serve the public, +instead of seeing, as is done now, how best they can feather +their own nests, at the expense of the public.</p> + +<p>"State legislators would meet, not to see how much there is in it +for themselves, in passing laws, but would pass laws in the +interest of the masses. All forms of corruption would cease, and +bribery would disappear, because all are looked upon as one, and +that one is Divine; and <i>Greed</i> cannot live where that thought +predominates. Congress, instead of passing laws in the interest +of bankers, railroad corporations, manufacturers, and trust +companies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> would be there for one purpose, that of making laws +in the interest of the whole nation, and what is known as class +legislation would disappear.</p> + +<p>"All persons engaged in adulterating merchandise would cease +their disgraceful and dishonest business. For, realizing their +Divine nature, they would only make pure articles, and everything +would be what it is marked. All business would be done with +honesty of purpose and love of justice; in fact the character of +the Divine would be seen in all dealings. No longer would the +great dailies be owned by the money power, and intellectual +prostitutes write the editorials of their columns, blinding and +deceiving the minds of the people that the classes may fleece +them. In short the ethics of Christ would enter into the +industrial and social systems. Usury would be abolished. Instead +of having Christ so much in prayer and song, in poetry and prose, +in marble and on canvas, we would have him in the halls of +legislation, in railroad operations, in manufactories, in stores, +on farms and in the home. In short he would enter into all the +walks of life, and men's actions would be governed by his +teachings, viz.: 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you +do ye also unto them; and as we all wish to have love and justice +shown us, realizing our Divine nature, we would show it unto +others.</p> + +<p>"Now, I beseech each one of you, I beseech you because I love +you, start to-day with the soul elevating thought, with this +grand truth, that 'You are the Divine,' and live according to +your Divine nature and not be ruled by your animal instincts. If +ever you are in doubt about what you should do and what you +should not do, I would say, do whatever would make you strong +physically, whatever would make you strong intellectually, +whatever would make you strong spiritually, and do not do what +would make you weak physically, intellectually, or spiritually. +In living the pure Christ life you always will be well. Remember +the body is the instrument through which the Divine manifests +itself; therefore take care of the body and don't abuse it by too +much work or too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> much social excitement, or too much of +anything. Be moderate and temperate in all your actions, bathe +every morning and have times for meditation and prayer, and it +will not be long before you will make the whole State of +California what it ought to be, a heaven on earth. For having +heaven within, you will make all about you heaven; and let me +tell you that when you leave your material bodies, the only +heaven you will find is that which you will take with you."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h4>LETTERS RECEIVED BY PENLOE.</h4> + +<p>While Penloe was delivering his address there was a man in the +audience who sat near the platform, following the remarks of the +speaker very closely. Looking in his face you could see the marks +of dissipation; the color and lines which drink and carnality +leave on the countenance. To judge his age by his face you might +take him to be a man of fifty, but he was only about thirty years +old; for he had lived twenty years in five. His form was large +and well proportioned; naturally he was a strong man. His +clothing consisted of a shirt, a pair of overalls, both dirty, a +pair of suspenders and a pair of shoes.</p> + +<p>When Penloe finished his address, and the audience was about to +leave, this man made a rush for the platform, and going up to +Penloe under great emotion, he said in broken utterances with +tears in his eyes: "God bless you for showing me that my real +nature is Divine. I have been living the life of a beast, but now +I will live the Divine life." That man afterwards said: "The look +that Penloe gave me and the way he pressed my hand will be with +me as long as I live."</p> + +<p>Penloe saw that if he stayed on the platform or did not leave the +building, he would have a crowd round him. Not wishing to give a +reception and thinking it best to keep the people's minds on what +he said, instead of having them diverted from the subject to him +personally, he hastily left the building. But he received a +number of letters from persons who heard his address. We will +copy three as samples. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first letter we have copied was from the wife of the leading +lawyer in Roseland and read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="p3">"Roseland.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Penloe</span>:</p> + +<p>"I would very much have liked to have had an +opportunity of meeting you, that I might tell you what +I am about to write and very much more. Since I heard +your address I so wanted to have a talk with you, as I +have so many questions to ask you, and above all to +tell you what your message has done for me.</p> + +<p>"I am the wife of a lawyer, and at the age of +twenty-two I graduated from college. A year afterwards +I married Mr. Horton and have been married seven years. +My tastes have always been intellectual with a strong +desire to lead and to be above those around me. I had +little sympathy for the poor and ignorant, and those I +had little in common with I kept aloof from. My friends +looked to me as an authority on most subjects, as I +travelled in Europe two years after I was married. It +will do me good now to confess to you and tell you, I +was cold, vain, self-conceited and my purpose in +reading and travelling was not to help those around me, +but to add glory and fame to myself, and to be thought +a very superior minded person. I carried my head very +high and associated with but few. After seeing you and +listening to your address, I can hardly describe the +state of mind it left me in. But it was something like +a lady might feel when she is dressed in her best and +is very proud of her attire. While she is in that frame +of mind she meets some one who has garments much +superior to hers, and she sees that the clothes she is +wearing are unbecoming and do not fit her, and that she +has been under an illusion in thinking they were so +rich and fine. For when the other garments are shown +her, she feels she had been the most mistaken person in +the world and longs to cast off the garments she is +wearing, that she may put on these superior ones.</p> + +<p>"Now that was my case exactly. I was the woman attached +to what I thought were my fine clothes. You were the +one with the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>elegant new gowns, and when you showed me +so clearly that my own costume was nothing but filthy +rags, I was ready to take the superior garments with +which you presented me.</p> + +<p>"When I think what a foolish, proud, vain woman I have +been, I feel like covering my face with shame; like +hiding my head somewhere. I intend that these feelings +of remorse shall stimulate me towards manifesting the +Divine, in love, in patience, in humility, and in +meekness.</p> + +<p>"I will go among the poor and ignorant and become one +with them, in order to raise them to the realization of +their Divine nature.</p> + +<p>"May they see in me that love for them which I saw in +you for all, and it will give me pleasure to tell those +of my own circle how sweet the Divine life has become +to me, and may I be a spiritual help to them.</p> + +<p>"My husband was touched by your words, I am glad to +say, and we are both trying to live the Divine life.</p> + +<p>"When you come to Roseland, be sure and come to our +home. We shall be very pleased to see you and have you +stay with us as long as you can. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Your friend,</p> +<p class="p3">"Carrie Horton." +</p> +</div> + +<p>Another letter we will copy was from the leading banker of +Roseland:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"> +"First National Bank.<br /> +<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"G. Holmes, President.</span> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">R. Wells, Cashier.</span></p> +<p class="p3">"<span class="smcap">Roseland</span>, Cal.<br /> +</p> +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Brother Penloe</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"It gives me great pleasure to address you as such, +though I am a perfect stranger to you; but after +hearing your address I feel at liberty to call you +brother. I felt your great heart of love throbbing +through all you said in your lecture. Now I must tell +you that a man entered the building to hear you speak +just out of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>curiosity. He would have laughed if any +one had told him that he might hear something that he +had not heard before or might be impressed by the +lecture, for he felt settled, sure and certain in his +own mind concerning all subjects of interest to him. +But when he heard your clear and forcible remarks, it +knocked him off his feet, taking the last prop away he +leaned on, and there was nothing left for him to do but +to get on the same foundation that you are on. Bless +God, I have done so, and now I am beginning to live as +a new man, the Divine man.</p> + +<p>"I used to walk the streets thinking I was a great man, +the leading financier in Roseland, and the grand +thought I had of myself was that I was a banker, being +looked up to by those around me because of my financial +standing. But those thoughts are now to me hay and +stubble, and I have burned them.</p> + +<p>"From this time forth my money and myself will be +consecrated to the service of manifesting the Divine, +and in helping others to do the same. As a proof of my +sincerity I enclose a check for five thousand dollars +for you to use as you think best in spreading the grand +truth which you presented so clearly in your address. +May you, my dear brother, always realize in the highest +degree the presence of your Divine nature. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Your brother,</p> +<p class="p3">"George Holmes."</p></div> + +<p>The following letter is one that is prized very much by Penloe. +It came from the wife of a poor ranchman and bore the marks of +its proximity to the wash-tub, the churn, a child's dirty finger +marks, and the hot tears of a woman overcome with joy:</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">"Tanglewood Ranch, Orangeville </span>...<br /> +</p> +<p><span class="smcap">"Mr. Penloe</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"Dear Sir</span>:—O, I have so much to say and don't know +where to begin. I don't get any time to write, have +been waiting for a spell, but don't get any, for one +thing after another keeps crowding me. I have just +wiped the suds from my hands, having left the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>wash-tub +for a few minutes, saying I would not put off writing +to you any longer.</p> + +<p>"Well, we went to your meeting and never heard any one +talk like you did before.</p> + +<p>"My husband and I have not much learning, but you made +it so simple and plain that we could not help +understanding what you meant. I want to say how glad we +both are that we went, because our lot in life has been +dark and hard. I married my husband when a girl of +seventeen. I knew so little, was so green, but was full +of hope and expectations. What a hard experience I have +had, for I have been married ten years and have six +small children; so much sickness, so much hard work. O, +dear! my life has been so hard. I cannot write any more +now, as I must finish getting my washing out.</p> + +<p>"Well, my clothes are on the line and I am going to +take a few minutes' rest and write a little more. Yes, +life has been hard. How little a poor ignorant girl +thinks or knows what is before her when she gets +married. My husband has felt all discouraged, so many +babies, so much hard work, such hard times to get a +dollar, always in debt to doctors; it made us both grow +cross and cranky and just as soon die as live. Our love +for each other grew cold, and the attraction we had for +each other died out. I told my husband he must take me +out somewhere or else I would go crazy. Every day the +same thing over again from morning to night, tending +babies, standing over a cook-stove, then over a +wash-tub, then churning, no end of dish-washing and +washing babies' clothes. I am going to churn now, when +I take a rest again I will write more.</p> + +<p>"Well, the butter has come, I will rest and write you +more.</p> + +<p>"I was telling you how dark our married life has been. +We heard there was going to be a big meeting in +Roseland, and my husband said he would go and see what +it was like. So we went and heard you talk. What you +said made us look at the world and ourselves different +to what we ever did before. We both liked your talk +very much; we talked lots about what you said. When <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>we +got home that day after supper my husband said: 'If I +am Divine, I don't need to chew tobacco, and I quit +right now and will put what tobacco I have got in the +stove.' I said, 'O, Charles, how glad I am.' 'Yes, +Maud,' said Charles, 'I am going to live the Divine +life. Will you help me?' I said, 'Yes, dear Charles, +you know I will.' 'Well, Maud,' said he, 'we thought +our life hard and bitter, but I see now it was through +our not living the Divine life. Maud, I will try and +make your life a little better than I have done,' and +he kissed me. The children looked at us both with great +surprise, for they had never seen my husband kiss me +before. It seemed as if the same feelings had come back +that we had in our courting days. He said, 'You have +the hardest time of it, let me put the children to bed +and you rest; for if I am Divine I must live a life of +love and show my love in helping you all I can.' I +cannot help it, sir, but hot tears are falling fast on +this letter, for the light and love have entered our +home, where before it was darkness and despair. How +sweet it is trying to live the Divine life. I am doing +my best to live that life. We are not going to worry +any more. My husband now is so bright and hopeful, does +all he can to cheer me up, and I am the same for it is +catching like a fever.</p> + +<p>"Well, my object in writing this to you is to tell you +what your talk has done for us. My husband said, 'If +ever a man had a heart full of love for all, he knows +it is you, and your great heart has touched our hearts. +How can I thank you for what you have done for us? May +God bless you. I shall always pray that you may help +others as you have us. My husband said, 'Tell him I am +a changed man;' and I know he is, and I am a changed +woman.</p> + +<p>"Excuse this letter for having dirt marks on it. While +I was tending the baby one of the children put its +dirty fingers on the letter, but I am going to send it +just as it is. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Your friend,</p> +<p class="p3">Maud Neve."</p></div> + +<p>Mrs. Marston for several reasons went to hear Penloe deliver his +address. One reason was curiosity to hear and see the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> that +had caused so much talk everywhere, and another one that the +newspapers from the Atlantic to the Pacific had printed so much +about him. Still another reason was she knew that about all her +friends would be there, and they would be talking about him, and +she wished to be posted on a subject that her friends would be +conversing about and to be able to take her part in the +conversation. If there was anything that Mrs. Marston admired and +loved, it was a handsome man. She took great pride in the fine +appearance of her four Roseland young gentlemen guests. A look of +astonishment came over that lady's face when Penloe appeared at +the front of the platform, and she turned her eyes for the first +time on that fine physique, with its symmetrical form and noble +countenance. She was heard to say, "That is the handsomest man I +have ever seen in my life." She thought her favorites could not +compare with Penloe. She remarked to a friend of hers: "I was +surprised when I saw Penloe, for I thought of him as being a man +past middle age, with long hair, unkempt beard and slovenly +dress; but when I saw the best looking young man I have ever +looked upon in my life, and finely dressed, too, I could not help +thinking what a fine society man he would make. I am not +surprised that Stella is taken with him. Why, if that man would +only put his time into making money, he could have his pick of +any of our best society young ladies. What a fine lawyer he would +make."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston thought Penloe a very fine, interesting speaker, but +that lady was not prepared, at present, to give up her +sense-plane enjoyments, in order to live the Divine life.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h4>MRS. WEST RELATES HER DREAM.</h4> + +<p>Mrs. West, the mother of Ben West, had breakfast ready just as +her husband came in from doing the chores about the barn. After +Mrs. West had poured out two cups of Mocha and Java for her +husband and herself, Mr. West, like a good husband, had his wife +help herself first and then himself, after which he began to +enjoy the good things she had prepared for their morning meal.</p> + +<p>He noticed that Mrs. West only sipped her coffee occasionally and +did not touch the food on her plate. Seeing in her face that +something was not quite right, he said: "What is the matter, +dear, you look as if something troubled you? Have you lost your +appetite?"</p> + +<p>His wife replied: "No, William, but I had a dream that disturbed +me."</p> + +<p>"Why, what could it be to affect you in that way?" said her +husband.</p> + +<p>"Well, I will tell you," said his wife. "I dreamt I saw our colt +Prince; he seemed as if he did not eat the grain hay you gave +him. Then seeing he did not eat the grain hay, you gave him some +alfalfa hay. He did not eat much of that either, so you thought +you would give some crushed barley. When you saw that he did not +eat that, you turned him out of the barn into your fine alfalfa +pasture. He ate a little of the green feed, but was still very +restless and discontented. So you turned him out where he could +get wild feed and have plenty of chance to run. After you turned +him out he just browsed a little, and ran up the road and down +the road snorting and arching his neck very prettily; his smooth, +sleek, glossy, black coat shining in the sun made him look fine +and handsome. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>You could not make out what was the matter with +him, for he seemed well but was so restless; not contented in any +place or liking any kind of feed. So you thought he might be +lonesome and you turned out some horses to run with him. But he +seemed to pay no attention to them, ate little and was getting +more restless and discontented all the time, not even enjoying +his freedom nor knowing what to do with it. He would every now +and then run up and down the road as if not knowing what to do +with himself.</p> + +<p>"Once in his restless mood he went down the road, and there was a +beautiful young lady sitting near the gate leading to her house. +She saw him coming and noticed how handsome he was, and she +thought how fine it would be to have that noble looking horse to +ride and keep it for her use. So she opened the gate and came to +the road and stood waiting for the colt. When he came to where +she was, he looked at her and arched his neck, and she thought he +was handsome; and smiling she went up to him and just placed her +hand on his neck and patted him: then she talked sweetly to him +and passed her hand over his face several times, and he seemed so +quiet and gentle that you would have thought that it was her he +had been wanting, and she seemed to know by intuition that she +had got him in her power; so she opened the gate and he followed +her in. Then she knew she had got him sure, and he was just what +she had wanted. She petted him a little more, then put a bridle +on him and then a saddle. Then she mounted him and off they went +and you could not tell which was the most delighted the colt or +the young lady. At first she was very good to him, and only rode +him short distances and fed him high. He was perfectly docile and +she had full control over him. Afterwards she exacted more +service from him, would ride him longer distances, and later +along she not only rode him long distances but rode him hard and +fast and fed and petted him less. Sometimes the horse was +exhausted and about to give out, but in order to revive him all +she had to do was to make a little of him, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>talk coaxingly and +pet him; and instantly his eye would brighten, animation would +come back to him, and he would do his best to travel. But this +kind of usage was telling on the horse and he was growing poorer +all the time. Still she was exacting and demanded as much from +him as ever. After awhile, he could not begin to travel as he +once did, for he was getting weaker and weaker, and even her +pettings were losing power to put life into him, for it seemed at +times as if it had all gone out of him.</p> + +<p>"One hot day when she was riding him and he seemed very much +fatigued, they were going along the road where there was a fine +rich pasture well fenced, with some fine young horses feeding in +it. When they saw Prince and his mistress they ran round the +field, then along the fence where the road was, and every now and +then would look at the poor worn-out colt carrying his mistress. +Then they would run a piece, throw up their hind legs, toss their +heads, showing how much freedom they enjoyed. Again they would +run along the fence and look at him. One of the horses in the +field said to the other, "Why, there is our old companion Prince. +I would not have known him, he looks so old and poor. How thin he +has become. Why don't he throw that woman off and be free like +ourselves? Don't you see how she is wearing him out by inches?" +"Ah!" said another horse, "He was free like ourselves at one +time. There is not a horse in this pasture that looks as handsome +and fat as he did, but he could not enjoy his freedom. He was +restless, till he became a willing slave to that woman's smiles, +caresses and pettings. He won't live long; she is too hard and +makes too many demands on him. But notice even now his eye will +brighten if she pats him on his neck a little and says a few kind +sweet words to him, how he tries to go faster, but it is only for +a very few yards; then he is back again to his old gait, more +tired than before. Do you notice how fresh and fine she looks, +but how poor and worn out he is? She knew her power and has used +it for her self gratification regardless of what might become of +him. Poor fool, he could not see that her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> kind talk and pettings +were only a means employed to gain her end. She cared nothing for +him, only as he contributed to her pleasure; <i>and there are so +many many more very green colts just like him</i>. One day the young +lady had been out with Prince on a long hard ride, and they were +coming home. Prince could hardly put one foot before the other, +so weak and tired was he. At last when she got him to the stable +he fell down and seemed to be in much pain. She called in +assistance and men came with medicine and used much of it on him, +but it was no good; he gave one look at her and died. She cried +over him and put her head on his body and said, "He was the best +horse that ever was and I will never have any other horse. I can +never love another as I did him." About a month afterwards she +was seen riding on a fine young bay colt, and both seemed just as +happy as Prince and she did the first time she rode him."</p> + +<p>Here Mrs. West stopped.</p> + +<p>Her husband said: "That was a very strange dream, but I don't see +why that should affect you, for I was out to the barn this +morning and Prince was all right, with a big appetite for his +breakfast."</p> + +<p>No, Mr. West could not see why that dream could make her feel +sad, but Mrs. West knew, for there was a portion of the dream she +did not relate, and that was, when Prince gave the lady a look +just as he was about to expire, that look on his face Mrs. West +saw to be the look and face of her son Ben West, and the young +lady that rode him was Julia Hammond West, his wife. A short time +afterwards Mr. West saw more in his wife's dream, for he received +word stating that his son had died from exposure in the Klondike. +Mr. West saw the notice in a paper about a month later, of the +marriage of their son's wife.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h4>IN THE MOUNTAINS.</h4> + +<p>One afternoon Penloe was expected to take supper with the +Wheelwrights. He had had a standing invitation for some time, but +for certain reasons had not accepted it till now. The last time +he saw Stella, he said: "If it will be agreeable to you all, I +will take supper at your house next Tuesday evening." They were +all in high spirits at the thought of his coming, for a more +agreeable, interesting, and intelligent visitor could not be +found.</p> + +<p>What little time there was between the time of his arrival and +supper, he kept them laughing by relating some very interesting +experiences.</p> + +<p>At the supper table he was given the seat of honor, Mrs. +Wheelwright being on his right and Stella on his left. Stella had +on a fine, white dress, with white satin ribbon at the neck and +sleeves, and, as her complexion was dark and her hair jet black, +it became her exceedingly well. There are some young ladies who +need to have very fine dresses to make them at all presentable; +they are so dependent on the style of the dress for giving them a +good form and fine appearance, but it was not so with Stella. Her +fine form and graceful movements would make any dress look well; +she set off the dress. The table was laid with a snowy-white +damask tablecloth, moss-rose pattern, with napkins to match. Also +a moss-rose tea set. The table did not groan with a lot of heavy, +greasy food; no, there was very fine bread, good sweet butter, +nectarine sauce and blackberry jelly, cake, pineapple sherbet, +vanilla ice-cream, milk, weak tea, and some sweetmeats, and nuts.</p> + +<p>The meal was eaten very leisurely, for the conversation was very +interesting, all taking part in it. Penloe had that rare gift<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> of +a good conversationalist, being able to make others talk their +best instead of doing all the talking himself. Stella and Penloe +were both good at repartée. The ladies talked more than Penloe, +and there seemed to be a real genuine feeling, as if one spirit +pervaded them all.</p> + +<p>After supper, Mr. Wheelwright had an opportunity of talking to +Penloe, on the porch, about subjects that he was most interested +in, while the ladies washed the dishes. Later on, the ladies +joined them, and a most agreeable evening was spent. Mr. and Mrs. +Wheelwright excused themselves when their regular time for +retiring came, and as it was such a lovely moonlight evening, +Stella invited Penloe to keep her company on the porch, saying, +"The evening is so beautiful." Yes, it was beautiful. It was one +of those matchless evenings in California that must be seen and +enjoyed to be fully appreciated, and by a soul in touch with the +sublime. To realize the grandeur of the sky, with its clear +atmosphere, on those fine evenings, is to experience one of the +richest joys of existence. Language is inadequate to describe +such beauty.</p> + +<p>The two souls on the porch were in touch with the Divine, which +manifested Itself in all these glories, and they were drinking it +in to their fullest capacity. They had sat in silence for a +while, when Penloe said: "Stella, I have not had anything that +has given me more satisfaction, or that has pleased me more, and +given me encouragement in my work, so much as the courageous +spirit manifested by you on the day that you in a public way +freed yourself from bondage. You taught the people a lesson they +will never forget. That was a grand act, Stella, and you built +into your character on that day qualities which will stand all +trials and temptations; you made a good karma for yourself. Think +how your act has helped others out of bondage."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Penloe, it gives me pleasure to hear your approval +of what I have done. But is it not only the fruits of your own +work, after all? Did you not take Stella, a green, ignorant girl +as she was, and lead her to her freedom?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Yes, Stella, I did one kind of work, and you did +another; my work was easy compared to yours. I instructed you, +but it was you who put the instruction in practice, and that +counts."</p> + +<p>"Penloe," said Stella, taking his hand in hers, "I realize that +fully, for no one but you could have taught me as you did. No one +but you could have given me the light and knowledge I so much +needed, no one but you could help me open the door which led me +into the spiritual world, and when I entered that world, you were +there as my spiritual companion.</p> + +<p>"Penloe, you have been my very dear social companion, you have +been my very dear intellectual companion, and you have been my +very dear spiritual companion. Your companionship has been that +of the truest friendship, for your every act and thought has been +to raise me up to a higher plane, and I would not be true to my +highest and best nature if I did not tell you that I love you as +I can love no other man. You possessed my heart long before +to-night. Do you love Stella, Penloe, and do you want her to be +your life companion, to help you in your noble work, to love you, +and to live the Divine life with you?"</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, dear, what I have done for you I would do +for any one; but darling, I love you intensely. Yes, dear one, +your love to me is bliss, and there is no one whose companionship +I love and enjoy more than yours, dear Stella, for I see so much +of the Divine manifested in you." And here Penloe took the dear +girl to him, and they were both lost in bliss.</p> + +<p>I looked at the moon just then in its silvery brightness, and as +it looked down on that hallowed scene it sent forth such a glow +of light as illuminated the whole heavens and earth. I looked at +the planets witnessing that blissful scene. They were more +brilliant than ever, and vied with each other in sending forth +their bright lights. I looked at the whole canopy of the heavens +and, just as the two embraced, an unusual number of stars of the +first magnitude appeared and the whole sky was decked with +millions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> of fiery worlds. And why should the heavens not be +brilliant on an occasion when the love in two divine ones is +plighted?</p> + +<p>Their little whisperings at intervals during the silence, which +they are enjoying, are too sacred to record here; and while they +are in that exceedingly blissful state of mind the thought came +to me to note the nature of kisses. There is the cold kiss, which +upon receiving one wishes he had not been kissed. Then there is +the average common kiss. Then there is the kiss of friendship. +Then there is the ordinary love kiss. Then there is the warm, +passionate kiss. But superior to them all is the pure, spiritual +kiss, so intensely sweet, but so very, very rare. To give such a +kiss, and even to enjoy receiving it, one must have a very high +quality of organism. The cells of the brain, the blood which +flows through the arteries and veins, the tissues of the whole +body must have been formed and built up by that all powerful +agent, thought. And that thought must be of the highest order; it +must have emptied itself of all but love, that love which takes +in all, and from that thought and life comes the manifestation of +harmony, purity, sweetness, truth and love. Blessed, thrice +blessed indeed, is such a person.</p> + +<p>When two persons of that type of character come together in love, +giving each other through kisses, the expression of their +affection, that kissing is bliss indeed.</p> + +<p>After the silence and whisperings of deep love thoughts were +over, Stella with her face looking so beautiful, being flushed +from the realization of her love, said: "Penloe, dear, I knew +that you were different from most men in not being dependent on +the love of a woman for your happiness; for you had within you a +deep well of living water from whence came all your joy, and you +drank deep draughts from it daily. Yes, dear, I knew your +thoughts, your hopes, your happiness was centered in that Blessed +Infinite One and He was the source of your peace, your joy and +your love. Though I loved you so much, the question<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> arose in my +mind whether you needed my love and companionship."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, darling, it is all true, what you say about +my living in the Eternal One, and that from Him springs all my +strength, my hope and my love; but if that Blessed Infinite One +brings another joy to me in the form of dear Stella's love, why +should I not accept it gladly? Yes, dear, your interesting self, +your love is all a gift to me from the Infinite Spirit. It is an +additional joy and pleasure which He has bestowed upon me, and my +prayer is that I may always and fully meet your expectations, and +my self and my love may give you as much joy as yours gives me."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Penloe, dear, my cup is full to overflowing; how +good God is to me."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, darling, I wish to express a thought +concerning love, and it is this. Many times you see two persons +in love, and instead of that experience broadening and +intensifying their love and sympathies, it has a tendency to +narrow them down and contract them and bring them to a very small +selfish life, causing them to take no thought or interest in any +one but themselves. They seem to form a mutual admiration +society, and live to gain the praise of each other. After all, +when you analyze them, it is not so much love of each other as it +appears to be, but love of each one for himself. Then there is +that kind of love union which exists between two where, instead +of narrowing and contracting the lovers, it has a tendency to +broaden them out in their love, and make their sympathies +universal in their scope; their love being of that high order +which seems to quicken all that is grand and noble in their +natures; and their lives seem to be those of intense love for +each other, and intense love for the Lord in His humanity."</p> + +<p>Then they sat in blissful silence for a little while, when Penloe +said: "Stella, darling, have you thought over what you may have +to give up through becoming a life companion to me? Of course,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +dear, you know I have consecrated my life and my endeavors as a +free will offering to the world, and it is not my work nor +mission to raise a family. Now, the instinct to become a mother +is very strong in some women's natures."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Why, Penloe, dear, I do not have to give up +anything in becoming a life companion to you, for instead of +being a material mother I will become a spiritual mother to many, +which is a far higher joy, and the world has too few spiritual +mothers, but too many material ones of a low grade."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Have you thought over the practical side of our +union? You see, I am not a man that is rustling for dollars from +morning till night, and in my life and work we may, at times +perhaps, only have a log cabin to live in, with bare walls and +floors; and our food may be of the plainest kind, and not much of +that either. Your wardrobe may consist of only one cotton wrapper +and flour-sack underwear."</p> + +<p>Penloe could not say any more, for Stella put her hand over his +mouth and said, laughingly: "You cannot scare me so easily, for +it will take more than only having in my possession one cotton +wrapper and wearing flour-sack underwear, and living in a log +cabin with bare walls and floors, to discourage me. Those things +are not of my world; all I hope is that if I shall have to put on +such garments as flour-sack underwear, it will not offend your +artistic eye."</p> + +<p>They both had a good laugh, for they feared nothing in this +Universe; least of all that great bugaboo, poverty.</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Well, Stella, to be serious, I have made +arrangements for leaving Orangeville for six months. In about a +week's time I will go up into the mountains and live in a log +cabin in the pines. I will be six miles from any human being, and +twenty-five miles from Orangeville. It is necessary that I should +be away for awhile from all psychological influences and +cross-currents, and live in the silence. I realize that I need it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>to fit me for my work. It is necessary for my spiritual +unfoldment. Christ went up into the mountains and out on the +plains to be alone, so he might gain spiritual strength. All +great spiritual teachers have times for being alone. As I said, I +need to make this change to fit me for my work, for I want to get +my mind freed from all individuality and relativity, so as to see +more clearly the Oneness throughout the Universe. For, as the +Swami Vivekananda has said in his lecture on 'Maya and the +Evolution of the Conception of God': 'He who sees in this world +of manifoldness that One running through it all; in this world of +death, he who finds that one infinite life; and in this world of +insentience and ignorance, he who finds that one light and +knowledge, unto him belongs eternal peace.' It is more of that +light and knowledge that I need, Stella. In short, it is to +commune more with the Father; it is to realize in a greater +degree the presence of the Divine within, and to have my mind +freed from the illusion of the phenomenal world; for by so doing +I become qualified to become a healer of disease, and also fitted +to help many a poor sin-sick life. Now, Stella, having clearly +made known my purpose to you; I want to tell you that it is +better for you that I leave this time. It will enlighten you more +spiritually in this way. Most persons would think that it should +be the greatest pleasure to us both to be together now as much as +we can, so as to see and enjoy the society of each other. That +thought is all right for the many, but not for you and me. It is +better for us both that we do not hear from one another for three +months, and at the end of that time I want you to come up and +live three months with me in that cabin. At the end of that time +we will come back to the world and be made man and wife in the +eyes of the law.</p> + +<p>"All this to some may seem strange and hard, but not to you, +Stella, for I think you have already attained to that plane where +you can see the great good to you which will come from following +such a course. If you follow certain instructions which I will +give you, after we have been separated two weeks, you will have a +feeling of my presence with you, and you will not feel the need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +of correspondence, for we will be independent of all letter +writing, because we can be in communion with each other at any +time we may wish it."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Through you, dear, I have attained to that plane +where I can see it all true what you have said and all for the +best; and, Penloe, dear, Stella will be with you in your cabin at +the end of the first three months," and here she kissed him and +he returned the same. After a little more talk they bid each +other farewell.</p> + +<p>The next morning after the most eventful evening in Stella's +life, when that young lady kissed her mother good-morning, Mrs. +Wheelwright did not need to be told what had happened on the +previous night, for the way Stella kissed her mother, and the way +she moved about to get breakfast made Mrs. Wheelwright smile +inwardly. Just as the three were about finishing their morning +meal, Stella told her parents all that had happened. They were +both delighted in the extreme and Stella received their blessings +and kisses.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said to Stella: "I am so glad you found a man +worthy of your love, and he certainly is. I could not have made +one to order to suit you as well. All I feared was that he would +live without a wife, because I knew how much you loved him, and +no one else would ever fill his place in your affections. I +rejoice daily that we have such a dear daughter; one that Penloe +has seen fit to love and cherish as a life companion."</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Stella, "there is no such thing as disappointment +in love to those who are living on the plane that Penloe and I +are on, for we are led by the promptings of the Blessed Infinite +One, to each other."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Oh, if more would only live on the +spiritual plane, how much happier they would be in all that +pertains to this life."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "I am going to write to aunt to-day and tell her of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +my engagement to Penloe." So later in the day she sat down and +wrote the following letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Aunt</span>: As you have always taken so much +interest in my future happiness, I think it no more +than right that I should inform you of my engagement to +Penloe. Yes, dear Aunt, I proposed to him last evening +and he accepted me and has given me his love in return.</p> + +<p>"Let me thank you, dear Aunt, for your kindness to me, +and I hope that our being engaged may meet with your +approval. Penloe is going to live in the pines for the +next six months. After he has been there three months I +am going up there to live with him, and will be his +log-cabin companion for three months. After that we +will be united in marriage.</p> + +<p>"Mother and father join me in love to you. As ever, </p> + +<p class="p5">"Your Affect. Niece,</p> +<p class="p3">Stella Wheelwright."</p></div> + +<p>From that time till Stella went to the mountains to live with +Penloe, she was busy in two ways. Her time was occupied in one +direction in writing a little book on the sex question. Barker +and Brookes told her if she would write the book they would pay +for having it printed and would circulate thousands of copies +free. Those two young men were now Stella's co-workers in the +grand field of removing bondage. The other way in which Stella +was very busy was in following a certain course of mental and +spiritual exercise as marked out for her by Penloe.</p> + +<p>When the three months had expired, Mr. Wheelwright took Stella up +to the pines within one mile of Penloe's cabin. They arrived +there at four in the afternoon. Stella told her father to satisfy +him that she would go up to Penloe's cabin, and then come right +back and stay with him over night, and in the morning after he +was gone Penloe would come down and take her and her valise up +with him.</p> + +<p>Her father not being sure about the mental telegraphy carried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> on +between Stella and Penloe, wanted to make sure Penloe was there +and all right before he left his daughter.</p> + +<p>It was Penloe's wish for no person to come near his cabin except +Stella.</p> + +<p>When Stella returned to her father, after having gone up to +Penloe's cabin to see if he was all right, she told her father +Penloe was well, and he could see by his daughter's face that +everything was all right.</p> + +<p>On the next morning Mr. Wheelwright wished his daughter good-bye, +leaving her where they had camped over night.</p> + +<p>A few minutes afterwards Penloe appeared, and taking Stella's +valise they both walked up to the cabin. Stella was perfectly +charmed with the beautiful spot where the cabin was located. Some +large pines were in front of the cabin and some very handsome +redwoods a few rods in the rear. A sparkling, rippling brook +flowed near the cabin, singing merrily as it went along.</p> + +<p>They lived on two meals a day and found that was all the +nourishment they needed, as they were doing no manual labor, and +there was no great strain on their nervous system.</p> + +<p>They spent their time in the following manner: Part of the day +was devoted to prayer, meditation and concentration, and part of +the time in the practise of mental telegraphy; and the balance of +the time in doing what little work there was to do and in walks +and talks.</p> + +<p>Stella did enjoy the life so very much, and she was rapidly +advancing physically, intellectually and spiritually. As for +lonesomeness, she and Penloe did not know what that was, their +minds being too active to be lonesome. They seemed to be new to +each other every morning and fresh every evening, their life +being a perfect joy and delight in its highest sense; for they +realized each day more and more of their Divine natures. Each day +they came in touch with the Infinite, and when they came down +from the mountain their faces shone as Moses' did of old; for +they had walked and talked with God.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h4>A WEDDING IN ORANGEVILLE.</h4> + +<p>After Mrs. Marston had been in San Francisco about a month, she +received a cablegram from Paris stating that her son had been +shot by a jealous Frenchman and died two hours afterwards. When +she had recovered from her first grief she thought it best to +stay in San Francisco two weeks longer and then return to +Roseland. She had not been home long when she realized how great +the change had been on the sex question, and how Stella's +popularity had risen, and of course Mrs. Marston's mind had to +conform to the new thought, which her circle of friends and most +of the community had accepted. It was that lady's creed to have +her ideas in style as much as her dress. It seemed to please her +greatly to hear her niece praised and looked up to as a leader of +the new thought on the sex question; for deep down in her heart +she loved Stella, even if she did not understand some of her +strange ways, and now that her son was dead her affections went +out more towards her niece.</p> + +<p>When she received the letter from Stella stating she was engaged +to Penloe, she had a good laugh about her proposing to him, and +said the next thing she would hear would be that Stella had +bought a wedding-ring to put on Penloe's finger. Since Mrs. +Marston had seen Penloe there was no man she admired more than +him; not on account of his spiritual thought, but for his +distinguished personality, his graceful manners, and his polished +expressions. So when she read about her niece being engaged to +him, she was delighted, for she felt proud of them both and +remarked, "They would make the finest appearing couple to be seen +anywhere." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>And she now looked forward to the time when they would be +married, that she might have the pleasure of seeing them again. +She was forming plans as to what she would do for Stella. She +felt that she was able to do much for her, as her property was +rising in value all the time, and her income far exceeded her +expenditures. Her idea was that a couple, to be in style when +they are married, should visit Europe or some other country; and, +furthermore, it would be also nice for her to be able to say her +niece had gone abroad on her wedding tour. She also remembered +how delighted Stella was to read books of travel when she was at +her house, and she heard her say, "I do hope some day I will be +able to see my own and other countries, for the extent of my +travel has only been from Orangeville to San José and return."</p> + +<p>About a week before the day set for Stella's wedding, Mrs. +Wheelwright went to Roseland and called on her sister, Mrs. +Marston. In course of conversation, Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, +Helen, it is Penloe's and Stella's wish to have no one invited to +the wedding but yourself; for, if they invited friends, they +could not draw the line and they could not invite all, and not +only so but they think it far better to have a quiet wedding. +Their marriage is so different to that of any other couple, there +being none of that peculiar excitement connected with their +marriage."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said: "I thought that would be about the kind of +wedding they would have. What I would have liked would be to give +Stella a big wedding at my own house, with all her friends +present, but I knew she would wish to be married at her home in a +very quiet way."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Helen, we shall look for you on +Wednesday of next week. They will be married at eleven in the +morning, by the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth."</p> + +<p>On the morning of the wedding, Stella's aunt arrived at ten, +Penloe and the minister came half an hour later. At eleven Penloe +and Stella stood up to be made one in the eyes of the law. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +Blessed Infinite Spirit had made them one some time ago. It is +not necessary to remark how lovely the bride looked, for she +always looked lovely, and she did not wear at her wedding a white +silk or satin gown; for she wore a rich white dress, and it was +one that she could wear any time; it became her exceedingly well. +After the usual marriage ceremony was over, the minister offered +a short fervent prayer, after which Penloe and Stella stood in +silent prayer for about two minutes, then Penloe kissed Stella. +The joyful couple then received the congratulations of their +relatives. When Mrs. Marston kissed Stella, she gave her a little +package. A few minutes later Stella excused herself and went to +her room, to open the package her aunt had given her. On opening +the package, she found it contained a small, light-brown covered +book, with a note which read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"> +<span style="margin-right: 2em;"><span class="smcap">"Sunnydown</span>, Roseland, Calif.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Niece</span>:—Knowing you had always a strong desire +to travel and see something of the world, I know of no +better time for you to travel than now, on your wedding +tour.</p> + +<p>"In the bank book you will see a sum deposited in your +name, sufficient to take you and Penloe around the +world in first-class style.</p> + +<p>"Wishing you much joy, dear, with love to you both, </p> + +<p class="p3">Your Aunt Helen."</p></div> + +<p>Stella opened the bank book to see the amount deposited to her +credit, and to her joy and surprise there were five figures in +the amount. Such a handsome gift touched Stella very much. She +realized then the genuineness of her aunt's interest in her +material welfare and the love she bore her.</p> + +<p>When Stella returned to the room where the company was she went +to her aunt, and put her arms round her and kissed her +affectionately, and said: "How good you have been to me." Her +aunt looked at the beautiful girl with pride, and seemed +delighted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> to see her so happy. She said: "Stella, dear, I have +only you to love, and you deserve all I can do for you."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright were very much gratified by the handsome +gift Stella received from her aunt, and Penloe, whose face was +always the picture of repose, had now an unusual bright smile as +he saw Stella's delight. He went and sat beside Mrs. Marston, and +entertained her with his brilliant conversation, much to that +lady's pleasure, for she enjoyed receiving attention from Penloe.</p> + +<p>In course of conversation with Mrs. Marston (while Stella was +absent from the room), in a very becoming and graceful way, he +paid a glowing tribute to Stella's nobility of character and her +intrinsic worth, which pleased Mrs. Marston greatly. Stella's +aunt could not think of sitting down to a very plain meal on such +an occasion as her niece's marriage, neither did she wish to see +her sister or Stella with flushed faces through being over a hot +cook-stove. So she had her caterer come from Roseland, with +everything necessary, and take charge of the wedding dinner. They +all had a very sociable time at the table, the topics of +conversation being general, such as Mrs. Marston would be +interested in.</p> + +<p>After dinner, Stella had a few words in private with her aunt +before leaving for Roseland. The gist of the talk was that she, +when speaking of them, was not to say, "'Mr. Penloe Lenair' or +'Mrs. Penloe Lenair,' or have inserted in the newspapers 'Penloe +Lenair, Esq., and wife, are visiting you, but always speak of us +as 'Penloe and Stella,' because we wish to live in the +realization that we are all members of one family, and to say Mr. +or Mrs. is cold, formal and distant; but in being called by our +given names we come near to those who are talking to us, and they +come near to and in touch with us."</p> + +<p>After the minister and Mrs. Marston had left, Stella said to +Penloe: "I may just as well begin to initiate you into the new +order of things now as any other time, for you are my husband. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>So I am going to tell you that we are living in a new age, and +instead of the wife obeying her husband the husband has to obey +the wife."</p> + +<p>Penloe smiled, and said: "I am perfectly willing to obey such a +wife as you are. What are your orders, my dear?"</p> + +<p>Stella laughed, and said: "Well, Penloe, I have been thinking +that I would like to take you over to see an old friend of mine, +who has sore eyes. You have never seen him, and he would be so +pleased to have us come; for he must have many lonely times, +because very few persons ever call on him, and, Penloe, dear, we +have such a lot of good things left from aunt's big wedding +dinner that she gave us, and I thought we would take some of the +nice things along with us for the old man to enjoy. He seldom has +anything very good to eat."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "So you are going to make a ministering angel of me, +are you, my dear?"</p> + +<p>Stella said, smiling: "I am not going to make you too angelic, +Penloe, because you might take wings and fly away from me, and I +want you to be an angel on the ground and not a soaring one. So +get yourself ready to carry a basket."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "I am at your service, my dear."</p> + +<p>Stella went into the kitchen, and selected some choice eatables, +such as she knew the old man would most enjoy, and the two were +soon on their way to the cabin. As they were walking along Stella +related to Penloe all she knew of the history of the old man, as +he was called, though he was not more than fifty-eight years old.</p> + +<p>When they arrived at the cabin, the old man was busy getting +stove-wood.</p> + +<p>As soon as Stella spoke to him he knew instantly who it was. His +sight being in that condition that he could see Penloe's form, +but could not see clearly his features, he could distinguish a +man's form from that of a woman's, but that was all. Stella +introduced Penloe to him, and told the old man that they were +married this morning, whereupon the old man instantly +congratulated them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> and showered his blessings on both of them, +saying: "Mr. Penloe, what an angel you have got for a wife!" And +went on telling Penloe how good she had been to him.</p> + +<p>Stella did not check him, because she knew it would do him good +to have some one to express his feelings to. After the old man +had finished his eulogies on Stella, she told him what she had +brought him and said she would put them where they belonged, for +she had cleaned up his cabin many a time. He was touched to the +heart by such thoughtful kindness, that on their wedding day she +should think of him, and he did not know just what to say he was +so overcome; he seemed choked. They very soon put him at his +ease, and in about ten minutes afterwards conversation had +quieted down.</p> + +<p>Just then Stella received a mental telegram from Penloe, and it +was not long before the old man was sitting in his rocking chair, +fast asleep. While he was in that condition, Penloe and Stella +went into the silence, remaining in that state for about an hour, +when Penloe asked Stella to get a basin, with some water, a clean +cloth, and a towel. When she had got everything ready, the old +man seemed to be waking up. When he was fully awake, he said: +"How much better I feel." Stella said: "I have a basin here, with +some water. Let me bathe your eyes." While she was bathing them, +she said: "Andrew, you are going to see so that you can read just +as well as you could before your eyes became sore." (As Andrew +had always associated Stella in his mind as being a member of the +angelic band, he was ready to believe anything she said.)</p> + +<p>He said: "Am I? Praise God! (he was a good man). How fine your +touch does feel to my face."</p> + +<p>When she had finished bathing his eyes, she gave him a towel to +wipe his eyes with. After he had wiped them, he opened and closed +them several times, when, with his eyes open, he said: "Yes, I +can see! O, I can see so much better. I keep seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> clearer all +the time." And in a few minutes he could see Penloe and Stella +just as well as they could see themselves.</p> + +<p>The old man was overcome with joy. Looking at Stella, he said: +"Bless God! I can see your dear face." And when he cast his eyes +on the features of Penloe he became silent, then he looked at +Stella, then at Penloe, and he seemed in a dream, for he did not +know which was the greater surprise to him, having his sight +restored or seeing the angelic countenances of the two before +him.</p> + +<p>Penloe took a newspaper and gave it to him, saying: "See if you +can read that?"</p> + +<p>Andrew took the paper, and to his great delight he could read it +just as well as when he was a young man. The old man put the +paper down, then in a little while he took it up again and read +more, saying: "Yes, it is true. I can see to read to myself. +Bless the Lord! I can see to read." He looked at them both again, +and a feeling came over him as if there was a great distance +between him and them. For he said, in speaking to Stella:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Penloe."</p> + +<p>Whereupon Stella laughed, and told him: "I am not Mrs. Penloe, +for I am just the same now as I was before I was married. I am +your sister Stella, and my husband is your brother Penloe. Both +of us look upon all boys and men as our brothers, and all girls +and women as our sisters, for we are all members of one family."</p> + +<p>The old man sat in silence after Stella spoke; he seemed to be +amazed.</p> + +<p>Stella said: "We must go now."</p> + +<p>As she wished him good-bye, he said to them: "What must I do in +return for the great blessing of sight which has been given me +to-day?"</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Live much in prayer, live in the realization of +Divine love. Remember your body is the temple of God. Keep it as +such, and help others to live the Divine life."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p><p>Was there ever a bride so happy as Stella was on the after noon +of her wedding day, when she was returning home to tell her +mother the joyful news that Andrew had recovered his sight. The +world has never seen a happier bride than she was on that +afternoon.</p> + +<p>Stella had not been in the house but a few minutes before she +told her parents all about Andrew receiving his sight through +Penloe's healing power.</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Why, Stella, were you not the instrument through +which Andrew received his sight? Did he not think that you were +the embodiment of all goodness, all power, and all truth? And +when you said to him, 'Andrew, you are going to see so you can +read yourself,' he believed you, and was he not healed according +to his faith?"</p> + +<p>Stella said: "He would not have had his sight restored if you had +not been present. The first time you called on him his sight was +restored, while I have been to his cabin many times before, but +never helped him to see."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, dear, you were not on the spiritual plane +that you are now on when you visited Andrew before. You had not +spent much time in prayer, in meditation, in concentration, in +being up in the mountains, walking and talking with God daily, +and living in the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven within. +All this has helped to make you a healer."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Penloe, all you say is true, but I cannot help +thinking that you were the healer."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, dear, you spoke the healing word."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright, smiling inwardly, said: "Children, you have +only been married a few hours, and have got a bone of contention +already. I am surprised at you both."</p> + +<p>Stella, putting on a serious face, said: "Well, mother, I know it +was Penloe;" and Penloe said: "Well, mother, I know it was +Stella."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Children, I cannot stay with you while +you quarrel this way," and out she went into the kitchen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> happy +and laughing to herself; at the same time rejoicing greatly that +the poor man had received his sight.</p> + +<p>There were two others who laughed after Mrs. Wheelwright left the +room, for they knew it was neither Penloe or Stella that healed +the man, but the power of the Blessed Infinite Spirit in both of +them, they being only the instruments through which the healing +power was manifested.</p> + +<p>The evening of Stella's wedding day the two were sitting on the +porch. It was just as lovely a night as it was on the night when +they were plighted. They had been engaged in conversation for a +while, when Penloe said: "Stella, I have not given you any +wedding ring. It is not because I have not got one for you, but I +wish to give you the history of the ring before presenting you +with it."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "You will have a very ready listener, Penloe, I can +assure you."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "While attending the University in Calcutta I made +the acquaintance of a young Hindu, who was a student there also. +He was in some respects the brightest of the students, for he had +the faculty for mastering his studies quickly and perfectly, was +also very original in character and full of resources. Though he +was a born student, yet he was well-balanced and did not always +have his head in books or in the clouds; neither did he indulge +in social dissipation. While being social in his nature, he +always took sufficient physical recreation to keep himself well +and strong, but nothing more; he never let it get away with him, +as many do in the Western World. He lived up to the highest +light, regulating his conduct so as to make himself strong +intellectually and spiritually. I found him a very interesting +companion, and our friendship was of a very profitable character, +in this way, that when we saw the faults in each other we did in +love what we could to help one another. To overcome our weak +points, we coöperated together for the highest object, and it was +our sacred purpose to always touch the highest and noblest in +each other's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> nature; and to-night it is with pleasure that I +call to mind the sweetness of his disposition, the sincerity of +his purpose, and the brilliancy of his mind.</p> + +<p>"His family had outgrown caste, and when I first visited them at +their home I was introduced to his father and mother, also to a +sister about eighteen years of age, who made up the family. I +noticed what a peculiar expression passed over his sister's face +when she looked into mine for the first time. She had a dreamy, +far-away look about her, and then again I noticed later that she +had the very opposite expression on her physiognomy, being all +'right here'; intensely so, taking in everything around her. I +was very much attracted towards her in this way, not as a youth +would be towards a maiden—there was none of that feeling +whatever. I felt she was a mystic, a powerful one, and she +interested me greatly. When sitting in the room with all the +members of the family, I noticed at times she would eye me very +closely; and if I returned the gaze I saw such an expression in +her face as if she did not belong here at all, but was living on +some other planet. She talked very little, and such a thing as my +coming near to her in conversation, or her saying anything to +bring herself near to me, was not to be expected, with her +peculiar makeup, and yet when she would give me her hand in +receiving me, she had such a peculiar sweet way of welcoming me, +that one might think we were very near to each other. And when I +took leave of her with the other members of the family, her +partings seemed very pleasant as she gave me her hand and wished +me good-night.</p> + +<p>"Those eyes of hers seemed as if you could see worlds in them, +and when you looked into them your mind seemed taken away from +everything about you, and you would have to check yourself or +else you would feel as if you had left the body and were passing +through the ethereal regions.</p> + +<p>"She had a remarkable organism, being so very fine in quality. +The first impression one would have on seeing her would be that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +of distinction, she was so superior in her makeup to all her +kind. Her features were finely moulded, and her whole contour was +perfect. She had a wonderful presence; so much silent power went +with it. I could not help being conscious of it when in the room +with her. I felt as if something of an elevating nature was +coming from her to me all the time. I always felt a better man +after having been in her company. And before I attained to the +plane I am now on, when at times I would be depressed or +discouraged and went into her presence with those feelings, it +would not be long before they left me and I felt as if I was the +strongest and most hopeful man living. She being the most +powerful of the two brought me into her condition and made me +feel strong, like a giant refreshed with new wine.</p> + +<p>"After visiting at her house many times, I conceived the +impression that for some cause she took a great interest in me, +not because I was a young man, but for some other reason.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I would visit the family and she would not be at home, +and late in the evening she would return all alone. She would go +anywhere at any time. I have seen her late at night walking +through the slums of Calcutta all alone. She was free in the +truest sense of the word, not being in bondage to her material +form, or in recognizing family or social standing; she had no +superstitions; she was above and beyond them all. I noticed she +was loved very much by her parents and brother, and seemed to +possess a deep affectionate nature herself. Her peculiar +qualities were fully recognized by the family, she having no +household duties to perform, only as the notion might take her.</p> + +<p>"I was always a welcomed guest at the house, and I felt as much +at home as if I were a member of their family.</p> + +<p>"After I had known the family about a year, I called at the house +one evening just about the time it was getting dark. Wavernee was +sitting in the door-way. She seemed very pleased to see me and +invited me in, saying: 'The other members of the family are all +away.' <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The room we went into we entered at its center, and she turned +to the left and walked to the end of the room. She gave me a seat +so that I sat at the extreme end of the room. She closed the door +and took a low seat on my left. To my great surprise, she +commenced a conversation about common things, and talked as +interestingly as any intelligent young lady would talk. We +chatted about fifteen minutes, and by that time the room was dark +so I could not see one object from another.</p> + +<p>"She became silent and I received an impression that she did not +wish me to speak, so we both sat in the silence for about ten +minutes, when the room became illuminated and she herself seemed +to be the brightest object in it. I never saw a room so bright as +that in my life. After a few minutes everything in the room +appeared dark except the wall at the further end; and where it +was light there seemed to be a white covering such as is used for +magic lantern pictures. I was looking at it when there appeared a +picture which covered the whole cloth. It represented men and +women of all tribes and nations bending beneath heavy loads of +bondage. I observed their bondages were not all the same. There +was a difference in the kind of bondages the men were bound with +to those that held women in slavery. Then I saw that the men had +some bondages the same as the women had. I observed the bondages +of the women were not all the same. For instance, the American's +woman's bondage in some respects was different from that of the +Japanese woman, and the bondages of the Hindu woman were not the +same as that of the Chinese woman. It was a sad sight. As they +were all presented, they appeared to be living, moving figures.</p> + +<p>"There were a few Hindu men and women who were free, going among +them trying to lift them out of bondage, but it was very hard, +for they seemed to love being in bondage. Only those who were +tired of their bondages were helped by the workers. Wavernee kept +her eyes intently on the picture all the time, and when she +turned her face towards me the scene disappeared and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> the whole +room became dark. In about ten minutes the whole room was again +illuminated and I never saw Wavernee look so much like the +embodiment of perfect love as she did then. She seemed as if she +had been touched with a live coal from off the altar, the sacred +fire was so bright in her eyes. The atmosphere was one of sacred +blissful love. Whatever there was of lukewarmness or indifference +in me in regard to humanity was licked up, as it were, by a fiery +flame of love. I felt as if my whole nature had become white-heat +with love. The most miserable creature seemed dear and sweet to +me.</p> + +<p>"While I was in that frame of mind the room became dark, except +the further end, and I saw another living scene on the canvas. It +was Wavernee walking along a hot dusty road a few miles from +Calcutta. She seemed indifferent to the heat and dust, and was +looking exactly the same as I have just described her. As she was +walking along, I noticed a little way in front of her was a young +woman sitting down on the side of the road with only a few dirty +rags on her poor body. Her face and form showed marks of sin and +disease. When she saw Wavernee coming near her, she put her hands +to her face and held her head down. O, the apparent contrast +between the two! Wavernee sat down beside the young woman and +took one of her hands and held it awhile, meanwhile talking to +her. Then she opened a basket she had and took out a bottle and +poured the contents into a glass and gave it to her to drink. +There was a label on the bottle and glass which read 'love,' and +the young woman drank the glass empty. After awhile Wavernee +stood up and the young woman stood up, too, and as she did so her +rags fell from her and she was clothed like Wavernee, and when I +looked into her face I saw no difference between them.</p> + +<p>"The scene disappeared, but it was quickly replaced by another +which represented Wavernee and some other native workers clearing +large tracts of land. Then they ploughed and harrowed it. As fast +as they prepared one tract of land for the seed they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> commenced +clearing another piece. On the land that had been cleared I saw +myself and some one else with me that had a veil over head and +face, so I could not see who the person was; but we were both +engaged in the same occupation of sowing seed, each one of us +having a large measure containing the seed. On the outside of the +measure was the word truth. We would sow one piece of land and +then go to another piece that had been cleared and sow that. On +the ground that I had sowed, a crop came up in the form of many +men and some women who were all out of bondage. They were free. +Where the person with me had sowed, there was a crop of many +women and some few men who were out of bondage. They were all +free. I wish I could convey to your mind how happy and joyful +they all were.</p> + +<p>"As this last scene disappeared the whole room became +illuminated. Wavernee looked at me with eyes of celestial love +and said: 'Penloe, thou hast seen all. What appeared before thy +vision will convey to thy mind more than any words of mine. +Before you is a future that angels might desire. Be true to thy +highest light, then wilt thou realize what thy eyes have seen. +Your co-worker is one that I love. She knows me not, but I know +her, and when she becomes one with you in your life and work of +love, give her this ring (taking it from her finger and giving it +to me) with my love and tell her to accept it as a symbol of your +union in love and work.</p> + +<p>"'This ring has a history. It was worn by a beautiful young +Indian princess who, after having been a wife to a prince for two +years, became disgusted with her life, and, weary of all the +luxuries of the court, she left one night in disguise, saying to +herself: "I can live here no longer, for I am a greater slave +than the poorest of the Pariah women. My nature cries out for +freedom. I would rather be free in poverty than be a slave in +luxury. Give me freedom or give me death!" She lived for many +years in the realization of her own highest nature. She looked on +all about her as being God and showed that love and reverence +for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> all as she did for the Divine Being. Her whole life was +devoted to being a blessing to many others; particularly to the +elevation of those of her own sex. Just before she died she gave +it to my Guru's (Spiritual Teacher) mother, who was then a young +woman, saying: "Wear this as a vow that thy life will be +consecrated to lifting thy sisters out of bondage." My Guru gave +it to me with its history, saying: "My mother lived and died for +woman's freedom. May you live for the same noble purpose."' Then +Wavernee rose and took from a shelf this beautiful little box, +saying: 'Keep the ring in this box.'</p> + +<p>"After I thanked her she said: 'This is the last time you will +see me, for I am going away and when I return you will have left +this country.' I received a mental suggestion not to ask any +questions, and there seemed to be nothing left for me to say, but +to part with such a sweet exalted character in the way and manner +that two spiritual friends should take leave of each other.</p> + +<p>"Stella, she was the greatest mystic I ever met in that land of +mystics."</p> + +<p>When Penloe finished his narrative he looked at Stella and saw +she was deeply moved. Neither spoke for a few minutes, then +Stella leaned her head towards Penloe and said in a soft touching +voice:</p> + +<p>"Penloe, dear, I have just seen Wavernee. Oh, what a beautiful +loving soul she is; her countenance is something wonderful! For a +few moments I seemed to be with her in a sacred room in her home +in India. As I entered she came forward and greeted me in a most +affectionate manner. Leading me to a small altar at one end of +the room, we both kneeled for devotion, after which I looked up +and saw on the wall the inscription: 'Our lives are consecrated +to the Lord in His humanity."</p> + +<p>"After I read that everything disappeared, and I realized I was +here on this porch with you, my mind being full of your +exceedingly interesting story."</p> + +<p>After a pause Penloe remarked: "I am not surprised, Stella,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> at +the experience you have just had of seeing Wavernee, for I have +seen her twice since I have been in Orangeville. It is a gift +which comes to some in their higher unfoldment. I am very glad +you saw Wavernee, for it is an inspiration to see such a person."</p> + +<p>Stella replied: "Yes, Penloe, she is all you have described her +to me, and much more. Her presence has a remarkable power of +elevating. She is my ideal, for she is highly gifted and still +only full of pure love. What you have related and what I have +seen has been a great revelation to me, and fills me with joy in +the thought of being your co-worker in living the life as +Wavernee saw us as dispensers of truth, and helpers of humanity +through love."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Yes, dear Stella, it is a great blessing and +privilege to be of service to others. It is the test of greatness +of character; for Jesus said: 'He that is greatest of all must be +servant of all.'"</p> + +<p>After a little silence in which both were thinking about the +great work before them, Stella's attention was called to the box +containing the ring, by Penloe handing it to her. On taking it +she said: "Is not the box beautiful?" Then opening it she took +out the ring. It was a cinnamon garnet ring, made from Ceylon +stone, with hieroglyphics outside and inside beautifully cut. It +was a fine piece of skilled workmanship.</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Penloe, do tell me the meaning of the hieroglyphics +on the ring. I am very desirous to know."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Outside it reads, 'All are one in God.' Inside it +reads, 'The fire of spirituality burns by continual devotion.'"</p> + +<p>Stella remarked: "How true is the beautiful thought contained in +the outside inscription, 'All are one in God,' for it makes our +own union feel sacred and precious as well as bringing us close +to all others. The inside inscription is an exceedingly fine one, +'The fire of spirituality burns by continual devotion.' Because +without devotion the spiritual life droops and withers as a +flower without water." Continuing, she said: "There are two +kinds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> of devotion, one consisting of heartfelt prayer and +singing from the soul, sacred hymns; and the other kind consists +in rendering service to others. They are both essential for +spiritual growth."