Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1889-12-25
to his feet, top heavy and almost unable
to stand erect.

to his feet, top heavy and almost unable
to stand erect.
Surveying him with severe look,
Rhadamanthus said: Wretch, no
longer address thee, for thou canst no
longer hear. Thou possessed a tongue
which in life never had good word for
any generous or noble action, and which
YVES always ready to sneer at good deeds
of which thou thyself vast incapable.
Seize him, guards, and tear it from
him."
The ready guards advanced and -,
With sudden start Ephraim Thomp-
son awoke. He was trembling in every
limb, and the perspiration stood out on
his brow in great beads. He gasped
convulsively, and his very hair erected
itself on end. Rubbing his hands
over his brow, he slowly struggled to
his feet, exclaiming,
"Only dream. Thank God, only a
dream"
The revulsion from his highly over
wrought condition still unnamed him.
Finally his scattered senses slowly re-
turned, and he again exclaimed, "Onlv a
dream"
He stopped and picked up the letter of
his niece, which lay at his feet, still
muttering the phrase, "Thank God, only
dream" He sank down on the chair.
and read every line of it twice. He
arose from its perusal changed man.
The hour was late, but that msttered
nothing. His descent to the street took
but little time, and the calling Of car
riage little more. Directing the driver
to make extra time to the address given
in Eva's letter, he arrived just as our
trio, fresh from their Christmas Eve per-
formsnce, were mounting the stairs,
loaded with flowers. Paying attention
to nobody, he rushed up to the room oc-
cupied by his sister, pushed open the
door, and, in another moment, the long
estranged brother and sister were clasped
in each others arms. This was the un-
expected scene which met Eva, her lover
and Rosalie, as they gained the thresh-
old.
Before Eva had recovered from her
agitation she found herself in the arms
OF her uncle, who, to her extreme sur
prise, caught himself murmuring, "Only
a dream"
Madsmoiselle, with instructive good
taste, divining that something unusual
had happened, was about to withdraw,
when a whispered word from Mrs.
Burling induced her to remain.
Ephraim had undergone a most remark
able Transformation. He shifted the
flowers and joined vivaciously in the con-
versation, ever and anon holding a whis-
pered communion with his sister. He
was 80 genial and benevolent that, on his
niece's suggestion that some Christmas
carols-it had long passed midnight
with guitar accompaniment, should be
sung, he gave ready assent. He was
the Ephraim of Mary Burling's girlhood
days, and overfowing with all kindly i'm
pulses. When the hour grew uncon-
scionably late, he surprised them all by
saying
"My good people, have had dream
"a most delightful dream. dreamed
that my sister and niece were tomorrow
to move to the most elegant quarters that
can be obtained in New York, on short
notice, and that an elegant mansion will
be erected for them, as soon as possible,
on one of my most eligible lots. 1
dreamed that 1 shall occupy nook in
that building, and that while it is being
prepared my sister, Mary Burling, nay
niece Eva and myself, shall take trip
to Europe, where my sister shall receive
the care of the most famous oculists in
the world"
At this stage Ephriam observed that
Walter Beaumont's face had clouded
somewhat, and he continued:
81 also dreamed that when a young
gentleman, not thousand miles from
here, shall have been admitted to the
bar, and shall have formed partnership
with some reputable and experienced
attorney, he shall marry my niece, as
learn from her mother that he richly de-
serves her."
Mademoiselle ct this point seemed de-
cidedly de trop, and she arose to 60, but
was arrested by the voice of the dreamer,
who said, in the same CHEEKY tone:
"And 1 further dreamed that on the
trip to Earope my sister, my niece and
myself hope to be accompanied by their
inseparable friend, Mademoiselle Rosalie
de Daucourt, who will be of invaluable
assistance to US all in ransacking the
Bon Marche and Worth's in Paris, and
who will always have an honored place
in my sisters household. These are my
dreams, and l don't care who knows
them. A merry Christmas to you all,
and good by" Aud the transformed
man kissed his sister and niece, and left
the humble tenement q man for whom
happiness thereafter was not only g pos
sibility but a certainty, and to whom bad
dreams were in the future out of the
question. 1t is needless to add that his
waking dreams were carried out to the
letter.
Christmas i'm Days of Yoxe.
This is the way Sir Walter Scott de.
scribes Christmas time in merry Eng
land centurias auo.