Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-08-12
TWO PHANTOMS.
[Copyright. 1895. l

| not believe Tn, and his attitude toward his
 fellow beings was ono of uniform suspicion,
 Association with him always made tho l world seem moro ignoble and life meaner. One evening when he had been visiting
 me, after he was gone to throw off the | saturnine influence he always unconscious- | ly exercised upon me, applied myself to | peculiar line of psychologist experiment. that about that time occupied good deal of my attention. I had been told-and found it true-that, by a certain method of mental concentration, it was practicable to convert subjective consciousness into seeming objective perception, and was as- sured that still further effect might fol. low of actual perception of the entities of tho semlmaterial world though at this time had had no vorification of it. Hardly had seated myself, fixed my at- tention upon selected object and willed mental passivity, when I saw before me, very plainly an elderly man whose face was so haggard with anxiety and full of despairing appeal that it made an excoed- ingly painful impression upon me. Al most instantaneously 1t vanished, giving place to young girl, in whose features thcre was n strong family resemblance to thoso of tho man, but more delicate and refined. Indeed have never seen female face more spirituelle and at the same time more sad than hers. That expression was TSitlCF u tnrlll OI COnSClOuSneSS tn1n SlUnG, for tho actual presentmcnt of the phan tasm was scarcely moro than u flash. Yet, brief as my vision was, was sensible of a very distinct difference between the phan- toms in quality, the first being less di- aphanous than the second, yet seeming | more uncarthly, farther apart from life. The man seemed n presence; the girl n re- l flection.
 During the succeeding fortnight of ex- pertinent, though I saw many faces, those two did not once reappcar. Then, one night, just after David had paid mo an- l other visit, they flashed upon me again, | as before, only for an instant, but leaving a much more vivid impression than any others of the many I had seen. After an interval of a week or ten days tho unhappy | pair of phantoms rcappearcd, and again their coming was immediate upon his de- parture after an evening call. Then, for the first time, I sensed tho ex- | istence of some occult attraction for them in David Groff's personality and felt con- vinccd that they wero not subjective con- CeptS, creatures of my own involuntary | imagining but actual entities evoked from the unknown by his presence. So vivid was tho impression had of their ap- pearancc that I made pencil portraits of them. My friends are good enough to say l have somo artistic ability, and think I l rather exccllcd myself in those sketches. 1 took care that the next time David | Groff visited me they should be exposed on | my table, where he could not fail to see | them. Thcir effect was startling. When his gazo fell upon thcm, ho staggered back 1 ward, as n timid man might at being con 1 frontcd by ghost. Pale, stammering and | trembling, he hoarscly cjaculatCd, My | God!" and whrling upon his heel fairly ran away While sat staring in amaze l mcnt at the door which ho had left open | when he fled, became conscious that I
 was not alone, and turning my head saw beside mo the two phantoms regarding mo with an earnest expression in which 1 be lieVcd I could see something of hope. But,
 l asked myself, what did they hope for l from me? What did they want? What | could do without some facts to go upon? ! If they would only explain the situation | somehow, it. would help matters nightly. 1 But, as to that, no-they simply vanished, as before, and though tried my best, by | every mode of invocation known to mo, l they could not be induced to rCappear. The very next night David came again. | Never before had he visited me two even ings in succession. He was pale, cmbar- rassed and looked around nervously for the sketches, which did not happen to be in | sight. Hardly waiting to utter perfume l tory salutation, he demanded, ''How did you como to draw those two faccS?' Something prompted me to, instead of answering, ask him, Did you recognize | themP"
 " Recognize them!' he fairly shriekcd.
 "My God! Don't sec them all tho timef l What did they tell you? What did she say | of mcP How in the world did you come
 across them' thought he was dead | heard so. Ycs; he is dcnd. I'm sure of it. | And she showed you his protrait. Yes, of | course; that's it. What n nervous fool I'm l getting to bc surely"
 | "Ono was as much alive as tho other
 when l saw them, I guess; no portrait | was shown to mo; neither of thcm told me
 anything"
 "Whcn did you soc thcm9 Wherc?' l "1Iast night and three times before.
 Here"
 But he is dead. An inquest was held | on him.
 l "Quito possibly, for aught know to
 tho contrary"
 You don't mean to say you havo seen
 ghost?"
 Ut seems so.''
 But tho girl is not dead.
 "No; that explains tho difference no
 ticcd."
 'Aro you crazy, or-what the devil do
 you mCan?''
 |
 been, and hc heard me through in blank
 astoniShmrnt, without Interruption, even | when 1 tried to explain that tho apparition
 of the man was no doubt an astral re- | maindcr, while that of the girl was a
 thought projected oidolon, n distinction
 that 1 fear only bcfogGCd him. For scv-
 cral minutes WIG both were silent Then
 he spoke in low monotone, rather as if
 thinking aloud than aldrcssing mo:
 How could I know he would take it so
 hard? If he hadn't gone into the Specula-
 tion. he would have lost nothing. If the
 market had gone his way, he would have
 bcggarcd mo It went mine, and clean
 ed him out. That's all there was of it.. | What othor man than ho would have blown
 his brains out for thing liko that?
 didn't know until after that he had a
 daughter. How was l to know he sunk
 her fortune along with his own? A spec
 ulator has no business to have children.
 did what I could for her. Had her hunt
 ed up when I came back from Europe.
 Poor devil of a salesgirl in big store, toll
 ing for mere existence; hungry, cold,
 shabby, hopeless; satan at her elbow all
 the time. I sent her $10, 900. She re-
 turned them-said I was virtually her fa-
 thcr's murderer. Poor girl! I suppose 1t
 does seem that way to her, but she doesn t
 understand business. Well, I'll make her
 amends as far as I can."
 Three days after David Groff blew out
 his brains, leaving by will all his estate to
 "Elise Sanger, daughter of John R. Sang
 CT, deceased" J. II. GoNNELLY.
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