</p> + +<p>Stella was very much interested in the history of the ring, and +putting it on her finger she said: "What a true symbol of the +nature of our union is the ring. I am so glad it is not made of +gold and set with diamonds. If it were I never could wear it, for +it would neutralize all the good I could do. Supposing it had +been one of those very handsome gold rings set with diamonds such +as Indian princesses wear. Every lady's eye, young and old, would +be on the ring, while their minds would be speculating on its +great value, and their thoughts so taken up with its beauty that +what I might say to instruct them would have very little effect, +and even the influence of my own life would be small. No, Penloe, +I never would wear a costly ring, not even if you gave it to me; +for it would have a tendency to keep myself and all who saw it in +bondage. This ring is not costly or very attractive, but its +history is rich and the truths cut into it are precious." Here +she kissed Penloe for the ring and spoke again in loving terms +concerning Wavernee.</p> + +<p>That evening the moon looked down on no happier couple than +Penloe and Stella, for they were both free and attracted towards +them all that was joyous and beautiful in the Universe.</p> + +<p>On that porch so sacred in blissful associations, before +retiring, they spent a few minutes in silent prayer, after which +I heard them sing so softly and sweetly, their voices blending in +harmony and melody. I never heard such singing before. I looked +up in the starry firmament, and did my eyes see some of the +angelic host looking down on them as they sang?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"If such the sweetness of the streams<br /></span> +<span class="i1">What must the fountain be!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h4>THE HERNE PARTY.</h4> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Herne had become greatly interested in Stella, and +they made their house feel like a home to her whenever she +favored them with a visit, which she did many times previous to +her living with Penloe in the mountains. They were very much +attracted towards her and loved her, for she always brought +sunshine with her, and her charming presence, her agreeable +manners, together with her fresh, bright, original character, so +sweet and beautiful, could not but help making her a very +desirable member of the Herne family, for they had come to look +upon her as such since her engagement to Penloe, for Penloe to +them was a dear brother, and now they looked upon Stella as a +dear sister.</p> + +<p>On the evening that Penloe was relating the story of the ring to +Stella, Charles and Clara Herne were sitting on the porch +enjoying the beautiful evening and entertaining themselves in a +conversation about the newly married couple who were expected to +come to-morrow and be their guests for several days.</p> + +<p>While they were talking about the leading part Stella had taken +on the sex question, Clara said to her husband: "If Penloe had a +wife made to order he could not have had a more suitable mate +than Stella. That match was made in heaven."</p> + +<p>Her husband, who had picked up some of Penloe's ideas, said: +"Why, Clara, she was made to order for him."</p> + +<p>Clara laughed and said: "Well, Charles, do you think I was made +to order for you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, and I was made to order for you, my dear," replied +he.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "It is very easy to believe that persons so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +suited to each other as you and I, and Penloe and Stella, were +made to order for each other, but how about Fred Thaxter and his +wife, who were married a year ago? Mrs. Simmons called on me +yesterday and told me she had heard that Fred was about to apply +for a divorce."</p> + +<p>Clara said: "I feel sorry for them both. Charles, so far, you and +I have not taken any active part in the sex reform movement which +has been just started. While we are of the same mind as Penloe +and Stella in thought, yet we have so far been silent, except in +the circle of our own home, and I think the time has come for us +to show our colors."</p> + +<p>Charles said: "My dear, I am ready to hoist the flag whenever you +say the word."</p> + +<p>Clara made answer: "I say the word now, Charles."</p> + +<p>Charles said: "We will have a talk with Penloe and Stella and see +what way we can help the movement forward."</p> + +<p>Clara said: "I think, Charles, we had better retire early +to-night, for to-morrow Penloe and Stella will be with us for +several days, and we never retire early when they are our guests, +and the day after to-morrow we give a party in their honor."</p> + +<p>Early next day, according to an understanding, Mr. Herne sent a +man with his two-seated surrey to Mr. Wheelwright's for his +guests, and about eleven the handsome span of blacks were reined +up in front of the Herne residence, and there were two warm +hearts on the porch to greet the newly married couple. Charles +Herne came forward and received Stella as if she had been his own +sister, and she kissed him as if he were her own brother, and +Clara Herne received Penloe in the same way, for they lived what +they taught, and Penloe and Stella called them Charles and Clara.</p> + +<p>Just after dinner Clara was talking about the invited guests to +the party to-morrow, saying that she had received a note from +Mrs. Hardy, a lady who had been married about five years, which +read that she could not come to-morrow as she was sick with her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>old complaint, but she wants you both to call on her before +starting on your wedding tour.</p> + +<p>Continuing, Clara said: "How much that poor lady has suffered. I +have heard her talk very strongly of her mother for being so +close-mouthed with her concerning matters that she ought to have +enlightened her about. I remember calling on her at one time and +found her lying on the lounge. At times she was in great pain. I +was telling her about the interest which had just begun to be +aroused in the sex reform movement. She said: 'Oh, if I could +only be put back ten years with the knowledge I have, what an +active part I would take in the movement, for I don't want other +girls and women to suffer what I have, through ignorance and +fear.'"</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, we had better call on Phebe this afternoon, +for neither of us have seen her since we lived our mountain life, +and we will have more time to-day than later."</p> + +<p>Stella answered: "I am ready any time."</p> + +<p>Charles Herne asked Penloe: "What time would you like to leave +here?"</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "About two."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Charles, "I will have the boy bring the team round +for you at that time."</p> + +<p>It was two o'clock but the team had not yet been brought to the +front of the house. Charles Herne had gone out to the orchard and +Clara was elsewhere in the house. Penloe and Stella were in the +parlor.</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Stella, I will go up to the barn and see if the +team is ready." So out he went.</p> + +<p>While Penloe had gone to the barn for the team, Clara Herne +entered the parlor, with a paper in her hand, and called Stella's +attention to a criticism on the sex reform movement.</p> + +<p>When Clara entered the parlor, Stella was standing looking at an +oil painting on the wall. Stella took the paper, and sat down on +the nearest chair. Mrs. Herne went out in the kitchen, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> there +was Mrs. Wentworth and her child, who was about three years of +age. Mrs. Wentworth's husband was poor, and they lived on a +small, rented place, near the Herne ranch. Mrs. Wentworth +belonged to that type of woman who has very little inclination +for solving the problems of the Universe or settling the affairs +of the nation, but who seem always to have a great amount of +leisure to devote to the doings of her neighbors. It was seldom +that Mrs. Herne had company but that Mrs. Wentworth found some +kind of errand to her house.</p> + +<p>One day at dinner Mrs. Herne, in a humorous way, said: "I think +Mrs. Wentworth is owing me for about twenty-seven lots of yeast, +forty-two little lots of butter, sufficient matches to light all +the fires in Orangeville for six months, enough loaves of bread +to feed a multitude, for she often is out of bread or had bad +luck with her baking. I have let her have more milk than would be +required to drown herself in, and, as for coal-oil, why the +quantity that she has borrowed would illuminate many dark places +of the earth; and my tea and coffee seem just suited to her +taste." Then, after a pause, she said: "Well, the poor woman is +welcome to all she has had."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her husband, "they have a hard time."</p> + +<p>To-day she came to get Mrs. Herne to read a letter she had +received, saying: "There are some parts that neither my husband +or myself can make out."</p> + +<p>While Mrs. Herne was engaged in reading the letter, Mrs. +Wentworth's child, seeing the door leading from one room to +another open, took the opportunity of doing a little exploring. +It was not long before he was in the parlor. When he entered +Stella just looked up from the paper she was reading, to see who +it was, and went on with her reading, which she was absorbed in. +She had seen the child about the house on other occasions. Now, +where Stella was sitting, there was another chair at the back of +Stella's chair, and this vacant one was against the wall. On the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>wall just over the chair was a pretty shelf, with a fancy +bright-colored ball fringe all around it, which attracted the +child's attention. So he climbed up in the chair, and when he +stood up on the seat he saw on the shelf a small, fancy, +cut-glass bottle, with a very shining silver-like top to it; so +he put his hand out and took it from the shelf, after which he +turned round and faced the back of Stella's chair. In passing the +bottle from one hand to the other, in order to help himself down +with his possessions, his faculty of weight not being as yet well +trained, he let go of the bottle before he had got a firm hold of +it with the other hand, and the result was that it fell on +Stella's shoulder. Fortunately the stopper did not come off till +it reached her lap, when she received the whole contents of a +bottle of ink on her wedding dress.</p> + +<p>Just about that time Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I must +go and see what that child is doing;" and she arrived in the room +just as the bottle of ink fell into Stella's lap. Mrs. Wentworth +took the situation in at a glance and the hot blood instantly +flew to her face, and hotter words came from her mouth; and, +among other things she said, was:</p> + +<p>"My God! that brat of mine has spoiled your fine, white dress;" +and she took the boy, and was spanking him amidst hot words and +the cries of the child.</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Please don't hurt the child; it's nothing, it's +nothing, Mrs. Wentworth." But the mother paid no attention to +Stella's protests, but left the room with the child just as Mrs. +Herne entered.</p> + +<p>Clara said: "Why, Stella, dear, what is the matter?" Stella +laughed, and said: "I have got some new figures on my wedding +dress. Don't you think they are pretty?"</p> + +<p>On seeing Stella's skirt and underskirt all saturated with ink in +places, Clara was not quite prepared to enter into the same +laughable mood as her guest, but said:</p> + +<p>"Stella, dear, how well you take it! I wish I could be that way."</p> + +<p>To which Stella replied: "I would not have a disturbed mind for a +dozen of the best dresses ever made. Clara, nothing is so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> dear +and sacred to me as 'the peace of mind which passeth all +understanding.'"</p> + +<p>Clara said: "I see you kept the ink from going on my new carpet, +by rolling your skirts up. It's just like your thoughtfulness, +dear."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wentworth came running into the room, saying: "Penloe is +waiting outside with the team. What will you do?" Stella smiling, +went to the door, and holding out the front of her dress said, +laughing, "Penloe, how do you like these hieroglyphics on my +dress?"</p> + +<p>Penloe laughed, and said: "They are different to any I have ever +seen deciphered."</p> + +<p>In about fifteen minutes Stella took her seat beside Penloe, with +some new garments on, which she had brought with her, and they +went on their way to Mrs. Harding's.</p> + +<p>After they were gone, Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I never +seen anything like those two in all my life. If that had happened +to me I would have been so mad that I would have cursed and +swore, and felt like warming the child's hide. And as for my +husband, do you think he would have laughed and sat in the buggy, +like a hen on her nest? No, he would have been in and out of the +buggy many times; every minute he would be looking up at the +house to see if I was coming, and now and then calling out to ask +me if it took me all day to change my dress. Then he would think +he had something to do about the horse's head, then back to his +seat, then out again, doing something to the back of the buggy, +then he would look up at the house again, with a frown on his +face, and call out, 'Are you never coming?' He would be as +restless as a fox in a cage."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne smiled at the description of Mr. Wentworth's +disposition, as given by his wife, and said, in a quiet tone: "We +all need more patience and self-control."</p> + +<p>On the following day all were very busy in the Herne household, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>making preparations for the party. Penloe and Stella attended to +the rearranging of the furniture and decorating the rooms, while +Clara superintended the supplies for the table. The guests +arrived a few minutes after five. To Clara Herne's great +surprise, the last guest to arrive came in the form of Mrs. +Harding. Clara Herne, in receiving her, said: "What, Phebe, I am +so glad you are able to come."</p> + +<p>When they were all alone in the room where the ladies left their +wraps and hats, Clara said: "Do tell me, Phebe, what has made you +so much better, for after reading your note I had no idea of +seeing you to-day."</p> + +<p>"No more had I when I wrote the note," said Phebe. "But, Clara, +have you not heard? Did not Penloe or Stella tell you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Clara; "when I asked them how you were, Stella told me +what you said about your condition when she asked you how you +were."</p> + +<p>"Well, Clara, I will tell you," said Mrs. Harding. "Penloe and +Stella were with me about an hour. After they had been in the +room with me about ten minutes, they talked very little. About +half an hour afterwards such a sweet feeling of peace and rest +came over me; all pain had left me, and when they said +'good-bye,' I felt healed and I keep feeling better all the time. +Clara, my heart is full of joy and gratitude to that man of God +and his angel wife. What beautiful countenances they have."</p> + +<p>At half past five the company sat down at a long table which was +tastefully spread with viands and dainties to tempt the appetite +of the most fastidious epicure. Penloe sat on Clara's right, and +Stella sat on the left of Charles Herne. Four of Mr. Herne's men +waited on the table; so well did they perform this service that a +stranger could not have told them from professional waiters.</p> + +<p>The meal was thoroughly enjoyed amidst mirth and laughter, wit +and humor, jokes and short stories, for the whole company were in +the best of spirits.</p> + +<p>After supper some of the guests sat on the porch, others<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> walked +about the grounds, and some played croquet. Among the invited +guests were Prof. French and wife, a couple who had been married +about a year; they were both professional musicians, living in +San Francisco, and were visiting their relatives, the King +family, and they received an invitation with the King family to +the party.</p> + +<p>Among those who were sitting on the porch were Mr. and Mrs. +Bates. They had always been very friendly with the Hernes and +lived only about two miles distant from them.</p> + +<p>A little later in the evening the croquet players and those who +had been strolling about the grounds were coming towards the +house, just as Mr. Bates was relating to Mr. and Mrs. Herne what +to him had been a very trying experience. Mr. Bates always called +Mr. Herne Charles. He said:</p> + +<p>"Charles, I don't know that I would have been here to-night if it +had not been for my wife."</p> + +<p>"Why, how is that?" said Mr. Herne.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bates replied: "Well, I will tell you. This morning, Weeks' +boy was playing with my boy in the barn. There were a number of +sacks of barley and wheat on the floor. The boys got to +scuffling, one boy trying to throw the other down. At last my boy +got Weeks' boy down and gave him a blow and ran out of the barn +with Weeks' boy after him. They both ran out into the orchard and +then over the fence to Page's barn. Now, when Weeks' boy ran +after my lad he left the barn door open. There was no one about +the barn at the time the boys left. My man and I were at the +further end of the ranch fixing the line fence. When we came up +at noon we found the barn door open and that fine four-year-old +colt of mine and a lot of hogs were all in the barn eating grain. +They had torn every sack open and had eaten more than half of it. +The colt had eaten so much as to make him bloat. When I saw it +all I felt so mad I had to use some hot words. When I went to the +house I told my wife about it. At first she seemed put out, but +when she saw how wrathy I was she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> tried to cool me down. I asked +where the boy was, and she said, 'Weeks' boy was here and asked +for our boy to go to his place to play and have dinner. They said +they were going to get Page's boy to play with them.' I felt so +worried about the colt and so mad at the boys I could not eat my +dinner. I told my wife I did not feel like coming here to-night, +and when I said that I saw I had made matters worse, so I went +out to the barn and worked over the colt some more. When the boy +came home I had him tell me all about it. I told him if he or any +boy with him ever left the barn door open again he would not want +to sit down for a week."</p> + +<p>Just here Mrs. Bates said to Mrs. Herne: "Henry does take such +things so hard. It seems as if he can never get over it."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bates spoke up a little louder and said: "Such thoughtless, +careless doings as that are enough to make any one lose his +temper. Why, I came very near losing the colt, besides the damage +the hogs did to the grain."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Herne said: "Mr. Bates, I must tell you what an experience +Stella had yesterday, and see if you don't think she had +something to disturb her."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bates said: "Would like to hear it; misery always loves +company."</p> + +<p>So Mrs. Herne commenced telling about the bottle of ink falling +into Stella's lap. Just as she commenced to relate the incident +Penloe came on the porch with Mrs. French, and they took a seat +near Mrs. Herne. About two minutes later Prof. French and Stella +joined the group, and before Mrs. Herne had got to that part of +the story where she asks Stella, "What is the matter?" and Stella +laughed and said: "I got some new figures on my wedding dress, +don't you think they are pretty?" about all the guests were now +grouped about Mrs. Herne. They were either sitting on the wide +porch or standing near by. When Mrs. Herne had finished, Mr. +Bates said in a comical kind of way: "If that had been my wedding +dress, I would have felt so mad that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> would feel like throwing +the youngster out of the window and swearing a blue streak."</p> + +<p>Turning to Stella, he said: "I have got no such control over +myself as you have. I wish I had."</p> + +<p>Mrs. French said: "Stella, how could you take it so cheerfully? +Why, if that had been my wedding dress, I would have felt too mad +to speak; in fact, I don't know just what I would do."</p> + +<p>Pretty Miss Grace Nettleton, a young lady full of fun and always +the life of any party, laughingly said: "As I intend to be an old +maid, no bottle of ink will ever fall on my wedding dress, but if +such a thing should happen I would feel like going to bed and +having a good cry."</p> + +<p>Several other ladies remarked: "I don't see how Stella could have +been so peaceful and pleasant. I know I never could."</p> + +<p>Miss Baker, the school teacher, who had many trying pupils, +remarked to Mrs. French: "I wish I could control myself like +Stella; how easy I could govern the scholars."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Did any of you ever hear the story of Shuka?"</p> + +<p>Several answered: "No."</p> + +<p>Mrs. French said: "Do tell it, Penloe."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Herne, "we all would like to hear it." The +company became very attentive while Penloe related the following +story with telling effect:</p> + +<p>"There was a great sage called Vyasa.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3" + href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> This Vyasa was the +writer of the Vedanta philosophy, a holy man. His father had +tried to become a very perfect man and failed; his grandfather +tried and failed; his great-grandfather tried and failed; he +himself did not succeed perfectly, but his son Shuka was born +perfect. He taught this son, and after teaching him himself, he +sent him to the court of King Janaka. He was a great king and was +called Videha. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>Videha means 'outside the body.' Although a king, +he had entirely forgotten that he had a body; he was a spirit all +the time. The boy was sent to be taught by him. The king knew +that Vyasa's son was coming to him to learn, so he made certain +arrangements beforehand, and when the boy presented himself at +the gates of the palace, the guards took no notice of him +whatsoever. They only gave him a place to sit, and he sat there +for three days and nights, nobody speaking to him, nobody asking +who he was or whence he was. He was the son of this great sage, +his father was honored by the whole country, and he himself was a +most respectable person; yet the low vulgar guards of the palace +would take no notice of him.</p> + +<p>"After that, suddenly, the ministers of the king and all the high +officials came there and received him with the greatest honors. +They took him in and showed him into splendid rooms, gave him the +most fragrant baths and wonderful dresses, and for eight days +they kept him there in all kinds of luxury. That face did not +change; he was the same in the midst of this luxury as at the +door. Then he was brought before the king. The king was on his +throne, music was playing, and dancing and other amusements going +on. The king gave him a cup of milk, full to the brim, and asked +him to go round the hall seven times without spilling a drop. The +boy took the cup and proceeded in the midst of this music and the +beautiful faces. Seven times he went round, and not a drop was +spilled. The boy's mind could not be attracted by anything in the +world unless he allowed it. And when he brought the cup to the +king, the king said to him: 'What your father has taught you and +what you have learned yourself, I only repeat; you have known the +truth. Go home.'"</p> + +<p>When Penloe had finished Mrs. Herne said: "Thank you, Penloe, +that is very good, for it brings out the idea so well."</p> + +<p>Mrs. French said: "Is not that very fine, Penloe? I never heard +that thought expressed before. It is new to me."</p> + +<p>Dr. Finch, who was a well educated young dentist, said:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> "That +thought, though old to the people of the Orient, is just +beginning to come to the front in the literature of the West. I +was very much gratified in listening to Penloe."</p> + +<p>Saunders, the merchant, laughed and said: "If it had been me +sitting at the gate, instead of Shuka, I would have got mad in +ten minutes and gone home, if the guards had treated me in that +manner."</p> + +<p>It began to get a little cool on the porch and the company were +invited into the large double parlors to play some games. After +enjoying a variety of games for an hour, it was proposed to have +some music. The Hernes had a fine-toned piano, and it was always +kept in tune. Several young gentlemen asked Miss Grace Nettleton +for a song, and all the other members of the company joined in +the request. Miss Nettleton said she would like some one to play +the accompaniment, and Prof. French said: "I will play for you."</p> + +<p>As Miss Grace Nettleton was a young lady of romantic turn of mind +and very fond of reading love stories and singing love songs, she +selected one to sing according to her taste, from which we give +the following verse:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"Sitting on the garden gate,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Where the little butterfly reposes,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Now I hate to tell, but then I must,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">'Twas love among the roses."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Some of the young people being delighted with that sentimental +song, called for another, for they could not think of her taking +her seat after singing only one; so she very kindly sang another. +In a very soft, sweet voice, she sang a song containing the +following verse:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1p5">"I love to think of thee, when evening closes,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Over landscapes bright and fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">I love to think of thee when earth reposes,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">To calm a grief which none can share.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +<span class="i1">When every eyelid hovers<br /></span> +<span class="i3">When every heart but mine is free,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">'Tis then, O then, I love to think of thee."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>If the true feeling of one or two young gentlemen present could +be told, they certainly would like to have had Miss Grace +Nettleton think of them in that way. After receiving many +compliments from the company, the young lady took her seat. Mrs. +French, who was a professional musician like her husband, was +called for and sang with fine effect, "I am dreaming, yes I am +dreaming, the happy hours away," etc, etc. Her fine cultivated +voice was much appreciated by the company and they were eager to +have Mrs. French sing again, but she wished to save her voice, +and got her husband to sing "Beautiful Isle of the Sea." His fine +baritone voice was a great treat to the guests, for it was seldom +such talent as that of himself and wife was heard in the parlors +of Orangeville.</p> + +<p>Stella was called for and Professor French played the +accompaniment, while she in a very sweet and feeling voice sang, +"Hark! I Hear an Angel Sing." As her graceful form stood beside +the instrument with her face and eyes turned a little upwards, +she seemed to be lost to everything mundane, and when she sang +those soul-melting words that she heard the angel sing, the +effect was complete, for it seemed to those present as if it was +the voice of an angel singing those words and not that of a human +being.</p> + +<p>The attention was so great that when she finished you could have +heard a pin drop. The effect was very fine. There were some there +who will never forget that song. Professor French and his wife +were very much taken with Stella's singing; both of them pressed +her hand and thanked her for her sweet song. They afterwards +said, in all their musical career they never heard anything to +equal it of its kind. The song was entirely new to every one +present. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. French, who was half in doubt in her own mind as to whether +Penloe had any musical talent or not, said: "Perhaps Penloe will +favor us with some music."</p> + +<p>Prof. French said: "Yes, Penloe, I would like to hear you very +much." Mrs. Herne laughed and said: "It seems strange to think +that, though Penloe has made many visits to our house, I never +thought to ask him if he could play, for we always have so much +interesting conversation that I never think about music."</p> + +<p>Stella laughed and said: "Why, Clara, I don't know myself whether +Penloe can play the piano, for he is so modest about his +attainments. We have sung together many times, but I am like you, +I never thought to ask him if he could play." Turning to Penloe, +she said: "Now, Penloe, I do want to hear you play so much"; and +when he rose to take his seat at the instrument curiosity reached +its height in the minds of Mr. and Mrs. Herne as well as Stella, +so eager were they to see his personality manifested in music.</p> + +<p>The eyes of each member of the company were now riveted on that +remarkable figure who had just begun to finger a few keys with +one hand. He did not do as some would-be performers sometimes do, +strike eight to ten keys as soon as they touch the piano, but, +strange to say, he commenced playing with one hand.</p> + +<p>We will here give the words concerning Penloe's performance as +told to a friend in San Francisco by Mrs. French in her own +unique way, as follows:</p> + +<p>"My husband and I being at a party one evening given by Mr. and +Mrs. Herne in Orangeville, I met a gentleman there by the name of +Penloe, who certainly is the most gifted man I ever have met in +all my travels. There is a power in his personality that is +irresistible; you cannot help being drawn towards him. But his +power is of that kind that is uplifting and elevating, and there +is something very sweet in his nature. After supper I took a +little walk with him about the grounds, and his conversation was +exceedingly interesting. I will never forget the talk I had with +him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> He seemed to be able to bring out of me ideas which I had +never expressed before; in fact, making me talk, as it were, +above myself. In thinking it over, I must say my own conversation +was a surprise to me; and as for him, while he does not take you +all of a sudden into great depths of thought, or attach wings to +you and have you flying through the heavens, yet he has the +genius of taking the most commonplace subjects and causing you to +see such an interest and beauty in them as you never saw before. +After we all assembled in the large double parlors and had some +games, there were several who favored the company with +instrumental and vocal music, when I thought it would be no more +than proper to ask Penloe to play. After he had been seated at +the piano a few minutes, I was a little in doubt whether I had +not made a mistake in asking him, for he commenced playing with +one hand and only touching one key at a time, more like a child +playing. He still went on playing with one hand, but touching two +and three keys at a time. I noticed some ladies and gentlemen +began looking at each other and then at Penloe, hardly knowing +what to make of such playing. As he proceeded further in his +performance with one hand, though the playing was simple, yet +there was a peculiarity about it that can hardly be expressed as +he went along with his apparently amateur performance. Then he +used his other hand and fingered a few more keys occasionally, +and I felt an interest growing in me, and also those around me +seemed to share the same feeling. A little later and the fingers +of both hands were going a little more rapidly over the +key-board, and the childish and amateur performer had ceased and +the playing began to impress me as being that of a young +professional. I began to feel myself more drawn into the playing, +and when the playing of a young professional had given place to +the experienced professional, I was all attention; but it was not +long before the professional had disappeared and I knew that the +music I was listening to now was that of a genius. I was +conscious a great master was at the instrument, and after that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> I +seemed not to be conscious of the performer or those about me, +and how long I was in that condition I do not know. When I came +to myself again, the music had ceased, there was no performer +there, for Penloe had left the room.</p> + +<p>"In talking with some others of the party about Penloe's playing, +it seemed to have produced exactly the same effect on them as it +did on me. I will, in a very inadequate way, tell you as near as +I can the impression it made upon me. I felt, when he first +commenced to play in his child-like way, as if all our minds were +very much scattered; that is, I mean as if a great separateness +and distinction existed, and as he proceeded with his playing it +seemed to have the effect of collecting our minds and bringing +them together till we all seemed to be just one mind. Then there +arose in this one mind a desire, and the desire grew till it +created a disturbance, and it kept increasing and growing more +powerful till it burst into a storm of passion, and the storm +became furious within; for it seemed at times as if it would rend +and tear me to pieces, and I was about to be conquered by it. I +felt like saying, 'Must I yield? Is yielding the only way out of +this? Must I give way and let it have full sway over me?' I said, +'Must I let it die out by consuming its own self?' And as I was +about to cry out in despair, 'There is no other way; I will feed +the fire till there is nothing left for it to burn;' and just as +I was on the brink, on the edge of the precipice, as it were, the +fury of the storm being at its very height, then all of a sudden +I saw a light and the storm began to lose some of its fury, and +the clouds appeared not so black, and the light seemed growing +brighter. At last the storm ceased within me, and the dark clouds +were disappearing fast, till the last one had gone and a wave of +sunshine swept over my soul, and I felt like saying, 'How +peaceful it is after the storm,' and while I was enjoying that +sweet feeling of peace a change came over me, I began to be +lifted, as it were out of my little self, and myself and the +world seemed to be larger than I had ever imagined. I began, as +it were, to rise, and great as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> world had grown I had grown +greater still. Then I entered a much larger world than even the +great one I had lived in, and when I had outgrown that grand +world, I went into another still more beautiful, and on I went +rising out of one beautiful world into another far superior till +I reached a condition that human language cannot convey the +blissful state of the soul in me. Oh, the happiness I then +realized. I shall never forget. My husband, in speaking of the +piece Penloe played, said: 'That music was never composed on +earth, it was born in heaven,' Mr. Herne heard my husband make +that remark, and said, 'In order to play that kind of music, you +have got to live in the same world as Penloe does. That is how it +has its birth.'"</p> + +<p>It is true, as Mrs. French told her friend, that after the music +had lost some of its power over her she realized that Penloe had +left the room. The piano being near the door, which was open, and +no one sitting between the door and the piano, when Penloe ceased +playing he quietly left the room and sat in a chair on the porch. +About five minutes later, a soft footstep was heard on the porch +and the sound of a light rustle of a dress, for Stella had taken +a seat beside Penloe. His performance at the piano had stirred +the dear girl's nature to its greatest depths and also had scaled +its lofty heights. On that porch, gazing at the grand canopy of +the heavens, those two souls listened to such strains of music as +only the purified hear.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h4>A VISIT FROM BARKER AND BROOKES.</h4> + +<p>About ten o'clock the next morning after the party, Mr. Herne was +in the front yard, superintending some work, when he saw a buggy +coming towards his house and he recognized the occupants as being +Mr. Herbert Barker and Mr. Stanley Brookes, of Roseland. When the +team stopped in front of the house. Mr. Herne was there to +receive the two gentlemen.</p> + +<p>After shaking hands and exchanging a few pleasant words, Mr. +Barker asked: "Are Penloe and Stella here?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Herne said: "Yes, they are, come in, gentlemen," and gave +them seats in the parlor, saying, "You had better stay to dinner, +and I will have a man take care of your team," an invitation +which they gladly accepted. Mr. Herne entered the sitting-room to +tell Penloe and Stella that Barker and Brookes were in the parlor +waiting to see them. Since those two gentlemen had become +Stella's co-workers for sex reform consequently they had seen +much of each other, and had come to a mutual understanding that +they would lay aside all formalities and act as brother and +sister; therefore, instead of addressing each other as Mr. or +Mrs., they called each other by their given names.</p> + +<p>When Penloe and Stella entered the parlor, the two gentlemen rose +from their seats and came forward to tender their congratulations +to the newly married couple. After a lively social chat, Stanley +Brookes made known the object of their morning call in the +following words. Looking at Stella, he said: "Since you were with +us last in Roseland, we have been receiving information through +various channels concerning certain persons, in a number<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> of +towns and cities, who may be considered advanced enough to profit +by our literature. In most cases the persons receiving it have +written for more, to circulate among their friends. Since sending +a second lot, we have been in receipt of a number of letters, +like the following, and here Brookes took one from a large +package of letters, and read it to Penloe and Stella. It was as +follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"> +<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Los Angeles</span>, Cal.</span><br /></p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"<i>Stanley Brookes, Esq.,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">"<i>Roseland, Cal.:</i></span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"Dear Sir</span>: The literature which you kindly sent me I +placed where I knew it would do the most good. It gives +me pleasure to inform you that the California idea is +gaining ground here, and interest is growing faster +than I anticipated. I was not aware there were so many +ready for the sex reform thought; but in talking with +some of the more advanced, they said that they had done +a little thinking along this line for some time, but +their ideas were only half formed, and this reading +matter was just what they needed to let the light into +their minds. They are all now anxious to have a +meeting, and want to know if you could get Penloe and +Stella to come here and speak. They think the largest +hall in this city would not hold the crowd that would +want to hear and see those two +much-talked-of-and-written-about persons. I will see +that all their expenses are paid, if you will see to +getting them here. I know if they come it will give the +movement a big lift. Write as soon as you know if they +are coming. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Yours for Reform,</p> +<p class="p3">"Harold Chambers.</p></div> + +<p>At the conclusion of reading the letter Brookes said: "It seems +that some of our literature got into the State of Colorado. The +papers in that State called it the 'California Idea,' and as the +'C.I.' began to grow they called it the 'California Movement.' +Some of the papers in this State have used the same expression, +and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> people in California seem to be pleased with the names +given the new sex thought."</p> + +<p>Stella laughed, and said: "Well, Stanley, I rather like the names +C.I. and C.M. Don't you, Penloe?"</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Yes, the term or name 'Sex Reform Thought' I think +very ambiguous, but C.I. and C.M. are names which convey to the +mind the ideas they are intended to express."</p> + +<p>Brookes said: Stella, I will read you another letter I received +from a friend of mine in Bakersfield:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"> +<span style="margin-right: 2em;"><span class="smcap">"Bakersfield</span>, Cal.</span><br /></p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"<i>Stanley Brookes, Esq.,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">"<i>Roseland, Cal.:</i></span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"Dear Friend Brookes</span>: Yes, it is just as you say, +Bakersfield may be a very fast town, but there are some +people here who are ripe for the 'C. Movement.' My +experience and what I see here about me every day have +made me so sick of the old ideas concerning sex that it +does me good to see the interest people are taking in +the literature you sent me. One woman told me that the +pamphlet I gave her had been read by nine persons. Say, +old boy, don't you think you could get Penloe and +Stella to come here and wake us up a little more. My, +they would be a drawing-card! I will see that they are +not out anything by coming. Now, do your level best to +get them here, for they would start the ball a-rolling +in fine shape. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Yours for the 'C.I.,'</p> +<p class="p3">"Arthur Paine."</p></div> + +<p>Holding up the package of letters, Brookes said: "Here are +letters from Ventura, San José, San Diego, Santa Barbara, +Riverside, Oakland, Sacramento, and a number of other places, all +asking the same question, 'Could I get you both to come to their +places to speak.' They all seem so anxious to see and hear the +leaders of the great C.M., and that is why Herbert and I are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +here this morning to see if you both will accept these pressing +invitations to speak in a cause which is so dear to you."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "I appreciate your kind thoughtfulness in coming out +here to see us, and thus give us an opportunity of talking the +matter over together." Then she was silent, and Barker and +Brookes both said afterwards they never saw Stella look so +serious and sober since they knew her as she looked then. It +seemed as if a struggle was going on within her. After a few +minutes' silence, there seemed to be a feeling in Stella's voice +as she spoke. Looking straight at the two young men before her, +she said: "To you I can speak in confidence. My aunt (Mrs. +Marston) has known for a year or two that I had a great desire to +travel and see the world. Since I first met Penloe that desire +has grown much stronger. On my wedding day, aunt gave me a bank +book with ten thousand dollars placed to my credit, saying it was +to be used for the purpose of enjoying our honeymoon on a long +journey around the world. I can hardly tell you how delighted I +was when I thought what had been only a dream to me was about to +be realized. Next week we were going to Roseland to visit aunt, +then we were going abroad. Yes, Penloe and I have had such +delightful talks about the countries we were going to visit. We +talked much about some of the places and people in India we +expected to see. Penloe has told me about the Sannyasins and the +great Yogis of India, saying he could arrange matters so that we +could live with some of them for a while. The thought of seeing +and talking with those wonderful spiritual giants has kept me +awake at night, my mind filled with joyous thoughts. He said, +'The great Yogi Kattakhan has conquered all nature, and at any +time he could put himself in a mental condition so that he could +give the contents of any book in any part of the world.'</p> + +<p>"I remember the last time I was with you in Roseland, both of you +were telling me you had read Burnette's book on 'The Freedom of +the Women of Tiestan,' also Wharburton's 'The Land of Surprises.' +Well, we had decided to visit the city of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> Semhee, in Tiestan, +and see those remarkable people. Till now I had not thought of +there being anything to prevent our going."</p> + +<p>Barker said: "Well, Stella, all we had heard was that you were +married, and we did not know anything about your contemplated +tour."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "It was quite right for you to come and see us, and +I am very glad you have. Of course, we intended calling on you +both before we left for the Orient. Now, what I have told you is +that you may see and know exactly how we are situated in regard +to accepting the invitation to speak in the various places. The +C.M. is dear to me, yes, very dear. I rejoice in the progress the +movement is making through the efforts of you both, and before +giving you an answer I must go and think it over, so you will +please excuse me."</p> + +<p>As her graceful figure was leaving the room, she said: "Penloe, +come to our room about fifteen minutes before dinner. Clara told +me that they were going to have dinner at one o'clock to-day."</p> + +<p>After Stella had left the room, Penloe chatted with the young men +about the C.M., and then said: "Would you like to take a walk +about the place?" and they both said, "Yes, this is our first +visit to Treelawn."</p> + +<p>This was the first time Barker and Brookes had met Penloe. They +had heard him deliver his address in Roseland, and were now +pleased to have the opportunity of enjoying his company. Penloe +was about their age, and the three became interested in relating +some of their college experiences. Barker and Brookes were eager +to have Penloe tell them all about the Hindu students, and what +kind of men the Hindu professors are. They had many a laugh while +Penloe was relating some experiences which seemed very peculiar +to them. Penloe's interesting conversation had made time pass +very rapidly with them, and it was near the dinner hour before +they were aware of it.</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "Please excuse me, I hear Stella calling." Taking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +out his watch he said: "It is about time I was in the room; I did +not think it was so late."</p> + +<p>After Penloe had left them, Barker said to Brookes: "Did you hear +Stella calling Penloe?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Brookes, "did you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never heard her voice," said Barker, "but what did he mean +by saying she called him?"</p> + +<p>"He meant she called him by what they call mental telegraphy," +said Brookes.</p> + +<p>When Stella left the parlor and went to her room and had taken a +seat, her mind was filled with many conflicting thoughts and +emotions. She said to herself: "I was so unprepared for this; it +was only last night I remarked to Penloe, in about two weeks we +would be on the ocean going to Japan." "And, why can you not go?" +said a powerful voice within her. "You surely are not going to +disappoint your aunt, are you, by not going, after she has shown +such love towards you as to give you ten thousand dollars to +travel on?" A little voice spoke within her and said: "Are you +and Penloe not the leaders of the C.M., and would it be right for +you to leave just as an interest is being awakened?" The powerful +voice said: "Stella, this is your wedding tour, and you have +accepted the money given you to go and you would not be doing +yourself justice to stay at home now." The little voice said: +"Stella, what effect do you think your influence would have on +Barker and Brookes and other young workers, if they see you +indifferent to the calls? You have always talked as if you would +be willing to sacrifice everything for the cause which is so dear +to you." The strong voice said: "Yes, but if you put off going +now you will have to return the money to your aunt, and when you +are ready to go you may not have the money to go with." The +little voice said: "Stella, can you not give up the pleasure of a +wedding tour for the sake of helping others out of bondage into +freedom, thus making their lives happier <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>and brighter?" The +powerful voice said: "It is only idle curiosity on the part of +the people wanting to see you. Do not be influenced by them; just +think how it will help you in your future labors to have visited +the Oriental countries and sat at the feet of those great +Spiritual luminaries of India. If you go now, you have got the +money and you have got Penloe, who is the most interesting +traveling companion you could have. He knows many languages and +can master the Japanese and Chinese in a month or two. If you +don't go now, but postpone it till you think you can go, then +perhaps Penloe might be dead and how could you enjoy traveling +without him?" That suggestion touched Stella very deeply. After +awhile the little voice said: "Stella, dear, have the people of +Japan, of China, of Persia, or of India sent an invitation to +come and speak to them? Are the great Sannyasins and Yogis +looking forward to receiving a visit from you? If the people of +the Orient had given you a special call, it would be right for +you to go now. They have not called you at all; but the people of +California have. They want you to follow up the grand noble work +you so heroically commenced, a work so dear to you that you were +willing to make every sacrifice in order to be true to yourself +and thus free others from bondage. Go into the silence, Stella, +ask the Blessed Spirit for light and knowledge and he will show +you which path to choose."</p> + +<p>And that is just what Stella did. When she came out of the +silence her face was radiant and her mind settled and clear.</p> + +<p>When Penloe entered the room Stella spoke in a serious tone and +said: "I have half a mind to be just a wee bit put out with you, +because you have acted so indifferently in regard to our wedding +tour. Why, it does not seem to concern you whether we go or stay +here." With a half twinkle in her eye she said: "I must say, you +don't act like most men would who had just married a young lady +with ten thousand dollars to spend on a wedding tour."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "I will answer you, Stella, dear, as if you spoke in +earnest." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stella said: "That is just what I want you to do, Penloe."</p> + +<p>He said: "Stella, why should I care whether I am here or going on +a wedding tour through the Orient with you? All I have to do is +to realize and manifest the Divine. Stella, I have learned this +one lesson, <i>that I am not in it</i>, for it is He that is doing it +all. It was He that placed me in certain environments in India +for my spiritual unfoldment. It was He that brought me to +Orangeville. It was He that caused you and me to come together as +co-workers in a cause which is so dear to us. It was He that made +us man and wife. It was He that caused you to pass through this +struggle which you have just had with yourself and brought you +out victorious. It was He that caused you just now to cut the +last cord of attachment and made you free."</p> + +<p>Penloe had been standing while he talked and just here Stella +rose from her seat and, going up to him, put her arms round his +neck and said: "Yes, dear, it is He, it is He. He hath done it +all and He has given me you as my husband and spiritual teacher." +She kissed him and said: "Bless you, dear."</p> + +<p>Continuing, she said: "Do you know that the fight I have just had +has been the most trying and severe I ever experienced?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear," said Penloe, "I know all about it, and when a youth +I thought I was free from all attachment, till I passed through +the most trying experience in my life, which showed me I was not +free from all desire and attachment. In coming out of that +struggle I cut the last cord which bound me to the external, and +since then I have been free, and illumination followed, and that +is why I have received light, and knew before I rose the next +morning after our wedding we would not go now on a wedding tour, +but would speak all through the State of California. I knew what +a struggle you were going to have, and I knew it was necessary in +order that you might be free from all attachment, for the love of +traveling through the Orient owned you just a little, and now +that you have become truly free illumination will be yours." He +ceased speaking and kissed her. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stella said: "I must take care and let nothing own me, for I see +that as soon as I allow myself to be owned I become its slave, +and you know, dear, that freedom from everything is my goal."</p> + +<p>Penloe and Stella entered the dining-room just as Mrs. Herne had +seated Barker and Brookes at the table. As Stella took her seat +the two young men thought they had never seen her face so +beautiful, with its sweet smile and calm expression. Her vivacity +brought out the wit and humor of the two guests, who were always +considered good company at any one's table. Penloe said little, +because he saw how the two young men were enjoying Stella's +bright conversation. After dinner the company adjourned to the +parlor.</p> + +<p>Stella seated herself between her two friends, and looking at +Barker she said: "I must tell you and Stanley that we have given +up going on our wedding tour through the Oriental countries. We +both feel we are wanted here and we will stay where our work +calls us."</p> + +<p>Barker replied saying: "Your decision is grand and we will feel +much encouraged in having you with us."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "We will spend a week with aunt before starting out +to speak. During our stay in Roseland we will see much of each +other and have opportunities for perfecting our plans."</p> + +<p>Two days later Penloe and Stella became the guests of Mrs. +Marston, arriving at that lady's house about four in the +afternoon, which was an hour before Stella's aunt dined. Mrs. +Marston was delighted to receive her niece and her husband, for +she was at her best when she had company. After dinner, as it was +a little chilly, a fire was lit in the open grate and the three +sat round to enjoy a social time.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said: "Stella, I suppose you and Penloe have all +your plans made for your wedding tour."</p> + +<p>Stella said: "Well, Aunt, we had made many plans and I had built +several castles which I expected to occupy during our journey, +but we received a visit from Herbert and Stanley while we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> were +at Charles' and Clara's and they brought with them a number of +letters containing invitations for us to speak on the 'California +Idea,' as it is now called, and we think it best to give up our +wedding tour and do what we can to help forward the California +movement; and, Aunt, the money which you so very kindly gave me +to use for a wedding tour, I feel I ought to return to you, as we +are not going; and so here is a check for the full amount of your +gift made payable to your order."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston received the check from Stella and said: "I had +hoped you would have gone on your tour."</p> + +<p>And added in a laughing tone: "You two are the strangest persons +I have ever met. The idea of giving up ten thousand dollars and +losing the opportunity of seeing the most interesting countries +in the world, for the sake of talking to persons who are curious +to see how you both look because they have read about you in the +papers."</p> + +<p>"I appreciate your gift just the same, Aunt, as if we had used +the money," said Stella.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston said: "Of course, I want you both to do whatever you +think best." As they continued their conversation the door-bell +rang and four of Stella's friends called to see her. They were +Dr. Lacey's two daughters and two young gentlemen. They spent the +evening in games and music, and when they left it was late. Mrs. +Marston, Penloe and Stella sat in front of the fire a few minutes +before retiring, and just before Stella rose from her seat to +wish her aunt good-night, Mrs. Marston said: "Stella, dear, I +thought I would have a little fun with you so I accepted the +check, but I had no intention of taking the money back. No, dear, +I want you to keep it and use it as you think best"; and taking +the check off the mantel with a laugh she threw it into the fire.</p> + +<p>Stella rose from her seat to wish her aunt good-night, and +thanked her again for her handsome gift.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Marston's guests spent a very pleasant time in Roseland.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> As +they were very popular, they received many invitations to dinner. +They saw Barker and Brookes every day and had chats about the +C.M. After several consultations in regard to making arrangements +for the work, they at last reached the conclusion that it would +be best for Penloe and Stella to go to Southern California and +commence their labors there. At Penloe's request the two young +men agreed to accompany them, as Penloe said there was a kind of +work to be done that they were adapted for and their services +would be really needed. And as Charles and Clara Herne wished to +be actively engaged in the C.M., it was decided to transfer the +head office from Roseland to Orangeville, where the Hernes would +see to the sending out of literature and do all the +correspondence, and so that would relieve Barker and Brookes, and +they could travel with Penloe and Stella, and Mr. Herne could do +their work and see to his ranch. Barker said: "Brookes and I will +pay all our own expenses connected with the work," and Penloe +said: "For the present we will do likewise, as we do not wish to +accept money from any one for our services; for by so doing our +influence will be much greater."</p> + +<p>Brookes said: "Why, Penloe, the people who have invited you and +Stella to speak have expressed a wish to pay all expenses and +remunerate you both for your services as well. When I think how +hard you worked to get what few dollars you may have saved from +your earnings, I hardly think you are called upon to use your +hard earnings when there are so many more financially able to pay +your expenses."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Stanley," said Penloe, "for your interest in my +financial welfare, but I see you are under the same impression +that many others are, in thinking that I worked out for the money +there was in it. If it had been money I wanted, I could have +accepted a very fine offer from a university to fill the Chair of +Oriental Languages; but instead of being Professor of Sanskrit +and drawing a fine salary, I took the position as dishwasher in a +restaurant in San Francisco for awhile. Then I worked with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> pick +and shovel on the Pacific Coast Road. Next I worked on the +streets in the City of Chicago. I returned to Orangeville and +took a position as cowboy on a great cattle ranch near +Orangeville. Then I worked out as a ranch hand. I did all this +hard, disagreeable work for my spiritual unfoldment. I did it to +bring myself in touch with the hard lot of the masses. I did it +also to show that if a man is upright in his purpose he can live +the Divine life anywhere. Again, I did it that I might minister +to the needs and necessities of that class of men who see and +hear so little in their lives to touch their Divine nature. That +was excellent for me; it helped to broaden and fit me for other +work."</p> + +<p>Brookes said: "It must have been exceedingly disagreeable to a +man of your tastes, culture and refinement, to perform such hard +muscular work in such rough surroundings, among coarse animal +men."</p> + +<p>Penloe said: "It would have been all that you have just expressed +had it not been for the fact that neither my work, my rough, +tough companions, nor my disagreeable environments were my world. +No, they were not my world. I built a wall around me and allowed +none of these things to enter my inner thought. My life was one +of bliss, for I was all the time drinking deep at the fountain of +Divine love, and by His help I trained and disciplined myself so +that I saw Him in my hard manual toil. I saw Him in all my +uninviting environments, and, above all, I saw Him in my animal +companions."</p> + +<p>Barker and Brookes saw such a glow of spiritual fire in Penloe's +face as he finished his last remark as they had never seen there +before. They realized they were in the presence of a divine man, +and their natures had been touched by his discourse.</p> + +<p>After a pause Penloe said: "My father left me property which +brings me an income sufficient to make me independent of +receiving financial support from those we intend to address."</p> + +<p>After further talk in regard to perfecting arrangements, it was +decided that Barker and Brookes should go to Los Angeles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> and +arrange for Penloe and Stella to speak on Thursday evening of the +following week. The committee of arrangements in Los Angeles saw +the need of securing the largest hall in the city, for the city +dailies had taken up the matter of their coming and dwelt upon +it, so that interest in the subject combined with curiosity to +see and hear two such remarkable personages caused the committee +to do their best to provide accommodations for the large crowd +they expected. Before the time for opening the meeting every seat +in the large hall had been taken and standing room was all that +was left, and that even was taken by the time the meeting was +opened.</p> + +<p>The Mayor of Los Angeles opened the meeting in the following +language:</p> + +<p>"It gives me great pleasure this evening to see before me this +large and intelligent audience. I am proud to think that this +audience before me to-night has demonstrated the wisdom and good +sense of the leaders of the C.I. in selecting this city, above +all others in this State, to open the campaign for the C.M. In +order that you may feel better acquainted with the persons who +will address you to-night, I will let you into a little secret +which came to me in a very indirect way. It seems that the +gentleman and lady who are on the platform were about to start on +their wedding tour through the Oriental countries, and they had +received the gift of a handsome sum of money to defray their +traveling expenses; but when Los Angeles and other places sent +pressing invitations to them to speak they gave up their wedding +tour and returned the money to the giver in order that they might +be able to accept the call which you and other cities have given +them. I must say, in justice to the giver, it was subsequently +returned. They are here at their own expense, they receive no +remuneration whatever. I tell you this so you may appreciate +their nobility and fidelity of character, their honesty of +purpose in so grand a cause. Ladies and gentlemen, I now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> have +the honor of introducing to you Penloe and Stella, the leaders of +the C.I., who will address you this evening."</p> + +<p>When Penloe and Stella came forward the whole audience rose and +saluted them.</p> + +<p>In regard to the meeting, we will quote a few extracts from one +of the Los Angeles dailies: "However various the views on the +C.I. the audience may have which heard Penloe and Stella last +night, there can be but one thought in regard to the speakers +themselves, and that is they are the two most remarkable and +distinguished personalities that ever appeared before a Los +Angeles audience. As speakers, they are brilliant, logical and +impressive, and soon inspire you with their sincerity of purpose +and with confidence in themselves. It seems there <i>is tacked on +to the C.I. 'Woman's Suffrage'</i>, for it is claimed that a woman +is still in bondage till she stands equal before the law, and has +all the rights and privileges that a man has.</p> + +<p>"Penloe's remarks were addressed more particularly to men, +looking at the C.I. from the standpoint of a man, while Stella +presented the woman's view.</p> + +<p>"Penloe put these questions to the men of the audience: 'Is there +a man here to-night who does not think that the average woman is +as intelligent as the average man? Is there a man here to-night +who does not think that woman has a divine nature the same as +man? I would like to see the man rise in this audience who thinks +he has a divine nature, but does not wish another being who has a +divine nature to enjoy the same privileges as he himself enjoys?'... +Stella portrayed in a telling manner the sufferings and +misery which have been woman's lot through being in bondage to +her material form.... We here give a few notes from Stella's +address:</p> + +<p>"A woman who is in bondage to her material form can never rise +above the idea that she is just a woman and nothing more."</p> + +<p>"A woman to be free must have a higher idea of herself than that +she is only a woman." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A woman can only advance as her thought concerning herself +advances."</p> + +<p>"When woman looks upon herself as an intellectual and spiritual +being, and not as just being a woman only, and her whole thought +is to adorn her mind and manifest the qualities of her soul, then +will man look upon her with the same eyes as she looks upon +herself."</p> + +<p>"It is not man that keeps woman in bondage, but woman keeps +herself in bondage through the thought she has concerning +herself."... "Stella said we are not here on a flying visit, we +have decided to remain in Southern California till two-thirds of +its inhabitants are not only talking of <i>but living</i> the C.I., +and we will stay here till we get a vote of two-thirds from all +males over twenty-one, and all women over eighteen, in favor of +woman's suffrage. It does not matter how pressing the calls to +speak elsewhere may be, we shall not accept them till the work is +completely done in Southern California."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h4>OUT OF BONDAGE.</h4> + +<p>The next day after the meeting Barker and Brookes were busy with +the C.I. Committee of Los Angeles in dividing the work up and +organizing, so that each ward of the city had its committee, +whose business it was to do all it could in enlightening the +people of the ward in which the committee lived.</p> + +<p>Penloe and Stella devoted one afternoon and evening to informal +talks in each ward in the city, those present having the +privilege of asking questions. After Penloe and Stella had worked +in every ward, they went with Barker and Brookes to San Diego and +spent a week there; then they worked all the other towns in +Southern California, and then returned to Los Angeles. On their +return they were more than satisfied with the progress of the +C.M. What helped the movement very much was the character which +Penloe and Stella gave it. When some of the more conservative +element suggested the impropriety or immodesty of the C.I., they +were met with the answer: "Look at Penloe and Stella, who live +the idea every day of their lives. Are there any purer-minded +persons than they are? Do not the best people of the city open +their houses to welcome them? Did they not tell how living the +life helped them intellectually and spiritually?" Those replies +quieted all opposition and gave courage to those who were a +little timid and fearful, also to those in doubt whether it was +right or not. As the movement was gaining ground rapidly, persons +began to think how very foolish it was to entertain such thoughts +as they had been accustomed to concerning the sexes. The movement +in Southern California showed how the movement would work +elsewhere in this way. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> one of those movements that needed +a few intelligent, courageous spirits in a locality to start it, +and when once it got a going, most of the other members of the +community fell in line, and when it was about universally adopted +in one locality, the people living in the next county soon joined +the movement. After three months' labor in Los Angeles a vote was +taken. For Woman's Suffrage, eighty-five per cent. voted "Yes," +and by a very careful estimate seventy-five per cent. had put in +practice in one form or another the C.I. Soon San Diego followed +Los Angeles, then Pasadena and Riverside, and soon after all the +other towns in Southern California fell in line. The result was +wired all over the State and nation.</p> + +<p>During the progress of the movement in Southern California, Mr. +and Mrs. Herne were not idle. They put their hands in their +pockets freely, and paid for much of the printed matter they +circulated.</p> + +<p>Now that Southern California had gone overwhelmingly for the C.I. +Penloe and Stella, Barker and Brookes, felt at liberty to accept +some of the many urgent calls from other parts of the State. They +were continually receiving calls from other States, but would +accept none till the same condition prevailed throughout the +whole State as now existed in Southern California and the State +Legislature had granted to woman the same legal standing in the +eyes of the law that man had.</p> + +<p>The next places visited by the workers were Bakersfield, Hanford, +Tulare, Visalia, Fresno, Oakland, and San Francisco. In all these +places they found the work in a more or less advanced state. The +fact that Southern California had gone for the C.I. was a great +help in forwarding the movement in other places, so that after +about eight months' work in these cities just named, and some +other places, it was found that the entire State had been carried +for the C.M. and Woman's Suffrage, except one county. The +Legislature was about to meet in a month's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> time, and would give +to woman the suffrage, and place her, in other respects, on an +equality with man in the eyes of the law.</p> + +<p>Great work was being done in the last county, so that it joined +the rest of California for progressive thought, and the whole +State was carried for the C.I. just as the Legislature passed the +necessary acts for woman's legal freedom. The news was wired to +every State in the Union, and California was one scene of +rejoicing throughout the entire State. It was a great day for +California when her men and women threw off the yoke of +superstition and ignorance and thus cut some of the bonds which +had held them in ignorance. They had taken one great stride +toward the goal of freedom. California now took her true place +among the States in the Union, for she led the way toward freedom +in its highest sense.</p> + +<p>The leaders of advanced thought in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and +Idaho were very active in working for the C.I. All these States +having granted woman the suffrage before the C.M. was started, +the workers found it easy to get them to follow California in the +grand procession for freedom.</p> + +<p>Wyoming, which was the first to grant the suffrage to woman, was +the next to join California; then came Colorado, then Utah, and +then Idaho wheeled into line.</p> + +<p>Penloe and Stella were receiving calls to labor from other +States, and finally decided to go to Illinois. Kansas wired the +following message to the Central Committee of California: "Kansas +is all ablaze with the C.M. from its center to its circumference, +and its fires have leaped the borders into Nebraska, Iowa, and +reached Minnesota."</p> + +<p>After the C.I. had been practised in Southern California a few +months, if a young gentleman had just returned to the East from +Los Angeles, his friends wanted to know immediately how the C.I. +worked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Franklin Hart, of New York, a young gentleman who had just +returned from Los Angeles, was sitting in a parlor with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> some +young friends, and they all wanted him to relate his impressions +of the C.I. in Los Angeles. When he was describing its workings, +two or three young ladies put their hands to their faces and +laughed, one saying, "How strange and funny it must have seemed." +Another young lady remarked, "There has been too much foolishness +about such things." Mr. Franklin Hart said: "After you have been +there about a week the old idea seems stranger than the new. You +wonder to yourself however such thoughts could have fastened +themselves on us for generations and generations."</p> + +<p>Prof. Dawson, of Boston, visited Los Angeles two years after the +C.I. had been in operation, and wrote a letter to the leading +Boston daily, as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: Being naturally of a conservative turn of +mind, I came to Los Angeles with ideas unfavorable to +the C.M. I had not taken the least stock in what the +papers said or the people of California wrote in regard +to the practical workings of the C.I. I expected the +defenses of morality and modesty had been swept away by +such ideas, and that the communities of Southern +California had sunk into licentiousness. I had spent +two years in California about eight years ago, and I +considered at that time that the morals of the people +were not of a high order. So I expected to find society +in a still worse moral condition now. I have been here +six months, and, in justice to truth, I must state the +facts even if they show that my previous opinions were +incorrect. To those who study the people closely in +regard to sex matters, I can say truthfully that sexual +excitement has fallen fifty per cent., and that obscene +pictures and stories have no attraction for the people. +The low places of amusement, that used to be run under +the name of 'Variety Theaters,' and other such names, +are closed up, for the reason, as a former proprietor +of one of these resorts expressed it, 'A leg and bosom +show has no attraction for the people since the C.I. +has been in operation.' <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>Houses of prostitution are +less in number by forty per cent., so the chief of +police informed me, and I saw a large number of them +closed. The low dives are closed, and places where +girls made exhibitions of themselves for the sole +purpose of exciting passion in man are no more. They +died for want of patronage. The forms of each sex are +looked at now with eyes which see purity and beauty.</p> + +<p>"I notice, also, the conversation among young people +has improved greatly, being of a higher and purer kind. +Now I practised the C.I. myself, and came in contact +with many of both sexes. After very careful observation +in Los Angeles, and other towns in Southern California, +I feel I am in a position to know and I can state that +I now consider the C.I. is the greatest reform movement +that the world has ever seen. </p> + +<p class="p5">"Yours truly,</p> +<p class="p3">"Robert Dawson."</p></div> + +<p>In about a year later the four progressive States known as +Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa, had removed all barriers +from woman's political freedom and placed her, in the eyes of the +law, where California had. The C.I. having become the predominant +thought, it was lived throughout these four States. The C.M. +received a great impetus when they fell into line with the other +advanced States.</p> + +<p>Penloe and Stella, with Barker and Brookes and other workers, had +worked for over a year in Illinois, and now they were +concentrating all their forces in Chicago, the other part of the +State being all right. It was in that city that a great battle +for reform had to be fought. The opposition was strong. It +consisted of society ladies and gentlemen, who thought woman's +position was above politics; that is, to their minds it was far +higher for a woman to be prettily and daintily dressed, and to be +a petted slave, than to use her God-given intellect for the +benefit of herself and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>nation in which she lived. The other +wing of the opposition consisted of those who were making money +in the saloon business and running low places of amusement. They +did not want woman to vote in making laws which might be +detrimental to their business interests. As the opposition became +strong in its concerted action to overthrow the influence of the +reform forces, the two great figure-heads, the two grand leaders +of the C.M. seemed to acquire increased energy and power. Listen +to what Barker and Brookes said, after having attended a meeting +in the great Auditorium of the Lake City, when over a thousand +had to be turned away for want of room:</p> + +<p>"Though I have been so much with Penloe and Stella like yourself, +and one would naturally think that the influence of their +personality had become common, yet such is not my experience," +said Brookes.</p> + +<p>Barker replied: "Is not that strange, where we see them almost +every day, as we have done for about two years? Instead of their +influence becoming tame and commonplace, it seems to take a +renewed force and power with each day, and they appear to carry a +newness and freshness with them continually. Their efforts +to-night were the greatest of their lives."</p> + +<p>Brookes said: "I saw the power of the Yogi to-night as I never +had witnessed it, to such a degree, before. Did you notice, +Barker, that at the close of the meeting, instead of having some +prominent person speaking against the C.M., there was not one +dissenting voice when opportunity was given, but the short +speeches which were made by prominent members of the audience +were all in favor of the movement. Just think of the number of +invitations that poured in upon them to deliver the same address +in other parts of the city. The battle is won, Barker, for no +opposition can withstand that power which was manifested +to-night."