The morning times., 1896-07-05

III they are hidden = he added, in lower
tone.
every well. Now, pIease, don't all stop
talking. as long as you don't talk to me It
does not matter, and when begin to see
ANYTHING I will tell IL to you, 1t may be
very slow, and IL may not come Mt all. but
please don't interrupt me till take my
eyes off the crystal gain.
so they all seated themselves, and con-
yersation went on 10 an undertOne.
I concentrated all my sight on the crystal
ball had in. my hand, and presently after
two or three miIiutes-I saw-what Is al
ways the first thing one docs see-a kind
OF thickness in the glass; then that faded
away, and II began to speak.
81 see'' said, in slow, dreamy way,
..what appears TO he a small stone vaulted
chamber; there is no window in II. but ap-
parentIy some light from inside; in the
middle of the room lady is standing''-
here l paused, as her figure was not yet
very cIear-..a lady who seems TO be very
fair with rngiets clustering on her fore
| head. dressed i'm stiff white satin dress
| with lace; and she is radiant with jewels
, here 1 heard. amidst the almost dead
silence. n muttered An from Lord Glen
coIne. 1T looks like a diadem OF rubies
/ and diamonds on her head, and ropes of
pearls hang from her neck and over
the body of her dress;a~ and she
| has Il diamond Girdle ciasped round
| ber-waist. But what seems more than
! ...iytainr else 10 attract my attention is Ii
ring she is 7wcafiDg-a ring that almost
| covers the second finger OF her left band;
| n is quite the biggest l have ever seen,
| and 1T seems, to he magnificent square
| ruby in the middle and two large diamonds
| al each sisie; and with this finger she is
| beckoning-she is looking full at me as
| if TO entreat uie9 to follow her, and her eX
| preston is very weary and anxious. She
| and iS
face ! h:iye-neyar seen before s.l
| Mrs. Haywood" saidsm hosts voice.
| trenb,ing=witA-r q xcatement, t,s.sdescribe TO
| me please once more her dress
! i did so teffing fiiih also thatit-struck me
| the dress was of the period OF Sir Peter
| Iely's pictures, or perhaps a little earlier
| than that; aud then, my eyes beginning TO
| ache with the continued strain, l lifted
| them from the crystal, and met the as
| ,onisbcd and excited gaze of my audience.
| ..Do YOU know;'' said Lord GencoiDe,
coming up 10 me and speaking in u low
| voice. that YOU have oescriDed exactly
the anccstress 1old. you of-the. Lady
Giencome, who disappeared with the Jew
| els .t,.at
| ..Wha, do YOU mean? how do you know
| asked eagerly. r.
| ..Bccausc" lie said, in my study, where
| YOU have not yet been. there rs NE
| sized picture of that Lady Glencolne, ana
| the most extraordinary thing IS thdt ihe
| Jewels she is wearing answer exactly 10
| your Description and above an tAat slrdnfe
| ring is on her second finger
| l felt myself turning quite pale with my
| own discoveries. What did II all mean?
| And why was II given TO me 10 see ms
| strange picture!
| Lady tilencoine came up. You look so
| exhausted | am going 10 carry you OH TO
| bed Mrs. Haywood. | have never been
1 ,nt. cd plg~lifp | h,..p
| been tonight, but l think IL has been tot
much forsye6--you look 50 pale and tired.
| owned TO feeling ratigued, and shortly
! afterward we proceeded upstairs TO bed
| Ny hostess accompanied ine To my room
| and, having lit my candies. wished Inc good
| night. l could see she was much excited
but that she would not say more, thinking
| had had enough aud was tired
| Iundrcssed. dismissed my IN AID and going
! To the window, drew up the bhnds, letting
the full moon pour into tie room. The-who-e
| terrace below me was lit up with IL, making
| long and giiustly Shadows, apd one Gould
| almost imagine one SAW the human phan-
toms of the past Hitting upapd down.
| / got into bed, still leaving the neon
| looking into my windows, anu fell asleep
| very shortly.
How long after cannot tell-hut the room
| was still in moonlight when was
| "a walked by that nameless consciousness that
/ was not alone. Turning my head To the
door, ]. sa W what made my heart stand still
and my blood run cold within me.
| There, bathed in tie rays OF the moon,
| stood the lady OF my crystal the same face
| gown, Jewels. and with that strange and
wonderful ring on ber second finger. the
stones OF which sparkfed in the light. with
| that finger she was beckonlng to he. Tee
| terrified TO move, or even to scream,
a
- wasfr my voice ce-foundftself IN Il ;righten
ed whisper:
Who are you? what are you? and why
d0- yu. GeSe?' l, yhispeEed go, &c
| y you terriry me- and, almost Before
| b;fti Finished, e4e face and lgnrf grew
| indistinet and Disappeared; there was nc
| sound, there was no movement. The place
where she had stood was still in brilliant
| moonlight but she was gone Thank heaven
she was gone! My teeth were chatterlng
with fear my hands were cold and clainmy
and l was almost beside myself with terror
~tewitff-t rem nrrnnrsfards lsiit MY -ea Bdle-
| two-th candles-and ] got out Of bee
and walked around the entire room; anC
there was nothing. nothing anywhere, ant
began to doubt myself Had l dreamt
K? or was il Il creation of my brain, over
| wrought with my crystal effort? J had
gone to sleep with my mind full OF this
| III,
| ] nearly persuaded myself that this was the
| case, anything else seemed so impossible
and with This determination at last fel
| asleep. -.-.. ...-. .f-... ..... -.... ......
Morning broke-one OF those lovely au
, tumn days, after !; night OF frost, which
hastens on the winter. and reminds The
lingering blossoms that their days are
well nigh done-an md as got up aud dressed
1 almost persuaded myself that II
had been Il dream and that my ina ginatioI
had run riot with me. Still it had beer
very real. aud even as walked down the
gallery on my way To the breakfastroom
with the broad prosaic sunlight shinin:
in through the windows. again had tha
same conviction, ir possible more strongly
than before, that was not alone. and
began to feel quite glad that my visit wai
to be short one ......... -,.-....
After breakfast ] reminded Lord Glen
coine of his promise to show NE fhe house
and specially the picture. He readily con
sented; and Lady Mary, being also new
conner, begged to accompany us, ana We
left the breakfast room. 49,
We followed our host along a small
passage, which led straight from The
t1ning- room, and throwing open dnol
almost opposite he ushered us into hi'
sitting-ronm, which was large ana spa
cious apartment. more or less hung tlkt
the drawing -room) with Old -Bngish Ia
| pestry, with the exception OF one side OF
the room, and that had one large oak pane
which reached from the window at ont
end to the tapestry at the other, and into
which was left "a .life-sized picture ol
Eleanor, Lady GlenGoine. The likeness
| was SO startling, the face spexactiy wha'
] had seen both in the crystal and IN my
room, that was quite staggered for a
moment, and caught hold of chair fol
support.
"There," said Lord Glencoine, lis the
i lnl. ri l<.d lnaf dlOhf do