, 1891-01-23

her mind could not separate n from
the other; consequently the separation
should be effected externally therefore
the only thing 10 be done was to de-
eeiye the lady in the hour, and thus to
make her pass the ninth hour without
knowing it. Let one evening pass
without the appearance of the phantom
and Maria would recognize her delusion
physical restoratives would then com
plete the cure.
The doctors counsel was put into
immediate execution, and one night
after Maria had gone to bed all the
clocks in the house were put back an
hour; even the clock Of the village,
whose solemn sounds had in the first
instance marked the hour Of the APP
pearance Of the vision, was retarded in
its progress for the same lapse of time,
so that when Maria arose in the morn
ing she would be deceived in the hour.
The evening was advancing and the
family We're as usual assembled in the
parlor and without company. The
wife Of the colonel tried to be as merry
as possible, and related many amusing
tales, The colonel himself began-as
he had been used to do when in good
humor-to rally the governess, in which
he was assisted by Augusta They
laughed as merrily as ever.
Suddenly the house clock struck s
t~ttfre right time being, of cUurse, 91.
Pale and heavy as a corpse Maria fell
back in her chair, while the needle
work escaped from her hands Then
she rose, and with all the frightful ex-
preston of terror on her c~ountenance
she stared into the vicinity Of the large
parlor and m%uttered, in a hollow, deep
voice What an hour e%arlieri Ahl
do you seer There is the agure-there
close before meln
The whole family rose as by com
mon consent. All looked at tho spot
pointed out by Maria; but as they
could not perceive anything which
could be taken for a figure or appari-
ton, the colonel, stepping toward his
daughter said in a voice of the greatest
composure: MY dear girl, be calm
ecove yourself - this apparition is
nothing but a vision, a chimera, a crea-
ton of your own brain. We can sec
nothing, absolutely nothing; and II
there was any figure before you should
we not sec it as we'll as youl Try to be
calm, my child recollect YOURSELF"
my Godi- sighed Maria; do you
then think me madf There it is, therel
1t stretches its long white arms toward
mel OH it makes me signs-it mods
its head!'
As if deprived Of free will, and with
her eyes staringly directed before her
at the spot where she said the figure
was standing, Maria put her hands be
hind her aud took hold Of a plate
which was on the table. She raised it
high, and then released it from her
hands, and the plate, as il sustained by
some invisible power, turned slowly
round in the air, and then fell gently to
the ground.
The following day the desolation
caused by the scene of the preceding
evening vas TO be clearly observed. 1t
appeared as if the phantom had made
its way FROM Maria to Augusta. The
former became quite freed from her
vision, but from that moment Augustus
mind became affected, and she i'm
agined herself to be the aerial spectre
that frightened Maria.
She who had before been so joyful.
so merry, fell into even n deeper mel
ancholy than that which had oppressed
her sister. Augusta avoided all So
ciety; she scarcely dared speak or even
breathe before any one, fearing to be-
tray her presence and to spread terror
around her, The only person who at
tended her was her sister Maria, assist
ed by the governess, The madness of
Augusta was not TO be ~overreached by
the cunning of the physician, who had
caused the clocks TO be altered. His
advice even proved ~valueless in the
brain fever, which on the fatal even
ing attacked the mother OF the girls
and deprived her of life.
When, some time after my first visit.
I again stood in the parlor where l had
once been 50 Hospitality received, 1
found no one but the French lady.
The colonel, rendered desperate by the
misfortune which had befallen his fam
lily, entered again into active service.
Maria was in close attendance on her
sister, vainly endeavoring to sweep
away hat delusion, the influence of
which she had herself once labored un-
der. In . little time Augusta died, and
from that moment Maria again became
a visionary, the phantom appearing
at its old hour and assuming the form
of Augusta.-New York World.