Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-04-19


come, and during that time Royal hoped
to arrange matters in such fashion as
to withdraw his future, in 4 measure,
from the shadow of the dead mans past.
The feeling of possession, OF being him
self, and yet other than himself, which
had been so strong upon him during the
ceremony, had modified, but enough Of
it remained to make him FESTIVE. To
himself he neither denied the impression
nor attempted to explain it, and he
spoke of the matter to no one. That
the soul of dying man, freed from the
material in the intensity of dominant
and unfulflled desire, should, operating
through spiritual or imaginative laws,
influence the soul of another man DOM
mated by the same desire and in an alb
normally quickened condition by reason
of nervous excitement, was to him a
thinkable proposition, and one which
would require no more credulity to ad-
nit than would be demanded by nine
tenths Of the theses constantly pre-
sented for the consideration Of mankind.
The intellectual man was in Royal
sufficiently developed to enable him to
recognize that all thought pertaining to
that infinite that permeates and tran
scends material things must forever root
itself in instinct and intuition, and also
that his individual knowledge of the laws
of spirit or imagination, CLEANED from
observation of their manifestation in the
life of matter, was, relative to his igno-
rance, as a single plume from an eagles
wing to the sum of the birds aerial
ljourneyings.
Still, withal, Royal was very human
natured man, and since realization that
Phyllis was his own wife had come to
him matrimonial association of her, even
in idea, with another man had become
offensive. 1t was not that he was jeal-
Gus OF the dead mans memory; Royal
was not sufficiently in love for that, and
would besides have been incapable of the
meanness. Phyllis, as his wife, would
be quite as free to eXpend regret upon
her cousin as though she were still UNI
wed. That which CALLED Royal was his
| inability for the time to escape, in her
thought, from the dead mans identity
- the knowledge that he was not him
self to her, but the incarnation of an
other soul. 1t gave him when with her
sense II duality which was madden
ing The endeavor to think the things
which John Royal might have thought,
and to speak the words which John
ROYAL might have spoken, made him at
times feel almost ready TO cut his own
throat, if only to evict the interloping
spirit which seemed to share the mate
rial tenement with his own.
II know the finest fiber Of sensation
how 1t feels to be haunted" he whimsi-
cally declared to Mrs. Hart. Ever
since that fellow thrust his identity
upon me my soul has had a Siamese
twin. He ought to be ashamed to hang
on TO earth so. It's stealing a march on
the other ghosts who have cut into the
Infinite the instant death shuts the
door on them"
at won't be for long now," comforted
the lady. "And after a while, when it
shall have become past experience,
you'll view it as psychological pheno-
menon of great interest and Importance.
You'll take pride in it as exceptional
manifestation of heaven knows what,
and write articles which nobody will
read, or could understand if they did,
devoted entirely to its analysis-from
which you will gain renown."
That may be" grumbled Royal, but
as present experience l find duality OF
being disconcerting. If | don't get out
of this before long I'll blurt the whole
truth out to Phyllis, II only to give my
incommoded soul standing room in its
own body"
Mrs. Hart laughed. 81 wonder Phyllis
has never suspected anything. The idea
/ that you may be other than you seem
never appears to shadow her mind. To
to be sure, the time has been short and
your intercourse deSultory and super
fetal, added to which, her whole soul is
absorbed in anticipationS about the re-
l'covery OF her sight. But you are obliged
to make blunders-multitudes OF blum
ders-and she ought to notice them.
I'm disappointed in her penetration"
you needn't be-" Royal retorted.
"My familiar stands by me better than
that. When blunder l recover myself
with a nimbleness and celebrity which
would shame an acrobat. You under
rate my ability. I'm getting in stock
of substitution and suppression which
would furnish capital for the founders
| of many theories. Besides, we've the
marginuof those six years, into which
considerable change may be crowded. J"
In which last statement Royal fastened
on the truth, for with Phyllis all dis
crepancies land the time, as Mrs. Hart
remarked, had been too short for many
was put down to the inevitable growth,
modification and readjustment effected
by the passage of time. Phyllis was a
sensible girl. wise with the wisdom of
thought and nature, and she was con-
Scious OF so much change in herself that
it seemed reasonable to suppose that her
cousin had changed also. That he had
ceased TO be demonstrative man had
surprised her at first, because the lover
of her memory had been addicted to en-
dearments.
Then she reflected that it was quite
natural he should no longer love her in
the old way, since, latterly, that long
gap had not even been bridged by let
tiers. 1t would take time and mutual
knowledge TO erect new love, or rather
a new superstructure of love in which to
dwell; for the foundation must be secure
still. else he could not have done for her
sake the things which she knew ne had
done. She did not associate the idea OF
the money with his conduct in any ig-
noble way. There was no intimate jux-
taposition between love and money in
her mind, for life on lonely country
farm prevents the two from seeming in
any way interdependent.
She could think the matter out at
leisure and demonstrate it quite TO her
satisfaction, for she was no more active
ly in love than she supposed her cousin
to be-only deeply grateful, and filled
with trust in him and content that he
should be her husband. No man could
be more considerable, she thought, or
show more solicitude in regard to obedi-
ence to observation-disclosures to be
sure, he was physician himself, which
of course gave them greater value in