Page:The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy.djvu/92

62  visit me at eight o'clock this evening.” On this occasion she specifies that she wishes to be treated for “small beliefs,” namely, “stomach trouble, backache, and constipation.”

In the early part of 1864, Mrs. Patterson again spent two or three months in Portland. She found congenial companions in one Mrs. Sarah Crosby, who was likewise a patient of Quimby's, and Miss Anna Mary Jarvis, who had brought her consumptive sister to Quimby for treatment. Mrs. Crosby and Mrs. Patterson became warm friends. They occupied adjoining rooms in the same boarding-house and spent much time together. Mrs. Patterson told Mrs. Crosby that she intended to assist Quimby in his work. The latter, says Mrs. Crosby, frequently expressed his pleasure at Mrs. Patterson's enthusiasm. “He told me many times,” she adds, “that I was not so quick to perceive the Truth as Mrs. Patterson.” Quimby now gave Mrs. Patterson much of his time. He was practising then mainly in the morning, and allowed Mrs. Patterson to spend nearly every afternoon at his office. “She would work with Dr. Quimby all afternoon,” says Mrs. Crosby, “and then she would come home and sit up late at night writing down what she had learned during the day.” This second visit to Quimby seems to have been even more stimulating to Mrs. Patterson than the first. She gave all her time and strength to the study of this esoteric theory. It was during this visit that she first manifested a desire to become herself an active force in the teaching and practising of this “Science.” The desire became actually a purpose, perhaps an ambition—the only definite one she had ever known. She was groping for a vocation. She must even then have seen before