Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-07-23
ISLAND POND VERMONT, JULY %. 1886

saw Bessie rise up slowly in the bed,
open her eyes and hold out her hands,
saying in strange, mulfled voice, Come,
! Katie, comet and then ! woke up.
Il woke up at once, and entirely;
knew exactly where | was, aud that all
had gene through with had been a
dream. 1t was light, though the sun
had not yet risen. sprang out Of bed
and dressed myself as fast as my trem-
bling hands could accomplish the task.
without any reasoning or conscious
mental action, had made up my mind
to go home as fas, as | could get there;
felt absolutely certain that Ihad received
mysterious summons which, ii | did
not obey, should never see Bessie again
alive. l hurried down stairs and sur
prised my cousins, who, early risers as
they usually were, had Themselves bus
just left their room.
II told them of my strange dream ano
of my desire to go home at once; Of
course they were astonished and hurt,
an at last actually angry, but nothing
they could say made any impression upon
me. | was as uncomfortable as an insane
pc son, and at last Cousin Susan said :
You'll have to take her, John; she will
fret herself >into fever if you don't
and poor Cousin John, seeing no other
way to quiet me, departed to make ready
for the journey, muttering as he went out
that he would never other peoples
children to come and visit him again.
cousin Susan was kind to the last,
and seemed to have some sympathy with
my forebOdings; but Cousin John said it
was all childish folly, and was cross and
glum through all our long ride together
and after seeing me safely on the train,
and receiving the conductors promise to
land me sa ely in Philadelphia, took leave
of me with very brief and crusty good
by.
The impression my dream hHd mads
upon me continued sharp and vivid as
ever through the whole journey; all the
time saw before me ,Bessie's white face,
aud heard the strange, muffied cal,
Come, Katie, comet All that | had
ever heard or read of the mysterious con-
nection between twins and that was not
little, for it had been a subject OF great
interest to our mother as well as ourselves
came back to my mind durinr those
weary, anxious hours of travel.
Il had read of instances where twins
had died when separated, and l seemed
to have an instructive certainty that ours
was u case of the sam3 nature; my only
hope was that the warning dream had
been sent in time to prevent fatal cat
astrophe, and that by my RAPID return |
might reach home before it was too late
to remedy the evil. OF one thing felt
sure; if | found Bessie dead, | should
die, too. But she was not dead-she
could not be-else why should l still 50
plainly hear in my mind the cry of
Come, Katie, come
''The evening of the long June day
was closing around me when my journey
came to an end and I stood once more
in the streets of my native city. My
luggage, the conductor had assured me,
would lie kept safely until called for, SO
there was nothing to hinder me from set
ting out at once for home. 1t was lit
tie later than the hour of my arrival had
seemed in my dream, otherwise all my
experience was the same; the weariness,
the trouble, the mental confusion, all
were repeated and as l sped along the
well known streets, seemed to be liv'
ing my vivid dream over again.
II reached our house, and, with my
heart beating almost to sutfocation, saw
that the door was standing open. My
dream still verified l darted in, and
mounted the stairs and rushed into
mothers room.
"No one was there bat mother, who
was lying on her lounge, cripple, as |
had left her.
"'You have got home, Bess, have
yout' said she; 4 did not hear you ring.
" 1T is not Bess, mamma; it is /
Katie. Where is Bess? where is shef ]
gasped; but before mother could get hel
wits sufficiently collected to answer the
! question, BeSs answered it for herself by
| bouncing up the stairs and into the room
in even more than her head d-over-heels
fashion, crying: 'Oh, mamma! we have
had such SPLENDID day-papa and me
if only you and Katie could have beer
with usn
'cThen father came IN, and the girl
with the lamp, and you may imagine, il
you can, the noisy and exciting scene
that followed. crying, Bess laughing,
father scolding, and mother doing hel
b st to quiet all of us and find cut whaI
my unexpected appearance meant"
"And your sister Bessie was not dead
and had not even been sick?' cried
Nanny brealh!essly; and her grand
mother replied:
''Not at all; Ressie was not nearly SC
hysterical and imaginative girl as
was. She couldn't be homesck, because
she was at home; and to keep her from
feeling lon me and missing me toe
much, faith was giving her as good &
time as he ctu'd. He had taken her or
an excursion up the Delawa that day,
and l don't suppose she had had {
gloomy moment since had let her.
"But you said your dream had had 6
gre at effect u"on your lifeT
81 think it lad. | never saw either
Cousin John or his wife again they botf
died within the next ten years, leaving
all they possessed to the family of an
other cousin. | think it was very likely
that, as fther afterward sa d, my foolisl
faith in a dream cost both BeSs and my
self nice little legacy.
'Bessie lived to be fifty, and a grand
mother, and though her death was {
great sorrow to me, l have survived i
fifteen years, as you see and hope still tC
srend some happy, cheerful years befor
the Good Father summons me to joil
her. - Youths COm} 0Ri0n.
The Picnic.
The picnic is an ancient institution