The morning times., 1895-07-28

away 10 the railway SIaUlon IN as puzzled
frame of mind as II had ever been his
lot to expert ence.
What did this mean? Why had the
strange girls face such extraordinary in :
flIence over him? There was no question
OF love. The attraction was free from any
suspicion Of tenderness 1t rather resem
bled that magnetism OF which he had
often heard people speak, but in which he
had never himself had any serious belief
The thing seemed ridiculous to his logical
faculties now. If you had told him yes :
terday that q perfect stranger, by the
mere effect of two momentary glaUces
would have exercised such influence over
him, he would have set you down as lu-
natic To day it had Happened The in
Guence had been exer4isedI He had befit
to il as a reed 10 the twind He had ac-
cepted il with all ths~ complacency of a
philosopher accepting BIS destiny
II cannot understand its'' he reflected
81 shall tell nobody ABOUT that girl They
would all misjudse me- They would say
that l was in love with her, which, heaven
knows, / am not. Neyer felt less like
love in my life. Nok Ehis influence is
of another Kind OF Swliat kind and to
what end. time will hdge ~ show"
Daring his first weeks sofourn In La
burnum terrace he oniY1saw the girl three
times. On each OF these Occasions he met
her upon the stairs as she hurried past
just casting at him ope hasty look. He
noticedno thatshe seeHiedhalf ashamedof
being seen. Putting this side by side with
the fact that though tile girl was the only
other inmate OF the house, the landlady
| had never alluded to her, Reginald could
only infer that there was some mystery
attached to the poor creature which they
desired to keep secret. He wondered what
the mystery was. He wondered still more
how it coUld possibly explain the influence
under which he himself lay.
One morning his curiosity got the better
of his delicacy, and he addressed a ques-
tien to his Iandfady upon the subject while
she was clearing away his breakfast
you have another lodger have you not?"
he remarked caTelessly
She gave palpable start The teapot
which she had just taken up, nearly fell
! from her hand.
"Oh, no, sir" she answered quickly;
you are MY only lodger"
| 81 see," said Reginald "I did not mean
| to be inquisitiye But there is a young
lady whom | occasionally meet about the
house, and | thought"
"I-I-did not know that you had seen
her. broke in the landlady. (Reginaid
| saw that she was trembling and looked dis
! tressed) "Shc usually stays all day in her
room. She-she-is a young relative of
mine. She-she-has sad history poor
| girl! A great disgrace has fallen upon her
! through 10 fault OF her own People
people-do not know she is living here
Her-her-presence is altogether secret" "
Il am sure l beg your pardon for having
Uninteutionally hurt you by my inquiry >"
said Reginald, win feeling. II had no
idea that 1 was aluding 10 painful sub
! ject. "
Nay, sir" she answered, 81 am glad
you told ME about having seen the poor
toneD 1t gives ME the opportunity of ask
ing you a great favor, sir, motto
mention her presence her eto any one
You Will do both her and me the greatest
service, sir, by y-by-proniising this"
You need not be afraid replied he.
rcassunngiy. Il shall, of course, respect
your secret. / give you my word OF honor
upon that point"
Thank you sir-thank you, with all my
heart" said the landlady, evidently
relieved.
She continued 10 clear away the break
fast things Reginald sat reading the pa
per, or apparently doing so. III reality he
was thinking of the girl. He believed he
could form some opinion about the dis
grace through no fault OF her own" to
which his landlady had alluded. He be-
lieved he could guess the tie of affinity
which bound her young relatives TO his
Informant. He realized how a certain te-
senibiance Of features between the two "a
resemblance which thirty years dis
crepanCy of age did not obliterate. He
looked up at the landlady, She was eyeing
him intently.
If you please sir" She faItered, as
/ their glahees met" have another favor
to ask You
And what is that?' inquired Reginald,
kindly.
/ Not MOTTO speak to brtake any notice
] of that poor young creature. It-it-dis-
! tresses her very much 10 be taken notice of.
And -and-if now and then you find her
! doing str-strange things, pIease-please,
| sir, do not remark upon jC TO her. She-she
! is gentle, harmless and tractable as a lamb,
! but but with a half-suppres sed sob)
hermindjs Unhinged.
You may rely upon me to do what you
wish" he said, with ready sympathy. 81
can assure you I feel for you both very
| deeply in your trouble. If, in ever SO
small degree, / can serve to Tighten it
! do not scTuple TO command my srevices.'
She thanked him with tears in her eyes
! and then withdrew. Reginald spent the res
of the morning in speculative thought
not, however, about Emanuel Kant or join
! Stuart Mill. The half-completed manu-
/ script OF his magnum opus, in which he WELD
ed the sledge-hammer that was 10 knock the
pedestals or those gigantic statues from
| under them, lay upon his desk awaiting ad
ditions. He sat to it, with his pipe and his
pen; he even dipped the latter in the Ink
But he got no further. The landlady and hel
| daughter for daughter, surely, she was
| held entire possession of his brain. Mil
| and Kant enjoyed a respite for the day.
The shock that should soon electrify them
in their graves remained by so much longer
| in allegiance.
There are many people who live their en-
/ tire life on matter-of-fact lines who see
| nothing but what they see with their
! physical vision; who know nothing but W hat
| they know by the exercise of their obvious
intelligence; who feel nothing but what
they feel by the operation of their animal
sensibiities, people VINO are, in fact, walk
inng embodiments OF business, sufferers
from common sense in its most aggressive
form
Reginald Blake would not have placed
himself exactly in the above category;
| still, if there was one quality on which ht
valued himself above all others it was or
that OF being strictly practical. He was
disposed, both by habit and temperament
to laugh at the sentimental; 10 deride the
fancifuI; to despse the Superstitious. He
! was no believer in what they call menta
| telepathy, or in any nonsense OF tDal
| description. AS regards presentiments, M
was an utter skeptic; that any knowledge
of facts could be directly communicated
to man through the impressions, without
having been first conveyed to the intel
ligence by iIrtelllgible means. he simply
viewed as Impossible. He now had tc
take his first lesson in hidden influences
and the lesson startled him.
He knew, as well as he knew that the day
was Thursday, and the month was March
that be was in some way connected witt
that poor girls life. He knew, as certainly
as he knew that the sun would rise mex
morning, that in very short While ht
should discover the link OF connection
This knowledge. took possession or hin