The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-26
CHAPTER TX.

Walter Cochran had taken them
straight across to their house on Long
Island, near Port Washington, and had
returned in the evening to his own fiat
the spiritual conflict Of the divine and
infinite over the mortal and finite had
begun, and Of the ultimate issue of that
he had no doubts whatever. But
there was another conflict no less hard
before him, and as he sat now for a
few minutes after eating his one dish
OF vegetables, which was his dinner, he
brought all his force to bear on that.
For tomorrow, at the joint request of
Thurso and his sister, he was going
down to their house to stay with them
since they were so kind as to ask
him. 1t was simpler and better in
every way, as regards the cure he knew
he was going to effect, to do so. Thus,
all day he would see and be with the
girl whom he loved, with that intensity
which made him the healer that he was.
Yet, since, because he would be there
simply as healer, and since except as
a healer he would never have been
there, he knew that he. must entirely !
swamp and drown the desire Of his
LIE. lie must say no word make no
sign. Even that was not enough, he
feared. He. must school himself to feel
no longing, he must drown his love
while he was there. For he was there
only as one who could bring the power
Of God to bear on this man, who was
obscured by error. That was the sole
reason for his presence there. And as
ne sat heze now, he wondered if he was
strong enough to do what he knew he
must do, or whether it was better to re-
fuse to go to Long Island at all, but
send somebody else. On the other
hand, he had himself promised to cure
Thurso; they had come from England
on the strength of that promise. But
would 1t not be better to break that
than to lead himself into the tempta-
ton Of using for his own ends the op-
portunlty that had been given to him,
and accepted by him, for the purpose
which was more real than any human
love?
The cold outside was intense; it had
come on to freeze sharply at sunset.
but he got up and set his window open.
The aid it gave him was adventitious
only, but. he found it easier to detach
Of mortal mind if, instead of the closed tS
atmosphere of room, the taintless air
OF ut-of.doors came in upon him. Very
possibly that was a mere claim of NOR
tai mind. but it was better to yield
TO such claim when it was clearly in
nocent, II it told him that the working
of the immortal was thereby made east
er, than to waste energy in fighting
such claim. And then, as he had
done before when he went out to the
bedside Of Sandy Mackenzie, he called
his thoughts home. Thoughts of the day
and the a,sand the sunshine and the
win less frost came focking back, and
went to sleep. Other thoughts, a little
more laggard Of wing, had to obey.
too; he had to forget the book he had
been reading during his dinner, the
swift hour of skating in the afternoon,
the serious doubt whether he had the
right to treat as his own the fortune
that his father had left him. Then
other thoughts, more laggard yet, had
to go to roost (and, if possible, die as
they were roosting)-his physical dis
gust for man who had by sheer weak
ness and self-indulgence allowed him
self to get into the state that his pa
ient was in; that slack lip, that sal
low face, the thinning and whitening
hair, they were all the footprints Of
error that had been made a welcome
and desired guest. He would scarcely
have known the man again. But all
this had to sleep-he had to regard
him only in the light of Love, in the
spirit of him who healed the leper's
sores. Slowly and with effort that
was done, but there was still one