Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-07-14

What ! that lovely, that angelic child
leu Iinda. wonceringiy. II thought
'nat was an artists ideal picture
IL was the image of our Isadore a, nj n.
years OF age, replied Miss Mildred. tryino
70 cover the sudden break and trembis i1
her voice by a loud ssHemin
and at sixteen she was far beyond tba,
painting for beauty continued Miss Nil.
uled- Strangers used TO stop in the street
~ - iOok al her and to inquire who she WAS
n'i' she appeared to know nothing, and 10
eare nothing, about her wonderful good
lOoAs- She was good and gentle. and al.
ways amiable, without the least apparent
sign of vanity.
Ripe for heaven" our good old minis
'er used to say. / wish she might have
gone there u,en!!" said Miss Mildred with
stIfled groan.
ohe did not die. then,r exclaimed El
irida- Il was so fraid you were going 70
tell us Of her death!T
''She did not die, God help her - renlied
Miss Mildred. with sigh so deem and sad
that II was almost a groan. .sHere in his
very wing chamber, my brother Oliver
tnoaght oil 1t, she said, after lor 9 pause.
here he called me to help him decide
how to carry out the plan. You see. girls.
isadore was Ike your friend EveIvn-sbe
possessed great courage. She seemed TO
nave no fear of anything on earth. Oliver
knew this; 50 did l. And neither OF ms
expected anything more than hear,y
Iau5h al her expense, CT at our own. when
the evening frolic ended.
4 1T was Hallow Eve. Isadore and her
dearest friend, Nancy Bruce (who lived
/ lhen at the farm just below this one), had
agreed 10 try their fate, with spells on
that evening. They dared each ether to
one thing and another, aud finally Isadore
I pledged herself to go into the lonely old
north rooms, with candle. at nine O'Clock
that evening. and eat an apple before
1randmamma ThOrne's great mirror. that
had been stored away there for safe-keep-
ing Tor effy 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 If eating her apple.
'Well, Oliver overheard the girls plan
ning this that afternoon. and he told me.
And, as ! said before, helped him. here
70 ;bis very room. thai evening. while he
disguised himself IN a long white dress. and
painted his face all over deaihly white.
with heavy, fro'Tnins black eyebrows that
formed black arch across his forehead.
eft changed him terribly, and he looked
30 Ike a corpse in that shroud-like dress
that was half scared myself at him. But
neither Of Us thought Of Lsddore's being
frightened
"And 20 We sole into the north room,
and coLiriEed % get the mirror out Of its
frame. Oliver put lis face into the vacant
space. j hung drapery around il, and
charged him 70 keep perfectly still, and
then stole away, TO watch for Isadore in
the hall
''In few minutes she came down the
stars with her candle and apple in her
hands. She was smiling rognshly to her
self as she opened the door Of the north
room and went H."
''ABd what happened!" asked Elfrida,
eagerly, as Miss Mildred paused
"Where was your mother: How could
she let IsadOre 90 into that dreadful roomf"
breathed Marion Hurst.
Father and mother were both staying
with a sick neighbOr as watchers that
night, said Miss Mildred; .'and watched
and waited, in the outer hall, till Nancy
Bruce crime crying, down stairs, 20 tell
Come one what they had planned to DO, be-
cause she thought something awful had
happened to keep Isadorc SO long in the
north room
''N hen Nancy saw me she caught hold
Of me and dragged Inc with her to the door
Of the north room. We went in. The
candle was burning on the table. The ap-
pie bad fallen to the floor. Beside it my
brother Oliver was lying senseless, in a fit.
His face looked like white fire, in the half
darkn S. The poor foolish boy had
rubbed phosphorus all over it, after left
him to make 1t look still more ghastly and
ghost-like.
'.And IsadOre-where was IsadOre?'
cried Marion Hurst, beginning TO shlver
with nervous dread.
'sWe found her hudded down in heap
in distant corner, with her iace to the
wall. She knew no one. Oliver told us.
leng afterward, that she stood gazing at
him in silence 50 long that he advanced his
face toward her, through the mirror, mean
ing in play to offer her kiss.
'sThe light, the life, the intelligence, all
vert out Of her own face at that moment,
he said. ''Sne fed and crouched down in
the corner, and he, believing then that he
had fatally injured her, fell fainting to the
floor
s.Poor fellow,'' sighed Elfrida ''Where
is he now, Mss MiIdred?"
'.In heaven, hope! He was one Of our
first volunteers from this town, and one OF
the first officers who was killed in the last
war. They told me that he exposed his
life in leading his men into action. L did
not mourn for him girls; knew ho,c glad
he was to 90. Our parents dieS heart
/ broken. one year from that fatal Hal
lowe'en."
.But Isadore, where is she?" asked FL
frida, half fearfully.
"At the State Lunatic Asylum. At first,
she seemed only idiOtic, and l KEEP her at
home. devoting my life to her, as some
small return for the wrong that L had
belped to work. But shs is now a raging,
raving. dangerous maniac! Oh, girls; there
il nothing left now of the beautiful child,
or of The lovely girl 1t was all our fault! y
said poor Miss Mildred, bursting into tears
and hurrying out of the room.
Elfrida's eyes were wet, Ike ours, as she
brought back and silently demolished the
fearful .swonan with the broom" And
EVELYN Moore, returning an hour later with
the letters, never knew why we girls greeted
her so kindly and lovingly, upon that one
particular night.
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