That evening was spent with Anne Lowe and her friends—Anne in one of her whimsical moods, jesting most of the time, with occasional more serious moments.
Speaking of a dog for whose death they had grieved, she said: “He came, and grew into a better force, and some day he’ll make an adorable baby. Part of him, anyway. He was almost human. Every force goes on to a higher one—unless it slides back. In the end it’s got to go on, so why fret and fume about a step either way? Whichever way it is, it’s one step nearer the end, and the end is inevitable and fine. If people must have coasting, let them coast. They’ll begin climbing that much sooner.”
“Matt ...” was written once, but with one voice we refused to talk to him. Mary K. followed, with a reference to a promise she had made to Ruth, several weeks before. Then Anne again, with an apparently clear connection.
Sunday, I was unable to get anything from Mary K. I was told she was away, doing my work. Monday morning, M. A. told me that Mary K. would be “through with the task soon,” and wrote various phrases intended to be misleading. In my note-book, at this point, I find the following entry: “I am beginning to get M. A.’s messages a little more freely, but they are still slow and difficult.”
Upon the departure of a visitor, late in the afternoon, I was conscious of a strong summons, and of a strange sense of turmoil and commotion. When I took up the pencil, the applied force was very strong at moments, then ceased utterly—sometimes sharply, in the middle of a word, or with a letter only half formed. Occasionally, the pencil was dragged down until it almost lay flat on the paper, and cancelations were frequent.
“Matthew Alden is destructive ... Ma ... M. A.... Matthew is destr.... des ... de ... disturbed about Mary K. She means to be the force de ... to have ... han ... handle you, but she destr ... has not done ... been here ... held to her purpose, and has departed to the other side of the world. She must be held firmly to her purpose.”
Knowing Mary K.’s steadfastness in all things, I said that this was absurd.
“She will be pursued ... bett ... forced to strong pleading to be allowed to do the rest of the letters. She should be having a following of our forces. She has been detained for a long time. Matthew Alden ... is having a battle.... Matthew has been defeated and ... M. A.... Matthew is de ... det ...”
Bewildered and irritated, I demanded: “What does this mean?”