The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-01-02

sion very rapidly, and was even murs
alert than usual. The incident Of the
mirror had aroused every latent quality,
good or evil, in her nature. And her
mind, which was strongly materialistic
and logical in its bias, applied itself with
a sort of angry heat to the consideration
of the mystery. She did not believe in
ghosts, and she had not been asleep. Yet
she had seen in the mirror the reflection
or, as it seemed, the actual figure of
Keppel Darke. AS she had sprung to-
ward it it had vanished, and she had
found herself gazing at her own fright
ened eyes in the mirror. What was it,
She had heard of hallucinations, visions,
cerebral impressions-there were names
enough; but the more she thought of this
experience of hers the more convinced
she was that it was real. She had seen
real substantial figure, and its face was
that of Keppel Darke. But how was that
possible? Was not Keppel Darke's dead
body found in the railroad wreck, hand
cuffed to the dead body of the police
officer? No matter; this was either Kep-
pei Darke or it was some one who ex-
actly resembled him. Whichever it was,
the bearing of his appearance to her
would be substantially the same. Itcould
have been no accident; there was plan
and a purpose behind. Some power hos
tile to her was at work Was the count
aware of it? How could he but be aware
of it? Then he was her enemy-her deadly
enemyi And he had invited her here,
and had placed her in that room, with
the premeditated design Of Well, of
what2 Of giving her a scare? No, not
that. Of giving her warning of battle
throwing down the gauntlet? Hardly
that, either.
''It is no use my trying to fathom his
motives yet" said Sallie to herself. 81
must wait and watch. Perhaps he meant
only to try an experiment on me; he has
some problem to solve, and would test
it by my behavior. But what concern
has he with Keppel Darke? What is the
object of Keppel Darke himself f-if what
saw was really he? Count de Lisle
would be a powerful friend-and ter
rible enemyl There is almost nothing
that a man of his resources could not ac-
complish. Yes, and cannot I, too, &C.
complish something? Have not women
no more beautiful or clever than work
ed miracles before now? And after all,
have nothing to fear. Keppel Darke
may come back from the grave if he
will, but Harry Trent will not. And
even if he did $50 glad to see
you, Mrs. Vanderdonder' 'sGreat pleas
ure, Miss Fitz- Murray" "Your wife
unwell? What pity, Mr.. Roylancei'
eyes, like fairy palace"
For, all the while that Sallie was de-
batting matter of vital interest to her
self. she had been standing near the en-
trance to the drawing room, with Count
de Lisle on her left hand, receiving and
exchanging amenities with one group or
individual after another of arriving
guests. Everybody knows how readily
this duality of nature develops itself
when any powerful impression is work
ing on the mind. The soul SO seldom
has any part in the farrago of conven-
tional and automatic things that we
daily say and do, that when by chance
it is aroused it can attend to its affair
without being in-the least disturbed by
the din of external things. Sallie. ac.
cordingly, smiled and chatted fully as
well as usual, while her real thoughts
were ranging to and fro through the
past, and questioning the future in a
manner that those who saw her standing
there in the soft light, glowing and
sparkling, would have been astonished
to even suspect.
Civilization seldom can show fairer
scene than lay before Sallie's eyes that
evening. The guests seemed to have done
their best to render themselves harmo-
nious with their environment. The beau
tifu1 girls were never so beautiful be-
fore; the women with taste in dress were
never so tastefully dressed as this night;
the women with jewels never before SO
shone and glittered. As for the men,
they could not array themselves in silks
and satins, as they might have done a
hundred years earlier, but they made up
for their plain black and white by wit
and good humor. Everybody was feel
ing interested. There had from the first
been curiosity to see how the count
would manage his entertainment, and
this curiosity had now taken on deeper
and livelier tone. The company felt that
it was going to pass an evening that it
would remember, and that whatever ex-
pectations might be aroused, the count
was quite able to surpass them without
much exerting himself. Everything went
forward easily and without hitch, and
the count was the most unconcerned
and care free person in the house. He
never gave an order, or seemed to have
thought save Of pleasure at the pleas
ure of his guests. His bearing was pro-
nounced perfect by the best critics pres
ent-and some formidable ones were
there-and in addition he appeared far
more genial and cenversable than here
tofore. Evidently he was one Of those
characters that develop upon acquaint-
ance. The ladies soon fell in love with
him; his house was SO nice; he was so
nice, and so inconceivably rich. The
men all liked him none the less. It Is
not difficult to like man who enter
tains you so charmingly and courteous
ly, and who, as far as society is con-
cerned, is simply an inexhaustible mine
of eniovments.
ITO BE CONTINUED
Sensitive Because of Her Age.
Many persons show SO strange a sensi-