The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1878-06-14

ANU tnat Is now olga Will lC
u. IN thirty years" 1 thought as gazed
ast her mother. became afraid of
N young girl who had so lately facinat
Sc me. Somehow my thoughts went ba
to my own grandmother, and an {
great aunt who was still living. Tb
Iy were sisters and extraordinarily like ga
other. And yet my grandmother h
TX been great beauty in her day, and n
a. great aunt positively ugly. All kinds
queer ideas passed through nv mir
D. about the unchangeableness of the tvr
E cal forms of face in every indiyidu,
IL though such typical forms may lie CO..
y eealed for years under veil of youth {
e happiness, sorrow, health, or sicknes
n Nevertheless, as every individual gre
IS oid suddenly seemed to understan
y that his typical countenance, the primi
/ i've plan of his face, would inevitabl
L declare itself. at is the true essence {
e himself" [ thought, @the rest is outwar
Show" After this came out of NV re
treat, and again joined the others.
e chanced to pass near Olga. Her ex
}. pressive look welcomed me back.
What a pensive air, " Le a,hizos,
phe" she exclaimed, "what are yoI
thinking about? Give me Your arm anc
take meoutof this furnace. 1 can hardl,
breathe"
I; L took her into another room. Sb,
stood by window, and, still leaning or
my arm, she looked out into the starry
night A pensive sadness overspread
her face; L felt the beating of her heart; a
deep sigh rose from her soft bosom. And
knew knew with absolute certainty
THAT she was living lie; that every-
thing about her was false, her dreamy
eyes, her smiling mouth, her gentle
words, and every beat of her false heart
OF stone. As she stood silent and mo-
tIonless beside me Ike faultless starue.
she appeared to me not what she aoqs,
but Nhat she would be thirty years to
come. | perceived clearly her real,
I've type,-the same as her moth
er's, with her cruel mouth and evil eyes.
let her hand drop from my arm, and |
drew apart from her,
What is the matter" she said, with
some surprise. @You are quite pale."
At the moment could find no com
monplace words of excuse to offer her.
1 was impelled to tell the truth. "You
fill me with horror" I exclaimed. She
gave merry laugh, probably supposing
1 was joking. But without another word
l left her and went home.
From that day forward l began new
existence. Every face saw became the
object of my careful examination.
Young peoples faces especially interest
ed me. If saw them with their par
ents, was not easy till out of the fair,
fresh, youthful face l had picked out Of
the family features. Youth withered
under my glance. The desire to find
the true face under the mask became a
mania. 1t caused me many annoyances,
for it often happened that strangers
wanted to know why l was gazing al
them. Saveral times l made q resolu
ton to give up this unluoky propensity,
but it was too strong for me. At con-
certs or at theatres l would fix my eyes
on some young face, and then turn it
into an old one: after which ! would
make every effort to obtain glimpse OF
the father or mother of the young per
son whose face l was experimenting
upon. At first | often found myself
mistaken, but grew more skillful as
time went on. | laid down rules, fixed
rules for my own guidance, and after a
while became master of the miserable
art which had gained complete ascend
encY over me.
What l may cali my apprenticeship
did not last long. I had been early
struck with the fact that certain faces
could not be subjected to my process of
aging them. In vain 1 applied to them
all the rules found successful in other
cases. They would not grow old
One of these refractory faces, as i
called them, was my brothers; another
that of a young girl who was my sisters
friend; whom saw every day either at
our owa honse or at her fathers, and
who was the object of my secret love.
"Why cannot Il transform these two
aces?" l asked myself. If covered my
eyes with my hands, and tried to make
them old, Alexis and Sophie would only
look pale with their eyes closed. And
it was not long before l saw their dead
bodies just as 1 had so often seen them
in imagination. They we've out upon
the lake in party of pleasure. The
boat upset; and they we've drowned.
The grief that felt for their loss wa.
Increased by my conviction that
possessed the fated gift of knowing WHIT
among those who surrounded me woul(
die young. l almost went out Of m!
senses. l became very i'll. For week
my life was despaired Of When | grew
better went to retired country heus'
owned by my family in southern Russia
There 1 lived for year in the strictes
possible seclusion.
One day, having nothing to do, l un
dertook to see if could apply to my Owl
face the same rules by which l had beel
!. in the habit of testing the faces ofother:
My face proved a refractory face.
could not make it grow old. Il shall di
> young, like Sophie and Alexis" l ez
. claimed, -and 1 am glad it tshould be so.
1 Life had grown to be a heavy burden
1 and yet 1 was only twenty-five years ole
When the next winter came dreade
4 return to its long solitude. went
4 Moscow, and thence l set out for Pari
e I thought 1 would have all the enjoy
J, ment could out of the few years | hal
y to live. 1 also wanted to see my siste
r the Comtesse de Villiers, before | dieC
t. During my journey l resumed my ol
a habit of fanalyzing the faces round me.
lived as it were surrounded by old face
g Some l liked, and those persons trie
a to know; some were inexpressibly dis
IS greeable to me. Twas considered eccel
e tric in nv tastes; did not care.
Is Nv illness-for l recognized my mi
k mia as such-seemed every day to max
.e fresh progress. My first terrible expe
Y; ience was before l reached Paris.
/, When the train in which l was seate
l. had Just crossed the Belgian frontier,
IT railroad emploge sprang on the step ou
NJ side to examine the tickets OF the pa
5 sengers. His was refractory face.
.y was looking at him with deep pity, for
n vnew he must die young, g,when sudden
m I saw a broad red line like deep woun