he cures, it was
unnecessary, he said, to lay hands on the sick. When he did so, it was
only in order to impress the souls of those who had need of this outer
sign in order to enjoy the benefits sent them by the Father through His
intermediary. This explains how Schlatter was able to treat from three
to five thousand people every day. He would stand with outstretched
hands blessing the crowds, who departed with peace in their souls.

And the "pearl of Colorado" rejoiced, seeing how the deaf heard, the
cripples walked, the blind saw, and all glorified the name of the Saint
of Denver.

His disinterestedness was above suspicion, and the contempt that he
showed for the "almighty dollar" filled all the believers with
astonishment and admiration.

"What should I do with money?" he said. "Does not my Heavenly Father
supply all my needs? There is no greater wealth than faith, and I have
supreme faith in my Father."

Gifts poured in upon him, but he refused them all with his customary
gentleness, so that at last people ceased to send him anything but
gloves. These, after having touched them with his hands, he
distributed among the sick and the unfortunate.

His fame increased with the ardour of his faith. Suspicion was
disarmed, and great and small paid him homage. Out of touch as he was
with modern thought, and reading nothing but the prophets, he attained
to a condition of ecstasy which at last led him to announce that he was
Christ come down from heaven to save his fellow-men. Having lived so
long on the footing of a son of God, he now was convinced of his direct
descent, and his hearers going still further, were filled with
expectation of some great event which should astonish all unbelievers.

Under the influence of this general excitement he proceeded to undergo
a forty days' fast. He announced this to his followers, who flocked to
see the miracle, preceded by the inevitable reporters; and while
fasting he still continued to heal the sick and give them his blessing,
attracting ever greater crowds by his haggard visage and his atmosphere
of religious exaltation.

Then, having spent forty days and forty nights in this manner, he sat
down at table to replenish his enfeebled forces, and the beholders gave
voice to enthusiastic expressions of faith in his divine mission.

But the famished Schlatter attacked the food laid before him with an
ardour that had in it nothing of the divine. The onlookers became
un