The next morning our Witch opened her Bible and read as she was wont to
do before any new undertaking. Her eyes rested on these lines:
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him? Luke xi, 13.
She knelt and prayed long and earnestly for an abundance of this Holy
Spirit to guide and help her. She took her birds and started out.
I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. Ezekiel
xxxvi, 27.
Her first stopping place was at a dwelling that stood back some little
distance from the street and was surrounded by flowers.
What drew her attention most was the appearance of a little child whose
innocent face reminded her that purity still existed. She entered the
grounds and rang the bell.
A young woman opened the door and kindly invited her in. The Witch made
some remark about the pretty boy outside, when she saw an expression of
pain flit over the lady's face. Something wrong here, she thought.
Yes, the child was hers; she had loved not wisely but too well, Her
betrayer, a prosperous business man who was as yet unmarried, was
allowed to move in the very best of society, but the finger of scorn
was pointed at her from all sides.
She was the only daughter of parents who thought very fondly of their
lovable grandchild, still felt keenly the disgrace that had been
brought upon the hitherto spotless family name.
Does the seventh commandment demand more obedience from one sex than
the other? It reads as if it was spoken to both alike. Our Witch
learned the man's name and business address, and departed.