ered this
polemic. Slowly the churchman's face darkened, as he moved backward
and sank into his chair.

"Now, Monsignor, having scolded you well," the girl continued, smiling
as she sat down again, "I will apologize. But you needed the
scolding--you know you did! And nearly all who profess the name of
Christ need the same. Monsignor, I love you all, and every one,
whether Catholic or Protestant, or whatever his creed. But that does
not blind my eyes to your great need, and to your obstinate refusal to
make any effort to meet that need."

A cynical look came into the man's face. "May I ask, Miss Carmen, if
you consider yourself a true follower and believer?" he said coolly.

"Monsignor," she quickly replied, rising and facing him, "you hope by
that adroit question to confound me. You mean, do I heal the sick?
Listen: when I was a child my purity of thought was such that I knew
no evil. I could not see it anywhere. I could not see sickness or
death as anything more than unreal shadows. And that wonderful
clearness of vision and purity of thought made me a channel for the
operation of the Christ-principle, God himself. And thereby the sick
were healed in my little home town. Then, little by little, after my
beloved teacher, Jose, came to me, I lost ground in my struggle to
keep the vision clear. They did not mean to, but he and my dearest
padre Rosendo and others held their beliefs of evil as a reality so
constantly before me that the vision became obscured, and the
spirituality alloyed. The unreal forces of evil seemed to concentrate
upon me. I know why now, for the greatest good always stirs up the
greatest amount of evil--the highest truth always has the lowest lie
as its opposite and opponent. I see now, as never before, the
unreality of evil. I see now, as never before, the marvelous truth
which Jesus tried, oh, _so_ hard, to impress upon the dull minds of
his people, the truth which you refuse to see. And ceaselessly I am
now striving to acquire 'that mind,' that spiritual consciousness,
which was in him. My vision is becoming daily clearer. I have been
wonderfully shielded, led, and cared for. And I shall heal, some day,
as he did. I shall regain my former spirituality, for it has never
really been lost. But, Monsignor, do not ask me to come into your
Church and allow my brightening vision to become blurred by your very
inadequate concept of God--a God who is moved by the petitions of
Saints and Virgin and morta