Mystics of the Tuolumne

Convergence #

Dahlia arose from the library table, "Albert...Albert....are you in bed already?"  She tiptoed to his door and placed her hand on the knob carefully turning it so as not to wake him.  She peeked in and saw his bed still made. "Albert...Albert?" she whispered.  She walked further into the room by the light of the gaslamp in the corridor.  Albert was not in his room and there was no indication he had been home at all.

Dahlia sat on her chair in front of her vanity brushing her long hair.  She did not like to invade Albert's psyche because she respected his privacy.  But she was worried as she had not seen nor heard him the entire afternoon and early evening.  She placed her tortoise shell and boar bristle brush her Abuelo had made for her after seeing a rich lady with one.  She placed her fingers on her temples and concentrated.  She became violently ill almost throwing up.  She fell to the floor.

 He was not there for breakfast either.  A distraught Dahlia left for her classes.  After closing the front door, she saw Albert lying on the front porch in his own vomit.  "You are the reason I was so sick last night.  Marie...Marie look at this alley rat." 

Marie walked out on to the porch and placed her hand over her mouth.  She was aghast at the sight.  "You go on to school, I'll have a girl clean him up and we'll put him to bed.  I am sorry, Dahlia."

"Marie, you don't have to apologize.  I must apologize to you for his infantile behavior."  Dahlia was so angry and upset that she walked several blocks before taking the trolley.  She calmed down once she was handling the animals.

"Dahlia I'm so sorry...I..don't know...."  Albert could not make eye contact.  Not that it would matter.

"Stop right there, Albert.  I know that you didn't do this to hurt me.  This was a mistake you made through your willful immaturity."  Dahlia was sober and with obvious gravitas, she continued, "You want to be my husband, and perhaps a father.  You are a commissioned officer in the State Volunteers.  This is not your first act of consummate immaturity but it needs to be your last."

Robert Jr. returned from Sacramento where he had been working on a merger between two banks."  I have heard quite an account of you debauchery while I was away, Albert."  He chuckled.

"It made me so sick and hung over I'll never do it again."  Albert was getting nauseated just thinking about it. "I know I have to act and think more maturely.  All the responsibility frightens me."

"Don't let it, little brother.  Just between you and me, marriage isn't jail.  We'll talk later.  Let's go to supper."  Robert Jr. and Albert arose and walked into the dining room.

"Dahlia, this evening Dr. William James is giving a guest lecture about psychology in the lecture hall.  I would appreciate it if you would accompany me."  Albert was as serious as if e proposing marriage all over again.

"I would love that.  I'm interested in the subject.  When do we go?"  Dahlia was hoping her supper attire was sufficient for a student meeting.

"We need to be there by 7 P.M.  I wan to sit in the front rows."  We have to leave in about 15 minutes.

"Will my supper dress be sufficient?"  Dahlia spread her skirts for him to see.

"Perfect, it is a student gathering.  I'll get my oilcloth."  Albert knew better than to tell Dahlia what she needed.

"I'll get my purse, gloves, and waxed mantilla.  Should I also get my derringer?"

Albert left that unanswered, knowing it was a trap.  They met at the front door.  He offered his arm.  She took it.  They walked arm and arm to the trolley for the short pleasant ride to the university.

They managed to get two seats in the front row.  Albert lowered the seat for Dahlia and assisted her into it so she could use both hands to smooth her dress.  The lecture was fascination. Both Dahlia and Albert took copious notes.  Dr. James stole glimpses of them from time to time and smiled.  On completing his prepared address, Dr. James opened the floor to questions.

One student:  Do you think the personal God is who actually cures through faith?

Dr. William James:  Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case

Another student:  Do you think that science will replace faith and religion as unneeded?

Dr. William James:   Our esteem for facts has not neutralized in us all religiousness. It is itself almost religious. Our scientific temper is devout.

Dahlia:  Dr. James how can we prepare ourselves so we are psychologically ready for the unexpected?

Dr. William James:  Do something everyday for no other reason than you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.

Another student:  How did you come by such wisdom?

Dr. William James:  The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

Albert:  I aspire to be a psychologist.  When treating a patient should I focus on actions or feelings?

Dr. William James:  Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.

  Dahlia:  Dr. James, from a pragmatic point of view, to do you think people will see the value in expensive quality therapy.

Dr. William James:  Where quality is the thing sought after, the thing of supreme quality is cheap, whatever the price one has to pay for it.

The lecture was over and Dr. James hurried down from the stage and sought Dahlia.  "Are you a student here, my dear? You asked the most penetrating questions."

"Yes sir, I am in the Veterinary Medicine college.  Next year will be my final year."  Dahlia was proud and a bit flustered at the attentions of Albert's hero and he was a great mind.

"My intended, Albert McKinley, here."  She tugged on Albert's sleeve.  "was the first one to teach rational thinking and the scientific method to me."  She beamed with pride.

"You are fortunate, young man, to have a fiancée this educated and intelligent."  The tall Dr. was looking down at both of them.

"I am studying a combination of physics, medicine, and fields relating to psychological sciences.  I intend to obtain my doctorate and practice psychology in San Francisco."  Albert was proud yet practical.

Dr, William James seized Albert's hand and shook it vigorously.  "You are most welcome to a tiny group who are going to make history."  He handed Albert his calling card. "If you need anything, and I mean anything, write to me."

They took their leave and boarded the trolley to return to Oakland.  "It was because of you that the great man shook my hand.  Did you see the way he looked at us?"  Albert was ecstatic.

"It was nothing unusual.  Men look at me all the time everyday."  Dahlia was feeling saucy.  She still had an axe to grind over the drunkenness and other acts of immaturity.

After talking to Marie and Robert Jr., the two scholars went upstairs to their rooms.  "May I come over tonight?"  He smiled his most charming grin.

"No, I wont share my sheets with a boy as I am no longer a girl.  I am a woman.  When you can come to me as a man, a grown man, I will consider accommodating you."  Dahlia knew she had to make a stand and demand maturity.

Albert put on his little boy hurt look and trudged to his room and slammed the door.