, 1891-10-06

sic bttLVHtTtu, " z purify TOuIti W.
tDould haze fallen.
Count de Lisle knocked at the door.
For a minute or two there was no n
swer. He knocked again. Madame
Trent" he said, pardon me for disturb
ing you, put the guests are beginning to
arrive" The door was opened slowly.
The beautiful Sallie stood there pale,
with distended eyes. She stared at him
as if she hardly realized his presence,
but after a moment she put out her hand
and clutched him by the sleeve. She
drew him into the room.
why did you put me hereT' she said,
in q husky voice. what was itT'
Are you i'll? Is anything wrong" he
asked ~anxiously.
THAT mirror she continued. ~ saw
Il thought Obi what was itY'
A tremor passed through her and her
teeth chartered.
THE mirror" he repeated, looking
perplexed.
She turned as if with an effort and
gave a glance toward it. The room was
full of light. The fire burned cheer
fully. The antique mirror reflected their
two figures standing together in the
doorway. After a pause she gave II faint
laugh and put her hand to her head. 81
was asleep, l suppose; it must have been
q dream-a nightmare. Dead men are
deadl" and she laughed again.
you are not WELL" he said. "You
had better lie down on the bed for an
hour or two and rest. l will see that
you are not disturbed. / will receive ths
guests myself"
Rest in that rooml" she exclaimed.
She gave him a very searching glance.
You were speaking about ghosts a
while ago. she observed. "Any one
would think you had a presentiment.
All, WE'LL You'll think I'm out
of my head. Come, l am ready. Don't
be afraid, dear count. / shall be equal
to the emergency"
In fact she recovered her ~self-posses-
sion very rapidly, and was even more
alert than usual. The incident of the
mirror had aroused every latent quality,
good or evil, in her nature. And her
mind, which was strongly materialistic
and logical in its bias, applieditself with
u sort of angry heat to the consideration
of the mystery. She did not believe in
ghosts, and she had not been asleep. Yet
she had seen in the mirror the reflection
or, as it seemed, the actual figure of
Keppel Darke. AS she had sprung to-
ward it it had vanished, and she had
found herself gazing at her own fright
ened eyes in the mirror. What was it?
She had heard of Authorizations, visions,
cerebral impressions-there were names
enough; but the more she thought of this
experience of hers the more convinced
she was that it was real. She had seen
real substantial figure, and its face was
that of Keppel Darke. But how was that
possible? Was not Keppel Darke's dead
body found in the railroad wreck, hand
cuffed to the dead body of the polict
officer? No matter; this was either KEEP
pei Darke or it was some one who ex
actly resembled him. Whichever it was
the bearing of his appearance to hel
would be substantially the same. Itcoult
have been no accident; there was n plar
and a purpose behind. Some power hos
tile to her was at work. Was the coun
aware of it? How could he but be awar
fit? hen he was her enemy-her deadl,
enemyl And he had invited her here
and had placed her in that room, will
the premeditated design Of Well, o
whatr Of giving her a scare? No, no
that. OF giving her warning of battle
throwing down the gauntlet? Hardl
that, either.
lit is no use my trying to fathom hi
motives yet" said Sallie to herself. -
must wait and watch. Perhaps he mean
only TO try an experiment on me; he ha
some problem to solve, and would ties
it by my behavior. But what concer
has he with Keppel Darke? What is tn
object of Keppel Dsrke himself-if wha
j saw was really he? Count de Lisl
would be a powerful friend-and a tel
rible enemy There is almost nothin
that a man of his could not a,
complish. Yes, and cannot l, too, a
complish something1 Have not wome