Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-12-11

and laughed. ooh, yon were always full
of your mysteries he said
"ill give you Il test. then. I'll tell you
the color of the near leader they're going
to give us this post"
Lay you live to one" cried Austen,
quickly
at would only be taking your money.
A white mare with black tail and ears.
/ "White mare with black ears and-Ill
give you ten I'll give you twenty, by
Jovel Twenty to one in gtineasn'
Lund shook his head. Lets go to the
stable" said he.
They sanntered across the road and
found the stable ut the back of the
house.
There; you can see for YOURSELF re-
marked Lund, quietly And, in fact, the
hoster was just bringing out the animal
which he had described.
Austen gazed ut the mare, and at Lund,
and for once he was silent. "Do you
give me your word of honor there's no
game in this ?n he demanded at length.
81 have told you what know. How
know it know no more than you "
Austen whistled and walked round the
mare, examining her. "The near leader
isn't She ," he said to the hostler.
"She sir ? No, sir. The near wheeler
she be-" replied the man.
Austen glanced at Lund and raised his
eyebrows. You're mortal after all ~
81 should be rather glad than other
wise he replied.
"Jim," said the stable master, coming
forth you'll ave to put err on front this
trip. The bays gone lame"
Fright sir responded the hostlcr.
Austen and Lund returned to the coach
i'm silence. 1T must be II coincidence, you
know the former broke out finally.
GLOW do you account for it ~
II think it's the Venetian vase" said
Lund
Now then. gentlemen" exclaimed the
coachman, coming out of the house and
wiping his mouth with the back of his
hand, Jump in ! jump in! Where are the
others -
AT any rate, it's not coincidence. :"
Lund muttered to himself as they took
their places. The whip cracked and they
were OIL again.
Austen. with the sense of personal indig-
nifty that some persons feel at being con-
fronted by anything they cannot explain,
settled himself In his corner, and for the
most part said nothing Lund WAS also
taciturn, but for other reasons. From his
boyhOod he had experienced mysterious
phenomena, generally of subjective or
der and had become, in Il manner, accus-
toned to them: but they had been brief
and incoherent, leading to nothing and
suggesting nothing. \ voice had spoken
to him in solitude; sometimes when he
had sat alone in his chamber, he had had
Il feeling of not being altogether alone :;
sometimes the image of an absent friend
would strongly impress itself on his mind,
and within two hours he would either
I. have met that friend or received a letter
from him Once, as he entered the col
lege lecture-room, he had seen the figure
of his father Standing on the lower step
| of the platform, regarding him earnestly :;
as he advanced surprised, to speak to
him, the figure had vanished; and Lund
returning home Immediately, had found
his father lying dead from a stroke of
inclined him
to cultivate chiefly those paths of medical
science which lead to the obscurer re-
gions of physiology and pathology, and to
the problems of the influence of the mind
on the body but the dogma of spiritism
had not, at this period, declared itself /;
and Lund would in any case have shrunk
from aSsOciating himself with such
Il movement His was Il profoundly rev
erent nature, and he would not voluntari-
~ call in the assistance of his bodily senses
to penetrate the mysteries OF Il future
state. His constitution was delicate and
sensitive, though uniformly healthful.
His lille was more mental than physical.
fIe had never condescended to grossneSs,
in deed or word. On the other hand, how
ever, he could scarcely be called Il rellg-
ious man. He could not reason from man
to God, and he was unwilling to assume
God in order to explain man. Like many
others, therefore, his morality was Il mat
ter of taste and fastidiousness rather than
of charity and falth. 1t was an anchor oil
clay, which held well enough while the
waters were calm, but was liable to give
way in Il storm.
But che dream, or vision, or whatever it
was that had preceded the appearance of
Austen and the present expedition was
unlike any former appearance. 1t was
connected and cumulative, and the man
ner i'll which its prognostlcs were being
realized inspired a mystic excitement i'll
Iund he could not think that this should
occur except rs the fOrerunner of some
important and effective event to himself.
1t wrought in him secret pride, rs one
who was spiritually distinguished above
other men-WhO was being led by super
natural guides to the accomplishment of Il
destiny. Under such circumstances, he
felt absolved from the necessity, incum-
bent upon other men, of ordering his con
duct or limiting his expectations according
to the dictates of reason and prudence.
He was in higher hands and his only con
Germ was to follow the signs thus vouCh-
safed to him. 1t is true, the invitation
happened to wear Il most attractive as
poet. But men have been known to go to
death, or to plunge into crime, under the
same persuasion of Il more than human
authority. As soon as any power is al
mitted to the precedence of our private
conscience and judgment, there is no long
er any counting upon the issue.
Can any great good come to us, apart
from any special effort or desert on our
part : At all events, we sometimes sus
tain great harm through neglecting tC
make a special effort to avoid it.