Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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22 The Augusta Seminary Annual. heard Juan say that he believed that the ghost they had met the night before had been a spirit sent to warn them. He declared he wonld attempt no other robbery. The other men were silent. They, too, had been frightened by the ghostly apparition. Pabla listened, rejoicing. She had not even dared to imagine such a result as this. Juan to rob no more ! As soon as Pabla finished her morning tasks she eagerly has- tened to the old mission, hoping that Bessie M ould again visit the place. In her hand she carried a bunch of beautiful pond-lilies, but they liad begun to droop before Bessie appeared. She had come to sketch the old mission and had feared that, all alone, the time would pass drearily, for she had but half-hoped to see Pabla again. That winter to Pabla seemed in after years the happiest one in her life. Although Bessie never knew from what Pabla had saved her, she grew to love her, and many were the hours they spent together. Bessie taught her in the evenings in the quiet little cottage, and Pabla grew to love the little gray-haired mother she met at tliese times only second to Bessie herself. One day Pabla found out from Juan that she was really no re- lation to the old woman or himself, but had been adopted by them, Bessie, heai-ing this, begged her to return with her to the north and live with her always, but Pabla remembered the duty she owed to the old woman who had so long cared for her, and refused. One morning, just a week before the time that Bessie was to leave, Pabla, going into the room, found the old woman, as she thought at first, asleep, but upon trying to awaken her she found that she Avas dead. Pabla went north with Bessie, but every winter finds them both in Texas. She is very happy in her northern home, although perhaps there are at times longings for the sunny southland of Texas. LoTTA Savage.

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The Augusta Seminary Annual. 21 The men continued tlieir conversation, wliile tlie old woman nodded in her chair, muttering to herself in her sleep, and ] ahla hy her side, in the gleam of the tlrelic ht, was trying to spell out the words on the card she held in her hand. Suddenly her atten- tion was called to the men. Juan was talking in excited tones, and she caught the words, La Americana del Xorte. Could they he talking about the fair, young girl who had just a few hours before described to her the beautiful home in the far north where the ground M ' as covered all winter long with a wonderful white sheet of snow ( They had lowered their voices, but she strained her ears to catch the words, becoming more and more convinced that Bessie was the subject of their conversation and that another of Juan s rather shady deeds was about to transpire. There was little in their words to prove to her that her conjecture was true, but some instinct seemed to tell her so. She listened. They were planning a robbery. The victims were to be a fair, young American and her invalid mother, who had come to spend the winter in a cottage on Flores Street. Midnight, the hour when evil, always shunning the bright light of day, walks abroad, was the time. Pabla listened no longer. Her mind was busy devising some way to thwart their design. One plan after another passed through her mind only to be dismissed for fear of impli- cating Juan, who, in his rough way, had been kind to her, and, although he deserved arrest, she felt that she could not in any way aid in bringing him to justice. Suddenly a thought came to her. Juan was very superstitious, and she might frighten him by per- sonating a ghost. The old grandmother, sitting back in her chair, was fast asleep. Housing her, Pabla helped her into the house ; and, taking her over to where a solitary candle sputtered and flickered before a tiny image of the Virgin, she handed her the card and told her to read it for her. The old woman was frightened and half asleep, but, with a muttered prayer and making the sign of the cross to ward off some imagined evil, she read the address. The next morning, gathered around the same fire, were the three men, Pabla and her gi-andmother. They were eating their breakfast. Juan wore a half -frightened look, and every now and then glanced backward as though some danger were lurking near. The men were talking, while Pabla, silent and eagerly listening,

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The Augusta Seminary Annual. 23 The Second International Convention of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign flissions. 0F the many conventions in tliis decade of conventions and conferences none, perhaps, promises larger results than the enthusiastic gathering of students in Detroit, Michigan, from Feb- ruary 28tli to March 4tli. As the Cleveland Convention marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Christian life of our colleges, so to the Detroit Convention will be traced the ex- tension of a movement which must soon touch the student life of the world. Xcver was a more hospitable city chosen for a convention ; right royal was the welcome extended by Detroit. With the brightest of skies smiling above us, the most beautiful homes opened for us, and the largest church given over to us, we felt that never before had a convention been so warmly received. Every seat in the Central Methodist Church was occupied when Mr. Stebbins opened the Convention by singing Onward, Chris- tian Soldiers. As the entire audience joined him in singing, the hymn became an insjjiring Marseillaise, and, with such an army of consecrated and intensely earnest young men and women, the watch-cry of the organization, The evangelization of the world in this generation, seemed an easy possibility. The iirst evening was given to Eev. R. E. Speer, whose mas- terly analysis of Paul, the model missionary, held the attention of the audience for nearly two hours. During one entire morning session the qualifications of the missionary were discussed. Dr. Judson Smith ably advocated the necessity of thorough intel- lectual equipment. True mental discipline, said he, unlimbers a man and makes him more adaptable to every trying circum- stance. The process of acquiring is a testing and sifting process which eliminates the least useful. We are bound to oiier God the service of the best we can realize in ourselves. Eev. Har- lan Beach showed, in his inimitable way, the importance of prac- tical training. His motto was, Prepare to touch humanity at