My body was sinking for the third time when one of my brother's
companions bent a tall slender willow tree in such a low dip that
I could grasp it with my desperate fingers. The boys lifted me to
the bank and successfully gave me first-aid treatment.
"Twelve years later, a youth of seventeen, I visited Chicago with
my mother. It was 1893; the great World Parliament of Religions
was in session. Mother and I were walking down a main street, when
again I saw the mighty flash of light. A few paces away, strolling
leisurely along, was the same man I had seen years before in vision.
He approached a large auditorium and vanished within the door.
[Illustration: Mr. E. E. Dickinson of Los Angeles; he sought a
silver cup--see dickinson.jpg]
[Illustration: Sri Yukteswar and myself in Calcutta, 1935. He is
carrying the gift umbrella-cane--see gurus.jpg]
[Illustration: A group of Ranchi students and teachers pose with
the venerable Maharaja of Kasimbazar (at center, in white). In 1918
he gave his Kasimbazar Palace and twenty-five acres in Ranchi as
a permanent site for my yoga school for boys.--see teachers.jpg]
"'Mother,' I cried, 'that was the man who appeared at the time I
was drowning!'
"She and I hastened into the building; the man was seated on a
lecture platform. We soon learned that he was Swami Vivekananda of
India. {FN47-1} After he had given a soul-stirring talk, I went
forward to meet him.
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