Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-10-20

O18nt 70 1p010& - ma #Q0p126s p0I "a
did nothing. ~ mind ran On the idea
with some sort 81 satisfaction, but ]
could not think how any thing Of the
kind was to be expressed in action.
. Again Mr.. Beaufoy's voice came to
my ears-angry, evidently. It seemed
that he could not get the attendance
that he wanted. He was Tuning, and
the calm tones Of his daughter evident
II did not assuago his annoyance.
The man must have lost his senses
as well. He and Gibbs both out to-
gether! must have him" (evidently
speaking Of meg ..out Of this before he
wakes. . ~ +
what does it matter.' said Miss
beaufoy, III he does wake He can't
see. !" A..
Even this had sarcastic ring in it,
. though not being able to see were :
defect worthy Of scorn instead of pity.
What Of that ?'' said her father
quickly. That other fellow couldn' t
zee, but he found out q lot-a lot more
than was good for him, -" he added with
. short Singer. =: -
''That'n do. father. - said the lady, in
. tone that served to show that she was
morally the master of the twain. IF
you had been less idgety he would not
have been put on the track Of any sus-
picions. -
flush - said Mr.. Beaufoy in q
fierce whisper. 3D. that Hardy -
he added.
A low whistle sounded somewhere in
the room.
Perhaps that is Hardy" said Miss
Beaufoy.
A short conversation seemed now to
be taking place, by means of a speak
ing.tube. / felt more and more uneasy
vaguely uneasy. The tenor Of the
talk that / had heard gave rise to all
sorts of unpleasant ideas, not the least
of which, and one that gained strength
rapidly after its first inception, was
that l was in the position of spy-aa
involuntary spy certainly. For much
that I had heard seemed at first to be
external altogether to myself, but as I
regained more and more of the usual
mental balance, 1 remembered every
thing only too distinctly; and my mind
busily employed its recovered strength
in reading the riddles presented to it.
l did not yet fully grasp the situation.
but l realized enough to know that !
ought to assert my consciousness.
"That fool, Hardy" said Beaufoy
1--WE can move our friend now he',
come back
A further conversation ensued,
which I did not catch, then heard
Miss Beaufov say:
''Besides, Mary can look after him
then. It will be blessing to keep her
employed in that, until she can take to
her music.'
''She's nuisance!'' said Beaufoy.
II don't know what to do with her."
''You must keep her." Miss Beaufoy
replied, with the same scorn which l
had before noticed. ''She goes with
the property"
"D-!" said her father.
1t was long time since had heard
profane language. The blind found q
singularly patient race, and was the
more struck with hearing strong ex-
pressions from the mouth of one who
had been painted as precise and for
NAL benefactOr.
The power of motion seemed sudden
lY to have returned to me. I essaYed
to move. The voices ceased. Steps ap-
preached me.
''Hush! he's awakening"
1 tried to sit up; but the effort was
too much.
''How do you feelp'' asked Miss
Beaufoy, in a more gentle voice than l
had expected to hear from the whis-
pered colloquy which had occupied my
half-dormant intelligence.
''Thank you, I am all right" I
answered. IL shall be able to move
presently"
A quick and eager whispering now
took place, the purport of which l quite
failed to gather. I then heard the
gentle chink of glasses, and presently
Miss Beaufoy brought me draught.
'Drink this" che said In = tone Of
command.
had no strength to resist even If I
had wished to. but was thirsty. and
swallowed what she gave me. Then
oblivion fell upon me once more.
Iawoke again to q strange vision,
the strangest had had in all my years
of darkness. Time seemed to have rolled
back to the period before my calamity.
I opened my eyes-in the old sense of
the words opened my eyes. A dim,
soft light met my senses. I LAY and
wondered, and delighted in the vision.
I seemed to be in a small room, with
some amount of luxury in its fittings, as
we'll as Icould judge in the soft Ii ght.
Strange and beautiful was this vision
of lost sense. l enjoyed it too ex-
quisitely to move, or even to think
much. And all was very still.
Then I heard sound-the sound of
an opening door. l turned my eyes that
way: and sure enough the door was
opened. The vision had some consist
ency. Then there approached figure
"a woman's figure. Dimly and
vaguely she seemed to me.
She came towards me. The
soft lii ht played most realistically on
her dress. She stopped towards me,
and, the light fell most realistically on
shining hair. Two soft kind eyes
looked into mine for a moment, and
lest should too soon wake up to my
darkness again, l dropped my eyelids,
and trembled with hope that was al
most = terror.
TO BE CONTINUED.