"Let me show you how real it is, and what is necessary to make it
unreal to you. Suppose I lie down on that couch over there," she said,
pointing to a couch at the further side of the room. "As I fall asleep,
the things in the room gradually fade from my sight and consciousness,
that is, they become unreal to me, in fact they have no existence for
me for the time being, yet they are all there. After a little I begin
to dream that I am getting ready to take a trip to Europe. I pack my
trunk, telephone for the expressman to take it to the depot, I dress
myself in my traveling suit, get into my carriage, and am driven to
the depot. On the way down I see some of my friends. I bow to them,
and as I get out of the carriage at the depot I find my husband and
sister there, to bid me God speed on my journey. I realize that my
husband came from his place of business, and my sister from a distant
part of the city. We enter the depot chatting gaily. My husband goes
to inquire about the train. He comes back and tells us it is ready,
and we walk down a pair of stairs and out into the train shed. As we
approach the train, my husband gets out my ticket, shows it to the
porter, and he says, 'Second car to the rear.' As we reach the place
indicated, my husband shows the ticket to another porter who is standing
there. He examines it and says with a wave of his hand, 'Right in this
car.' We enter, and find the number of my berth. My husband puts my
traveling bag under the seat, and we all sit there talking for some
time. We then hear the conductor's warning, 'All aboard.' My husband
and sister both kiss me and hurriedly leave the car. A moment later
I see them on the platform. I hear the bell on the engine ring, I feel
the car move, and wave a last farewell to those on the platform as
they pass from my sight. A little later I am out in the country. Then
we dash through a village without stopping, and at length we arrive
at New York. I take a carriage to be driven to the dock. On the way
there the horse becomes frightened, runs away, tips the carriage over,
throws me under a rapidly moving street car, which runs over both my
feet. The ambulance is called. I am taken to the hospital. The pain
is almost unbearable. The physician examines my injuries and says he
will be compelled to amputate both my feet. This seems so terrible to
me that the shock wakes me up. For a few moments after I awake, I still
feel the pain and lie there trembling with fright, for the dream has
been so real. Yet in reality I never left the couch, and everything
in the room is there just as I left it when I went to sleep. It was
all an illusion, and the only thing necessary to prove it to me was
something or somebody to awaken me. So it is with man. God made him
perfect and everything good, and all man needs to prove it to himself
is to be awakened, that is, made acquainted with the true facts
pertaining to life. This means man must understand the science of
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