Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-04-09
WAS IT A VISION :

I thing, but few arrive attic acc %
/ discretion without the occurrence oil
some peculiar event that cannot be
explained away by any usual way Of
| solving doubts. | tell you the simple
tale that follows as twas told to me.
: [ only premise it by stating that il is
strictly true, the names alone being
D fictitious.
| On n of the principal streets OF
| the city of Savannah stands a large,
massively built house. 1t had been a
! palatial home in the days when the
/, century was still in its youth, but
gradually as the city expanded it grew
beyond 1t, until commerce, with its
noisy traffic, invaded its quiet pre-
cincts, rendering it unfit for a home.
The original owners clung to its
clustering memories, but when in due
time they we're gathered to their
fathers the younger surviving mem
bers concluded to leave the old man
sion and seek quieter quarters else
where. There was an only daughter,
a fair young girl, about to be married
to a gentleman living in the northern
part of Georgia. She pleaded hard
that she might be married from the
old home, so the closing scene before
the desertion of the homestead was
the marriage Of Anna Neville to the
man of her choice. The plan of the
house was very simple. The library
and dining-rOom occupied the whole
of the English basement. The draw
ing-rOoms above were reached by a
solid mahogany stairway winding up
from the front door, which opened
directly on the street. The reception
rooms could be divided by folding
doors, but they rarely served their
purpose, and the entering guest was
impressed by the long vista seen
through the depths of the splendid
mirrors at each end of the apartments.
Such were the rooms that received the
elite of Savannah for the last time,
and the young bride herself left the
following day never more in the flesh
to see her old home.
Everything was dismantled-trans
ferred to another house-and in a few
months every room was fitted up for
the occupancy of professional men,
with names outside each office door.
As the shadows of night deepened
one light after another would be ex-
tinguished until a long silence reigned
throughout the night, only broken
occasionally by some rat on a forage.
Ten years have passed. The war
has interviewed, breaking up old chan
nels of life and creating interests in
new paths. Not a member Of the
Neville family remained in Savannah.
and the old house was in an agents
hands to keep or change its occupants
as he thought proper. New people
had come in too-the strong, energetic
element that in time was to leaven the
the Southland among them two
brothers in the prime of life, one a
physician, the other a lawyer. They
had rented the drawing-rooms, each
occupying his own office, and keeping
the folding-doors sufficiently ajar to
admit of easy egress from one room to
the other.
This brings us up to a particular
evening in, the winter of 1877, when
DR.. John Mortimer had left his front
Office under the are Of his brother
James, then busily preparing briefs
for the next days work in court. The
outer door was locked and the key de-
posted, as usual, in a given place.
The brothers we're methodicalin their
work. and generally timed their duties
that one should be at home when the
other was absent. 1t was between five
and six O'Clock, the suns rays had
gone beyond the windows, but the
daylight was still clear and distinct
for continued writing. AS James
Mortimer still leaned on his desk
wholly occupied with the work before
him, he was made conscious of some
ones approach by the shadow cast
upon the paper.
Hastily raising his head, he saw be-
fore him a tall, lovely young woman.
Her movements were so deliberate
that he took in her whole presence at
a glance. Her golden hair swept in
long waves from a low, broad forehead,
and was carelessly caught by blue
bands of ribbon. The features were
~delicately chiseled, and the deep blue
eye was intensified in its glance by the
long black lashes. Her dress, of some
light material, seemed to float around
her in Its ample folds and was confined
at the waist by a broad sash of the
same COLOR az the ribbon on the hair.
There was no covering for the head or
shoulders. Apparently the person
was in a curious costume for an out
door visit As she neared the. table
Mr.. Mortimer saw a peculiar deadly
pallor ofthe skin, and, above all, the
far-of expression of the eye that
seemed to have no recognition for sur
rounding objects. The idea then arose
that this was some lady patient of his
brothers, probably not wholly con.
seious of her actions, and he rose
quickly that he might reassgEa her.
Madam he said, = can I aid you
in any way"
No reply. No apparent conscious
ness of his presence, but with an IN.
certain step she turned toward the
front door.
Madam, he again said, "if you
wish to see my brother, he is absent /;
but let me light the gas in his Office, it
IS almost dusk"
Still no answer. No intimation that
he had been heard. The lady contin-
ged her walk TO the other room, and
they entered together. Matches were
always beneath the burner, and in an
instant every corner Of the darkened
room had been Alupinated by tho gas.
] Mr.. Mgrtlmeg. glanced around to
.