There was a hush and then sounds of several footsteps. She threw her
door wide open, marched them all in, turned the key in the lock, and
put the key in her pocket. What did this mean? I soon found out.

"Talk to them, too. They all need it as much as I," she said.

They surely did. All told, there were nine, not including B---- and me.
Four were mere lads, who were so ashamed that they tried to hide their
features by pulling their hats as far over their faces as possible. I
sang a song; they called for another, and still another. During the
singing of the third one, J----, with her beautiful hair streaming
about her face and shoulders suddenly threw herself lengthwise on the
floor, crying out, and calling on God for mercy. Mary Magdalene,
prostrate at the Master's feet, was being reenacted once more. I
quickly knelt, put my arms around her, and prayed and prayed and
prayed. Before I finished, every boy and girl in that bedroom was
kneeling.

Some of them I again met, though never in such a place. As for J----,
she immediately disappeared, and I have never heard of her since. B----
went East and became a trained nurse, one who spiritually administers
to the patients in her charge.




CHAPTER XXIV.

THE SUICIDE OF L----. ITS AFTER-EFFECT.