Soon after captivating the mother the young man persuaded the girl to elope with him. Having lost the love of one man she was willing to listen to any proposal the lover might make, so she consented. There could be nothing wrong about the elopement, for her mother believed the young man was perfect. It was only a bit of romance, and every girl is romantic when in love. Six months later the agonized mother received a tear-stained letter from her daughter, written in the city of San Francisco. The daughter was deserted, penniless and without a friend, and must end it all in suicide unless her mother forgave her and took her back home. Reluctantly the disillusioned mother sent money to bring her daughter back to the old home, but she did not know all until the daughter’s return in charge of a trained nurse. She was suffering from a loathsome disease contracted from the libertine who had dragged her from her home; and is today a miserable invalid in her mother’s house, scolded and abused daily for her miserable condition. The misguided mother will not confess that she ruined her daughter’s life when she turned the honorable lover away, and took the human vampire into her parlor. No, she blames everything on the poor, ruined girl. Poor, blind mother—your prejudice drove the honorable lover away. THE WORLD IS BLIND So many of the world’s inhabitants are going through life mentally blind. The greatest education does not always guarantee mental sight. It takes real wisdom to open the human intellect, and education is not always wisdom. A man may be able to solve great mathematical problems, diagram an intricate sentence in grammatical form, name all the capitals and great cities of the big world geographically and historically—but still be blind to human justice. Without geological knowledge a man goes blindly through the world, stepping on valuable specimens of minerals and precious stones without realizing their value or worth. And just so, in like manner, do men who are blind to the justice that belong to their neighbors, go tramping on human hearts and human principles without knowing the real value and worth of the objects on which they tread. It is painful to see a blind man go feeling his way with a cane, but he never creates the sorrows that are created by the man who is blind to human justice and the rights of the people below his station. I know a man who loves a beautiful woman. He was once engaged to marry her, but friends who are blind to the rights of humanity, no odds how poor or rich the individuals may be, interfered and separated the loving couple. They trampled on their young hearts and crushed them until they bled from the bruises, and made love appear as a criminal and outlaw.