The young physician was no less earnest in laying the case before
his brother-in-law, but rather more logical and philosophical in
discussing it, as well as very positive in his deductions. In
conclusion he wrote:
"Perhaps you may be surprised to learn that I have been reading up
on this subject during the last few months; but, as I have also
been practicing medicine, at the same time, the mental conflict
has been something indescribable. I told myself, in my presumption
and egotism, that if there was healing power in Christian Science
I would look into it and utilize it in connection with my own
methods. The result has been a state of perpetual fizz--I know no
better word to describe it; and now, after our recent experience,
I find myself willing to sit humbly at the feet of higher
authority and learn of a better and more efficacious healing art
than I know of at present. For, I tell you in plain terms, Dorothy
was dying--she was past all human aid when that blessed woman
came, like an angel of peace, to us and in one night brought back
our darling from the border of the unseen world. She, with her
understanding of Christian Science, saved her. There can be no
doubt on that point, and the child is better than I have ever seen
her since her accident. There has been no return of pain, and you
can imagine what that means to us all. She sleeps well, and has a
healthy, normal appetite. But Mrs. Minturn is very conscientious--
says she cannot work in a divided household, and must have your
approval, if she is to go on with the good work. Now, Will, be a
man; put your prejudices away on some upper shelf--or, better
still, cast them to the winds; pocket your ecclesiastical and
intellectual pride, and give Dorrie a chance. I am convinced
'there is more in this philosophy than we have ever dreamed of,'
and I am going to know more about it. Cable just two words--'go
on'--if you are willing, and, at the rate she is going on now,
I'll wager a hat against a cane that you won't know your own
daughter when you arrive. Bring the cane, please! In the same
spirit of good fellowship as ever. "Affectionately yours, "PHIL."
There was a season of anxious, yet blessed, waiting after these
letters were dispatched. Blessed for Dorothy, who was gaining
every hour, and happy as the day was long; anxious for Mrs.
Seabrook, who could not quite divest herself of the fear of her
husband's disapproval, even though Mrs. Minturn was constantly
admonishing, "Let not your heart be troubled," and working to
demonstrate that there could be no opposition to Truth and that
the work, so well begun, could not be hindered by bigotry, pride
or self-will.
At last, one morning there came a cable message--just two words,
as Phillip Stanley had requested, but not what he had asked for.
"'Sail to-day,'" Mrs. Seabrook read aloud from the yellow slip,
and lost color as she looked anxiously into her brother's eyes and
questioned:
"What shall we do?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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