The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-05-01
WAS SHE A GHOST.

"Marryp' repeated Mordaunt; "well,
that would be a gay old joke! Who the
deuce"--Mordaunt sometimes invokes
strange gods-''out of Utah would ]
get for priestp"
Now Mordaunt. when he said this,
put on just that look which every I'm.
lucky dog of an impecunious old bach
elor, who can't for his life keep soul
and body comfortably together and
who has failed to induce the heiress he
has in view to even tolerate his pres
ence, knows as the faithful married
mans look when said married man is
rallied about his manifold agreeable
ness among the fair ladies; and not
only did he put that look on, but he
looked 1t out to the other end of the
room into empty space, very much In
that exasperating way your model
married man will look to his wife to
confirm his assertions.
Like myself, Mordaunt was an old
bachelor. Alas! and there the parallel
ends. Not only was he the very per-
sonification of what we know as q
thoroughly good fellow whom every
body liked, which liking he deserved,
but he was successful business man.
Money in mole-heaps rolled itself up
into mountains under his manipula-
tons. Then he had the best heart
beating. The women all liked him
and that was the popularity of his old
bachelorhood - they liked him and
looked up to him as women like and
look to the honorable head of a full,
happy household. He had reached
middle life, was good-looking, and of
unexceptionable habits. ], weary OF
asking the question of myseh-too
well I knew the answer-had pro-
pounded it to him:
"Mordaunt, why don't you marryp"
He had replied as stated at the be-
ginning of this narrative.
"But, Mordaunt," urged / (for he
was not a man given to POPULARITY, at
least where women were concerned),
.'you seem, of all men in the world,
the last to live minated. Utah! pshaw!
What do you meanp"
IL mean" He checked himself.
Another of those married mans looks
was directed into the air. This was
questioning. 81 mean what | say"
conc!usively and with the air of a man
speaking under delegated authority.
! "Bigamyp'
ayes. r.... -.. ...-.
"Ehp I'd like to see the Mrs. Nor
daunt number one."
"Must a man believe that his wife IL
any the more his when another man
has seen herp"
"Aha! Another man not see herl II
you're doing the Turk you might as
we'll set up your seraglio and be done
with 1t. Yes, Utah is in order"
Mordaunt was silent. had offended
him. l remember how he looked at
me, not angrily, not sentimentally;
cannot describe his expression, only
he was himself in it. seemed to feel
his personality, his very being. press
ing me around, Unfolding me as IL
were; and, meantime, cannot account
for the change that was gradually
creeping over me. saw Mordaunt; I
was Watching him as in ordinary times
the clear-headed financier, the al
ways-welcome homely presence at the
rosy fireside, the man versed in public
affairs-but certainly saw more.
Talk about naturalization, paraffine,
or what not-l never sat in "circle, |"
I always abhorred the whole machinery
of clap-trap known as ''spiritualism"-
| saw, standing, facing Mordaunt, just
where his eyes had settled when he
answered me, woman; no mere
shadow, but, to all appearances, q
hesh-and- blood woman. ! saw her as
distinctly as ever saw my own sisters.
As for being stricken with terror, as
ghost-seers tell me they are in the pres
ence of the immaterial, was stricken
with admiration. She was not hand
some-at least | do not remember to
have thought of that or of what she
wore. 1t seemed to me that saw all
know which was grand and godlike
In the character of my friend, standing
there, instinct with breathing vitality,
a living, individual presence. I was
not dreaming; do not believe / was
under mesmeric spell My individ-
uality was not merged in that Of Nor
daunt. How could 1t be when heard
him as distinctly as ever l heard him
speak, Introduce "my wife" and /, in
the most commonplace manner imagin-
able, exchanged compliments with this
hitherto unheard-of Mrs. Mordaunt,
she acting her Part with corresponding
everyday civility.
did not take my eyes off her; she
did not move aside. | cannot recall
that | stirred, but it seemed TO me that
Mordaunt did, and directly, as the re-
lection OF a face vanishes FROM mir
ror, she was gone.
But Mordaunt was still there. "Will
that sufficep' he inquired directly, his
concise, business accents emphasizing
the question with more than usual dis
tinctiveness.
suppose muttered an assent.
"You are the only human being" he
added, In the same mattcr-of-fact voice
| he would have used II he had men,
toned that was looking old q was),
.swho has ever entered my household.
That woman loved when was boy.
| I have always loved her. We have
always been one, and yet her body has
been lying in Hollywood cemetery for
more than twenty years. Hers Is no
ideal presence, no imaginary nearness;
you have seen as well as / that ! am
under no hallucination. She has never
| left me, and whatever ! am that IL
manly and wise, under God I owe IL TO
her real presence and never withheld
counsel"
There now, was Mrs. Mordaunt .