o often reported as missing from their homes, and for whose return
mothers waited year after year in vain.

The revelation enveloped me as a dark cloud. In vain I tried to disperse
it. Surely there was some way of combating this gigantic evil. Here
indeed was the Philistine Giant of Evil. The people were indifferent.
The laws were impotent. There was no public opinion on the subject.
True, some of my journeys to different countries had resulted in the
homecoming of some who had been falsely beguiled into the way of evil,
but this was as nothing compared to that which appeared to be
impregnable to the forces of righteousness.

The darkness of the picture obsessed me. It clung with an octopus-like
grip to my soul. I truly found trouble and sorrow, intensified by the
consciousness of perfect helplessness to grapple with such a vast area
of evil. It was world-wide, and whatever the remedy, it would have to be
universal in its application. This experience seemed to bring me to the
very porch of hell.

Could nothing be done to cope with this state of things? Could earth
with all its multifarious efforts of Prevention and Rescue find no
solution of this fearful problem? Would no one be found able to fence
the top of this Tarpeian Rock, over the precipice of which, the virtue
of womanhood was being constantly flung? Was this feature of lust never
to be quenched, or must it for ever be fed with the priceless gem in the
crown of true womanhood? Was there no means of stopping the unholy
demand, as that alone would cause the supply to cease?

These were some of the questions which came again and again to my mind
as I pondered this mighty question.

As I thus mused, a sweet and holy vision came to me. I was not asleep,
neither was I fully awake so far as this world was concerned. The heart
and soul were in the throes of a new birth. I know not whether it was a
vision, a dream, or a Divine message. I heard no voice, I saw no form,
but clear, emphatic, and distinct came the solution of the problem. It
was as follows:

"If I could go to every capital of Europe, if I could interest the
leading people and government of each country, if I could induce the
courts of Europe to take up this matter; if I could then induce the
governments to meet in conference and decide to deal with it from an
international point of view, surely the evil would not only be checked,
but to a large extent would be eradicated." How, without any
qualificati