St. Tammany farmer., 1901-07-20

oAi IN my dark little study anG
i wondered how should break to Ell
1r1da the news of her lovers perfidy. ]
grieved for the pain which 1 knew it
would cause her, for Iloved the girl. But
pity for the individual was soon lost in
rejoicing for the good of the Cause
lhls 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 l first set eyes on Elfrida Stan
ford, in the select ladies' boarding
house in Brompton in which her guard
ian had placed her, I thought to my
self at once, what an apostle for the
Cause! And set myself to win her for
1t. There was quite competition 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. Van 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. l 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 she has disap-
pointed me.
And so we became intimate, and l
tried gradually to initiate her into
some of the mysteries of our creed.
She was an orphan and very friendless,
having been brought up mostly in for
eign schools and having no relations in
London, save the crusty old bachelor
uncle, who took no more trouble about
her than he could help. So l got her to
come to some of our lectures and meet
ings, where her pretty face and win
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 lack of ambition to culti-
vate her psychic force and distaste
for some of our manifestations, which
I could not but deplore.
Still hoped that time would mend
these deficiencies, when an unforeseen
event threatened to deprive me of my
most promising disciple.
Threatened, I say, but hope the
danger is now over, and that when
tell Elfrida what have learned about
Laurence Drummond, her love will be
turned to scorn and loathing.
How I regret having applied to him
for advice and thus thrown him in her
way, but he was highly recommended
to me, and he looked honest-yes, he
really did, though 1 know him now to
be deceitful and double-faced.
It all came about through poor Miss
Stackerdale, who developed serious
malady and died in our boarding house.
Elfrida was very kind to her, and 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 between
us.
What a godsend for the Cause, I
Her relations disputed the will and ac-
cused us of exercising undue influence.
and we had to go to law about it, and
was advised to put the matter into Mr..
Drummond's hands.
Noticed that he preferred to get his
informa ton from Elfrida rather than
from me, but he said she had a clear
head Tor business and was not so much
absorbed with the supernatural as l.
Noticed, too, that the dear girl was
growing brighter and, if possible, pref
tier every day.
But never suspected anything until
one day when pushed open the draw
ing-room door, which looked shut but
was not, and stood there transfixed
with astonishment to see those two
standing facing one another at the
further end of the room.
He held her two hands clasped in his,
and there was light on both their
faces such as one does not see more
than once in lifetime.
1 went up thoughtfully to my own
room. Was this to be the end of all my
dreams of the work that Elfrida might
for the Cause? Was a
broad-shouldered, dark-haired young
man more to her than the enlighten-
ment of mankind?
It seemed so indeed, when Elfrida
came up presently to tell me of her en-
paeement, with fine flush on her
cheek certainly, but without any real
penitence for her backsliding. For her
marriage with him meant desertion of
the Cause, for which he had no sym
pathy. He denounced our doctrines as
vague and dreamy, and the manifesto
tions with which we seek to impress
the vulgar he even characterized as
frauds.
But did not give up all hope. We
knew very little about Mr.. Laurence
Further Investigations
might bring to light some grave OBJ
stacle to this most undesirable union.