It is true, as Mrs. French told her friend, that after the music had lost some of its power over her she realized that Penloe had left the room. The piano being near the door, which was open, and no one sitting between the door and the piano, when Penloe ceased playing he quietly left the room and sat in a chair on the porch. About five minutes later, a soft footstep was heard on the porch and the sound of a light rustle of a dress, for Stella had taken a seat beside Penloe. His performance at the piano had stirred the dear girl's nature to its greatest depths and also had scaled its lofty heights. On that porch, gazing at the grand canopy of the heavens, those two souls listened to such strains of music as only the purified hear. CHAPTER XXIII. A VISIT FROM BARKER AND BROOKES. About ten o'clock the next morning after the party, Mr. Herne was in the front yard, superintending some work, when he saw a buggy coming towards his house and he recognized the occupants as being Mr. Herbert Barker and Mr. Stanley Brookes, of Roseland. When the team stopped in front of the house. Mr. Herne was there to receive the two gentlemen. After shaking hands and exchanging a few pleasant words, Mr. Barker asked: "Are Penloe and Stella here?" Mr. Herne said: "Yes, they are, come in, gentlemen," and gave them seats in the parlor, saying, "You had better stay to dinner, and I will have a man take care of your team," an invitation which they gladly accepted. Mr. Herne entered the sitting-room to tell Penloe and Stella that Barker and Brookes were in the parlor waiting to see them. Since those two gentlemen had become Stella's co-workers for sex reform consequently they had seen much of each other, and had come to a mutual understanding that they would lay aside all formalities and act as brother and sister; therefore, instead of addressing each other as Mr. or Mrs., they called each other by their given names. When Penloe and Stella entered the parlor, the two gentlemen rose from their seats and came forward to tender their congratulations to the newly married couple. After a lively social chat, Stanley Brookes made known the object of their morning call in the following words. Looking at Stella, he said: "Since you were with us last in Roseland, we have been receiving information through various channels concerning certain persons, in a number of towns and cities, who may be considered advanced enough to profit by our literature. In most cases the persons receiving it have written for more, to circulate among their friends. Since sending a second lot, we have been in receipt of a number of letters, like the following, and here Brookes took one from a large package of letters, and read it to Penloe and Stella. It was as follows: "LOS ANGELES, Cal. "_Stanley Brookes, Esq.,_ "_Roseland, Cal.:_