t have ensued and the load of
'Abdu'l-Baha's anxious care would have been considerably increased.

And when the storm-cloud that had darkened the horizon of the Holy Land
had been finally dissipated and the call raised by our beloved
'Abdu'l-Baha had stirred to a new life certain cities of the American and
European continents, the Most Exalted Leaf became the recipient of the
unbounded affection and blessings of One Who could best estimate her
virtues and appreciate her merits.

The decline of her precious life had by that time set in, and the burden
of advancing age was beginning to becloud the radiance of her countenance.
Forgetful of her own self, disdaining rest and comfort, and undeterred by
the obstacles that still stood in her path, she, acting as the honoured
hostess to a steadily increasing number of pilgrims who thronged
'Abdu'l-Baha's residence from both the East and the West, continued to
display those same attributes that had won her, in the preceding phases of
her career, so great a measure of admiration and love.

And when, in pursuance of God's inscrutable Wisdom, the ban on
'Abdu'l-Baha's confinement was lifted and the Plan which He, in the
darkest hours of His confinement, had conceived materialized, He with
unhesitating confidence, invested His trusted and honoured sister with the
responsibility of attending to the multitudinous details arising out of
His protracted absence from the Holy Land.

No sooner had 'Abdu'l-Baha stepped upon the shores of the European and
American continents than our beloved _Kh_anum found herself well-nigh
overwhelmed with thrilling messages, each betokening the irresistible
advance of the Cause in a manner which, notwithstanding the vast range of
her experience, seemed to her almost incredible. The years in which she
basked in the sunshine of 'Abdu'l-Baha's spiritual victories were,
perhaps, among the brightest and happiest of her life. Little did she
dream when, as a little girl, she was running about, in the courtyard of
her Father's house in Tihran, in the company of Him Whose destiny was to
be one day the chosen Centre of God's indestructible Covenant, that such a
Brother would be capable of achieving, in realms so distant, and among
races so utterly remote, so great and memorable a victory.

The enthusiasm and joy which swelled in her breast as she greeted
'Abdu'l-Baha on His triumphant return from the West, I will not venture to
describe. She was astounded at the