</p> + +<p>It was as Brookes said, the opposing forces had to yield, for +there was a seen and an unseen power sent out which swept and +overcame all opposition, and a month later Illinois was counted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +in with the procession which California was leading. A year later +the great States of Ohio and Pennsylvania had joined the ranks, +followed by the old Bay State with its conservative element, and +Boston became the scene of illumination and rejoicing. The +influence of these great States was felt in many smaller ones, +and they also helped to swell the wave of the C.M. by joining the +ranks. Quite a large percentage of that element in the big +cities, who profited by pandering and catering to the depraved +tastes of human nature, had left the city in which they carried +on their places of business now that the C.I. was practised, and +they had gone to the City of New York, thinking the element to +which they belonged was too powerful in Gotham ever to be driven +out by the C.M., and it was in this city where the greatest of +all battles for reform thought was fought.</p> + +<p>When Penloe and Stella with Barker and Brookes left Chicago, they +went to the City of New York, staying in Boston a week on their +way. They had now been in this city for over a year and had +called together picked workers from many other States who were in +the procession for reform. The opposition was the same as that +encountered in Chicago, only ten times as strong.</p> + +<p>When they had been in the city eighteen months, some few of the +churches had helped forward the work, just as some churches did +in other cities. Penloe decided that every church and every +society of every kind that had for its basis of organization love +and justice, should receive a special invitation to join in this +great moral reform movement, and special work should be allotted +them. Penloe and Stella made a personal visit to the leaders of +the various sects, denominations and societies, and ably +presented the case for their consideration, showing that the life +of their organization depended upon their members being active +living workers for truth, purity and justice. He put each society +on record as to where they stood, whether its organization was +merely that of a social club, or whether it was ready to stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +and work for the principles it claimed to have for its +foundation. Be it said to the credit of each society, sect and +organization, they all responded heartily and coöperated with +Penloe and Stella in helping forward the grand reform; for they +saw it was useless to prate about love, purity, justice and +freedom, with woman debarred by law from her legal and political +rights and tolerating a social custom which excited the worst +passions and bred prurient curiosity. It was a grand and glorious +sight, such as the world had not witnessed before, to see +Catholics, Unitarians, Methodists, Universalists, Baptists, +Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Theosophists, +members of the Jewish Synagogue, representatives of the Vedanta, +together with the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., Christian Union, +Christian Science and Socialists Societies, and all other such +societies join in the work. The members of these various bodies +coming in contact with those two great spiritual luminaries, +seemed to receive such an influx of the Divine as purified their +own organizations and made them what they should always be, a +<i>great power for good</i>. With such concentrated efforts by such an +army of workers, the enemy gave way and New York City became the +beacon light to travelers from other nations; not as it had been +a city of greed and lust, but a city where woman stood before the +law the same as man, and where its citizens were beginning to +walk a little more in the line of purity and freedom.</p> + +<p>Just before the battle was won in the State of New York, the +agitation which had been going on in England, Wales, Scotland and +Ireland for over two years culminated in a victory for the reform +forces. Two years after the State of New York was won, the C.M. +had carried every State in the Union, and also Canada. Australia +and New Zealand not wishing to be behind in all that stood for +advanced thought and freedom, fell in line with the other +English-speaking countries.</p> + +<p>Penloe and Stella did not consider the work finished yet, and +they called for a congress of representative workers to meet in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +the Auditorium in Chicago at a suitable date, which would give +all time to be present. Each State and country were to send two +delegates, one man and one woman. Australia, New Zealand, +England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, and every State in the +Union were all represented at the Congress.</p> + +<p>When the Congress assembled, it was unanimously agreed that +Stella should preside.</p> + +<p>After the meeting had been opened and some preliminaries had been +gone through, Penloe said: "In the call for this congress it was +stated that its purpose was to consider how best to carry on this +great work in foreign countries, but before doing so I think it +would be best to change the name of the work. It seems necessary +that some names, as well as races, should pass through the period +of evolution. The reason why I will briefly state, as follows: In +some countries where it is necessary to carry on this work, they +are not in bondage, and the name C.I. would not convey the +meaning of the full scope of our work; for while it is true they +do not discriminate between the sexes, yet they are in bondage in +many other different ways, and while the work originally started +with the idea of freeing men and women from the shackles of +sexual bondage with the name of 'Sex Reform Movement,' yet +afterwards it was called the 'California Idea,' and the name +included Woman's Suffrage, so as to make her free before the law, +before man, and before the whole world. And as it grew its name +changed to 'California Movement.' But now that the work has grown +to such gigantic proportions, having about taken in all the +English speaking countries, the work has also grown in its scope +of usefulness and its object now is not only to free the mind +from sexual bondage, not only to see that woman holds the same +place as man in the eyes of the law of the land that she lives +in, but still more, to FREE HUMANITY FROM ALL BONDAGES OF EVERY +KIND OR CHARACTER. Therefore, I propose that the name to be given +to the movement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> shall be '<i>Reform Forces</i>,' for under this name +and banner all can work."</p> + +<p>After a little discussion the name given by Penloe was adopted +unanimously.</p> + +<p>The next business was to hear from some of the delegates in +regard to plans for carrying on the work in foreign countries. +After hearing many different plans proposed, and listening to +various suggestions from many of the delegates, the plan mapped +out by Penloe was finally carried unanimously.</p> + +<p>It was something like this: That each country or State should +have its special work. Europe was portioned off to England, +Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. +They were to divide the work among themselves. New York took +Southern India, Pennsylvania took Northern India. The northern +half of China was allotted to Illinois, the southern half, to +Ohio. Mexico was given to Texas. The islands of the Pacific to +California. South America was portioned off to other States. +Massachusetts was given Japan, Egypt was given to Michigan. +Persia to Indiana. Every State had a certain work of its own in +some foreign country separate from that which was done by other +States and countries. Each State or country was to send just four +teachers to the country they had taken to enlighten. The teachers +must be all round characters, with high intellectual attainments, +and possessing at the same time rich spiritual gifts and free +from family ties.</p> + +<p>The line of work marked out for the teachers was as follows: +First, to locate themselves in the largest city in the country to +which they are sent.</p> + +<p>To make themselves thoroughly familiar with the writings and +teachings of the founders of the predominant religion of the +country to which they are sent.</p> + +<p>To find out all that is known of the leading saints and sages who +have lived in their lives the prevailing religion of the country +in which they lived. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>To study thoroughly the habits, customs and bondages of the +people of the country to which they are sent. Then to cultivate +the acquaintance of the most intellectual and spiritually +inclined native men and women and get them interested in the work +of the Reform Forces. To appeal to them, and reach them through +the teachings of the founders of their own religion, as well as +by what has been written and said by their own saints and sages. +Get the intelligent natives of both sexes to become the leaders +and teachers to their people. Get the native teachers to work to +strike at some of the bondages which they think the people are +ready to free themselves from first, and when the people have +thrown off one bondage then to work to get them to be free from +other bondages.</p> + +<p>After the teachers have got a group of intelligent native workers +in the line of the Reform Forces in one city, they are to go to +another city and do the same till the whole country has native +workers in every part working along the line of the Reform +Forces.</p> + +<p>From Penloe's remarks before the Congress, concerning the +religions of other nations, we will copy the following extract. +"If any one will study the teachings of the saints and sages of +other religions, he will find that the essence of spiritual +thought contained in them all is about the same as that contained +in Christianity. The mistake which has been made by missionaries +and others lie in thinking that the ritual and practices of the +masses represent the thoughts of the great spiritual luminaries +of those religions. The masses of the Oriental countries no more +represent the real thoughts of the great spiritual teachers of +those countries than the commercial cannibalism of the West +represents the teachings of Christ. In fact, the masses of the +Oriental countries are in ignorance of the real spiritual thought +of their own religion, as much as the masses of the Western World +are of theirs, and the teachers who are sent out by the West +would help forward the work of the Reform Forces by showing the +natives<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> that the ideas of the reform forces are in the line of +thought of their own great saints and sages. There is not a +delegate present who is not able to show that the work of the +Reform Forces is in accordance with the teachings of +Christianity. I can also clearly show to you from the teachings +of the Zendavesta, of the Koran, of Buddha, of Krishna, of Lord +Gauranga, of Seyed, Mohammed Ali, and of Rama Krishna, that the +spiritual thought of the Reform Forces is in accordance with +those teachings. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Gauranga, and Rama +Krishna, were all the manifestation of God in the flesh. They +towered head and shoulders above all others in the manifestation +of the Divine.</p> + +<p>"Supposing I was a true follower of Buddha and a person who was a +true follower of Jesus spoke to me about the grand life and +teachings of Jesus, what would his opinion of me be if he saw +that I was jealous because he said nothing about Buddha, or +because I thought the more beauty and glory he saw in Jesus it +lessened and belittled the character of Buddha. Would he not be +right in thinking I was ignorantly and foolishly jealous, and +that that feeling ought not to exist in a true follower of +Buddha? What then when you speak to a follower of Jesus about the +divine life of Buddha or Krishna, if he should become incensed in +manner and speech and manifest a feeling of jealousy, acting as +it were that in seeing the Divine in Buddha or Krishna made you +think less of Jesus. And yet that is a common experience which +one meets with among very many of the followers of Jesus. No, for +in proportion as you live the true Buddha life or Krishna life, +so do you live the true Christ life, and if I have imbibed the +spiritual thought of Jesus, I have also imbibed the true +spiritual thought of Buddha and Krishna. Thinking that the Divine +was manifested in Buddha or Krishna, does not lessen the exalted +conception which one may have of the Divine manifested in Jesus. +<i>The Divine is in all</i>, but is manifested in some persons to a +much greater degree than in others."</p> + +<p>Just before the Congress closed Mr. Rattenbury, one of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +delegates from California, rose to make a statement. He said: +"Since the Congress had assembled he and the lady delegate from +California had been in the receipt of numerous telegrams from +persons living in different parts of the State they represented, +to the effect that California did not wish to take the Philippine +Islands, but they would take the other islands of the Pacific, +and also they would send Penloe and Stella to make a tour through +the Oriental countries to help forward the work of the Reform +Forces as they saw best. The delegation from California has made +arrangements with the delegation from New Zealand and Australia, +so that the latter take the Philippine Islands as their field of +labor, as those islands are near to them. Therefore the +delegation from England and the other countries who have taken +Europe as their field of work, have kindly consented to release +Australia and New Zealand from helping them, so that they might +take the Philippine Islands. It might be well for me to state +that the delegation from California has waited on Penloe and +Stella, to ask them if they would go East, and I am pleased to +say that they have consented."</p> + +<p>He added, further: "It is with mingled feelings of pride and +pleasure that I stand to-day as one of the delegates from +California. I am proud to represent that grand State, with its +past achievements. Her boast before has always been of her +fertility and marvelous resources, such as her rich mines, her +large wheat fields, her prolific orchards, bearing fruits +belonging to many climes, her fine vineyards, with clusters of +luscious grapes, superior to those of Eschol, her grand floral +display, her great forests, and her oil wells. But now we can +boast that in its genial climate, surrounded by its grand scenery +and its lofty peaks, which lift their heads to heaven, that +Stella, the pearl of womanhood, should be born. It was under +these influences, surrounded by advanced liberal thought that she +grew up. On the soil that she was born did she consecrate herself +and all that was dear to her to liberating humanity from its many +bondages. Starting out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> with the idea of helping those of her own +sex to throw off a bondage which has held them in superstition +and ignorance, and which also has been the cause of untold +suffering and misery as well as millions of deaths, she labored +heroically under social persecution and ostracism. But when the +purity and nobility of her grand character was fully known, those +obstacles to her work disappeared as snow does before the heat of +the sun, for her whole nature being of intense love, its heat +melted all prejudices before it. All of you are familiar with the +grand work in her own State. I need not touch on her work in +other States, for you all know it so well. I am glad to state +that California which has always been so proud of her material +resources is now far prouder of the fact that on its soil was +born '<i>The Coming Woman</i>,' '<i>The Ideal Woman</i>,' '<i>The Glory of +California</i>,' and that her shores attracted the great Yogi +Penloe. California having already given Penloe and Stella to the +Nation, now bestows them to the World. When they travel through +many countries scattering light and knowledge wherever they go, +they will always know that wherever they are, even in the +furthest corner of the earth, that back of them, in all their +travels, are the wealth and great hearts of the people of the +Golden State."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Two days before Penloe and Stella left San Francisco for Japan, I +was seated in the parlor of Treelawn, in front of the large bay +window. On my right was Penloe and on my left was Stella. The +windows were raised and a gentle breeze wafted the fragrant odors +from the flower beds into the room, filling the parlor with +perfume. At times the muslin curtains puffed out gracefully by +the gentle breeze, and the external atmosphere was like the +internal of my companions' sweetness and harmony. The other +members of the company were Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright and Mr. and +Mrs. Herne. Many reminiscences were gone over. Penloe in a very +nice way spoke of the influence on owners of ranches, through Mr. +Herne's noble example of the treatment of his men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> and there was +a great improvement in the treatment that ranchers gave to their +hired help, and the ranches became more profitable accordingly.</p> + +<p>Clara Herne expressed her thoughts and feelings in regard to how +different the world and herself looked to her now, to what it did +when she first entered her home as a bride. She added: "The world +within me has become so beautiful, so bright, and so very large. +How lovely life has become, what a pleasure it is <i>to live</i>."</p> + +<p>It did me good to look into the faces of Stella's parents. That +grand old couple who had lived a life of purity under marriage, +and who gave to the world, Stella, "The Pride of California."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="EPILOGUE" id="EPILOGUE"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>EPILOGUE.</h2> + +<p>I must now part with two very dear friends, two whom I have known +so well, two whom I have loved with all the warmth of an intense +nature, two who have been an inspiration to my life.</p> + +<p>The consoling thought I have in taking leave of them is, that +though visibly they are not with me, yet they are always with me +in proportion as I manifest the same spiritual life which has +made them so dear to me. May they both be to you, dear reader, +what they are to me. +<br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/theend.png" width="250" height="234" + alt="The End" title="Decorative Finale" /></div> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>Footnotes</h3> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1" + href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> + Literary Digest, Dec., 1899.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2" + href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> + Vivekananda in Raja Voga.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3" + href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> + Karma Yoga, Vivekananda.</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="bbox"> +<h2>Transcriber's notes</h2> + + + +<ul> +<li> +Quotation marks are used inconsistently through the book; these have been left as +printed. +</li> +<li> +Inconsistent and unorthodox spelling (Lanair/Lenair, wont/won't, +Vivekanada/Vivekananda, bethrothed) has been retained. +</li> +</ul> +</div> + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A California Girl, by Edward Eldridge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALIFORNIA GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 28528-h.htm or 28528-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/2/28528/ + +Produced by Sarah Sammis, Jen Haines, Roger Frank and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A California Girl + +Author: Edward Eldridge + +Release Date: April 7, 2009 [EBook #28528] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALIFORNIA GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Sarah Sammis, Jen Haines, Roger Frank and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +A CALIFORNIA GIRL + +BY EDWARD ELDRIDGE + + +The Abbey Press +PUBLISHERS + +114 FIFTH AVENUE +NEW YORK + +London Montreal + + +Copyright, 1902 +by The Abbey Press + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + Prologue 5 + + I. Clara Lawton 7 + + II. Ranch Talk 9 + + III. The Marriage of Charles Herne 21 + + IV. Julia Hammond 25 + + V. Ben West 35 + + VI. Stella Wheelwright 39 + + VII. Penloe 43 + + VIII. Ben West's Experience in the Klondike 54 + + IX. An Arrival 63 + + X. Mrs. Marston 70 + + XI. Saunders' Customers 85 + + XII. Penloe's Sermon 88 + + XIII. Return of Ben West 104 + + XIV. Five Years After Marriage 113 + + XV. A Conversation on the Porch 116 + + XVI. Tiestan 124 + + XVII. Penloe's Original Address 143 + + XVIII. Letters Received by Penloe 163 + + XIX. Mrs. West Relates Her Dream 170 + + XX. In the Mountains 174 + + XXI. A Wedding in Orangeville 184 + + XXII. The Herne Party 201 + + XXIII. A Visit from Barker and Brookes 218 + + XXIV. Out of Bondage 233 + + Epilogue 248 + + + + +PROLOGUE. + + +This book is not written for the specialist, but for that restless, +seething multitude known as "the masses." It is written for busy people, +for workers, such as the shop-girl, the factory-girl, the clerk, the +mechanic, the farmer, the merchant, and the busy housewife; but +ministers, lawyers, and doctors may find food for thought within its +covers. + +My heart goes out to God's secular army, composed of those who have +neither time nor opportunity to go through learned treatises and +scholarly essays, yet whose natures are hungering for something better +than they see and hear about them. So I have tried to weave into this +story the best and latest thought that has been given to the world, +believing it to be what the workers most need in the performance of +their daily duties, and what will help them out of bondage. + +People whose reading and observation have been limited may think that I +have drawn on my imagination altogether for most of the material in this +book. I can assure them that such is not the case; much of it is real. + +In regard to Penloe, there have been men who had greater spiritual gifts +than he, and I call to mind one, still living, whose illuminated +countenance and remarkable personality are superior to his. In Penloe is +seen the interior life of the Hindu combined with the best practical +thought of the West. + +Let a youth or maiden commence to live the life described by the man who +won the heart of the "Oriental Lady," related by Penloe in his +"Original Address," and he or she will then realize the facts which have +made the characters of Penloe and Stella. + +To any sensitive, fastidious reader I would say, it becomes an author, +in order to be true to life, to present certain characters as they +really are, and put into their mouths the language they actually use. + +Whatever there is of error in the book is the result of egoism; whatever +of truth and love is the work of Him who has brought me up out of the +marshes and lowlands, and caused me to drink at the crystal fountains of +the hills. + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +A CALIFORNIA GIRL. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CLARA LAWTON. + + +"Well, dear," said Mrs. Lawton to her daughter Clara, "the home you will +enter to-morrow as a bride is very different from the home that I +entered as your father's bride. Our home was a log cabin in the Michigan +woods, with only an acre of clearing, where the growing season is only +about four months long and the winter eight. Snow lay on the ground six +months of the year, from one to three feet deep. In our cabin, we had +the bare necessaries and your father had to work very hard cutting +cord-wood for a living; but we were very happy, for we had love and +health; and need I say, dear, what a joy it was to us when you entered +our cabin as a passenger on the journey of life. + +"My wish for you now is, that you may find as much happiness in the +companionship of Charles Herne as I have had in your father's, and as +much joy in the advent of a little one in your home as I did in you." + +"You have always been one of the kindest and best mothers a girl ever +had," said Clara, warmly. + +"I have tried to be," said Mrs. Lawton, simply. + +Clara Lawton was twenty-two years of age, prepossessing in appearance, +with a bright, happy expression. Her nature was deep and affectionate, +her tastes domestic and social. When she was twenty, Mr. and Mrs. Lawton +had moved to California and settled in the pretty little city of +Roseland, which nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. + +At a camping party Clara had first met Charles Herne, and the outcome of +that meeting was that to-morrow would be Clara's wedding day. + +Who can describe the thoughts that filled the mind of Clara the night +previous to her marriage? Who, indeed, can describe the thoughts that +fill the mind of any maiden as she lays her head on her pillow the night +previous to her marriage? + +All her life she had been taught to consider this the most important +event of her life, the acme of happiness, the end and aim of her +womanhood. The thought of her own little world and the decrees of the +great world at large alike hold her to that belief. That she is a soul +in process of development; that marriage is only one step towards +something higher; that the true union is the joining of hands to work +for humanity, are doctrines which would sound strange in her ears. She +feels that great change that is coming into her life, and her thoughts +are in accordance with her character and circumstances. One bride may be +filled with the sadness of unwilling acquiescence, another with the joy +of complete absorption, a third with the excitement incident upon an +entire change of environment. Clara Lawton's sweet nature prompted only +tender thoughts of the parents she was leaving, strong love for the man +who was to be her husband and the desire to be a true wife and make +their union a happy one. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +RANCH TALK. + + +The road going north from the beautiful little city of Roseland to the +mountains is known as the Walnut road. Six miles from Roseland, on the +Walnut road, is "Treelawn," the home of Charles Herne. A modern +two-story house is built well back from the road, and between the house +and road are lawns decorated with flower-beds, some tall oleanders, +several banana plants, and choice varieties of roses, vines, and +shrubbery. On one side of the house there is a thriving orange and lemon +orchard; on the other fig, almond, and walnut trees; while back of the +house are other extensive orchards of the finest fruits. The house is +very comfortably furnished, much better than most houses in the country; +its arrangement being very convenient and modern. + +Charles Herne, the owner of this property was, at the time our story +opens, a young man of twenty-eight, tall, well built, with a pleasant +open countenance which was a true index of his character. He always +looked closely after his business interests, but at the same time +allowed his generous, kindly spirit full scope. + +When Charles was eighteen his father thought it would be well for him to +go out to work a year or so on other ranches, that he might gain more by +experience, get more ideas and know what it was to depend on himself and +make his own way in the world. After an absence of two years, came the +welcome summons home. On the evening of his return, when Charles and Mr. +Herne were seated comfortably on the porch, the father said: + +"Well, Charles, relate some of your experiences while working on +different ranches." + +"Though I did not speak of it in my letters, father," said Charles, "I +have had a pretty tough time of it since I left home." + +"I thought so," said his father, "and I wish you had written +particulars." + +"I should have done so," replied Charles, "but I wanted to see if there +was any sand in me and what staying qualities I possessed. Well, the +first job I struck was at the Funson ranch, driving a six-mule team +plowing. The leaders were the most contrary animals that ever had +harness on, the swings never would keep in their places, and the near +wheeler was so ugly that Pete, the man who had been driving the team, +said, 'the Devil couldn't hold a candle to him for pure meanness.' He +told me he used to swear at them all day and then lie awake nights +cursing himself for being such a fool as to drive them. He said, one +morning he took the team out to work, and after he had been working them +about an hour, the off mule began to cut up, backing, bucking, and +refusing to pull with the near one. At last Pete lost his temper and +began laying the whip on him, saying he would 'whale the stuffing out of +him'; then the mule got mad, broke the harness and the whole team became +unmanageable and got away from him. He let them go and started toward +the house, pouring out a steady stream of oaths as he went. Just at the +gate he met the boss and greeted him with, 'I'll see that team in Hell +before I'll ever draw another line over their backs.' Funson asked him +what was the trouble, and Pete said, 'that off mule has been raising +hell, and the Devil has got into 'em all, breaking the harness and +running away.' The boss told Pete not to make a fool of himself, but to +go back to the field and get his team together. Pete said, 'I'll see you +in Hell before I'll ever touch that team again. You haven't a well broke +team on the ranch for a man to handle. You buy a lot of half-broken, +bucking, balky teams because you can get 'em cheap. You don't care how +much hell it gives a man to drive 'em.' Funson told him to go and hunt +up some cattle, and sent another man to drive the mules. It's an actual +fact, father, that if a man had told the boss in polite and correct +language what had happened to the team, he would have stared in utter +astonishment and surprise." + +"Quite true, my son, quite true," said the old gentleman. + +"The man that took Pete's place," continued Charles, "drove the team two +days and that let him out. Then I came along and got the job. Didn't +Pete laugh when he came through the field with a bunch of cattle and saw +me trying to take the contrariness out of the leaders. He called out, +'Give 'em hell, give 'em hell!' + +"When I came up to the barn at night, Pete was there putting up his +broncho, and he greeted me with, 'Well, Charles, how do you like your +job?' + +"I said I wasn't stuck on it. + +"'It's hell, ain't it?' said he; then added, 'the only way you can ever +get that team to pull steady is to get right in and cuss 'em good; they +are broke to cussing.' + +"After supper the boys got together in the barn and played cards for two +hours. When they were tired of card-playing, they interested each other +by telling yarns about experiences with women, each striving to make his +story more thrilling than the last, and this entertainment continued +until they were ready to spread out their blankets and sleep. + +"It is pretty cold sleeping in a barn December nights, even in our +California climate; but, as you know, there are few ranches where the +men are allowed to sleep in the house. + +"I had to be up before it was light in the mornings and clean off those +mules, feed and harness them, and then have my breakfast. After +breakfast, just as it was getting light, we started to work. The +mornings were very cold. About dark I would bring my team in and by the +time I had unharnessed them, fed them, and had my supper, I was ready +for bed. + +"After a man has put all his energy into a long, hard, tedious day's +work, he feels more like a worn-out old plug than a man. He has no +surplus force left to expend in elevating mental pursuits, for it has +been all exhausted in severe physical labor. + +"Such labor continually kept up, has a tendency to dull what few good +aspirations a man may have had to bring his animal nature under control. +Therefore, after such a day's work, if he has any desires, they are +those of the brute, and it is no wonder that men should want something +of a sensational, exciting nature at night to keep their minds off +themselves and relieve the monotony of their toil. + +"Well, father, I did lots of thinking when night came, about such +subjects, and came to some very decisive conclusions; but to return to +my story. + +"One night when I was taking the harness off him, the near leader kicked +me on the leg. The pain was so severe that I scarcely slept any that +night. They say a mule will be good and gentle in the barn three hundred +and sixty-four days in the year, for the sake of getting a chance to +kick a man on the three hundred and sixty-fifth day, and I believe it is +so. + +"After dinner one day, we had just left the house when one of the men +said, 'Didn't the old woman give the boss hell, this noon? I tell you +she's got a temper.' 'Yes,' said Pete, 'but she's not very old, not +forty yet. She's always firing up about something; she keeps him in hell +most of the time. The trouble is,' continued he, 'he's got nothing broke +on his ranch; his mules are not broke, his broncho cows are not broke, +his wife is not broke, and the old cuss himself is not broke.' + +"After enduring all the torment and petty aggravation that a man could +stand for three months, I left and went to work at the White Oak Ranch. +The boss there set me to grubbing out oaks, and I can assure you it was +a relief after driving those mules. + +"The third night I was at this place, I was the last to join the men at +the barn, and when I got there I found the teamsters, George and Harry, +making the air blue with oaths. They were giving it to the boss because +he would not get new harnesses, the old ones being mended all over with +wire and baling rope and the lines rotten. Harry's leaders had broken +their lines twice that day, it seemed, and he had nearly lost control of +them in consequence. 'The old fool keeps a-promising and a-promising to +get new harness,' said George, 'but he never gets it; and he hasn't got +a harness on his whole darn ranch that's worth a whoop in hell.' 'My old +plugs broke their harness five times to-day,' said Harry. 'Since I've +been here, the teams have done more damage and lost more than would pay +for a new harness ten times over.' + +"When I had been there about a month, the hot weather began to come on, +and the feed to dry up, and I had to help clean the ditches out, ready +for irrigating. It was a big job, so many willows to grub out, and it +took much longer to finish it because we were so constantly called away +to drive out cattle and hogs that had broken into the orchard and grain +fields. You see, the feed was getting scarce, there was more stock than +there was feed for, and the fences were very shaky. The boss kept +talking about new fences, but he never had them built, he was satisfied +with patching the old ones. + +"Well, we got the ditches cleaned out and commenced to irrigate, using +all the water we could get. I was one to help irrigate and look after +the ditches. The work would have been really pleasant if we could only +have kept the band of hogs out. They would get in after the green feed +and break the ditches, causing the water to wash the soil away. That +band of hogs began to torment me as much as the mules had done. They +were so hungry you could not keep them out. I didn't blame them, poor, +lank, starved creatures, for getting in and getting something to eat. I +would have done the same in their case. + +"At last the boss thought he would shut them up in the barnyard and feed +them. Well, he had forty starved hogs shut up, and he gave them about as +much food each day as ten hogs could eat. Of course, they became like a +pack of wolves, and it was all a man could do to get through the yard. +Forty hogs would come all around him, squealing and yelling as though +they were being butchered, and you had to keep moving lively or they +would bite your legs. Henderson, one of the men, told me they ate up +four cats and three kittens and more chickens than had been on the table +for a year. + +"One Sunday morning, after breakfast, I commenced to wash my shirt and +overalls, when Henderson called to me, 'Cattle in the peach orchard!' +Now, at the further end of the peach orchard there were a hundred nice +young trees, covered with tender foliage, looking fine. It seems the +cattle got into the orchard in the night and ate all the growth off +them, so they looked just like sticks. It really was a shame to see such +fine trees damaged in that way, but the boss would not take time to +build a good fence around them. That afternoon I went to lie down in the +barn; it was hot, the mosquitoes and flies were getting in their best +licks at me. I was trying to sleep, and just as I was about succeeding +Henderson called out: 'Charles, get your shovel and come quick.' 'What's +the matter?' I asked. 'Why, the hogs have played the devil and broke the +ditches and the water is running all over Hell.' Mad as I felt about +being disturbed, I could not help smiling within at the thought of water +running all over hell, and I said to him: 'If those hogs can flood hell +with water they ought to be sent to a dime museum.' We went on in +silence till we reached the orchard gate, when Henderson said: 'Do you +know, I would rather take a licking than open that gate, for it's a +back-breaker. It hasn't got a hinge, and is as heavy as an elephant; you +have to lift it up and drag it along the ground. It takes more time to +hang a gate that way with a band of iron to a post or a bent stick in +the place of the iron, than it would to buy two pairs of hinges; and yet +that is the only kind he has on the place. It seems as if everything on +the place was devised to make work as hard, unhandy, and wrong-end-to as +possible.' + +"That evening when we had gathered together as usual, Harry opened the +conversation by saying: 'What a racket there was to-night at supper! It +seems to me the whole family is raising hell all the time, but I don't +blame the old woman much for giving the boss a jawing about throwing his +old broken harness on her bedroom floor, when he came home in the light +rig this afternoon.' 'He is always doing such things,' said George. 'The +front room is more like an old store-room than anything else. He don't +deserve a house; that man ought to live in a barn.' + +"Another of the men said: 'If ever there was any attraction between the +boss and his wife, it has long ago disappeared; and the children! What a +quarreling gang they are.' Then they proceeded to discuss at length each +member of the family, and I must say, father, that although I had become +accustomed to much of the roughness of the life of these ranches, I was +so shocked over some of the things they said that it took me a long time +to get over it. I was not surprised that the boys should be little +reprobates, because I didn't see how they could be otherwise, living +with such a crew of men around them all the time, but was shocked to +hear what they said about the girls. There were two of them: one fifteen +years old, the other eighteen. Rather pretty girls they were, too. I had +talked with them several times and they seemed modest and quite shy with +me. I hadn't seen them much with the other fellows. Well, father, when +those men had finished talking, they hadn't left those girls a shred of +what the world calls a reputation, and the worst of it was that their +stories were for the most part true, as I afterward ascertained. I could +scarcely speak to the girls for several days; for somehow one expects +more of a girl than of a boy, though I don't know why one should," he +added, thoughtfully. "I'm sure I'd want to be as pure as the girl I +married. + +"Well, I studied over the thing a good deal, and I finally came to this +conclusion: Those girls were not bad; they were simply curious. They led +such narrow, cramped lives that there was nothing for their active +brains to feed on, so they naturally turned to the most interesting +thing at hand, themselves, their physical selves. A superabundance of +vitality overshadowed their small mental equipment. In the absence of +suitable entertainment the physical part of their being had fatally +asserted itself. Ignorant of consequences, they sinned innocently. I +felt sorry for them, and during the rest of my stay there, I tried to +give them some glimpses of a more intellectual life. + +"Well," continued Charles, "I stayed in that hell over a year, then left +and went to the Lonsdale ranch. There we did not use the barn to sleep +in; each man had a bunk to himself in the bunk-house. The interior of +the bunk-house was decorated with several choice works of art, one +representing three young ladies, in abbreviated costumes, enjoying wine +and cigarettes; another showed several men lifting from the water the +nude form of a beautiful young woman who had committed suicide; while a +third was an exciting picture of a jealous woman, in a much torn +garment, holding a pistol to the head of her faithless lover. Some +pictures of Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, and Sharkey also adorned the walls. +Much time was spent in the evenings discussing the various merits and +demerits of the pugilists. I was often surprised at the able and +exhaustive manner in which they would handle the subject, and showed +some remarkable ability in treating of the qualities of the prize +fighting gentlemen. If the same amount of brain power had been turned in +other directions, how useful to their country those men might have +become. I do not wish to convey the idea that they were always handling +such great and momentous topics as the fighting qualities of those noted +gentlemen. Very often, by way of variation, they would talk of those +feminine types of beauty which appeared so conspicuously in the _Police +Gazette_ and the _Sporting Times_. + +"It was astonishing the amount of information they displayed concerning +women, what retentive memories they had, and how very familiar they were +with the subject of woman, her ways, and her sex nature. Their mental +horizon was bounded on the north by the affairs of the ranch, on the +east by the boss and his domestic concerns, on the south by woman as +manifested by the various phases of her sexual nature, and on the west +by the gentry of the prize ring. Within these boundaries was their +mental world, their minds never reaching out and beyond these subjects. + +"The reading matter on the table was the sensational weekly papers. + +"I remember one Sunday to my surprise I saw one of the men reading a +book. On looking at the title, it read: 'The Life of Rattlesnake Pete,' +and another man had a book lying on his blankets, entitled 'The +Adventures of Coyote Bill.' Gambling was their favorite pastime. It was +one round of card playing nights and Sundays. When I first went to work +on the Lonsdale ranch, the boss put me to cutting oak wood. After I had +been at work awhile, he came along and told me that I did not hold the +handle of my axe right. The next day he found fault with me for the way +I used a cross-cut saw. A week later I was piling brush to burn, and the +way I laid the brush did not suit him. He was everlastingly blowing +about himself and telling how he did things. I did not seem to be able +to do anything right. One night after supper we had all assembled in the +bunk-house, when Parsons said: 'I tell you boys, hell went pop this +morning. Plaisted gave the boss hell because he commenced to growl at +him for the way he held the lines. Plaisted told him he was the greatest +old crank that ever run a ranch, and that the devil himself couldn't +suit him. He left the team right in the field and called for his money. +I tell you the boss's face was as red as a beet. He had to give Simmons +six dollars a month more to take the team.' + +"Hendricks said, 'I gave the boss a piece of my mind this morning when I +tried to open the gate leading into the garden. It is a rod long, and as +heavy as hell; the whole weight was on the ground. I told him any man +that had such a gate as that on his ranch never ought to own a ranch. I +said, 'Why in the devil don't you get some hinges and hang your gates?' +Ambrose spoke up, and said, 'Sometimes the boss seems pleasant enough, +but he does like to find fault and tell you what big things he has +done. To hear him talk you would think that his ranch was the only ranch +that was worth anything. He told his visitors to-day that his place +would pay the interest on one hundred thousand dollars. You know, boys, +it wouldn't sell for twelve thousand.' + +"Parsons said: 'The boss has been growling at me ever since I have been +with him, but I pay no attention to him. He thinks if you don't do a +thing as he does, you don't do it right, and any idea that does not +originate in his brain is not worth anything. To hear him talking to +that lady visiting here to-day you would think he was a perfect man +living on a model ranch.' I will never forget how mad Hendricks was with +the boss one Saturday evening. We had just come from supper when +Hendricks lit his pipe and gave vent to his feelings, as follows: 'If I +had had a four-year-old club at the supper table to-night, I felt so +boiling mad that I would have knocked hell out of him. To hear him go on +a nagging and fault-finding with that little woman of his. There she has +been a-working hard all day, set three good meals, doing the churning +and all the housework besides; and all she gets for her patient labor is +a growl.' 'Yes,' said another man, 'she has been working like a slave +all the week and to-morrow is Sunday, and it will be to her just the +same as any other day.' Hendricks said: 'The boss thinks more of his old +plugs than he does of his wife. See what care he takes of his horses. +One lot is resting while the other lot is working; then those that have +been working are put in the pasture, and those that have been resting +are put to work. But he never seems to think that poor worn-out woman of +his needs a rest and change.' + +"Parsons added: 'That is not the worst of it. His wife is a cook-stove +slave, and a wash and butter-making machine. It does not matter how +tired she is or otherwise physically unfit, he demands his marital +privileges as a right, regardless of her wishes or protests. I know it +is a fact, for he brags about it.' Parsons continued: 'When a boy I +used to hear preachers talk about hell, and I could not see what was the +use of sending millions and billions of people to eternal torments, so I +thought there ought to be no such place as hell; but if there is a hell, +then I think the boss deserves to go there.' + +"An intelligent young man from the East by the name of Travers joined in +the conversation by saying: 'When I was a boy I remember how serious my +good father felt because he thought a neighbor had died without his sins +being forgiven, and had gone to hell. At that time the word _hell_ used +to have some meaning on the minds of the people, and produced on my mind +a feeling of fear and awe. But how different it is now. If a minister +was to preach now about all wicked people going to hell, it would +produce no more effect on their minds than water on a duck's back, for +the word hell is now a spent thunderbolt, used uselessly by the mouths +of so many. It may be well for theologians to know (if any of them +believe in hell as preached) whether or not they have got through +discussing hell; their views have no weight whatever on the minds of the +masses, for they are all the time making light, fun, and sport of the +word _hell_.' 'That's so,' joined in the men, and they all laughed. + +"I had been at the Lonsdale ranch about three or four months when I +received your letter asking me to return home." + +"Well, Charles," said the old man Herne, "if I had not worked out for +several years on ranches, I should think your stories slightly colored, +but from my own experience I should say the half has not been told." + +"That is so, father," said Charles. "I have not stated what I have seen +and heard half strongly enough." + +The father said: "When I bought this ranch, the first thing I did was to +build solid fences, raise lots of feed and hang gates on hinges so that +a child could open them with its finger. I always make my plans so that +I have more feed than stock. I did not set out an orchard till the +fences were finished, so that nothing could get in. I made it a point +to avoid losing a lot of work through bad management. My hired men have +always had a good house to sleep in, each man having a room to himself. +The house is cool in the summer through having double porches all round +it, and warm in winter because it is well furnished. Men and teams never +go out to work in the winter till the sun is up. Every man sits down to +supper at six, during the summer months, and they have two hours' +nooning. What is the result? I have always had the best men to work for +me, and they never want to leave. Each man is put upon his honor, and +takes as much interest in doing his best for me as if the place belonged +to him. Everything goes on the same at the ranch when I am away as when +I am there. No man has used anything but the most respectful language to +me. I have heard no swearing at teams. In fact, I have heard no swearing +or low stories at all. I never would allow it. Every day the work is +done well and without friction." + +"Yes," said his son, "I used to think your place was heaven while I was +away." + +Two years from the time this conversation took place, the father died, +leaving the property and some money to his son, Charles, and seven +thousand dollars to his daughter Lena. + +Charles Herne was not a student of political economy nor a reader of +sociology, but what he did was done through an innate sense of justice, +with a spirit of generosity, and the munificent treatment of his men was +the manifestation of his noble, free spirit. To-morrow will be the +greatest event so far in the life of Charles Herne, for he brings to his +home his bride. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MARRIAGE OF CHARLES HERNE. + + +Two miles from the Herne ranch, toward Roseland, lived the Holbrooke +family. + +On the afternoon of the day which was of such importance in the lives of +two of our characters, Mr. Holbrooke returned from a survey of his +orchard, to be met by his wife with a face full of mysterious +importance. + +"I've got some news, James," she said. "Now guess what it is-- + +"Sophia has heard from one of her old beaux," said her husband +immediately. + +"Get a pail of water and throw it over your dad, Sophia," said Mrs. +Holbrooke. "He's always joking you about your beaux. Well," she added, +"I see I'll have to tell you, you'll never guess. Charles Herne has just +gone by here with a bran-new suit of clothes, a bran-new matched team, a +bran-new harness, a bran-new buggy, and a bran-new wife. There! What do +you think of that?" + +"Why," said her husband, "I think you may see them go by here some day +with a brand-new baby." + +"The idea of your talking that way before Sophia; that's the way with +you men, your mind is always run on such things." + +"Well," said her husband, "I don't think such a subject is very foreign +to your mind or Sophia's either." + +"Sophy, let's you and I take your dad and throw him. We can do it," said +Mrs. Holbrooke. + +Since the newly-married couple that caused so much interest in the +Holbrooke family had gone by, Sophia had laid down her novel, "The +Banker's Daughter," and was gazing dreamily out of the window. The young +lady being of a rather romantic turn of mind, had just been saying to +herself, "What a perfect day to be married. Will everything be as +beautiful on my wedding day, I wonder?" + +"Well," said Mrs. Holbrooke, "whoever the lady may be, she has got a +good man and a lovely home." + +"Yes," said her husband, "a good job was done when Charles Herne came +into the world." + +"Don't talk so rough, James. I never saw a man like you in all my life," +said his wife. + +"The old man Herne had a long head on him when he sent Charles out into +the world to cut his own fodder," added Holbrooke, reflectively. + +"Yes," said his wife, "those hired men of his wouldn't be acting like +gentlemen the way they are now if Charles had not gone out and rustled." + +"Two years ago," he continued, "he devoted the entire proceeds from his +orchard for one year, after paying expenses, to fixing up the cottage +for his men. He had it painted and papered; had good carpets laid down +on the floors; large mirrors and pictures on the walls; put in two large +bathrooms with hot and cold water; a billiard table, lots of small +games, all the leading papers and magazines. Bought them a fine piano, +also an organ, and a lot of music, sacred and sentimental. He also +bought a fine matched team with a two-seated buggy, and said: 'Boys, I +want you to keep this team for your own riding out evenings, Saturday +afternoons and Sundays. Take care of it among yourselves, and I hope you +all may have many pleasant rides. There isn't a team in the country gets +more grooming than those colts, and not a man has been known to +overdrive them. I never see anything like it, those hired men at Herne's +live and act as if they were members of some gentlemen's club. They +always wash their hands in warm water in the winter, and are particular +about keeping their finger-nails clean. On Sundays to see those men +dressed up, you would think they had never seen dirt. You don't see +Herne's men on a Sunday morning spending their time in washing overalls, +shirts, and socks. Herne keeps a Chinaman to do that in the week day. +Why, if I was to go and offer one of those men a steady job at ten +dollars a month more than Herne pays, he would turn his nose up at me. +You can't get a man to leave; they stick to him closer than a brother. +He has ten standing applicants to fill the next vacancy he may have. And +did you ever see a place where men worked so orderly, harmoniously, and +thoroughly as they do on the Herne ranch? You don't see any of the trees +in his orchard barked through having careless, mad teamsters while +harrowing and cultivating. Herne's horses, harness, and machinery look +better and last more than twice as long, because the men take great +interest in caring for them. It's not all go out of pocket with Herne in +what he does for his men. Some pretty big returns come back." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holbrooke, "Lena Herne told me that her brother and +herself were sitting on the porch one evening, and she was talking to +Charles about the men and what he had done for them, when he said, +'Lena, I would not give up the love and respect which these men have for +me, and I for them, and the quiet, peaceful understanding that exists +between us, for all the ranches in the county.' She said that she and +her brother very often spent their evenings with the men in games, +singing and a general social time, and there are lots of young people in +the neighborhood that call on them to play croquet and lawn-tennis of a +Saturday afternoon or to spend a pleasant evening. Just think," +continued Mrs. Holbrooke, "those men at Herne's only work five and a +half days in the week, and those days are short ones. I tell you, +Holbrooke, those men have a far better time than you do, though you own +a ranch and they don't; you are a slave compared to them." + +"Some of the men say that Herne don't talk Christianity to them, but he +puts some mighty big Christian principles in practice," said her +husband. + +It was as Sophia had mentally said, "A perfect day to be married on." + +The newly married couple, as they journeyed from Roseland to Treelawn, +found the sun just warm enough to be pleasant, for it was in the early +part of March. The road was in fine condition, for there was neither mud +nor dust. A gentle breeze wafted the sweet scented odors from the +flower-decked fields, with their carpets of green. All nature seemed +smiling, for was it not its mating season? What was all the chattering +going on in the trees and the songs in the bushes, but the feathery +tribe making love to each other. It seemed as if on this day all Nature +was singing one grand anthem with a hallelujah chorus. + +As the happy pair looked at the scene, they forgot for the moment their +own happiness in the contemplation of Nature's grandeur. + +Before them rose the variegated hills of the Sierras, the sun bringing +out the brilliant coloring of the rocks; higher behind these the +glittering snow-covered peaks, and above all the matchless blue of the +heavens. + +To them the world seemed indeed all joy and beauty, and a home together, +a paradise. And so they entered upon the new life. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JULIA HAMMOND. + + +The settlement in which Treelawn was located was called Orangeville, and +covered a large area of country. It had a general store--post-office, +church, school-house, hall, blacksmith-shop, and two saloons. + +For reasons best known to himself, Charles Herne had kept his wedding a +secret from all his neighbors, and it was really more by intuition than +by actual knowledge that Mrs. Holbrooke came into possession of the +fact. + +On the morning after the wedding, Sam Gilmore, like a good husband, had +quietly risen and dressed himself, leaving his spouse to finish her nap. +After seeing that the fire in the kitchen stove was burning brightly and +the tea-kettle set on, he went to the barn. After a short time he +returned to the house, and putting his head into the bedroom, said with +some excitement, "Sarah, I've got some news for you. Charles Herne has +got him a wife." + +When Sarah Gilmore received that piece of astounding intelligence, the +mental shock seemed to produce paralysis, for the garment she was about +to put on remained suspended in the air as she exclaimed: "Well, I swan! +I thought he was married to his hired pets. How did you hear the news, +Sam?" + +"Nettleton told me. He was over to see if I would let him have the bays +to-day." + +"Did you let them go?" asked his wife. + +"No, I told him I was going to use them on the ranch to-day," said Sam, +closing the door and going back to the barn. + +As Sam went out of the bedroom door the paralysis went, too, for no +woman ever moved more quickly in putting on the rest of her garments +than did Sarah Gilmore that morning. + +There was a very good breakfast waiting for Sam when he came in from the +barn, and above all Sarah had made him a plate of light, rich +batter-cakes, which he always relished very much. They were set a little +way into the oven with the door open, to keep warm, his good wife having +buttered and sugared them, all ready for Sam to pour rich cream over +them. + +After breakfast, as Sam was on his way to the barn, he said to himself, +"My! Sarah is a fine cook. I would be willing to bet ten dollars she can +knock the spots out of Charles Herne's wife in cooking; and she is so +cheerful while getting up good meals, and don't make any fuss about it, +either." + +Sam and the bays worked well that morning in doing a little light work. + +Sarah lost no time in putting the breakfast dishes into the dish-pan, +but instead of washing them immediately, as was her way, she was seen +going over a well-beaten trail toward a house where smoke was coming out +of the chimney. When she opened the door, she found Mrs. Green just +wiping a mush-bowl which had been used at breakfast. + +"Well, Carrie," said Sarah Gilmore to Mrs. Green, "what do you think has +happened? Charles Herne has come home with a bride." + +"There, now, Sarah, you surprise me," said Mrs. Green. + +"I guess every body is surprised," said Mrs. Gilmore. + +After a few minutes' more conversation, she hurried back to wash her +dishes and get dinner. + +When Sam came to dinner he found his wife in the best of spirits, with a +big dinner for him to enjoy. Sam's alimentive faculty being in a state +of great activity, he ate heartily, finishing up with two pieces of +Sarah's extra rich peach cobbler. After dinner Sam went to the +fire-place where he sat rocking himself, and soon was enjoying a smoke. +He had been smoking about five minutes when his wife said: "I really +like the smell of the tobacco you smoke, but if you were to smoke such +stinking stuff as Horace does, I would get up and leave you. But yours +does smell real sweet." + +"Horace Green is too stingy to smoke good tobacco," said Sam, after +which remark he brought his hand to the side of his leg each time he let +the smoke curl out of his mouth, feeling well satisfied with himself and +all the world beside. + +Did you ever have the experience of passing through a large barnyard, +and going from one end to the other with a lean, hungry hog after you, +yelling and squealing, trying to eat you up by snapping first at one of +your legs and then at the other? You kick at him with first one foot, +saying, "Sooy, sooy;" then you, with the other foot, kick backwards, +saying, "Sooy, sooy." And after going through this performance many, +many times, you reach the gate and shut it between yourself and the hog, +leaving him on the inside, amidst deafening noise made by his hungry +squeals. After you have left, he does his best to tear down the fence, +so strong are the pangs of hunger in him. + +A few minutes after that you take him a pail of rich buttermilk, then a +large pail of fresh ripe figs, and two dozen ears of sweet corn. You go +out in that barnyard an hour afterwards and you don't hear any hog +noise. You don't see a hog even moving, for he is lying down in the +greatest state of quiet. He will let you do just what you have a mind to +do to him. You can scratch him and you will find him good-natured and he +seems to enjoy your attentions. He is in such a contented, happy state, +that you can roll him or do anything you wish to him. + +So it is with some men. By making love to them through their stomachs, +you will find them in as happy a frame of mind as Sam Gilmore was as he +finished his pipe. His wife saw that he was taking his last puffs, so +she said, "Sam, can I have the bays to go over to the Henshaws' this +afternoon?" + +"Well," replied Sam, "I was going to haul wood, but I guess I can let +that go. What time do you want them?" + +"Two o'clock," said his wife. + +Sarah said that Sam brought the bays around to the front door and was as +lively round her and the team as he was twenty years ago when she was a +maiden and he came courting her at her father's. + +Talk about the diplomacy of Bismarck, d'Israeli, and the Russian +Ambassador in settling the Eastern question at the close of the +Russo-Turkish war; why there are women in Orangeville who can give them +pointers on diplomacy. + +The bays thought that either a peddler or minister was driving them that +afternoon, they made so many short calls. There was one thing +certain--Sarah Gilmore was not to blame if the people of Orangeville did +not know Charles Herne was married. + +When Green entered the house his wife said: "Horace, what do you think? +Charles Herne has brought home a bride." + +"A what?" said her husband. + +"A bride," said his wife. "May be it's so long since you saw a bride, +you have entirely forgotten how one looks. You had better hustle round +and pony up that seventy-five dollars you are owing him. He will need it +to buy silks, satins and laces for the bride." + +"Hell's to pay," said Green. + +Early the same morning Henry Storms entered the "Crow's Nest" saloon in +Orangeville, where two men were talking over the bar to the +saloon-keeper. Storms, walking up to where they were, saluted them by +saying: "Hell's broke loose." + +"What's up now?" said one of the men. + +"Why," said Storms, "Charles Herne has got a running mate." + +"Drinks for four," called out another man. + +When the drinks were ready four men raised their glasses, one saying, +"Drink hearty to Charles Herne and his partner." + +At the conclusion of the toast four glasses of whiskey were emptied down +four men's throats. + +A man went down from his house to the road where his mailbox was nailed +to a redwood post. The stage was just coming in. + +"Any news?" asked the man of the stage-driver as he took his mail. + +"News!" said the driver. "I should say there was. They tell me that +Charles Herne has been, and gone, and done it." + +Saunders, the merchant of Orangeville, told his customers that day that +"Charles Herne had got spliced." + +Tim Collins took a span of kicking mules to Pierce, the blacksmith, to +be shod. + +"Well, Tim, I got some news for you," said Pierce. + +"What is it?" said Tim. + +"Charles Herne has got hitched up." + +Now one could not discern any perceptible change in Charles Herne, if it +were true that he had done all the many and varied things which his +neighbors stated he had; such as "Brought home a brand-new wife," "Got +him a woman," "Got a bride," "Got a running mate," "Been, gone, and done +it," "Got spliced," "Got hitched up," and so on. + +The waves of ether in the atmosphere of Orangeville were pregnant with +all these sayings and produced such an effect on a number of ladies as +to make them call at different times at the Treelawn home. + +When some of the ladies had made a call and had seen Mrs. Herne, and +these ladies saw some others in Orangeville who had not seen Mrs. Herne, +conversation did not drag. And as for speculation. Why the amount of +speculative genius displayed by certain ladies of that locality would +eclipse all speculative talent of Kant, Spencer and Mill. Listen to some +of the inquiries: "Is she proud?" "Is she pretty?" "Has she much style +about her?" "Do you think they will get along well together?" "Is she +fond of children?" "Will they have any babies?" "Is she fond of dress?" +"Is she a society lady?" "Do you think she will get lonesome?" "Can she +do housework?" "Is she much account with a needle?" "Is she close and +saving?" "Is she extravagant?" "Do you think she will put her foot down +on Charles Herne furnishing his men with so many luxuries?" "Is she +happy?" "Is she a scold?" "Will she wear the breeches?" and numerous +other questions which, like problems concerning the Universe, will take +time to solve. + +Clara Herne was very happy in her new home as the wife of Charles Herne. +She found her duties light and pleasant. Everything in the house and +about the house was order and system, no friction, all harmony. She +remarked to her husband one evening: "It pays to have good help. Every +one here takes an interest in what he has to do and does it the very +best he knows how, cheerfully and willingly." + +She respected her husband exceedingly for the generous way in which he +treated his men, and she helped him to still further their comforts. + +On retiring one night after they had both spent the evening with their +men, which they often did, she said to her husband: "How good it is to +have love and respect between employers and employed. Every one speaks +in such a kind way; so considerate for the feelings and interests of +each one." + +"Yes," said her husband, "it makes life worth living to treat your hired +help not as if they were merely machines for the use of getting so much +work out of them, but to live and act towards them as if they were men. +Better still to realize the thought always, that they are our brothers." + +Charles and Clara Herne were very happy as man and wife, because they +were a social unit. They were one in their domestic and social natures; +they were fond of going out to parties, suppers and dances, and enjoyed +entertaining company; they were strictly moral, though not religious, +and occasionally attended church. + +One evening about a year after they had been married, they were sitting +in front of the open fire, interesting themselves in talking about some +of the people in Orangeville who were at the party they had attended the +evening previous. + +"I think last night's party was one of the best we have attended," said +Mrs. Herne. + +"Yes," said her husband, "the Hammonds are great entertainers. They +always make it interesting and pleasant for every one who comes." + +"Of course, their daughter Julia has a tact for receiving company and +making delicacies for a party," added Clara. "What taste she displayed +in the arrangement of the table. Then she herself is personally a great +attraction to the young men. I consider her the belle of Orangeville. +Her age I think is about twenty-one." + +"Yes, but she has a most unusual development for that age. She has such +a commanding form, so erect; there is something very fascinating about +her expression; and those black eyes of hers denote a powerful +magnetism. No wonder she attracts men so strongly." + +"She seemed to pay more attention to that young Webber, I thought, than +to any one else. Certainly, she smiled very sweetly upon him." + +"You don't know Julia," said Mr. Herne, decidedly. "She is like a cat, +as meek as Moses or as full of deviltry as Judas Iscariot. She is just +playing with Webber and he is too vain and foolish to see it. Why, Julia +Hammond would not marry Webber if he were the last man in Orangeville. +The man she wants is Ben West, and she scarcely spoke to him during the +evening; in fact, did not pay him as much attention as she would have +paid to the merest stranger. In most girls such an action would be the +result of shyness and the desire to avoid observation; in Julia, I think +it arises from an inborn, stubborn pride which prevents her from +yielding even to such an uncontrollable feeling. She has an iron will +and though she knows she must yield eventually, she holds herself +defiantly as long as she can." + +"I don't blame her for wanting Ben West, for he is the finest looking +and most popular young man in Orangeville," said Clara. + +"He is, indeed," replied her husband. "Almost any girl in Orangeville +would be glad to marry him, but Julia wants him and she will get him. He +has not lost his heart so far, but Julia has not played her cards yet. +She knows her power and loves to use it. She would do anything to gain +her end." + +"Why, dear, you seem to be well posted on Julia's disposition," said his +wife. + +"You see," he replied, "I have known her ever since she has lived in +Orangeville, which has been twelve years. And now I am going to tell you +something that will surprise you. I got it straight from Hammond +himself, and he and I are close friends, as I have helped him +financially out of some hard places. Several times he has made me a +confidant. Only one or two in Orangeville know what I am going to tell +you. + +"It seems that about four years after Mr. and Mrs. Hammond were married, +Mrs. Hammond received a letter from her cousin, Mrs. Featherstone, +saying that Nat Harrison, a mutual friend, had been shot dead in a +dispute over a faro game. He was under the influence of liquor at the +time of the trouble. He left a wife and a girl baby eighteen months old, +without any means of support, the mother being incompetent to take care +of either herself or the child, and the letter asked would Mrs. Hammond +like to adopt the baby. If so, Mrs. Featherstone was coming to San Diego +in about a month's time and would bring the child (the Hammonds lived at +San Diego then). The mother would make her home with her aunt. + +"Mrs. Hammond said, after reading the letter, 'Poor Annie Harrison. Only +think. I sat beside her at the graduating exercises of Nat Harrison's +class, and remember how pleased she was at the applause which greeted +the oration delivered by Nat, "American Commerce." So many +congratulated him on his talent and thought he would become a rising +member of the bar, and his voice would be heard in the halls of +legislation of the nation. + +"'Annie looked so pretty and sweet that day, you could not have bought +her prospects in life for a million dollars. She thought she had a jewel +of a lover, poor thing, she was so innocent of the nature of men. She +knew nothing of the world, for her mother always treated her as a baby, +never teaching her any self-reliance, and had kept her as a hot-house +plant. She grew up with no higher ideal in life for herself than to be +some rich man's toy and pet, under marriage. She was more adapted to be +a flower in the "Garden of Eden" than to fight the battle of life in the +present state of society.' + +"Nat Harrison had money and was doing well when he married Annie, but +being a man of strong passions and appetites, Annie's freshness and +bloom soon wilted. Then he sought other pastures for his carnal +pleasures, and with that came drinking and gambling. When his estate was +settled up after his death they found he was in debt. + +"Mr. and Mrs. Hammond talked the matter over and decided to adopt the +child. They were both much pleased when they received the baby from Mrs. +Featherstone and saw what a fine child she was. They have loved her and +done everything that parents could do for a child of their own to make +her happy. Julia brought lots of sunshine into their home, and +everything went all right and they took a great deal of comfort with her +till she got to be about fourteen and then she seemed to become +stubborn, grew inattentive to her studies, seemed to care less for her +girl companions, but was always with the boys. All she appeared to care +for was to be in their company. She took less interest in things in the +house, did not care about helping her mother, and would have odd spells. +Sometimes she took a notion to do up the work, and it was then done +quickly and well. Then for quite a time it would be like pulling teeth +to get her to do anything. She has the ability if she would only use +it. The last four years she has given Mr. and Mrs. Hammond many an +anxious thought, and they have wished that Ben West or some other such +man would marry her. They see the older she grows the more the hot blood +of her father shows in her. Hammond told me last night at the party that +Julia was great on dress parade, but was not there when it came to doing +the common every day duties of life with no excitement." + +"Why, Charles, the narrative concerning Julia's life is very +interesting. Some of the people around us would be just as good material +for a novel as those we read about in fiction." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +BEN WEST. + + +About a week after Mr. Herne had told his wife the history of Julia +Hammond, Mr. Hammond, on going to the store for some trifle, was saluted +by Saunders, the merchant, with, "Heard the news, Hammond?" + +Hammond said: "No. What is it?" + +"Why, Ben West is going to the Klondike," said Saunders. + +"Going to the Klondike!" said Hammond. "Why, I don't see what he has to +go there for. He is the only child, his father owns a fine ranch, and he +is always getting big jobs on roads and ditches, making three to four +dollars a day, because he can go ahead and knows just what to do and how +to do it. He has great muscular strength and can lift about twice as +much as any ordinary man." + +"Oh, he wants to make a stake," said Saunders. "He is ambitious." + +Wescott spoke up and said: "Ben is a rustler; he will get there every +time." + +Hammond said: "He has lots of vim and pluck; has got sand and backbone +to him." + +"Yes, he is a hummer," said Saunders. + +"I tell you he has got some ambition and grit," said Stearns, +admiringly. + +It was not long before the news spread all over Orangeville, that Ben +West was going to the Klondike, and the abilities which he possessed as +a worker and money maker, and an all round good fellow were the theme of +conversation in many a household and on many a ranch. + +When the news reached the ears of the young ladies of Orangeville, most +of them felt a shade of disappointment, because Ben had been good to +them. + +Not having shown any decided preference for one, he devoted his +attentions to many, and having a good fast team he was able to give the +young ladies many a pleasant ride to dances, parties and church, so he +was a great favorite with them all. + +Just previous to Ben West's leaving Orangeville, a great farewell supper +and dance was given him. The attendance was very large. The young ladies +appeared in their best toilets. Julia looked superb and was very +graceful in her deportment. This evening she "played her cards" with +evident success, and the result was that as Ben West went home the +feeling that had been flickering for some time had now broken out into a +flame that fired his blood. Julia did indeed know her power and how to +use it, and she intended that some one else should be restless and +disturbed as well as herself. So that night there were two persons in +Orangeville who tried to sleep but could not. Ben West realized that +night that he had become a willing slave. Sometimes the thought seemed +pleasant, then again it would be galling in the extreme. + +A few of the boys went to Roseland to see Ben off, and they had a time +"all to themselves" as they called it in Roseland, the night previous to +his departure. Ben West left with the best wishes and prayers for good +luck following him from all his friends. + +When a rising, popular young man leaves his home and neighborhood for +the purpose of making his fortune, he is full of great expectations, and +this thought is shared by all his friends. He departs with the best +wishes following him, for his companions say: "If a man can strike it +rich he can." There does not seem the least doubt in their minds +regarding his success, for they have unbounded confidence in him. Now +the young man leaving is exceedingly alive to the expressions and +sentiments of his friends, and he feels that he must succeed or die in +the attempt. His attachment to name and fame and his personal self is so +strong, and he is so susceptible and negative to the good opinion of +those around him, that he feels he will never want to come back and show +himself among his friends unless he has struck it rich, for he knows +there is nothing that succeeds like success. + +Talk about the idolatry of the heathen! Is there any idolatry in the +world that is stronger than that which is found in the so-called +"Christian" world in the year 1900? Where do you find any greater +idolatry than that which is bestowed on money and on woman? There are +more devotees at these two shrines than are to be found worshipping the +Divine. Look at a young man fortunate in the financial world. The first +year in speculations he makes fifty thousand dollars. The second year he +is worth two hundred thousand dollars. The third year he has made half a +million. The fourth year he has become a millionaire. Now listen to the +eulogies and encomiums passed upon him. He is the lion of the hour, the +hero of the day, for he has won the victory that to win fifty thousand +other men had tried and failed. He has attained the great end for which +most men think they were born, money making. What a number of young +ladies see so many excellent qualities in the rising young millionaire, +the "Napoleon of Finance." Note how his faults are all glossed over by +their mammas, who are ready to act as if they had received a retaining +fee as his attorneys, so ready are they to defend him at all times to +their daughters and friends. It seems to matter little about his +intellectual gifts or moral character. His financial success covers a +multitude of sins and weaknesses. Should a young lady raise one or two +slight objections in regard to the young millionaire's character, her +mother says: "Why, dear, all young men must sow their wild oats. You +must not expect to find a pure young man. All young men are fast more or +less. It would be hard to find an unmarried man that is moral. After +they are married they get steady and settle down." + +Should a young lady of moderate means marry a young man who has made a +million dollars, there is more rejoicing by the members of her family +than if she had become a saint or a great angel of light. She thinks she +has attained the great end of her existence in marrying a millionaire +and making for herself name and fame and family position. + +Should the young millionaire be a little liberal to a few of his +friends, he becomes more to them than the Lord himself. Other young men, +seeing and knowing all this, are putting forth every effort and +straining every nerve to be successful financiers. They realize that the +power of money is so great to-day in the eyes of many, that unless they +are successful money getters, they are no good to themselves or their +friends. They parody the verse in Proverbs something like this: "With +all thy getting, get money; get it honestly if you can, _but get it +anyway_." + +Such is the gospel that is acted out in the commercial world to-day. All +good intentions, all right convictions, all wise counsels of religious +teachers, are side-tracked and become as a dead letter if they stand in +the way to successful money making. + +Ben West knew what the sentiment of the people of Orangeville was +towards himself, and it fired his ambition to think of the expressions +conveyed to him by his friends, and his heart was fired still more when +he thought of the possibility of possessing the fine form of Julia +Hammond. He made up his mind that he would be willing to endure all +hardships, that he would leave no stone unturned in order to be +successful; for he saw before him the chance of getting a fortune and +the praise, adoration and admiration of the people of Orangeville. + +The form of Julia Hammond seemed to float before the eyes of his mind +day and night; and when he saw, in his imagination, that face with its +sparkling black eyes, and the finely poised head, with its wavy black +hair, her well-rounded bust, and the handsome figure, it made him feel +like removing a mountain of dirt or penetrating the bowels of the earth, +to get the shiny metal which was to open for him the gates of his +earthly paradise. