Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-09
THREE MINUTES TO TWELVE,

On a cold December night some
twenty years ago, when the earth was
bound In q black frost, and the bitter
wind blew strong and shrewdiy, 1 WAS
returning home from spending the
evening at q friends house, situated
some three or four miles cut Of town.
The sky was so black, the country
lanes were so dark, that l was truly
thankful when the scattered lights of
m outlying suburb began to twinkle
In the distance, and It was with q sigh
Of relief that I stepped under the frat
lamp post / came to, and looked at my
watch. 1t was no easy task, for the
lamp glass had q pane broken, and the
strong wind blew the gas In all direc-
tions and almost extinguished 1t.
read the time at last-three min.
utes to tw and, looking up from
the watch face, / started to see a man
standing close opposite me. ! had
heard nothing of his approach. We
looked at each other but Q moment,
yet it wss sufficient time to imprint
his features lndelibly on my memory.
A tall, shabby man, In a t%hreadbare,
black frock coat, and q aeedy, tall hat;
his face lantern jawed and ssllow, his
eyes sunken and lusterless, his beard
long and i'll trimmed. In q tone of
elaborate clvility he asked me the time
thanked me for my answer, and, Civ
Ing mo good night, passed into the
black darkness, which seemed to III.
gulf him like a grave ,
l turned tor q moment to think of
his lonely walk in that grim obscurity,
and resumed my lonely way, laughing
at myself for the start he had given
me, and reflected that the strong wind
had blown away the sound of his sp.
proach. l thought of him ss l sat and
smoked my pipe over my fire, and folt
q comfortable shudder steal upon me
as l imagined him facing the bite,
blast In his insufficient clothing.
In the course of a week or two the
incident-trifing enough, heaven
knows-faded from my memory, anG
/ thought no more of 1t.
In those days / was actively engaged
In the timber trade, and the course Of
my business took me agreat deal about
the country, and brought me largely
In contact with the agents of the DIFF
ferent noblemen and country gentle
men of the district. With one of the
agents who resided near the country
town of L., I had numerous transac
tions, and 1 used to often run down tc
L. to meet him, for the town wal
only fifteen miles away, and was on
line of railroad. 1t was q dull little
hole enough, that only warned NJ
into life when the militia were out Of
the sssizes were on.
One night l returned from L., hav
Ing made a large purchase from my
friend the agent, whose master,
sporting noblemap, was reduced t.
cut down the family timber. When
feel aaleeo that night I had a yer!
simple but vivid dream. l though
I was standing on a lofty hill. By m,
side stood d yelled igure, who, will
a summarizing gesture, motioned m
toward the town of L., which lay II
the far distance. Then l awoke.
OF course I explained the thingt
myself easily enough. I had been
good deal engaged IN the neighbor
hood of the place, and had large Won
ture more or less remotely connecte'
with It,, Still the dream Yves so vlvi
that l could not dismiss 1t from m
thoughts duiiog the whole of tn
day, and when l went to bed at nigh
I wondered if 1t would again visit me
II did come sgaiu; precisely tn
same dream, In precisely the sam
manner. Once more I found q con
v,ncing explanation. Doubtless l ha'
been Sinking too much about tn
first dream, and this had given rise t.
the second. But my explanation d.
not convince me In the least. Agsil
I was haunted by the thing through
oct the day, and when I came HON
at night my preoccupation was so evi
dent that It attracted the attention c
my wife. She questioned me upc
the cause, and, only too thankful {
unbosom myself of what was nov e
most o trouble, / told her about til
dream and Its repetition. She had oh
tact not to laugh at me, but was evi
IDENTIFY little impressed by the narr.
tive.
The third night It came again,
anything more vivid and startling tina
before. This time ! was utterly III
hinged; the pale face that fronted n
In the looking glass was hardly reooI
nizsble for my own. l went down
breakfast, filed with . foreboding
some misfortune-bsd news In my le
ters Il knew not what.
The maid Inferred with the lett
bag.
"There," said my wife, passing
letter on which was the L. POSTWAR
"that breaks your dream, John"
I opened 1t hurriedly. 1t was fro
the agent, requesting me to meet hi
at l.. that day at l O'Clock to arranl
q difficulty that had arisen In the pc
Torrance Of his contract.
was intensely relieved. Here W
an opportunity to go to L., and pc
haps the very fact Of going would pl
me right. There were two fast trail
to Lin the morning, but I decided
go by the first, regardless Of the ia
that ! should have some hours to wal
, So I found myself speeding aw,
toward my destination.
The train was full. Pipes exhal,
: their fragrance. Newspapers we
turned and fattened, and there W
that leisurely kind Of morning co
versation that prevails among m,