The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-20
SOUELCHED.
Tho skeptio Man in tho Corner Down.Faced
by the Old Lndy,a Story Of Faith.

One of the Don't Worry" clubs held a meet
ing last week at the residence of one of its mem.
bers. The discussion concerned the power and
limitations of faith, and the speakers told from
time to time of the good which they had derived
from their faith or had known other persons to
derive. Some Of the experiences seemed to de.
mand a good deal of faith from the hearers
themselves. Their intensity Increased, as every
speaker felt it his or her duty to tell a little bet
ter story than any that had been heard. One of
the speakers who came rather late in the even
ing was an old lady. She felt the responsibility
Of keeping up the average.
"Once I was ILL.," she began, very. worry i'll.
The doctors told me that I could not live and I
continued to sink. Finally 1 was so near death
that 1 passed out Of the world. I felt myself
going, and finally l realized that I had really
died. When my eyes seemed to omen again /
found myself in the other world. had literally
died and passed out, of this world into the next
and 1t was'-the old lady hcsitated n moment
after the word-'it was q terrible experience"
The symposium had brought out nothing
better than this. and the speaker stopped to let
tho room sat an elderly man who had set the
ball rolling early In the evening. His story, was
not d nsarly so 1hf'l III lbs Ss t 1nse one of an iho the b ISoEs
Worry crowd were too much for him. Maybe
i was only curiosity. however, and not envy
that inspired him to ask for further information
concerning such q remarkable experience. At
all events. the old lady was just preparing to
continue when Il voice from the corner said:
win the new member kindly tell us some of
the things she saw there T.
This was something for which the new mem
Der was not counting. This complete exit to
another world was only an incident in n longer
story. She had not prepared details. There
was a rustic In the room as tho other members
scttled in their chairs tn listen to the cxplana-
tons. There was n suggestion OF doubt in the
atmosphere which the old lady plainly fclt. Tho
Don't Worry Club seemed to be against her
to n man., But she pluckcd victory out Of i'm
pending defeat by a marvel of strategy. IGnor.
ing every other eye In the room, she turned a
stern gaze toward that corner in which tho
inquisitor sat. Then she pinioned him to his
seat with q glance.
"Tho things | saw there :" she said. with
scOrn in her voice and in her look. why they
were utterly beyond your power of compre-
hcnsion."
The sympathy of the club went out to the
speaker with the same unanimity that 1t turns
toward the conductor of n cable car when an in
offensive pr ssengcr asks him TO open the ven
tilatOrs and rescue the parboilcd travellers.
They may be hot. but they sympathizc with
the conductor. The man in the corner shrunk
up until he was hardly visible. The old lady
finished her story, which rccounted an achieve
mcnt OF faith that was not to bc compared to
the crcdulity that hcr III Lstcrly strntcgiCs
had inspired in that chapter of the Don't Wor-
ry 4" Club. Beyond n triumphant light in the
tail of her eye AS she sat down. there was no
further recognition OF the man in the corner
that night.