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +STELLA WHEELWRIGHT. + + +One afternoon two men were digging post-holes and setting in redwood +posts on the side of one of the main roads in Orangeville. Everything +had been exceedingly quiet, not a team was seen since dinner. Nothing in +the way of excitement had happened to relieve the monotony of their +work. They were interested and delighted when they heard a noise, and, +looking down the road, saw a vehicle coming, but it was not near enough +to tell whose it was. When it got a little nearer one of the men said: +"Why, Alfred, it is the old man Wheelwright and his girl Stella." + +Alfred replied to James, the man who has just spoken: "Stella was to +school at San Jose, and her father has been to Roseland to meet the +train which arrived this morning and bring her home." + +"How she has grown," remarked James, "since she went away. She has +improved in her looks very much." + +"Yes," said Alfred, "I think she will make a fine woman, for she has a +bright, intelligent eye, and they say she is real smart in her studies, +away ahead of most of the girls round here. She seems so different to +them. She comes of good stock; her mother is the brightest and best +woman in Orangeville, and her father is a well-posted man." + +"You must be kind of stuck on her and her folks," replied his companion. +"I don't go so much myself on girls who have their heads in books all +the time. What does a fellow want with such a girl as that? She may be +all right to be a school marm, or woman's rights talker, but I don't +want any of them. I say to hell with book women. Give me a girl like +Nance Slater. She is round and plump, don't care much for books or +papers, but is bright and laughing all the day. She is the girl to have +lots of fun with, and when it comes to making a man a good wife, why, +she is the best cook in Orangeville. I was over to Slater's on an errand +the other morning about ten o'clock, and Nance was looking as pretty as +a picture; her cheeks had the blush of the peach on them; her eyes were +sparkling bright, her lips red, and when she laughed, her teeth looked +like the best and whitest ivory you ever saw. She had on such a pretty, +light, calico wrapper, and a white apron with a bib, and was busy taking +out of the oven some mince pies and just putting in some apple pies. She +had a kettle of doughnuts a frying, and a whole lot of cookie paste +ready to cut out and bake. She said: 'James, you must sample my +doughnuts. Mother, give James a cup of coffee to go with them; there is +some hot on the stove.' Nance is a trump. She is straight goods. The +trouble with those Wheelwrights is they live awful close, and instead of +cooking good meals, spend their time in reading books. They starve in +the kitchen to sit in the parlor. The devil take the books, I say. I +wouldn't give a book girl barn room for all the good she would be to +me." + +Alfred replied: "That's all right; every fellow to his own girl, I say. +It would not do for all to be after the same one. As for me, I like +Stella. She has some stability of character. There is something +interesting about a girl like that, and if she don't care about doing +all the cooking, why, I can help her, if she will only let me enjoy her +company." + +The sun went down and the men went each to his own home, being content +in their mind that each man should have his own choice. + +Stella was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright, she being the +only child they ever had had. At the time she returned from school she +was sixteen and would have one year more in school. She was very +precocious, a thorough student, and would allow nothing to divert her +from her studies. She was at that age when the intellectual part of her +nature predominated, though the spiritual was just beginning to tinge +her mind with its coloring. She possessed a strong individuality; she +was a born investigator; would accept no statements without examining +them, and rebelled against a great many of the customs and usages of +society. She did her own thinking, and nothing seemed to please her more +than to take her investigating axe and cut away some of the roots which +held her free spirit in bondage. Problems seemed to be crowding on her +mind thick and fast, and she could not take the time from her studies to +do the necessary amount of reading and thinking to resolve them, and she +was looking forward to the time when her last year would expire. During +this vacation she took much physical exercise, for she did not believe +in developing one side of her nature at the expense of the other. She +rode horseback and climbed the sides of steep mountains, mixed with the +young people in their recreations, such as camping parties, picnics, and +social entertainments. In company she was bright, witty, and +entertaining. She had no fear; was full of confidence, and was better +balanced than her companions in that she was not carried away by +pleasures and the company of the opposite sex. + +When she was not away from home on camping or picnic excursions, she +would find time to visit the cabin of an old man who lived alone, and +had sore eyes so that he could not see to read. She would read to him +whatever he liked, cheer him up by her bright, happy talk, and when she +left the old man often thought to himself that her comings were like +angels' visits, for she seemed to lift him up completely out of himself +into a new world. When she laid her head on her pillow at night, after +having spent the evening with old Andrews, she thought how much greater +a satisfaction she derived from hearing that old man say, on her leaving +him: "God bless you, Stella, you always bring sunshine to me," than she +did from even the most enjoyable pleasure excursion. + +She bestowed the attractions and charm of her social and intellectual +nature less on those outside than those inside her home. You saw her at +her best when talking to her father and mother. + +Some parents let their children outgrow them intellectually, so that +there is a great gulf fixed between parents and children, the latter +having nothing in common with the former. Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright tried +as much as possible to keep themselves in advance of their daughter's +intellectual growth, so that they might always command her respect for +their opinions, and that she might realize that in them she found two +interesting, intelligent companions, whom she could love and confide in. + +The relationship between many parents and their grown children is very +unsatisfactory; for being on the material plane, there is nothing very +permanent in their relationship. The grown son and his father have only +in common business and social interests; that is their world; outside of +that neither one has any life that he realizes. + +It is the same with the grown daughters and their mother. Their life is +mainly in the social and domestic world. Outside of that they apparently +have no existence; but the true ideal parents and children are those +whose life is in the intellectual and spiritual world. They cease to +exist in each other's minds as parents and children, and realize a +stronger and more permanent tie, and intellectual and spiritual union, +which is blessed, glorious, and eternal. They realize daily that "In Him +they live, and breathe, and have their being"; that they are immersed in +an ocean of Divine love, and that Divine love permeates them all through +and through; and that it is in that ocean of Divine love that they +realize that they are one. They feel a blessed nearness and dearness and +oneness to each other, though separated by oceans and continents, for +they have realized through sweet experience that the same intelligent +spiritual thought and love pulses through them all as if they were one +organism. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PENLOE. + + +One afternoon Mrs. Herne received a caller. It was Mrs. Cullom. She had +met Mrs. Herne twice at parties and promised to call on her each time, +but for various reasons she had not been able to fulfil her promise. + +After the usual introductory talk, Mrs. Cullom said: + +"Did you ever see Penloe or his mother, Mrs. Lanair?" + +"No," said Mrs. Herne, "who are they?" + +Mrs. Cullom replied: "They live up about a mile above where I do. It's +rather lonesome where I live, but it is a very lonesome place where they +live. It is not a good road over there. I don't suppose you were ever on +that road were you?" + +"No," said Mrs. Herne, "I have never been over there. Charles said it +was out of the way and a poor road, being muddy in winter and very dusty +in summer." + +"Well," said Mrs. Cullom, "Mrs. Lenair has been on that place about two +years. She seems pleasant, but so different from most women. The second +time I called on her, I got there about two o'clock, and I thought I +would have a nice afternoon chat. So I began talking to her about my +work, and telling her how I worked my butter, and talking to her about +my cooking, and I tried to get her to talk, but she would only say a few +words about such things. About five minutes was as long as I could get +her to talk about her butter and cooking. Why, some women would talk by +the hour on such subjects. Now, she did not appear stuck up or proud, +she seemed so pleasant, her face being very bright and pleasing; and +there seemed to be such a feeling of restfulness about her that I liked +to be with her; but she seems to have so little to say about matters we +are all so much interested in. I could not get her to talk about +herself, so I asked about Penloe, if he was at home. She said, yes, he +had returned from San Francisco last week; that he had been away three +months. That surprised me, Mrs. Herne, because I did not think they were +people who had money to spend in visiting and seeing the sights of a +great city. Why, look at their place, it is not much; she sold the fruit +on the trees for two hundred dollars, and outside of the orchard they +have only pasture enough for four head of stock. Their house has four +rooms, the kitchen is the only room I have been in, but it is kept very +neat. I said to her: 'Does Penloe have much business in San Francisco?' +She smiled and said he had business as long as he washed dishes in a +restaurant. That just took my breath away, for to see Penloe you would +think he would be the last man in the world to do work like that. I +cannot tell you how he looks, but he looks so different from the young +men about here; nothing like them at all. He has a face that I like, but +I don't know him enough to say much to him. + +"Well, after they had been on that place about eighteen months or so, I +said to Dan one morning after breakfast, that I did not feel like going +out to-day, but I wanted some one here to talk to, and I wished him to +hitch up Puss and Bess and go right up and get Mrs. Lenair to come down +and spend the day with me, and to tell her that when she wished to go +home I would take her back. 'Now, if you don't get a move on you, Dan,' +I said, 'you will come home and find a cold stove and no dinner and your +cook gone.' Dan moved round like a cat on hot bricks. That kind of talk +fetches men to time. I did not have to cook much for dinner because the +day before was Dan's birthday. Dan had killed a veal two days previous +and I made two kinds of rich cake, two kinds of pies, and some cream +puffs. They were very rich. Dan is fond of high living, and he ate very +heartily of it all. I laughed at him, and said I never saw a man that +liked to dig his grave with his teeth so well as he did. So you see I +could get up a good dinner for Mrs. Lenair without having to cook much. +It was not long after Dan left before Mrs. Lenair was with me. Well, +after she had taken off her things and we chatted awhile, I thought I +would tell her the news, as she never goes out anywhere. So I said: 'Did +you hear what a hard time Mrs. Dunn had in confinement? The doctor +thought he would have to take the child with instruments;' but Mrs. +Lenair kept looking out of the window, and all she said was, 'Is that +so?' So I said: 'I suppose you have heard about Mrs. Warmstey's case. +She had a doctor from Orangeville and two from Roseland.' Just as I said +that, she rose from her chair and said so sweetly: 'Mrs. Cullom, I do +want to go out and look at your flowers; they look beautiful from the +window.' + +"Well, I was clean took off my feet, because I was just beginning to +tell the most interesting part of Mrs. Warmstey's case. I said: 'Why, +yes, Mrs. Lenair,' and I went out with her. She began to be so chatty I +thought she was some one else for awhile. She appeared delighted with my +flowers, and called them such crack-jaw names, and told me all about +their families, and what relation they were to each other. Why, to hear +her talk, you would think flowers had babies, she went on so about male +and female plants. Then she told me that flowers breathed, and told me +all about their coloring, and how they attracted the bee and dusted +themselves on him, and much more I cannot remember. She talked to and +petted them as if they were alive. You would have thought she had been a +flower herself, the way she went on. She said something about the +pencilings and colorings of the Almighty being in the tulips. + +"When we returned to the house my back was feeling kind of lame, and +gave me one or two of those twister pains. I said: 'Oh, my back! It has +got one of its spells on.' Mrs. Lenair said it would soon go away, and, +to my surprise, it did. Only had it about half an hour, and generally +those spells last me all day. I said: 'Mrs. Lenair, do you have any +ailments? I never hear you complain, if you do.' She said she had not +an ache nor pain in her body for a number of years. I threw my hands up +in astonishment, and said: 'You don't say so?' 'That is the truth,' she +said. And I believe her, for she looks ten years younger than she really +is. 'Why,' I said, 'how different you are from the girls and women +around here. Most all the girls not married are ailing more or less, and +about every married woman has her aches and pains. I can't make you +out.' + +"Mrs. Lenair laughed, and said: 'If I were like other women I should be +ailing as they are.' Well, I got up just as good a dinner as I knew how. +I put on the table fried ham and eggs, baked veal, potatoes, peas, +canned tomatoes, red currant jelly, fig preserve, canned nectarines, +cream puffs, grape pie, lemon pie, plain cake, and frosted cake; and we +had coffee, chocolate, and milk to drink. I did want her to make out a +good meal, because I thought she never cooked much at home. Well, what +do you think? I could not get her to eat any meat. 'Why,' I said, 'I +would starve if I did not have meat two or three times a day with my +meals.' She said she had not eaten meat for seventeen years, and was +much better without it. She just ate a little potatoes, one egg, some +nectarines, bread and butter, and drank a little milk. I told her she +must try my cream puffs if she would not eat any cake or pie. At last I +did get her to eat a cream puff. That woman don't eat much more than +would keep a mouse alive, and yet she is so hearty and well. I told her +as she ate so little, Dan and I would have to make up for her. And we +did, for we ate as if it were a Thanksgiving dinner. Dan and I say it is +our religion not to die in debt to our stomachs. After dinner I felt +more like sleep than anything else, and I said, 'Mrs. Lenair, let you +and me take a nap.' That seemed to please her, so she laid down on the +lounge and I went and laid on my bed. About an hour later I returned to +the room where I had left Mrs. Lenair. + +"'Well,' I said, 'I have just had the boss sleep and feel so much +better. I hope you had a good nap.' + +"Mrs. Lenair said, 'I have had a pleasant time lying here, though I did +not sleep any.' + +"'Why,' I said, 'I could not lie that way. If I was not sleeping I would +be nervous, and want to be sitting up or moving about.' + +"Then I said to her: 'I should think you must get terribly lonesome up +at your place, your son having been away so much, and you all alone with +no one to talk to.' + +"She said: 'I haven't known what it was to be lonesome since I have +lived on the place.' + +"'Why,' I said, 'I would not live like you do for ten dollars a day.' +She smiled, and said, 'You could not.' + +"'I don't see how you can stand it,' I said, 'for it is all I can do to +keep from being lonesome here with Dan, and a team to take me anywhere. +I have more callers in a week than you have in a year. I am fond of +company and so is Dan.' + +"Mrs. Lenair said: 'All you have just said, Mrs. Cullom, shows your +life, your world; we all have different worlds,' she added. + +"I could hardly understand just what she meant, so I changed the subject +and thought I would talk to her about Penloe. + +"'Is he home now,' I asked. + +"She said, 'Yes,' he had got through his work and would be at home most +of the time. + +"I said: 'Did he ever do any of the kind of work he has been doing at +the different places he worked at before he came to Orangeville? For he +don't look to me,' I said, 'as if he had worked on a ranch or done road +work much.' + +"She said, 'He never had done hard work till we came to Orangeville, +having only returned to this country from India about a month before +coming here, and when we were in India, Penloe went to the University of +Calcutta as soon as he was ready to enter as a student. I lived in that +city nineteen years.' + +"'Why, have you lived in India,' I said. + +"Yes,' she answered. 'I left New York a year after I was married. My +husband represented a New York company in India. He died six years ago, +but we continued to reside there until Penloe finished his University +course.' + +"I was clean taken back by what she said. I said, 'It's none of my +business, Mrs. Lenair, but I don't see why a fine looking young man like +Penloe, with the education you say he has had, don't get light, pleasant +work, if he has to work out, instead of working at such hard places with +the toughest crowds of men.' + +"All she said was: 'That is his work.' + +"Why, Mrs. Herne, do you know that he worked on the streets of the city +of Chicago, and for three months with a gang of a thousand men on the +Coast Railroad between Los Angeles and San Francisco! Then he was at the +Oakdale cattle ranch, cowboying it, with that fast gang of boys that +they keep there. Then he worked for awhile at the Simmons ranch, which +is four miles from Roseland, and Simmons always keeps the hardest crew +of men on his place. They go to Roseland every other night or so and +dance at those low dancing-houses with bad women. They get drunk, fight, +and swear all the time. Simmons' ranch has got the name of being the +toughest place to work anywhere round here. + +"One day when Dan was in Roseland, he saw a man he knew from the Simmons +ranch, so he thought he would hear what the fellow had to say about +Penloe, as we both are curious to find out all we can about that +singular young man. + +"Dan said: 'Is Penloe working on the Simmons ranch?' + +"The man said: 'Yes.' + +"Dan said: 'How does he get along?' + +"'Get along!' the man said. 'All I have to say is I wish I could get +along as well.' + +"Dan said: 'What kind of a chap is he, anyway? I kind of want to know, +as he is a neighbor of mine.' + +"'Well,' the man said, 'I will tell you, and then you can judge for +yourself. I never heard him swear or knew of his telling a lie; he don't +drink or tell smutty yarns, or have anything to do with bad women. The +boss says he works well, and when he is not at work he never joins the +boys in their foolish talk. He is by himself a great deal, praying, I +reckon, but he is very sociable if any one will talk sense. Let me tell +you what he did which will show you what kind of a man he is. One cold, +chilly night in December, when we were all sleeping in the barn, each +man having his own blankets, the boys had just turned in when a tramp +came in and asked if he could sleep in the barn. One of the boys said, +'Yes.' The fellow lay down on the hay without any blankets, and as soon +as he was laid down his teeth began to chatter and he shook all over, +for he had a chill. Penloe instantly got up and lit a lantern, took his +blankets over to the tramp and said: 'Here, brother, you have got a +chill. Take my blankets and roll yourself up in them; you will be better +in the morning.' From where I lay I could just see the tramp's face, for +Penloe was holding the lantern so the light went on his face. The fellow +looked up at Penloe thunderstruck. I guess he never had a man speak to +him that way before. He said: 'Well, stranger, you are mighty kind.' So +Penloe helped him to roll the blankets round him, and then he went and +lay down on the hay himself without any covering. The boys did a heap of +thinking that night, but said nothing. The next morning Penloe asked the +tramp how he was, and he said he slept pretty well, but he looked real +miserable, as though he had not had a good square meal for a month and +was weak from chills. Penloe said to the tramp: 'You stay here till I +come back,' and he went to see the boss and told him there was a sick +tramp in the barn, and would he let him stay there and eat at the same +table with us till he got well and strong, and that the boss should take +the tramp's board out of his wages. The boss asked a few questions, +studied awhile, then said, all right, he didn't care. Penloe went back +to the tramp and told him he had seen the boss and he could stay there +till he got well and strong, and to eat his meals with them and it would +not cost him a cent. Tears came in the tramp's eyes, and he tried to +say, 'Thank you, stranger.' + +"During the day one of the men told the boss what Penloe had done last +night; about giving his blankets up to a tramp and laying all night +himself without any covering. After supper the boss called Penloe and +told him there was a bed for him in the house, and he wanted him to +sleep in it as long as the tramp was here, and as for the tramp, he +would let the fellow stay here and board till he got a job in the +neighborhood. He would not charge a cent for his board to Penloe. He +himself had no work for the tramp. + +"When the boys heard what Simmons said and did in regard to the tramp +and Penloe, one of them said he was more taken back than if he had seen +the devil come out of hell. + +"'For you know, Dan,' the man said, 'Old Simmons is a hard nut and as +close-fisted as he can be. Some of the boys think now he has got the +Penloe fever. I think he got a straight look into Penloe's eyes and saw +and felt something he never had seen and felt before. Penloe is a power +when you know him. + +"The tramp stayed three days and got well. We thought it would be a +month before he would be well enough to go to work, but it is that +Penloe's doings, I know. He must have some power for healing like they +say Christ had. Penloe is never sick. Heat or cold, dry or wet, seem +just the same to him. + +"'The boss got the tramp a job at Kent's ranch. When he left he gave +Penloe his hand, seemed to tremble a moment, tried to speak, but walked +away without uttering a word. Penloe told the boss that the way the +tramp bid him good-bye and thanked him was eloquently touching and +powerful. The boss is very much changed; he is not so close and hard, +and you now see a few smiles on his wife's face, where before you only +saw lines of sadness; and the children, instead of being scared, as they +used to be when they heard his footsteps coming, now run to meet him and +hang around him. + +"'Simmons says Penloe was the making of him and family. Simmons has a +high-priced fancy mare that the boys always have said he thought more of +than he did of his family, and no one ever drove her but himself. He +would not loan her out to any one for a day for fifty dollars, yet now +the boys say 'he would let Penloe have the mare to go to hell and back.' + +"'Some of the boys also seem to have caught the fever, and it has made a +great change in their lives. Penloe will leave the Simmons ranch soon, +but his influence is there to stay. The man said, 'If you have any more +men like Penloe in Orangeville, send them down this way, for these God +forsaken ranches need men like him!' + +"Dan says Penloe is like his mother in regard to tramps. Why, that woman +was all alone, and a tramp called at her house to get a job of work. He +said work was scarce and he had no money and needed some food; that he +was hungry. He told Dan some time afterwards that before she replied she +gave him a close look all over. He said her eye seemed to penetrate him, +and after scrutinizing him very closely, she said: 'Come in, friend, you +can stay here till you can find work.' She set before him plenty of +good, hearty food, put a napkin to his plate, and talked to him +interestingly about matters which seemed to make him feel that he was a +better man. What do you think Mrs. Lenair had him do, Mrs. Herne? Why, +he was shown into the bathroom, and given one of Penloe's night-gowns, +and after he had taken his bath she had him sleep in her spare bedroom. +'Why,' I said to Mrs. Lenair, 'how could you do such a thing? I would no +more have done it than I would have slept in a room with a rattlesnake.' + +"She said, 'Mrs. Cullom, that man is my brother, and I treated him as +such, and that thought was so impressed on his mind that it touched his +better nature, and he could only think of me with the best and purest of +feelings. I know that it was impossible for that man to hurt me. I fear +no human being in this world.' The tramp stayed at her house for five +days, and at the end of that time he got a chance at harvesting on the +Thornton ranch. When he came to take leave of Mrs. Lenair, she said to +him: 'You have put in five good full days' work, and here is five +dollars for you'--handing him a five-dollar gold piece. He said: 'You +did not hire me to work, and for what little I have done you have paid +me a thousand times more than it is worth, in your conduct towards me. +You took me, a poor, miserable, worthless, homeless tramp into your +home, as if I had been your own brother, and you acted the true sister +towards me. Now I wish to play the brother's part by giving you my work. +It is the only thing I can do to show you how I appreciate your sisterly +kindness toward me. I can earn all the money I need now at the Thornton +ranch. I shall never forget you, because you are the only woman I ever +met that received me and treated me as a sister would her brother; and +if you ever need any work done on your place, and you have not the money +to pay for its being done, remember I am your brother, and will do it +gladly; more so than if you paid me two dollars a day.' She thanked him +and said he had better take the five dollars, and laid it down on the +table for him to take. He said he never would take it, and left it +there. His last words to her were, 'I am going to be a new man.' + +"Dan was on an errand to her place while the tramp was there. He saw him +working in the orchard as if he was trying to do two days' work in one. +Dan said he couldn't hire a man to work as he was working. + +"I was rather amused at Dan," continued Mrs. Cullom. "When I returned +from having taken Mrs. Lenair home in the evening (on the day that I +told you that Dan went and brought her in the morning to spend the day), +Dan came and took the team. 'Caroline,' he said, 'if you send me after +Mrs. Lenair many times more I shall be falling in love with her, for I +think she is real good, as well as being smart and bright.' 'What! Dan +Cullom,' I said. 'She wouldn't have an awful talking man like you, even +if you had a diamond on the end of every hair on your head.'" + +When Mrs. Cullom was about to leave, Mrs. Herne said: "I have enjoyed +your visit so much, Mrs. Cullom. You have got me interested in Penloe +and his mother. I do so want to see them." + +That evening Mrs. Herne related part of Mrs. Cullom's conversation to +her husband and asked him if he knew Penloe or his mother. + +"Penloe I have seen a few times, but his mother I have never seen," +replied he. + +"What kind of a man is he?" asked his wife. + +"Well," said Charles, "I hardly know him. He is certainly a remarkable +appearing young man. He is so different in his looks and expression from +any man I have ever met or seen; so different from the kind that I have +always associated with, that I could be no judge of such a man any more +than I could be a judge of millinery or silks and satins, for I have had +just about as much to do with one as I have with the other." + +"Well," said his wife, "I want you to arrange in some way so we can meet +them, for I am all worked up over them after what Mrs. Cullom has told +me, and am very curious to see them." + +"Something will happen in some way, so that we will meet them," he +replied. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +BEN WEST'S EXPERIENCE IN THE KLONDIKE. + + +At the time Ben West went to the Klondike, a long tedious journey on a +trail had to be made. He realized that whatever ability he possessed for +making his way in that country, he lacked experience as a miner. So he +was on the lookout to see if he could find one or two men of experience. +He met many men on his journey, some of them having had most remarkable +experience in mining and everything else. He met a man by the name of +Adams that he thought would fill the bill; for he said he had mined in +Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada. From the talk Ben West had with +different men, he knew now that he was in a country where men had no +known reputations to back them; where every man was looked upon by every +other man as being "on the make," without any scruples of conscience; +where you would be laughed at if you took in all men said about +themselves; where a man's word was worth very little and the only thing +that counted was "something was in sight." + +Adams told Ben West if he wished to secure his services, he would have +to pay his expenses to Dawson City and give him five hundred dollars in +cash before leaving Dawson City to go prospecting, and furnish him all +supplies, and he, in return, would give Ben West half of whatever he +found. Ben West, having several thousand dollars with him, was willing +to take chances, and hired Adams. He also met another man in his travels +who had had some experience, but was "dead broke." His name was Dickey, +and he told Ben West if he would grub and stake him and give him one +hundred dollars in cash when in Dawson City, he would give him half of +what he found. Ben West agreed to Dickey's proposition, and the three +men traveled together to Dawson City. + +Their journey was of a most tedious, trying character, the weather being +disagreeable in the extreme. It rained more or less every day, making +the travel exceedingly slow and difficult; it being so muddy and +slippery, you seemed as if you went two steps backward to every one you +went forward. The trail in many places was washed out and had to be +repaired before they could proceed. In some places land-slides had +blocked the trail, and it involved a great amount of labor to clear them +off. Everything around Ben West was of a most discouraging nature. What +with being cold and wet all day; leg weary in the extreme when night +came; bill of fare very meagre, consisting of bread, beans, bacon, and +coffee, the men he hired sometimes felt like throwing up the sponge. For +they met many returning who said the country was hell and no good; many +were sick lying along the side of the trail; some were dying, and they +saw some dead; also a good many dead pack animals were seen. His +surroundings were certainly blue. + +One morning he awoke very early, long before it was time to rise. It was +raining hard, and the thought came to him, another long tedious wet +day's journey; how much longer would this fearful traveling last? Would +they ever reach Dawson City, or would they, like many others, die on the +road? Then he thought, why was he here? He could not help contrasting +the difference between his environments here and those in Orangeville. +Here all around him was black, barren, cold, wet, and dismal; with +nearly every one cursing the country and calling it hell; and some felt +like calling for some small boy to kick them because they were fools +enough to come here. + +Then he thought of his parents in Orangeville with every comfort inside, +and a perfect paradise of fruits and flowers outside. He thought of +California's lovely skies, its balmy, invigorating breezes, and its +many, many sunny days. He said, what would the people who are +journeying along here think if they had a climate like that in +Orangeville, which is matchless this side of heaven? He continued +interrogating himself. Why did I come here? Did I not always have more +of the very best and greatest variety of food than I could eat? Yes. Did +I not always have more fine clothes than I could wear? Yes. Did I not +always have more money than I needed to spend? Yes. Could a man be more +popular than I was in Orangeville? No. In short, could a man have a much +better all round time anywhere than I had in Orangeville? No. Then why +am I here in this strange country, away from friends and loved ones? A +small voice whispered to Ben West, and said: "It is because of your love +for popularity, your greed, and because you are a slave to Julia +Hammond." It was the name of Julia Hammond that roused Ben West from his +reverie, that caused him to be restless, to rise, to proceed on his +journey, and bring his iron will to bear, to overcome all obstacles. + +After enduring over thirty days of disagreeable, rainy, muddy weather, +it changed to cold, freezing weather, with snow falling. Many more +hardships the party endured before reaching Dawson City. + +When they arrived at Dawson City they felt very rocky and completely +played out. The first week they were in Dawson City, they just rested +and took care of themselves and got well and recuperated. Then Adams +said to Ben West he wanted his money. So Ben gave him his five hundred +dollars, and he also paid Dickey one hundred. + +So, after Adams got his money, he said: "Come West, let's see the +sights." + +Ben said: "I am here to make money, not to fool it away." + +Adams said: "Why, West, we have had hell enough in getting here; let's +have some fun to-night. Come, West, and see the show and take in the +elephant." + +Ben West said: "Adams, I know now where most of your money goes that +you have made mining; but women and whiskey will not get mine." + +"Go slow, West, these girls are not respectable according to rules and +regulations of society, and I don't say they are, but look out and see +_that some one woman_ does not get away with your money. She may be +considered respectable as the world goes, but there may not be a great +difference between the one woman and these girls. I have seen the world, +West, and men like you before." + +Adams' remark had the effect of taking the sails out of Ben West's +self-righteous spirit, and he said nothing more. + +It was agreed among the three that they would remain in Dawson City +another week and then they would go prospecting. + +The day before starting to go, Ben West thought he had better get his +men, so he went round to the saloons, dives and dance-houses. After +searching about all such places, he found Adams in a dance-house, and +Dickey in the corner of a saloon. Both men were busted and seemed glad +to have Ben come and take care of them. By the next day he got both men +straightened out, and they proceeded on their prospecting tour. Ben West +was determined to learn from Adams all he could in the way of mining. +After they had been out about a week, Ben sent Dickey in one direction +while he and Adams went in another. He watched Adams very closely and +learned lots from him. When they had been together about a month, Ben +West was getting tired of Adams for several reasons. One day he was +prospecting about a quarter of a mile from Adams, when he found +something rich. He brought a few samples to camp at night and showed +them to Adams. When Adams looked at the samples, he said: "West, you +have struck it." So the next day Adams went with Ben to see the mine, +and by doing more work it proved to be all that Ben West had expected. +Now that a mine had been found, Adams wanted to get a settlement with +Ben West, as he had been away some time and wanted to get back to Dawson +City. Ben West did not think he owed Adams anything, as Adams had not +found the mine, but for some reason Adams thought he ought to have an +interest in what West found; so they had some wordy trouble. After many +hot words, Ben West agreed to give Adams two thousand dollars, which +offer Adams accepted and then returned to Dawson City to see and enjoy +more fun as he called it. Two weeks later an agent representing the +North American Mining Syndicate bought Ben West's claim for fifty +thousand dollars, giving him a draft for forty thousand and ten thousand +in gold coin. + +For a few weeks afterwards Ben West felt rich, then, strange to relate, +a feeling came over him that he was poor, and must make at least half a +million. About a month after he had sold his claim, he met three men +from his native State, California. He was glad to see men from his +State, and they were glad to see him, when they heard him say that he +had sold a claim, as they had very little money and might need some +financial help. Ben West found their company very entertaining and liked +to be with them. After awhile it was decided that all of them should go +in as partners. When they had been out prospecting a few weeks as +partners, it is singular to have to state that there was trouble over +every little show of a claim, and many other matters caused +unpleasantness, though before they became partners they were all great +friends. But the partnership business seemed to make them all at outs +with each other. After they had been out awhile prospecting, Ben West +found out that two of his partners were tender-footed men, never having +had any experience as miners, though they at first tried to make Ben +think they had. + +"I have got through with partners," said Ben West, "and from this time +on I will prospect alone; then what I find will belong to me, and no +second party can claim a share and growl because he can't have it all. +Besides, this partnership is a failure after all. There is more or less +trouble all the time about cooking, packing, getting the fuel for fire, +cleaning up, and putting the things away afterwards. Then how will it +be if a good prospect is found? I shall have all the work to do and only +get half." This resolve was made after a long hard journey of several +days, over a rough slippery trail with now and then deep snow to wade +through, and also over rocky points that one is almost sure to find in +the mountains. + +The two tender-footed men were good fellows, but, like too many others, +when the novelty of the enterprise began to develop into a stern +reality, and there was manual labor to be performed, and hardships to be +endured, and some personal sacrifices to be made, they began to lose +heart, get homesick and weary, and to shirk their part; also to be surly +and disagreeable. "We won't quarrel," said Ben West, "but when we get to +Antelope Springs we will divide our stores and then each one will 'shift +for himself,' as the saying is." + +In a few days they arrived at the Springs and at once divided the +supplies. After a couple of days' stay, Ben West started out again +prospecting, and slow tedious work he found it. He toiled day after day, +tired and weary at night, but blessed with a night of sweet sound sleep +so that in the morning he was fresh and ready for another day's work. +Things went on in this way for awhile, then he came to a place that had +been tried but abandoned. Here he worked for about two days and found +what he was looking for. But it was not rich, though his hopes seemed to +revive once more. Here he brought his camping outfit and went to work in +good earnest for about ten days. He took out from fifteen to thirty +dollars per day, and the prospect looked favorable. A party offered him +twenty thousand dollars for his claim, but he refused it, and after some +bargaining he sold it for thirty thousand dollars. + +He decided now to not only prospect himself but to stake others for a +half interest in what they found. Amongst them was a young fellow by the +name of Lane, of doubtful reputation, and his partner Bruce. Ben West +gave them a six weeks' outfit to go to a part of the country that had +not been looked over at all. After they had been gone about four weeks +Bruce, Lane's partner, came into camp and wanted Ben West. He was out in +the hills looking for another claim, but Bruce went after him to get him +to go with him to where Lane was, for they had found a good prospect +that was very rich. After getting together the few necessary things that +they needed, off the two men went, and sure enough it was a rich mine, +one that was paying three to six hundred dollars per day. "Now," said +Ben West, "I am opposed to any partnership business, and will sell or +buy. Just one half of this claim is mine. I will take twenty-five +thousand dollars or agree to give you the same amount for your half; and +would like an answer at once or as soon as you can decide." + +Lane and Bruce talked the matter over and finally concluded to sell. "It +is a bargain," said Ben West, "and we will now go back to town and I +will give you your money." + +It looked stormy before bedtime and next morning the snow was quite +deep. Though the snow was still falling, they were anxious to get to +town; so they started on the tedious journey of sixty miles through the +snow, then over a foot deep. Their progress was slow and they did not +make half the distance; being exhausted, they stopped for food and rest. +After eating a cold lunch, they fixed a place and spread their slender +allowance of bedding and turned in for the night. It was bitter cold, +but they were tired; so it was not long before they were all soundly +sleeping. When they awoke in the morning they realized that a very hard +day's travel was before them, having about forty miles to make before +supper. + +When Ben West got up he did not feel quite right, for one of his feet +felt kind of odd. It did not take Lane long to find out the foot had +been slightly frozen. So to work they went and thawed it out, wrapped it +up well and started. It did not snow now, but it was cold. Their +progress was slow. When they had traveled about ten miles, Bruce said: +"I will push ahead and get a sled and some of the boys to come and meet +you, so make all the distance you can." + +"All right," said West, "send four men with a sled and something to eat. +I will pay the bill and the men for coming." + +Bruce arrived in town some time after dark, but though very tired and +hungry he did not eat until he had started four good stout men after his +comrades, whom they met some nine or ten miles out. Poor Ben West could +go no further, for his foot was quite painful, and he and Lane both +waited and watched for relief, which came at last. It was almost +midnight when the relief party arrived. They brought a fine lunch and a +bottle of wine, which both enjoyed very much. After the lunch was eaten +all hands started for the town, where they arrived just as the day was +breaking. The frozen foot proved to be worse than at first supposed to +be. It would keep the owner an invalid for at least two weeks. Ben West +said: "Here is a pretty mess. My fortune just at my fingers' end and a +frozen foot tied up for half a month, when I have so much to do. Why did +I not take better care of myself?" + +At this time Bruce came to see how Ben West was getting along. He found +him nervous and a little feverish. "Just be quiet," said Bruce, "it is +the best medicine you can have." After Ben West had paid Lane and Bruce +for their claim, Bruce said to West: "If you like I will go with another +man, that you may name, and work in your mine until you come to us. For +my pay I want fourteen dollars per day and I'll furnish my own grub." +The bargain was made. Bruce and the man started the next day, and just +sixteen days after Ben West was at his mine. + +They had a large pile of pay dirt ready for a clean-up; it was +exceedingly rich and several claim buyers had heard about the rich mine +and were on the ground to buy it from West. After a great deal of talk +West said: "The mine is worth a million, but I want to get out of this +country, and the man that pays me five hundred and fifty thousand +dollars gets the mine." + +An hour afterwards the agent for an English syndicate purchased the +mine. Ben West having now made his pile determined to lose no time in +getting back to Orangeville, but he intended to stay in San Francisco +till he was thoroughly recuperated before going home. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AN ARRIVAL. + + +George Combe has said, "Mankind love their young and take charge of them +with common accord, yet the love of offspring is much more intense in +the female than in the male, and this difference is manifested from +earliest infancy. The boy wants his whip, horse, drum, top or sword, but +observe the little girl occupied with her doll. She decks it in fine +clothes, prepares for it night linen, puts it into the cradle, rocks it, +takes it up, feeds it, scolds it, and tells it stories. When she grows +older she takes charge of her younger brothers and sisters. Nothing +possesses, in her estimation, greater charms than babies. When she has +grown to maturity and become herself a mother, with what sweet emotion +and gushing tenderness does she caress her little ones." + +While the love of offspring is more or less strong in all, yet it does +not manifest itself if there are other tendencies predominant in the +character. Take a woman in whom the love of dress and society is most +active; she will not care for offspring, if her circumstances are such +that it would debar her from enjoying style or society; or if the +artistic inclination is the strongest in her character she would not +want offspring; or if great intellectual tastes are very strong and love +of children only moderate, she would not want offspring; or where +persons have consecrated themselves fully and unreservedly to a +spiritual life in order to become spiritual parents to many, to them +offspring would be a hindrance in their work. But where the domestic +faculties are the strongest, the home is lonesome without children. In +some the maternal instinct is exceedingly strong, for it manifests +itself to such an extent as to become the ruling passion; nothing else +but offspring can satisfy them. And this maternal passion is expressed +in matchless language by Mr. Stephen Phillips:[1] "Lucrezia's sudden +outburst of grief and rage against her lonely fate is, poetically +speaking, one of the finest passages in the play:" + +[Footnote 1: Literary Digest, Dec., 1899.] + + GIOVANNI. + Lucrezia! this is that old bitterness. + + LUCREZIA. + Bitterness--am I bitter? strange, oh strange! + How else? My husband dead and childless left. + My thwarted woman--thoughts have inward turned, + And that vain milk like acid in me eats. + Have I not in my thought trained little feet + To venture, and taught little lips to move + Until they shaped the wonder of a word? + I am long practiced. Oh, those children, mine, + Mine, doubly mine; and yet I cannot touch them. + I cannot see them, hear them--Does great God + Expect I shall clasp air and kiss the wind + Forever, and the budding cometh on? + The burgeoning, the cruel flowering; + At night the quickening splash of rain, at dawn + That muffled call of babes how like to birds; + And I amid these sights and sounds must starve + I with so much to give perish of thrift! + Omitted by His casual dew! + + GIOVANNI. + Well, well, + You are spared much; children can wring the heart. + + LUCREZIA. + Spared! to be spared what was I born to have, + I am a woman, and this very flesh + Demands its natural pangs, its rightful throes, + And I implore with vehemence these pains. + I know that children wound us, and surprise + Even to utter death, till we at last + Turn from a face to flowers; but this my heart + Was ready for these pangs, and had foreseen + Oh! but I grudge the mother her last look + Upon the coffined form--that pang is rich-- + Envy the shivering cry when gravel falls + And all these maimed wants and thwarted thoughts, + Eternal yearning, answered by the wind, + Have dried in me belief and love and fear. + I am become a danger and a menace, + A wandering fire, a disappointed force, + A peril--do you hear, Giovanni? Oh, + It is such souls as mine that go to swell + The childless cavern cry of the barren sea, + Or make that human ending to night wind. + +In Mrs. Charles Herne, this feeling was not quite as strong as that +expressed in the play, but after they had been married two years, she +did some quiet thinking in that line. She would sit alone at times, and +let her imagination be active in the thought, what delight it would give +her if when her husband came in the room where she was, she could take +him over to a little crib and turn back the corner of a fancy worked +cover and show him such a sweet, wee, little face nestled on the pillow, +and what joy it would give her, when her husband came in from his work +to put a little one into his arms and see how delighted he would be to +take the child, and then see him sit down and hear him use language +which belongs to baby talk. Again she thought what pleasure it would +give her to start a little toddling form down the pathway to meet her +husband, and to see the little one stand still when it met its father, +and raise its little arms to be taken up. All these thoughts and many +more passed through the mind of Mrs. Herne, for she now knew for a +certainty that such joys would be hers, and many a pleasant laugh and +joke she and her husband had over the coming of a little tot. + +One day a little later there was started in the most sacred room in the +house a vibration by the doctor which reached the auditory nerve of the +nurse conveying to the brain a most joyous statement, "It is a boy." The +nurse carried it to the kitchen, "It is a boy." The Chinaman cook +carried it to the Jap chore boy, "It is a boy." The Jap chore boy +carried it to the teamsters, "It is a boy." The teamsters carried it to +the men on the ditches, "It is a boy." The ditch men carried it to the +men in the orchard, "It is a boy." The prune trees took up the glad news +and whispered it to the apricot trees, "It is a boy." The apricot trees +whispered it to the peach trees, "It is a boy." The peach trees +whispered it to all the other fruit trees, "It is a boy." + +When Pet, Bell, Blanche and Daisy, with their large udders full of rich +lacteal fluid, heard the news, "It is a boy," they gave forth an extra +flow of milk that night. When the frisky mules in the barn lot heard the +joyful tidings, "It is a boy," they just cut up and threw their hind +feet higher than ever. You could not see them for the dust they made. +The roosters crowed, "It is a boy," and the hens cackled, "It is a boy." +The orioles in the mulberry trees warbled out the song, "It is a boy." +The dogs, Dash and Rover, in their play that evening barked at each +other, "It is a boy." The cats Tom and Malty purred, "It is a boy." It +seemed as if the vibrations in all the buildings and all over the ranch +rang out the glad tidings, "It is a boy." + +In the evening when all Mr. Herne's men congregated in their fine +quarters to have some music, Osborn sat down to the piano and played +while all the men sang, that old negro song: + + "Give 'em more children, Lord, + Give 'em more children; + Give 'em more children, Lord, + Give 'em more children." + +Osborn said to the boys when retiring, "What a feeling of joy the advent +of a little boy has brought to us all on the ranch. Mr. and Mrs. Herne +have got their wish now, for they both wanted a son." + +Barnes said: "What a fine time we will have with the little fellow, when +he is old enough to toddle. We will have him over here most of the +time." + +One day after dinner when the baby was about a month old, a man standing +six feet three inches and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds, +came on the porch where Mrs. Herne was sitting with the baby, and said: +"Mrs. Herne, the boys want me to take the baby to them. They are all +sitting under the mulberry trees." + +Mrs. Herne said: "All right, Frank." But the nurse seemed to be alarmed +lest he might hurt the infant, as he was so large and awkward, not used +to handling a baby four weeks old, so she followed Frank and the baby to +where the boys were. Frank said: "Here boys, each one of you can hold +him just long enough to pass your opinion upon him." The men seemed to +take as much pride and interest in the child as if he were their own. +After the boy had been in each of the men's arms and they had passed +their judgment on him, the nurse wanted to take the child back, but tall +Frank said: "No, I took the baby from Mrs. Herne and I am going to see +the child in her arms safe again." When putting the baby in her lap he +said: "The boys all think he is the brightest baby they ever saw." + +After he was gone the nurse said: "You ought to see how gentle those +great men handled that baby." + +Every day the men always inquired and talked about the baby, and were +eager to watch its growth. + +If you entered the house of an evening about the time the baby was put +to bed, you would hear a very sweet, soft voice singing: + + "Hush! my child, lie still and slumber, + Holy angels guard thy bed. + Heavenly blessings without number + Cluster round thy sacred head." + +There is great talk made among many persons about catching different +kinds of disease and sickness, but how seldom you hear people talk about +the contagious qualities of hope, joy and love. Supposing on a ranch the +owner gets up in the morning and starts the vibrations going, "That All +is life, All is love, All is joy, and All is God," and there is a hearty +response by his wife who takes up the invocation, "All is life, All is +love, All is joy, and All is God." And carrying them into the kitchen, +she adds to them by singing this song: + + "The thorns that pester and vex my life + Have changed to the flowers in June, + All sounds, disorders, pain and strife + Have rounded into tune." + +From the kitchen the chore boy takes up the sayings to the teamsters, +"All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." The teamsters take +up those life-giving words, and instead of swearing at their teams all +day, and talking about hell, their thoughts and talk is, "All is life, +All is love, All is joy, All is God." The men on the ditches and in the +orchards echo the glad thought, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, +All is God." And the birds in the trees sing with gladness, "All is +life, All is love, All is joy, All is God," and that very interesting +ring-neck bird, the kildee, as it runs along the ditches and moist +places in the orchards, speaks in its peculiar way that, "All is life, +All is love, All is joy, All is God." And the music of the waters as it +flows along, rippling in the ditches, sings "All is life, All is love, +All is joy, All is God." The winds talk it to the trees, "All is life, +All is love, All is joy, All is God." The trees whisper it to each +other, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God," and the music +of the insects say the same thing, "All is life, All is love, All is +joy, and All is God." When the God of day, with his effulgent +brightness, rises over the hills in the morning and scatters his +luminous rays on the ranch, and writes in lights and shadows his +hieroglyphics that "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." +And the one grand anthem that is being sung in the hearts and lives of +all on the ranch is, "All is life, All is love, All is joy, All is God." + +With an aspiration like that on the ranch, all cursing and swearing +would disappear; smallness, meanness, jealousy, covetousness and greed +could not live in that atmosphere. That spiritual air in circulation +would kill out all lustful thoughts, pride, vanity, love of strong +liquors, and of coarse animal food. Everything would manifest the fruits +of the Spirit, which are peace, joy and love. All sickness and disease +would disappear, because those life-giving, purifying thoughts would +become incorporated and assimilated in the mind, nerve force, and enter +into the blood, flowing through its veins and arteries all over the +whole system, making the entire organism sound and pure, a fit temple +for the dwelling of the Eternal One. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MRS. MARSTON. + + +In the last three years the beautiful little city of Roseland with its +avenues of palms and magnolias had a boom. Large substantial brick and +granite blocks were erected. Very many new and handsome residences were +built, besides putting a new appearance on some of the old buildings. +The commercial, professional and mechanical classes were all doing well, +and living in expectation of doing still better. + +Among those who had prospered by the rise in real estate was a Mrs. +Marston, who owned one of the finest residences in Roseland. At the time +that she enters our story her age was about forty and she had a son who +was twenty years old, a month before he left for Paris, and he had been +gone away four months. Why he had gone to Paris, the stories concerning +his mission to that gay city did not quite harmonize. His father came to +the conclusion ten years ago that his mother was too much like himself, +in being a positive, dominant character; that she was a little too +masculine in her makeup, and he thought he would prefer a lady for a +wife who did not weigh quite as much, and one that was a little sweeter +in disposition, and more playful. When he reflected that he was worth +one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he thought that some of the joys +of having a sweet wife should be his, and particularly when he had seen +Josephine Stearns, whom he thought would more than meet his most +sanguine expectations, for to his mind, she seemed to possess all those +very desirable qualities of disposition which he so much admired. In a +very indirect way he made his mind known to Mrs. Marston, who pretended +she did not like such a proposition, but if he would give her fifty +thousand dollars and let her have the boy, she would consent to a +divorce. Her husband thought it over in this way. He said, "I am not +happy in living with my wife, don't like my home at all, and what good +does it do a man to be worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, if +he is not enjoying some of the greatest pleasures in life. Better have +only a hundred thousand dollars with a pretty sweet young lady like +Josephine, than a hundred and fifty thousand dollars with my present +wife." Next morning he scratched his head, and said in a slow kind of a +way, "I think fifty thousand dollars rather steep, but I do not wish to +have any fuss or quibbling, and you can have the boy, and I will give +you twenty-five thousand dollars in cash, and twenty-five thousand in +real estate," which she accepted. To look at her you could not tell what +her feelings were, but way down deep in her heart she was overflowing +with gladness to think she was free. + +The rise in real estate made her worth in all as much as her husband was +when he left her. She was known in Roseland as being a lady that was +fond of young people's company, and she was great on entertaining. She +was one of those ladies who are proud, fond of dress and style, very +particular about moving in the upper circles of society, but she had no +interest or sympathy with plain, poor people. She loved to dress young +for her years, was fond of going with young ladies and gentlemen bicycle +riding. She generally had as guests one or two very pretty young ladies, +and another of her fads was to make pets of a few sons of rich men. As +she had a fine large house and loved to entertain, the leading young men +in Roseland, and some of the prettiest and most stylish young ladies, +were very often seen in her parlors and on her well-kept lawn. The +lunches and suppers she served to her guests were the talk of the town. +She had a sister who lived in Orangeville, but who was so different in +her tastes and circumstances that there was nothing in common between +them. + +One day she was out driving, and her eyes caught the sight at a little +distance of two persons walking on the sidewalk. She made the team walk +slow when she saw them. They did not see her, but she took in at a +glance what a clear complexion, bright eyes, and lovely form the young +lady had. She said to herself, "How beautiful Stella has grown, but what +plain clothes she has on." She reined the team towards the sidewalk and +said, "Why, Stella, I did not know you had returned from school. Good +morning, David," she said to her sister's husband. "Wont you both come +to the house?" David said that Stella had just come in on the train and +they had been doing a few errands and were expected back by Bertha at a +certain time and could not stop now. + +Mrs. Marston said to Stella, "I want you to come and make me a long +visit. I will be out to-morrow at your house and arrange with your +mother for your coming to visit me." She thanked her aunt for her +invitation and said she would tell her mother. + +Mrs. Marston had remarked on more than one occasion to her sister +Bertha, that she would die if she had to stay in a place like +Orangeville over night. As that lady did not feel she was ready to quit +her material form with all its attachments and desires, she decided to +leave Roseland at eight in the morning and that would give her ample +time to have a long chat with her sister, and she could then be home by +five in the evening in time to dress for dinner and receive whoever +might call. She telephoned to her caterer to have ready next morning at +eight, one quart of orange sherbet and one quart of vanilla ice cream, +put into two nice dishes and packed in a box with ice, then put two wet +sacks over the box and set it in another box with a cover. She +telephoned to the livery stable to have her span of handsome chestnuts +brought to her house next morning at eight. The next morning she was up +bright and early and put on just a good plain dress, and was ready to +take the lines promptly at eight from the man who had brought her team. +She drove round to the caterer's and got her box, then she went to the +meat market and told the man to put up six pounds of steak, she called +at the bakery and had the man put in her buggy one frosted fruit cake, +one plain cake, one lemon pie, and a peach cobbler, and one dozen fresh +baked Astor House rolls. After she had got a little way out from +Roseland she stopped at a Chinaman's garden and purchased a few early +vegetables. When she reached her sister's home it was about ten, and +after a few minutes' chat she said to her sister, "Bertha, I have come +out to have a visit with you and Stella, and I did not want you to be +giving yourselves a lot of work in the way of getting up a big dinner, +so I bought a few things on my way out, and all they need is to set them +on the table, except the vegetables and meat, and I will attend to the +vegetables; the pies and rolls may need just a little warming." + +Mrs. Marston was one of those ladies of skill and ability who could do +anything in the kitchen equal to any hired help when she wished, and +this morning she seemed to be so different to what she generally was, +that her sister Bertha thought she either had improved greatly, or she +had not judged her rightly. She seemed this morning so kind and +thoughtful and so sisterly in her conversation and so ready to assist in +getting dinner. Bertha said to Mrs. Marston, "Why, Helen, you have more +steak here than we can eat in a week." To which Mrs. Marston replied, +that she had brought lots of ice to keep it. + +When David was called to dinner, it certainly did his eyes and stomach +good to see on the table such a spread of luxuries and dainties, which +were so seldom partaken of by the Wheelwright family, as they lived very +simply. All enjoyed the new bill of fare very much, and the repast was +seasoned by a very pleasant family conversation. David seemed to open +his eyes several times at the turn things were taking, because there had +been times when his wife and her sister did not harmonize at all. + +During the morning when not observed, Mrs. Marston feasted her eyes on +Stella's beautiful form in her new cut wrapper, and mentally said to +herself, "When I get some new stylish gowns on that handsome figure, and +that beautiful face under a becoming hat wont those Roseland dudes just +go wild over her?" She laughed to herself and thought what fun she would +have with her pets. + +After dinner was through they sat at the table resting and talking, when +David said he would like to have Stella come out and help him a few +minutes. + +Mrs. Marston spoke up and said, "Yes, dear; you go out and help your +father. Your mother and I will wash the dishes." + +Mrs. Marston thought now is the time to speak to Bertha about Stella +making me a visit. She opened the conversation by saying: "Bertha, I +have seen so little of Stella for several years, that I do wish you +would let her come next week and make me a visit. Not having a daughter, +I feel as if I would like to do something for Stella, that is to give +her a good chance. She is a bright girl and has an exceedingly fine +form, and about all she has ever seen of society are cow-boys and ranch +men, and may be a few ordinary respectable fellows; but I want to +introduce her to bankers' sons, young lawyers, and rich merchants' sons, +and give the girl a show. You see, she is going on eighteen, and if ever +she is going to have an opportunity now is the time. After a young lady +gets past twenty, her chances with the young bloods are not so good." + +"Well," said her sister, "you are very kind, Helen, and I don't know but +what it might be a chance that she needs. You have my consent for her to +make you a visit, and when you give her the invitation you can tell her +what I say." + +"There is one matter, Bertha, that you will pardon me for speaking to +you about, and I hope you will let me do as I wish, and that is in the +matter of fixing up Stella's wardrobe." + +Bertha said: "Helen, she is your girl while she is with you, and you can +do whatever you think best." + +So when Stella came in from helping her father, Mrs. Marston said: +"Stella, I have been talking to your mother about your coming to make me +a visit next week, and she has given her consent and I do hope you will +come and be my daughter for awhile. We will have a fine time, I can +assure you. Only bring the clothes you come in. I will rig you out from +head to foot." + +Stella in her own mind felt this way: that she never had any personal +experience of the circle that her aunt was a prominent figure in, and +all she knew about the young men and young ladies connected with the +swim, was only what she had heard and read. She felt that by personally +coming in contact with those of different environments, it would widen +her experience and give her a better knowledge of the world. So she very +kindly thanked her aunt and it was decided that she would come on +Thursday of the following week. + +When she arrived Stella was warmly welcomed into the elegantly furnished +home of Mrs. Marston. Her aunt kissed her and seemed delighted to have +her niece with her. The bedroom that her aunt said would be hers was a +gem of beauty, being furnished with one of those fine enameled brass +bedsteads, a fine dresser with a long bevel plate French mirror, and on +the dresser was an elegant toilet set. The curtains, carpets and +draperies matched the tints of the ceiling and walls. Fine costly +pictures hung on the walls representing mostly scenes of festivities in +baronial halls and castles, also in modern Fifth Avenue palaces; showing +up so well the gay brilliant throng of ladies and gentlemen in the +height of their enjoyment. The decorations and furnishings of the room +were well in keeping with the lovely figure that was to occupy it. + +Mrs. Marston had a great deal of personal pride, and she did not care +about taking Stella out till her wardrobe had been replenished. After +breakfast next morning the door-bell rang and a minute or two afterwards +Mrs. Rogers, the dressmaker, was announced by the servant to Mrs. +Marston. When Mrs. Marston went in to see her she said: "Good morning, +Mrs. Rogers; my niece is here and I would like you to see her so you can +help me to select what you think would be suitable in the way of dresses +and other garments for her." + +Mrs. Marston called Stella in and introduced her to Mrs. Rogers and +said: "Mrs. Rogers will go with me to do some shopping, and we want you +to leave entirely to us the matter of selecting your dresses. I am sure +you will be pleased when we get through." + +Stella laughed and said: "If you show as much good taste in selecting my +dresses as you have in the furnishing and decorating of my very pretty +room, I am sure I shall be more than pleased." Her aunt was delighted +with the compliment. + +Mrs. Marston said to Mrs. Rogers: "Did you come over on your bicycle?" + +"Yes," said that lady. + +"Well," said Mrs. Marston, "I will get mine and we will go now and do +the shopping." + +At the Marston mansion towards evening several large packages arrived. +Mrs. Marston opened two large ones, looked them over, then said: "Here, +Stella, these are for you." + +After Stella had looked at them she said: "Why, aunt, dear, they are +beautiful, but I am not going to be married now; they are pretty enough +for the most charming bride in Roseland." + +While handling the fancy worked underskirts and nightdresses, the fine +silk underwear and costly fancy silk hosiery, she remarked: "It is very +kind of you, aunt, to get all these fine things." Then a box was opened +and there was a great assortment of the best shoes, so that Stella might +select several pair from it. She was quite pleased with the different +materials her aunt had selected for her dresses, and Mrs. Rogers would +be up next morning to take her measurement. She was going to put on a +force of assistants for completing them as soon as possible. + +Stella was about the same as a prisoner in her aunt's house for a week. +But she had a most enjoyable time in reading some very costly +illustrated books of travel which her aunt had purchased more for style +and appearance than for anything else. + +Her aunt said one day, she did not get any time to look at books, but +she was glad Stella could amuse herself in that way so that she might +not find the time long. + +"No, indeed, aunt," said Stella, "I have enjoyed every minute of the +time I have been with you." + +The week that Stella was a prisoner her aunt had so arranged matters +that there were few callers and Stella did not see them. And she herself +was out most of the time. Stella was not the least sensitive in regard +to the matter of not going out with her aunt till her new dresses were +made, because she saw that she would be a very conspicuous figure among +the well-dressed young ladies of her aunt's circle. She would look like +a speckled bird among a flock of white pigeons. + +After the dress-making was completed Mrs. Rogers went with Mrs. Marston +to the milliner's and purchased a pretty hat, Mrs. Marston saying she +would bring Stella and let her select what more she might need in the +line of millinery. + +The week following was one of excitement for Stella, for every day she +was out riding once or twice with her aunt, and meeting so many young +ladies, and the well-dressed young men were very particular when bowing +to Mrs. Marston to recognize the pretty young face at her side. Towards +the end of the week Mrs. Marston gave a swell reception in honor of her +niece. The very elite of Roseland were there, also a few from other +places who were on a visit to friends in Roseland, and all made a very +gay and brilliant party. But if any young lady that evening looked +attractive, bewitching, fascinating, and possessed the power of making +the blood in some of the dudes present tingle from the roots of their +hair to the end of their toes, it was that fresh young girl from the +country, with her sparkling eye, her ready wit; with resources that +seemed inexhaustible for sustaining interesting conversation together +with a manner so simple, so unconscious in all she said and did and so +unassuming, which added much to the charm of her personality. All these +characteristics were manifested in fine well rounded form. Is it any +wonder that some young gentlemen saw a certain form floating before +them after they had put their heads to their pillows that night, and +their brains were active in planning for further acquaintance with that +young lady? + +Some of Mrs. Marston's pets lost no time in availing themselves of the +standing invitation to call any time. Other parties were soon given by +young ladies in Roseland, at which Stella had very pressing invitations +to be present. The young ladies liked her very much; she was so natural, +so sweet, so unaffected; they observed she was not what is called +"fellow-struck;" while she seemed to enjoy and be perfectly at home in +the society of young gentlemen, the young ladies saw no signs of her +flirting with any of them. There is that peculiarity in the character of +a certain class of young ladies, that while they may think it is their +privilege to flirt and carry on with the young men they know, yet when a +strange young lady is introduced into their circle of gentlemen friends, +they have more respect for her if she shows some originality and does +not behave just exactly as they do. + +Mrs. Marston was delighted at the impression Stella made on her circle +of acquaintances, and now the dudes of Roseland paid Mrs. Marston extra +attention and politeness since they had the pleasure of meeting her +niece. + +Young Ryland, the banker's son, said to Barker, the rising young +attorney at the Arlington Hotel, "Say, Barker, what do you think of that +new flower which Mrs. Marston has put into our garden?" + +"I think," said Barker, "she is the prettiest and most fragrant bud I +have seen; a very rare specimen." + +Ryland said: "She is quite a study; the more you see of her, the more +interesting she grows." + +After Stella had been at her aunt's about a month she was seen less in +her aunt's company riding out, but more in the company of the most +stylish men in the city. Her aunt encouraged her in going out with these +young gentlemen. She talked very much to her about how rich young +Ryland's father, the banker, was; and she expected Barker to become one +of the most brilliant lights at the bar. To-day he was worth twenty-five +thousand dollars in his own name. Then there was young Westbrooke, son +of the leading merchant in Roseland, the only son. He was home from +college, with bright prospects. There was young Brookes, who owned fifty +thousand dollars in real estate, and had traveled in Europe and seen +lots of the world. He was a very great catch, her aunt said. These four +young men, who always dressed with great taste, were Mrs. Marston's +favorite pets. For a while Stella favored each one of these young men +with her company, in buggy riding, but towards the end of the second +month Westbrooke was the only one with whom she was seen riding. + +She never took her aunt into her confidence by relating her experience +in going out with these various young gentlemen. She thought it policy +not to; but to be pleasant to each one of them, even if she had decided +not to keep company with some of them. She remembered she was her aunt's +guest, and should make herself agreeable to her aunt and her aunt's +friends. What she did not relate to her aunt she did to her mother, when +she returned home from her visit the week after the second month of her +stay in Roseland. In conversation with her mother, Stella said, "I am +really glad I went to Aunt Helen's, for I have lived in two months a +year of my life. I have seen so much of a world concerning which I +previously knew nothing only by hearsay. I feel it has done me good in +many ways. Aunt was kind to me, and made everything very pleasant, and +so did her friends. I do say I am glad that I have lived in her world +and tasted of its pleasures, because I don't go now on what I hear about +that world. I know from my own personal experience. It has given me much +to think about, and furnished a great deal of mental food for the study +of character, and I have learned more about my own self. I know better +now than I ever did before my strong points and weak ones." She told her +mother what fine piano players the Miller girls were, what sweet +singers Dr. Lacy's daughters were, and the male quartette was very fine. +Ryland and Westbrooke are members of it, and after relating a number of +other things which she heard and saw, she told her mother she could not +tell her all now, but would some other time. + +So one afternoon, when they were alone, Stella said: "Well, mother, I +will relate to you now some of my funny experiences with some of the +swell young gentlemen of Roseland. They were all aunt's special pets. I +had been out riding with young Ryland, the banker's son, several times, +besides sometimes meeting him at parties. He is very dudish, and dresses +very extravagantly. He is labeled as catch number one, because his +father has said his son should take his place in the bank some day, and +on his wedding day he gets a gift from his father of twenty-five +thousand dollars, with the promise of the bulk of his father's fortune +when he dies. On the first few occasions when I met young Ryland he +seemed reserved and quiet, but the more I went out riding with him I +found he was getting rather soft. He did not seem to show any other +traits of character, and his company was dull, but he made it more +sickening each time with soft, slobbering talk. I only went out with him +to please aunt. The last time I rode out with him he plead so hard for +me to allow him to kiss my hand that I consented grudgingly just to +quiet him, but after he kissed it instead of his being quiet, as I +supposed he would be, it seemed to fire him all the more, so that he +wanted to kiss my cheek. You ought to have heard the way he talked; you +would think he was about to die, and the only remedy there was for him +was to kiss my cheek. If he could only kiss me on the cheek, life would +come back to him and he would feel a new man. In my own mind, I said to +myself, 'This is the last time I ride out with you.' The more I tried to +show how foolish he was to want to kiss a young lady that did not want +any such manifestation of affection, the more he persisted, and said, 'I +must kiss you.' I said, 'If I loved you, it would be a real pleasure to +receive a kiss from you, but instead of loving you I lose all the +respect I ever had for you because you try to force me to accept a kiss +from you when I don't want it.' But he persisted, and said, 'I must kiss +you, it will do me lots of good, and won't hurt you.' I said, 'Have you +no respect for me or yourself to act so senselessly?' He replied, 'It +may appear senseless to you, but I can assure you it would be bliss to +me.' I tried to turn the subject of kissing me to something else, and +did the best I could to entertain him in conversation on other subjects, +but no; he was more stubborn than ever to think of nothing and talk of +nothing but kissing me on the cheek. Not wishing to have any +unpleasantness with him on aunt's account, I said to myself, 'You are +nothing but a simple, little, contrary, foolish child, in a man's form, +and I shall have to humor you as I would a little boy, for you have only +the mind of one.' I told him if he, as a young gentleman of honor, would +never say one word more to me about kissing, he could kiss my cheek just +once, which he did and was quiet afterwards. He was very pleasant during +the remainder of our ride, and when I got out of the buggy I was glad he +did not ask if he could call again on me. When I think of him I cannot +keep from laughing, the foolish simpleton. I would not have him for all +the gold in California. I must tell you about another of aunt's pets I +went out riding with several times. There was more to him than there was +to Ryland; his name is Barker, and he is worth twenty-five thousand +dollars, and aunt says he will become one of the leading lights of the +legal profession. Well, he was full of humor and jokes disposed to be a +little gay in his talk, and from what he related concerning himself one +might infer he had been at times a little swift. One afternoon we were +out in the country riding and he became very animated in his +conversation about taste and style of young ladies' dresses, and from +that went on to say what a fad it was among young men to notice and +admire the bright hosiery which young ladies wore when bicycle riding, +and continued in that style of talk, saying what good taste I displayed +in my dress; he was sure that the pretty, bright hosiery, which he +supposed I wore, would do his eyes good to behold. Just as he was +apparently making a motion as if to inspect my hosiery, his nigh colt +shied at an old post that was leaning over at the side of the road. He +had all he could do to manage the horse. I laughed, and told him 'He had +better keep his mind on the team, and not think about such things as the +kind of hosiery I was wearing, that he must not look upon me as a +dry-goods window.' He acted kind of mad with the colt, and said no more +about ladies' hosiery. That was the last ride we had together. + +"Well, one evening young Brookes, who was said to be worth fifty +thousand dollars in real estate, and had seen much of Europe in his +travels, called to take me to the theater. I had been out riding with +him several times, and met him at every party. After the play was over, +it being rather a warm night, he asked me if I would not like an +ice-cream, and I agreed; so we went into a cafe, and the waiter showed +us into one of the private boxes. After bringing ice-cream, cake and +soda-water, he drew the curtains. We had a very pleasant chat while +partaking of the refreshments. + +"Brookes asked me if I had any objection to his enjoying a cigarette. + +"I said 'No.' + +"Then he asked me if I would have one with him. + +"I laughed, and said I had not become fashionable enough for that yet. I +would have to live longer in the city. + +"He said, 'Why, the Paris young ladies smoke.' + +"'Yes,' I said, 'but I am not a Paris young lady.' + +"In looking around the little compartment I observed some pictures on +the walls, but I perceived that the artist was not a Rubens or a +Raphael, and they belonged to that class of pictures that one would not +see on the walls of a Sunday-school room. + +"I saw Mr. Brookes was looking at them, and then he started a +conversation about his travels in Europe, which was very interesting, +saying he was a great lover of art and speaking of works of art he saw +there. He said it was astonishing the genius that had been displayed in +marble and on canvas to represent the beautiful form of woman. +Continuing in that strain, and being free in his expressions, he +finished by saying how lovely must be the beautiful work of nature which +was covered up here, putting his hand on my shoulder. I smiled, and +said, 'This work of Nature is not on exhibition this evening; when it +is, I will send you a complimentary ticket.' He took the remark in good +part, and laughed. We got up and went out, and he saw me to aunt's door +in a very pleasant, gentlemanly way. + +"Westbrooke, the merchant's son, was the most sensible young man I met. +He appeared greatly interested in his college studies, and we had lots +of good talks on school studies and other subjects. + +"He asked me if he could come out to see me. + +"I told him 'yes' for I should be pleased to see him. + +"I want to tell you, mother, that when I was out and passing through +those funny experiences with the three different gentlemen, I never felt +in the least timid or scared. I felt just as calm and collected as I do +now. I felt this way about the matter: While I have long ago lost all +prudishness, yet I did not wish to stimulate their over-excited +imaginations of sensuous things." