Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-12-21

ANV0 ~ tll0 16CcS VI many WOUGu VIM
be ten years younger than I be, and ]
can tell ZEE that it have been thought .
good-looking face by scores Of men il
its time"
And herewith she. bridled considera
bly,, and drew herself up.
"And do you see nothing there be-
sides your face, then, Mrs. Trickey"
"Bless and ave us, Master Fred, you
must be turning mazed, l think, or else
it be that you be making q regular fool
of me. l don't see why you should
make up such gammots about my face,
when you've aknowed it these last
twenty years. 1 calls it very disre.
spectful, that I do"
And with a t1ounce and q bounce Mrs.
Tricky turned and disappeared from
the room, leaving me alone with the
house in the mirror, which most Ger
tainly she had not seen.
l was musing uncomfortably on this
fact, with my eyes fixed on the vision,
which tome was as distinctas ever, when
the clock on the chimney-piece struck a
quarter to nine. Then suddenly, as if
wiped out by q spirits wing, Just when
the little silver chime of the clock was
ringing, house, garden, summer-house,
moonlight, yellow CLEAN, vanished
from the mirror, and l saw nothing
there save the reflection of the familiar
room.
1t was certainly . more wonderful
phenomenon than any which nv med
ical books and medical knowledge had
taught me, and l sat up late that night
thinking it over and trying vainly to &C
count for it. As, however, I could not
gain the slightest light on the subject,
turn the matter up and down as l might
in my brain, l came to a resolution on
two points, and then went to bed. One
OF these resolves was that I would not
reveal the strange circumstance to any
once because | had always a most hearty
dislike of gossip and ridicule at my eX-
pense, and the other was that / would
not allow the inexplicable vision to
trouble my mind SO as to make me in
capable of the daily work and duty of
life. My natural calmness of tempera-
ment and my active, busy course Of ex-
istence made me more able to make
these determinations with some chance
of keeping to them than most people in
my place.
l slept well that night, and did net
see the house in the mirror once in my
dreams. Next day I was sent for in
haste to attend a dangerous, difficult
case, which required all my skill and
energy. BY the time the evening was
again come the impression made by the
strange circumstance of last night had
in a great measure faded out of my
mind.
1t so happened that 1 was engaged to
spend that evening with my friends,
Mt. and Mrs. Woodland. MI. Wood.
land was a banker, and his wife vas a
pretty, sparkling woman-the queen OF
society in II rtown. She and 1 were al
ways close allies; she would chatter to
me of all her family affairs. and in a
certain way made me her confidant. On
the occasion in question I was Mr.. and
Mrs. Woodlands only guest. The bank
er slumbered in his arm chair, the lady
had two or three bits of gossip to tell
about the neighborhood, and two OF
three new books to discuss with me,
and a deal to say beside about the first
appearance of a tooth in Miss Baby's
little rosy mouth. That young heroine
was brought down in state in her night.
dress, and l had to examine the prodigy
with much circumstance and solemnity.
Baby had retired again to the nur.
sery. and had ceased her somewhat loud
remonstrances with regard to the incon.
venience OF being brought downstairs
to appear in the drawing-room in such
q costume and at such an hour. Mrs,
Woodland was standing on the hearth
rug looking in the mirror when the
town-clock in the market-place hard by
struck eight. was looking at the re
Election Of my hostess face in the mir
ror, and thinking that it was certainly
d very pretty one, when suddenly, al
the side of the lively brown eyes, ap
peared precisely the same house, linz
for line, which I had seer in my dining
room mirror yesterday at this sam
hour; garden, pagoda-like summer
house, silvery moonlight, yellow lamp
light gleam-all were there.
/ could not help a start and a mur
INJURED expression Of wonder. Mrs
Woodland turned round quickly at tn
sound.
"What is the matter?" she asked il
surprise.
"Oh. just a twinge of rheumatism il
my shoulder" l answered, carelessly
II caught it riding home through tn
storm yesterday"
"Mr. Heathcote, what do you see s
wonderful in the lo%okingg-glass to
night?" she asked a few minutes after
noticing with feminine %quickness tn
Z direction in which my eyes, in spite Q
myself, were 80 frequently turned.
III was thinking that if l was a littl
handsomer man than | am, l should tr
to get a wife made exactly on your pat
term I replied, lightly.
With these and q few more jestin;
words 1 contrived to put Mrs. Wood
[ lands curiosity to sleep again, while
: from time to time, 1 watched the vision
airy house. 1t was just as l had expect
ed; when the town-clock chimed
: quarter to nine, it vanished exactly as
had done on the previous night.
G From that time forward, wherever
f might be. if 1 was in the roc with
looking-glass, l saw every evening, fror
eight to q quarter to nine, for the mex
month to come, the house in the mirror
| Sometimes it met my view in the tin
looking-glass on a cottage wall, wher
1 was tending a poor patient, sometime
in the p~ier-plass of a sick fine lady