The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-06-11

My first act when the train was once
more III motion was to examine careful
ly the earring so unaccountably found.
The shape struck me Us curious. 1t was
n wheel suspended from birds claw,
which turned when touched. Surely, as
| told the guard, this trinket was proof
thS | had not been deceived or dream
lmg; at least, this was not the appari-
ton of IN earring, at any rate. What
could II mean? The more thought of
1t, the more was perplexel; and finally
L put 1t away i'll my portemonnie; and
with mind wearied with puzzling over
the strange occurrence. ut length fell
asleep once morc-but not for long.
Suddenly | was r,ldely awakened by ter
rifle crash and shock which threw me
violently forward, while the carriage
lurched over and nearly capsized.
L knew ut once an accident had hap
pcned-the accident half prophesied by
the guard. As soon as | could collect
my scattered senses. and found myself
unhurt, clambercd out of the carriage
and ran down the line To the front of the
train, to ascertain the extent of the catas-
trophc. 1t was difficult to make ones
WAY Ill the dar knrss and confusion; but
what were my feelings of horror and
, amnzement, joined with intense thank
fulncss, when | discovered, after som e
hight had been obtained from n hastily
/ krdlcd bonfire, that the carriage / had
previously occupied was living COM
pletc wreck! | knew it 10y its color and
the number, which had remarked, still
visible on the battered panel. Then l
learned that several passengers i'll the
other compartments of it had suffered
fcarfully, and l was SO overcome that
felt quite dizzy.
Here was wonderful and miraculous
escape indeed. All the events of the
last half hour rushed through my troub-
ED brain. On that smashed and splin-
tered seat had sat; and but for the
presence of my mysterious companion,
there l should he lying-crushed,
manned, perhaps dead! Horrible! The
bead broke ont on my brow as thought
Of ii. When my nerves had recovered n
little | sought out the guard, who, pale
and grave, was endeay oring to rcassure
the frightened passengers assembled on
the bank. He was comforting them
with the intelligence that a special train
would arrive shortly from Grantham and
take them from the scene of the disaster.
MY good fellow, said ], "you must
explain TO me what You meant respect
ing that young lady-the apparition, l
mean, rs You choose to call il. You said
an accident" "Lor bless You, sir, The
interrupted sadly, Twas only my chat.
never heard anything about the young
lady: hut | thought as you seemed bit
scared ii would make your mind easier,
and that's why shifted you. I can't
give any reason why such fancy came
into my head; but it's well it did, sir, for
II just saved your life, saved it by 'the
ghost of chance, rs one may say" and
there was faint return of the old
humorous twinkle i'll the mans eye as he
thus aptly made II play upon the words.
at was the carriage You We're III that
suffered most" "Wcll, there's many Il
true word spoken i'll Jest" returned |.
Are there many hurt?'
about seven, fear, sir, and four or
more killed. We don't know the cause
ut present, sir; twasn't collision, and
don't appear 10 have anything TO do with
the stopping of the train awhile ago.
These things do turn one mp more than a
bit, sir" added the man, as ne was
called away. The lamps Of the special
train were now sighted, and we, the ur-
scathcd, were speedily i'll our places, and
arrived at our destination without
further hurt or hindrunce. But what
pcrplcXcd IDEAS whirled i'll rapid Sue
ccssiou through my mind rs we were
hurried along. Here was /, saved from
dreadful and untimely death by-what :?
Not dream, certainly; but whatever it
or, perhaps, as the guard said, "by the
ghost of a chance" How could call it
a dream or entertain the notion of ghost
ly influence, when the earring picked up
10y my own hand was now safe i'll my
pocket? Was it safe ? looked. Yes, safe
enough, the wheel suspended from the
birds claw. A wheel of fortune it had
indeed proved to me.
"And do you mean to tell me this is
fact" / asked, ironically, as [ finished
my friends manuscript. every word
Of il, as l am living man," he an
swcrcd. "See, here is the earring" and
he handed me the trinket. "Well,"
continued, after examining it, "What
are you going to do? How are you 60
ing to finish your story?" sob, / don't
know. Can You give me a nOtion?"
He knows | have an eye for dramatic
situations.
"Not ], indeed; you will have to in
vent that, | suspect" And We talked a
good deal more, of course, about the
strange affair before ] left him; and
equally, Of course, at the end of two
ln "A, I'M T.,
friend is only dabbler, and seldom
brings anG Of his efforts i'll art or litera-
ture to n fruitful issucr 1 little thought
that it would devolve on me to take up
the thread of this one, and finish it for
him.
Before parting, however, asked,
"Did you see the girls face?" "Not
very clearly. The light was dim. |
could not distinguish her features pre-
cisely, nor the color Of her eyes, nor any
details exactly, you understand; yet
there was look"-hc went on after a
pause" (which reminded me of some
body, or j thought it did, | could not tell
whom, that | had seen before. IL was a
mere impression, quite uniformed, vague
to degree. / had forgotten, even, that
anything of this kind crossed my mind
until you asked the question" "Would
you know her again?"
"Humph he hesitated-"I hardly
know. / think l should if she were
similarly dressed and posed" Then he
said goodbye; and for two years i do
not think we have mentioned the sub
ject above twice; once, when | inquired
if he had finished the story; and once
later on, when, if j did not clear it up. L
at least threw a weird light upon the
mystery, the light by which 1 am en-
ablcd TO make sort of second part to
the first which / found him writing.
My fricndsroOms again; looking much
rs usual, save that he il ut his easel in
stead of at his desk. Again, rs usual,
keen for the time being upon what he is
drIng, he does not rise when enter. and
i stand talking to him fora while behind
the chair. We have not seen each other
lately, and he rallies me spontaneously
about dropping the acquaintance of care
! less bachelors like himself since my mar
riage-for that mOmentOus event has
! happened within the last six months.
| He was abroad mt the time, and does not
know my wife yet. Soon we passed from
this interesting topic, and ! said some
thing about the water-color drawing he
was working at as | stood still watching
its progress over his shoulder. 1t was a
small study, done the previous evening
at life-schOol, as he told me, from what
artists call the draped model-a rustic
figure of IA girl seated on stile.
"But, stop" he cried; "you should
see it under white mount. l have one
here cut out to size. Wait, let me get