"Miss Minturn, I have enjoyed my walk more than I can tell you,"

said Mrs. Seabrook, as she removed her hat and wrap, but wondering at the unaccustomed crimson in the girl's cheeks. "And now," she added, "if you have time I would like to show you a portfolio of engravings which Prof. Seabrook received last week from an old cla.s.smate who is now abroad."

Katherine could never resist fine pictures, and followed her hostess into an adjoining room, where the portfolio was placed upon a table, and she was invited to inspect its contents at her leisure, Mrs. Seabrook excusing herself to prepare some nourishment for Dorothy.

Katherine found many of the engravings to be copies of paintings by some of the great masters, and which she had seen, in various galleries, the previous summer. They were very finely executed, and she became so absorbed in them that she was unconscious of the presence of anyone until Dr. Stanley's smooth, cultured tones fell upon her startled ears.

"That is a beautiful thing, Miss Minturn," he observed, bending nearer to look more closely at a copy of a section of the 'Creation' as painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican at Rome. "The foreshortening and perspective there is wonderful! Michael Angelo was the master of them all! Of course, you have seen many of the wonders of that great storehouse of art?"

"Yes; mamma and I spent a great deal of time in the Vatican. What a treasure vault it is!" Katherine replied, and then, as she turned other pictures to view, they fell to talking of scenes familiar to them both.

At length she came upon a reproduction of the healing of the lame man by Peter, at the "Gate Beautiful" of the Temple in Jerusalem.

It was full of strength and life, as well as of touches of beauty and pathos, and the girl's face lighted with keen appreciation as she saw it.

"That is a queer story," Dr. Stanley observed, and eagerly seizing the opportunity for which he had been waiting.

"Queer?" repeated Katherine, inquiringly.

"Yes; it seems so to me. Do you believe that man--Peter, I believe, was his name--performed that cure instantaneously, as related?"

"No; but G.o.d did, working through him," said Katherine.

"You firmly believe that such an incident really occurred?"

"I certainly do."

"And you just as firmly believe that such healing can be done now?"

The girl lifted a quick, searching look to her companion, half expecting to see the skeptical curl, which she so well remembered, wreathing his mobile lips.

But, instead, she found herself looking into a pair of grave, earnest blue eyes, and there was no sign of levity or derision in the fine face.

"Yes, it has been done many times during the last thirty years,"

she quietly replied.

"Do you speak from actual knowledge or only from hearsay?"

"Both. I know of two cases, and my mother could tell you of several others."

"Do you believe that Dorothy could be healed? made straight and well?"

"Oh, Dr. Stanley!" Katherine breathed, with luminous eyes. "Yes, indeed! yes. Will they try the Science for her? Oh! how I have yearned to have that dear child made whole!"

Her face was so radiant with hope, yet so softly tender and so beautiful, the physician was deeply moved.

"I cannot say as to that," he replied. "But will you tell me, Miss Minturn, what, in your method, heals the sick?"

"G.o.d--the power that created the universe and holds it in His grasp, who 'spake and it was done.'"

"Ah! but that is so vague, so intangible, I cannot comprehend your meaning," said the man, with an impatient shrug of his broad shoulders. "I do not doubt the existence of G.o.d," he continued, "nor His omnipotence, for I believe that the Creator must have all power over His own creation. But how--how can suffering humanity avail itself of that power? If I could grasp that--if I were sure it could be done by a really scientific process, I would never again prescribe a drug or touch a surgical instrument."

He spoke with evident emotion, almost pa.s.sionately, for they could hear Dorothy sobbing, from the returning pain, in the other room, and, with all his learning and experience, the man had a heart- sickening sense of discouragement in view of his own and others'

helplessness to cope with that demon of torture which was surely destroying his niece and, indirectly, wearing to a shadow his only sister.

"You say you believe in G.o.d--that you do not doubt His power; but is that statement of your att.i.tude quite true, Dr. Stanley?"

Katherine gently inquired. "If you really believed it, if all who claim that they have faith in an omnipotent G.o.d really believed it, would you or they ever a.s.sume that drugs or surgical instruments were needed to a.s.sist G.o.d to do His work?"

"Jove! that is an argument that has never occurred to me before!"

Phillip Stanley exclaimed. "But," he went on, doubtfully, "the curse came, and man was driven to do something to mitigate it; and it has been conceded, all down the ages, that these same doctors and material remedies are agencies that were required and provided by an all-wise Providence for that purpose."