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Stella, if you had not been well balanced, +I should have some doubt about it being best for you to go to your +aunt's. But I knew, dear, your tastes and inclinations were not on the +sense plane, and I thought the opportunity of living in another world +for a while would do you good, for it would be the means of giving you a +better knowledge of yourself than you could get in any other way." + +Stella said: "Mother, the cow-boys and hired ranch hands have a hard +name. Now, I know this class of men well, and my experience with and +observation of them has taught me that any girl who behaves herself when +in their company will always be treated with respect. There is some +manhood about them in that way. But those fine city dudes have such a +polished, underhanded, deep, sly, foxy way of attaining their ends. Dr. +Lacy's girls told me that those fine, city young gentlemen loved nothing +better than to get acquainted with some pretty, young, green, innocent +girl and enjoy the fun of breaking her in. They are skilled in that +art." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SAUNDERS' CUSTOMERS. + + +One day, when business was very quiet in the store in Orangeville, the +following conversation took place: "Who is that young man of striking +appearance, talking to that old man in the road there?" said Hammond to +Saunders, the merchant. + +"That young man," said Saunders, "why, his name is Penloe." + +Hammond said: "Penloe, why that must be the fellow I have heard my wife +talk about. Has he any other name?" + +"That is all," said Saunders. "He does not wish to be called anything +else but Penloe. All his mail comes addressed just 'Penloe, Orangeville, +California.' No. Mr., nor Esquire, nor Rev. nor Dr. nor Prof., nor +anything else. He and his mother are my best customers, in one way. Not +that they buy much, but they never ask my price for the purpose of +beating me down. Nor do they grumble about the quality of my goods. Why, +those two have bought more from this store to give away to those in poor +circumstances, than they have for themselves. And they keep very still +about what they do in giving. There is the Jones family, who have more +children than dollars; they live in that cabin under the hill, on the +Squirrel Creek road. All Jones has is what he knocks out by hard day's +work, and he don't always have work, either. + +"Well, last winter, when his wife was in confinement and had a long sick +spell of two months, and Jones had typhoid fever about the same time, +they were about down to their last dollar and were in debt. When Penloe +and his mother heard about them, they both went down to Jones' house. +Penloe cut some stove-wood and helped round, and his mother took care of +Mrs. Jones. Also, Penloe paid me $37.50 for merchandise, which I had +furnished them. The doctor had been to Jones' about twice before they +came to take care of him and his wife. They paid the doctor, and told +him (to his surprise, as both his patients were very sick) that he need +not come any more. And they cured them without any medicine. When Jones +got well, they told him he could work on their place till he got work +elsewhere. And they gave him his board and one dollar a day in cash for +a month, and then he went to work on the Kelly ranch. + +"Jones and his wife have turned over a new leaf since Penloe and his +mother were with them. They look differently, act differently, and talk +differently. Penloe's mother gave them a little sound talk on family +matters. I feel a better man myself when they are round me. + +"Penloe's mother is away now, and Penloe is not seen much about here; he +is home most of the time, since he quit going out to work." + +"That is a very different story from what you can tell about most of the +young men in Orangeville," said Hammond. After which remark Hammond +walked out of the store, apparently in a deep study. + +Yes, he had much to think about, for he had seen a young man about +twenty-two years of age giving himself, his labor, his money, and his +best thought to help a poor family; to heal them of their sicknesses, to +help them to become self-supporting and independent, by furnishing them +work, and, above, all, to lift them to a higher plane of life, thus +helping them to find within, the "kingdom of Heaven." Yes, he thought of +Penloe's age, it was twenty-two; the very age when most young men think +only of gratifying themselves in every little whim and fancy, of +catering to their pride and vanity, and spending all their time, all +their thought, and all their money on themselves; being lovers of +themselves more than lovers of God or any one else. Or they have become +absorbed in some girl, not because she touches their better nature and +does what she can to lift them to a higher plane, but because she +stimulates the activity of their sensual natures, causing them to live +in bondage to their lower selves. Deluding themselves with the idea that +they are enjoying life, they become so engrossed in the pursuit of +'sense-plane' pleasures that they realize no other life than the +animal-plane of their existence, seeming apparently to be dead to all +high motives, grand ideals and nobleness of purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +PENLOE'S SERMON. + + +The Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was the Congregational minister in Roseland, +but he used to come out every Sunday afternoon to Orangeville and hold +preaching service in the only church there. One Thursday he received +word that his sister, in Oakland, was very sick, and wanted him to come +and see her, and he would have to be away over the Sabbath; so he wished +to get a supply for the two churches, but could not find any one to fill +his place. In talking to the deacons of his Roseland church about the +matter, they told him they would conduct the services at their church if +he could find some one to fill his place at Orangeville. + +It was customary for the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth to spend one day in the +week in visiting the good people of Orangeville. Among the pastoral +calls, he visited the home of Penloe and his mother. He was very much +impressed with the spiritual thought and talk of both, and while neither +were members of his congregation he well understood their position. He +saw that for a man like Penloe to come and listen to the sermons he gave +to the people of Orangeville would be like expecting a student in +Harvard College to attend a kindergarten school, with the expectation of +receiving instruction. The minister was broad-minded enough to perceive +that the spiritual food he gave to his flock was kindergarten talk to +Penloe; it was only milk, it was not meat; not the strong spiritual meat +that Penloe lived on. It was all right for babies, but it was not fit +for men who had attained divine realization in the universal Christ. The +Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was too liberal and charitable to think less of +Penloe for not attending his church. He was glad he had the courage of +his convictions instead of masquerading, as some do, with the appearance +of assent to all that is said and taught; but, being at the same time, +within, at variance and holding views entirely different; but for +policy, business interest, family peace, social position and standing, +love of name and fame or salary, acting the hypocrite because they are +arrant cowards. + +When thinking of some suitable person to fill the Orangeville pulpit on +the Sunday afternoon of his absence, he could find no one so well +adapted by natural talents, education, experience, and deep spiritual +insight, combined with an irreproachable life, as Penloe. So he went out +to Orangeville to see him. Finding Penloe at home, he made known the +object of his visit. Penloe did not answer him at once, but was silent +for a few minutes; he was thinking that this was a call to a work which +was not of his own seeking, and, as the call to the work had come to +him, he decided to accept it and told the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth so. + +The minister then went to Deacon Allen, of Orangeville, and explained +matters to him, telling him that Penloe would select one of the hymns to +sing before the sermon, but Penloe wished Deacon Allen to conduct all +the other parts of the service, including the reading of the hymns. The +minister desired the Deacon not to tell any one who was going to preach +next Sunday, but to explain to the congregation why he was absent, and +then to introduce Penloe. Deacon Allen had only seen Penloe once or +twice, and while he liked the appearance of the man yet he knew very +little about him. But, under the circumstances, he thought the minister +had done the best he could. + +It so happened it was the time of year when there was a number of +visitors in Orangeville, which brought out an unusually large audience, +for it included not only the regular attendants and the visitors, but +those who seldom went to church but did so to-day because they had +company. Mr. and Mrs. Herne, who seldom went, attended to-day, and took +the baby with them, this being the first Sunday of the child being in +short clothes. Of course, some of Herne's hired men had to go, to see +how the baby behaved. + +Stella was another irregular attendant at church, but young Mrs. Sexton, +whose husband was away, came round in her buggy and wanted Stella to go +for company's sake. + +Stella, through being away at school so much and having gone to Roseland +for a while, had only heard about there being such a young man as Penloe +in Orangeville, but had never seen him; neither had her parents. + +Penloe was about the first person at church that Sunday afternoon, and +took a seat in the front pew, next to the pulpit with his back to the +congregation, so, as the people assembled, they saw the back of some one +but did not know who it was. When it was time for the service to +commence the church was about full, but the people all seemed surprised +not to see the minister present. Deacon Allen came forward, and opened +service by giving out a hymn, which was followed by prayer. Then the +choir sang, sweetly, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy +laden, and I will give you rest." Then reading from the Scriptures, +which was followed by the singing of a hymn that Penloe had selected, +and Deacon Allen gave out. The hymn was as follows: + + "See Israel's gentle shepherd stands + With all engaging charms, + Hark, how he calls his tender lambs, + And folds them in his arms. + + "'Permit them to approach,' he cries, + Nor scorn their humble name, + For 'twas to bless such souls as these + The Lord of angels came." + +After singing the hymn, Deacon Allen explained to the congregation the +cause of the minister's absence, and introduced Penloe, to the great +surprise of those present. Penloe, in a simple, unassuming manner, +stepped up to the desk and faced the audience. Casting his eyes over the +mass of upturned faces, he said, in a very pleasant, musical voice: + +"Dear friends, I will speak to you from the following words, 'Suffer +little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the +Kingdom of Heaven.'" + +The sermon was a most remarkable and original discourse. It held the +close attention of every one present, and at its end the congregation +sang: + + "I think, when I read that sweet story of old, + When Jesus was here among men, + How he called little children as lambs to his fold, + I should like to have been with him then. + + "I wish that his hands had been placed on my head, + That his arms had been thrown around me, + And that I might have seen his kind look when He said, + 'Suffer the little ones to come unto me.'" + +Penloe's sermon we will give, as told to her mother by Stella, and also +the version published in the Roseland _Weekly Gazette_. + +When Stella arrived home from church her mother noticed that her +countenance was all animation, and her bright eyes seemed to glisten and +sparkle brighter than ever; but she said nothing, knowing Stella would +relate all she had seen and heard of any interest. + +"Well, mother," said Stella, "I have had the greatest surprise and the +greatest pleasure I ever had in my life." + +"Why, Stella," said her mother, "I am very pleased to see and hear that +something has delighted you so much." + +"Who do you think I saw, and heard preach this afternoon?" said Stella. + +"Why, I suppose the minister," said her mother, which was the same as +saying, "I don't know, but want you to tell me." + +"Well, mother," said Stella, "it was Penloe. I do wish you had been +there to have seen and heard him. His face, when speaking, at times +looked angelic. His eyes are so clear and bright, his voice sweet and +musical, and he is so graceful in his movement, at the same time so +simple and unassuming in his manner. He is symmetrical in his build, and +as handsome as a picture." + +"Is he really all that?" said her mother, with a smile. + +"Yes," said Stella, "and there is something about him that is a thousand +times more than all that; for there is an earnestness and sincerity of +purpose and a power, such as I have never seen or felt before, in all he +says and does. I don't know how to describe it, for he is so different +to any man I ever met or saw; and, as for his subject, why, it was just +grand. But I cannot help laughing when I think of the feelings of +horror, and so much mocked modesty which I saw and heard expressed by +many who were there this afternoon." + +"Well, whatever could his subject have been about, to cause those +feelings?" said her mother. + +"It was this mother; he took for his text, 'Suffer little children to +come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of +Heaven.' + +"He said it was not his purpose this afternoon to describe in detail the +circumstances which led Jesus to utter those words, nor to enter in full +into the history of those people at that time, nor to describe the way +in which they were raised by their parents in those days, nor how +children were treated in general at the time Jesus walked on the earth, +but to dwell on the thought more particularly about how to bring the +children to Jesus now, and how to help them find the Kingdom of Heaven +within. He said the subject was such a large one that he could only +dwell for a short time on one method for bringing the children to +Jesus, and that was how to bring them up pure and make pure men and pure +women of them. For purity of life and thought was one of the first steps +in coming to Jesus, and finding the Kingdom of Heaven within. + +"Penloe said such an innovation introduced into our society would be a +God-send to us all, for it would bring about a change in so many ways +for the advancement of the race, as to make the mind almost bewildered +in the contemplation of the giant strides that humanity would make. I +cannot begin to tell you all he said, mother, and I don't think the +congregation took in the full sweep of his great thought. + +"I will tell you one thing Penloe has done for me. He has cut what few +strings there were which kept me in bondage to my sexual nature. I am +free." And here the beautiful and intellectually bright girl laughed, +and shouted again, "I am free! Free from that awful superstition of +sexual bondage. Bless Penloe for helping me to my freedom," said Stella. + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, there have been millions of women who +have _died deaths of untold agony_ through being in bondage to their +sexual natures." + +"Mother," said Stella, laughing again, "I give you notice that on and +after this I shall speak and act just the same when members of the other +sex are present as I would with my own sex, I don't care what they may +think. I will not be negative to their ideas, for I am free;" and here +she clapped her hands, and said, "I intend to have the courage of my +convictions under all circumstances. + +"I must tell you, mother, there were a number there who were perfectly +disgusted that Penloe should have introduced such a subject. You just +ought to have seen the faces on some of the congregation. + +"The dressmaker, Mrs. Hopkins, and her daughter, said they would not +have come to church if they had known the indecent talk that a strange +man was going to make. The two May girls, with their beaux, were there, +and after the service they acted as if they were afraid to speak to each +other. They went out of the church with their heads down and seemed +afraid to look anywhere; till they saw Deacon Tompkins' wife get in the +buggy, and then the Deacon got in and took the reins and started the +horse. But he had omitted untying the animal from the post, and they all +had a laugh, and that broke the strain they were under, and they were +seen talking to their beaux after that. + +"After service I went up to the desk and gave Penloe my hand and thanked +him for the help he had given me in breaking my bondage. I told him he +had cut the last string of sex superstition for me. He smiled and +pressed my hand and said he was glad to hear it. + +"Mother, I did not know that Orangeville had such a young man as that. +Why, just think of it! A fine Sanskrit scholar; he can read Bengali just +as well as I can English, and by his reference to the Old and New +Testament he shows he understood Hebrew and Greek. And think of it; he +is only twenty-two years of age! He is a fine orator, very eloquent, and +has such a command over himself and his audience. + +"But, mother, great as his scholarship may be, he has a power that is +greater; it is seen in his eyes and in every feature of his handsome +countenance, and felt in the touch of his hand. Its source is not purely +intellectual. I perceive it intuitively, but cannot explain it. + +"Why, mother, I never thought Penloe was the kind of man he is. From +what I had heard about him, I thought he was one of those quiet, +goody-goody men, but instead of that he is a scholar of the most +advanced school of thought." + +Her mother said: "Stella, do you know why Penloe took the subject he did +to-day and spoke from it? I think I know; it was this: not that he liked +such subjects more than any others, and perhaps not so much; but he knew +that if such ideas were presented to the public, it had to be done by +those who were not in bondage to name and fame and salary. It had to be +done by those bold, fearless thinkers who will speak the truth +regardless of frowns and smiles. And Penloe did it because he knew there +was no one else that would do it. It was pioneer work." + +Stella said: "I think so, mother, and he certainly seems well qualified +to do such noble pioneer work." + +Mr. and Mrs. Herne, on their way home from church, talked the matter +over. Mr. Herne said: "Penloe is the most remarkable man I have seen; so +young and yet so gifted in every way. The secret of his power I do not +know anything about, but he possesses a power such as no other man I +have ever seen. I could not keep away from church if he was going to +speak every Sunday." + +Mrs. Herne said: "He has the clearest and brightest eyes I ever saw. I +never get tired of looking into them. At times his face brightened so +much during his speaking it looked angelic." + +They were both very much impressed with the sincerity and earnestness of +the man, but were not prepared to pass an opinion on the subject of his +discourse. They thought well of his ideas, but did not know how they +would work. It set them both to thinking, and it was their intention to +try if possible to cultivate the acquaintance of Penloe. + +The Roseland _Gazette_, which was published every Saturday, had the +following: + +"Last Monday and Tuesday strange stories began to be circulated through +this city by persons coming in from Orangeville, concerning what was +said in the Congregational Church there last Sunday. It seems that the +Rev. B.F. Holingsworth, of this city, was called away to see a sick +sister, and he got a man who goes by the name of Penloe to fill his +place. The stories that were put in circulation are of a wild and varied +character. Some started the rumor that Penloe preached that we all ought +to go naked. Another story was, that he said we all ought to bathe +together, regardless of sex, in a nude state. Then some said, he told +the people that all families ought to sleep in one large room, to appear +as much in a nude condition as possible, so as to satisfy all curiosity. +These and other like stories aroused so much interest among the people +of this city, that it has been the upper-most topic of conversation +among them, and led to the inquiry whether it was so, and was the man a +crazy crank or a fool, and how came such a man to be asked to preach. + +"Our reporter went out to Orangeville to learn what he could concerning +the matter. He first of all went to see Penloe to get a certified +statement, but that gentleman could not be found anywhere. He had an +interview with Mr. Saunders, the merchant of Orangeville, who said he +was at church last Sunday and heard the sermon. + +"When asked if the stories which were circulated in Roseland concerning +Penloe's sermon were correct, he replied that in part they were, and in +part they were not. + +"When asked to state as near as he could remember just what was said: + +"'Well,' said the merchant, 'I am not used to that kind of business, +but, as near as I can remember it now, it was something like this: + +"'In order for children to come to Jesus, they must be pure; that purity +was the basis of all religious growth, and he thought the present mode +of maintaining purity had the very opposite effect to what it was +intended for.' + +"Here Mr. Saunders stopped and told the reporter he had better go and +see Deacon Allen, who would give him a better account than he could. + +"'But I tell you,' continued Mr. Saunders, 'there has been more talk +over this sermon this week in this store, by every one that has come in, +than all other talk put together. This is the first time in the twelve +years that I have kept store, that I ever heard any one talk about any +sermon they heard.' + +"'Well, Mr. Saunders,' said the reporter, 'what seems to be the judgment +of the people about Penloe and the sermon? You have had an opportunity +of hearing all kinds of opinions.' + +"'Well,' said Mr. Saunders, 'I heard the old lady Eastman say, that the +next time she sees her minister, she is going to lecture him for getting +that low-down, vulgar man in the pulpit. Why, his talk was awful. Mrs. +Reamy and Mrs. Roberts said they would have both got up in church and +walked out, only it would cause so much disturbance. Two girls came in +to get a spool of thread. While I was waiting on them one said to the +other, "My mother said this morning that she would never again go to +church, if that nasty talking man was going to preach." The other girl +said, "My father says he is the smartest man that ever spoke in +Orangeville or any other part of California. He wished he would preach +every Sunday. Then, I saw Miss Stella Wheelwright go up to Penloe at the +close of the service and give him her hand, and I was told she thanked +him for helping her to cut the last cords of bondage to sex +superstition. She seemed really delighted with his talk." + +"'I cannot help laughing when I hear a number of persons who were not at +church last Sunday, say, "I wish I had been to meeting last Sunday and +heard the talk." + +"The reporter next called on Deacon Allen and found that gentleman ready +to relate a portion of the sermon. + +"In reply to a question put by the reporter, Deacon Allen said: 'Well, +there is one thing I liked about Penloe's sermon, instead of talking +about the sins of the wicked people in Chicago, New York, London or +Paris, he talked straight and square to the people he was facing, about +their own sins, which were keeping them out of the Kingdom of Heaven, +for it acted like a curtain over the windows of the soul so that one +could not see the Divine, and feel the sacred presence of his power +within. They had polluted the Temple of the Living God, and their eyes +became blinded so that they could not see that they were heirs to a +rich spiritual inheritance.' + +"The reporter asked the Deacon what Penloe said in regard to the best +way of bringing about the new method of raising all children up, as if +they were one sex. + +"The Deacon replied, saying: 'He said: "Character and environments are +so different that each must work from the plane he or she is on. Nothing +but the best judgment and experience will be able to grapple +successfully with the problem, but it can be done; it has been done. And +it will be comparatively easy for the next generation to put into +practice, if it is done by the present. Avoid all kinds of food and +drinks that stimulate the passions. And, above all, keep the mind +interested in pure, elevating thoughts and engage in hearty wholesome +recreations, so that the love for the pure and good in time will +predominate, and the angel rule the animal." + +"'I shall never forget,' continued the Deacon, 'how Penloe's clear, +musical voice rang out through the church, how his brilliant eyes seemed +to penetrate through every one present as he looked them in the face and +put this serious question to them, "What victories have you gained over +yourselves?" + +"The Deacon said: 'It makes me feel disgusted to hear some persons who +were at church on Sunday last talk about Penloe being low and vulgar, +when a purer or more spiritual man never walked in this country; while +their own characters are tarnished by being connected with numerous +scandals. While Penloe is not a member of the same church as I am, yet I +know a good man when I meet him and hear him talk.' + +"Our reporter left Orangeville greatly regretting he did not have the +honor to meet so distinguished a man as Penloe." + +Mrs. Trask, wife of Dr. Trask, of Roseland, called on Stella's aunt, +Mrs. Marston, and after a little general conversation, Mrs. Trask said: +"Mrs. Marston, have you heard or read anything about the horrid talk +that some crank preacher made in Orangeville last Sunday?" + +"Why, no," said Mrs. Marston, "I have not looked at the _Gazette_ and I +have been out but little the past few days, for I have not felt very +well lately, having had a bilious attack." + +Mrs. Trask said: "I know, Mrs. Marston, you will be perfectly shocked +when I tell you. Why, it's all the talk of the town; just think of it; a +man getting up in the pulpit and telling the people that boys and girls +should appear before each other naked, and that they all should be +brought up as if they were one sex." + +Mrs. Marston said: "It's perfectly awful to think about such a thing. +Why, it would be dreadful. The preacher must have come from Paris with +French ideas. According to what my son writes me, I should say that is +just about what they do over there." + +Mrs. Trask said that her husband said, speaking as a medical man, he +would consider it the greatest step towards the downfall of the human +race. Every one would become so corrupt and depraved sexually that the +race would become weak and puny, with no moral stamina. + +After Mrs. Trask had gone, Mrs. Marston got the Roseland _Gazette_ to +see what it said about the matter. When she came to the part where it +stated that her niece had gone up to the desk and given her hand to the +preacher and thanked him for helping her out of sexual bondage, she was +completely overcome and just felt like having a fit. She would rather +have paid a thousand dollars than to have that appear in the paper. +"What a disgrace this is to me, after all I have done for her, +ungrateful hussy! She doesn't think about the shame she brings upon me +by her bold actions, with that vulgar crank." While she was smarting +from the effects of wounded pride, her door-bell rang and soon the +servant came in and told Mrs. Marston that Mr. Barker was in the parlor. +Mrs. Marston kept him waiting a few minutes, till she had composed +herself. Soon she came in, bright, smiling and cordially greeted the +rising young attorney who had manifested so much interest in Stella's +hosiery. + +Mr. Barker was a perfect Chesterfield in dress and manners, and knew +exactly what part of Mrs. Marston's nature to touch to make her feel +good, and to raise himself one hundred per cent. in her estimation. + +Mr. Barker felt as if he had a little grudge against Stella, ever since +the day his wish was not gratified, and now he thought this was his +opportunity to pay her back. + +In course of conversation Mr. Barker said: "Mrs. Marston, have you been +to Orangeville lately?" + +"No," said Mrs. Marston, "I have not been there since Stella returned +home." + +"How is your niece, Mrs. Marston?" said Mr. Barker. + +"The last I heard from her she was very well," said Mrs. Marston. + +Mr. Barker said: "By the way, Mrs. Marston, is there another Miss Stella +Wheelwright in Orangeville besides your niece?" + +"I have not heard of any other young lady by that name," replied Mrs. +Marston. + +"Well," said Mr. Barker, "I was hoping there was, for I did not want to +think it was your niece that the _Gazette_ said went up and gave that +vulgar preacher her hand." + +"I think it must be," replied Mrs. Marston. Continuing, she said: "Of +course, I am greatly shocked over the matter and feel that my niece has +hurt me by her foolish conduct. I blame her mother more than I do her, +for she has encouraged Stella in radical ideas." + +Mr. Barker said: "I don't understand what the man can be thinking about +to talk such vulgar nonsense. He ought to be sent to Stockton Insane +Asylum." + +Mrs. Marston said: "As for the subject he had under discussion, I could +not think of talking about it to a gentleman. I intend to go to +Orangeville to-morrow and see my sister about the matter. I do wish +Stella would come and live with me; where she would be in the company of +well-bred, well-behaved society people, who have common-sense ideas." + +It was always customary for Mrs. Marston when she went to Orangeville to +take a great variety of table dainties, and never mention the real +purpose of her visit till after dinner. Mrs. Marston had been so well +disciplined in the art of concealment through living so much in +fashionable society, that she could put on a very pleasant exterior, +when really she was very much disturbed within. + +So to-day when she visited her sister Bertha, everything was exceedingly +pleasant, and the topics under discussion were such that there was +perfect harmony in all that was said. Mrs. Marston presented the bright +side of everything in regard to Roseland when talking to Stella, telling +her how certain young gentlemen were continually inquiring after her, +and how her young lady friends were wishing she would return to Roseland +soon, for they did want her to come and visit them so much. + +Stella was interested to hear about her friends in Roseland, and enjoyed +her Aunt Helen's talk. + +After dinner was over and settled a little, Mrs. Marston took the +opportunity to say to her sister Bertha (while Stella and her father +were out for awhile): "Is it really true, Bertha, what the Roseland +_Gazette_ says in regard to Stella's going up to that crank preacher at +the close of the service and giving him her hand and saying a lot of +queer stuff about sexual bondage?" + +"I was not there myself, Helen," said her sister, "but this I do know, +that when Stella returned home she told me herself she did such a +thing." + +"Well," said Mrs. Marston, "I always knew Stella was a strange kind of +girl, but I never thought she would disgrace herself and her relatives +in that manner. Why," continued Mrs. Marston, "it's all the talk in +Roseland and among Stella's friends, about the disgrace she has brought +on me and herself in talking to such a vulgar man." + +Stella's mother could not help smiling within herself at her sister +calling Penloe a vulgar man, when she thought of what her daughter +related to her in regard to her experience with some of the "upper ten" +gentlemen. + +Continuing, Mrs. Marston said: "It will never do for Stella to associate +with such an indecent man, who preaches French ideas from the pulpit. +Why, Bertha, it will never do. You had better let Stella come and stay +with me till she is married. She is a great favorite with the young +people in Roseland and there are some splendid catches for her there." + +"Well," said Bertha, "I have no control over her; she can go to Roseland +if she wishes." + +"But," said Mrs. Marston, "it becomes your duty as her mother to show +her the danger of speaking to a man like Penloe. You should keep her +away from his influence and do what you can to encourage her to marry +well." + +Bertha looked her sister Helen in the face and said: "Helen, I have +decided to let Stella choose her own path in life and select her own +mate. If she asks my advice I will give it. She has her own life to +lead, and it does not become me to mark it out for her. She must hew the +way. And, supposing I wanted to, do you think it would do any good? +Helen, you know better than that. Could you keep your son from getting +that waiter girl in trouble? And now the poor girl is homeless and +penniless, with a baby, in a hospital, without a friend to keep her, +while your son is walking the streets of Paris as a well dressed +gentleman." Here Mrs. Marston interrupted her and said: "Oh, my poor +boy! It makes my blood boil when I think how that nasty, dirty hussy got +my poor Henry into disgrace. Don't mention her, Bertha. It would have +served her right to have died before the child was born." + +Bertha said: "Helen, you can invite Stella to Roseland, and if she +wishes to go it is just the same to me as if she stayed here, for I will +not be in Stella's way of exercising her freedom." + +So when Stella came into the house her aunt said: "Stella, I do wish you +would come to Roseland and stay with me." + +"Thank you, Aunt, you are very kind, but I have certain subjects I wish +to study and I want to be where I can be quiet; but, Aunt, dear, I will +return with you and stay a week, if you will bring me back home at the +end of that time." + +"All right, Stella, get yourself ready and we will leave right away." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RETURN OF BEN WEST. + + +About two months before Ben West returned to Orangeville, Mr. Hammond +took a letter out of the Orangeville post-office, which read as follows: + + "_Kohn & Kohn, Bankers and Brokers, Stillman Block._ + "SAN FRANCISCO, April 7, 1899. + + "_Harrison Hammond, Esq., + "Orangeville, Calif._ + + "DEAR SIR: We have been instructed by Benj. West, Esq., + one of the leading capitalists of the Klondike, to send + you a draft for five hundred dollars, with a letter + from that gentleman to you, both of which we have + enclosed. + + "Yours resp't'y, + "KOHN & KOHN." + +The letter from Ben West to Mr. Hammond was as follows: + + "DAWSON CITY, KLONDIKE, Feb. 12, 1899. + "_H. Hammond, Esq., + "Orangeville, Cal._ + + "FRIEND HAMMOND: After sending Julia the jewelry, I + realized that I had got my foot in it, in this way: She + thinks she must have a costly bridal outfit to match + the jewelry. Now, I have written her that as we will be + married in Orangeville, she need not get anything very + extra fine; that what she thinks she may need in the + way of costly dresses, she can get in San Francisco + after we are married, but I realize she might like a + few good clothes, so I send you five hundred dollars to + buy her what she may need in that line, which I hope + you will accept, as I know the income from a ranch + cannot stand any such extravagance. You will receive + the money from my brokers, Kohn & Kohn. Please keep + this confidential and not let Julia know a word about + it. + + "Your friend, + "BEN WEST." + +After reading the letters Mr. Hammond had a good opportunity of talking +the matter over with his wife, as Julia had gone out for the day. + +They both took a sensible view of the matter and thought that under the +circumstances it would be proper to accept the five hundred dollars, as +Julia would wear the clothes as Ben West's wife, and said it was very +thoughtful in him to send the money. + +Mrs. Hammond said, as Julia was going to San Francisco as soon as she +was married, she thought it would be best to go to Fresno and select her +bridal trousseau there. Continuing, she said: "Julia knows you have +money in the bank, but how much she has no idea; therefore, she will not +suspect but you are paying for her bridal outfit yourself." + +So Mrs. Hammond and Julia went to Fresno. On their return Julia seemed +more than pleased with her purchases. It is not to be expected that each +kind of garment that was bought will be mentioned here, neither will we +go into a minute description of the amount of lace, embroidery, +insertion and scallop work on the various garments. + +In the four weeks previous to Julia's wedding day she had numerous +callers to see her jewelry and her bridal trousseau. + +The amount of close inspection, quick observation, speculative thought +and general talk that was given to all articles pertaining to the +bride's wardrobe and jewelry, if devoted to some of the serious social +problems of the nation, would have settled them thoroughly for all time. + +"Is it not strange," remarked Mr. Hammond one evening after some +callers had gone and Julia had retired, "the amount of interest and +thought people take in things that are really of so little consequence +to them; but things which are of the greatest importance to their own +welfare it is hard to get them to give two minutes' consideration to +them? They want excitement, and love it a great deal more than an +intelligent understanding of such issues as are to them of vital +importance. For instance, government ownership of railroads, telegraphs +and telephones to be operated at cost for the benefit of the people; the +issuing and loaning of money by the government to the people, instead of +by the banks to the people; also the adoption by the nation of the +Initiative and Referendum." + +Some of the elderly ladies in Orangeville who had lived in the east many +years before coming to California, brought to Orangeville some of their +old sayings, and one of these sayings began to float through the +atmosphere of Orangeville and was whispered from one to another; namely, +that Julia Hammond had fallen into a tub of butter. Now, on first +hearing such a statement one would think a sad calamity had happened to +the young lady, especially when taking into consideration that in a few +weeks' time she expected to change her name. But upon making an +examination of her wearing apparel, one saw no sign of such an accident, +and when she appeared at the table in her elegant morning wrapper you +could not see any grease spots on her well-fitting garment, and when you +began to wonder what they could mean by saying that Julia Hammond had +fallen into a tub of butter, you resolve you will make a further and +closer scrutiny of that young lady's person. At last it begins to dawn +upon your mind, for you notice that when she puts her elbow on the table +and her hand up to the side of her face, your eyes are almost dazzled by +seeing something on her finger which are brilliant stones set in gold. +When Julia Hammond appeared at the ball the other night, the main talk +of the evening was about her diamond ring, her gold watch set with +diamonds, and her elegant diamond necklace, making that swan-like neck +simply superb. + +As she drove her span of matched bays one morning she passed two young +men in a buggy. Then the following conversation took place between the +men: + +Fred said to Henry, who was a stranger in Orangeville and was making him +a visit: + +"Henry, just look at that in her back hair." + +"That is just elegant," said Henry, as his eyes rested on a very rich +gold hairpin set with diamonds which were sparkling in their beauty, as +the rays of the sun brought out their brilliancy. + +Fred said: "That's Julia Hammond, the bethrothed of Ben West, who went +to the Klondike and struck it rich, having made a little over half a +million dollars." + +The last day Ben West was in Orangeville before leaving for the +Klondike, he had a private talk with Mr. Hammond concerning Julia. Mr. +Hammond gave his consent and wished him prosperity. So it was arranged +that, owing to the long and uncertain carrying of the mails out of the +Klondike country, he would write a letter to Julia as if he had made a +stake, and in the letter make her an offer of marriage, and give it to +Mr. Hammond to hand to Julia when Mr. Hammond received word from Ben by +telegram, saying, "Stake made, give the letter to Julia," and Mr. +Hammond was to wire Ben Julia's answer so he would not be kept long in a +state of suspense. This was all carried out to the letter, and Ben West +received a telegram which read: "Yes. Have written in full. Julia +Hammond." + +Continuing, Fred said: "When Ben West was in San Francisco on his way to +the Klondike, he went into the store of Stein & Co., jewelers, and +selected the jewelry he might want, should he make a stake. So when he +received Julia's answer of acceptance he ordered by wire a diamond ring, +a gold watch set in diamonds, a diamond necklace, and a gold hairpin +set with diamonds. Stein & Co. sent them to Julia with Ben West's love. +He wired Kohn & Kohn, the bankers, to pay Stein & Co. + +"Ben's mother said: 'Those jewels for that girl cost Ben twenty thousand +dollars.'" + +Henry said: "Just think of that fellow's luck. Some men are born rich, +some acquire riches and some have riches thrust upon them." + +Fred said: "Some men are lucky sure. There's Ben West, who is coming to +Orangeville in a week. All the people will just go wild over him and +lionize him. And won't Julia be sweet to him after giving her all that +jewelry. They say, 'If you want honey you must have money.' Ben has got +the money and now he is going to have the honey; and just think, in +three weeks' time he is going to be married, going to have that pretty, +handsome, fresh young girl all to himself. Isn't she a beauty! My! Ben +will be in clover; he will have a picnic sure." + +Henry said: "If I could be in Ben West's shoes for just two months, I +would be willing to spend the balance of my life in hell. I would have +one comfort in thinking what a fine time I had had." + +Fred said: "Ben West will be here to-morrow and he will take good care +to see that not you nor any other man will be in his shoes for two +months from the time he is married." + +When Ben set his foot in Orangeville on his return from the Klondike, +the news flew all over the locality, as if the wind had made it its +mission to carry the intelligence all over the country into every home. +Those who knew him least were just as anxious to see him as those who +had always known him. They did want to see, to talk to and shake hands +with the lion of the day, the hero of the hour, the man whose name was +in every one's mouth. If a man had arrived in Orangeville who had saved +twenty persons from drowning, there would not have been half the desire +to see him or hear him talk on how the persons were saved. Why, Ben West +received nothing but one continued round of hearty hand-shaking and +warm greetings, and his ears heard nothing but eulogies and encomiums +and general admiration for the man who had made himself the owner of the +two great idols that are worshipped by the Western world. + +Ben West had got what most men are seeking but few finding. If you were +in Orangeville you would be told that it was a Christian community; but +if you squared them by the command given by Jesus, "Seek ye first the +Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and all these shall be added +unto you," you would find them sadly wanting, for the Kingdom of Heaven +is the last thing they want. It is, "These things which shall be added +unto you" is what they want. For they want their heaven to be in the +possession of things outside of themselves. + +A great dance was given in honor of Orangeville's coming man. +Predictions were heard that it would not be long before he would be +Governor of California, with a good show for a seat in the United States +Senate. + +Most of the people of Orangeville were great on dances. If they had a +sociable it had to close with a dance; if a political meeting was held, +they had a dance afterwards; a spelling bee wound up with a dance. If +you would let them, they would dance after Sabbath School and preaching. +If you want a big crowd at a meeting, just give out there will be a +dance at the close, and teams will come for miles from all over the +country. Dance; why they want to dance all the time. They simply become +intoxicated with dancing. There is no moderation about it. They leave +the dance hall about four or five o'clock in the morning. Does that kind +of recreation help them physically? How do they feel during the next +day? Does it help them intellectually? Does it help them spiritually? +Then why pursue a course of recreation _so immoderately_ as to be +detrimental to their highest interests? + +When Mr. Hammond heard about the great dance that was coming off in +honor of Ben West, he said it did seem to him as if a dance was the only +thing the people of Orangeville could get up. He had never known them +as a community to get up anything else but a dance, and yet, he said, +there are some very fine people who attend these country dances. Persons +of noble character, who live lives of self-denial in their homes and +meet trials and misfortunes bravely and heroically, I am glad to say. + +Julia did not attend the dance because it was too near her wedding day; +but Ben West had a very enjoyable time, for the leading young ladies in +Orangeville were delighted at having the opportunity of dancing once +more with their old friend. But now a new interest had centered in him, +in the fact of his being the rising man and soon to be married. + +There was a very large crowd at the dance. A number came from Roseland; +in fact, there were more than the hall could accommodate. There were a +number of men wanting to see Ben West a few minutes on the side, to talk +with him about what show there would be for them at the Klondike, as +each of them wished to be successful like Ben West. + +For three weeks previous to his being married, Ben did not know whether +he was afoot or on horseback. What with the joy his father and mother +manifested at having him back again in their home, and the real, sweet, +loving and delightful hours he spent with Julia, who was free in her +demonstrations of affection, he being so worthy of it. + +At last that day which always seems so long in coming, but which always +comes, came to Ben West and Julia Hammond. They had a quiet wedding in +the morning; then came the wedding dinner, after which they went to +Roseland, taking in the theater in the evening and stopping at the +Arlington Hotel that night. The next day they took the Flyer for San +Francisco. On arriving in that city they went to the Clifton Hotel. In +the evening they attended the opera. + +As Julia had never been to San Francisco, they decided to spend a week +in sight-seeing. The second week they spent in looking at elegant +houses. After looking round for six days they bought a mansion on Van +Ness avenue for eighty thousand dollars. It originally cost one hundred +and thirty thousand. Then, the third week they spent in selecting +furniture, which cost them twenty thousand dollars. The fourth week they +bought a fine matched team and a carriage, for which they paid fifteen +hundred dollars, and kept them at a livery stable. They also purchased +two bicycles and an automobile, and got three servants, a maid for +Julia, a woman to do the housework, and a Chinese cook. All laundry work +was done out of the house. The second month was spent in going to many +interesting places outside of San Francisco as well as taking in more of +the city. Everything so far had run very smoothly. + +Then a conversation arose regarding what business Mr. West had better +turn his attention to to occupy himself. After a little talk, Julia +said: "You have now about four hundred thousand dollars. I do wish you +could make it a million. How proud I should be of you, Ben, to have a +millionaire for a husband. Just think what the people of Orangeville +will say when they hear you have become a millionaire. Why, dear, I +should just worship you to think that I had got a husband that was such +a successful man as to make a million dollars in so short a time. When +you become a millionaire, Ben, we will go to Europe in style, and what a +gay time we will have in Paris, dear." + +What a power some women's soft words and smiles have on a man; he is +owned by them, and it was so in the case of Ben West. + +Ben said: "Well, dear Julia, I suppose I will have to go to the Klondike +again to make my pile a million." + +Julia pouted and looked her prettiest and said: "I do hate to have you +go to that cold and disagreeable country, Ben, and it will be so +lonesome for me without you, dear; but, Ben, make your pile quick and +come home." + +Ben West did not express all he felt in having to go back to the +Klondike, but he had such a pretty, handsome woman for a wife, who +pleased him so much and he was so proud of her, and he loved her +admiration and approval of himself as much as he did his life. So he +decided to return to the Klondike in a month's time. That would give +him, in all, three months of honeymoon. Then he would leave for the cold +regions of the Klondike. + +The last week Ben West was with his wife she seemed at times so sad +about his leaving, and would pet him and make so much of him, that she +became doubly dear to him. He said, "This is bliss, indeed." + +At last the sad day for his parting came. They did the best they could +by cheering each other up, with the expectation of Ben's quick return +and coming back as a millionaire. + +Now, when a handsome young bride is left with an eighty-thousand-dollar +house and twenty thousand dollars worth of furniture, three servants, a +carriage and a handsome span of horses, two bicycles and an automobile, +with a good fat bank account to draw on, she is not going to spend many +sad days in the house alone, longing for the return of her husband. Nor +will she be contented to remain at home and become fascinated in reading +Milton's "Paradise Lost" or Moody's sermons. No. She is going to have +company, and gay companions, and they will not be all of her own sex +either. About a month after Ben West had returned to the Klondike, Julia +had made new acquaintances of persons who had time, money, and elegant +leisure. Returning home from a swell party one evening, Julia said to +herself, "What freedom there is in being married. Your market is made, +and you can have lots of fun dancing, flirting, and so on; while a girl +that is unmarried has to be more careful of herself and her conduct, +because it might hinder her making a desirable match. It is fine to be +married to a good-natured man." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FIVE YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. + + +It was one of those lovely days in March when nature is decorated in her +best; for each day she adds to her wreath of glory new beauties in the +form of buds and flowers. The trees in the orchard were a sight to +behold in their beautiful and variegated colors. The soft, balmy air +coming up the canyon was full of the perfume of flowers. The birds were +warbling their sweetest notes in the mulberry and walnut trees, and the +hum of the bees were heard around the flowers. All Nature sang through +these various forms, that All is life, All is love, All is joy, and All +is God. + +On this day two ladies were sitting out on the porch of the Herne +residence, one was a lady with gray hair, the other was her daughter. +Both were sitting in silence. The younger was thinking how very much +like this beautiful day was, to the one five years ago when she entered +her new home as the wife of Charles Herne. Many thoughts were crowding +upon her mind; she was thinking how perfectly, supremely happy she was +on that occasion. Every thing about her seemed to respond to the happy +thought within, and her cup of joy was overflowing. Then the thought +came to her why was it not so to-day? Nature seemed just as beautiful, +her home was more beautiful, and the returns from the sale of their +fruit each year had exceeded their expectations. Her health was good, +she was in harmony with her neighbors, and enjoyed her life among the +people in Orangeville. And above all she had experienced the joys of +motherhood, having a son two years old, and her husband was just as kind +and attentive to her as ever, and yet--and yet--and yet, must she +confess, yes, she very reluctantly told her thoughts to her mother to +see if she could explain and give her light on those feelings which had +come to the surface many a time, only to be suppressed. But they would +rise again, and the more they were put down, the more they would rise, +till at last she would relieve her mind by telling her mother, who she +knew had had more experience. + +"Mother," said Clara, "why is it, when everything about me is as good +and some things much better than when I was married, and Charles is just +as kind, thoughtful, and loving as a husband and father can be, and yet +after five years of happy, harmonious life, there is less attraction +between us, than when we were first married? Of course, I have never let +Charles think that I felt this way, but I noticed that after we had been +married two months, Charles' kisses, touches, and pettings did not +produce that pleasurable thrill they once did, and it has been growing +more and more that way ever since. Why, even when he kisses my hand, it +does not produce any more pleasure than if I had kissed my own hand. I +remember the time when Charles' kisses used to send an electric thrill +of joy through me; the sound of his coming footsteps was a delight which +gave me more pleasure than a kiss does now." + +"Well, Clara," said her mother, "you don't expect to have the +high-strung, pleasurable excitement of a bride all the time, do you? I +know my experience was like yours, Clara, and I think from all those I +have heard talk about such matters that theirs is also the same. So I +take it for granted that is how it should be, and cannot be made +different. I would not let my mind dwell on it if I were you, Clara; for +you have got one of the best men for a husband, a fine boy, and a very +comfortable home." + +After hearing what her mother had to say, Clara thought it best not to +say any more, for her mother had given her no satisfactory answer, and +seemed to know no more about such matters than she herself did. But she +kept thinking, "Did it have to be so?" + +During the time that Clara was busy with these thoughts and talks with +her mother, there was a man walking through his orchard, apparently +looking at the fruit buds, but his mind was pre-occupied with another +subject. He was thinking that it was five years ago since he and Clara +were married, and he was thinking how happy he was when he brought her +to his home. He was thinking also of the thrills of joy and pleasure her +presence gave him before marriage, and for a month or two afterwards, +when she took his hand in hers and then kissed it; how soothing and +delightful it was; and what an attractive power she had. But now, how +different. + +"It is just the same as if I kissed myself. She is just as good, just as +loving a wife, so kind and thoughtful, and we never have had any words, +but there is something. I cannot find words to express what I mean. Is +it tameness? Are other married persons like that?" And he began to think +about the married life of some of his friends. "There was Winchester and +his wife, I remember them when they were courting, they seemed +inseparable, and for a while after they were married they could not see +any one else but each other. If they were out anywhere they would sit +together holding each other's hands, and not wishing to say much to any +one else. After they had been married six months I notice they have quit +holding each other's hands, and now you seldom see them together much. +With how few married couples who have been married six years do you see +that suppleness and alertness, that zeal to please each other, and be +with one another that you see in couples about to be married." + +Charles Herne thought, "Why is this so?" Why could not the same +attractive power which exists between some couples when they are married +be continued? Charles Herne did not know, his wife Clara Herne was no +wiser than he on that subject, though neither of them had made their +feelings known to the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A CONVERSATION ON THE PORCH. + + +Penloe had heard several times in regard to Charles Herne being an +exceptionally fine man, liberal in thoughts, as far as he went, very +just and generous to his men, so that the day that Penloe received a +very kind invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Herne to be their guest for a few +days, he accepted it knowing intuitively that he had a work to do there. +As a guest Penloe was not always talkative, but what he did say was very +interesting. He made himself one with men and they all took a great +liking to him; Mr. and Mrs. Herne were very much impressed with the +personality of their distinguished guest, and they enjoyed his visit +with them. He had been several times there since his first visit, and +they had become great friends. + +Charles Herne remarked to his wife one day: "What a genial, sociable, +humorous companion Penloe is; while of course, he is thoroughly in +earnest and has but one purpose in all he does, which is to manifest +what he calls the Divine, yet he is not serious, sober, and grave all +the time; he is so joyous, hopeful, and full of good-natured fun, but he +never lets it overcome him. I like him because he never says and does +anything for effect or to be considered smart; he is so simple, humble, +and unassuming in his manners, keeping himself in the background. His +influence on me is so different to that of any other man, and impresses +me very deeply. I always feel a better man after a talk with him. In +short, I feel his fine influence in the room even when he is silent. He +gave the men a powerful talk in their parlors the other evening. He has +a faculty for adapting himself to each one; just knows what to say, when +to say it, and how to say it. Several of the men have made the remark +to me that he is a very dear brother to them." + +He had visited the men several times since, and they had become great +friends. Any one in a very short acquaintance with Penloe could not help +being impressed with his sincerity of character, his genuineness and +honesty of purpose, as well as his deep spirituality. Therefore, it +naturally follows that he would attract the confidence of his friends. +It was so natural for them to give him their confidence, they could not +withhold it from him, for it seemed to belong to him. Then again, there +are some persons who possess that power of discernment, that spiritual +insight for seeing through and through any one; nay, more, they appear +to have the power of entering into your most secret thoughts, they enter +as if by right, the rooms of your soul and see all its furniture; they +open even the secret chambers, and enter as if they had been there +before many a time, and when you think you are about to take them into +your confidence, you find that they know what you are about to tell +them. + +Penloe possessed that gift, and Mrs. Herne realized that he had read her +book of secrets, that he knew all, and, therefore, when she took him +into her confidence, she did so with the half thought that he was there +some time before. She knew that Penloe was competent to give information +on any subject, and he was her true friend, and, therefore, she could +trust him fully. + +One day when Penloe and Mrs. Herne were sitting on the porch admiring +the beauties of Nature all around them, Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, don't +you think this is a beautiful place?" + +When she made that remark, he knew what she was going to speak to him +about. + +Penloe replied: "There is not a ranch in Orangeville that has so much in +the way of the expression of fine taste and natural beauty as your +home." + +Mrs. Herne said: "I shall never forget how delighted I was when I came +here as a bride, and thought could I wish for more, for my cup seemed +full to overflowing. With this comfortable house and beautiful grounds, +and such a feeling of brotherhood existing between my husband and the +men, and everything running so harmoniously, nothing appeared to be +wanting." + +"Yes," said Penloe. "You certainly have an exceptionally fine man in +some respects for a husband; I admire him very much." + +"And I know he does you," replied Mrs. Herne; continuing, she said: +"Since you have favored us with your company and he has been with you +more, I can just begin to see some kind of change come over him; I +hardly know how to describe it; for it is only just commencing; I notice +it a little at times." + +Penloe seemed to be absorbed in thought and made no reply. + +Mrs. Herne waited a minute or two, and then said: "I often think how +thankful I ought to be that I have such a fine man for a husband, and +yet, in one way, I have not realized my ideal, even with all these fine +surroundings, and such a good husband." + +"Do you think that is strange?" asked Penloe. + +"Well," said Mrs. Herne, "that is what I don't know; it is a query with +me, whether any one realizes her ideal in marriage; what do you think +about the matter, Penloe?" + +"Well, I think there are quite a number who realize their ideal in +marriage," replied Penloe. + +Mrs. Herne said: "Please, Penloe, describe those kind of marriages to +me, for I am interested; it being a matter I have thought a great deal +about." + +"Certainly," said Penloe, "but which is it you wish me to describe: What +is an ideal marriage? or what are the ideals of those who get married, +and who realize them?" + +"It is the first I am most interested in now, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne, +"because I know that is your ideal, and therefore, would be the correct +one to aim for, but Penloe, while I hope you will tell me that, yet, I +ask you as a trusted friend, can you tell me why I have not realized my +ideal?" said Mrs. Herne. + +"I can when you tell me what your ideal is like," said Penloe. + +"I am afraid you will laugh when I tell you for I know it is so +different from yours," replied Mrs. Herne. + +"One need never fear a true friend," said Penloe. "To a true friend, if +it is necessary, one can speak of his ignorance or weaknesses, and it +may be a great help to him, because a true friend has only one motive in +friendship, and that is to lift the other up to a higher plane of +thought; I mean that is the highest kind of friendship, and is a good +test with which to gauge friendship." + +Mrs. Herne was very much impressed with Penloe's idea of friendship; so +high and pure. + +Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, you are so near and dear to me as a friend, +that I don't fear to tell you anything, and to show my confidence in +your friendship, I am going to reveal to you something, that I have +never thought it best to tell my husband." + +"Your confidence shall never be betrayed by me," said Penloe. + +"Thank you, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne. "Now, let me tell you what it is. +Previous to my marriage to Charles Herne there was something in addition +to his true worth and genuine character that attracted me to him; +something about his personality, for I always felt a thrill of joy when +with him; even if I only heard the sound of his coming footsteps, or he +happened to touch my dress, there was a sensation of pleasure; and when +he took my hand, and pressed it and kissed me, it was bliss. Well, I +married him and we came to this beautiful home, and that thrill of +delight continued between me and Charles for about two months, and +during that time I was living in my ideal world. But after two months I +noticed a little less of that feeling, and it kept growing less and +less, till now there is none at all. I love him with my whole heart, and +am devoted to him, my environments are the same, or better in many ways, +seeing that I am a happy mother, and the place has now more comforts and +conveniences than when I came here as a bride; yet that attraction has +gone so that when Charles kisses me or touches me it seems as if it was +my own self kissed me and touched me--to make the union a perfect one, +the delight of attraction should always be present; in that way I have +not realized my ideal." + +Penloe said: "Do you know, Mrs. Herne, there are more than a million +couples whose experience is exactly like your own; and if your +environments had not been so pleasant, and both of your dispositions +well blended, and well balanced, you would have separated long ago, as +many have done, not knowing the real cause, and thinking it was +something else. You see," continued Penloe, "before you were married, +you and your husband had both led pure, virtuous lives; and each of you +was like a strong electric battery, charged with the life forces of the +body, which produced this pleasant feeling of attraction, and when you +were married both of you thought and acted like most other married +people." + +Mrs. Herne said: "Thank you, Penloe; the ideas you have advanced should +become common property of the many." + +Penloe replied: "Yes; but there are some who have these ideas, but don't +wish to put them in practice." + +Mrs. Herne said: "Penloe, suppose that two married persons having been +living as most married persons do, and one of the two wished to live the +better way which you have just described, while the other wished to live +as they have been doing, what would be best to do in a case like that?" + +Penloe replied: "That is a matter that requires the best judgment +possible, so as not to give offence. Great diplomacy must be used where +hard feelings are liable to be produced; but there is one thing that +must always be kept in view and that is that the one who wishes to live +the better way must be true to himself or herself. The matter should be +presented in a very kindly way, showing that it is as much for the +interest of the one not wishing to live the new way as it is for the one +desiring it. Patience must be used, and, above all, kindness and love. + +"I am going to ask you now, Penloe," said Mrs. Herne, "to tell me from +your standpoint, what kind of unions would you consider the best ones?" + +To Mrs. Herne's astonishment, Penloe replied: "All marriages are the +best ones; even where they are so unhappy as to separate the next day. +The two can only work out their unfoldment from the plane they are now +on, and not from any other plane or place." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Herne, "but supposing I am living the old way, and +after hearing you explain the new way, I wish to live that way." + +Penloe said: "That would show that you were tired of living on your old +plane, and you were now ready to leave a lower plane for the higher one. +But, supposing I had seen you a week before you were married to Charles +Herne, and explained to you the new way, do you think you would have +been ready to commence your married life by living the new way?" + +Mrs. Herne laughed, and said: "I see it all now; I had to go through +this experience in marriage in order to be ready for the better way. But +are there not some who are ready to live the better way without having +any experience?" + +"Yes," said Penloe, "because they were already on a higher plane. +Supposing I take a watch and explain its works to you and your husband; +after I get through, you understand all about its movements because you +were on the mechanical plane to receive the instruction, but your +husband does not, because he has not reached the mechanical plane to +receive it. So it is in regard to receiving ideas on any social, moral, +or spiritual plane." + +"I understand it now," said Mrs. Herne, "for you have the faculty of +making any subject very clear; but I am going to push my question and +get you to describe the grades of the higher planes in marriage." + +Penloe replied: "There are very, very few persons who are living the +pure life in marriage who have not reached that plane through +experience. Now, it is possible that of two who are about to be +married, one previous to that union may have reached the plane of purity +through experience; while the other, not having had any such experience, +and intending in the main to live purely under marriage, but for several +reasons desires to have some experience before living the pure life. + +"Again, where the purpose of the union is to live the pure life, then +the union belongs to the higher plane. But the highest plane of all is +where the two, at the time of marriage, consecrate themselves to each +other and to the service of the Lord in His humanity, keeping their +bodies, as the temples of God, pure and sacred; where both live above +all lustful desires for each other, keeping the life forces for making +the mind and body strong, and fitting themselves to be instruments of +the Divine. Such a union brings the highest bliss to each of them, and +the greater good to the world at large. They do not require children to +make them happy, for their life is in the Divine One. They fully realize +that in Him they live, move, breathe, and have their being, and they +forego for themselves the pleasures of parentage in order to become a +spiritual father and a spiritual mother to the many." + +Mrs. Herne gave Penloe her hand, and said: "I sincerely thank you for +the light you have this day given me." + +That evening Clara Herne told her husband Penloe's ideas on the marriage +relationship. After listening very closely to all she said, Mr. Herne +sat thinking for a while, then said: "Clara, for a long time I have been +reflecting on that subject, and it perplexed me much, but now that +Penloe has made it so very clear, it seems like so many other things +which are hard to find out and understand, but when explained by a +master mind like Penloe, appear simple. + +"Clara, can you estimate what a great gift Penloe gave you in imparting +those very important truths? and the knowledge he gave you, he knew you +would tell me; therefore, I feel he has given us both a precious gift, +more than if we had received a present of five thousand dollars. We +cannot prize such a dear friend too highly." + +They had an hour's very agreeable talk on the matter, and they were both +of one mind, and decided that there and then they would live the new +way; and they both sealed their sacred vow with a pure love kiss. