People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-03-28
lown. She took NV hand and said:

down. She took my hand and said:
Duncan. my boy, / fear | can give
you but little help; but l will tell you
all / know. If l were to try to put
into words the things / had to en-
counter before l could come near her,
you would not understand what !
meant. Nor do l understand the things
myself. They seem quite plain to me
at the time, but very cloudy when
l come back. But l did succeed in get
ting one glimpse of her. She was fast
asleep. She seemed to have suffered
much, for her face was very thin, and
as patient as it was pale"
"But where was sheT
81 must leave you to find ont that, II
you can, from my description. But,
alas! it is only the places Immediately
about the persons that l can see. Where
they are, or how far have gone to get
there, cannot tell"
She then gave me a rather minute
description of the chamber in which
the lady was lying. Though most Of
the particulars are unknown to me, the
conviction, or hope, at least, gradually
dawned upon me, that / knew the
room. Once or twice | had peeped in
to the sanctuary of Lady Alice's cham
Der, when | knew she was not thea;
and some points in the description Mar
garet gave, set my heart in a uemor
with the bare suggestion that she
might now be at Hilton Hall.
Tell me, Margaret" | said, almost
painting for utterance, twas there a
mirror over the fireplace, with broad,
gilt frame, carved into huge repreSen-
tatiOns Of crabs and Holsters, and all
crawling sea-creatures with shells on
them-very ugly, and very stranger
She would have interrupted me be-
fore, but l would not be stopped.
II must tell you, my dear Duncan
she answered, that in none Of these
frances, or whatever you please to call
them, did / ever see a mirror. 1t has
struck me before as q curious thing,
that a mirror is then an absolute blank
to mel see nothing on which 1 could
put name. 1t does not even seem a
vacant space TO me. A mirror must
have nothing in common with the state
/ am then in, for / feel a kind. of re-
pulsiOn from it; and, indeed, it would
be rather an awful thing to lsok at, for
Of course / should see no reflection of
myself in it. But" she continued, 81
have a vague recollection Of seeing
some broad, big, gilded thing with fig
ures on it. 1t might be something else,
though, altogether"
81 will 50 in hope" l answered, ris-
ing at once.
Not already, Duncan?"
"Why should l stay longer"
"Stay over tonight"
what is the use? I cannot"
For my sake, Duncan"
"Yes, dear Margaret, for your sake.
Yes, surely"
THANK you" she answered. II will
not keep you longer now. But If l send
Janet to you come at once. And, Dun
can, wear this for my sake"
She put into my hand an ancient gold
cross, much worn. To my amazement
I recognized the counterpart of one
Lady Alice had always worn. l press
ed it to my heart.
81 am a Catholic; you are 4 Protest.
ant, Duncan; but never mind; that's
the same sign to both of us. You won't
part with It? 1t has been in our family
for many long years"
"Not while | live" l answered, and
went out, half wild with hope, into the
keen mOunain air. How deliciOuSly ii
breathed upon mel
Margaret sat, prOpped with pillows.
saw some change had passed upon her.
She held out her hand to me. l took
it. She smiled feebly, closed her eyes,
and went with the sun down the hill
Of night. But down the hill of night
is up the hill of morning in other lands,
and no doubt Margaret soon found that
she was more at home there than here.
| sat holding the dead hand. as if
therein lay some communion still with
the departed. Perhaps she who saw
more than others while yet alive, could
see when dead that | held her cold
hand in my wram grasp? Had | not
good cause to love her! She had ex-
hausted the last remnants of her life
in that effort to find for me my lost
Alice. Whether she had succeeded |
had yet to discover. Perhaps she knew
now.
l fastened the funeral q little. that
l might follow my quest. l had her
grave dug amidst her own people and
mine; for they lay side by side. The
whole neighbOrhoOd for twenty miles
round followed Margaret to the grave.
Such was her character and reputation,
that the belief in her supernatural pow.
ers had only heightened the notion Of
her venerableness.
When l had seen the last sod placed
on her grave, | turned and went with
a desolate but hopeful heart. | had
a kind of feeling that her death had
sealed the truth of her last vision.
mounted old Consistency at the church
yard gate, and set out for Hilton Hall
CHAPTER XIII.