Omaha daily bee., 1874-08-05

Richard was, of course, very~anS-
ious to e the sights of the great
metropolis, so we agreed to make a
tour Of the amusements. He took
me out of an evening, perhaps four
times a week. I remember being
very much charmed with a pair of
acrobats, a man and woman, who
were entirely Independent of the
law of gravitaion, and who sailed
through the air "on the flying ira
peze" with all the aplom6 and fear
lessness of birds. Richard used to
laugh at me as /, night after night,
declared in favor of the 9acrobats.
The woman was q beautiful creature
and had, for me, a strange and weird
attraction, which I could not ac-
count for-but it is unnecessary to
try to account for some things. I
began at this time to believe that 1
was growing fanciful, a thing that
had never occurred to me before. 1
had, once or twice, sleepless nights.
/ thought a grest deal too much
about the jewelry and silver in Mrs.
Ayscough's rooms, and I began to
make my inspections of the house
with anxiety.
One of my great pleasures, par
ticularly Of a Sunday evening, had
been to have Thomas light all the
gas that 1 might see the works of
art to advantage; and it gave me,
too, a sense of companionship which
1 needed. On that evening Nancy
and Thomas took their only pleas
ure. They went out, leaving me
entirely alone. The policeman in
the square had become somewhat of
an acquaintance of mine, and I had
provided myself with a whistle by
which / could call him if necessary
in these periods of utter loneliness.
Sometimes, as he walked under the
window, I would step to the balcony
and speak to him SO long as 1 heard
his tramp, tramp, I was not utterly
isolated.
One Sunday evening ] was walk
ing up and down, looking particu-
larry at a fine Venetian picture-a
wilderness of color and action-one
of those pictures of Leutze, in
which a myriad of events are pic
tured as going on at the same time
when my eye was irresistibly
drawn toward a mirror, and I saw
good God! what did, see "a
tall, straight, female figure, covered
with a profusion of light hair. I saw
the dead Gertrude, stepped from her
grave, the very presentiment of the
picture I had SO often studied. She
leaning ON the balusters of the
grand staircase, and the image was
reflected through two or three mir
rors, for I could not see the staircase
where 1 stood. She reached me by
The horror was so great that l do
not know how long Hooked. / am
sure 1 saw her start to 60, and I
know / followed her. I lost sight
of both mirror and staircase before I
reached the door, but certainly /
heard door shut at the top of the
stairs as / reached the lower step.
1t was the door of Mr. Ayscough's
apartment.
The vision was gone, but two
senses had been appealed to-sight
and hearing. ! had sense enough
to open the front door, sound my
whistle, and then I dropped sense
.ess. When I resumed my con-
/ found myself on the
'ofa. The private Waterman was
bending over me and I told him my
story.
"You're a getting a brain fever, p,
na'am," said he "you're alone too
much you must try for a little
more company. If you saw a wo-
nan goin' upstairs We'll soon catch
Ter; but I guess she was here" tap
,ing his forehead. So, summoning
iome of his brotherhood, we went
MI. Ayscough's rooms, which We
ound locked, everything undlsturb-
d ; the portrait was in its accus-
omed place. Was it true that she {
lad stepped from it to come and :
peak to me-? Or, had my brain
furnished that tall, white figure?
(Tb he eoattnued.) i