Carolina went to New York twice during the summer, and visited Sherman and Addie at their camp in the Adirondacks.
To her surprise, she found Colonel Yancey there. He had paid one or two mysterious visits to his sisters at Whitehall, and had been deeply pleased to discover that they were both members of the little Christian Science church there. He even went so far as to ask Carolina to organize a Sunday school, which had not then been done, and to enroll Emmeline and Gladys as its first members.
He also took this opportunity, let it be said, to offer himself to Carolina again, but promised her, if she refused him this time, after he had declared himself a believer in the new thought, that he would never trouble her again.
Mr. Howard viewed Colonel Yancey's conversion to Christian Science with amused toleration, but Carolina, who knew why, held steadfastly to the thought that there can be no dishonesty in the perfect man, and so firmly did she cling to this affirmation that, when Colonel Yancey, in the Adirondacks, announced that the old oil wells had again begun to yield, and that all the money which she and Sherman had considered lost was by way of being restored to them, Carolina resolutely closed her eyes to any investigations which might unearth disagreeable discoveries, even opposing her best friend, Mr. Howard, in this decision, and simply opened her arms to her reappearing fortune and her heart in gratitude therefor.
Neither she nor Mrs. Goddard was even surprised.
"From the moment I knew that the man's change of heart was sincere and that he was a true Christian Scientist, I knew this restoration must come," she said, "otherwise no blessing of peace nor untroubled night's sleep could come to him. Christian Science lays bare the very root of error, and when error is recognized in the light of day, it must disappear from the heart of an honest man."
But Carolina only said in the depths of her own soul:
"See what Divine Love hath wrought!"
There were changes, too, going on in Moultrie. He had never repeated his declaration of love to Carolina, but in every unobtrusive way he made her feel that she was surrounded by it, while as to the lesson she had conveyed to him in that one stinging sentence, which was never absent from the minds of either of them, it was his mother who brought word of its effect.
"Carolina, child, I never saw such a change in any man in my life, as there is in Moultrie. He has subscribed for three or four Northern newspapers, and as to books! Not novels, mind you. They are histories and biographies and Congressional reports,--the driest things! Peachie and I tried to read them, but we couldn't, and, when I asked Moultrie if he were getting ready to write a book, he answered me in such a short way, 'No, mother. I am only trying to educate myself for the first time.' 'Oh, son!' I said, for I assure you I was hurt to hear my son, who has had the best education of any of the boys around here, speak as if he weren't satisfied with his education. But he only patted my head and said he was only studying now for a purpose. What do you reckon it is?"