The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1901-07-11

F r w ~ 4H 3 93|
N SAT in my dark uttle ssaidy and
u Iewondered how I should hrsak to FL
frida the news N herllovert perfidy.
,grieved for the pain Ghtch I knew II
would cause her, fdfE 10eedth thegirl. But
pity for the individual was soon lost in
rejoicing for the good of the Cause,
This glorious creature would be res
,cued from the ignoble lot of common
place wifehood and motherhood, and
would be free to devote her energies
to the enlightenment of mankind BY
the spread of our doctrines.
When first set eyes ON ;Elfrida Stan
ford, In the select ladies boarding
house in 'Brompton In whidhlher guard
ian had placed her, thought to my
self at once, what an apostle for the
Causel And set myself town her for
It. There was quite acompetition for
: her good graces among the older resi-
dents there, but fortunately she
. seemed to take to me rather than to
that pompous and vulgar Mrs. Clyde,
that husband hunting Mrs. Wan Deck
en-, the fast little grass widow from
India, or the starched and, vinegary old
Miss Stackerdale, who all said such un-
kind things about one-another. was
in rather feeble health. at the time, and
perhaps this drew her towards me, for
she has good heart, i will say that for
her in spite OF the way>sAe has disap-
pointed me.
And SO we became intimate, and l
tried gradually to initiate aiher into
some of the mysteries of cur creed.
She was an orphan andvery friendless,
having been brought up.mestly in for
eign schools and havingno rela tions In
London, save the crusty old bachelor
uncle, who took no moSetrouble about
her than ecould help. so I got her to
come to some Of o,,r lecturesand meet
ings, where her pretty faceeand win
ming manners &nsured da,warmwel elcome
to the new proselyte. She,would not,
however, go the whole way with us;
she liked our views, she said, when
stated in broad, general terms, but
there was a lack Of ambition to culti-.
vate her psychic forne and d.as.distaste
t for some Of our manifestatfcms, which
. could not bazt,deplore.
Still l hoped that time ,wsudid mend
these deficiencies, when an unforeseen
, event threatened 10 Ideprive.me of my
:, most prouAasimg disciple.
Threatened, Z say, but 'I7hqpe the
+; danger is now over, and thatwhen I
! tell Elfrida what I have .learned about
Laurence Drummdnd, her love, will be
turned to seorm and d1oathing. 8Esfy
How I regret having applied to him
.for advice and thus thrown him in her
uway, but he was highly recommended
to me, and he looked ,honest-tyes, he
really did. though know him now to
,be deoeitful and double4faced.
1T all came about through poor Miss
.Stackerdale. who developed a, serious
malady and died dinour boarding house.
sElfrida was very land to her, ard she
persuaded me to help her in looking
after the poor old lady. And when she
died, we found that she had made new
,will and left her little fortune be tween
ms. 4n..
Y What godAe0d for the Cause. I
thought. But then the trouble began.
Her relations disputed the will and ac-
,cused Ms Of exercising undue influence,
sandswe had to go to law about it, and
WAS advised to pnt the matter intosMr.
iDSnnmond's hands.
,Lnoticed that he preferred-to getAis,
information from Efrida rather than
from me. but he said she had a clear
head for business and was not,so much.
.absorbed with the eupernatural:asI /.
Inoticed, too. that the dear girlwasl
growing brighter and, if fpossihle ,pret IL
;tierssvery day.
Butt !, never suspected anything
,one ,day,when I pushed open the draw
ing4room door, which looked shut but
WAS not. and stood there transfxed
with ;astonishment to see those two
standing facing one another at the
further end of the room.
He held her two hands ciAspeA in,his.
and theSeNwas . light on both their
faces -suohass one does not see more
than onceiSn q ifetime. AZ
They msither "a " NOR heard me. and
as Islippad outsgatn'I heard h51 SAY:
"Elfridaf" ,And she gave a sort OF happy
sob. and Ahsrs< ollowed . sound sAAse
signihcaAoe .I-could not mistake.
went up ithonghtfuily to NY ~S.n
room. Was tbis to be the end Of slimy
dreams 0f Mbe.work that Elfrida might
accomplish 4dr thes Causs 3,gtWss .
brosd-sh0HAAAEed. dark-haired young
man more tolhsr'thah the ehIightep-
ment ofmaaleindt ". y, .satiss
II seemed 40 indeed. when Elfrtda
came up preasn&ly,to tell me of her en-
gagement, with o fine fluah ON her
cheek certainly. ibpt without any real
penitence for her'hackslidingF For her
marriage with him meant desertion Of
the Cause, for which he had no sym
pathy. He denonncad our doctrines 5 ss.
vague and dreamy. aud the manifesta-
hions with which re seek to impress
the vulgar he even ahAEacterised a.
frauds. sGsF Y iE.S .
But did not give up all hope. We
knew very little abont Mr.. Laurence
Drummond. Further Investigations
might bring to light some grave OBJ
stacle to this most undessrable,snion.
Perhaps I ought. to have relied on
the Aigher intelligences in the spiritual
world to obtain the information de-
sired. But was hurried and snxious,
and IrAsorted to mundane MEASURES.
And soon found the key to the sit
uation that WANTED. Idiscovesed that
Laurence Drummond was In the habit
of psyingaeePsioDsi Write toa lady hx-
ing IN . A6ffheyns snbprb. Who called
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