, 1869-03-07
Al nBRAlN.WAVE,"
4 New Th<ory-Premonlr1on Disposed
VI.

n
VI.
To the Editor ofthe Lordnn Spectator:
slR: The reluctance Of your correspon-
dents to authentlcata with real names the
stories they have sent yon In Illustration Of
~. T. rs" bratu-waTe theory, induces me
10 submit the following narrative. hare
heard MT father tell the htory 30 often that
II again In print. Whether the condition you
lay down, that the real ahall also be we'll
knos namt, Is satisfied In his case, It Is for
yon to Judge. Bat to philanthropists In gen
e11l, and prison reformers tn paft:culat, John
Cl.y, Of Preston, Is, think, familiar name.
ago {the precise date t cannot reeili) my
mother. and my eldest sister, then about
eight yea1B old, were t1ttng together In The
diltnE. .room 1t home No one else was in
the house, except 4 younger child, hts nurse,
and another seT ant; al the rest Of The faml:;
my father was at the gaol. He WIS due At
home In about half an hour, Il then being
nearly four O'Clock. The afternoon was very
wet, but ytry Sill, the rsln falling In sosrents
sitting thu. MT mother heard footsteps Ap-
approach, aud presently come one opened and
passed through the {asd door. THIS yard
door faced On to the Eoad; IT. WIS then
country road, and the nearest house vas iulI
5ooyards distant; and IN zone going 10 thetron
dining room windsws, another window. and
then turn round The corner Of the house
througn gate in the Eardeo}. She MA.
| good deal startled, more especially because
this door, according 70 domestic regulations,
ought TO have been locked. She reused her.
/ scll 70 listen With Ill her might, and heard
distlnctly-all the more distinctly u the
| house. WIS 30 qnlet-the person who had
| opened the yard door, enter Inc h3use by ITO
back door, 1rsverte : passage in the ease-
/ - L. l tAu< - AF . 4E~
back stairs, mount the back stairs, md enter
the front hill. But by this time she VAS
completely reasku1ed, tor she had recognized
1 ny tathera too.ttep- BE put hss umbrella
into the stand with rafting noise,
took od bis top-coat md shook IL
haa inso tie ia o.niae room. HE hi doc door md md
dining room door we're both aiaE, 70 she casi-
II btard III this. He vent up 10 the drr, and
resting his elbow on the nantelpIece md one
foot on The finder, stood there for \ lew mo-
ments drying himself. At lengsh she sald;
70 4nd change your clothes. At onceg'
HTes," he replied, II think I had better do
so;' 1ud 20 he tu1ned, leit the room, and
went up stairs to his dressing-room. A. he
honr, my mother followed him TO sec what
Has the c4use Of his delay. To her astonlsh-
T Of Il. h.1tne 1 been es The there. fhe S sea1ched ~ lea
through all the rooms On the same l4nding,
but could not And him, md at length came
down stairs aZaln, puz1ed and fright
Ned; but trying to calm herself with
the supposttion that although she had not
noticed his departure, he must hare Ieft tho
house again, for some purpose OF other. But
| while she sat there, Sill dut1ttd and une1sy,
she heard again tho same footsteps approach.
ing, the same opening Of the yard door, the
eame entrance by the back door, the same
| ttavezsinR Of the pAssaCc downssalrt, and
mounting BY the back stairs Into The hall,
the same putting down Of the umbrella and
shaking ol the coat, and then my father CANE
into the room, walked up 70 the are, ard
pl4eed his elbow on the ninte3pleco and
foot On the fender, Just as he had done be'
lore. "Wby, where hATe you beoo," exelsim'
ed my mother, Is soon as she could speak,
auer ihe first gasp Of Amusement "beeu. !.
eaid he, turning round md noticing for me
first tirno her excitement and 1istFeA =,
haye bt en- II the jail u ususl-" "Oa y
, Eon know. Nthst't not what mean, whert
: hayr you been aimee You carne n oJ tne
t.ct door. inst Is ynu have done J7st now
rs,hrr 1noro than bali m hour tnce 7" ~
: don,I undsrs, ard you ut all; I have come
i strs,eht frsm the JILL, and peves been II
. ~ hnuse ttnce LEX thus morning" "oh
I s,'s TO btd, playing jokes lke this 4
t,,shten ma, when You know Am not welL'
~. mothor vas N delicate healsa 1t th
! t,Ie:1 And then, IN answer to his snNes
) nnrstions. ti ehe poured out tho htorJ ! haF
? 'oiH Elicye The Incident happened e1aehY
h,v.nsuatrd. I have heard my father V
: ths m sttIy repeatedly, aaa hs vn ding alaf'