Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-12-15

by the only means within my power.
So far had written down these words,
which may be read by no eyes save mine,
when, having no more to write, sat back
in my chair, and again allowed my
thoughts full rein. By what channel my
MUD arrived at it know not, but soon l
was thinking not of Mabel. but Of an old
friend of mine who had died at my Che
shire home. Vasali his name was, and
when first met him he was Professor in a
northern Italian university. Although he
was deep thinker and great sayant, and
| the very antithesis of that, we were
soon inseparable; and when l left Italy
1t was with his promise that he would
months he came to England and while he
was my guest he was continually engaged
in experiments" perfecting discovery"
he said, (which would revolutionize the
world" The discovery, however, was
never destined to be perfect, for he was
thrown from his horse while out riding,
and when the doctor had examined him
his recovery was pronounced to be impos-
sible. He fingered on until the next day,
and in a conscious interlude gave me
small phial, saying (how well l remember
his wordsl):
"You are my only friend, Herbert, and
to you give this fluid, the result of my
experiment, but by no means perfect yet.
By chance | discovered one of natures
great secrets, how at the bidding Of the
wiU, if that will be properly guided, the
body may assume different shapes from
that which it ordinarily has; and by hard
work l reached a certain point. If you
take three drops of this fluid, my friend,
and desire to be in whatever place you
will, you will at once find yourself there.
A duplicate Of your form remains on the
spot, as if in sleep; your actual self may
be thousands of miles away. The effect
only lasts for quarter of an hour, after
which you are again united. This, my
friend, is but first principle of the dis
covery, and | have been prevented from
reaching the great consummation of it by
death. So be it. Fate is against me- But
| trust to you to carry it out only beware
Of the third time, and Herbert, bury me at
home"
] could hear no more; he was again un-
conscious. He died two hours later, and |
buried him in his native Florence
As for the phial with its contents, laid
it away, putting down Vasali's dying
words as the rawlings of delirium Events
which followed, indeed, almost put the
remembrance Of it out Of my mind, and if
did chance to recollect it, had no curl
osity to know if its contents had any tails
manic power. But | always intended.
some time or other, TO hand it over for
analysis to one of my chemical acquaint-
ances.
But now, in the state of mind in which
/ happened to be, and remembering that
Vasali had been no quack, but one of the
foremost of italian scientists, vaguely
wondered if by any possibility there could
be anything in the discovery. There
could be no harm. What, then, was to
hinder me from testing its worth? l do
not remember what put the startling
thought into my brain, but the terrible,
consuming desire to see Mabel at once, to
find out if she were constant, was more
than could stand, and l was ready for
any means that gave me prospect of ac-
complishing that desire
Almost mechanically / rose and searched
my cabinet for the phial, and in few
minutes found it--a small octagonal bottle,
without label and tightly corked, contain
ing colorless fluid, apparently without
either taste or smell, Placing it before
me, went over Vasali's dying words All
this time, though my nerves were at high
state of tension, my mind was still yacil-
lating, and was going over the matter
time after time without coming to any de-
cision, when, happening to look at the clock
on my mantle-shelf 1 saw that it was two
minutes TO TO- Impelled by an irresistible
impulse | rose and mixed three drops of
the fluid In glass of water, which, though
colorless itself, it instantaneously changed
to pale greenish color. Then, stretching
myself upon my sofa, l looked once more
at the stuff, and then, with a sudden resolu-
tion and the desire in my mind to be at
CARDINAL Grange, / drank it off Just as the
clock was striking 10. Before l had
counted more than FIVE strokes / was as it
were, in deep sleep.
A minute later it seemed to me awoke:
but, instead of being on my sofa, | was
lying in the open air amid the blackness
of the night. l rose and looked around.
The scene seemed familiar to me; the trees
and shrubs behind and on either side, the
fountain on my right hand, and, directly in
front, the outline of a large building. At
once | realized that was in truth standing
on the lawn of CARDINAL Grange, and that
VasalTs fluid, by transporting me in
minute from London to Yorkshire, had
done all that he had said it would.
But for moment | thought it might be
nothing save phantom of the imagina-
ton; and only on finding that the ground
was real enough, and that the fountain
was the same, was thoroughly convinced
Then, when | saw that l was in stern re-
ality standing before the grange, | turned
almost mechanically, into little walk
which led up to room used, knew, as
parlor sacred to the ladies of the house
As / approached | noticed that the win
dows we're Illuminated as if the room was
occupied and, cautiously creeping forward
and looking in between the curtains, saw
seated on the other side of the fireplace
Mabel. Her face was as plainly visible to
me as if we had been sitting vis-a-yis, and
| could also see that she was engaged read
ing letter. With a start l recognized
the letter as one sent by me on the pre-
ceding day; and eagerly l watched her
countenance as she went over it more than
once. What she did is not for me to say /;
it will be sufficient If l remark that what
| saw, while acting the spy, was more than
enough to convince me that Mabel's heart
was still mine.
For time / occupied the same place,
steadily resisting the desire / felt to step
in and declare myself but by-and-by a
drowsy feeling began to creep over me,
mastering me SO gradually and insidiously
that / hardly knew | was being mastered.
] Before the end came | had the presence of
mind to pluck sprig of ivy from the side
of the window, and then-insensibility.
Again l awoke, this time upon my own
sofa, finding an empty glass by my side,
the gas and fire still burning as l had left
them, and everything in fact in its former
condition. For second l thought / had
been dreaming, but only for second, for,
looking at the clock, saw that it was ex-