The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-12-09

"MnaJ! tnaJ lovely, Inll dlBelc Cnllu crleu
Elfrida, wonderfully. ~ thought that was an
artists ideal picture ~
at was the image OF our Isadore at nine years
of age" replied Miss Mildred, trying to cover the
sudden break and tremble in her voice by loud
"Hem ~
"And at sixteen she was far beyond that paint
ing for beauty" continued Miss Mildred. 'Stran-
gers used to stop the street to look at her, and
to inquire who she was. But she appeared to
know nothing, and TO nothing about her
wonderful good looks. She was good, and always
amiabe, without the least apparent sign of vanity.
" Ripe for heaven our good old minister used
to saw | wish she might have gone there then p
said Miss Mildred with a stifed grOan.
''She did not die, thenn exclaimed Elfrida.
''I was afraid you were going to tell us of her
death ~
''She did not die, God help herp' replied Miss
Mildred, with sigh so deep and sad that it was
almost groan. Here, in this very wing-cham-
Der, my brother Oliver thought of it," she said,
after long pause. "Here, he called me to help
him decide how to carry out the plan. You see,
girls, Isadore like your friend Evelyn-she
possessed great courage. She seemed To have no
fear of anything on earth. Oliver knew this;
did l. And neither of US expected anything more
than hearty laugh at her expense, or at our own,
when the evening frolic ended
"It Hallow Eve. Isadore and her dearest
friend Miss Nancy Bruce who lived then al
the farm just below this, had agreed to try fate
with spells on that evening. They dared each
other to one thing and another and finally Isadore
pledged herself to 90 into the lonely old north
rooms with a candle, at 9 o'clock that evening"
and eat an apple before Grandmamma ThOrne's
great mirror, that had been stored away there for
safe-keeping for fifty years or more.
"You see, girls the idea was that her future
husbands face was TO appear To her, looking over
her shoulders, in that mirror, as she stood before
it, eating her apple
''Well Oliver overheard the girls planning this
that afternoon, and he told me- And, as | said
before, l helped him, here in this very room, that
evening, while he disguised himeslf in long
white dress, and painted his face all over deathly
fhaf
met, forming black arch across his forehead.
''It changed him terribly, and he looked so like
a corpse in that shroud-lke dress, that was half
scared myself at him. But neither of US thought
OF IsadOre's being frightened
"And so we stole into the north room and con-
trived to get the mirror out of its frame. Oliver
put his face into the vacant space. hung a
drapery around IT, and charged him to keep per-
fectly still, and then stole away TO watch for lsa-
dOre in the hall.
"In few minutes she came down the stairs,
with her candle and apple in her hands, She was
smiling roguishly to herself As she opened the
door of the north room and went in"
"And what happened ?' asked Elfrida, eagerly,
as Miss Mildred paused.
"Where was your mother? How could she let
\ IsadOre 90 into that dreadful room ~ breathed
Marian Hurst.
"Father and mother were both staying with a
/ sick neghbOr watchers that night said Miss
Mildred; ''and watched and waited, i'm the outer
hall, till Nancy Bruce came, crying, down stairs,
to tell some one what they had planned TO do, be-
/ cause she Thought something awful nau happened
to keep IsadOre so long in the north room.
''When Nancy me she caught hold of me
and dragged me with her To the door OF the north
| room. We went in. The candle was burning OF
the table The apple had fallen to the floor. Be
side it my brother Oliver was lying senseless in
fit. His face looked like white fire, in the hal
darkness The poor foolish boy had rubbed phos
phOrus all over it after left him, to make ii lOoh
still more ghasty and ghostlike.
"And IsadOre-where IsadOre? ~ crieC
Marian Hurst, beginning to shiver with nervous
dread
eve found her huddled down in a heap in
distant corner, with her face turned to the wall
She knew no one. Oliver told us long afterward
that she stood gazing at him in silence so Ions
that he advanced his face toward her through th'
mirror meaning in play to offer her kiss
''The light, the life, the intelligence, all wen
out of her own face at that moment" he said
''She fed and crouched down in the corner; anC
he, believing then that he had fatally injured her
fell fainting to the floor
"POor fellow ~ sighed Elfrida. "Where is h'
now, Miss Mildred?"
'In heaven, | hope! He was one of our frs
volunteers from this town, and one of the firs
officers who killed in the last war. They tOl'
me that he exposed his life in leading his mel
into action. | did not mourn for him, girls;
knew how glad he was to go. Our parents die
heart-broken, one year from that fatal Hallow
Gen."
''But Isadore-where is she?" asked Elfrida
half-fearfully.
"At the State Lunatic Asylum. At first sh
seemed only idiotic, and l kept her at home, de
voting my life to her, as some small return for tn
wrong that had helped to work. But she is nov
a raging, raving, dangerous maniac Oh, girls
there is nothing left of the beautiful child o
the lovely girl 1t was all our fault ~ said poo
Miss Mildred, bursting into tears and hurryin
out of the room.
Elfrida's eyes were wet like ours, as she brough
back and silently demolished the fearful "woma
with the broom" AndsEvelyn Moore, returnin
an hour later with the letters never knew VIII
we girls greeted her so kindly and so lovingl
, upon that one particular night.
A Boston correspondent writes that Ralp
Waldo Emerson is still erect and moves abou
with tolerable celerity, yet there is consderabl
of the autOmaton in his movements, and ''mil
flavor of decay" i'm mis- impressive features Olive
\ | dali Eol at a L., Il