The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-09-03
LILLIAN's DREAMS.

which one is liable to be looked upon
as an oracle (by the members of ones
own family in PARTICULAR rather, in
deed, an age at which one is pretty
well used to being snubbed, more es-
pecially when one makes an attempt at
being more than usually brilliant.
That was the manner in which our
folks treated my flights of genius at
sixteen, anyway, and 1 had got so phil
osophical that / really never thought
of minding it.
So when l announced at the break
fast-table one morning that [ had had q
peculiarly vivid dream, it did not sur
prise or offend me that nobody seemed
to care or offered to yield me even a
polite show of civil attention. Such
gentle amenities of life would appear
Too precious to be wasted on ''chits of
sixteen" in the bosom of their own fam
lilies.
cit wasn't anything wonderful as a
DREAM said; "but it was so clear,
and l recollect it so vividly-just like a
little scene or picture. There was
you, Nina DEAR" q addressed my in
valid and elder sister. whose atrocious
name of Jemima we had softened and
shortened into this pretty diminutive)
There was you, lying on your couch
and on your pillows, and beside you
was papa, who had just come in from
a journey, and who held q locket in
his hand. He tried to put it round your
neck, but you pushed it away. i shall
never live to wear it, said you, so sad
"; and then | woke. 1t was dark
blue enamel locket with a gold"
with gold anchor on the backr'
cried poor Nina, bursting into a pas
sion Of tears. THE locket I gave to
poor Walter before he went awayi Oh,
Lillianr' And then they all over
whelmed me with reproaches; all but
Nina, who presently managed to say:
Don't blame her. She didn't know of
the locket; none of you knew of it, or
ever saw it, and it is very, very strange
that she should have seen it in q dream,
and see papa restore it to me! All,
Lillian, as well look for my dear, dead
lover himself He wore the locket
next his heart, my dear, and [ know it
lies on his dead bosom now, IN the
depths Of the cruel sear'
And then papa opined aloud and
despairingly that l was ''a hopeless
idiot" and mother, soothing poor
Nina, and casting reproachful looks
at me, hoped | was satisfied with my
work. and only two sources OF conso-
lation were left open to me-first, that
Nina drew me to her breast and kissed
my tears away, and, secondly, that at
that very minute the mail arrived, and
distracted our parents attention.
One letter seemed to disturb both
papa and our mother very much, and /
noticed, though Nina did not, that
they cast anxious glances in our direc.
ton while reading it. At last, after
long whispered consultation, papa an
nounced that he was suddenly sum-
moned to Liverpool.
I couldn't keep back loud cry Of
surprise. was only sixteen, and ac-
cording to my own father hopeless
idiot, and what did know about dis
erection? 'FThere was q journey for
papa in my dreamr' / cried. ''And he
brought the locket back. How do we
know but he will bring back news
/ said no more. Papa arose, with
something terribly like an oath upon
his lips, and mother, Selling me by the
shoulders, hustled me out of the room.
She acknowledged to me afterwards,
however, that the letter had brought
later news from the scene OF the wreck
the cruel shipwrecK in which Mima's
life had gone down with her lover.
Three weeks ago the dreadful disaster
had happened, and my sister had been
very near to death since then, and
could not, even yet, be said to be out
of all danger.
Our home was very lonely country
house, standing on the side of hill,
surrounded by thick woods, and fully
five miles distant from the village. An
old-fashioned, rambling place. built for
some eccentric rich mans whim of sol
itude, and having q bell-tower, with
huge rusty bell in it, by means of
which we could have summoned help
Chad the need arisen) from miles away.
So, at least. papa said. To me-look-
ing up at the red-brown old bell, hang
ing voice1ess and motionless in its
open-sided house-it seemed difficult
to believe that the thing had tongue
at all, or that its clamor could arouse
the countryside, at minutes notice,
after having hung there, rusting silent
~, for so many years.
Our family was not large one
There were my father and mother, Je-
NINA and myself, and three women
servants, within doors, and the garden
er and his son ca cross old man and
surly young one) working outside the
house, and sleeping over the stable
Being newly come to the place, and
not knowing the neighbors-if, indeed,
you could call people neighbors who
live three or four miles away-we found
our summer residence lonely enough.
1t had been mothers intention to make
it pleasant and lively by entertaining q
lot of old city friends, but the wreck of
the iris and poor Mima's illness and
grief for the loss of her lover, had made
that impossible.
So we were lonely enough, and moth
er was almost as uneasy rs myself at the
idea of being left without a man in
the house, by papa's sudden call to
town; the worst of il was that he was
certain to be absent for two nights, at
least, and we knew little of the gard
ener and his son, and liked them even
less.
BY papa's advice we said nothing to
tile servants as TO how long he would
be away or whore he was going, and
he, taking 2 small bag, started on foot
for tie high read, where be could find
q conveyance TO the station. 1t would
have been easier and pleasanter for
him to have ridden into the village,
but to do that Jake would have had to
saddle tie horse for him, and would
necessarily have known of his depar-
ture.
We fattered ourselves that, by the.
present arrangement, the two men-ser-
wants would never miss him from the
house.
flxr