The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-02-16

v y
the Enchanted Isles; the sky as clear
of cloud as that bending over them;
the breeze as soft and sweet as that
which kisses their shores. 1t was tne
night of nigkts for love and lovers,
and they clung to each other the
/ longer and more closely in view Of the
Z days of separation to folio y. On the
morrow the train took an unwilling
heart away and left behind one nearly
| broken"
''But there is compensation in the
joy of reunion, the fond. the passion
ate lingering kiss, of fears banished t
| "Yes, continued LamoIne. ''but is
was not so in this case. Two day,
subsequently to his arrival in the city
as he was sitting in Il room alone
| thinking of her he loved, he was sud-
denly startled by the ringing of
! telephone-bell. He knew there was
! no instrument there, if. indeed, within
the building. He listened and the sound
was repeated, yet not a wire was with
in sigut. He went down stairs and
enquiry proved there were none with
| in, passing over OF near the building.
Returning to his room he endeavored
to dismiss the strange fancy from his
mind rather than to account for it,
when the ringing quivered upon the
air still more loudly, prolonged and
impatiently."
'Was your friend believer in any
of the forms of spiritualism?' ques-
toned Wharton.
''Not in the least. He was not given
to theosophical speculations. to psy-
Geological philosophy, had never even
seen an experiment in phrenomagne-
tism. The lady of his love had been
his Art, the shrine at which he wOr-
shipped Fame, to the exclusion of all
! other things.
You are certain he was not asleep
and dreaming?"
Il have ample reason to know that
he was as fully awake as you are. The
tlird ringing was followed by mes
sage, short, but clearly voiced. as if
he had held receiver To his ear"
Are you attempting to practice
upon my credulity?"
"If the picture you saw was reality,
and not myth of the Imagination,
then what am telling is equally 50"
What were the words, and who ut
tered them?"
Tell me first if there is any diff
Guilty or uncertainty in deciding with
regard to Il familiar voice when listen
ing at a telephone?"
Not in the least"
''And there was not then. The voice
was that of Ethel Scott, and the words
were, Love. am dying; come quick
ly."
''Impossible under the conditions
you have described.
so argued the startled listener, and
fancied ne must be going mad. Sub
sequent events, however, proved to
the contrary"
Yet he must have been keenly SEN
sitive to all that followed"
"And nervouslyalert had not friends
called, changed the current of his
dreams, and left him few hours
later in the best of spirits"
"Well?" questioned Wharton in dis
appointment.
"Untroubled because unthinking of
the strange episode of the day, he pre-
pared himself for slumber, turned out
the gas, and retired. Scarcely, how
ever, had his head touched the pillow
before his unclosed eyes were dazed by
a peculiarly bright light. 1t was dit
fused over the room ut first, then as
sumed shape, distinct letters, distinct
words"
"And they were?" Interrupted Whar-
ton with nervous anxiety.
These: Love, why don't you come?
| am freezing, dying"
IN early the same as before"
"Yes, and the instant he had re-
peated them aloud they disappeared.
"And you-the man? | should in
deed have gone mad"
He arose, lighted the gas, and care
fully noted the hour and minute, as l
should have told you he had done
when he received the spiritual tele-
gram-I can call it by no other term
He saw that by haste he could catch
the train, did so, and in the grey of
the morning stood at the door of his
beloved. 1t was open and the house
in confusion. He met the distracted
mother, the agonised father, the af-
frighted and useless servants. From
their incollerent stories he learned that
Ethel had been very sick, delirious,
had escaped during temporary alb
sence of her mother, and thus far
search had been in vain"
ried out of himself by the intensity of
hAo lilbCICSC.
''Waited to hear no more. but ran
with all possible speed to the tryst-
ing place by the sheltered stream"
''Why there"
''Something--it was as intangible
as his other warnings-told him that
there she would be found"
"And asp"
Eyes, and just as painted. Beneath
the lily pads and bending swaying
reeds she lay in. the shallow water.
with her arms thrown backward and
her hands clasped beneath her head.
Her pale face was toward the sky, the
wet night-dress clinging to the glor-
ious form, but so torn and washed
aside as to reveal much of limbs and
arms and bust winter than marble,
aud shaming the work of any chisel.
But need not describe farther. The
painting does that better than words
can, especially the hair that hoated in
waves of shining gold around"
sDead?" gasped Wharton.
No" answered Lamoine reverent-
". ''God be thanked. not dead, and
to rescue and carry her home was brief
labor, and"
..She recovered?'
"Yes, and is alive to-day"
Thanks to the loving care of the
truest, warmest, and best heart on
earth" came in soft whispers to their
ears came as if floating out of space.
Wharton sprang to his feet in aston
ishment, in terror. saw Il reality, not
a spiritual shadow, that had stolen
into the room unseen, unheard, and
exclaimed:
''Great Heaven! The lady of the
pictpre|
'.And my dear wife" answered his
friend as he drew her tenderly to his
| side.
Then the story you have told me is
''Of ourselves. and every incident is
true. As l learned upon the recovery
of my darling. she had called me at that
time fancied l heard the telephone.
and her last recollection when in the
water was for help and from me"
land you painted the picture?0
Eyes. 1t was indeed labor of and