Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1891-08-12
THE MIDNIGHT HOUR.

vanis's beautiful and fertile valleys lie.
 the picturesque town of M. Int
 unSightly chimney stacks of noisy in
 dustry have not yet marred it's pietur sequences. and business, with few ex
 captions, Is sufficient to maintain { quiet commercial equilibrium whicl the fever of enterprise has never dis turbed. The principal impetus to trad, is given by the sojourn of three pr foul hundred students at the collegiate in stitution located on an eminence over, looking the town.
 At this place l spent four years, pre- pairing for subsequent collapse in the practical world. There were other en. thusiasts whose ardor felt the temper ing process during the latter part of the course. and who. after the spaSm oi commencement have continued to, Among these l found companion tc my fancy who. in the main. was my complete antithesis. And this will prob ably account for the warm friendship which attached us. undisturbed save by n few minor differences which the slightest advance from either would reconcile
 Stanley Wirt WAS quiet looking fel- low. possessing an honest face and a corresponding reputation. This good naiae, l judged, was principally due to pasSivity. and shortly discovered his disposition to be sensitive and re- tiring. enforcing a certain amount of avoidance of ordinary companion ship. He thus illustrated the principle that a man may not be i'll judged who has not committed himself To me. however, his daily companion, he re- vealed nature rich in endowments, re quiring only the harsh surveillance of discipline to render them effective. But as considered his sensitiveneSs his re- luctance to express. even to his inti- mates. his peculiar views of humanity, felt certain he would never submit even the hardest of these mental off spring to the rigid scrutiny of the com mercial minded publisher.
 He unraveled with the greatest ease the intricate tangles of idiomatic wretch edness and involved Latin and Greek. And l must acknowledge that ire quently made use of his superior pene- tration to prepare my labored transla- tien for the disturbing supervision of the class Argus It was not difficult to notice the chief tendency of his mind, for an examination of that portion of his library which claimed his unwearied imaginative. legendary lore usually so disastrous to practical mindedneSS. l am sure l never beheld in the limited space such a collection of tales and traditions of this kind. embodying the suPerstitions of nearly every civilized nation.
 By the usual perversity of fate this retiring. modest fellow was gifted with a veiee meledious and pleasing enough to have caioled the affections of the msst obfdrate maid The only use he made of it. however, was to read, at night, some of these illusive romances which. although sometimes wearied of them, l enjoyed on account of the way they were rendered. Often. in this manner, we became so deeply alb sorbed in these unnatural themes that l felt a sense of relief to know that the journey to bed was but few short steps across lighted apartment, and not up flights of shadow haunted stair cases
 During the latter part of the course the citizens of M were very much disturbed by series of skillfully ex- ecuted burglaries. Houses were riied with surprising frequency. considering the amount of attention attracted in this direction, and the evidence of a certain amount of guiding intelligence was the most disturbing aspect of the case. as the plunder secured by these midnight depredators was usually most profitable. Not the slightest indica ton as yet had suggested a clew that might lead to the solving of the mys tery.
 One evening. in order to escape the hubbub in the dormitory, Stanley and l left the college hall and strolled slow ly down the street. On the way con versation fell on the late burglaries. and from that, by an unaccountaole leap. To animal magnetism, which was at that time exciting considerable interest and comment A peculiarly gifted ex ponent of the principle was then in town, and several of the students had permitted themselves to be subjected to the influence Knowing Stanley's re tiring disposition and the ready belief he accorded to all demonstrations of this nature, l asked
 Why not go and see Professor B-2 Perhaps he may be able to mould your will to his designs"
 He began: ''I believe you will ac- knowledge, remembering past expe- rience. that am disturbed by pecul- jar distrust of myself in the presence of any strong influence or emotion. have also discovered that the struggle to avoid their effects Is not only ex- hausung, hu. depressing, and should