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +TIESTAN. + + +A few days after Stella had returned home from her visit to her aunt in +Roseland, she and her mother went to call on Penloe; for Mrs. +Wheelwright was as anxious to see such an original man, as Stella was to +set her eyes on a face that had such a beautiful expression. + +As we have said, Penloe was living all alone, his mother's work being +for the present in Chicago. + +When Penloe came to the door he received Stella in such an agreeable way +as to make her feel perfectly at ease. + +Taking his hand, she said: "Penloe, this is my mother, Mrs. Wheelwright; +my name is Stella." + +With the same grace and ease did he welcome Mrs. Wheelwright, and the +two ladies had not sat in his library more than five minutes before they +felt as if they had known Penloe all their lives, and they seemed to +have a consciousness as if Penloe had known them always. And as wave +after wave of thought came to their minds, Penloe met it and gave them +just what information and truth each one needed in chaste and polished +language; and yet there was no effort at studied phrases on his part, +for it was his natural mode of expression. When talking on certain +subjects and to an interested listener, his discourse seemed like a +string of sapphires, diamonds, pearls, and rubies. + +Stella and her mother had sat there looking into those deep, luminous, +spiritual orbs, while the conversationalist was interesting them, so +that two hours had flown before they thought an hour had passed. + +As they were about to leave Penloe saw Stella's longing, wistful eyes +glancing over the rows of books. He anticipated the wish by saying: +"Stella, any book or books you see here you are at liberty to take +home." + +If Penloe had made her a present of a thousand dollars in actual gold +coin, she could not have felt as grateful as she did when he gave her +the use of his whole library. It was like pouring water on thirsty land. +Stella was thirsting for information on so many subjects, and now her +wish was gratified. She had the opportunity of getting the reading +matter she longed for so much, but did not have the means to purchase. +And, above all, when Penloe told her he would be pleased to help her in +any line of thought she might wish to investigate, it seemed to her as +if her happiness was complete. Her eyes and her hand expressed it all on +taking leave of Penloe. + +The ladies said little in going home. It seemed mutually understood that +they would not give expression to their thoughts till they were home and +sitting together in the evening. + +When Stella entered the house she had in her possession three of +Penloe's books. One was "Macomber's Oriental Customs," another "Woman's +Freedom in Tiestan" by Burnette, and the third was "Woman's Bondages" by +Stuart. + +After supper was over and the dishes washed and put away, Stella and her +mother sat down and Stella said somewhat abruptly: "Mother, sometimes I +wish I had never seen Penloe." Her mother was not very much surprised to +hear her express herself in that way, for she had observed that Stella's +mind was somewhat agitated. + +Her mother said: "Why, dear, what do you mean?" + +Stella said: "Mother, I mean this: that I can never be contented and +happy in the society of any young man other than Penloe. How can I?" + +It was a very hard question for her mother to answer, who knew full well +that Penloe had unintentionally made an impression on her daughter's +heart that time could never efface, and she had refrained from saying +much in praise of Penloe, for she knew that it would only be adding fuel +to a very great flame, which it would be impossible for Stella to +quench. She knew that Stella had seen in Penloe a young man greatly +beyond her expectations; even beyond her ideal. Penloe lived in a world +that Stella had only just a faint conception of. It was his intellect, +his exceptionally fine personality, manifested in such a fine, manly +form she admired. But, above all, Stella could see that he had emptied +himself of all save love. And that was so broad, so deep, so far +reaching, so universal in its sympathies, that it stirred her whole +nature. + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "I think my daughter has lost something." + +"Yes," said Stella, "I lost it when Penloe delivered his sermon on that +Sunday at church, for I saw in him more than I ever dreamed of seeing in +any man, and when I went up and thanked him for his address, and those +discerning spiritual eyes of his looked so deeply and searchingly into +mine, that he read my secret." + +Mrs. Wheelwright went to Stella and pressed her to herself, and kissed +her many times. After awhile Stella said: + +"Mother, what I want to find in a man is true companionship. Now, look +at the young men in Orangeville. There are a very few that are kind, +steady young men, but then not one of them would be any companion to me. +I don't want to listen to horse talk, or cattle talk, or hog talk, or +some old back East yarns all the time. They all live in the social and +domestic world; there is nothing intellectual about them; they are not +moved by any broad, grand, sweeping, noble impulses. Their ranch, their +home, and the excitement of their barterings and dickerings, and the +doings of a few of their neighbors constitute the world they live in. +And most of them think all that a woman is good for, is to cook, wash, +and raise babies. And mother, I told you what kind of young men I met in +Roseland; now, they are a sample of the top notch of society. All that +many of them want is just the use of a young lady as a toy. And when +they use up the flower, like the bee, they go to another. As for real +manly worth, interesting, intelligent companionship, it is badly wanting +in many of them. Some very few are much better than the rest. + +"You know, dear mother, it is not that I want to know a man as a man, +but it is natural that I should want and love an interesting male +companion. When I think what Penloe is, and then think how little and +insignificant I am, a mere child beside him, and only about four years +difference in our ages, it makes me feel discouraged." + +"Penloe's talk this afternoon," said her mother, "shows that he does not +look at it in that way. Don't you remember his saying, 'I have traveled +much, been among people of royalty, title and nobility, have lived among +the rich, and great society leaders, also among great politicians, +learned men, spiritual giants, business people, also among the poor, +also the illiterate, the abandoned, the offscouring, and the outcasts of +society; and I have yet to see the person that is not as good as I.' So +you see he thinks that you are just as good as he. Now, dear, don't be +discouraged in the least. I know just how my daughter feels; she wants +Penloe as her life companion and wishes she could be to Penloe what he +is to her. Stella, dear, calm your mind and remember that if Penloe is +for you, you need not have the least anxiety about the matter; for there +is no power in the universe that can hinder your being made one. But if +he is not for you, then it does not matter how good or great, how grand +or noble he may be, how intellectually brilliant he may shine, he should +be the last man in the world you should think of as a life companion. +For if there is anything that is true it is those lines of Emerson: + + "'Whate'er in Nature is thine own, + Floating in air or pent in stone, + Will rive the hills and swim the sea, + And like thy shadow follow thee.' + +"Also remember the saying, 'My own will come to me.'" + +Nothing more was said. Stella commenced reading "Woman's Freedom in +Tiestan," by Burnette. It occupied most of her spare time the next day, +and she finished it before supper, so that evening after supper Stella +said: "O, mother, I have finished reading 'Woman's Freedom in Tiestan.' +It is most interesting. Tiestan is a place little known to the Western +world, very few travelers having ever visited the country. I want to +read a little of it to you." + +Her mother replied: "I shall be delighted to have you," for she always +interested herself in anything her daughter was pleased with, so that +she might be her companion and confidant when needed. + +Stella opened at page 79, and read, as follows: + +"When the traveler arrives in the city of Semhee, which is the most +important in the country of Tiestan, his guide asks him whether he would +like to go to the Menegam, which means Foreigners' Home, or to the +Eshandam, which means Natives' Home. I told my guide I would go to the +Menegam, which would be conducted after the manners and customs of the +other parts of the Orient, which I had visited. Then, when I had become +accustomed to the ways and manners of the people of Tiestan, I would go +to the Eshandam. Now, while it is very true that very few travelers from +the Western world have ever visited Tiestan, yet the travel from the +other parts of the Orient is great and the people of Tiestan are +familiar with the ideas of the Western world, through the Oriental +travelers. They also have many of the modern improvements from thence, +which they have purchased from Bombay and Calcutta. After making the +necessary arrangements for a week's stay at the Menegam, I took a walk +through some of the most important streets of the city of Semhee. The +first impression which a traveler received in making a tour through the +city is from the fine physique of the girls and women. One is struck +with their independence, graceful carriage, and, as they only wear two +or three garments, it is self evident that they are not dependent on +corsets or waist stiffening for their erect bearing. I noticed there +were very few doctors, and what few there were of the medical profession +were equally divided between the sexes, there being three women and +three men doctors. The city educates them and pays them to keep the +people well. More than two-thirds of the people they heal without +medicine. The profession of dentistry is represented by four women and +four men. They receive their education at the public expense, and their +business is to keep the teeth of the people sound, and put in new ones +where required. Even the judges, lawyers, and city officials are equally +divided between the sexes. I noticed the same rule prevailed in +merchandise, hairdressing, and all kinds of business. There was not a +single employment that was distinctively male or female, for no +distinction was made between them. The same custom prevailed in all +kinds of ball games and sports. + +"Another impression one quickly notices is that the extremes of riches +and poverty are not seen among the people, for there are no very rich or +very poor; everyone having all the necessary comforts of life and many +of its luxuries. + +"After staying a week at the Menegam, I felt I was prepared to adopt the +customs of the people of Tiestan; so I engaged a room and board at the +Eshandam, or Natives' Home. Most of those who stop at the Eshandam are +natives who live in the province of Tiestan, they having come to Semhee +either on business or pleasure. Only two meals a day are served: +Breakfast from 7.30 to 9 a.m., and dinner from the hours of 1 to 3 p.m. + +"I arrived in time for dinner. Persons staying at the Eshandam are all +looked upon while there as members of one family, and it becomes the +duty of the manager to see that all persons sitting at the same table +have been introduced. It would be considered a breach of etiquette to +eat the meal quickly and in silence. I never was in a hotel dining room +where there seemed to be so much freedom and enjoyment among the guests +while taking their meals. Everyone has plenty of time to eat his meal +leisurely. Most of the guests coming from the different parts of the +province of Tiestan, and being well informed, and all able to converse +in two languages, and all having their minds free from uncertain +business enterprises, made their conversation very interesting and +elevating, and their company a pleasure to enjoy. Meat is never seen on +the table. They would feel indignant and be as much disgusted if meat +were set before them, as we would be to have a cooked baby brought to +the table. Eggs are used in some of their cooking; they are also served +in various ways. Their bread and pastry cannot be excelled anywhere. The +dessert consists of a large variety of nuts, confectionery, and fruits. +From two to five o'clock guests are entertained with music in the +beautiful hotel gardens, where fountains are playing, sending water out +in the form of leaves, umbrellas, hats, rings, and other interesting +forms. After the music is over some indulge in games, others read or +write, others chat. In the evening for those who wish to attend are +classes for literature, science, and spiritual philosophy. It is the +business of the hotel to supply all the wants of its patrons; to see +that the intellectual and spiritual natures are fed as well as to see to +the wants of the body. The reason that the people in the city of Semhee +have so much time, is that all labor and business is performed in six +hours. Six hours make a day's work. No one is idle, every well person is +busy at some productive employment. At the hotel they have no such room +as 'Ladies' Parlor,' the parlor being equally for the use of both sexes, +for the ladies are willing that the men hear any subject they are +talking to each other about. No one smokes in that country. The bedrooms +have two doors. One door leads from the hallway into the bedroom, the +other leads from the bedroom into the bath department, which was twelve +feet wide and was as long as the row of bedrooms. Opposite each room was +a bath-tub and a large movable basin, so that a guest could take a +sponge bath or immerse himself. + +"The first thing every well person does on rising in the morning is to +go into the bath department and take a cold bath. On my right was a +newly married couple whom I had the pleasure of conversing with at the +dinner yesterday, and on my left was a young lady and her mother with +whom I had the pleasure of enjoying a conversation in the hotel gardens +the day before. I exchanged greetings with all of them in the bath +department, and the feeling was exactly the same as if we all had been +dressed and met at the breakfast. As my room was about the center of the +row I could look each way, and perhaps there were over twenty persons of +both sexes and all ages taking their bath. On the door leading from the +bedroom to the bath department was a writing in hieroglyphics +illuminated and framed, which when deciphered read: 'Sex is an illusion, +illusion is a bondage, break the bondage and be free. The truth shall +make you free.' + +"After we had taken our baths those who wished were shown into the room +for devotion. When I had entered the room and had sat for a few minutes +I began to realize what a sacred, peaceful influence was in the place. +It seemed to come up from the floor, down from the ceiling, and out from +the walls, and from everything in the room. No talking is allowed in the +room. It is used only for devotion. I performed my devotions and gave +the room my hearty benedictions. I noticed that the forms of devotion +were not all the same, some using one kind of form and some another, but +they all led to the same goal. The devotions were all carried on in +silence. They consisted first of all of breathing exercises; then +bringing the mind to a state of calmness, by repeating mentally, looking +to the East, 'May all beings be happy. May all beings be peaceful. May +all beings be blissful.' Then looking to the South, repeat the same; +then looking to the West, repeat the same, and looking to the North, +repeat the same. After which some of them say mentally: 'Help me to +meditate upon the glory of Him who projected this universe. May He +enlighten my mind.' Then they pray in silence for light and knowledge; +also they repeat in silence: 'May I this day live without discontent, +without self-seeking, and without anxiety.' Then follow concentration +and meditation. + +"After the devotional exercises we had breakfast. I cannot help +remarking that the mind is in a better condition spiritually for +performing and enjoying sacred devotions before breakfast than it is +after it. To have family prayers after breakfast, as many do in the +Western world, hinders the freedom and adaptation that the Orientals +have in their devotion. In the Western world many are present out of +respect or rule, having no sympathy with the devotions, sending out +antagonistic aura which neutralizes the effect of worship, and makes it +cold, formal, flat, dead, and dull, for there is not the right +concentrated spiritual thought in the room, which is very essential for +profitable spiritual exercises. + +"On leaving the devotional room for breakfast, I could not help thinking +what a fine preparation for the day! With such a commencement as that, +no wonder the day's work is done well, without friction and in perfect +harmony. + +"The people in Semhee being of a social nature and free from all +conventionalities of modern society, it was not long before I made the +acquaintance of many very interesting families. + +"I received an invitation to make my home with one of them during my +stay in the city of Semhee, which I was glad to accept. I found the life +in the home to be very much like that in the hotel, so far as bathing, +devotions, and meals were concerned. One evening a young lady called at +the house to see a young man who is a son of my host. The young lady +stayed about two hours, making herself very agreeable to the young man, +and upon taking her leave she invited him to accompany her the next +evening to a concert. He accepted. The next evening she came and called +for him, took him to the concert and saw him home. It seemed she had +been very friendly with him for about two months. The following Sunday +afternoon the young lady called for the young man and took him to the +park, and as I was informed afterwards when the two were in a very +secluded place, surrounded by shrubbery, she, in a very pretty way, told +him that the more she was with him and the more she saw of him, the more +she felt impressed that she loved him, and had found in him a true +companion, and wished to know how he felt towards her. As he was in +exactly the same state of mind towards her as she was towards him, they +were engaged to be married. I became interested in this couple, and +observed that sometimes the young lady would call and see him and take +him out, and sometimes the young man would call and see the young lady +and take her out. I do not wish to give the reader the impression that +the young ladies of Tiestan always commence the courtship, for it is as +customary for a young man to commence a courtship as for a young lady. +The privilege and pleasure of commencing a courtship belongs as much to +one sex as the other. + +"One afternoon I was walking along the banks of the beautiful river +which flows through the suburbs of the city of Semhee, and saw a number +of boys and girls, also men and women, all enjoying themselves swimming. +They would swim awhile and then come out, stand or sit on the bank of +the river for another while. Sometimes there would be seen several +hundred persons of all ages on the banks of the river. They no more +thought about their respective natures than they did about the number of +hairs on their head. Among those I saw on the banks of the river was +this very young man and young lady who were engaged to be married. They +were standing up side by side ready to take a plunge in the river, and +in they went and swam about very gracefully. While they were in the +water they both saw me standing on the bank opposite to where they had +stood on the other. They swam to where I was, and came out of the water +to me, and we had a little chat. + +"If the young lady was invited to stay over night at the young man's +house, she would take her bath with the other members of the family in +the morning, and if the young man received an invitation to stay all +night at the home of the young lady, he, in the morning, would take his +bath with the members of her family. + +"About a month after the engagement the two were married. The city +Semhee employs four persons who can perform the marriage ceremony, two +men and two women. They were married at the home of the young man. A +lady came to perform the ceremony. She told the couple to stand up and +take hands, and then she asked the young man--calling him by name--if he +would have this woman--calling her by name--to be his wife, and he +answered, 'Yes.' Then she asked the young lady--calling her by her +name--would she have this man--calling him by his name--as her husband, +and she answered, 'Yes.' Then she said: 'In the presence of these +witnesses I declare you to be man and wife.' The two then signed a +document stating they were man and wife, which was put on record, and +that ended the ceremony. They were very happy, for each one found in the +other a true, loving companion, and they were one intellectually and +spiritually. + +"As women are engaged in the professions, in business, and perform all +kinds of service as men do, receiving the same compensation, they are +just as financially independent as men are, and, therefore, have no +other motive for marrying than that of true, pure love, finding in each +other a true intellectual and spiritual companion. Of children they have +few, for they believe in quality, and not quantity. + +"The intellectual and spiritual life predominates over the animal in all +its inhabitants. Do not think from what I have written about the ladies +of Tiestan that they are masculine women. Far from it. They are just as +sweet, pretty, entertaining, attractive, and graceful as any women to be +found in the world. Yes, far more so, for their hours of duty are short. +They have no care, anxiety or sickness to speak of, and their +environments are such as to bring to the surface all that is pure, good, +noble, and sweet; and, above all, the traveler finds the ladies of +Semhee to be _real_, genuine, and sincere in character." + +When Stella had finished reading her selection from Burnette's book, her +mother had a big laugh, and asked her if she wanted to go to Semhee. + +"No, mother, it is not Semhee I wish to visit just now, though some day +I certainly would like to see the city of Semhee and meet the +accomplished, enlightened, and free women of Tiestan. What I do want to +see is the women of this country, where there is so much boast of +liberty and freedom, free themselves from the awful bondage of sex +superstition, and all other bondages that have been heaped upon them by +people of the Dark Ages because they are women. Even those who talk so +much about woman's rights, are in bondage up to their necks. Look at +Laura Stevenson in Orangeville; a fine bright young girl, who makes a +hobby of woman's rights, and yet see the bondage she is in. A fine young +man whom she was supposed to respect very much, lay sick in his cabin +all alone, and with all her talk about her independence and freedom, she +never went to see him because he was alone and there was no woman there. +She being a young woman, thought it would not be proper for her to do +it. Laura Stevenson's independence and liberty consist in having her own +way in a few things. She does not know what freedom is. Her freedom is +all sham, and with no reality in it. Then there is Nora Parks, who is +supposed to be advanced, and talks much on woman's freedom; but watch +her how very particular she is in her conduct with young men who are +good, lest she should excite the jealousy of her husband. Therefore, she +is not free, but in bondage to his foolish, uncalled for jealous +feelings. Talk about women being free, they don't know anything about +freedom, for they are all in bondage of some kind or other." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, among the many fine thoughts which +Burnette brings out in the description of the women of Semhee, that is a +great one _which shows woman to be financially independent of man, +previous to marriage and after marriage, too_. Therefore, she can have +no other motive for marrying a man than that of mating herself to a true +companion. When that is done the two act as one light, whose rays reach +out and shine on all around them. Blessed is such a life." + +"Mother," said Stella, "I do not fully understand the meaning of the +writing on the bedroom door, which Burnette describes. You remember that +part which reads: 'Sex is an illusion.' I understand too well the +meaning of being in bondage to sex, but that sex is an illusion I do not +see the meaning of, because we know that sex is real and has its use and +purpose." + +"I cannot enlighten you, my dear," said her mother. "You will have to +ask Penloe when you return the books." + +"Well, mother," said Stella, "I am going to put some of my theories into +practice. I say my theories, but I do not exactly mean that; but I am +going to put some advanced ideas into practice in regard to woman's +freedom. I will now tell you one of them, and another later on. + +"Mother," continued Stella, "when a man lives alone and a woman wishes +to go to his house to see him, she has to take another woman with her +because it is not thought proper for a woman to be seen going alone +calling at a house, particularly where a young man lives by himself. But +if a woman lives alone and a man wants to see her he does not get some +other man to go with him. No, he goes alone, and it is thought all +right. Now, mother, I will be free, and, therefore, when I return the +books to Penloe I will go alone." + +"All right, my dear," said her mother. "I am glad, Stella, you have the +courage to practise your convictions. This talk of woman's rights and +freedom we hear so much about and woman's liberty that we read of in the +newspapers, is just so much evasion. A woman who may have known a good +man for several years dare not call on him if he lives alone. One ounce +of practice, Stella, is worth a thousand tons of big talk. Go ahead, my +daughter, I am proud of you," said Mrs. Wheelwright. + +The week after Stella went to the house of Penloe to return the books. +Penloe was in his library writing. When he heard a knock he arose and +went to the door in a mechanical kind of way, his mind being more on the +subject of his writing than upon who might be at the door. When he +opened the door Stella said: + +"Good morning, Penloe; I have come to return your books." + +Stella's voice seemed to recall Penloe to where he was, and to notice +who had come to see him. + +In a soft, musical voice, he said: "Glad to see you, Stella; walk in," +giving her his hand, and Stella was shown in to the library. + +When she was seated Penloe said: "Excuse me for a minute or two," and +Stella was pleased to do so, for she wanted to be in the room alone and +take notes. But no sooner had Penloe left the room when a different +state of mind came over her, and she did not feel like giving her +attention to anything in the room. For such a wave of peace came over +her mind as she had never experienced before, so that the room seemed to +be full of peace. It was not a dead, sleepy peace, nor a dreamy peace, +but a peace that was refreshing, strengthening, and was exactly what her +mind needed. She sat in perfect bliss drinking in all she could, when +Penloe came into the room. He seemed to her to be all peace. This +delightful condition put her mind in a state of equipoise, such as she +had never felt before; for it was a peace that was tinged with a Divine +quality; and it was about to awaken her more than ever to the +possibilities of the real world, the Divine world, the spiritual world, +the world whose realization so far she had not a knowledge of. For her +supreme life was in her intellectual tastes and in her deep, loving, +true nature, which loved to see what was fitting, right, and just, +actually lived; possessing at the same time the boldness and courage to +be a pioneer of advanced thought, and, above all, she loved to live her +ideas. + +On returning to the room Penloe opened the conversation by saying: +"Well, Stella, could you find anything interesting in the books?" + +"Interesting, Penloe," said Stella. "Why, I have had a very rich treat +in the perusal of them. I felt as if I could not put them down till I +had finished them, for they contain just the light I have been seeking, +and now they have become a part of my own mentality. But I wish you +would explain the meaning of the expression, 'Sex is an illusion.'" + +"Why, certainly, Stella, I will be glad to do so, for if there is +anything that appears real it is what is known as sex, the qualities of +male and female, we see in all nature. It is said to exist in some +precious stones, and we know it exists in the vegetable world, and in +all animal life. And if there is anything that is real to a boy or girl, +it is that he or she is a boy or girl, and if there is anything that is +real to a man or a woman, it is that he or she is a man or woman. So +strongly has this thought become the life thought of the human race, +that the members of each sex look upon themselves as being just what +their material forms stand for. That is, a woman believes that she will +be a purified woman through all eternity, that the woman is permanent, +real, immortal, and that she will continue on, as a woman, with her +womanly traits of character greatly expanded. While man thinks that as a +man he is real, permanent, and immortal; that he will continue his +existence as a man through all eternity, and that he will always be +known as a man, and always look upon woman as woman. Any thought +contrary to the reality of sex, the masses in the Western world will not +accept, for they live in a sex world, and at present do not wish to rise +above it, for they are in bondage to the reality of sex. In the +prehistoric period of humanity there lived a race of gods, that is, a +race whose members were intellectual and spiritual giants, many of them +spending their whole life in thought, living on a very meagre diet, +needing very little in the way of clothing and shelter, having no +material desires or ambitions to gratify. They, therefore, had an +abundance of time for searching for and investigating spiritual truths. +They were fitted by nature and by their environments for that life, and +they were gifted with revelations of the unseen. + +"They were called seers or sages, because they could see spiritual +truths which others could not, and it was at this period and through one +of these seers that a voice spoke, 'That which exists is one, men call +it by various names.' That was the conclusion that many other eminent +seers and sages had come to. For they saw that there was one great +Infinite Life Force manifesting itself in all and through all. That +there is a correlation of spiritual forces, and that all the various +phenomena are the one manifestation of this Infinite Life, which is +called by some God, by others Lord, by others Brahma, by others Jehovah, +by others Allah, the meaning of them all being exactly the same as that +expressed in the Bible by the name of God, in whom we live, move, and +breathe and have our being; that we are the manifestation of Him. In +short, our real entity, our real life, our real self (the Atman), our +soul (the Purusa) is Spirit eternal and immortal. Now the life of the +Spirit has no sex in it, but the spirit manifests itself in these +various forms of male and female. The sexual form is only the +instrument, not the Being. For the Being is not sex, and, therefore, +there is nothing connected with sex, that is spiritual and eternal. It +belongs to the external world and the material plane, and is, therefore, +a temporary manifestation suitable to the earth plane. It becomes +necessary, in order to get a true conception of what we really are (that +we are spiritual beings, being neither male nor female) that we get away +from the illusion of sex, and not be in bondage to it. But the man must +look upon the woman as a spiritual being and not think of her only for +what her material form stands for. If he does he is under an illusion, +being in bondage to her body, which becomes a barrier to realizing the +Divine within, and if the woman looks upon the material form of the man +as being the man and that for which he stands, then she is under an +illusion and is in bondage to his material form, looking upon his male +body as the all of man. And such a thought becomes a hindrance to her +realizing her Divine nature. + +"Remember, Stella, that sex is only apparent, not real. It belongs to +the phenomenal world." + +Stella said: "To accept the idea you have just advanced I shall have to +begin and lay a new foundation to build upon, for you have swept away +many things I considered truths." + +Penloe said: "Stella, you are merely casting off old garments that you +have outgrown, and you are now ready for a new robe that fits you. But +remember never to quarrel with the old clothes you once wore. They have +served their purpose and should always be respected." + +Stella said: "Penloe, the truth you have advanced regarding sex will +take me some time to fully digest." + +"Certainly," said Penloe, "but it will not be long before you will +comprehend it fully in all its relativity and make it a part of your own +mentality." + +Stella said: "Have you any reading matter to lend me which touches on +this subject, Penloe?" + +"Yes," said Penloe, "here are some lectures by the Swami Vivekanada; one +is 'The Real and the Apparent Man,' another is 'Reincarnation,' and two +lectures on the 'Cosmos.' And here are also two books for you to read." + +Stella was delighted to receive the lectures and books. After thanking +Penloe she gave him her hand, and said: "I must go, now." + +Penloe held her hand, and said: "Stella, I see you are very fond of +books, and they are a very great help, and I prize my library very, very +much; but remember, Stella, the whole library of the universe is within +you. Stella, accept a suggestion from one who is your true friend. Be +much in prayer; let your prayer be for light and knowledge; meditate +much on Divine things; and you will be surprised how a flood of light +will sweep over you at times. Pray that the Divine, which was manifested +in such a degree in Jesus, may be manifested in you." Pressing her hand, +he said: "God bless you, Stella, and may you ever feel the presence of +your own Divine nature." + +Stella will never forget that warm hand grasp and those spiritual words. +For it seemed to her at that very moment that that spiritual fire, which +was always burning with such a glow in Penloe and shining so brightly +through his angelic face, had caused the spark which had been growing +brighter and stronger within her, to burst into a flame, and what sweet +season of soul experience did she realize on her way home. + +Stella had much to think about that evening. She said little to her +parents; her mind was so pre-occupied she could not give attention to +much else. She realized she must make the matter thoroughly clear to +herself so as to have all her thoughts and ideas harmonize, before +communicating them even to her parents. She did not even look into the +literature which Penloe had lent her that evening. She felt like +retiring and thinking. When she laid her head on the pillow that night +it seemed as if it was not to sleep; it was to think. The leaven was +working in Stella's mind. The truths which she had just received were +powerful; it seemed as if she could not get away from them, even if she +wished, for truths possess us, we do not possess them. Nothing in the +universe is more powerful than truth. + +After the first wave of the novelty, the beauty, the grandeur and the +thrilling depth of the truth had subsided only temporarily (to be +superseded by a far more powerful wave of the same character), there +came over Stella's mind during this lull, a strong feeling of attachment +to some of the old ideas she had held. It was very easy for her to let +some of her garments drop from her mental form, and be clothed with new +ones, but there were some that seemed rather hard to loosen; and which +were they? One was this: While it cannot be said that Stella was vain or +self-conceited, there was that strong attachment to the personal I, +which is generally seen in positive dominant characters in the Western +world. And as a woman she had everything to make her feel proud of her +form and beauty, with a graceful carriage, combined with a bright mind +and noble purpose. She had realized her power over the opposite sex. Her +dominant thought had been, that as a woman she was going to lead her +sisters out of bondage; that because she was a woman she had a right to +vote; because she was a woman she should not be in bondage to forms, +ceremonies, and customs; because she was a woman she should not be a +slave to sex superstition. But now all this had been swept away, and it +was hard for her to let go all the grand thoughts she had entertained +about woman as woman. But, blessed, noble, courageous girl, she said: "I +will follow truth whithersoever it may lead," and she inscribed truth on +her banner, saying, "That will I follow." + +So she let the last of her old garments drop from her, saying: "I will +clothe myself with the garment of truth." The battle had now been fought +and the victory won; and now a wave came sweeping over her mind, more +powerful, with more beauty, with greater grandeur, penetrating far +deeper, stirring the very depths of her nature, and she felt such +freedom as she had never realized in her life before. With this rock, +the corner-stone of truth, she commenced to lay a foundation which is +eternal and immortal. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +PENLOE'S ORIGINAL ADDRESS. + + +The Roseland _Gazette_ was very pleased to get something of a +sensational character in its columns, like the different stories which +had been brought to that city concerning Penloe's sermon delivered in +Orangeville. The State Legislature not being in session (to see how much +money they could get out of the pockets of the people for the benefit of +its members and their friends), there were no sensational charges of +bribery or boodle to report; and as Congress had closed there was no +news concerning laws passed in the interests of bankers, railroad +corporations, sugar trusts, whiskey and other trusts which are able to +furnish members of Congress with funds to carry their schemes through. +It happened to be at a time when news was scarce and dull, and therefore +the press made the most of the matter by writing an editorial on the +subject of sex relationship, which appeared in the paper the following +week, and was as follows: + +"In our last issue we gave as correct a report of the remarkable sermon +preached by Penloe in the church at Orangeville, as our reporter could +get. Since then most all other subjects of conversation have subsided in +this county and the main topic of conversation has been Penloe and the +sex question. As to Penloe, it is not our purpose in this article to +discuss the man, but some of his ideas. The sex question is a very +peculiar one to the minds of many. Penloe's ideas are so radical that it +gives us a shock all over even to think of attempting to bring the +people to that mode of living. The thought we have concerning our sex is +instilled into us by custom, precept and example, so that from earliest +infancy to introduce such an innovation as Penloe proposes would +apparently, to our minds, seem like undermining our social structure and +its very foundations. While we admit the state of society is morally +low, yet what can be done to improve it? Can we ever reconcile ourselves +to persons of both sexes and all ages undressing in the presence of each +other and all bathing together naked? We question whether society is +ready for such a change? Penloe's theories are like many other theories, +very fine on paper but when you put them in practice they won't work. +What say you, readers? We would like to hear also from our brothers of +the press." + +And they did hear from their brethren of the press. For other county +papers took the matter up, being very glad to get something sensational +for their columns; and from county papers the subject got into the big +city dailies throughout California, and they printed very sensational +articles concerning Penloe and his sermon, discussing the sex question +at great length. It was not very long before the Eastern papers had long +articles about Penloe and his sermon, and they wrote much on the +subject. Then the matter reached the magnitude of what is known as a +wave; which swept through the press all over the continent, causing as +much comment and talk as Markham's poem, "The Man with the Hoe." + +Penloe's mail increased in size rapidly, and he was now receiving twenty +times more letters than all the other mail in Orangeville combined. It +was amusing to see how the letters were addressed. They read, "Dr. +Penloe, Rev. Dr. Penloe, Rev. Penloe, Penloe, Esq., Prof. Penloe, D.D., +and LL.D." Letters came to him from every state in the Union. Here is +one: + + "MR. PENLOE: + + "DEAR SIR:--I am shocked and disgusted with you. You + never ought to be allowed to talk from the pulpit in + such a way. The people of Orangeville ought to tar and + feather you and ride you on a rail out of the county." + +Another letter was as follows: + + "CRANK PENLOE: + + "Of all the cranks I ever did read about or hear tell + on, you are the darndest. The women folks in my house + are as hot as hell, ever since they read in the paper + what you talked in church. My wife said, 'What a crank + you must be,' and my mother-in-law said hell is too + good for such as you. What a rumpus you have made all + over the country; it seems as if hell is to pay for all + this." + +Penloe also received some powerful scorching letters from orthodox +ministers, while on the other hand the liberal and radical elements of +society poured forth eulogies and commendations for his bold original +utterances, for his fearlessness in treating the subject in the +courageous way he did; calling him a brave pioneer and they themselves +would start Penloe Clubs for putting his ideas in practice. He received +many letters from churches in some of the large cities, like the +following: + + "REV. DR. PENLOE: + + "DEAR SIR:--Our church in this city is an elegant + structure and will seat twelve hundred persons. For + some months we have been looking for a popular young + man to fill our pulpit. It has been very difficult to + find an up-to-date man, one that will draw a + congregation to fill our church, for the audience keeps + growing less every Sunday, because we have not got a + real, live smart man to preach to us. We think if we + could secure your services you would draw the largest + congregation in this city, for your popularity has + swept the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and + we feel sure you are the right man. Our people are very + sociable and well to do, many of our members being + rich. We are willing to pay you a salary of seven + thousand dollars a year, and the use of a handsome + house elegantly furnished, and will allow you two + months' vacation, besides paying your expenses to come + here. We will say that, should you accept our offer, + our people will be glad to receive you into their + hearts and homes." + +Penloe always answered all such communications, but as for accepting one +of them it was out of the question; for he knew it was not his field of +labor, and if the salary had been a hundred thousand dollars a year, it +would have been no temptation or an inducement to him to accept the +offer. For money, name and fame touched him not; and nothing could +induce him to leave his path of labor for the sake of going into some +new field of work which only held out large material rewards. He also +received many offers from the owners of papers and magazines, asking him +to write his views. The New York _Monthly Magazine_ offered him one +thousand dollars for an eight-page article on the sex question; provided +he would not write on the subject for any other magazine or paper. +Penloe accepted the offer because he considered that was the best +channel to communicate to the world his views on the sex question. Its +readers were of a class that could comprehend the subject in the spirit +in which it was offered. And as for the thousand dollars Penloe had a +sacred purpose he wished to use that money for. A man wrote to Penloe +offering him forty thousand dollars if he would consent to lecture for +one year in all the large cities in the United States. The man told a +friend of his, he was sure after paying Penloe his forty thousand +dollars and all other expenses, he would clear about sixty thousand +dollars himself. + +How true it is that a prophet is not without honor, save in his own +country. For Orangeville was the last place to feel the Penloe wave +which swept over all the country. At last the people of Orangeville +reading so much about him in their papers and magazines, began to think +he was something more than a crank, that they must have a great man +amongst them, or else he would never have received such big offers of +money for his services as the papers stated he had, and there would not +have been so much written about him if he was of no account. + +Quite a change had come over the people in Roseland concerning Penloe, +and they began to feel differently towards him since his wave of +popularity had swept over the country. Even Stella's aunt had +experienced a change of heart towards him, for she was heard to say, +"People's ideas are changing now in regard to the sex question. They +look at the subject so differently now from what they did when I was a +girl. I did not think Penloe was such a smart man as the papers say he +is. He must be, or else he never would have received an offer of forty +thousand dollars to lecture for one year." + +A man may possess all the characteristics of a saint and a martyr +combined, and yet the average person is not attracted to him; but as +soon as money and popularity flow towards him, then in his eyes he +becomes next to a God; for people love to be touched on the material +side of their nature rather than on the spiritual. They consider the +spiritual well enough to talk about, and when a friend of theirs dies +they may love to sing "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and "Safe in the Arms of +Jesus," but what they really desire for themselves and families, above +everything else, is a rich blessing of material things; that which makes +well for the body and which puts them in a position to have full play of +the emotional and sensational part of their natures. + +So great was the desire among the people of Orangeville and Roseland, +and in fact the whole county, to hear Penloe speak, and to see the man +that so much had been said and written about, that a committee was sent +to him with a request signed by the leading citizens, asking him to +deliver an address to them in Roseland. Penloe accepted the invitation +to speak. The committee secured the use of a large packing house for the +meeting, and fixed it up so that it seated a very large audience, for +they knew that the Penloe wave was at its height, and about every team +from every ranch in the county would be out on that occasion. As the +committee had well advertised more than a week ahead, that Penloe would +deliver a public address, the news reached to many parts outside the +county, so that when the day came for the meeting to be held a number +of strangers from different parts of the state were seen in Roseland. + +We will copy from a San Francisco paper a report of the meeting, as that +paper had a special reporter there who gave a full report of the +address. + +----------- + +AN IMMENSE CROWD + +LISTENS + +TO PENLOE'S ORIGINAL ADDRESS. + +Meeting Opened by the Mayor of Roseland. + +----------- + +If a stranger had been in Roseland to-day he certainly would have +thought from seeing the livery stables crowded with teams from the +country, and every vacant lot and square also filled with teams, and the +crowds of people on the streets all going in one direction, that some +great attraction was going on, and he would be under the impression that +if he went out into the country he would not expect to see a person or a +team, for there never was any occasion before that brought such a large +gathering of people to Roseland. Long before the time of commencement, +the seating capacity of the building was taxed to its utmost. Promptly +at 2 P.M. the Mayor of Roseland and Penloe appeared on the platform. The +Mayor opened the meeting by introducing Penloe in the following words: +"Ladies and gentlemen:--It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you +this afternoon a gentleman whom you all have heard and read so much +about. Whatever your views may be about his teaching, I can positively +assert the lecturer is a scholar and a gentleman, every inch of him. +Very often a speaker's remarks fail to have the full weight they are +entitled to because persons say he has an axe to grind, or, he is paid +to talk that way. Now I have not the least idea of the subject the +speaker is going to talk to you upon, but this I can say, he is here +this afternoon only because he was invited to come and speak. He refused +all offers of money for his services, saying, he wished his labors to be +a free will offering to you. Therefore I hope you will give him your +closest attention, remembering he gives you the best product of his mind +acquired through years of study, thought and observation; and that is +the richest gift one can give another. + +"Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the honor of introducing to you the +speaker, known as Penloe." + +Penloe rose and came forward to the front of the platform; first bowing +to the Mayor and then to the audience; and as he did so he faced a sea +of upturned faces, who gazed upon one of the most remarkable men this +country has produced. Not very many of the audience had seen Penloe +before, and they were agreeably surprised to see on the platform before +them, so distinguished a personality. It seemed a delight to look upon +him. But few present could begin to size up such a man as he was. Some +of the remarks which one could hear whispered were like the following: + +A young lady said: "What beautiful clear eyes he has. It seems as if you +could see his soul in them." + +A gentleman was heard to say: "He has the most striking personality of +any one I have ever seen." + +A lady remarked: "Is he not handsome?" + +A man said: "What a fine head and noble countenance he has. It seems as +if the Almighty had stamped himself on him." + +"Yes," said his wife who was sitting at his side. "And did you ever see +a more perfect specimen of physical manhood than he is, so symmetrical +in his build?" + +Such was the man who faced the large audience and opened his address by +saying: + + * * * * * + +"DEAR FRIENDS: + +"The Mayor was correct in calling what I am about to say to you 'a +talk,' for if any one has come here expecting a grand oration, with +flowery language, rounded periods, and finished diction, he will be +disappointed. + +"Now, dear friends, I love you all, and that is why I call you dear +friends, and that is why I am here this afternoon to talk to you, +because I love you all. Yes, every one of you. I don't care what you +apparently are. Some of you may be greedy and grasping, and some may be +tyrannical and overbearing, or weak and negative; with no backbone or +grit or will; or you may be vain, selfish, ambitious, self-conceited, +carrying your head too high; or you may be one who lives to dance; loves +the whirl and excitement of pleasure; or you may be one who loves to +enjoy eating and drinking and sensual delights. I say, and I repeat it +again, I don't care what you apparently are, I love you all just the +same. I look at you from an entirely different standpoint from which you +look at yourselves. Now you all look at yourselves and at others +according to sex and your environments. Before me I see men who say of +themselves, I am a lawyer; I am a preacher; I am a banker; I am a +doctor; I am a merchant; I am a mechanic; I am an artist; I am a +musician; I am a farmer; I am a common laborer. Before me I see women +who say, I am a dressmaker; I am a milliner; I am a teacher; I am a +clerk; I am a bookkeeper; I am a typewriter; or I am a lawyer's wife, or +banker's wife, or doctor's wife, or merchant's wife, or preacher's wife, +or mechanic's wife, or farmer's wife. You think of yourselves according +to that position you occupy to make your living, or according to the +relationship you hold as wife, mother, daughter, or according to the +family you are a member of. Then again you all esteem yourselves +according to the degree of comfort, luxuries, health, money or property +which each of you may or may not possess. Also whether you are young, +middle aged or old. + +"Dear brothers and sisters, I do not rate you nor judge you nor look at +you in any way according to your conditions, age, sex or environments. I +look at you to-day not as you look at yourselves, but I look at you all +as spiritual beings, pure and perfect; nay, I look upon you all as +being still more than that, for I look upon you all as being the +manifestation of the One great Infinite Spirit. + +"Let me make it clearer to you by an illustration: In a certain province +of an Oriental country it was customary at one time for any young lady +who was distinguished in any way for her beauty or her riches or her +titles or her accomplishments, to set a day for receiving her suitors, +and grant each an opportunity to tell what he had to offer her as an +inducement to her to become his bride. In this province there was a +young lady whose beauty of countenance and lovely form, language is +inadequate to describe. In addition to that, her sweet souled character +exceeded her beautiful form and her many accomplishments. So superior +had that character become in its spiritual manifestation, that many +stories were told of her healing the sick, of her spiritual words and +presence reforming the lives of many; and of her having knowledge of +things, persons and subjects that she had neither heard nor read about. +Her youth, her beauty, her spiritual gifts and her many accomplishments +became known throughout the length and breadth of the province, and she +had many suitors for her heart and hand. So a day was set for her to +receive them all, to hear what each one had to offer, and select the one +of her choice. A suitable room was prepared for receiving them. At the +farther end the floor was raised two feet and on this raised part she +took a seat in the centre and near the front, with all her suitors on +her right seated on the lower floor and facing her. + +"The first suitor that had a hearing was a rich merchant. He said to +her, 'Dearest lady, I have heard much of thee and it now does my eyes +good to behold thee in all thy beauty. I am glad you have consented to +give me the opportunity of telling you what I have to offer you to +become my bride. I am a rich merchant and have a palatial home on the +borders of a beautiful lake. Inside my home is a collection of the +riches and products of skill from all lands that I have traded in. I +have gold and ivory, laces, shawls, silks, fancy wares, rugs, mattings, +spices and perfumes; and I have brought with me some as an offering to +you' (and here he ordered his servants to bring the presents in and +display them before her). 'Be my bride, most gracious lady, and the +wealth from all lands shall be thine.' + +"The lady smiled on him and told him to take a seat on her left and have +his servants remove the presents. + +"The next that appeared before the lady was a great warrior. + +"He said, 'Lovely lady, I am a great warrior. I have led to battle large +armies, and have always been victorious. I have met hand to hand +captains and generals, and have slain them with one blow from my sword' +(and here he drew it out of its sheath and showed it to her. It was a +fine piece of skilled workmanship). 'Should you become my bride no harm +shall ever befall you, no enemy shall come nigh you, and no serpent or +wild beast shall hurt you; for I have killed all kinds of animals and +reptiles. Most lovely one, if thou wilt become my bride, all my soldiers +shall obey thy word, and I will be thy true protector.' + +"With a smile she motioned him to a place on her left. + +"The next that appeared as her suitor, said, 'Dear lady, I have a +beautiful home and all it needs is thee, and shouldst thou see fit to +become my bride, you will be a happy and a joyous mother, and in the +love of each other, and in our home, and in our children, will our +happiness be found. Dearest lady, become my bride and thou shalt be the +head of the happiest home in the land.' + +"She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left. + +"The next suitor that came forward was attired in rich cloth trimmed +with lace and gold. + +"He said, 'Most charming lady, I am a Prince, and if thou wilt become my +bride, I will make thee a Princess. Thou shall have a lovely court, many +servants, costly robes to wear, and millions of people to worship thee, +and do thee homage.' + +"She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left. + +"Other suitors made offers to her. The last suitor that appeared before +the sweet lady was different from all the rest. He was dressed plainly; +he needed nothing to improve his natural appearance, for his majestic +form, his noble countenance and lustrous eyes, surpassed in +attractiveness all the other suitors. When you once saw him you felt as +if you wished to take another look at him, for it seemed to do one's +eyes good to feast them on so grand a man. + +"He said, 'Thou pure, sweet one. When a youth I was wandering through a +forest and saw a man sitting under a tree. He had a sweeter countenance +than I had ever seen before. He said, "My youthful friend, if thou wilt +learn from me thou shalt become good, wise and very happy." + +"'I thought of my companions and myself in regard to what he said, and +the more I thought about us all, I could not think of one that was +becoming good and wise, or was truly happy. For we were all restless, +going here, and going there, trying this and doing the other to find +happiness. So I thanked him and said, I will be thy pupil, for I wish to +become good, wise and truly happy. He said, "Commence to-morrow morning, +and as soon as you awake rise immediately; never lay after you are +awake, for it is not good for one of your age. Then when you rise bathe +in cold water. After you have dressed," he said, "read out of this book +which I give you; read every morning for fifteen minutes or half an +hour; then spend a little time in prayer and meditation." And he gave me +instructions in such and said, "Live on plain food, eat no meat, avoid +bad companions as you would a Bengal tiger, and before going to rest at +night spend half an hour in prayer and meditation. Continue faithfully +in the performance of these practices for three months, and then come +here to me." I did so, carrying them out to the letter, and at the end +of three months I returned to him. He looked at me and said, "I see by +your countenance you have changed." I replied, "Yes, I feel changed +altogether." "Tell me," he said, "in what way do you feel different?" + +"'I said, "When you saw me three months ago my mind was confused more or +less, my imagination ran too much after vain and sensuous objects. I +had too much personal sensitiveness, being attached to myself so much. I +was easily irritated, and always restless, wanting something I did not +have. But now my mind is calm and peaceful, my imagination dwells on the +pure, the good and the beautiful. I no longer feel envious or jealous or +greedy; for love seems to be taking the place of those feelings." + +"'Continuing, my teacher said, "Let your prayer be for light and +knowledge, and ask the Blessed Infinite One to help you to love all; let +love rule; never mind what others may say about you, or how meanly they +may treat you. Be in earnest to love all. Rise every morning with this +thought: 'How beautiful my brother is; how precious is my sister.' You +may not love a person's ways, but you should always love the person. +Separate the two in your mind and it will help you much. Start the day +with this thought, 'I will live this day without discontent, without +self-seeking, and without anxiety.' Say, 'Lord, deliver me from all +selfish ambitions, and from pride and vanity, and may I become teachable +as a little child.'" + +"'I did so, for I was very desirous of advancing in the Divine life. + +"'In six months' time I returned to him. He said, "Why, brother, how +happy you look; how clear and bright your eyes are; how sweet your +expression has become." + +"'"Yes," I said, "I am becoming like you." He said, "God bless your +efforts in living the Divine life. Let your prayer be: Do thou manifest +thyself in me, thou Blessed Infinite One. See that I want Thee and +nothing else." + +"'I did so, for the more I followed his instructions the more of the +Divine life did I realize, and I knew that the angel was ruling the +animal within me. After being his disciple for several years, he said, +"Thou art ready now to become a teacher like myself." + +"'I replied, "Dear Guru, my prayer is that in becoming a teacher like +thee, I may be able to lead others in the Divine life as thou hast led +me." I kissed the holy man and he gave me his blessing which has +followed me ever since, and it is with pleasure that I can say in the +spirit of thankfulness and humility, there have been those whose lives +are all the sweeter and brighter through my life and instructions. Sweet +lady, you know what I mean when I say, having obtained freedom through +renunciation I realized illumination, and through the light which I have +received I am in the possession of knowledge which the many know little +about, and through the light and knowledge which I have received I came +to know you long before seeing you to-day. I have seen you many, many +times though you were hundreds of miles away from me, and I seem to have +been in communication with you, though I never have spoken or written a +word to you. Not only so, sweet lady, but it has been my happiness to +receive from you many uplifting thoughts and I felt as if I was led by +the Divine Spirit which is in us all to come here to-day and say to you: +Thou sweet spirit, I have no houses nor lands, no money nor wealth, no +name nor fame, but I have attained realization, and through that +attainment I see the Divine in you; and its manifestation to such an +eminent degree in you has attracted me towards you, and I say to you +now, sweet one, that in your becoming my bride our lives will be +expanded, and we will attain unfoldment that we could obtain in no other +way. Thou bright one, what sweet communings of soul with soul, we will +have; for having consecrated our bodies to the Eternal One, we will each +day manifest a brighter light, and both of us shine as one in our love +for each other, and for all. And, dear one, in that beautiful light and +life will our cup of bliss be filled, and many besides ourselves will +drink therefrom.' + +"The lady smiled very sweetly on him and bade him take a seat on her +right. Then rising and facing her other suitors she said, 'Friends, I +thank you for the interest and kindness you have shown towards me, but +you all made one mistake, and that is in thinking I am merely just what +this material form stands for, in thinking I am a woman and only a +woman, and nothing but a woman. And in thinking so you come, one with +gifts of silks, laces, gold, ivory, spices and many other things, as if +that was all I needed. Another offers bravery and protection for me, +thinking I was a weak woman and could not take care of myself; another +wants to make me a Princess, so as to excite my pride and vanity, by +causing so many to bow down to me, as if my joy consisted in having my +pride and vanity fed, and in looking upon my fellow beings as my slaves, +whose whole life is to contribute to my enjoyment. Then another offers +me a home and to make me the mother of many children; as if that was the +highest attainment for a spiritual being; while still another offers me +money, good things to eat and drink and wear, only what this body of +mine seems in his eyes. No, I will have to decline all your offers, +because you are under the illusion that I am only a woman.' + +"Turning to the one on her right she said, 'By a life of self-denial and +discipline through prayer and meditation, and in cultivating the spirit +of love for all, and in making your life a free will offering to +humanity, you attained illumination. The angel now rules the animal and +you have arrived now to the state of realization of the Divine within +you. Not being in bondage to either the man or the woman, for you see +that each is a spiritual being like the other, therefore you look upon +me as a spiritual being manifested in the form of a woman. You have seen +that my wants and desires are spiritual, not material. All that I need +in the material world is very little and comes to me; for as Jesus has +said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things +(material) shall be added unto you." + +"'Dear friend, you have appealed to my self, my spiritual nature. I now +respond, and, dear one, what I possess in the way of love shall be +yours, for I love you so dearly it will be a joy for me to give you my +love and live in your love, and we will both consecrate ourselves to +each other and to the Lord, in His humanity.'" + +Penloe, looking earnestly at his audience, said: "That is the way, dear +friends, I look on you all this day; not for what your material forms +stand for, not for the environments each of you is placed in, but I look +upon you all as spiritual beings. I look upon you as Divine, and it is +this great, grand and glorious thought that each one of you is Divine. I +want you to take it home with you; I want you to repeat it over and over +again, '_I am Divine_'; I want you to think about it till it becomes +part of your own mentality, till it becomes part of the cells of your +brain, till it becomes a part of the life blood of your body, flowing +through your arteries and veins; and all your actions shall have their +source in the grand thought that you are Divine. When you reach to that +plane, your whole course in life will change, and each one of you before +me here will become so changed that you or your neighbors will hardly +know yourselves. For you have been going about with this thought, 'I am +a poor, weak human being.' That man over there says, 'All there is to me +is this body with its appetites and desires. I drink, I swear, I live a +life of lust and that is what I am.' I say no! a thousand times no! All +the qualities of the Divine are within you; but you have not realized +them. Don't look upon yourself any longer as being that drinking, +swearing, lustful man. But look upon yourself as being Divine; that all +the qualities of the universe are within you, and in you are all the +powers of the universe. That poor woman over there whose life is one of +hard, monotonous toil in the house; you are the mother of too many +children. Your life is one round of work, care and anxiety, and when you +look in the glass you see that work, worry and passion have taken the +bloom off your cheeks, the brightness out of your eyes; you are faded; +and it seems as if the light and life of the world had left you, and you +see no bright future. Hardly anything in it for you worth the having. + +"It is to you I bring this grand message, my discouraged sister, wake up +and get out of the illusion that you are what that poor worn-out body of +yours stands for. No, dear sister, a thousand times no; for you are +'Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute.' + +"The reason that you and your sex are where you are to-day, is because +you are in bondage to your material forms, looking upon yourselves and +wishing men to look upon you also for what you are in body, instead of +women looking upon themselves as spiritual beings and having men do the +same. The reason that men are where they are to-day is because they are +in bondage to their material forms, looking upon themselves as being +men, and also expecting women to look upon them as such, instead of men +looking upon themselves as pure spiritual beings possessing the +qualities of the Divine, and looking upon women as being exactly the +same spiritually as themselves. + +"You have all drawn veils over your Divine nature through this illusion, +and from this illusion springs all the acts which keep you from +realizing your Divine nature. Your greed, your vanity, your +self-conceit, your love of praise, your love of self, your attachment to +yourself, and all that is yours, your appetites all act as shades over +the windows of the soul. When will you break these various bonds and be +free? + +[2]"There is a story that the king of gods, 'Indra,' once became a pig, +wallowing in mire. He had a she pig and a lot of baby pigs and was very +happy. Then some other angels saw his plight, came to him and told him, +'You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods to command. Why are +you here?' But Indra said, 'Let me be. I am all right here, I don't care +for the heavens while I have the sow and little pigs.' The poor gods +were at their wits' end what to do. After a time they decided to come +now and again and slay one of the little pigs and then another, until +they had slain all the pigs and the sow, too. When all were dead Indra +began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig body open and he +come out of it, and began to laugh. What a hideous dream he had had. He, +the king of gods, to have become a pig and to think that pig life was +the only life. Not only so but to have wanted the whole universe to come +into the pig life. + +[Footnote 2: Vivekananda in Raja Voga.] + +"The soul when it identifies itself with nature forgets that it is pure +and Infinite. The soul does not live, it is life itself. It does not +exist, it is existence itself. The soul does not know, it is knowledge +itself. It is an entire mistake to say the soul lives, or knows, or +loves. Love and existence are not the qualities of the soul, but its +essence. When they get reflected on that something you may call them the +qualities of that something. Remember what you read in Hindu philosophy, +that the finer body, and what is called in Christian theology the +spiritual body, is not the soul. The soul is beyond them all. It is this +soul which is Divine. + +"Now let us follow out this thought that all of you are Divine and that +each one of you looks upon himself as being Divine, and that you look +upon all others as being Divine also. What is the result? Let's see. The +Divine nature is one of love, one of purity, one of justice, one of +harmony, one of peace. As a Divine being you are looking within for all +your happiness and are not dependent on things outside of yourself to +make you happy. As a Divine being you are not grasping and wanting +things that don't belong to you, and making yourself and others +miserable by wishing you were where you cannot go, or you want things +you cannot have. As a Divine being your conduct towards others under all +circumstances is one of love. Therefore you are not stirring up +contentions and strifes and you are trying, as far as possible, to make +those around you happy, and are yourself striving to be the same under +all circumstances. All things which disturb you keep you from realizing +the Divine. Therefore you have control over your temper and are +manifesting peace and harmony. As you are Divine, you should do your +work in the world without attachment to things of the world. You should +not be owned by the external world, for all forms and things perish, but +the life of the spirit is eternal. + +"As a Divine being you will be honest and truthful to yourself and +others; you will practise no deception; you will not want what belongs +to others; and try in trade or barter to cheat another, for you look +upon all as Divine like yourself. As a Divine being you will want to +earn your living by the sweat of your own brow, instead of by the sweat +of others as many do to-day. + +"Let that thought enter the life of the family and instead of the +husband and father being cross and cranky at times, he will always be +the same; trying each day in some new way to make his wife and children +better and happier, and they in return will be a joy to themselves and a +comfort to him. What a happy home where that thought reigns. + +"Let that thought be carried into the affairs of the County, State and +Nation, and see what a revolution of peace and happiness it would bring. +The first change would be that all women would have the same right to +vote as men have; not because they are women, but because they are +Divine, like man. In short because they are spiritual beings like men. + +"The aphorism, 'Equal rights to all and special privileges to none,' +will be lived out, because no one who is living the thought that all are +Divine, will wish to have opportunities that they deny to others. + +"'An injury to one is the concern of all,' is a maxim that would be put +into practise. 'All for one and one for all' would be acted out in all +the business of life, for all are Divine. All persons in office would +see how best they can serve the public, instead of seeing, as is done +now, how best they can feather their own nests, at the expense of the +public. + +"State legislators would meet, not to see how much there is in it for +themselves, in passing laws, but would pass laws in the interest of the +masses. All forms of corruption would cease, and bribery would +disappear, because all are looked upon as one, and that one is Divine; +and _Greed_ cannot live where that thought predominates. Congress, +instead of passing laws in the interest of bankers, railroad +corporations, manufacturers, and trust companies, would be there for +one purpose, that of making laws in the interest of the whole nation, +and what is known as class legislation would disappear. + +"All persons engaged in adulterating merchandise would cease their +disgraceful and dishonest business. For, realizing their Divine nature, +they would only make pure articles, and everything would be what it is +marked. All business would be done with honesty of purpose and love of +justice; in fact the character of the Divine would be seen in all +dealings. No longer would the great dailies be owned by the money power, +and intellectual prostitutes write the editorials of their columns, +blinding and deceiving the minds of the people that the classes may +fleece them. In short the ethics of Christ would enter into the +industrial and social systems. Usury would be abolished. Instead of +having Christ so much in prayer and song, in poetry and prose, in marble +and on canvas, we would have him in the halls of legislation, in +railroad operations, in manufactories, in stores, on farms and in the +home. In short he would enter into all the walks of life, and men's +actions would be governed by his teachings, viz.: 'Whatsoever ye would +that men should do unto you do ye also unto them; and as we all wish to +have love and justice shown us, realizing our Divine nature, we would +show it unto others. + +"Now, I beseech each one of you, I beseech you because I love you, start +to-day with the soul elevating thought, with this grand truth, that 'You +are the Divine,' and live according to your Divine nature and not be +ruled by your animal instincts. If ever you are in doubt about what you +should do and what you should not do, I would say, do whatever would +make you strong physically, whatever would make you strong +intellectually, whatever would make you strong spiritually, and do not +do what would make you weak physically, intellectually, or spiritually. +In living the pure Christ life you always will be well. Remember the +body is the instrument through which the Divine manifests itself; +therefore take care of the body and don't abuse it by too much work or +too much social excitement, or too much of anything. Be moderate and +temperate in all your actions, bathe every morning and have times for +meditation and prayer, and it will not be long before you will make the +whole State of California what it ought to be, a heaven on earth. For +having heaven within, you will make all about you heaven; and let me +tell you that when you leave your material bodies, the only heaven you +will find is that which you will take with you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +LETTERS RECEIVED BY PENLOE. + + +While Penloe was delivering his address there was a man in the audience +who sat near the platform, following the remarks of the speaker very +closely. Looking in his face you could see the marks of dissipation; the +color and lines which drink and carnality leave on the countenance. To +judge his age by his face you might take him to be a man of fifty, but +he was only about thirty years old; for he had lived twenty years in +five. His form was large and well proportioned; naturally he was a +strong man. His clothing consisted of a shirt, a pair of overalls, both +dirty, a pair of suspenders and a pair of shoes. + +When Penloe finished his address, and the audience was about to leave, +this man made a rush for the platform, and going up to Penloe under +great emotion, he said in broken utterances with tears in his eyes: "God +bless you for showing me that my real nature is Divine. I have been +living the life of a beast, but now I will live the Divine life." That +man afterwards said: "The look that Penloe gave me and the way he +pressed my hand will be with me as long as I live." + +Penloe saw that if he stayed on the platform or did not leave the +building, he would have a crowd round him. Not wishing to give a +reception and thinking it best to keep the people's minds on what he +said, instead of having them diverted from the subject to him +personally, he hastily left the building. But he received a number of +letters from persons who heard his address. We will copy three as +samples. + +The first letter we have copied was from the wife of the leading lawyer +in Roseland and read as follows: + + "ROSELAND. + "DEAR MR. PENLOE: + + "I would very much have liked to have had an + opportunity of meeting you, that I might tell you what + I am about to write and very much more. Since I heard + your address I so wanted to have a talk with you, as I + have so many questions to ask you, and above all to + tell you what your message has done for me. + + "I am the wife of a lawyer, and at the age of + twenty-two I graduated from college. A year afterwards + I married Mr. Horton and have been married seven years. + My tastes have always been intellectual with a strong + desire to lead and to be above those around me. I had + little sympathy for the poor and ignorant, and those I + had little in common with I kept aloof from. My friends + looked to me as an authority on most subjects, as I + travelled in Europe two years after I was married. It + will do me good now to confess to you and tell you, I + was cold, vain, self-conceited and my purpose in + reading and travelling was not to help those around me, + but to add glory and fame to myself, and to be thought + a very superior minded person. I carried my head very + high and associated with but few. After seeing you and + listening to your address, I can hardly describe the + state of mind it left me in. But it was something like + a lady might feel when she is dressed in her best and + is very proud of her attire. While she is in that frame + of mind she meets some one who has garments much + superior to hers, and she sees that the clothes she is + wearing are unbecoming and do not fit her, and that she + has been under an illusion in thinking they were so + rich and fine. For when the other garments are shown + her, she feels she had been the most mistaken person in + the world and longs to cast off the garments she is + wearing, that she may put on these superior ones. + + "Now that was my case exactly. I was the woman attached + to what I thought were my fine clothes. You were the + one with the elegant new gowns, and when you showed me + so clearly that my own costume was nothing but filthy + rags, I was ready to take the superior garments with + which you presented me. + + "When I think what a foolish, proud, vain woman I have + been, I feel like covering my face with shame; like + hiding my head somewhere. I intend that these feelings + of remorse shall stimulate me towards manifesting the + Divine, in love, in patience, in humility, and in + meekness. + + "I will go among the poor and ignorant and become one + with them, in order to raise them to the realization of + their Divine nature. + + "May they see in me that love for them which I saw in + you for all, and it will give me pleasure to tell those + of my own circle how sweet the Divine life has become + to me, and may I be a spiritual help to them. + + "My husband was touched by your words, I am glad to + say, and we are both trying to live the Divine life. + + "When you come to Roseland, be sure and come to our + home. We shall be very pleased to see you and have you + stay with us as long as you can. + + "Your friend, + "CARRIE HORTON." + +Another letter we will copy was from the leading banker of Roseland: + + "First National Bank. + "G. Holmes, President. R. Wells, Cashier. + "ROSELAND, Cal. + "DEAR BROTHER PENLOE: + + "It gives me great pleasure to address you as such, + though I am a perfect stranger to you; but after + hearing your address I feel at liberty to call you + brother. I felt your great heart of love throbbing + through all you said in your lecture. Now I must tell + you that a man entered the building to hear you speak + just out of curiosity. He would have laughed if any + one had told him that he might hear something that he + had not heard before or might be impressed by the + lecture, for he felt settled, sure and certain in his + own mind concerning all subjects of interest to him. + But when he heard your clear and forcible remarks, it + knocked him off his feet, taking the last prop away he + leaned on, and there was nothing left for him to do but + to get on the same foundation that you are on. Bless + God, I have done so, and now I am beginning to live as + a new man, the Divine man. + + "I used to walk the streets thinking I was a great man, + the leading financier in Roseland, and the grand + thought I had of myself was that I was a banker, being + looked up to by those around me because of my financial + standing. But those thoughts are now to me hay and + stubble, and I have burned them. + + "From this time forth my money and myself will be + consecrated to the service of manifesting the Divine, + and in helping others to do the same. As a proof of my + sincerity I enclose a check for five thousand dollars + for you to use as you think best in spreading the grand + truth which you presented so clearly in your address. + May you, my dear brother, always realize in the highest + degree the presence of your Divine nature. + + "Your brother, + "GEORGE HOLMES." + +The following letter is one that is prized very much by Penloe. It came +from the wife of a poor ranchman and bore the marks of its proximity to +the wash-tub, the churn, a child's dirty finger marks, and the hot tears +of a woman overcome with joy: + + "TANGLEWOOD RANCH, ORANGEVILLE ... + "MR. PENLOE: + + "DEAR SIR:--O, I have so much to say and don't know + where to begin. I don't get any time to write, have + been waiting for a spell, but don't get any, for one + thing after another keeps crowding me. I have just + wiped the suds from my hands, having left the wash-tub + for a few minutes, saying I would not put off writing + to you any longer. + + "Well, we went to your meeting and never heard any one + talk like you did before. + + "My husband and I have not much learning, but you made + it so simple and plain that we could not help + understanding what you meant. I want to say how glad we + both are that we went, because our lot in life has been + dark and hard. I married my husband when a girl of + seventeen. I knew so little, was so green, but was full + of hope and expectations. What a hard experience I have + had, for I have been married ten years and have six + small children; so much sickness, so much hard work. O, + dear! my life has been so hard. I cannot write any more + now, as I must finish getting my washing out. + + "Well, my clothes are on the line and I am going to + take a few minutes' rest and write a little more. Yes, + life has been hard. How little a poor ignorant girl + thinks or knows what is before her when she gets + married. My husband has felt all discouraged, so many + babies, so much hard work, such hard times to get a + dollar, always in debt to doctors; it made us both grow + cross and cranky and just as soon die as live. Our love + for each other grew cold, and the attraction we had for + each other died out. I told my husband he must take me + out somewhere or else I would go crazy. Every day the + same thing over again from morning to night, tending + babies, standing over a cook-stove, then over a + wash-tub, then churning, no end of dish-washing and + washing babies' clothes. I am going to churn now, when + I take a rest again I will write more. + + "Well, the butter has come, I will rest and write you + more. + + "I was telling you how dark our married life has been. + We heard there was going to be a big meeting in + Roseland, and my husband said he would go and see what + it was like. So we went and heard you talk. What you + said made us look at the world and ourselves different + to what we ever did before. We both liked your talk + very much; we talked lots about what you said. When we + got home that day after supper my husband said: 'If I + am Divine, I don't need to chew tobacco, and I quit + right now and will put what tobacco I have got in the + stove.' I said, 'O, Charles, how glad I am.' 