“I gather that you must think this a very important document, Halvor,” said Bullet Gunner, thoughtfully.

“I do,” replied Halvor.  “Now we shall learn what Hellgum meant when he wrote in his last letter that a great trial of our faith was before us.”

“I don’t think that any of us will be afraid to suffer in the Lord’s cause,” Gunner assured him.

All the Hellgumists had not yet arrived, and there was a long wait before the last one finally made his appearance.  Old Eva Gunnersdotter, with her far-sighted eyes, meanwhile sat gazing at Hellgum’s letter.  She was reminded of the letter with the seven seals, in Revelation, and fancied that the instant any human hand should touch that letter, the Angel of Destruction would come flying down from Heaven.

She raised her eyes and glanced up at the Jerusalem picture.  “Yes, yes,” she mumbled, “of course I want to go to that city whose gates are of gold and whose walls are of crystal!” And she began reading to herself:  “’And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.  The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst."’

The old woman was so deep in her precious Book of Revelation that she started as if she had been caught napping when Halvor went over to that end of the table where the letter lay.

“We will open our meeting with a hymn,” Halvor announced.  “Let us all join in singing number two hundred and forty-four.”  And the Hellgumists sang in unison, “Jerusalem, my happy home.”

Eva Gunnersdotter heaved a sigh of relief because the dreaded moment had been put off for a little.  “Alack-a-day! that a doddering old woman like me should be so afraid to die,” she thought, half ashamed of her weakness.

At the close of the hymn Halvor took up the letter and began unfolding it.  Whereupon the Spirit moved Eva Gunnersdotter to arise and offer up a lengthy prayer for grace to receive in a proper spirit the message contained therein.  Halvor, with the letter in his hand, stood quietly waiting till she had finished.  Then he began reading it in a tone he might have used had he been delivering a sermon: 

“My dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you.

“Hitherto I had thought that I and you, who have embraced my teaching, were alone in this our faith.  But, praise be to God! here in Chicago we have found brethren who are likeminded, who think and act in accordance with the principles.

“For be it known unto you that here, in Chicago, there lived in the early eighties a man by the name of Edward Gordon.  He and his wife were God-fearing people.  They were sorely grieved at seeing so much distress in the world, and prayed God that grace might be given them to help the sorrowing ones.