The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-06

Ihe wblpc cracked and they were OF again.
Austen, with the sense Of personal indignity
that some persons feel at being confronted by any
thing they cannot explain, settled himself in his
corner, and for the most part said nothing.
Lund was also t~aciturn, but for other reasons.
From his boyhood he had experienced i~nvsteri-
Gus phenomena, generally of a subjective order,
and had become. in a manner, accustomed to
them; but they had been brief and incoherent.
leading to nothing and suggesting nothing. A
voice had spoken to him in solitude;
sometimes, when he had sat alone in
his chamber, he had had a 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 have met that friend or received a
letter from him. Once, as he entered the col
leee lecture room, be had seen the figure of his
father standing on the lower step of the plat
form, regarding him earnestly; as he advanced,
surprised, to speak to him, the figure had van
Ished; and Lund, returning home Immediately.
had found his father lying dead from a stroke of
apopiexy. His temperament inclined him to
cultivate chiefly those paths of medical science
which lead to the obscurer regions of physiology
and pathology, and to the problems of the inhu-
ence 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 a
nature, and he would not voluntarily call
In the assistance of his bodily senses to
penetrate the mysteries of a future state. His
constitution was delicate and sensitive, though
uniformly healthful. His life was more mental
than physical. He had never condescended to
grossness, in deed or word. On the other hand.
however. he could scarcely be called a religious
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 a matter of taste and fastidiousness
rather than of charity and faith. 1t was an
anchor of clay. which held we'll enough while
the waters were calm, but was liable to give way
in a storm.
that had preceded the appearance of Austen and
the present expedition was unlike any former
experience. 1t was connected and cumulative,
and the manner in which its prognostics were
being realized inspired a mystic excitement in
Lund; he could not think that this should
some important and effective event to
himself. H wrought in him a secret
pride, as one who was spiritually distinguished
above other men-who was being led by super
natural guides to the accomplishment of a des-
tiny. Under such circumstances he felt alb
solved from the necessity, incumbent upon other
men, of ordering his conduct or limiting his ex-
pectations according to the dictates of reason
and prudence. He was in higher hands; and
his only concern was to follow tie signs thus
vouchsafed him. 1t is true the invitation hap
pened to wear a most attractive aspect. But
men have been known to go to death, or to
plunge into crime, under the same persuasion of
a more than human authority. AS soon as any
is admitted to the precedence of our pri-
waite conscience and judgment, there's no longer
any counting upon the issue.
Can any great good come to us, apart from
any special effort or desert on our parts At
all events, We sometimes sustain great harm
through neglecting to make a special effort to
avoid it.
The coach gave a great iurch, waking up the
old lady who had fallen asleep on the back seat,
and eliciting an oath from Austen, but not tax
ing Lund by surprise. 1t would have surprised
him now had any of the foreknown episodes
failed to occur. He looked out of the window,
and smiled inwardly to behold a dark and lofty
tower rising against the crimson background of
sunset.
Our troubles are about over, I fancy" said
Austen. Now, perhaps, you can tell US the
name Of this placer
'No."
"Whatl Has the prophetic fury begun to sub
Prophecy never concerns itself much with
names, so far as l know" said Lund. who was not
quite pleased with his companions testing treat
ment of a matter that was no jest to himself. But
are going to put up at an inn on the right
hand side of the street as you enter the town,
with a big pump in the middle of the court
yard"
Now, Austen had been turning over certain
ideas in his mind during the last few hours, and
had arrived at certain conclusions, one of Which
was that his friend had been playing off upon
him a deliberate and artfully-prepared deception.
He was resolved, accordingly, to pay him back
in the like coin; and, though he could not attempt
a reputation for seership, he thought it would 90
hard if the opportunity for some other sort of
practical joke did not present itself. Meanwhile,
he affected to accept Lund's latest announcement
with admiring bewilderment in order to throw
the latter off his guard.
1T certainly is the most extraordinary phe-
nomenon [ ever came across, he exclaimed. II
wish l could have had ten minutes Of your fac
ulty at the last Derby. 1 have heard of such
things, Of course; but 1 never mad a serious
thought about them before. Have you any idea
what the end of it all is to BET"
IA t~olerably complete idea," replied Lund,
though certainly the latter part of my forebo6-
ings are a little disordered and obscure. The
mirror that l was looking into was shattered at
that point, perhaps. However, Austen, l can
see you think it's all nonsense, and l won't
trouble you with any more OF it."
'Aha!" said Austen to himself, 'tbe Sooth-
sayer is trying to get on the safe side before /
catch him. He must take me for a fool" Aloud
he said: my dear fellow, you're on the wrong
track entirely. You know what a hand l am for
Cabling; but no one could see what I've seen to-
day ! without being knocked into a cooked hat by
The stage having reached its stopping place,
the young men alighted and walked on to the
inn, which was but a short distance off. 'It
vac IL LIS tOWu, YOU huOW, reIndrhtu austen,
'that my school days were passed, and I've
been at pains to keep up some of the acquaint-
ances l made there. They're deuced nice people.
We shall have lots of fun. Tomorrow morning
We'll 60 over to Sir Tom Frobisher's. He's a
and has lots of money; but he knows
how to live. He and l have had some roaring
times together. He knows every pretty girl
within twenty miles of here-and they known
him! His sister lives with him.. She's rather
slow-religious and all that; but he doesn't mind
her. Then there is a niece. a wonderful fine
girl, a capital ~horsewoman, and always up to a
lark. You will fall dead in love with her, and
then you and | will probably have to fight a
duel, for I've sworn she shall be mine. But
never Mindful only shoot a button off your
coat. Well, here we are, and here's your pump
in the courtyard. as natural as life. hope you
foretell a good dinner into the bargain, for I'm
as hungry as a hunter"
They entered the inn, which was an ancient
and roomy structure, as clean as a band box, and
an atmosphere aboutit of mellow ale and