'Yes, + Maud,' said Charles, 'I am going to live the Divine + life. Will you help me?' I said, 'Yes, dear Charles, + you know I will.' 'Well, Maud,' said he, 'we thought + our life hard and bitter, but I see now it was through + our not living the Divine life. Maud, I will try and + make your life a little better than I have done,' and + he kissed me. The children looked at us both with great + surprise, for they had never seen my husband kiss me + before. It seemed as if the same feelings had come back + that we had in our courting days. He said, 'You have + the hardest time of it, let me put the children to bed + and you rest; for if I am Divine I must live a life of + love and show my love in helping you all I can.' I + cannot help it, sir, but hot tears are falling fast on + this letter, for the light and love have entered our + home, where before it was darkness and despair. How + sweet it is trying to live the Divine life. I am doing + my best to live that life. We are not going to worry + any more. My husband now is so bright and hopeful, does + all he can to cheer me up, and I am the same for it is + catching like a fever. + + "Well, my object in writing this to you is to tell you + what your talk has done for us. My husband said, 'If + ever a man had a heart full of love for all, he knows + it is you, and your great heart has touched our hearts. + How can I thank you for what you have done for us? May + God bless you. I shall always pray that you may help + others as you have us. My husband said, 'Tell him I am + a changed man;' and I know he is, and I am a changed + woman. + + "Excuse this letter for having dirt marks on it. While + I was tending the baby one of the children put its + dirty fingers on the letter, but I am going to send it + just as it is. + + "Your friend, + "MAUD NEVE." + +Mrs. Marston for several reasons went to hear Penloe deliver his +address. One reason was curiosity to hear and see the man that had +caused so much talk everywhere, and another one that the newspapers from +the Atlantic to the Pacific had printed so much about him. Still another +reason was she knew that about all her friends would be there, and they +would be talking about him, and she wished to be posted on a subject +that her friends would be conversing about and to be able to take her +part in the conversation. If there was anything that Mrs. Marston +admired and loved, it was a handsome man. She took great pride in the +fine appearance of her four Roseland young gentlemen guests. A look of +astonishment came over that lady's face when Penloe appeared at the +front of the platform, and she turned her eyes for the first time on +that fine physique, with its symmetrical form and noble countenance. She +was heard to say, "That is the handsomest man I have ever seen in my +life." She thought her favorites could not compare with Penloe. She +remarked to a friend of hers: "I was surprised when I saw Penloe, for I +thought of him as being a man past middle age, with long hair, unkempt +beard and slovenly dress; but when I saw the best looking young man I +have ever looked upon in my life, and finely dressed, too, I could not +help thinking what a fine society man he would make. I am not surprised +that Stella is taken with him. Why, if that man would only put his time +into making money, he could have his pick of any of our best society +young ladies. What a fine lawyer he would make." + +Mrs. Marston thought Penloe a very fine, interesting speaker, but that +lady was not prepared, at present, to give up her sense-plane +enjoyments, in order to live the Divine life. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MRS. WEST RELATES HER DREAM. + + +Mrs. West, the mother of Ben West, had breakfast ready just as her +husband came in from doing the chores about the barn. After Mrs. West +had poured out two cups of Mocha and Java for her husband and herself, +Mr. West, like a good husband, had his wife help herself first and then +himself, after which he began to enjoy the good things she had prepared +for their morning meal. + +He noticed that Mrs. West only sipped her coffee occasionally and did +not touch the food on her plate. Seeing in her face that something was +not quite right, he said: "What is the matter, dear, you look as if +something troubled you? Have you lost your appetite?" + +His wife replied: "No, William, but I had a dream that disturbed me." + +"Why, what could it be to affect you in that way?" said her husband. + +"Well, I will tell you," said his wife. "I dreamt I saw our colt Prince; +he seemed as if he did not eat the grain hay you gave him. Then seeing +he did not eat the grain hay, you gave him some alfalfa hay. He did not +eat much of that either, so you thought you would give some crushed +barley. When you saw that he did not eat that, you turned him out of the +barn into your fine alfalfa pasture. He ate a little of the green feed, +but was still very restless and discontented. So you turned him out +where he could get wild feed and have plenty of chance to run. After you +turned him out he just browsed a little, and ran up the road and down +the road snorting and arching his neck very prettily; his smooth, sleek, +glossy, black coat shining in the sun made him look fine and handsome. +You could not make out what was the matter with him, for he seemed well +but was so restless; not contented in any place or liking any kind of +feed. So you thought he might be lonesome and you turned out some horses +to run with him. But he seemed to pay no attention to them, ate little +and was getting more restless and discontented all the time, not even +enjoying his freedom nor knowing what to do with it. He would every now +and then run up and down the road as if not knowing what to do with +himself. + +"Once in his restless mood he went down the road, and there was a +beautiful young lady sitting near the gate leading to her house. She saw +him coming and noticed how handsome he was, and she thought how fine it +would be to have that noble looking horse to ride and keep it for her +use. So she opened the gate and came to the road and stood waiting for +the colt. When he came to where she was, he looked at her and arched his +neck, and she thought he was handsome; and smiling she went up to him +and just placed her hand on his neck and patted him: then she talked +sweetly to him and passed her hand over his face several times, and he +seemed so quiet and gentle that you would have thought that it was her +he had been wanting, and she seemed to know by intuition that she had +got him in her power; so she opened the gate and he followed her in. +Then she knew she had got him sure, and he was just what she had wanted. +She petted him a little more, then put a bridle on him and then a +saddle. Then she mounted him and off they went and you could not tell +which was the most delighted the colt or the young lady. At first she +was very good to him, and only rode him short distances and fed him +high. He was perfectly docile and she had full control over him. +Afterwards she exacted more service from him, would ride him longer +distances, and later along she not only rode him long distances but rode +him hard and fast and fed and petted him less. Sometimes the horse was +exhausted and about to give out, but in order to revive him all she had +to do was to make a little of him, talk coaxingly and pet him; and +instantly his eye would brighten, animation would come back to him, and +he would do his best to travel. But this kind of usage was telling on +the horse and he was growing poorer all the time. Still she was exacting +and demanded as much from him as ever. After awhile, he could not begin +to travel as he once did, for he was getting weaker and weaker, and even +her pettings were losing power to put life into him, for it seemed at +times as if it had all gone out of him. + +"One hot day when she was riding him and he seemed very much fatigued, +they were going along the road where there was a fine rich pasture well +fenced, with some fine young horses feeding in it. When they saw Prince +and his mistress they ran round the field, then along the fence where +the road was, and every now and then would look at the poor worn-out +colt carrying his mistress. Then they would run a piece, throw up their +hind legs, toss their heads, showing how much freedom they enjoyed. +Again they would run along the fence and look at him. One of the horses +in the field said to the other, "Why, there is our old companion Prince. +I would not have known him, he looks so old and poor. How thin he has +become. Why don't he throw that woman off and be free like ourselves? +Don't you see how she is wearing him out by inches?" "Ah!" said another +horse, "He was free like ourselves at one time. There is not a horse in +this pasture that looks as handsome and fat as he did, but he could not +enjoy his freedom. He was restless, till he became a willing slave to +that woman's smiles, caresses and pettings. He won't live long; she is +too hard and makes too many demands on him. But notice even now his eye +will brighten if she pats him on his neck a little and says a few kind +sweet words to him, how he tries to go faster, but it is only for a very +few yards; then he is back again to his old gait, more tired than +before. Do you notice how fresh and fine she looks, but how poor and +worn out he is? She knew her power and has used it for her self +gratification regardless of what might become of him. Poor fool, he +could not see that her kind talk and pettings were only a means +employed to gain her end. She cared nothing for him, only as he +contributed to her pleasure; _and there are so many many more very green +colts just like him_. One day the young lady had been out with Prince on +a long hard ride, and they were coming home. Prince could hardly put one +foot before the other, so weak and tired was he. At last when she got +him to the stable he fell down and seemed to be in much pain. She called +in assistance and men came with medicine and used much of it on him, but +it was no good; he gave one look at her and died. She cried over him and +put her head on his body and said, "He was the best horse that ever was +and I will never have any other horse. I can never love another as I did +him." About a month afterwards she was seen riding on a fine young bay +colt, and both seemed just as happy as Prince and she did the first time +she rode him." + +Here Mrs. West stopped. + +Her husband said: "That was a very strange dream, but I don't see why +that should affect you, for I was out to the barn this morning and +Prince was all right, with a big appetite for his breakfast." + +No, Mr. West could not see why that dream could make her feel sad, but +Mrs. West knew, for there was a portion of the dream she did not relate, +and that was, when Prince gave the lady a look just as he was about to +expire, that look on his face Mrs. West saw to be the look and face of +her son Ben West, and the young lady that rode him was Julia Hammond +West, his wife. A short time afterwards Mr. West saw more in his wife's +dream, for he received word stating that his son had died from exposure +in the Klondike. Mr. West saw the notice in a paper about a month later, +of the marriage of their son's wife. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +One afternoon Penloe was expected to take supper with the Wheelwrights. +He had had a standing invitation for some time, but for certain reasons +had not accepted it till now. The last time he saw Stella, he said: "If +it will be agreeable to you all, I will take supper at your house next +Tuesday evening." They were all in high spirits at the thought of his +coming, for a more agreeable, interesting, and intelligent visitor could +not be found. + +What little time there was between the time of his arrival and supper, +he kept them laughing by relating some very interesting experiences. + +At the supper table he was given the seat of honor, Mrs. Wheelwright +being on his right and Stella on his left. Stella had on a fine, white +dress, with white satin ribbon at the neck and sleeves, and, as her +complexion was dark and her hair jet black, it became her exceedingly +well. There are some young ladies who need to have very fine dresses to +make them at all presentable; they are so dependent on the style of the +dress for giving them a good form and fine appearance, but it was not so +with Stella. Her fine form and graceful movements would make any dress +look well; she set off the dress. The table was laid with a snowy-white +damask tablecloth, moss-rose pattern, with napkins to match. Also a +moss-rose tea set. The table did not groan with a lot of heavy, greasy +food; no, there was very fine bread, good sweet butter, nectarine sauce +and blackberry jelly, cake, pineapple sherbet, vanilla ice-cream, milk, +weak tea, and some sweetmeats, and nuts. + +The meal was eaten very leisurely, for the conversation was very +interesting, all taking part in it. Penloe had that rare gift of a good +conversationalist, being able to make others talk their best instead of +doing all the talking himself. Stella and Penloe were both good at +repartee. The ladies talked more than Penloe, and there seemed to be a +real genuine feeling, as if one spirit pervaded them all. + +After supper, Mr. Wheelwright had an opportunity of talking to Penloe, +on the porch, about subjects that he was most interested in, while the +ladies washed the dishes. Later on, the ladies joined them, and a most +agreeable evening was spent. Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright excused themselves +when their regular time for retiring came, and as it was such a lovely +moonlight evening, Stella invited Penloe to keep her company on the +porch, saying, "The evening is so beautiful." Yes, it was beautiful. It +was one of those matchless evenings in California that must be seen and +enjoyed to be fully appreciated, and by a soul in touch with the +sublime. To realize the grandeur of the sky, with its clear atmosphere, +on those fine evenings, is to experience one of the richest joys of +existence. Language is inadequate to describe such beauty. + +The two souls on the porch were in touch with the Divine, which +manifested Itself in all these glories, and they were drinking it in to +their fullest capacity. They had sat in silence for a while, when Penloe +said: "Stella, I have not had anything that has given me more +satisfaction, or that has pleased me more, and given me encouragement in +my work, so much as the courageous spirit manifested by you on the day +that you in a public way freed yourself from bondage. You taught the +people a lesson they will never forget. That was a grand act, Stella, +and you built into your character on that day qualities which will stand +all trials and temptations; you made a good karma for yourself. Think +how your act has helped others out of bondage." + +Stella said: "Penloe, it gives me pleasure to hear your approval of what +I have done. But is it not only the fruits of your own work, after all? +Did you not take Stella, a green, ignorant girl as she was, and lead her +to her freedom?" + +Penloe said: "Yes, Stella, I did one kind of work, and you did another; +my work was easy compared to yours. I instructed you, but it was you who +put the instruction in practice, and that counts." + +"Penloe," said Stella, taking his hand in hers, "I realize that fully, +for no one but you could have taught me as you did. No one but you could +have given me the light and knowledge I so much needed, no one but you +could help me open the door which led me into the spiritual world, and +when I entered that world, you were there as my spiritual companion. + +"Penloe, you have been my very dear social companion, you have been my +very dear intellectual companion, and you have been my very dear +spiritual companion. Your companionship has been that of the truest +friendship, for your every act and thought has been to raise me up to a +higher plane, and I would not be true to my highest and best nature if I +did not tell you that I love you as I can love no other man. You +possessed my heart long before to-night. Do you love Stella, Penloe, and +do you want her to be your life companion, to help you in your noble +work, to love you, and to live the Divine life with you?" + +Penloe said: "Stella, dear, what I have done for you I would do for any +one; but darling, I love you intensely. Yes, dear one, your love to me +is bliss, and there is no one whose companionship I love and enjoy more +than yours, dear Stella, for I see so much of the Divine manifested in +you." And here Penloe took the dear girl to him, and they were both lost +in bliss. + +I looked at the moon just then in its silvery brightness, and as it +looked down on that hallowed scene it sent forth such a glow of light as +illuminated the whole heavens and earth. I looked at the planets +witnessing that blissful scene. They were more brilliant than ever, and +vied with each other in sending forth their bright lights. I looked at +the whole canopy of the heavens and, just as the two embraced, an +unusual number of stars of the first magnitude appeared and the whole +sky was decked with millions of fiery worlds. And why should the +heavens not be brilliant on an occasion when the love in two divine ones +is plighted? + +Their little whisperings at intervals during the silence, which they are +enjoying, are too sacred to record here; and while they are in that +exceedingly blissful state of mind the thought came to me to note the +nature of kisses. There is the cold kiss, which upon receiving one +wishes he had not been kissed. Then there is the average common kiss. +Then there is the kiss of friendship. Then there is the ordinary love +kiss. Then there is the warm, passionate kiss. But superior to them all +is the pure, spiritual kiss, so intensely sweet, but so very, very rare. +To give such a kiss, and even to enjoy receiving it, one must have a +very high quality of organism. The cells of the brain, the blood which +flows through the arteries and veins, the tissues of the whole body must +have been formed and built up by that all powerful agent, thought. And +that thought must be of the highest order; it must have emptied itself +of all but love, that love which takes in all, and from that thought and +life comes the manifestation of harmony, purity, sweetness, truth and +love. Blessed, thrice blessed indeed, is such a person. + +When two persons of that type of character come together in love, giving +each other through kisses, the expression of their affection, that +kissing is bliss indeed. + +After the silence and whisperings of deep love thoughts were over, +Stella with her face looking so beautiful, being flushed from the +realization of her love, said: "Penloe, dear, I knew that you were +different from most men in not being dependent on the love of a woman +for your happiness; for you had within you a deep well of living water +from whence came all your joy, and you drank deep draughts from it +daily. Yes, dear, I knew your thoughts, your hopes, your happiness was +centered in that Blessed Infinite One and He was the source of your +peace, your joy and your love. Though I loved you so much, the question +arose in my mind whether you needed my love and companionship." + +Penloe said: "Stella, darling, it is all true, what you say about my +living in the Eternal One, and that from Him springs all my strength, my +hope and my love; but if that Blessed Infinite One brings another joy to +me in the form of dear Stella's love, why should I not accept it gladly? +Yes, dear, your interesting self, your love is all a gift to me from the +Infinite Spirit. It is an additional joy and pleasure which He has +bestowed upon me, and my prayer is that I may always and fully meet your +expectations, and my self and my love may give you as much joy as yours +gives me." + +Stella said: "Penloe, dear, my cup is full to overflowing; how good God +is to me." + +Penloe said: "Stella, darling, I wish to express a thought concerning +love, and it is this. Many times you see two persons in love, and +instead of that experience broadening and intensifying their love and +sympathies, it has a tendency to narrow them down and contract them and +bring them to a very small selfish life, causing them to take no thought +or interest in any one but themselves. They seem to form a mutual +admiration society, and live to gain the praise of each other. After +all, when you analyze them, it is not so much love of each other as it +appears to be, but love of each one for himself. Then there is that kind +of love union which exists between two where, instead of narrowing and +contracting the lovers, it has a tendency to broaden them out in their +love, and make their sympathies universal in their scope; their love +being of that high order which seems to quicken all that is grand and +noble in their natures; and their lives seem to be those of intense love +for each other, and intense love for the Lord in His humanity." + +Then they sat in blissful silence for a little while, when Penloe said: +"Stella, darling, have you thought over what you may have to give up +through becoming a life companion to me? Of course, dear, you know I +have consecrated my life and my endeavors as a free will offering to the +world, and it is not my work nor mission to raise a family. Now, the +instinct to become a mother is very strong in some women's natures." + +Stella said: "Why, Penloe, dear, I do not have to give up anything in +becoming a life companion to you, for instead of being a material mother +I will become a spiritual mother to many, which is a far higher joy, and +the world has too few spiritual mothers, but too many material ones of a +low grade." + +Penloe said: "Have you thought over the practical side of our union? You +see, I am not a man that is rustling for dollars from morning till +night, and in my life and work we may, at times perhaps, only have a log +cabin to live in, with bare walls and floors; and our food may be of the +plainest kind, and not much of that either. Your wardrobe may consist of +only one cotton wrapper and flour-sack underwear." + +Penloe could not say any more, for Stella put her hand over his mouth +and said, laughingly: "You cannot scare me so easily, for it will take +more than only having in my possession one cotton wrapper and wearing +flour-sack underwear, and living in a log cabin with bare walls and +floors, to discourage me. Those things are not of my world; all I hope +is that if I shall have to put on such garments as flour-sack underwear, +it will not offend your artistic eye." + +They both had a good laugh, for they feared nothing in this Universe; +least of all that great bugaboo, poverty. + +Penloe said: "Well, Stella, to be serious, I have made arrangements for +leaving Orangeville for six months. In about a week's time I will go up +into the mountains and live in a log cabin in the pines. I will be six +miles from any human being, and twenty-five miles from Orangeville. It +is necessary that I should be away for awhile from all psychological +influences and cross-currents, and live in the silence. I realize that I +need it to fit me for my work. It is necessary for my spiritual +unfoldment. Christ went up into the mountains and out on the plains to +be alone, so he might gain spiritual strength. All great spiritual +teachers have times for being alone. As I said, I need to make this +change to fit me for my work, for I want to get my mind freed from all +individuality and relativity, so as to see more clearly the Oneness +throughout the Universe. For, as the Swami Vivekananda has said in his +lecture on 'Maya and the Evolution of the Conception of God': 'He who +sees in this world of manifoldness that One running through it all; in +this world of death, he who finds that one infinite life; and in this +world of insentience and ignorance, he who finds that one light and +knowledge, unto him belongs eternal peace.' It is more of that light and +knowledge that I need, Stella. In short, it is to commune more with the +Father; it is to realize in a greater degree the presence of the Divine +within, and to have my mind freed from the illusion of the phenomenal +world; for by so doing I become qualified to become a healer of disease, +and also fitted to help many a poor sin-sick life. Now, Stella, having +clearly made known my purpose to you; I want to tell you that it is +better for you that I leave this time. It will enlighten you more +spiritually in this way. Most persons would think that it should be the +greatest pleasure to us both to be together now as much as we can, so as +to see and enjoy the society of each other. That thought is all right +for the many, but not for you and me. It is better for us both that we +do not hear from one another for three months, and at the end of that +time I want you to come up and live three months with me in that cabin. +At the end of that time we will come back to the world and be made man +and wife in the eyes of the law. + +"All this to some may seem strange and hard, but not to you, Stella, for +I think you have already attained to that plane where you can see the +great good to you which will come from following such a course. If you +follow certain instructions which I will give you, after we have been +separated two weeks, you will have a feeling of my presence with you, +and you will not feel the need of correspondence, for we will be +independent of all letter writing, because we can be in communion with +each other at any time we may wish it." + +Stella said: "Through you, dear, I have attained to that plane where I +can see it all true what you have said and all for the best; and, +Penloe, dear, Stella will be with you in your cabin at the end of the +first three months," and here she kissed him and he returned the same. +After a little more talk they bid each other farewell. + +The next morning after the most eventful evening in Stella's life, when +that young lady kissed her mother good-morning, Mrs. Wheelwright did not +need to be told what had happened on the previous night, for the way +Stella kissed her mother, and the way she moved about to get breakfast +made Mrs. Wheelwright smile inwardly. Just as the three were about +finishing their morning meal, Stella told her parents all that had +happened. They were both delighted in the extreme and Stella received +their blessings and kisses. + +Mrs. Wheelwright said to Stella: "I am so glad you found a man worthy of +your love, and he certainly is. I could not have made one to order to +suit you as well. All I feared was that he would live without a wife, +because I knew how much you loved him, and no one else would ever fill +his place in your affections. I rejoice daily that we have such a dear +daughter; one that Penloe has seen fit to love and cherish as a life +companion." + +"Mother," said Stella, "there is no such thing as disappointment in love +to those who are living on the plane that Penloe and I are on, for we +are led by the promptings of the Blessed Infinite One, to each other." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Oh, if more would only live on the spiritual +plane, how much happier they would be in all that pertains to this +life." + +Stella said: "I am going to write to aunt to-day and tell her of my +engagement to Penloe." So later in the day she sat down and wrote the +following letter: + + "MY DEAR AUNT: As you have always taken so much + interest in my future happiness, I think it no more + than right that I should inform you of my engagement to + Penloe. Yes, dear Aunt, I proposed to him last evening + and he accepted me and has given me his love in return. + + "Let me thank you, dear Aunt, for your kindness to me, + and I hope that our being engaged may meet with your + approval. Penloe is going to live in the pines for the + next six months. After he has been there three months I + am going up there to live with him, and will be his + log-cabin companion for three months. After that we + will be united in marriage. + + "Mother and father join me in love to you. As ever, + + "Your Affect. Niece, + "STELLA WHEELWRIGHT." + +From that time till Stella went to the mountains to live with Penloe, +she was busy in two ways. Her time was occupied in one direction in +writing a little book on the sex question. Barker and Brookes told her +if she would write the book they would pay for having it printed and +would circulate thousands of copies free. Those two young men were now +Stella's co-workers in the grand field of removing bondage. The other +way in which Stella was very busy was in following a certain course of +mental and spiritual exercise as marked out for her by Penloe. + +When the three months had expired, Mr. Wheelwright took Stella up to the +pines within one mile of Penloe's cabin. They arrived there at four in +the afternoon. Stella told her father to satisfy him that she would go +up to Penloe's cabin, and then come right back and stay with him over +night, and in the morning after he was gone Penloe would come down and +take her and her valise up with him. + +Her father not being sure about the mental telegraphy carried on +between Stella and Penloe, wanted to make sure Penloe was there and all +right before he left his daughter. + +It was Penloe's wish for no person to come near his cabin except Stella. + +When Stella returned to her father, after having gone up to Penloe's +cabin to see if he was all right, she told her father Penloe was well, +and he could see by his daughter's face that everything was all right. + +On the next morning Mr. Wheelwright wished his daughter good-bye, +leaving her where they had camped over night. + +A few minutes afterwards Penloe appeared, and taking Stella's valise +they both walked up to the cabin. Stella was perfectly charmed with the +beautiful spot where the cabin was located. Some large pines were in +front of the cabin and some very handsome redwoods a few rods in the +rear. A sparkling, rippling brook flowed near the cabin, singing merrily +as it went along. + +They lived on two meals a day and found that was all the nourishment +they needed, as they were doing no manual labor, and there was no great +strain on their nervous system. + +They spent their time in the following manner: Part of the day was +devoted to prayer, meditation and concentration, and part of the time in +the practise of mental telegraphy; and the balance of the time in doing +what little work there was to do and in walks and talks. + +Stella did enjoy the life so very much, and she was rapidly advancing +physically, intellectually and spiritually. As for lonesomeness, she and +Penloe did not know what that was, their minds being too active to be +lonesome. They seemed to be new to each other every morning and fresh +every evening, their life being a perfect joy and delight in its highest +sense; for they realized each day more and more of their Divine natures. +Each day they came in touch with the Infinite, and when they came down +from the mountain their faces shone as Moses' did of old; for they had +walked and talked with God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A WEDDING IN ORANGEVILLE. + + +After Mrs. Marston had been in San Francisco about a month, she received +a cablegram from Paris stating that her son had been shot by a jealous +Frenchman and died two hours afterwards. When she had recovered from her +first grief she thought it best to stay in San Francisco two weeks +longer and then return to Roseland. She had not been home long when she +realized how great the change had been on the sex question, and how +Stella's popularity had risen, and of course Mrs. Marston's mind had to +conform to the new thought, which her circle of friends and most of the +community had accepted. It was that lady's creed to have her ideas in +style as much as her dress. It seemed to please her greatly to hear her +niece praised and looked up to as a leader of the new thought on the sex +question; for deep down in her heart she loved Stella, even if she did +not understand some of her strange ways, and now that her son was dead +her affections went out more towards her niece. + +When she received the letter from Stella stating she was engaged to +Penloe, she had a good laugh about her proposing to him, and said the +next thing she would hear would be that Stella had bought a wedding-ring +to put on Penloe's finger. Since Mrs. Marston had seen Penloe there was +no man she admired more than him; not on account of his spiritual +thought, but for his distinguished personality, his graceful manners, +and his polished expressions. So when she read about her niece being +engaged to him, she was delighted, for she felt proud of them both and +remarked, "They would make the finest appearing couple to be seen +anywhere." + +And she now looked forward to the time when they would be married, that +she might have the pleasure of seeing them again. She was forming plans +as to what she would do for Stella. She felt that she was able to do +much for her, as her property was rising in value all the time, and her +income far exceeded her expenditures. Her idea was that a couple, to be +in style when they are married, should visit Europe or some other +country; and, furthermore, it would be also nice for her to be able to +say her niece had gone abroad on her wedding tour. She also remembered +how delighted Stella was to read books of travel when she was at her +house, and she heard her say, "I do hope some day I will be able to see +my own and other countries, for the extent of my travel has only been +from Orangeville to San Jose and return." + +About a week before the day set for Stella's wedding, Mrs. Wheelwright +went to Roseland and called on her sister, Mrs. Marston. In course of +conversation, Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Helen, it is Penloe's and +Stella's wish to have no one invited to the wedding but yourself; for, +if they invited friends, they could not draw the line and they could not +invite all, and not only so but they think it far better to have a quiet +wedding. Their marriage is so different to that of any other couple, +there being none of that peculiar excitement connected with their +marriage." + +Mrs. Marston said: "I thought that would be about the kind of wedding +they would have. What I would have liked would be to give Stella a big +wedding at my own house, with all her friends present, but I knew she +would wish to be married at her home in a very quiet way." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Well, Helen, we shall look for you on Wednesday +of next week. They will be married at eleven in the morning, by the Rev. +B.F. Holingsworth." + +On the morning of the wedding, Stella's aunt arrived at ten, Penloe and +the minister came half an hour later. At eleven Penloe and Stella stood +up to be made one in the eyes of the law. The Blessed Infinite Spirit +had made them one some time ago. It is not necessary to remark how +lovely the bride looked, for she always looked lovely, and she did not +wear at her wedding a white silk or satin gown; for she wore a rich +white dress, and it was one that she could wear any time; it became her +exceedingly well. After the usual marriage ceremony was over, the +minister offered a short fervent prayer, after which Penloe and Stella +stood in silent prayer for about two minutes, then Penloe kissed Stella. +The joyful couple then received the congratulations of their relatives. +When Mrs. Marston kissed Stella, she gave her a little package. A few +minutes later Stella excused herself and went to her room, to open the +package her aunt had given her. On opening the package, she found it +contained a small, light-brown covered book, with a note which read as +follows: + + "SUNNYDOWN, Roseland, Calif. + + "MY DEAR NIECE:--Knowing you had always a strong desire + to travel and see something of the world, I know of no + better time for you to travel than now, on your wedding + tour. + + "In the bank book you will see a sum deposited in your + name, sufficient to take you and Penloe around the + world in first-class style. + + "Wishing you much joy, dear, with love to you both, + + "YOUR AUNT HELEN." + +Stella opened the bank book to see the amount deposited to her credit, +and to her joy and surprise there were five figures in the amount. Such +a handsome gift touched Stella very much. She realized then the +genuineness of her aunt's interest in her material welfare and the love +she bore her. + +When Stella returned to the room where the company was she went to her +aunt, and put her arms round her and kissed her affectionately, and +said: "How good you have been to me." Her aunt looked at the beautiful +girl with pride, and seemed delighted to see her so happy. She said: +"Stella, dear, I have only you to love, and you deserve all I can do for +you." + +Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright were very much gratified by the handsome gift +Stella received from her aunt, and Penloe, whose face was always the +picture of repose, had now an unusual bright smile as he saw Stella's +delight. He went and sat beside Mrs. Marston, and entertained her with +his brilliant conversation, much to that lady's pleasure, for she +enjoyed receiving attention from Penloe. + +In course of conversation with Mrs. Marston (while Stella was absent +from the room), in a very becoming and graceful way, he paid a glowing +tribute to Stella's nobility of character and her intrinsic worth, which +pleased Mrs. Marston greatly. Stella's aunt could not think of sitting +down to a very plain meal on such an occasion as her niece's marriage, +neither did she wish to see her sister or Stella with flushed faces +through being over a hot cook-stove. So she had her caterer come from +Roseland, with everything necessary, and take charge of the wedding +dinner. They all had a very sociable time at the table, the topics of +conversation being general, such as Mrs. Marston would be interested in. + +After dinner, Stella had a few words in private with her aunt before +leaving for Roseland. The gist of the talk was that she, when speaking +of them, was not to say, "'Mr. Penloe Lenair' or 'Mrs. Penloe Lenair,' +or have inserted in the newspapers 'Penloe Lenair, Esq., and wife, are +visiting you, but always speak of us as 'Penloe and Stella,' because we +wish to live in the realization that we are all members of one family, +and to say Mr. or Mrs. is cold, formal and distant; but in being called +by our given names we come near to those who are talking to us, and they +come near to and in touch with us." + +After the minister and Mrs. Marston had left, Stella said to Penloe: "I +may just as well begin to initiate you into the new order of things now +as any other time, for you are my husband. So I am going to tell you +that we are living in a new age, and instead of the wife obeying her +husband the husband has to obey the wife." + +Penloe smiled, and said: "I am perfectly willing to obey such a wife as +you are. What are your orders, my dear?" + +Stella laughed, and said: "Well, Penloe, I have been thinking that I +would like to take you over to see an old friend of mine, who has sore +eyes. You have never seen him, and he would be so pleased to have us +come; for he must have many lonely times, because very few persons ever +call on him, and, Penloe, dear, we have such a lot of good things left +from aunt's big wedding dinner that she gave us, and I thought we would +take some of the nice things along with us for the old man to enjoy. He +seldom has anything very good to eat." + +Penloe said: "So you are going to make a ministering angel of me, are +you, my dear?" + +Stella said, smiling: "I am not going to make you too angelic, Penloe, +because you might take wings and fly away from me, and I want you to be +an angel on the ground and not a soaring one. So get yourself ready to +carry a basket." + +Penloe said: "I am at your service, my dear." + +Stella went into the kitchen, and selected some choice eatables, such as +she knew the old man would most enjoy, and the two were soon on their +way to the cabin. As they were walking along Stella related to Penloe +all she knew of the history of the old man, as he was called, though he +was not more than fifty-eight years old. + +When they arrived at the cabin, the old man was busy getting stove-wood. + +As soon as Stella spoke to him he knew instantly who it was. His sight +being in that condition that he could see Penloe's form, but could not +see clearly his features, he could distinguish a man's form from that of +a woman's, but that was all. Stella introduced Penloe to him, and told +the old man that they were married this morning, whereupon the old man +instantly congratulated them and showered his blessings on both of +them, saying: "Mr. Penloe, what an angel you have got for a wife!" And +went on telling Penloe how good she had been to him. + +Stella did not check him, because she knew it would do him good to have +some one to express his feelings to. After the old man had finished his +eulogies on Stella, she told him what she had brought him and said she +would put them where they belonged, for she had cleaned up his cabin +many a time. He was touched to the heart by such thoughtful kindness, +that on their wedding day she should think of him, and he did not know +just what to say he was so overcome; he seemed choked. They very soon +put him at his ease, and in about ten minutes afterwards conversation +had quieted down. + +Just then Stella received a mental telegram from Penloe, and it was not +long before the old man was sitting in his rocking chair, fast asleep. +While he was in that condition, Penloe and Stella went into the silence, +remaining in that state for about an hour, when Penloe asked Stella to +get a basin, with some water, a clean cloth, and a towel. When she had +got everything ready, the old man seemed to be waking up. When he was +fully awake, he said: "How much better I feel." Stella said: "I have a +basin here, with some water. Let me bathe your eyes." While she was +bathing them, she said: "Andrew, you are going to see so that you can +read just as well as you could before your eyes became sore." (As Andrew +had always associated Stella in his mind as being a member of the +angelic band, he was ready to believe anything she said.) + +He said: "Am I? Praise God! (he was a good man). How fine your touch +does feel to my face." + +When she had finished bathing his eyes, she gave him a towel to wipe his +eyes with. After he had wiped them, he opened and closed them several +times, when, with his eyes open, he said: "Yes, I can see! O, I can see +so much better. I keep seeing clearer all the time." And in a few +minutes he could see Penloe and Stella just as well as they could see +themselves. + +The old man was overcome with joy. Looking at Stella, he said: "Bless +God! I can see your dear face." And when he cast his eyes on the +features of Penloe he became silent, then he looked at Stella, then at +Penloe, and he seemed in a dream, for he did not know which was the +greater surprise to him, having his sight restored or seeing the angelic +countenances of the two before him. + +Penloe took a newspaper and gave it to him, saying: "See if you can read +that?" + +Andrew took the paper, and to his great delight he could read it just as +well as when he was a young man. The old man put the paper down, then in +a little while he took it up again and read more, saying: "Yes, it is +true. I can see to read to myself. Bless the Lord! I can see to read." +He looked at them both again, and a feeling came over him as if there +was a great distance between him and them. For he said, in speaking to +Stella: + +"Mrs. Penloe." + +Whereupon Stella laughed, and told him: "I am not Mrs. Penloe, for I am +just the same now as I was before I was married. I am your sister +Stella, and my husband is your brother Penloe. Both of us look upon all +boys and men as our brothers, and all girls and women as our sisters, +for we are all members of one family." + +The old man sat in silence after Stella spoke; he seemed to be amazed. + +Stella said: "We must go now." + +As she wished him good-bye, he said to them: "What must I do in return +for the great blessing of sight which has been given me to-day?" + +Penloe said: "Live much in prayer, live in the realization of Divine +love. Remember your body is the temple of God. Keep it as such, and help +others to live the Divine life." + +Was there ever a bride so happy as Stella was on the after noon of her +wedding day, when she was returning home to tell her mother the joyful +news that Andrew had recovered his sight. The world has never seen a +happier bride than she was on that afternoon. + +Stella had not been in the house but a few minutes before she told her +parents all about Andrew receiving his sight through Penloe's healing +power. + +Penloe said: "Why, Stella, were you not the instrument through which +Andrew received his sight? Did he not think that you were the embodiment +of all goodness, all power, and all truth? And when you said to him, +'Andrew, you are going to see so you can read yourself,' he believed +you, and was he not healed according to his faith?" + +Stella said: "He would not have had his sight restored if you had not +been present. The first time you called on him his sight was restored, +while I have been to his cabin many times before, but never helped him +to see." + +Penloe said: "Stella, dear, you were not on the spiritual plane that you +are now on when you visited Andrew before. You had not spent much time +in prayer, in meditation, in concentration, in being up in the +mountains, walking and talking with God daily, and living in the +realization of the Kingdom of Heaven within. All this has helped to make +you a healer." + +Stella said: "Penloe, all you say is true, but I cannot help thinking +that you were the healer." + +Penloe said: "Stella, dear, you spoke the healing word." + +Mrs. Wheelwright, smiling inwardly, said: "Children, you have only been +married a few hours, and have got a bone of contention already. I am +surprised at you both." + +Stella, putting on a serious face, said: "Well, mother, I know it was +Penloe;" and Penloe said: "Well, mother, I know it was Stella." + +Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Children, I cannot stay with you while you +quarrel this way," and out she went into the kitchen, happy and +laughing to herself; at the same time rejoicing greatly that the poor +man had received his sight. + +There were two others who laughed after Mrs. Wheelwright left the room, +for they knew it was neither Penloe or Stella that healed the man, but +the power of the Blessed Infinite Spirit in both of them, they being +only the instruments through which the healing power was manifested. + +The evening of Stella's wedding day the two were sitting on the porch. +It was just as lovely a night as it was on the night when they were +plighted. They had been engaged in conversation for a while, when Penloe +said: "Stella, I have not given you any wedding ring. It is not because +I have not got one for you, but I wish to give you the history of the +ring before presenting you with it." + +Stella said: "You will have a very ready listener, Penloe, I can assure +you." + +Penloe said: "While attending the University in Calcutta I made the +acquaintance of a young Hindu, who was a student there also. He was in +some respects the brightest of the students, for he had the faculty for +mastering his studies quickly and perfectly, was also very original in +character and full of resources. Though he was a born student, yet he +was well-balanced and did not always have his head in books or in the +clouds; neither did he indulge in social dissipation. While being social +in his nature, he always took sufficient physical recreation to keep +himself well and strong, but nothing more; he never let it get away with +him, as many do in the Western World. He lived up to the highest light, +regulating his conduct so as to make himself strong intellectually and +spiritually. I found him a very interesting companion, and our +friendship was of a very profitable character, in this way, that when we +saw the faults in each other we did in love what we could to help one +another. To overcome our weak points, we co-operated together for the +highest object, and it was our sacred purpose to always touch the +highest and noblest in each other's nature; and to-night it is with +pleasure that I call to mind the sweetness of his disposition, the +sincerity of his purpose, and the brilliancy of his mind. + +"His family had outgrown caste, and when I first visited them at their +home I was introduced to his father and mother, also to a sister about +eighteen years of age, who made up the family. I noticed what a peculiar +expression passed over his sister's face when she looked into mine for +the first time. She had a dreamy, far-away look about her, and then +again I noticed later that she had the very opposite expression on her +physiognomy, being all 'right here'; intensely so, taking in everything +around her. I was very much attracted towards her in this way, not as a +youth would be towards a maiden--there was none of that feeling +whatever. I felt she was a mystic, a powerful one, and she interested me +greatly. When sitting in the room with all the members of the family, I +noticed at times she would eye me very closely; and if I returned the +gaze I saw such an expression in her face as if she did not belong here +at all, but was living on some other planet. She talked very little, and +such a thing as my coming near to her in conversation, or her saying +anything to bring herself near to me, was not to be expected, with her +peculiar makeup, and yet when she would give me her hand in receiving +me, she had such a peculiar sweet way of welcoming me, that one might +think we were very near to each other. And when I took leave of her with +the other members of the family, her partings seemed very pleasant as +she gave me her hand and wished me good-night. + +"Those eyes of hers seemed as if you could see worlds in them, and when +you looked into them your mind seemed taken away from everything about +you, and you would have to check yourself or else you would feel as if +you had left the body and were passing through the ethereal regions. + +"She had a remarkable organism, being so very fine in quality. The first +impression one would have on seeing her would be that of distinction, +she was so superior in her makeup to all her kind. Her features were +finely moulded, and her whole contour was perfect. She had a wonderful +presence; so much silent power went with it. I could not help being +conscious of it when in the room with her. I felt as if something of an +elevating nature was coming from her to me all the time. I always felt a +better man after having been in her company. And before I attained to +the plane I am now on, when at times I would be depressed or discouraged +and went into her presence with those feelings, it would not be long +before they left me and I felt as if I was the strongest and most +hopeful man living. She being the most powerful of the two brought me +into her condition and made me feel strong, like a giant refreshed with +new wine. + +"After visiting at her house many times, I conceived the impression that +for some cause she took a great interest in me, not because I was a +young man, but for some other reason. + +"Sometimes I would visit the family and she would not be at home, and +late in the evening she would return all alone. She would go anywhere at +any time. I have seen her late at night walking through the slums of +Calcutta all alone. She was free in the truest sense of the word, not +being in bondage to her material form, or in recognizing family or +social standing; she had no superstitions; she was above and beyond them +all. I noticed she was loved very much by her parents and brother, and +seemed to possess a deep affectionate nature herself. Her peculiar +qualities were fully recognized by the family, she having no household +duties to perform, only as the notion might take her. + +"I was always a welcomed guest at the house, and I felt as much at home +as if I were a member of their family. + +"After I had known the family about a year, I called at the house one +evening just about the time it was getting dark. Wavernee was sitting in +the door-way. She seemed very pleased to see me and invited me in, +saying: 'The other members of the family are all away.' + +"The room we went into we entered at its center, and she turned to the +left and walked to the end of the room. She gave me a seat so that I sat +at the extreme end of the room. She closed the door and took a low seat +on my left. To my great surprise, she commenced a conversation about +common things, and talked as interestingly as any intelligent young lady +would talk. We chatted about fifteen minutes, and by that time the room +was dark so I could not see one object from another. + +"She became silent and I received an impression that she did not wish me +to speak, so we both sat in the silence for about ten minutes, when the +room became illuminated and she herself seemed to be the brightest +object in it. I never saw a room so bright as that in my life. After a +few minutes everything in the room appeared dark except the wall at the +further end; and where it was light there seemed to be a white covering +such as is used for magic lantern pictures. I was looking at it when +there appeared a picture which covered the whole cloth. It represented +men and women of all tribes and nations bending beneath heavy loads of +bondage. I observed their bondages were not all the same. There was a +difference in the kind of bondages the men were bound with to those that +held women in slavery. Then I saw that the men had some bondages the +same as the women had. I observed the bondages of the women were not all +the same. For instance, the American's woman's bondage in some respects +was different from that of the Japanese woman, and the bondages of the +Hindu woman were not the same as that of the Chinese woman. It was a sad +sight. As they were all presented, they appeared to be living, moving +figures. + +"There were a few Hindu men and women who were free, going among them +trying to lift them out of bondage, but it was very hard, for they +seemed to love being in bondage. Only those who were tired of their +bondages were helped by the workers. Wavernee kept her eyes intently on +the picture all the time, and when she turned her face towards me the +scene disappeared and the whole room became dark. In about ten minutes +the whole room was again illuminated and I never saw Wavernee look so +much like the embodiment of perfect love as she did then. She seemed as +if she had been touched with a live coal from off the altar, the sacred +fire was so bright in her eyes. The atmosphere was one of sacred +blissful love. Whatever there was of lukewarmness or indifference in me +in regard to humanity was licked up, as it were, by a fiery flame of +love. I felt as if my whole nature had become white-heat with love. The +most miserable creature seemed dear and sweet to me. + +"While I was in that frame of mind the room became dark, except the +further end, and I saw another living scene on the canvas. It was +Wavernee walking along a hot dusty road a few miles from Calcutta. She +seemed indifferent to the heat and dust, and was looking exactly the +same as I have just described her. As she was walking along, I noticed a +little way in front of her was a young woman sitting down on the side of +the road with only a few dirty rags on her poor body. Her face and form +showed marks of sin and disease. When she saw Wavernee coming near her, +she put her hands to her face and held her head down. O, the apparent +contrast between the two! Wavernee sat down beside the young woman and +took one of her hands and held it awhile, meanwhile talking to her. Then +she opened a basket she had and took out a bottle and poured the +contents into a glass and gave it to her to drink. There was a label on +the bottle and glass which read 'love,' and the young woman drank the +glass empty. After awhile Wavernee stood up and the young woman stood +up, too, and as she did so her rags fell from her and she was clothed +like Wavernee, and when I looked into her face I saw no difference +between them. + +"The scene disappeared, but it was quickly replaced by another which +represented Wavernee and some other native workers clearing large tracts +of land. Then they ploughed and harrowed it. As fast as they prepared +one tract of land for the seed they commenced clearing another piece. +On the land that had been cleared I saw myself and some one else with me +that had a veil over head and face, so I could not see who the person +was; but we were both engaged in the same occupation of sowing seed, +each one of us having a large measure containing the seed. On the +outside of the measure was the word truth. We would sow one piece of +land and then go to another piece that had been cleared and sow that. On +the ground that I had sowed, a crop came up in the form of many men and +some women who were all out of bondage. They were free. Where the person +with me had sowed, there was a crop of many women and some few men who +were out of bondage. They were all free. I wish I could convey to your +mind how happy and joyful they all were. + +"As this last scene disappeared the whole room became illuminated. +Wavernee looked at me with eyes of celestial love and said: 'Penloe, +thou hast seen all. What appeared before thy vision will convey to thy +mind more than any words of mine. Before you is a future that angels +might desire. Be true to thy highest light, then wilt thou realize what +thy eyes have seen. Your co-worker is one that I love. She knows me not, +but I know her, and when she becomes one with you in your life and work +of love, give her this ring (taking it from her finger and giving it to +me) with my love and tell her to accept it as a symbol of your union in +love and work. + +"'This ring has a history. It was worn by a beautiful young Indian +princess who, after having been a wife to a prince for two years, became +disgusted with her life, and, weary of all the luxuries of the court, +she left one night in disguise, saying to herself: "I can live here no +longer, for I am a greater slave than the poorest of the Pariah women. +My nature cries out for freedom. I would rather be free in poverty than +be a slave in luxury. Give me freedom or give me death!" She lived for +many years in the realization of her own highest nature. She looked on +all about her as being God and showed that love and reverence for all +as she did for the Divine Being. Her whole life was devoted to being a +blessing to many others; particularly to the elevation of those of her +own sex. Just before she died she gave it to my Guru's (Spiritual +Teacher) mother, who was then a young woman, saying: "Wear this as a vow +that thy life will be consecrated to lifting thy sisters out of +bondage." My Guru gave it to me with its history, saying: "My mother +lived and died for woman's freedom. May you live for the same noble +purpose."' Then Wavernee rose and took from a shelf this beautiful +little box, saying: 'Keep the ring in this box.' + +"After I thanked her she said: 'This is the last time you will see me, +for I am going away and when I return you will have left this country.' +I received a mental suggestion not to ask any questions, and there +seemed to be nothing left for me to say, but to part with such a sweet +exalted character in the way and manner that two spiritual friends +should take leave of each other. + +"Stella, she was the greatest mystic I ever met in that land of +mystics." + +When Penloe finished his narrative he looked at Stella and saw she was +deeply moved. Neither spoke for a few minutes, then Stella leaned her +head towards Penloe and said in a soft touching voice: + +"Penloe, dear, I have just seen Wavernee. Oh, what a beautiful loving +soul she is; her countenance is something wonderful! For a few moments I +seemed to be with her in a sacred room in her home in India. As I +entered she came forward and greeted me in a most affectionate manner. +Leading me to a small altar at one end of the room, we both kneeled for +devotion, after which I looked up and saw on the wall the inscription: +'Our lives are consecrated to the Lord in His humanity." + +"After I read that everything disappeared, and I realized I was here on +this porch with you, my mind being full of your exceedingly interesting +story." + +After a pause Penloe remarked: "I am not surprised, Stella, at the +experience you have just had of seeing Wavernee, for I have seen her +twice since I have been in Orangeville. It is a gift which comes to some +in their higher unfoldment. I am very glad you saw Wavernee, for it is +an inspiration to see such a person." + +Stella replied: "Yes, Penloe, she is all you have described her to me, +and much more. Her presence has a remarkable power of elevating. She is +my ideal, for she is highly gifted and still only full of pure love. +What you have related and what I have seen has been a great revelation +to me, and fills me with joy in the thought of being your co-worker in +living the life as Wavernee saw us as dispensers of truth, and helpers +of humanity through love." + +Penloe said: "Yes, dear Stella, it is a great blessing and privilege to +be of service to others. It is the test of greatness of character; for +Jesus said: 'He that is greatest of all must be servant of all.'" + +After a little silence in which both were thinking about the great work +before them, Stella's attention was called to the box containing the +ring, by Penloe handing it to her. On taking it she said: "Is not the +box beautiful?" Then opening it she took out the ring. It was a cinnamon +garnet ring, made from Ceylon stone, with hieroglyphics outside and +inside beautifully cut. It was a fine piece of skilled workmanship. + +Stella said: "Penloe, do tell me the meaning of the hieroglyphics on the +ring. I am very desirous to know." + +Penloe said: "Outside it reads, 'All are one in God.' Inside it reads, +'The fire of spirituality burns by continual devotion.'" + +Stella remarked: "How true is the beautiful thought contained in the +outside inscription, 'All are one in God,' for it makes our own union +feel sacred and precious as well as bringing us close to all others. The +inside inscription is an exceedingly fine one, 'The fire of spirituality +burns by continual devotion.' Because without devotion the spiritual +life droops and withers as a flower without water." Continuing, she +said: "There are two kinds of devotion, one consisting of heartfelt +prayer and singing from the soul, sacred hymns; and the other kind +consists in rendering service to others. They are both essential for +spiritual growth." + +Stella was very much interested in the history of the ring, and putting +it on her finger she said: "What a true symbol of the nature of our +union is the ring. I am so glad it is not made of gold and set with +diamonds. If it were I never could wear it, for it would neutralize all +the good I could do. Supposing it had been one of those very handsome +gold rings set with diamonds such as Indian princesses wear. Every +lady's eye, young and old, would be on the ring, while their minds would +be speculating on its great value, and their thoughts so taken up with +its beauty that what I might say to instruct them would have very little +effect, and even the influence of my own life would be small. No, +Penloe, I never would wear a costly ring, not even if you gave it to me; +for it would have a tendency to keep myself and all who saw it in +bondage. This ring is not costly or very attractive, but its history is +rich and the truths cut into it are precious." Here she kissed Penloe +for the ring and spoke again in loving terms concerning Wavernee. + +That evening the moon looked down on no happier couple than Penloe and +Stella, for they were both free and attracted towards them all that was +joyous and beautiful in the Universe. + +On that porch so sacred in blissful associations, before retiring, they +spent a few minutes in silent prayer, after which I heard them sing so +softly and sweetly, their voices blending in harmony and melody. I never +heard such singing before. I looked up in the starry firmament, and did +my eyes see some of the angelic host looking down on them as they sang? + + "If such the sweetness of the streams + What must the fountain be!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE HERNE PARTY. + + +Mr. and Mrs. Herne had become greatly interested in Stella, and they +made their house feel like a home to her whenever she favored them with +a visit, which she did many times previous to her living with Penloe in +the mountains. They were very much attracted towards her and loved her, +for she always brought sunshine with her, and her charming presence, her +agreeable manners, together with her fresh, bright, original character, +so sweet and beautiful, could not but help making her a very desirable +member of the Herne family, for they had come to look upon her as such +since her engagement to Penloe, for Penloe to them was a dear brother, +and now they looked upon Stella as a dear sister. + +On the evening that Penloe was relating the story of the ring to Stella, +Charles and Clara Herne were sitting on the porch enjoying the beautiful +evening and entertaining themselves in a conversation about the newly +married couple who were expected to come to-morrow and be their guests +for several days. + +While they were talking about the leading part Stella had taken on the +sex question, Clara said to her husband: "If Penloe had a wife made to +order he could not have had a more suitable mate than Stella. That match +was made in heaven." + +Her husband, who had picked up some of Penloe's ideas, said: "Why, +Clara, she was made to order for him." + +Clara laughed and said: "Well, Charles, do you think I was made to order +for you?" + +"Certainly, and I was made to order for you, my dear," replied he. + +Mrs. Herne said: "It is very easy to believe that persons so suited to +each other as you and I, and Penloe and Stella, were made to order for +each other, but how about Fred Thaxter and his wife, who were married a +year ago? Mrs. Simmons called on me yesterday and told me she had heard +that Fred was about to apply for a divorce." + +Clara said: "I feel sorry for them both. Charles, so far, you and I have +not taken any active part in the sex reform movement which has been just +started. While we are of the same mind as Penloe and Stella in thought, +yet we have so far been silent, except in the circle of our own home, +and I think the time has come for us to show our colors." + +Charles said: "My dear, I am ready to hoist the flag whenever you say +the word." + +Clara made answer: "I say the word now, Charles." + +Charles said: "We will have a talk with Penloe and Stella and see what +way we can help the movement forward." + +Clara said: "I think, Charles, we had better retire early to-night, for +to-morrow Penloe and Stella will be with us for several days, and we +never retire early when they are our guests, and the day after to-morrow +we give a party in their honor." + +Early next day, according to an understanding, Mr. Herne sent a man with +his two-seated surrey to Mr. Wheelwright's for his guests, and about +eleven the handsome span of blacks were reined up in front of the Herne +residence, and there were two warm hearts on the porch to greet the +newly married couple. Charles Herne came forward and received Stella as +if she had been his own sister, and she kissed him as if he were her own +brother, and Clara Herne received Penloe in the same way, for they lived +what they taught, and Penloe and Stella called them Charles and Clara. + +Just after dinner Clara was talking about the invited guests to the +party to-morrow, saying that she had received a note from Mrs. Hardy, a +lady who had been married about five years, which read that she could +not come to-morrow as she was sick with her old complaint, but she +wants you both to call on her before starting on your wedding tour. + +Continuing, Clara said: "How much that poor lady has suffered. I have +heard her talk very strongly of her mother for being so close-mouthed +with her concerning matters that she ought to have enlightened her +about. I remember calling on her at one time and found her lying on the +lounge. At times she was in great pain. I was telling her about the +interest which had just begun to be aroused in the sex reform movement. +She said: 'Oh, if I could only be put back ten years with the knowledge +I have, what an active part I would take in the movement, for I don't +want other girls and women to suffer what I have, through ignorance and +fear.'" + +Penloe said: "Stella, we had better call on Phebe this afternoon, for +neither of us have seen her since we lived our mountain life, and we +will have more time to-day than later." + +Stella answered: "I am ready any time." + +Charles Herne asked Penloe: "What time would you like to leave here?" + +Penloe said: "About two." + +"Well," said Charles, "I will have the boy bring the team round for you +at that time." + +It was two o'clock but the team had not yet been brought to the front of +the house. Charles Herne had gone out to the orchard and Clara was +elsewhere in the house. Penloe and Stella were in the parlor. + +Penloe said: "Stella, I will go up to the barn and see if the team is +ready." So out he went. + +While Penloe had gone to the barn for the team, Clara Herne entered the +parlor, with a paper in her hand, and called Stella's attention to a +criticism on the sex reform movement. + +When Clara entered the parlor, Stella was standing looking at an oil +painting on the wall. Stella took the paper, and sat down on the nearest +chair. Mrs. Herne went out in the kitchen, and there was Mrs. Wentworth +and her child, who was about three years of age. Mrs. Wentworth's +husband was poor, and they lived on a small, rented place, near the +Herne ranch. Mrs. Wentworth belonged to that type of woman who has very +little inclination for solving the problems of the Universe or settling +the affairs of the nation, but who seem always to have a great amount of +leisure to devote to the doings of her neighbors. It was seldom that +Mrs. Herne had company but that Mrs. Wentworth found some kind of errand +to her house. + +One day at dinner Mrs. Herne, in a humorous way, said: "I think Mrs. +Wentworth is owing me for about twenty-seven lots of yeast, forty-two +little lots of butter, sufficient matches to light all the fires in +Orangeville for six months, enough loaves of bread to feed a multitude, +for she often is out of bread or had bad luck with her baking. I have +let her have more milk than would be required to drown herself in, and, +as for coal-oil, why the quantity that she has borrowed would illuminate +many dark places of the earth; and my tea and coffee seem just suited to +her taste." Then, after a pause, she said: "Well, the poor woman is +welcome to all she has had." + +"Yes," said her husband, "they have a hard time." + +To-day she came to get Mrs. Herne to read a letter she had received, +saying: "There are some parts that neither my husband or myself can make +out." + +While Mrs. Herne was engaged in reading the letter, Mrs. Wentworth's +child, seeing the door leading from one room to another open, took the +opportunity of doing a little exploring. It was not long before he was +in the parlor. When he entered Stella just looked up from the paper she +was reading, to see who it was, and went on with her reading, which she +was absorbed in. She had seen the child about the house on other +occasions. Now, where Stella was sitting, there was another chair at the +back of Stella's chair, and this vacant one was against the wall. On the +wall just over the chair was a pretty shelf, with a fancy +bright-colored ball fringe all around it, which attracted the child's +attention. So he climbed up in the chair, and when he stood up on the +seat he saw on the shelf a small, fancy, cut-glass bottle, with a very +shining silver-like top to it; so he put his hand out and took it from +the shelf, after which he turned round and faced the back of Stella's +chair. In passing the bottle from one hand to the other, in order to +help himself down with his possessions, his faculty of weight not being +as yet well trained, he let go of the bottle before he had got a firm +hold of it with the other hand, and the result was that it fell on +Stella's shoulder. Fortunately the stopper did not come off till it +reached her lap, when she received the whole contents of a bottle of ink +on her wedding dress. + +Just about that time Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I must go and +see what that child is doing;" and she arrived in the room just as the +bottle of ink fell into Stella's lap. Mrs. Wentworth took the situation +in at a glance and the hot blood instantly flew to her face, and hotter +words came from her mouth; and, among other things she said, was: + +"My God! that brat of mine has spoiled your fine, white dress;" and she +took the boy, and was spanking him amidst hot words and the cries of the +child. + +Stella said: "Please don't hurt the child; it's nothing, it's nothing, +Mrs. Wentworth." But the mother paid no attention to Stella's protests, +but left the room with the child just as Mrs. Herne entered. + +Clara said: "Why, Stella, dear, what is the matter?" Stella laughed, and +said: "I have got some new figures on my wedding dress. Don't you think +they are pretty?" + +On seeing Stella's skirt and underskirt all saturated with ink in +places, Clara was not quite prepared to enter into the same laughable +mood as her guest, but said: + +"Stella, dear, how well you take it! I wish I could be that way." + +To which Stella replied: "I would not have a disturbed mind for a dozen +of the best dresses ever made. Clara, nothing is so dear and sacred to +me as 'the peace of mind which passeth all understanding.'" + +Clara said: "I see you kept the ink from going on my new carpet, by +rolling your skirts up. It's just like your thoughtfulness, dear." + +Mrs. Wentworth came running into the room, saying: "Penloe is waiting +outside with the team. What will you do?" Stella smiling, went to the +door, and holding out the front of her dress said, laughing, "Penloe, +how do you like these hieroglyphics on my dress?" + +Penloe laughed, and said: "They are different to any I have ever seen +deciphered." + +In about fifteen minutes Stella took her seat beside Penloe, with some +new garments on, which she had brought with her, and they went on their +way to Mrs. Harding's. + +After they were gone, Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I never seen +anything like those two in all my life. If that had happened to me I +would have been so mad that I would have cursed and swore, and felt like +warming the child's hide. And as for my husband, do you think he would +have laughed and sat in the buggy, like a hen on her nest? No, he would +have been in and out of the buggy many times; every minute he would be +looking up at the house to see if I was coming, and now and then calling +out to ask me if it took me all day to change my dress. Then he would +think he had something to do about the horse's head, then back to his +seat, then out again, doing something to the back of the buggy, then he +would look up at the house again, with a frown on his face, and call +out, 'Are you never coming?' He would be as restless as a fox in a +cage." + +Mrs. Herne smiled at the description of Mr. Wentworth's disposition, as +given by his wife, and said, in a quiet tone: "We all need more patience +and self-control." + +On the following day all were very busy in the Herne household, making +preparations for the party. Penloe and Stella attended to the +rearranging of the furniture and decorating the rooms, while Clara +superintended the supplies for the table. The guests arrived a few +minutes after five. To Clara Herne's great surprise, the last guest to +arrive came in the form of Mrs. Harding. Clara Herne, in receiving her, +said: "What, Phebe, I am so glad you are able to come." + +When they were all alone in the room where the ladies left their wraps +and hats, Clara said: "Do tell me, Phebe, what has made you so much +better, for after reading your note I had no idea of seeing you to-day." + +"No more had I when I wrote the note," said Phebe. "But, Clara, have you +not heard? Did not Penloe or Stella tell you?" + +"No," said Clara; "when I asked them how you were, Stella told me what +you said about your condition when she asked you how you were." + +"Well, Clara, I will tell you," said Mrs. Harding. "Penloe and Stella +were with me about an hour. After they had been in the room with me +about ten minutes, they talked very little. About half an hour +afterwards such a sweet feeling of peace and rest came over me; all pain +had left me, and when they said 'good-bye,' I felt healed and I keep +feeling better all the time. Clara, my heart is full of joy and +gratitude to that man of God and his angel wife. What beautiful +countenances they have." + +At half past five the company sat down at a long table which was +tastefully spread with viands and dainties to tempt the appetite of the +most fastidious epicure. Penloe sat on Clara's right, and Stella sat on +the left of Charles Herne. Four of Mr. Herne's men waited on the table; +so well did they perform this service that a stranger could not have +told them from professional waiters. + +The meal was thoroughly enjoyed amidst mirth and laughter, wit and +humor, jokes and short stories, for the whole company were in the best +of spirits. + +After supper some of the guests sat on the porch, others walked about +the grounds, and some played croquet. Among the invited guests were +Prof. French and wife, a couple who had been married about a year; they +were both professional musicians, living in San Francisco, and were +visiting their relatives, the King family, and they received an +invitation with the King family to the party. + +Among those who were sitting on the porch were Mr. and Mrs. Bates. They +had always been very friendly with the Hernes and lived only about two +miles distant from them. + +A little later in the evening the croquet players and those who had been +strolling about the grounds were coming towards the house, just as Mr. +Bates was relating to Mr. and Mrs. Herne what to him had been a very +trying experience. Mr. Bates always called Mr. Herne Charles. He said: + +"Charles, I don't know that I would have been here to-night if it had +not been for my wife." + +"Why, how is that?" said Mr. Herne. + +Mr. Bates replied: "Well, I will tell you. This morning, Weeks' boy was +playing with my boy in the barn. There were a number of sacks of barley +and wheat on the floor. The boys got to scuffling, one boy trying to +throw the other down. At last my boy got Weeks' boy down and gave him a +blow and ran out of the barn with Weeks' boy after him. They both ran +out into the orchard and then over the fence to Page's barn. Now, when +Weeks' boy ran after my lad he left the barn door open. There was no one +about the barn at the time the boys left. My man and I were at the +further end of the ranch fixing the line fence. When we came up at noon +we found the barn door open and that fine four-year-old colt of mine and +a lot of hogs were all in the barn eating grain. They had torn every +sack open and had eaten more than half of it. The colt had eaten so much +as to make him bloat. When I saw it all I felt so mad I had to use some +hot words. When I went to the house I told my wife about it. At first +she seemed put out, but when she saw how wrathy I was she tried to cool +me down. I asked where the boy was, and she said, 'Weeks' boy was here +and asked for our boy to go to his place to play and have dinner. They +said they were going to get Page's boy to play with them.' I felt so +worried about the colt and so mad at the boys I could not eat my dinner. +I told my wife I did not feel like coming here to-night, and when I said +that I saw I had made matters worse, so I went out to the barn and +worked over the colt some more. When the boy came home I had him tell me +all about it. I told him if he or any boy with him ever left the barn +door open again he would not want to sit down for a week." + +Just here Mrs. Bates said to Mrs. Herne: "Henry does take such things so +hard. It seems as if he can never get over it." + +Mr. Bates spoke up a little louder and said: "Such thoughtless, careless +doings as that are enough to make any one lose his temper. Why, I came +very near losing the colt, besides the damage the hogs did to the +grain." + +Mrs. Herne said: "Mr. Bates, I must tell you what an experience Stella +had yesterday, and see if you don't think she had something to disturb +her." + +Mr. Bates said: "Would like to hear it; misery always loves company." + +So Mrs. Herne commenced telling about the bottle of ink falling into +Stella's lap. Just as she commenced to relate the incident Penloe came +on the porch with Mrs. French, and they took a seat near Mrs. Herne. +About two minutes later Prof. French and Stella joined the group, and +before Mrs. Herne had got to that part of the story where she asks +Stella, "What is the matter?" and Stella laughed and said: "I got some +new figures on my wedding dress, don't you think they are pretty?" about +all the guests were now grouped about Mrs. Herne. They were either +sitting on the wide porch or standing near by. When Mrs. Herne had +finished, Mr. Bates said in a comical kind of way: "If that had been my +wedding dress, I would have felt so mad that I would feel like throwing +the youngster out of the window and swearing a blue streak." + +Turning to Stella, he said: "I have got no such control over myself as +you have. I wish I had." + +Mrs. French said: "Stella, how could you take it so cheerfully? Why, if +that had been my wedding dress, I would have felt too mad to speak; in +fact, I don't know just what I would do." + +Pretty Miss Grace Nettleton, a young lady full of fun and always the +life of any party, laughingly said: "As I intend to be an old maid, no +bottle of ink will ever fall on my wedding dress, but if such a thing +should happen I would feel like going to bed and having a good cry." + +Several other ladies remarked: "I don't see how Stella could have been +so peaceful and pleasant. I know I never could." + +Miss Baker, the school teacher, who had many trying pupils, remarked to +Mrs. French: "I wish I could control myself like Stella; how easy I +could govern the scholars." + +Penloe said: "Did any of you ever hear the story of Shuka?" + +Several answered: "No." + +Mrs. French said: "Do tell it, Penloe." