Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-02-01

all day."
"Oh," said he, "why should yor
feel so anxious about her to-day? l saw
her last Tuesday; and IL she were il
Mary would be sure TO let us know. i
is only one of your 'fancies,' littl,
wife"
Still l did not feel easy, for NOR,
than once before my so-called fancy
had proved to be reality; so / de
termined that in a few days | would gC
and see Mrs. Benson. All that evening
l could not get her out of my thoughts
and ii was long time before l went tC
sleep. l think it was about three
o'clock in the morning that woke il
a state of terror. / had dreamed tha
l saw Mrs Benson standing in the win
dow of her bedroom, beckoning me Il
come to her, and pointing to female
| figure that was stealing along under
the shade of the trees in the avenue, fol
the moon was shining brightly.
started up, thinking heard heI
calling me. And here is the most ex-
traordinary part of it although was
now quite awake, heard, as Thought,
voice saying to me: "Go tell Mrs.
Benson Martha is deceiving her; tell
her to send her away at once"
Three times these words seemed to
be repeated in my ear. Ican't describe
exactly what the voice was like; it was
not loud, but quite distinct; and l felt
rs listened that it was warning, and
that | must obey it. / woke my hus-
band and told him my dream and the
words had heard. He tried to calm
my mind and evidently thought me
foolish to be so frightened by only a
stupid dream. said would drive
over the first thing after breakfast and
see if anything was wrong with Mary
or her mother. The only thing that
puzzled me was that Martha should be
mentioned as deceiving Mrs. Benson.
She acted as housekeeper and lady's
maid to her and was believed to be
most trustworthy in every way. She
had been four years with her and was
much respected. She was silent, re-
served kind of person, about thirty-five
years of age. One thing l had often
remarked about her was, that when
speaking to anyone she never looked
straight at them; but thought it might
be from kind of shyness more than
anything else. .........
As soon as breakfast was over / set
off, telling my husband l would very
likely not return until next day; and, if
possible, he was TO come for me. He
could drive over early and spend the
day, and we would return together in
the evening, if all was well with his
mother.
When l arrived found Mrs. Benson
and Mary looking as well as ever, and
everything seemingly just as usual.
Martha was sitting at work in her
little room, which opened off Mrs. Ben
sons dressing-room. / could not help
looking at her more closely than l
would have done at another time, and
thought | saw a look of displeasure
cross her face at seeing me. Mary and
her mother were, of course, delighted
to see me, and asked why Henry did
not come, too. So l told them that l
would stay till the next day, if they
would have me, and Henry would come
for me then. They were quite pleased
at that arrangement; for it was not
very often my husband could spend
whole day with them.
As the day passed on and nothing
out of the way happened, | began to
think that l had frightened myself need
lessly, and that my dream or vision
might have been the result of an over
anxious mind. And then Martha, what
about her? Altogether was perpleXed.
did not know what to think; but still
felt a certain underlined uneasiness. |
offered up silent prayer to be directed
to do right, and determined to wait pa
tiently and do nothing for awhile. 1
almost hoped l might hear the voice
again, giving me definite instructions
how to act. Lunch passed and dinner
also; and the evening being very warm,
for it was in the middle of July, we
sat at the open window enjoying the
cooling breeze that set in from the sea.
AS they were early people, shortly
after ten o clock we said goodnight,
and went up to our bedrooms. My
room looked on the avenue, some parts
of which were in deep shade, while. in
other parts the moonlight shone bright
ly through breaks in the trees. did
not feel in the least sleepy; and put
ting out my candle | sat by the win
dow, looking at the lovely view; for
could see the coast quite plainly, and
the distant sea glittered like silver in
the moonlight l did not think how
long | had been sitting there, until l
heard the hall clock strike twelve. Just
then heard, as l thought, footstep
outside of my door, which evidently
stopped there, and then in a few sec
onds passed on. / did not mind, think
ing it might be one of the servants, who
had been up later than usual, and was
now going quietly to bed. l began to
undress, not lighting the candle again,
as | had light enough from the moon.
As | came toward the window to close
it, saw, exactly as in my dream, fe-
male figure-evidently keeping in the
shade of the trees-going down the av-
enue. / determined to follow and see
who it was, for now felt the warning
voice was not sent to me for nothing,
and seemed to get courage, girl though
l was, to fathom the mystery. Hastily
dressed, threw dark shawl over my
head, and, going noiselessly downstairs,
opened the glass-door in the drawing
room window, and left it so that could
come in again. kept in the shade of
the trees as much as possible, and
quickly followed the path had seen the
woman take. Presently heard voices;
one was a mans, the other a woman's.
But who was sheP / came close, and
got behind a large group of thick
shrubs. Icould now see and hear them
quite well; they were standing in the
light; | was in the deep shade. just
then the woman turned her head to-
ward me. 1t was Martha! What did
she want there at that hour? And
who was this manP | was puzzled.
Where had seen that face beforeP for
that had seen it before l was certain;
but where and when 1 could not re-
member. He was speaking in low
voice, and did not hear very distinctly
what he said, but the last few words
were; "And why not Tonight Delays
are always dangerous, especially now,
as they are beginning to suspect me"
"Because Mrs. Benson's daughter
in-law is here, and she is sleeping in
the room over the nlata closet and