Mrs. Catt broke the silence.
"That story is certainly interesting enough to print," she said pleasantly.
"Who next will give us pleasure?" she asked turning to Sister Anne. "You?"
Sister Anne smilingly assented.
"I was only eight years old when I left England, but I shall never forget it. My dear mother and father accepted the Gospel almost directly that it was preached to them.
"This horrified and enraged my mother's parents, who believed that my father was the one to blame and that he had unusual Satanic influence over my mother. So they decided to kill him. In the dead of night they came to our home and I was awakened by me shrieks of my mother, who was trying with her delicate strength to hold the door from the invaders without. With a crush, they broke in at the windows, but mother had kept them out long enough for father to hide in one of the large copper kettles. Enraged they looked for him in vain, leaving the house with threatenings for the future.
"My parents realized that they must emigrate to Utah—there was no peace at home. So with their five children, and I the eldest, they set sail for America.
"We were many weeks on the water. When we reached the Mississippi, mother was exhausted, for the food had been very bad and the trip rough. As we neared St. Louis, cholera broke out on board our boat, and mother immediately fell a victim. The quarantine officers ordered us all on deck, and the word went around that cholera victims would be taken off separately.
"I shall never forget my father's grief. Mother was almost gone, and to be separated would be awful.
"With her usual grit, mother braced up, and with father's help, managed to crawl to the deck. There she sat by father, and when the quarantine officer came around she pretended to be eating her soup with relish. This deceived him and he passed her by. The next day my mother died, leaving five children, one a little baby. Never will I forget our burying mother in St. Louis. Father was grief stricken, but his wonderful faith held him up and he told me to be 'little mother.' We purchased a wagon and team and started on our long journey across the plains. After many days of hardships, we reached Utah, and there my father worked long hard days and raised his little flock, with only me to help him. So you see my parents sacrificed all for the faith, so is it not natural I prize it above other things?"