"And thus it came about in Vera’s case. Her body, weakened by continual work and the constant fight against her lower nature, was thereby made sensitive to the first attack of illness. A child, who had lately come to the home, developed diphtheria. The disease spread quickly among the other children; it was therefore necessary to isolate them, and Vera, much against Agnes’ wish, determined to act as their nurse. While doing so she caught the disease. It was a pathetic sight to see her, even after she had taken the complaint, struggling to minister to the little ones around. She absolutely refused to be separated from them, notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of the nurse and the express orders of the doctor. "One night while the nurse was sleeping, a little child who was very ill, began crying in its delirium and calling Vera by name; until nearly unconscious herself, she got up, and tottering over to the child, began stroking its head, and trying to calm its fears. The little one soon ceased its rambling and fell into a quiet sleep, but Vera still knelt by its side; she had lost consciousness of all around her. "The nurse was roused some hours later by the crying of one of the children, and to her horror she found Lady Vancome still kneeling by the side of one of the cots. She touched her, but she did not move. The time had come--her new body awaited her. "At the same hour a child was born. Into the more perfect body, free now from the evil tendency of a misspent past, her spirit entered." "And the child?" I said. "Is the baby Agnes rescued; is the little girl you have just seen. This is the divine order of life. Moved into the home which Vera founded, under the protection of Agnes whom she loved, she learned the first lesson of her new life. Thus, often do our deeds of mercy return to us again. We cast our bread upon the waters, and find it after many days. And thus, alas! do we also curse ourselves by acts of selfishness, reaping in future years the harvest of pain which we so thoughtlessly scattered in the past." "Does Vera remember any of her previous life?" I asked. "Not as you call remembrance," he answered, "though shadows flit across her mind at times." "You have not told her about it, then?" "No, it would not be wise; she is going with me now to Aphar, where she will become in time one of the priestesses. As soon as her spirit can leave the body, she will begin to learn the mystery of the past, and it will not be very many years, I expect, before we shall both leave this earth and go into the higher world which lies beyond and around us." "Shall you never return here?" I asked. "When the time comes for us to leave we will come to you before we go, but not till then." "What will become of your house while you are away?" "Before to-morrow night you will know."