Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-12-02

lho ioNO wa aohOh 90 bhO ieAOS VI VIZ
dead while he stood gazing toward
the window. ~sSsS
There sufficiently revealed in the
raining moonlight was the figure OF
a woman arrayed as for bridal; but
1t fingered. only for moment and
then deliberately moved away.
1t paralyzed me. For an instant ]
felt inclined to read in it an easy
mockery OF my own egotlsm.
Not for long however; a feeling
akin to anger soon steadied me. and
| said TO Henry:
This is all an internal piece OF
humbuG my boy and l must and
will be mt the bottom of IL
We proceeded to the house and
into it and into the library whero
all was silent as we had Quilted it,
lit the gas. Henry's first act was
10 survey his mothers portrait
Then he made search for the
mysterious paper
lit is gone" said he in awed
tones.
proposed that We should adjourn
till morning so that we could have
daylight upon the subject
Immediately after breakfast Henry
made for the library and | followed
him.
just then we heard the piano struck
by expert fingers in an adjoining
room. and n rich low voice sing the
notes o. an air which | had never
heard before. felt that / could not
listen to it and stand so strangely
did the melody float and linger and
flutter and die away.
Il Meantime Henry was wandering
about the room
What can have come over that
poem. l wonder2' / heard him say.
as he lifted IN ink bottle book a
decanter and looked under them all
turn.
Wait moment for me-" said to
him. as | slipped out of the room and
Joined the musician.
lit was his sister OF course. and
joined her just as she concluded the
Internal or supernal melody. and
knowing not what better to do re-
quested her to favor me by repeating
it.
DO you like it9" she quickly
asked.
lit is a wonderful thing" re-
turned. MAY ask whose are the
verses and who is the composerPn
The verses are my mothers and
the music is my own"
was stupefed.
DO you possess a written copy of
themP"
mo; but could not forget them,
feel so sorry sometimes for | have
lost the manuscript in her own hand.
writing"
Excuse me for asking. Miss Todd;
but have you a copy OF those verses
in your own handwriting?
Il have not Mr. WInslow. / sing
them from memory"
This Is very extraordinary. I
certainly read those verses in manu-
script last evening""
''lndeedm she exclaimed. looking
at me curiously. Most likly you
heard me sing them late and that
may have cheated you into the idea.
l played and sung them last night
A little later when not a sound
was heard in the house you might
have seen me slip OF my slippers
take up the powder cautiously invade
the hall and SOW the entire area OF it
with powder.
When entered the library shut
out the moonlight which was playing
the mischief with my fancy and lit
the gas | then seated myself in the
chair which faced the hanging por-
pratt OF Henry's mother and could
see my own reflection plainly in its
glass front.
Presently l detected a series OF
slight sounds in the distance as Of
some one ast.r While my heated
imagination was busily forging letters
for my judgment the library door
orened slowly and the moving image
of the portrait draped in a white
veil made straight for the curtained
window leaving in its wake at every
step the white impress of an un-
mistakable reality.
saw at once OF course that IL was
Miss Todd who stood before me. but
Hdu plducb UGH uG SbdHo could
not have moved or spoken.
She opened the window shutter very
deliberately aud the moonlight
streamed into the room, transforming
everything and imparting to her
features and figure an indistinct and
shadowy beauty which was altogether
spiritual and unvestured OF decay.
saw her take from fold of her
thick veil paper which she read
over in the full light / could see
her eyes-that they wore a look as if
they saw nothing nearer than the
land OF darkness. Her face was like
the face OF one who had been dead.
| was trembling like leaf when
the figure moved straight toward me.
and holding forth the paper said in a
strange far of pleasantncss OF voice:
lis 1t not very beautiful You
may take copy from it IL you like
but do not lose il again"
started TO my feet and to my as
constituent did not startle the beau
tiful sleeper who had strobe away as
stately as she had come leaving In
my hand the simple manuscript
which 1 held fast as III IL might take