The Mankato free press., 1891-05-08

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 himself
to her., but the incarnation of another
soul 1t gave him when with her a sense
OF duality which was maddening. 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
ev1ct the interloping spirit which seemed
to share the material tenement with his
own.
II know to the finest fiber of sensation
how it feels to be haunted" he whimsi-
cally declared to Mrs. Hart. Ever since
that fellow thrust his identity upon me
my soul has had Siamese twin. He
ought to be ashamed to hang on to earth
30. It's stealing march on the other
ghosts who have cut into the Infinite the
instant death shuts the door on them" :"
''It won't be for long now," comforted
the lady. ''And after while, when it
shall have become past experience, you'll
view it as psychological phenomenon
of great interest and Importance. You'll
take pride In it as an exceptional mani
festation 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
viii gain renown."
THAT may be-" grumbled Royal, "but
as present experience [ find duality of
being disconcerting. If don't get out
of this before long I'll blurt the whole
truth out to Phyllis, if only to give my
incommoded soul standing room In its
own body" la
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
be sure, the time has been short and
your intercourse desultory and super
tclal; added to which, her whole soul is
absorbed in anticipations about the re-
covery of her sight. But you are obliged
to make blunders-multitudes of blum
ders-and she ought to notice them. Tn
disappointed in her penetration"
"You needn't be-" Royal retorted.
"My familiar stands by me better than
that. When 1 blunder recover myself
with a nimbleneSs and celerity 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
margin of those six years, into which
considerable change may be crowded. y
In which last statement Royal fastened
on truth, for with Phyllis all discrep-
ancie5 (and the time, as Mrs. Hart re-
marked, had been too short for many
| were put down to the inevitable growth
modification and readjustments effected
by the passage of time. Phyllis was g
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 hel
cousin had changed also. That he ha6
ceased to be demonstrative man had
surprised her at first, because the love-
of her memory had been addicted to en-
| dearmentS.
! Then she reflected that it was quite
natural he should no longer love her il
the old way, since, latterly, that long
gap had not even been bridged by let
tiers. 1t would take time and mutua
knowledge to erect new love, or rather
a new superstructure of love in which tx
| dwell; for the foundation must be secure
! still. else he could not have done for hel
sake the things which she knew he ha(
done. She did not associate the idea O.
| the money with his conduct in any ig
noble way. There was no intimate jux
Imposition between love and money IL
her mind, fer Life on a lonely country
farm prevents the two from seeming in
any way interdependent.
She could think the matter out al
leisure and demonstrate it quite to hel
satisfaction, for she was no more active
ly IN love than she supposed her couslr
to be-only deeply grateful, and filled
with trust in him and content that ht
should be her husband. No man could
be more considerate, she thought, o.
show more solicitude in regard to obedi
ence to instructions although, to bt
sure, he was a physician himself, which
of course gave them greater value II
his eyes. His self control appeared t.
her noble and beautiful, and she debs1
mined that when her eyes should b.
opened d-unconsciously she used tn
scriptural phrase she would show hin
how sweet thing could be a woman
gratitude.
Then her Thought would hover yearn
ingiy, as it had done for years. over hel
chances of recovery of sight, until sh'
would bethink her of the oculist's in
structions and dismiss the matter a
much as might be from her mind.
Save in the matter of caresses (which
he felt would be an unfair advantage Il
take of herr, Royal was not rerniss il
loverlike attentions. He intended T.
win the girls love if possible before b
should claim her as his wife, for he ha,
wholesome notions relative to marriage
While not consciously in lcve as yet b
was strongly attracted, and he healthil,
and manfuIly set himself to make of th
attraction a line which the stronger emo
ton would find it easy to follow. It wa
| in his favor that he had had no rrayioTf