The record-union., 1894-11-03

the half caught outlines of a woman's
face arrested my attention. More start
ling still, it was the identical face which
my fancy had evolved from the strange
and pathetic incidents OF the day, and
1t now took on definite form aud feat
ure in the old glass inkstand which was
before me.
Not only did this face of woman come
distinctly into view, but aside from it's
plainly traceable lineaments below and
beneath it was a crouched, bent and
bumped little body, while the penholder
had been grotesquely transformed into
the figures stout and sturdy staff.
l laughed outright ut the curious hallu-
cination and challenged the old pensioner
as if in petty triumph with:
"Ah, l told you your wife was not
dead, Uncle Billy. See! Here we have
already found herp'
lS Believe it or not the face in the ink
stand responded to this with many and
the sweetest of mods and smiles.
There you are then, Mistress Merrill?"
banteringly asked OF the face in the ink
stand.
A nod and smile followed this in
stantly.
And you are still patiently waiting for
Uncle Billy who never came?'
Imperative noddings aud a mournful
smile were the immediate response.
Dear, dear! 1t is very loyal and good
of you, but won't you please go away just
for little, until this hateful story is be-
gun and done, Mistress Merrill?" L
pleaded kindly but distractedly
mo, no, mol" was plainly answered in
the detected head shaking in the ink
stand. and [ heard, or thought | plainly
heard, the imperative humping dissent
OF the statf upon my hollow desk.
Something like feeling of solemnity
now came upon me. The persistence and
insistence of the face in the inkstand
reused me from dalliance to action.
l rubbed my eyes furiously, thinking,
"NoW, presto! and away it tiiesp' but II
was still there. L cIapped my hands
loudly together. but the wrath was un-
moved. l dashed my penholder down
beside the inkstand, but it was as though
the bumped body had merely momenta-
rlly laid aside her staff.
lett the chair and bathed my eyes in
cold water, paced the room for time.
and even read in my books. When |
turned to my desk again it seemed as
though the face in the inkstand was look
ing wonderingly and protestingly into
mine. L stepped to the gasjet turned it
of, went out of my apartment and took
several quick turns in the hallway.
When l had come back and relighted the
gasiet, the little old woman gazed up
into my tace with a puzzled and troubled
look.
1 rang the bell and servant shortly
came.
Take this inkstand," 1 said 10 him,
''have it cleaned thoroughly and bring
me a fresh we'll of INK
When he had done my bidding and had
retired from the room 1t was 4 long time
before l dare turn to the cruel etTacemenL
l felt certain had been wrought. Even
then my eyes stole foolishly, guiItily, TO
the desk.
There, brighter, clearer, more ineradi-
cable than before, was the face in the ink
stand, It's tear-dimmed eyes following
my every movement with pleading look
of bewilderment and fear.
In moment more with hat and great
coat donned, and with a parting glance
at the face which now seemed radiant
III smiling approval, had left my inn
and gained London's midnight streets.
Almost as in dream, where city's
thoroughfares seem like cloud filed ca
nails with ghostly humans drifting along
their lower depths, turned into Maiden
Lane, rounded Leicester Square, pushed
through the harpy throngs of Trafalgar
Square and the Strand, crowded into
Flint street, penetrated the maze of
wynds and alleys roundabout the Royal
Justice Courts, as far as Chancery Lane,
and thence around by Lincoln Inn fields,
by Zigzag, tortuous course, peering into
the face that haunted me, came at last.
exhausted and discouraged in my search,
to the corner of Southampton street and
the Strand.
Here | halted for little, leaning against
the Southampton street side of the ex-
treme corner of the building there, gazing
ruefully into the Strand, which was still
crowded with the Godforsaken OF Lon
don's after midnight hours.
- her lace, and L Will find it Vpt1;' /
muttered aloud as L cast parting glance
up and down the fog-shrouded human
tides of the Strand.
lis it an old face or young one, you
are looking for, my dear?" inquired a soft
voice at my elbow, Just around the corner
of the building in the strand.
The voice was as sweet as an innocent
child's, and yet it held that subtle chord
Of interest and sympathy which can alone
be modulated by a mature and. tender
human heart.
L whirled and faced, or rather bent
over, the speaker, for her head scarcely
came to my waist. l saw with beating
heart and bewildered brain the haunting
face in the inkstand the very face /
sought; the face ofan old, bumped backed
woman, with sturdy staff in hand face
set upwardly as is the sorry way with
dwarfs; face in which some unutterable
human hopeleSsness was drawn into
Sp6lll6U.
as you looked upon 1t. to grow in high
relief radiant transfgurement of trust
and faith, the Oldest, painest, sweetest
face in all great London town. and
face l could only look upon in as
founded silence for its friendly reassuring
smiles.
Pm just Dfury Lane Betty, sir.
Every body on the Strand knows Betty.
Some of them loves her, too. Pm here
of Inh II Il
sometimes Betty helps them that falls to
the earth from discouragements and the
like, sir. The nighttime is when help is
most needed, sir. Besides, old Betty is
looking for a face, too, sir. But are you
in trouble? Sometimes them that's best
favored and. dressed, sir, have deepest
hurts. Pm Just now going in, sir, and.
ii you don't mind, we will have cup OF
tea together. We can talk better over a
bit of fire and cup Of tea, you know
Come along, my dear"
She swung her staff into one hand and
grasped it firmly; with the other she
reached confidently for my own and
placed it beneath her shoulder and trun-
died away with ME toward Fleet street
her head perked to one side like a little
white old birds; her fascinating prattle
only now and then checked, as some
officer or long frequenter of the quarter
gave her commiserating though hearty
greeting, to which she replied cheerily
calling each one by his Christian name
until we at last turned into the now
darker and less frequented Drury Lane.
\ walk of a few minutes in this thor
oughfare brought us to the fruiterer's s
district, and we halted before an ancient
and narrow structure. Here my strange
companion produced an enormous key
and ushered me into hallway black as
the portals of Erberus.
Ordinarily L would not have assembled