"Yes, man, in his arrogance, has claimed that, and so has practically denied the omnipotence of G.o.d. But this same G.o.d has said, over and over, 'Whatsoever ye ask ye shall receive,' and 'Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.' But he has never said, 'Ask to be healed of disease and I will send you doctors, to experiment with drugs, roots and herbs, and mechanical appliances;' or, 'if ye are worn out with care and heavy-laden with suffering they shall build you costly sanitariums, wherein to rest and be treated.' But only the rich or a favored few may avail themselves of these. If these remedies or retreats were infallible and could reach all mankind, there might be some plausibility in such arguments; but such is not the case, as you must know. Where, in G.o.d's Word, which is conceded to be the guide for humanity, do you find authority for them?" Katherine inquired, in conclusion.

"You have me there, Miss Minturn," rejoined her companion, with a quizzical smile; "honesty compels me to confess that I have not been much of a Bible student, at least of late years. But allow me to say that your arguments against doctors, drugs and hospitals are very quaint, not to say convincing," he added, with an amused laugh.

"Well, let me a.s.sure you that you cannot find an instance, from Genesis to Revelation, where G.o.d commands man to call upon physicians, or to use material remedies for sickness any more than for sin," Katherine continued, earnestly. "But we do find many injunctions to depend upon Him alone in such extremity. In Deuteronomy we read, 'And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness.' Again, we are told what the penalty is for not calling upon Him--'Asa died because he sought the physicians and not unto G.o.d.' David tells us, 'It is G.o.d who healeth all our diseases,'

and there are many more pa.s.sages I could quote to prove the point."

"But why, if that is the only right way, has not G.o.d made it so plain that no one could go astray?" questioned Dr. Stanley.

"He has made it plain, and man would not go astray if he were obedient; but, in his arrogance and egotism, he has ignored G.o.d and 'sought out many inventions' [Footnote: Eccles., 7.29.] to rob Him of His prerogative," said Katherine.

"Well, to go back still farther, why has G.o.d permitted such evils and untold misery to exist in the world?" thoughtfully inquired the gentleman.

"He has not 'permitted' it," the girl positively declared.

"Isn't that rather a bold a.s.sertion, if G.o.d is omnipotent?"

Phillip Stanley demanded, in surprise.

"No; for He a.s.serts that He looks on evil with 'no degree of allowance.' For instance, you are supposed to be supreme in the sick room, your word law; but if your patient ignores your directions and remedies and subst.i.tutes others in place of them, you are not 'permitting' such willful disobedience. But the patient suffers for it none the less, and you are in no way responsible for his condition. So mortals, in their presumption and perverseness, have become idolaters, have set up false G.o.ds or devices to rob G.o.d of His power. Take another ill.u.s.tration: Truth and honesty are supreme in their realm, but there are people who prefer to lie when truth would serve them better, and who would rather steal than get an honest living. But truth and honesty do not permit--are not responsible for such perversion. Until the liar and the thief turn to truth and honesty, to reclaim them, they will suffer from the results of their sins; they cannot subst.i.tute anything else."

"I see your point, Miss Minturn, and you have given me something to think of. You argue, too, like a veritable doctor of divinity,"

said Dr. Stanley, with a smile.

"Oh! no, I do not," retorted Katherine, with a roguish gleam in her brown eyes; "for, let your doctor of divinity get sick and he will argue for material remedies every time."

"That is true, and my intellect, my education and experience prompt me to reason from the same standpoint," was the grave response. "My professional pride also cries out 'Absurd!

Impossible! Impractical!' But I dearly love that little girl in there," and the man's voice grew gentle as a woman's and trembled in spite of his manhood, as he glanced towards the adjoining room.

"I love my sister, whose life is a mental and physical martyrdom, and I would sacrifice all I have--yea, even professional authority and pride--to bring health and happiness to them. There is one thing left to try for Dorothy, to relieve that pain--only one; but my heart shrinks, revolts from it. That is why I have sought this conversation with you, Miss Minturn, hoping to get a little insight regarding your methods; and, while I do not grasp the so- called 'science' of it at all, I am impressed that you Scientists have something that we physicians have not. But I marvel at your profound thought upon such a subject at your age."

"You would not marvel at my ability to elucidate a difficult problem in trigonometry?" said Katherine, smiling.

"No, for that would be a natural outgrowth of your education."

"Yes, and the same argument holds good regarding what we have been talking of," was the quick response. "I have been taught it from my youth up, and although I know but very little of Christian Science, for it is infinite, yet what I have learned I know just as clearly as I know certain statements in the 'History of the United States'; yes, far more clearly," she interposed, with a little laugh, "for I am obliged to take the historian's account for granted, in part, while I can demonstrate, prove Christian Science for myself."

Dr. Stanley's shapely brows were arched ever so slightly at this a.s.sertion.

"Have you ever done any healing, Miss Minturn?" he inquired. "Have you ever cured anyone of a severe illness?"