The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-07-12
A Thrilling Experience.

gether on board = Cunard steamer from
Liverpool for New York q short time
age. They bad never met before, but
they happened 10 coMe together In the
hrst evening on board, and finding that
they had o greet deal In common, soea
became something more than mere 10.
qNaiRtaRees. u Waa o rough passage.
and they were seldom ableaeto get on
deck. 20 they spent most Of their time
playing ecarte. Il was between the
deals of one Of their games. and the ono
who was sitting on the bunk (whom wa
viii call DIR. A. was shuffiing the cards.
when both became aWare that . third
person Was standing at the cabin doos
looking st them.
Good God. Jackr' exclaimed Mr.. B.
jumping up from his couch; show ON
earth did you get herep'
The figure at the door said nothing,
but quietly turned around and walked
away again. The boat was rolling bad
ly, and when B. had done tumbling over
the portmanteau and had made his way
to the door some few seconds had elaps-
ed. A. was naturally somewhat aston
ished at the mysterious interruption and
the way his friend had treated it, so he
threw the cards ON the bed, and. hang
ing on to the door, scrambled out after
him. When he got into the passage he
saw B. standing some ten yards off look
ing up and down In . bewildered kind
Of way, and nobody else in sight.
.'Who was itP'' asked A., as tho other
came slowly back to him after question
ing the steward. II have not seen him
on board before
HE was my brother, and he is not on
board. was the startling answer. 81
left him In Liverpool, and know he
cant have come away"
Nonsense, my dear fellow; it must
have been some one of the passengers.
certainly don't believe it was your
brother. He was as utterly unlike you
as one Man can be unlike another. He
was tall and you are short, he was fair
and you ara dark, he was stout and you
arg slisa. and ysur faces are completely
different - a'fa
"Yss. know. Icall him my brother.
bat he 10 really nay half-brother. His
name 10 c.. and We are totally unlike
each other. But that man was my half
brother. Jack c.. rs sure as am stand
ing here, 0r-his ghost -5,.@.
Well, there was no more ecarte that
afternoon; mono OF the officers or pas
sengeEs had seeR anyone answering to
tbs description Of the supposed c.. and
he never appeared again until they
reached New York.
When they landed, B. found cable
message telling him that his half brother
was dead as
Now. so far, this incident was not dif-
eereRt from score of others which have
been reported and published at various
times; and, beyond the fact that the ap-
partition was seen clearly by twopersons,
it supplies no further evidence of the
exissaaee OF appearance OF ghosts or
doubles" than has been sdduced over
and over again. But there was q sequel
TO this which lends ghastly cireum-
stantiality to the whole affair, and makes
it very hard to laugh the matter of as o
mere optical iilusiea.
A. lost sight Of B. entirely, few days
after arriving in America. While the
former went West at once, the latter
stayed in New York three or four days
and then recrossed 10 England Two
years had passed before A. went back
again, and he had pretty we'll given up
puzzling over the mystery, when one
he saw the man who had appeared in
the state-roem that day coming to meet
him.
Pardon me. sir" he began, sis not
your nxMe c. ?"
"Yes," WAS the answer, my name is
c.. but must confess you have the adj
vantage ever me-"
II dare say. only saw you once be-
fore, and that was on board the steam.
ship Papua In mid Atlantic"
Good heavensi Then your name Is
A., and yeu were with my half-brother,
Charlie B., when he saw Jack. No, that
was not THAT was my brother. We
were exactly alike, and were continual
ly being taken for one another. Charlie
is utterly difsrsnt-but then Jack and 1
took after our fathers. wish you would
turn in kers." he said pointing to club
house close at hand. land tell me sll
sbout the day. You know, Of course,
that Jack died that very afternoon9"
Oh, yes, A. knew it well enough but
the horrible difficulty was this: He had
never seen Charlie B. until he met him
on board ship, and had never seen
either the brothers C. at all The only
knowledge which he had of their fea-
lures, or could have, was from that one
short glimpse on board ship. Whom
had he seen, then? Scarcely another
person altogether. when the remem-
brance of his features enabled him to
recognize his brother. II it was an OPP
teal Illusion 1t was 3 very wonderful
one that could SO picture q face which
he had never seen before; II it was not
an optical illusion, what was it?--NeU
Vos.E Ts-:hs,s.a