The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1888-01-27

TEL do. He decided that she was simply
nervous. and that when the head was fin
ished the lessons should be terminated for
the day.
Ada had been employed nearly quarter
Of an hour in sketching the head Of the
Spanish woman, yet she had not taken her
eyes OF the paper for a second.
Will peeped over her shoulder.
He saw that she was biting her under lip
severely, that the teeth had passed through
the flesh and met.
From the wound thin stream Of blood
trickled down her chin and then fell in one
small spot upon the drawing paper on
which her eyes were bent SO closely.
As it fell she gave low, quivering moan.
raised her face from tho paper, and -gazed
! straight before her at the library window.
aDon't novel she whispered, but look
at i'll OH dear, Mr.. Tryfoil, look at it, and
send it from mel"
Perceiving the intense excitement OF his
pupil, Willis first impulse was to summon
| Miss Bentley; his second to battle with
| Miss Wentwolth's madness alone.
He could never tell why, but he obeyed
| the second impulse
Still standing behind her chair, he placed
| q hand firmly on each Of her shoulders.
Something half laugh. half sigh s-
| capped her lips. She put her hand on his,
but still fixed her eyes on the library
| window.
"Do you see nothing there" she whis-
| pered, huskily, pointing with trembling
| hand in front of her, between the win-
| dow curtains? Look oh, look! and send
| it from meip
Il see nothing, Will answered, trying,
| but failing, to speak in his usual tones.
There Is nothing. You are i'll. simply, and
| frightened natural effect of your illness.
sNo! mol knew it was there when be-
| gan drawing. knew it. could feel that
it was glazing at me, and | tried. oh, SO
hard, MI. Tryfoil. to keep my eyes on the the
paper away from it. Oh, aunt! aunt! it's
coming nearer-it's coming nearerl"
shy child, answer me this question if
YOU can: What is this thing that you fancy
you see? Is it like an animal. or fairy,
or a Christmas STORY goblin? voice
trembled, notwithstanding all his efforts ~
aor a man, or what? Eli? Shut your eyes
and tell me. Gomez"
4 emit! Oh. can'tln
Can't do what?~
Cant shut my eyes, Oh, if could"
aThen tell me with your eyes open. Go
on"
1T is the face Of man. Look! look!--
demon-like face--a dreadful face! Nearer.
l-nea-i"
"a man, is ir?" will interrupted. more
firmly than he had spoken at first. Il
thought so. tell you there is no one in
the room, mortal or immortal, but stupid
| little lady and her drawing master Now,
let us say. for the sake of argument, that
there is man by those window curtains;
that he has come to harm you. !"
Yes! yes"
.Well. what of it? We are not afraid
Your hands are on mine. Use your hands,
Miss Wentworth. Feel mine. Are they
weak or strong?"
Strongl strong!' she answered, with
strange laugh
aAre they the hands of friend or foe?"
This time she did not reply. Her eyes
were fixed on the library window, and Will
suppressed an involuntary shudder
Her horrible fear was SO intense, SO si-
lent, that he had not the courage to place
himself in front of her. He felt that moth
ing could have tempted him to stand with
his back to the library window and his face
to her eyes He imagined that her express
sion. while she was laboring under this
dreadful illusion, must be awful, and he
imagined rightly.
Win began TO regret that he had not
summoned Miss Bentley. His voice sound
ing low and horribly unnatural, he re-
peated the question:
Are my hands the hands of friend or
Of foe?'
Ada rose slowly from her chair, her eyes
still on the imaginary face.
She moved few inches to the right of
where she had been sitting.
"Of friend, she whispered; and then,
with low moan: oh, it's nearing me-it's
nearing mel
VTT:f - IL 1z.ek ha.
waist, and his right hand over her eyes.
They stood 80. silently, for some minutes.
Ada shuddered, then broke from him with
the words:
/ "God thank you. Mr.. Tryfoil!'
1t has gomez"
aYesl God thank you, Mr.. Tryfoil!"
Will felt that he had emerged from some
foul, fetid atmosphere into pure fresh air.
The room looked different directly Ada de-
clare sit" had gone, and he breathed sigh
of relief.
For some minutes Miss Wentworth sat
with her face covered by her hands. When
she withdrew them, Will saw that it bore
not the slightest trace of her late mad fear.
Save the wound on her under lip, it was
exactly the same as when she had entered
the library that morning.
81 am quite well now, thank you, Mr..
Tryfoil," she said, with q little shudder.
See how well am"
She caught hold of the curtains and moved
them to and fro with an air of triumph.
aThis is the seventh time that face has
haunted me, she went on. quite calmly.
1T is very dreadful face-yery dreadful.
Would you like to see it?'
No, thank you," replied Will. with
forced laugh, though dare say have
seen many as unpleasant. When one is i'll
ones vision is often whimsical, like yours.
"No; but do see it, really. Did / tell
you this morning that was very clever at
sketching faces?"
You did.
"would you like to have one of those
sketches2"
"Yes,"
aYou shall, said Ada. Il will show You
one that drew last night in my own ROOM
without once looking over my shoulder
one drew from memory"
She gave another little shudder.
aWhose face is it?" Will asked.
@The face that troubled me SO shockingly
Just now
"The Spanish woman?"
mol"
She jerked her head in the direction of