Estelle, who had passed from earthly life and suffering, had been lovingly welcomed, and tenderly cared for by gentle ministering spirits, who bore her to a bright home, where immortal flowers bloomed, and where everything spoke only of beauty and of joy. The sweet spirit was delighted with all she beheld, and for a brief time seemed to bask in the glory of her new surroundings. THE FATHER’S GRIEF AFFECTS THE SPIRIT. But soon those around her observed that she ceased to take an interest in them and their work; her thoughts constantly turned backward to earth and the home of her parents. Shades of sadness lurked in her lovely eyes and clouded her pure face. Soon the cause became apparent; her father was drifting away from her spirit, and she could not hold him by her love. Her mother’s spirit she could meet and soothe and cheer, and so leave a quiet blessing of holy peace with her, that upheld while it strengthened; but the father’s spirit was so beclouded and tossed that the spirit child could not find comfort by his side. And no wonder; for as the weeks flew by, the father became still more restless and unhappy. Said he to a clergyman who came to condole with him: “Sir, it is of no use; I cannot believe in your religion. I can find no hope for a future life in its teachings, no assurance that there is a divine Creator. Why, sir, did I believe in the existence of a God who permitted that terrible suffering and horrible death to visit my beautiful, innocent child, who never wronged a human being, or did an unkind thing in her life, I would curse him as a fiend, unfit for human companionship, much less for worship.” Such talk as this, engendered by morbid, bitter feelings, distressed his gentle wife and tortured the spirit daughter; but what could be done? The man seemed to be fast drifting toward hopeless insanity, and there was no one to give him succor and relief. His friends offered him as consolation words of religious sympathy and exhortation; but these only served to madden him the more; while his poor wife could only clasp her hands and kneel in prayer to Him who knoweth the needs of each one, and responds to them as he thinketh best. THE SPIRIT SEEKS TO MAKE HER PRESENCE KNOWN. The beautiful spirit Estelle had learned that it was possible for spirits to return to mortals, manifesting their intelligence and demonstrating their identity to their earthly friends; and feeling that nothing but a complete and perfect recognition of her presence would convince her father of her continued existence, and so restore the equipoise of his wavering senses, she set herself to work to prove to him the immortality of the soul.