"Sometimes I would visit the family and she would not be at home, and late in the evening she would return all alone. She would go anywhere at any time. I have seen her late at night walking through the slums of Calcutta all alone. She was free in the truest sense of the word, not being in bondage to her material form, or in recognizing family or social standing; she had no superstitions; she was above and beyond them all. I noticed she was loved very much by her parents and brother, and seemed to possess a deep affectionate nature herself. Her peculiar qualities were fully recognized by the family, she having no household duties to perform, only as the notion might take her.
"I was always a welcomed guest at the house, and I felt as much at home as if I were a member of their family.
"After I had known the family about a year, I called at the house one evening just about the time it was getting dark. Wavernee was sitting in the door-way. She seemed very pleased to see me and invited me in, saying: 'The other members of the family are all away.'
"The room we went into we entered at its center, and she turned to the left and walked to the end of the room. She gave me a seat so that I sat at the extreme end of the room. She closed the door and took a low seat on my left. To my great surprise, she commenced a conversation about common things, and talked as interestingly as any intelligent young lady would talk. We chatted about fifteen minutes, and by that time the room was dark so I could not see one object from another.
"She became silent and I received an impression that she did not wish me to speak, so we both sat in the silence for about ten minutes, when the room became illuminated and she herself seemed to be the brightest object in it. I never saw a room so bright as that in my life. After a few minutes everything in the room appeared dark except the wall at the further end; and where it was light there seemed to be a white covering such as is used for magic lantern pictures. I was looking at it when there appeared a picture which covered the whole cloth. It represented men and women of all tribes and nations bending beneath heavy loads of bondage. I observed their bondages were not all the same. There was a difference in the kind of bondages the men were bound with to those that held women in slavery. Then I saw that the men had some bondages the same as the women had. I observed the bondages of the women were not all the same. For instance, the American's woman's bondage in some respects was different from that of the Japanese woman, and the bondages of the Hindu woman were not the same as that of the Chinese woman. It was a sad sight. As they were all presented, they appeared to be living, moving figures.
"There were a few Hindu men and women who were free, going among them trying to lift them out of bondage, but it was very hard, for they seemed to love being in bondage. Only those who were tired of their bondages were helped by the workers. Wavernee kept her eyes intently on the picture all the time, and when she turned her face towards me the scene disappeared and the whole room became dark. In about ten minutes the whole room was again illuminated and I never saw Wavernee look so much like the embodiment of perfect love as she did then. She seemed as if she had been touched with a live coal from off the altar, the sacred fire was so bright in her eyes. The atmosphere was one of sacred blissful love. Whatever there was of lukewarmness or indifference in me in regard to humanity was licked up, as it were, by a fiery flame of love. I felt as if my whole nature had become white-heat with love. The most miserable creature seemed dear and sweet to me.
"While I was in that frame of mind the room became dark, except the further end, and I saw another living scene on the canvas. It was Wavernee walking along a hot dusty road a few miles from Calcutta. She seemed indifferent to the heat and dust, and was looking exactly the same as I have just described her. As she was walking along, I noticed a little way in front of her was a young woman sitting down on the side of the road with only a few dirty rags on her poor body. Her face and form showed marks of sin and disease. When she saw Wavernee coming near her, she put her hands to her face and held her head down. O, the apparent contrast between the two! Wavernee sat down beside the young woman and took one of her hands and held it awhile, meanwhile talking to her. Then she opened a basket she had and took out a bottle and poured the contents into a glass and gave it to her to drink. There was a label on the bottle and glass which read 'love,' and the young woman drank the glass empty. After awhile Wavernee stood up and the young woman stood up, too, and as she did so her rags fell from her and she was clothed like Wavernee, and when I looked into her face I saw no difference between them.
"The scene disappeared, but it was quickly replaced by another which represented Wavernee and some other native workers clearing large tracts of land. Then they ploughed and harrowed it. As fast as they prepared one tract of land for the seed they commenced clearing another piece. On the land that had been cleared I saw myself and some one else with me that had a veil over head and face, so I could not see who the person was; but we were both engaged in the same occupation of sowing seed, each one of us having a large measure containing the seed. On the outside of the measure was the word truth. We would sow one piece of land and then go to another piece that had been cleared and sow that. On the ground that I had sowed, a crop came up in the form of many men and some women who were all out of bondage. They were free. Where the person with me had sowed, there was a crop of many women and some few men who were out of bondage. They were all free. I wish I could convey to your mind how happy and joyful they all were.
"As this last scene disappeared the whole room became illuminated. Wavernee looked at me with eyes of celestial love and said: 'Penloe, thou hast seen all. What appeared before thy vision will convey to thy mind more than any words of mine. Before you is a future that angels might desire. Be true to thy highest light, then wilt thou realize what thy eyes have seen. Your co-worker is one that I love. She knows me not, but I know her, and when she becomes one with you in your life and work of love, give her this ring (taking it from her finger and giving it to me) with my love and tell her to accept it as a symbol of your union in love and work.
"'This ring has a history. It was worn by a beautiful young Indian princess who, after having been a wife to a prince for two years, became disgusted with her life, and, weary of all the luxuries of the court, she left one night in disguise, saying to herself: "I can live here no longer, for I am a greater slave than the poorest of the Pariah women. My nature cries out for freedom. I would rather be free in poverty than be a slave in luxury. Give me freedom or give me death!" She lived for many years in the realization of her own highest nature. She looked on all about her as being God and showed that love and reverence for all as she did for the Divine Being. Her whole life was devoted to being a blessing to many others; particularly to the elevation of those of her own sex. Just before she died she gave it to my Guru's (Spiritual Teacher) mother, who was then a young woman, saying: "Wear this as a vow that thy life will be consecrated to lifting thy sisters out of bondage." My Guru gave it to me with its history, saying: "My mother lived and died for woman's freedom. May you live for the same noble purpose."' Then Wavernee rose and took from a shelf this beautiful little box, saying: 'Keep the ring in this box.'