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Herne, "we all would like to hear it." The company +became very attentive while Penloe related the following story with +telling effect: + +"There was a great sage called Vyasa.[3] This Vyasa was the writer of +the Vedanta philosophy, a holy man. His father had tried to become a +very perfect man and failed; his grandfather tried and failed; his +great-grandfather tried and failed; he himself did not succeed +perfectly, but his son Shuka was born perfect. He taught this son, and +after teaching him himself, he sent him to the court of King Janaka. He +was a great king and was called Videha. Videha means 'outside the +body.' Although a king, he had entirely forgotten that he had a body; he +was a spirit all the time. The boy was sent to be taught by him. The +king knew that Vyasa's son was coming to him to learn, so he made +certain arrangements beforehand, and when the boy presented himself at +the gates of the palace, the guards took no notice of him whatsoever. +They only gave him a place to sit, and he sat there for three days and +nights, nobody speaking to him, nobody asking who he was or whence he +was. He was the son of this great sage, his father was honored by the +whole country, and he himself was a most respectable person; yet the low +vulgar guards of the palace would take no notice of him. + +[Footnote 3: Karma Yoga, Vivekananda.] + +"After that, suddenly, the ministers of the king and all the high +officials came there and received him with the greatest honors. They +took him in and showed him into splendid rooms, gave him the most +fragrant baths and wonderful dresses, and for eight days they kept him +there in all kinds of luxury. That face did not change; he was the same +in the midst of this luxury as at the door. Then he was brought before +the king. The king was on his throne, music was playing, and dancing and +other amusements going on. The king gave him a cup of milk, full to the +brim, and asked him to go round the hall seven times without spilling a +drop. The boy took the cup and proceeded in the midst of this music and +the beautiful faces. Seven times he went round, and not a drop was +spilled. The boy's mind could not be attracted by anything in the world +unless he allowed it. And when he brought the cup to the king, the king +said to him: 'What your father has taught you and what you have learned +yourself, I only repeat; you have known the truth. Go home.'" + +When Penloe had finished Mrs. Herne said: "Thank you, Penloe, that is +very good, for it brings out the idea so well." + +Mrs. French said: "Is not that very fine, Penloe? I never heard that +thought expressed before. It is new to me." + +Dr. Finch, who was a well educated young dentist, said: "That thought, +though old to the people of the Orient, is just beginning to come to the +front in the literature of the West. I was very much gratified in +listening to Penloe." + +Saunders, the merchant, laughed and said: "If it had been me sitting at +the gate, instead of Shuka, I would have got mad in ten minutes and gone +home, if the guards had treated me in that manner." + +It began to get a little cool on the porch and the company were invited +into the large double parlors to play some games. After enjoying a +variety of games for an hour, it was proposed to have some music. The +Hernes had a fine-toned piano, and it was always kept in tune. Several +young gentlemen asked Miss Grace Nettleton for a song, and all the other +members of the company joined in the request. Miss Nettleton said she +would like some one to play the accompaniment, and Prof. French said: "I +will play for you." + +As Miss Grace Nettleton was a young lady of romantic turn of mind and +very fond of reading love stories and singing love songs, she selected +one to sing according to her taste, from which we give the following +verse: + + "Sitting on the garden gate, + Where the little butterfly reposes, + Now I hate to tell, but then I must, + 'Twas love among the roses." + +Some of the young people being delighted with that sentimental song, +called for another, for they could not think of her taking her seat +after singing only one; so she very kindly sang another. In a very soft, +sweet voice, she sang a song containing the following verse: + + "I love to think of thee, when evening closes, + Over landscapes bright and fair, + I love to think of thee when earth reposes, + To calm a grief which none can share. + When every eyelid hovers + When every heart but mine is free, + 'Tis then, O then, I love to think of thee." + +If the true feeling of one or two young gentlemen present could be told, +they certainly would like to have had Miss Grace Nettleton think of them +in that way. After receiving many compliments from the company, the +young lady took her seat. Mrs. French, who was a professional musician +like her husband, was called for and sang with fine effect, "I am +dreaming, yes I am dreaming, the happy hours away," etc, etc. Her fine +cultivated voice was much appreciated by the company and they were eager +to have Mrs. French sing again, but she wished to save her voice, and +got her husband to sing "Beautiful Isle of the Sea." His fine baritone +voice was a great treat to the guests, for it was seldom such talent as +that of himself and wife was heard in the parlors of Orangeville. + +Stella was called for and Professor French played the accompaniment, +while she in a very sweet and feeling voice sang, "Hark! I Hear an Angel +Sing." As her graceful form stood beside the instrument with her face +and eyes turned a little upwards, she seemed to be lost to everything +mundane, and when she sang those soul-melting words that she heard the +angel sing, the effect was complete, for it seemed to those present as +if it was the voice of an angel singing those words and not that of a +human being. + +The attention was so great that when she finished you could have heard a +pin drop. The effect was very fine. There were some there who will never +forget that song. Professor French and his wife were very much taken +with Stella's singing; both of them pressed her hand and thanked her for +her sweet song. They afterwards said, in all their musical career they +never heard anything to equal it of its kind. The song was entirely new +to every one present. + +Mrs. French, who was half in doubt in her own mind as to whether Penloe +had any musical talent or not, said: "Perhaps Penloe will favor us with +some music." + +Prof. French said: "Yes, Penloe, I would like to hear you very much." +Mrs. Herne laughed and said: "It seems strange to think that, though +Penloe has made many visits to our house, I never thought to ask him if +he could play, for we always have so much interesting conversation that +I never think about music." + +Stella laughed and said: "Why, Clara, I don't know myself whether Penloe +can play the piano, for he is so modest about his attainments. We have +sung together many times, but I am like you, I never thought to ask him +if he could play." Turning to Penloe, she said: "Now, Penloe, I do want +to hear you play so much"; and when he rose to take his seat at the +instrument curiosity reached its height in the minds of Mr. and Mrs. +Herne as well as Stella, so eager were they to see his personality +manifested in music. + +The eyes of each member of the company were now riveted on that +remarkable figure who had just begun to finger a few keys with one hand. +He did not do as some would-be performers sometimes do, strike eight to +ten keys as soon as they touch the piano, but, strange to say, he +commenced playing with one hand. + +We will here give the words concerning Penloe's performance as told to a +friend in San Francisco by Mrs. French in her own unique way, as +follows: + +"My husband and I being at a party one evening given by Mr. and Mrs. +Herne in Orangeville, I met a gentleman there by the name of Penloe, who +certainly is the most gifted man I ever have met in all my travels. +There is a power in his personality that is irresistible; you cannot +help being drawn towards him. But his power is of that kind that is +uplifting and elevating, and there is something very sweet in his +nature. After supper I took a little walk with him about the grounds, +and his conversation was exceedingly interesting. I will never forget +the talk I had with him. He seemed to be able to bring out of me ideas +which I had never expressed before; in fact, making me talk, as it were, +above myself. In thinking it over, I must say my own conversation was a +surprise to me; and as for him, while he does not take you all of a +sudden into great depths of thought, or attach wings to you and have you +flying through the heavens, yet he has the genius of taking the most +commonplace subjects and causing you to see such an interest and beauty +in them as you never saw before. After we all assembled in the large +double parlors and had some games, there were several who favored the +company with instrumental and vocal music, when I thought it would be no +more than proper to ask Penloe to play. After he had been seated at the +piano a few minutes, I was a little in doubt whether I had not made a +mistake in asking him, for he commenced playing with one hand and only +touching one key at a time, more like a child playing. He still went on +playing with one hand, but touching two and three keys at a time. I +noticed some ladies and gentlemen began looking at each other and then +at Penloe, hardly knowing what to make of such playing. As he proceeded +further in his performance with one hand, though the playing was simple, +yet there was a peculiarity about it that can hardly be expressed as he +went along with his apparently amateur performance. Then he used his +other hand and fingered a few more keys occasionally, and I felt an +interest growing in me, and also those around me seemed to share the +same feeling. A little later and the fingers of both hands were going a +little more rapidly over the key-board, and the childish and amateur +performer had ceased and the playing began to impress me as being that +of a young professional. I began to feel myself more drawn into the +playing, and when the playing of a young professional had given place to +the experienced professional, I was all attention; but it was not long +before the professional had disappeared and I knew that the music I was +listening to now was that of a genius. I was conscious a great master +was at the instrument, and after that I seemed not to be conscious of +the performer or those about me, and how long I was in that condition I +do not know. When I came to myself again, the music had ceased, there +was no performer there, for Penloe had left the room. + +"In talking with some others of the party about Penloe's playing, it +seemed to have produced exactly the same effect on them as it did on me. +I will, in a very inadequate way, tell you as near as I can the +impression it made upon me. I felt, when he first commenced to play in +his child-like way, as if all our minds were very much scattered; that +is, I mean as if a great separateness and distinction existed, and as he +proceeded with his playing it seemed to have the effect of collecting +our minds and bringing them together till we all seemed to be just one +mind. Then there arose in this one mind a desire, and the desire grew +till it created a disturbance, and it kept increasing and growing more +powerful till it burst into a storm of passion, and the storm became +furious within; for it seemed at times as if it would rend and tear me +to pieces, and I was about to be conquered by it. I felt like saying, +'Must I yield? Is yielding the only way out of this? Must I give way and +let it have full sway over me?' I said, 'Must I let it die out by +consuming its own self?' And as I was about to cry out in despair, +'There is no other way; I will feed the fire till there is nothing left +for it to burn;' and just as I was on the brink, on the edge of the +precipice, as it were, the fury of the storm being at its very height, +then all of a sudden I saw a light and the storm began to lose some of +its fury, and the clouds appeared not so black, and the light seemed +growing brighter. At last the storm ceased within me, and the dark +clouds were disappearing fast, till the last one had gone and a wave of +sunshine swept over my soul, and I felt like saying, 'How peaceful it is +after the storm,' and while I was enjoying that sweet feeling of peace a +change came over me, I began to be lifted, as it were out of my little +self, and myself and the world seemed to be larger than I had ever +imagined. I began, as it were, to rise, and great as the world had +grown I had grown greater still. Then I entered a much larger world than +even the great one I had lived in, and when I had outgrown that grand +world, I went into another still more beautiful, and on I went rising +out of one beautiful world into another far superior till I reached a +condition that human language cannot convey the blissful state of the +soul in me. Oh, the happiness I then realized. I shall never forget. My +husband, in speaking of the piece Penloe played, said: 'That music was +never composed on earth, it was born in heaven,' Mr. Herne heard my +husband make that remark, and said, 'In order to play that kind of +music, you have got to live in the same world as Penloe does. That is +how it has its birth.'" + +It is true, as Mrs. French told her friend, that after the music had +lost some of its power over her she realized that Penloe had left the +room. The piano being near the door, which was open, and no one sitting +between the door and the piano, when Penloe ceased playing he quietly +left the room and sat in a chair on the porch. About five minutes later, +a soft footstep was heard on the porch and the sound of a light rustle +of a dress, for Stella had taken a seat beside Penloe. His performance +at the piano had stirred the dear girl's nature to its greatest depths +and also had scaled its lofty heights. On that porch, gazing at the +grand canopy of the heavens, those two souls listened to such strains of +music as only the purified hear. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A VISIT FROM BARKER AND BROOKES. + + +About ten o'clock the next morning after the party, Mr. Herne was in the +front yard, superintending some work, when he saw a buggy coming towards +his house and he recognized the occupants as being Mr. Herbert Barker +and Mr. Stanley Brookes, of Roseland. When the team stopped in front of +the house. Mr. Herne was there to receive the two gentlemen. + +After shaking hands and exchanging a few pleasant words, Mr. Barker +asked: "Are Penloe and Stella here?" + +Mr. Herne said: "Yes, they are, come in, gentlemen," and gave them seats +in the parlor, saying, "You had better stay to dinner, and I will have a +man take care of your team," an invitation which they gladly accepted. +Mr. Herne entered the sitting-room to tell Penloe and Stella that Barker +and Brookes were in the parlor waiting to see them. Since those two +gentlemen had become Stella's co-workers for sex reform consequently +they had seen much of each other, and had come to a mutual understanding +that they would lay aside all formalities and act as brother and sister; +therefore, instead of addressing each other as Mr. or Mrs., they called +each other by their given names. + +When Penloe and Stella entered the parlor, the two gentlemen rose from +their seats and came forward to tender their congratulations to the +newly married couple. After a lively social chat, Stanley Brookes made +known the object of their morning call in the following words. Looking +at Stella, he said: "Since you were with us last in Roseland, we have +been receiving information through various channels concerning certain +persons, in a number of towns and cities, who may be considered +advanced enough to profit by our literature. In most cases the persons +receiving it have written for more, to circulate among their friends. +Since sending a second lot, we have been in receipt of a number of +letters, like the following, and here Brookes took one from a large +package of letters, and read it to Penloe and Stella. It was as follows: + + "LOS ANGELES, Cal. + "_Stanley Brookes, Esq.,_ + "_Roseland, Cal.:_ + + "DEAR SIR: The literature which you kindly sent me I + placed where I knew it would do the most good. It gives + me pleasure to inform you that the California idea is + gaining ground here, and interest is growing faster + than I anticipated. I was not aware there were so many + ready for the sex reform thought; but in talking with + some of the more advanced, they said that they had done + a little thinking along this line for some time, but + their ideas were only half formed, and this reading + matter was just what they needed to let the light into + their minds. They are all now anxious to have a + meeting, and want to know if you could get Penloe and + Stella to come here and speak. They think the largest + hall in this city would not hold the crowd that would + want to hear and see those two + much-talked-of-and-written-about persons. I will see + that all their expenses are paid, if you will see to + getting them here. I know if they come it will give the + movement a big lift. Write as soon as you know if they + are coming. + + "Yours for Reform, + "HAROLD CHAMBERS." + +At the conclusion of reading the letter Brookes said: "It seems that +some of our literature got into the State of Colorado. The papers in +that State called it the 'California Idea,' and as the 'C.I.' began to +grow they called it the 'California Movement.' Some of the papers in +this State have used the same expression, and the people in California +seem to be pleased with the names given the new sex thought." + +Stella laughed, and said: "Well, Stanley, I rather like the names C.I. +and C.M. Don't you, Penloe?" + +Penloe said: "Yes, the term or name 'Sex Reform Thought' I think very +ambiguous, but C.I. and C.M. are names which convey to the mind the +ideas they are intended to express." + +Brookes said: Stella, I will read you another letter I received from a +friend of mine in Bakersfield: + + "BAKERSFIELD, Cal. + "_Stanley Brookes, Esq.,_ + "_Roseland, Cal.:_ + + "DEAR FRIEND BROOKES: Yes, it is just as you say, + Bakersfield may be a very fast town, but there are some + people here who are ripe for the 'C. Movement.' My + experience and what I see here about me every day have + made me so sick of the old ideas concerning sex that it + does me good to see the interest people are taking in + the literature you sent me. One woman told me that the + pamphlet I gave her had been read by nine persons. Say, + old boy, don't you think you could get Penloe and + Stella to come here and wake us up a little more. My, + they would be a drawing-card! I will see that they are + not out anything by coming. Now, do your level best to + get them here, for they would start the ball a-rolling + in fine shape. + + "Yours for the 'C.I.,' + "ARTHUR PAINE." + +Holding up the package of letters, Brookes said: "Here are letters from +Ventura, San Jose, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Oakland, +Sacramento, and a number of other places, all asking the same question, +'Could I get you both to come to their places to speak.' They all seem +so anxious to see and hear the leaders of the great C.M., and that is +why Herbert and I are here this morning to see if you both will accept +these pressing invitations to speak in a cause which is so dear to you." + +Stella said: "I appreciate your kind thoughtfulness in coming out here +to see us, and thus give us an opportunity of talking the matter over +together." Then she was silent, and Barker and Brookes both said +afterwards they never saw Stella look so serious and sober since they +knew her as she looked then. It seemed as if a struggle was going on +within her. After a few minutes' silence, there seemed to be a feeling +in Stella's voice as she spoke. Looking straight at the two young men +before her, she said: "To you I can speak in confidence. My aunt (Mrs. +Marston) has known for a year or two that I had a great desire to travel +and see the world. Since I first met Penloe that desire has grown much +stronger. On my wedding day, aunt gave me a bank book with ten thousand +dollars placed to my credit, saying it was to be used for the purpose of +enjoying our honeymoon on a long journey around the world. I can hardly +tell you how delighted I was when I thought what had been only a dream +to me was about to be realized. Next week we were going to Roseland to +visit aunt, then we were going abroad. Yes, Penloe and I have had such +delightful talks about the countries we were going to visit. We talked +much about some of the places and people in India we expected to see. +Penloe has told me about the Sannyasins and the great Yogis of India, +saying he could arrange matters so that we could live with some of them +for a while. The thought of seeing and talking with those wonderful +spiritual giants has kept me awake at night, my mind filled with joyous +thoughts. He said, 'The great Yogi Kattakhan has conquered all nature, +and at any time he could put himself in a mental condition so that he +could give the contents of any book in any part of the world.' + +"I remember the last time I was with you in Roseland, both of you were +telling me you had read Burnette's book on 'The Freedom of the Women of +Tiestan,' also Wharburton's 'The Land of Surprises.' Well, we had +decided to visit the city of Semhee, in Tiestan, and see those +remarkable people. Till now I had not thought of there being anything to +prevent our going." + +Barker said: "Well, Stella, all we had heard was that you were married, +and we did not know anything about your contemplated tour." + +Stella said: "It was quite right for you to come and see us, and I am +very glad you have. Of course, we intended calling on you both before we +left for the Orient. Now, what I have told you is that you may see and +know exactly how we are situated in regard to accepting the invitation +to speak in the various places. The C.M. is dear to me, yes, very dear. +I rejoice in the progress the movement is making through the efforts of +you both, and before giving you an answer I must go and think it over, +so you will please excuse me." + +As her graceful figure was leaving the room, she said: "Penloe, come to +our room about fifteen minutes before dinner. Clara told me that they +were going to have dinner at one o'clock to-day." + +After Stella had left the room, Penloe chatted with the young men about +the C.M., and then said: "Would you like to take a walk about the +place?" and they both said, "Yes, this is our first visit to Treelawn." + +This was the first time Barker and Brookes had met Penloe. They had +heard him deliver his address in Roseland, and were now pleased to have +the opportunity of enjoying his company. Penloe was about their age, and +the three became interested in relating some of their college +experiences. Barker and Brookes were eager to have Penloe tell them all +about the Hindu students, and what kind of men the Hindu professors are. +They had many a laugh while Penloe was relating some experiences which +seemed very peculiar to them. Penloe's interesting conversation had made +time pass very rapidly with them, and it was near the dinner hour before +they were aware of it. + +Penloe said: "Please excuse me, I hear Stella calling." Taking out his +watch he said: "It is about time I was in the room; I did not think it +was so late." + +After Penloe had left them, Barker said to Brookes: "Did you hear Stella +calling Penloe?" + +"No," said Brookes, "did you?" + +"No, I never heard her voice," said Barker, "but what did he mean by +saying she called him?" + +"He meant she called him by what they call mental telegraphy," said +Brookes. + +When Stella left the parlor and went to her room and had taken a seat, +her mind was filled with many conflicting thoughts and emotions. She +said to herself: "I was so unprepared for this; it was only last night I +remarked to Penloe, in about two weeks we would be on the ocean going to +Japan." "And, why can you not go?" said a powerful voice within her. +"You surely are not going to disappoint your aunt, are you, by not +going, after she has shown such love towards you as to give you ten +thousand dollars to travel on?" A little voice spoke within her and +said: "Are you and Penloe not the leaders of the C.M., and would it be +right for you to leave just as an interest is being awakened?" The +powerful voice said: "Stella, this is your wedding tour, and you have +accepted the money given you to go and you would not be doing yourself +justice to stay at home now." The little voice said: "Stella, what +effect do you think your influence would have on Barker and Brookes and +other young workers, if they see you indifferent to the calls? You have +always talked as if you would be willing to sacrifice everything for the +cause which is so dear to you." The strong voice said: "Yes, but if you +put off going now you will have to return the money to your aunt, and +when you are ready to go you may not have the money to go with." The +little voice said: "Stella, can you not give up the pleasure of a +wedding tour for the sake of helping others out of bondage into freedom, +thus making their lives happier and brighter?" The powerful voice said: +"It is only idle curiosity on the part of the people wanting to see you. +Do not be influenced by them; just think how it will help you in your +future labors to have visited the Oriental countries and sat at the feet +of those great Spiritual luminaries of India. If you go now, you have +got the money and you have got Penloe, who is the most interesting +traveling companion you could have. He knows many languages and can +master the Japanese and Chinese in a month or two. If you don't go now, +but postpone it till you think you can go, then perhaps Penloe might be +dead and how could you enjoy traveling without him?" That suggestion +touched Stella very deeply. After awhile the little voice said: "Stella, +dear, have the people of Japan, of China, of Persia, or of India sent an +invitation to come and speak to them? Are the great Sannyasins and Yogis +looking forward to receiving a visit from you? If the people of the +Orient had given you a special call, it would be right for you to go +now. They have not called you at all; but the people of California have. +They want you to follow up the grand noble work you so heroically +commenced, a work so dear to you that you were willing to make every +sacrifice in order to be true to yourself and thus free others from +bondage. Go into the silence, Stella, ask the Blessed Spirit for light +and knowledge and he will show you which path to choose." + +And that is just what Stella did. When she came out of the silence her +face was radiant and her mind settled and clear. + +When Penloe entered the room Stella spoke in a serious tone and said: "I +have half a mind to be just a wee bit put out with you, because you have +acted so indifferently in regard to our wedding tour. Why, it does not +seem to concern you whether we go or stay here." With a half twinkle in +her eye she said: "I must say, you don't act like most men would who had +just married a young lady with ten thousand dollars to spend on a +wedding tour." + +Penloe said: "I will answer you, Stella, dear, as if you spoke in +earnest." + +Stella said: "That is just what I want you to do, Penloe." + +He said: "Stella, why should I care whether I am here or going on a +wedding tour through the Orient with you? All I have to do is to realize +and manifest the Divine. Stella, I have learned this one lesson, _that I +am not in it_, for it is He that is doing it all. It was He that placed +me in certain environments in India for my spiritual unfoldment. It was +He that brought me to Orangeville. It was He that caused you and me to +come together as co-workers in a cause which is so dear to us. It was He +that made us man and wife. It was He that caused you to pass through +this struggle which you have just had with yourself and brought you out +victorious. It was He that caused you just now to cut the last cord of +attachment and made you free." + +Penloe had been standing while he talked and just here Stella rose from +her seat and, going up to him, put her arms round his neck and said: +"Yes, dear, it is He, it is He. He hath done it all and He has given me +you as my husband and spiritual teacher." She kissed him and said: +"Bless you, dear." + +Continuing, she said: "Do you know that the fight I have just had has +been the most trying and severe I ever experienced?" + +"Yes, dear," said Penloe, "I know all about it, and when a youth I +thought I was free from all attachment, till I passed through the most +trying experience in my life, which showed me I was not free from all +desire and attachment. In coming out of that struggle I cut the last +cord which bound me to the external, and since then I have been free, +and illumination followed, and that is why I have received light, and +knew before I rose the next morning after our wedding we would not go +now on a wedding tour, but would speak all through the State of +California. I knew what a struggle you were going to have, and I knew it +was necessary in order that you might be free from all attachment, for +the love of traveling through the Orient owned you just a little, and +now that you have become truly free illumination will be yours." He +ceased speaking and kissed her. + +Stella said: "I must take care and let nothing own me, for I see that as +soon as I allow myself to be owned I become its slave, and you know, +dear, that freedom from everything is my goal." + +Penloe and Stella entered the dining-room just as Mrs. Herne had seated +Barker and Brookes at the table. As Stella took her seat the two young +men thought they had never seen her face so beautiful, with its sweet +smile and calm expression. Her vivacity brought out the wit and humor of +the two guests, who were always considered good company at any one's +table. Penloe said little, because he saw how the two young men were +enjoying Stella's bright conversation. After dinner the company +adjourned to the parlor. + +Stella seated herself between her two friends, and looking at Barker she +said: "I must tell you and Stanley that we have given up going on our +wedding tour through the Oriental countries. We both feel we are wanted +here and we will stay where our work calls us." + +Barker replied saying: "Your decision is grand and we will feel much +encouraged in having you with us." + +Stella said: "We will spend a week with aunt before starting out to +speak. During our stay in Roseland we will see much of each other and +have opportunities for perfecting our plans." + +Two days later Penloe and Stella became the guests of Mrs. Marston, +arriving at that lady's house about four in the afternoon, which was an +hour before Stella's aunt dined. Mrs. Marston was delighted to receive +her niece and her husband, for she was at her best when she had company. +After dinner, as it was a little chilly, a fire was lit in the open +grate and the three sat round to enjoy a social time. + +Mrs. Marston said: "Stella, I suppose you and Penloe have all your plans +made for your wedding tour." + +Stella said: "Well, Aunt, we had made many plans and I had built several +castles which I expected to occupy during our journey, but we received a +visit from Herbert and Stanley while we were at Charles' and Clara's +and they brought with them a number of letters containing invitations +for us to speak on the 'California Idea,' as it is now called, and we +think it best to give up our wedding tour and do what we can to help +forward the California movement; and, Aunt, the money which you so very +kindly gave me to use for a wedding tour, I feel I ought to return to +you, as we are not going; and so here is a check for the full amount of +your gift made payable to your order." + +Mrs. Marston received the check from Stella and said: "I had hoped you +would have gone on your tour." + +And added in a laughing tone: "You two are the strangest persons I have +ever met. The idea of giving up ten thousand dollars and losing the +opportunity of seeing the most interesting countries in the world, for +the sake of talking to persons who are curious to see how you both look +because they have read about you in the papers." + +"I appreciate your gift just the same, Aunt, as if we had used the +money," said Stella. + +Mrs. Marston said: "Of course, I want you both to do whatever you think +best." As they continued their conversation the door-bell rang and four +of Stella's friends called to see her. They were Dr. Lacey's two +daughters and two young gentlemen. They spent the evening in games and +music, and when they left it was late. Mrs. Marston, Penloe and Stella +sat in front of the fire a few minutes before retiring, and just before +Stella rose from her seat to wish her aunt good-night, Mrs. Marston +said: "Stella, dear, I thought I would have a little fun with you so I +accepted the check, but I had no intention of taking the money back. No, +dear, I want you to keep it and use it as you think best"; and taking +the check off the mantel with a laugh she threw it into the fire. + +Stella rose from her seat to wish her aunt good-night, and thanked her +again for her handsome gift. + +Mrs. Marston's guests spent a very pleasant time in Roseland. As they +were very popular, they received many invitations to dinner. They saw +Barker and Brookes every day and had chats about the C.M. After several +consultations in regard to making arrangements for the work, they at +last reached the conclusion that it would be best for Penloe and Stella +to go to Southern California and commence their labors there. At +Penloe's request the two young men agreed to accompany them, as Penloe +said there was a kind of work to be done that they were adapted for and +their services would be really needed. And as Charles and Clara Herne +wished to be actively engaged in the C.M., it was decided to transfer +the head office from Roseland to Orangeville, where the Hernes would see +to the sending out of literature and do all the correspondence, and so +that would relieve Barker and Brookes, and they could travel with Penloe +and Stella, and Mr. Herne could do their work and see to his ranch. +Barker said: "Brookes and I will pay all our own expenses connected with +the work," and Penloe said: "For the present we will do likewise, as we +do not wish to accept money from any one for our services; for by so +doing our influence will be much greater." + +Brookes said: "Why, Penloe, the people who have invited you and Stella +to speak have expressed a wish to pay all expenses and remunerate you +both for your services as well. When I think how hard you worked to get +what few dollars you may have saved from your earnings, I hardly think +you are called upon to use your hard earnings when there are so many +more financially able to pay your expenses." + +"I thank you, Stanley," said Penloe, "for your interest in my financial +welfare, but I see you are under the same impression that many others +are, in thinking that I worked out for the money there was in it. If it +had been money I wanted, I could have accepted a very fine offer from a +university to fill the Chair of Oriental Languages; but instead of being +Professor of Sanskrit and drawing a fine salary, I took the position as +dishwasher in a restaurant in San Francisco for awhile. Then I worked +with pick and shovel on the Pacific Coast Road. Next I worked on the +streets in the City of Chicago. I returned to Orangeville and took a +position as cowboy on a great cattle ranch near Orangeville. Then I +worked out as a ranch hand. I did all this hard, disagreeable work for +my spiritual unfoldment. I did it to bring myself in touch with the hard +lot of the masses. I did it also to show that if a man is upright in his +purpose he can live the Divine life anywhere. Again, I did it that I +might minister to the needs and necessities of that class of men who see +and hear so little in their lives to touch their Divine nature. That was +excellent for me; it helped to broaden and fit me for other work." + +Brookes said: "It must have been exceedingly disagreeable to a man of +your tastes, culture and refinement, to perform such hard muscular work +in such rough surroundings, among coarse animal men." + +Penloe said: "It would have been all that you have just expressed had it +not been for the fact that neither my work, my rough, tough companions, +nor my disagreeable environments were my world. No, they were not my +world. I built a wall around me and allowed none of these things to +enter my inner thought. My life was one of bliss, for I was all the time +drinking deep at the fountain of Divine love, and by His help I trained +and disciplined myself so that I saw Him in my hard manual toil. I saw +Him in all my uninviting environments, and, above all, I saw Him in my +animal companions." + +Barker and Brookes saw such a glow of spiritual fire in Penloe's face as +he finished his last remark as they had never seen there before. They +realized they were in the presence of a divine man, and their natures +had been touched by his discourse. + +After a pause Penloe said: "My father left me property which brings me +an income sufficient to make me independent of receiving financial +support from those we intend to address." + +After further talk in regard to perfecting arrangements, it was decided +that Barker and Brookes should go to Los Angeles and arrange for Penloe +and Stella to speak on Thursday evening of the following week. The +committee of arrangements in Los Angeles saw the need of securing the +largest hall in the city, for the city dailies had taken up the matter +of their coming and dwelt upon it, so that interest in the subject +combined with curiosity to see and hear two such remarkable personages +caused the committee to do their best to provide accommodations for the +large crowd they expected. Before the time for opening the meeting every +seat in the large hall had been taken and standing room was all that was +left, and that even was taken by the time the meeting was opened. + +The Mayor of Los Angeles opened the meeting in the following language: + +"It gives me great pleasure this evening to see before me this large and +intelligent audience. I am proud to think that this audience before me +to-night has demonstrated the wisdom and good sense of the leaders of +the C.I. in selecting this city, above all others in this State, to open +the campaign for the C.M. In order that you may feel better acquainted +with the persons who will address you to-night, I will let you into a +little secret which came to me in a very indirect way. It seems that the +gentleman and lady who are on the platform were about to start on their +wedding tour through the Oriental countries, and they had received the +gift of a handsome sum of money to defray their traveling expenses; but +when Los Angeles and other places sent pressing invitations to them to +speak they gave up their wedding tour and returned the money to the +giver in order that they might be able to accept the call which you and +other cities have given them. I must say, in justice to the giver, it +was subsequently returned. They are here at their own expense, they +receive no remuneration whatever. I tell you this so you may appreciate +their nobility and fidelity of character, their honesty of purpose in so +grand a cause. Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the honor of +introducing to you Penloe and Stella, the leaders of the C.I., who will +address you this evening." + +When Penloe and Stella came forward the whole audience rose and saluted +them. + +In regard to the meeting, we will quote a few extracts from one of the +Los Angeles dailies: "However various the views on the C.I. the audience +may have which heard Penloe and Stella last night, there can be but one +thought in regard to the speakers themselves, and that is they are the +two most remarkable and distinguished personalities that ever appeared +before a Los Angeles audience. As speakers, they are brilliant, logical +and impressive, and soon inspire you with their sincerity of purpose and +with confidence in themselves. It seems there _is tacked on to the C.I. +'Woman's Suffrage'_, for it is claimed that a woman is still in bondage +till she stands equal before the law, and has all the rights and +privileges that a man has. + +"Penloe's remarks were addressed more particularly to men, looking at +the C.I. from the standpoint of a man, while Stella presented the +woman's view. + +"Penloe put these questions to the men of the audience: 'Is there a man +here to-night who does not think that the average woman is as +intelligent as the average man? Is there a man here to-night who does +not think that woman has a divine nature the same as man? I would like +to see the man rise in this audience who thinks he has a divine nature, +but does not wish another being who has a divine nature to enjoy the +same privileges as he himself enjoys?'... Stella portrayed in a telling +manner the sufferings and misery which have been woman's lot through +being in bondage to her material form.... We here give a few notes from +Stella's address: + +"A woman who is in bondage to her material form can never rise above the +idea that she is just a woman and nothing more." + +"A woman to be free must have a higher idea of herself than that she is +only a woman." + +"A woman can only advance as her thought concerning herself advances." + +"When woman looks upon herself as an intellectual and spiritual being, +and not as just being a woman only, and her whole thought is to adorn +her mind and manifest the qualities of her soul, then will man look upon +her with the same eyes as she looks upon herself." + +"It is not man that keeps woman in bondage, but woman keeps herself in +bondage through the thought she has concerning herself."... "Stella +said we are not here on a flying visit, we have decided to remain in +Southern California till two-thirds of its inhabitants are not only +talking of _but living_ the C.I., and we will stay here till we get a +vote of two-thirds from all males over twenty-one, and all women over +eighteen, in favor of woman's suffrage. It does not matter how pressing +the calls to speak elsewhere may be, we shall not accept them till the +work is completely done in Southern California." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +OUT OF BONDAGE. + + +The next day after the meeting Barker and Brookes were busy with the +C.I. Committee of Los Angeles in dividing the work up and organizing, so +that each ward of the city had its committee, whose business it was to +do all it could in enlightening the people of the ward in which the +committee lived. + +Penloe and Stella devoted one afternoon and evening to informal talks in +each ward in the city, those present having the privilege of asking +questions. After Penloe and Stella had worked in every ward, they went +with Barker and Brookes to San Diego and spent a week there; then they +worked all the other towns in Southern California, and then returned to +Los Angeles. On their return they were more than satisfied with the +progress of the C.M. What helped the movement very much was the +character which Penloe and Stella gave it. When some of the more +conservative element suggested the impropriety or immodesty of the C.I., +they were met with the answer: "Look at Penloe and Stella, who live the +idea every day of their lives. Are there any purer-minded persons than +they are? Do not the best people of the city open their houses to +welcome them? Did they not tell how living the life helped them +intellectually and spiritually?" Those replies quieted all opposition +and gave courage to those who were a little timid and fearful, also to +those in doubt whether it was right or not. As the movement was gaining +ground rapidly, persons began to think how very foolish it was to +entertain such thoughts as they had been accustomed to concerning the +sexes. The movement in Southern California showed how the movement would +work elsewhere in this way. It was one of those movements that needed a +few intelligent, courageous spirits in a locality to start it, and when +once it got a going, most of the other members of the community fell in +line, and when it was about universally adopted in one locality, the +people living in the next county soon joined the movement. After three +months' labor in Los Angeles a vote was taken. For Woman's Suffrage, +eighty-five per cent. voted "Yes," and by a very careful estimate +seventy-five per cent. had put in practice in one form or another the +C.I. Soon San Diego followed Los Angeles, then Pasadena and Riverside, +and soon after all the other towns in Southern California fell in line. +The result was wired all over the State and nation. + +During the progress of the movement in Southern California, Mr. and Mrs. +Herne were not idle. They put their hands in their pockets freely, and +paid for much of the printed matter they circulated. + +Now that Southern California had gone overwhelmingly for the C.I. Penloe +and Stella, Barker and Brookes, felt at liberty to accept some of the +many urgent calls from other parts of the State. They were continually +receiving calls from other States, but would accept none till the same +condition prevailed throughout the whole State as now existed in +Southern California and the State Legislature had granted to woman the +same legal standing in the eyes of the law that man had. + +The next places visited by the workers were Bakersfield, Hanford, +Tulare, Visalia, Fresno, Oakland, and San Francisco. In all these places +they found the work in a more or less advanced state. The fact that +Southern California had gone for the C.I. was a great help in forwarding +the movement in other places, so that after about eight months' work in +these cities just named, and some other places, it was found that the +entire State had been carried for the C.M. and Woman's Suffrage, except +one county. The Legislature was about to meet in a month's time, and +would give to woman the suffrage, and place her, in other respects, on +an equality with man in the eyes of the law. + +Great work was being done in the last county, so that it joined the rest +of California for progressive thought, and the whole State was carried +for the C.I. just as the Legislature passed the necessary acts for +woman's legal freedom. The news was wired to every State in the Union, +and California was one scene of rejoicing throughout the entire State. +It was a great day for California when her men and women threw off the +yoke of superstition and ignorance and thus cut some of the bonds which +had held them in ignorance. They had taken one great stride toward the +goal of freedom. California now took her true place among the States in +the Union, for she led the way toward freedom in its highest sense. + +The leaders of advanced thought in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho +were very active in working for the C.I. All these States having granted +woman the suffrage before the C.M. was started, the workers found it +easy to get them to follow California in the grand procession for +freedom. + +Wyoming, which was the first to grant the suffrage to woman, was the +next to join California; then came Colorado, then Utah, and then Idaho +wheeled into line. + +Penloe and Stella were receiving calls to labor from other States, and +finally decided to go to Illinois. Kansas wired the following message to +the Central Committee of California: "Kansas is all ablaze with the C.M. +from its center to its circumference, and its fires have leaped the +borders into Nebraska, Iowa, and reached Minnesota." + +After the C.I. had been practised in Southern California a few months, +if a young gentleman had just returned to the East from Los Angeles, his +friends wanted to know immediately how the C.I. worked. + +Mr. Franklin Hart, of New York, a young gentleman who had just returned +from Los Angeles, was sitting in a parlor with some young friends, and +they all wanted him to relate his impressions of the C.I. in Los +Angeles. When he was describing its workings, two or three young ladies +put their hands to their faces and laughed, one saying, "How strange and +funny it must have seemed." Another young lady remarked, "There has been +too much foolishness about such things." Mr. Franklin Hart said: "After +you have been there about a week the old idea seems stranger than the +new. You wonder to yourself however such thoughts could have fastened +themselves on us for generations and generations." + +Prof. Dawson, of Boston, visited Los Angeles two years after the C.I. +had been in operation, and wrote a letter to the leading Boston daily, +as follows: + + "DEAR SIR: Being naturally of a conservative turn of + mind, I came to Los Angeles with ideas unfavorable to + the C.M. I had not taken the least stock in what the + papers said or the people of California wrote in regard + to the practical workings of the C.I. I expected the + defenses of morality and modesty had been swept away by + such ideas, and that the communities of Southern + California had sunk into licentiousness. I had spent + two years in California about eight years ago, and I + considered at that time that the morals of the people + were not of a high order. So I expected to find society + in a still worse moral condition now. I have been here + six months, and, in justice to truth, I must state the + facts even if they show that my previous opinions were + incorrect. To those who study the people closely in + regard to sex matters, I can say truthfully that sexual + excitement has fallen fifty per cent., and that obscene + pictures and stories have no attraction for the people. + The low places of amusement, that used to be run under + the name of 'Variety Theaters,' and other such names, + are closed up, for the reason, as a former proprietor + of one of these resorts expressed it, 'A leg and bosom + show has no attraction for the people since the C.I. + has been in operation.' Houses of prostitution are + less in number by forty per cent., so the chief of + police informed me, and I saw a large number of them + closed. The low dives are closed, and places where + girls made exhibitions of themselves for the sole + purpose of exciting passion in man are no more. They + died for want of patronage. The forms of each sex are + looked at now with eyes which see purity and beauty. + + "I notice, also, the conversation among young people + has improved greatly, being of a higher and purer kind. + Now I practised the C.I. myself, and came in contact + with many of both sexes. After very careful observation + in Los Angeles, and other towns in Southern California, + I feel I am in a position to know and I can state that + I now consider the C.I. is the greatest reform movement + that the world has ever seen. + + "Yours truly, + "ROBERT DAWSON." + +In about a year later the four progressive States known as Kansas, +Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa, had removed all barriers from woman's +political freedom and placed her, in the eyes of the law, where +California had. The C.I. having become the predominant thought, it was +lived throughout these four States. The C.M. received a great impetus +when they fell into line with the other advanced States. + +Penloe and Stella, with Barker and Brookes and other workers, had worked +for over a year in Illinois, and now they were concentrating all their +forces in Chicago, the other part of the State being all right. It was +in that city that a great battle for reform had to be fought. The +opposition was strong. It consisted of society ladies and gentlemen, who +thought woman's position was above politics; that is, to their minds it +was far higher for a woman to be prettily and daintily dressed, and to +be a petted slave, than to use her God-given intellect for the benefit +of herself and the nation in which she lived. The other wing of the +opposition consisted of those who were making money in the saloon +business and running low places of amusement. They did not want woman to +vote in making laws which might be detrimental to their business +interests. As the opposition became strong in its concerted action to +overthrow the influence of the reform forces, the two great +figure-heads, the two grand leaders of the C.M. seemed to acquire +increased energy and power. Listen to what Barker and Brookes said, +after having attended a meeting in the great Auditorium of the Lake +City, when over a thousand had to be turned away for want of room: + +"Though I have been so much with Penloe and Stella like yourself, and +one would naturally think that the influence of their personality had +become common, yet such is not my experience," said Brookes. + +Barker replied: "Is not that strange, where we see them almost every +day, as we have done for about two years? Instead of their influence +becoming tame and commonplace, it seems to take a renewed force and +power with each day, and they appear to carry a newness and freshness +with them continually. Their efforts to-night were the greatest of their +lives." + +Brookes said: "I saw the power of the Yogi to-night as I never had +witnessed it, to such a degree, before. Did you notice, Barker, that at +the close of the meeting, instead of having some prominent person +speaking against the C.M., there was not one dissenting voice when +opportunity was given, but the short speeches which were made by +prominent members of the audience were all in favor of the movement. +Just think of the number of invitations that poured in upon them to +deliver the same address in other parts of the city. The battle is won, +Barker, for no opposition can withstand that power which was manifested +to-night." + +It was as Brookes said, the opposing forces had to yield, for there was +a seen and an unseen power sent out which swept and overcame all +opposition, and a month later Illinois was counted in with the +procession which California was leading. A year later the great States +of Ohio and Pennsylvania had joined the ranks, followed by the old Bay +State with its conservative element, and Boston became the scene of +illumination and rejoicing. The influence of these great States was felt +in many smaller ones, and they also helped to swell the wave of the C.M. +by joining the ranks. Quite a large percentage of that element in the +big cities, who profited by pandering and catering to the depraved +tastes of human nature, had left the city in which they carried on their +places of business now that the C.I. was practised, and they had gone to +the City of New York, thinking the element to which they belonged was +too powerful in Gotham ever to be driven out by the C.M., and it was in +this city where the greatest of all battles for reform thought was +fought. + +When Penloe and Stella with Barker and Brookes left Chicago, they went +to the City of New York, staying in Boston a week on their way. They had +now been in this city for over a year and had called together picked +workers from many other States who were in the procession for reform. +The opposition was the same as that encountered in Chicago, only ten +times as strong. + +When they had been in the city eighteen months, some few of the churches +had helped forward the work, just as some churches did in other cities. +Penloe decided that every church and every society of every kind that +had for its basis of organization love and justice, should receive a +special invitation to join in this great moral reform movement, and +special work should be allotted them. Penloe and Stella made a personal +visit to the leaders of the various sects, denominations and societies, +and ably presented the case for their consideration, showing that the +life of their organization depended upon their members being active +living workers for truth, purity and justice. He put each society on +record as to where they stood, whether its organization was merely that +of a social club, or whether it was ready to stand and work for the +principles it claimed to have for its foundation. Be it said to the +credit of each society, sect and organization, they all responded +heartily and co-operated with Penloe and Stella in helping forward the +grand reform; for they saw it was useless to prate about love, purity, +justice and freedom, with woman debarred by law from her legal and +political rights and tolerating a social custom which excited the worst +passions and bred prurient curiosity. It was a grand and glorious sight, +such as the world had not witnessed before, to see Catholics, +Unitarians, Methodists, Universalists, Baptists, Episcopalians, +Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Theosophists, members of the Jewish +Synagogue, representatives of the Vedanta, together with the Y.M.C.A. +and Y.W.C.A., Christian Union, Christian Science and Socialists +Societies, and all other such societies join in the work. The members of +these various bodies coming in contact with those two great spiritual +luminaries, seemed to receive such an influx of the Divine as purified +their own organizations and made them what they should always be, a +_great power for good_. With such concentrated efforts by such an army +of workers, the enemy gave way and New York City became the beacon light +to travelers from other nations; not as it had been a city of greed and +lust, but a city where woman stood before the law the same as man, and +where its citizens were beginning to walk a little more in the line of +purity and freedom. + +Just before the battle was won in the State of New York, the agitation +which had been going on in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland for over +two years culminated in a victory for the reform forces. Two years after +the State of New York was won, the C.M. had carried every State in the +Union, and also Canada. Australia and New Zealand not wishing to be +behind in all that stood for advanced thought and freedom, fell in line +with the other English-speaking countries. + +Penloe and Stella did not consider the work finished yet, and they +called for a congress of representative workers to meet in the +Auditorium in Chicago at a suitable date, which would give all time to +be present. Each State and country were to send two delegates, one man +and one woman. Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, +Ireland, Canada, and every State in the Union were all represented at +the Congress. + +When the Congress assembled, it was unanimously agreed that Stella +should preside. + +After the meeting had been opened and some preliminaries had been gone +through, Penloe said: "In the call for this congress it was stated that +its purpose was to consider how best to carry on this great work in +foreign countries, but before doing so I think it would be best to +change the name of the work. It seems necessary that some names, as well +as races, should pass through the period of evolution. The reason why I +will briefly state, as follows: In some countries where it is necessary +to carry on this work, they are not in bondage, and the name C.I. would +not convey the meaning of the full scope of our work; for while it is +true they do not discriminate between the sexes, yet they are in bondage +in many other different ways, and while the work originally started with +the idea of freeing men and women from the shackles of sexual bondage +with the name of 'Sex Reform Movement,' yet afterwards it was called the +'California Idea,' and the name included Woman's Suffrage, so as to make +her free before the law, before man, and before the whole world. And as +it grew its name changed to 'California Movement.' But now that the work +has grown to such gigantic proportions, having about taken in all the +English speaking countries, the work has also grown in its scope of +usefulness and its object now is not only to free the mind from sexual +bondage, not only to see that woman holds the same place as man in the +eyes of the law of the land that she lives in, but still more, to FREE +HUMANITY FROM ALL BONDAGES OF EVERY KIND OR CHARACTER. Therefore, I +propose that the name to be given to the movement shall be '_Reform +Forces_,' for under this name and banner all can work." + +After a little discussion the name given by Penloe was adopted +unanimously. + +The next business was to hear from some of the delegates in regard to +plans for carrying on the work in foreign countries. After hearing many +different plans proposed, and listening to various suggestions from many +of the delegates, the plan mapped out by Penloe was finally carried +unanimously. + +It was something like this: That each country or State should have its +special work. Europe was portioned off to England, Wales, Scotland, +Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. They were to divide the +work among themselves. New York took Southern India, Pennsylvania took +Northern India. The northern half of China was allotted to Illinois, the +southern half, to Ohio. Mexico was given to Texas. The islands of the +Pacific to California. South America was portioned off to other States. +Massachusetts was given Japan, Egypt was given to Michigan. Persia to +Indiana. Every State had a certain work of its own in some foreign +country separate from that which was done by other States and countries. +Each State or country was to send just four teachers to the country they +had taken to enlighten. The teachers must be all round characters, with +high intellectual attainments, and possessing at the same time rich +spiritual gifts and free from family ties. + +The line of work marked out for the teachers was as follows: First, to +locate themselves in the largest city in the country to which they are +sent. + +To make themselves thoroughly familiar with the writings and teachings +of the founders of the predominant religion of the country to which they +are sent. + +To find out all that is known of the leading saints and sages who have +lived in their lives the prevailing religion of the country in which +they lived. + +To study thoroughly the habits, customs and bondages of the people of +the country to which they are sent. Then to cultivate the acquaintance +of the most intellectual and spiritually inclined native men and women +and get them interested in the work of the Reform Forces. To appeal to +them, and reach them through the teachings of the founders of their own +religion, as well as by what has been written and said by their own +saints and sages. Get the intelligent natives of both sexes to become +the leaders and teachers to their people. Get the native teachers to +work to strike at some of the bondages which they think the people are +ready to free themselves from first, and when the people have thrown off +one bondage then to work to get them to be free from other bondages. + +After the teachers have got a group of intelligent native workers in the +line of the Reform Forces in one city, they are to go to another city +and do the same till the whole country has native workers in every part +working along the line of the Reform Forces. + +From Penloe's remarks before the Congress, concerning the religions of +other nations, we will copy the following extract. "If any one will +study the teachings of the saints and sages of other religions, he will +find that the essence of spiritual thought contained in them all is +about the same as that contained in Christianity. The mistake which has +been made by missionaries and others lie in thinking that the ritual and +practices of the masses represent the thoughts of the great spiritual +luminaries of those religions. The masses of the Oriental countries no +more represent the real thoughts of the great spiritual teachers of +those countries than the commercial cannibalism of the West represents +the teachings of Christ. In fact, the masses of the Oriental countries +are in ignorance of the real spiritual thought of their own religion, as +much as the masses of the Western World are of theirs, and the teachers +who are sent out by the West would help forward the work of the Reform +Forces by showing the natives that the ideas of the reform forces are +in the line of thought of their own great saints and sages. There is not +a delegate present who is not able to show that the work of the Reform +Forces is in accordance with the teachings of Christianity. I can also +clearly show to you from the teachings of the Zendavesta, of the Koran, +of Buddha, of Krishna, of Lord Gauranga, of Seyed, Mohammed Ali, and of +Rama Krishna, that the spiritual thought of the Reform Forces is in +accordance with those teachings. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Gauranga, and +Rama Krishna, were all the manifestation of God in the flesh. They +towered head and shoulders above all others in the manifestation of the +Divine. + +"Supposing I was a true follower of Buddha and a person who was a true +follower of Jesus spoke to me about the grand life and teachings of +Jesus, what would his opinion of me be if he saw that I was jealous +because he said nothing about Buddha, or because I thought the more +beauty and glory he saw in Jesus it lessened and belittled the character +of Buddha. Would he not be right in thinking I was ignorantly and +foolishly jealous, and that that feeling ought not to exist in a true +follower of Buddha? What then when you speak to a follower of Jesus +about the divine life of Buddha or Krishna, if he should become incensed +in manner and speech and manifest a feeling of jealousy, acting as it +were that in seeing the Divine in Buddha or Krishna made you think less +of Jesus. And yet that is a common experience which one meets with among +very many of the followers of Jesus. No, for in proportion as you live +the true Buddha life or Krishna life, so do you live the true Christ +life, and if I have imbibed the spiritual thought of Jesus, I have also +imbibed the true spiritual thought of Buddha and Krishna. Thinking that +the Divine was manifested in Buddha or Krishna, does not lessen the +exalted conception which one may have of the Divine manifested in Jesus. +_The Divine is in all_, but is manifested in some persons to a much +greater degree than in others." + +Just before the Congress closed Mr. Rattenbury, one of the delegates +from California, rose to make a statement. He said: "Since the Congress +had assembled he and the lady delegate from California had been in the +receipt of numerous telegrams from persons living in different parts of +the State they represented, to the effect that California did not wish +to take the Philippine Islands, but they would take the other islands of +the Pacific, and also they would send Penloe and Stella to make a tour +through the Oriental countries to help forward the work of the Reform +Forces as they saw best. The delegation from California has made +arrangements with the delegation from New Zealand and Australia, so that +the latter take the Philippine Islands as their field of labor, as those +islands are near to them. Therefore the delegation from England and the +other countries who have taken Europe as their field of work, have +kindly consented to release Australia and New Zealand from helping them, +so that they might take the Philippine Islands. It might be well for me +to state that the delegation from California has waited on Penloe and +Stella, to ask them if they would go East, and I am pleased to say that +they have consented." + +He added, further: "It is with mingled feelings of pride and pleasure +that I stand to-day as one of the delegates from California. I am proud +to represent that grand State, with its past achievements. Her boast +before has always been of her fertility and marvelous resources, such as +her rich mines, her large wheat fields, her prolific orchards, bearing +fruits belonging to many climes, her fine vineyards, with clusters of +luscious grapes, superior to those of Eschol, her grand floral display, +her great forests, and her oil wells. But now we can boast that in its +genial climate, surrounded by its grand scenery and its lofty peaks, +which lift their heads to heaven, that Stella, the pearl of womanhood, +should be born. It was under these influences, surrounded by advanced +liberal thought that she grew up. On the soil that she was born did she +consecrate herself and all that was dear to her to liberating humanity +from its many bondages. Starting out with the idea of helping those of +her own sex to throw off a bondage which has held them in superstition +and ignorance, and which also has been the cause of untold suffering and +misery as well as millions of deaths, she labored heroically under +social persecution and ostracism. But when the purity and nobility of +her grand character was fully known, those obstacles to her work +disappeared as snow does before the heat of the sun, for her whole +nature being of intense love, its heat melted all prejudices before it. +All of you are familiar with the grand work in her own State. I need not +touch on her work in other States, for you all know it so well. I am +glad to state that California which has always been so proud of her +material resources is now far prouder of the fact that on its soil was +born '_The Coming Woman_,' '_The Ideal Woman_,' '_The Glory of +California_,' and that her shores attracted the great Yogi Penloe. +California having already given Penloe and Stella to the Nation, now +bestows them to the World. When they travel through many countries +scattering light and knowledge wherever they go, they will always know +that wherever they are, even in the furthest corner of the earth, that +back of them, in all their travels, are the wealth and great hearts of +the people of the Golden State." + + * * * * * + +Two days before Penloe and Stella left San Francisco for Japan, I was +seated in the parlor of Treelawn, in front of the large bay window. On +my right was Penloe and on my left was Stella. The windows were raised +and a gentle breeze wafted the fragrant odors from the flower beds into +the room, filling the parlor with perfume. At times the muslin curtains +puffed out gracefully by the gentle breeze, and the external atmosphere +was like the internal of my companions' sweetness and harmony. The other +members of the company were Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright and Mr. and Mrs. +Herne. Many reminiscences were gone over. Penloe in a very nice way +spoke of the influence on owners of ranches, through Mr. Herne's noble +example of the treatment of his men, and there was a great improvement +in the treatment that ranchers gave to their hired help, and the ranches +became more profitable accordingly. + +Clara Herne expressed her thoughts and feelings in regard to how +different the world and herself looked to her now, to what it did when +she first entered her home as a bride. She added: "The world within me +has become so beautiful, so bright, and so very large. How lovely life +has become, what a pleasure it is _to live_." + +It did me good to look into the faces of Stella's parents. That grand +old couple who had lived a life of purity under marriage, and who gave +to the world, Stella, "The Pride of California." + + + + +EPILOGUE. + + +I must now part with two very dear friends, two whom I have known so +well, two whom I have loved with all the warmth of an intense nature, +two who have been an inspiration to my life. + +The consoling thought I have in taking leave of them is, that though +visibly they are not with me, yet they are always with me in proportion +as I manifest the same spiritual life which has made them so dear to me. +May they both be to you, dear reader, what they are to me. + + +[Illustration: THE END] + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +Quotation marks are used inconsistently through the book; these have +been left as printed. + +Inconsistent and unorthodox spelling (Lanair/Lenair, wont/won't, +Vivekanada/Vivekananda, bethrothed) has been retained. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A California Girl, by Edward Eldridge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALIFORNIA GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 28528.txt or 28528.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/2/28528/ + +Produced by Sarah Sammis, Jen Haines, Roger Frank and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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