“I have never known anything else,” said
Katherine, simply. “When I was a very little
child my mother was healed of a disease which several
physicians had pronounced incurable. She at once
became an earnest student of Christian Science, and,
later, a successful practitioner; consequently its
principles, as far as I have gone, are as clear to
me as those that govern your own dear mathematics
are to you. But”—a blank look
suddenly sweeping over her face—“I
am afraid I have been guilty of rank disobedience in
discussing these problems with you.”
“How so?” asked her teacher, in surprise.
“Prof. Seabrook has strictly forbidden
me to talk of Christian Science while I am a student
at Hilton.”
“Of course, he meant that you must not talk
it to the other students,” said Miss Reynolds,
“and it would be unwise, for, doubtless, the
parents of many, if not of all, would object.
But I, as your teacher, feel at liberty to ask you
whatever questions I choose, and you are perfectly
justified in answering them.”
“Ye-s, I believe you are right on that point,”
Katherine thoughtfully returned. “But I
would not willfully disobey the professor in any way.
I owe him perfect loyalty as long as I am a pupil
in his school, and I mean to yield it to him.”
“That is right,” her companion affirmed;
“but you do not need to condemn yourself for
what has occurred this afternoon, for, at my age,
I am capable of judging for myself upon all moral and
religious questions, and I think you may feel at liberty
to give me any information that I may seek from you.
I have not done with you, either,” she added,
with a significant smile, “for you have given
me to-day a glimpse of something which I believe will
change the universe for me. Ah! whom have we
here?”
She checked herself suddenly as a gentleman came into
view around a curve in the road, a short distance
ahead of them.
Phillip Harris Stanley, M.D.
Katherine glanced up as her companion called her attention
to the approaching figure, and saw a finely formed
man, tall, straight and stalwart, and, apparently,
about thirty-five years of age. He possessed
an attractive, though thoughtful, face, and bore himself
with an air of refinement and self-possession that
at once proclaimed him the cultured gentleman.
A delicate pink instantly suffused the girl’s
face, and there was a peculiar thrill in her voice
as she exclaimed, in great surprise:
“Why! that is Dr. Stanley! Mamma and I
became acquainted with him on board the Ivernia when
we returned from abroad, two months ago.”
“So you already know Phillip Harris Stanley!”
Miss Reynolds observed, and surprised in turn.
“He is Mrs. Seabrook’s brother—
the ‘Uncle Phillip’ of whom Dorothy spoke.
He has been in Germany during the last two years,
studying in various hospitals, but has now again opened
his office in this city. Dorothy is under his
care, and he is therefore a frequent visitor at the
seminary.”
