Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-09-19
An Evening AT Epping.

to reflection than TO action have at time.
been conscious of power undeyelOped
far transcending all they have ever put
forth. In illustration of this assump.
ton, l propose offering plain state,
ment of facts. Ii may be that circum.
stances equally remarkable occur within
the experience of most persons; but, il
it be so. believe they excite usually
only transient observation.
Ten years ago I was spending the
summer in Epping-a quiet, pleasant
country town in New England. Tn
usual demands had been made on my
energies, mental and physical, the pre-
ceding year, and, with scarcely suf-
ficient vitality to enable me TO seek
rest, yet thankfully accepted it when
offered by chance. A month of abso-
lutte repose restored TO me degree OF
vigor commensurate, perhaps, with
that which before possessed, but with
a difference. Previously l had valued
chiefly nv uniformity of ability TO la
bor. Now had the ability in an equal
degree, but interruptedly. Gradually
/ observed, too, that my own moods
were precursors of meteorological
changes. so that became a sort of con-
sciOus barometer. NY experiences at
this time were not all equally agree
able, but the most so of them, | think.
was a feeling of extreme buoyancy, ac-
companied by an unusual clearness of
perception, apparently coincident with,
and, as | grew to believe, dependent
upon any extraordinary augmentation
of atmospheric electricity. At such
times, too. was conscious of a recogni-
ton of traits of character in the indi-
viduals around me which L have never
before obseryed-their thoughts, the
very words they were about to speak,
were as clear TO my mind as at the mo-
ment of their utterance. / cannot bet
, ter express what i experienced in this
respect than to say that my own mind,
like mirror, reflected sometimes the
consciousness, memory and vOlition of
another, and this quite independently of
effort on my part other than to hold in
allegiance disturbing forces.
One morning in the middle of July,
after protracted drought, and after
the failure of repeated prognostics of
rain, the temperature had descended
from little less than loo degrees TO the
vicinity of 30. The GOODNESS had braced
my nerves to a degree of tension which
/ had rarely felt. L was evolving plan
of action as | stood by the window in
the office of my friend Wynn, whose
guest l then was, and who, by the way,
was eminent in the brotherhood of law
yers whose rare acumen and sterling
good sense form a counterpart 10 the
granite structure of their own State.
While / stood there, then, an individual
entered the office whom, in spite of
multifarious disguises, such as dyed
hair and whiskers, false teeth and an
assumed name, L at once recognized as
nv own fellow-townsman, and as
arrant a scoundrel as il has ever been
nv lot to encounter. He had an air of
much pretension, wore a large seal
ring, a snowy scarf-pin and several
crossings of bright gold chain over a
bright-patterned waistcoat, all of which
decorative trumpery served the purpose
of varnish to a very ugly picture,
heightening the distinctness at every
point. His errand, to obtain the
the use of the Town Hall for the de-
livery of lecture upon animal mag
netism, being speedily accomplished,
he took his leave.
wynn" said l, As the door closed
upon him, ''do you remember Mark
Tufts, who was convicted of burglary
in Charleston, and who afterwards es-
capped from State prisOn:''
"Yes,r answered Wynn. 'and l
could not think of who this man re-
minds me; yes, it is Mark Tufts"
at is Tufts himself" | replied. 81
recognized him before he had uttered
three sentences. came across the room
to look for the scar of a wound on the
left cheek, given him by a companion
in a drunken brawl. The mark is
there. And know that the little finger
and the first joint OF the one next TO it
are missing from the hand which he
carries it in sling, and which he pre-
tends to have been hurt in recent
railroad accident"
"Pierson G. Leffingwell' was elabo-
rately engraved on the card with which
he had introduced himself. L looked
from the window: the man had crossed
the street and was standing on the
piazza of the Epping House. Presently
he entered, and shortly after reap
peared, accompanied by a showily-
dressed woman and young girl; in