Marshall County independent., 1895-09-13

X superstition. He derided all the
- good old saws. and he jeered at
omens 1t was his one hobby, this war
fare with the believers in signs and por-
tents. There was no mercy in him for
the credulOus. He laughed at broken
mirrors; nothing pleased him better
than TO see the new moon over his left
shoulder; the everrecurring terror OF
thirteen at table he had reduced TO n
mathematical problem to be solved
through the law of chances and the sta
tiSticS OF life insurance actuarieS. Three
mornings in the week he put on his
right shoe first; on the other four the
left preceded the right. Last. but not
least. he had taken lodgings in a rath-
er poor neighbOrhOOd, because 1t
abounded in white cats. and the likeli-
hood of one of the unlucky animals
crossing his path was thereby greatly
increased.
These things did not add TO his popu-
larity. Most men stunned him. So
did some women. though their aversion
to him interested no one but them
miSOgyniSt had he been able to cherish
two great hatreds simultaneously.
Sometimes. though. he longed for more
friends of his own sex. He had but two
or three, and he could not preach 10
them always. There was n point at
which they rebelled, and when that
point was reached Brown felt alone in
the world.
So at last, through growing dread OF
Isolation, he came to spare these two or
three. which proves that the man OF
one idea may learn in the school Of Bit
ter experience. Even when. out of the
goodness of their hearts. they now and
then cleared the lists for him to break
a lance In his favorite cause he declined
the challenge And then
the others began to fear for his health.
Your trouble, Brown. is that you
lack an actual test" observed Fergu-
son on one of these occasions of COM
bat declined. You're theOretical;
you've never faced ghost, nor heard
a supernatural voice. Now, if you only
could have something uncanny hap
pen"
Ferguson paused, partly because he
thought he had said enough in the way
OF encouragement, but more because
his cigar demanded attention. Ran
dali nodded approval of the curtailed
sentiment. The three had been dining
together and were lingering over the
coffee.
NO; I've escaped so far Brown an
swered slowly; lat least-well. nothing
has occurred to shake my common
sense. Truth is. though, L may be able
to tell you something convincing in n
few days Last night had what some
fools would call warming"
What" cried Randall.
You had:" asked Ferguson, incredu-
lousy.
Il had a dream" Brown continued.
81 don't know where the scene was laid.
or whether there was any But | held
a piece of newspaper, with edged jag
ged. as If it had been torn from the
sheet. On one side was what seemed
TO be an account of n curious accident
to Sound steamer, which was run into
by a schooner, whose jibboom pierced
the wall of stateroom and impaled
the occupant. The name Of the steam
er was missing.
"And the passengers name:" queried
Randall.
1T was not to be found in the part
of the article before me-"
Sure it was Sound steamer?" Fer
gusOn asked.
Yes; something in the context made
that clear. There was no hint of the
date. / turned the paper over. but
found on the other side nothing but
part of table of stock quotations.
Great Eastern common had closed AZ
2O-thats all | remember to have no.
ticed."
I'D like to see the stuff there. even
In dream" said Ferguson. feelingly.
He venturcd into Wall street occasion
ally.
NO doubt you would" said Randall.
'But. Brown. where's the warming?
Are you going down East?"
Yes. I'm due i'm Boston next Satur-
day morning. And / always GO by
boat"
This time tOO?"
Certainly" responded Brown. with
dignity: this time of all tines
well, I'd stay ashore, If were you,"
Randall cOunseled "As a boy | had
my fill of trying to see If things were
loaded"
The skeptic smiled superior smile
Il have already arranged for tho
trip" he announced "This morning
i reserved a stateroom on the Yankee