The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1896-11-12
THE ACTORS DOUBLE.

We were talking about spirit mani
festations at the Thirty-nine club, and
retailing the usual second or third hand
accounts of deceased ladies and gen.
tlemen showing themselves to their sor-
rowing relatives.
ut is strange the tricks which our
brains will sometimes play us" said
DR.. Macpherson. II remember once
seeing a ghost myself, and I can tell
you that the sensation is very curious
one. 1t was good many years ago, in
my examinatio days, and l had been
sitting up until the early hours cram
ming Everybody in the house had
long since gone to bed, where ought to
have been myself, so l was rather sur
prised when l glanced up from my
book to see somebody sitting at the
table where l myself had been few
moments before writing. felt quite
startled for an instant. until l recog-
nized the intruder. He was little hazy,
but l could see plainly enough who it
was"
"A dead relative?" asked Maj. Den
nett, who was a firm believer in the
good old-fashioned ghost.
Macpherson answered in his pecui-
iarly quiet way: "No, it was myself.
The experience of seeing ones own
ghost is not altogether unusual, be-
1ieve"
"Now, l do not think your expert
ence was half so remarkable as one of
mine," said Gilbert Dane, the we'll.
known actor and manager of the How
ard theater, who happened to be there
that night. Dane is not member Of
the Thirty nine, but had come with
Macpherson. Most of the brain spc-
cialist's friends are in the profession, a
fact which is perhaps due to the year
which he himself spent on the stage as
Young man.
MY story begins prosaically," said
the actor, when we begged to hear it.
II lost the latchkey with which l let
myself into the theater, and took some
body else's to the locksmith's to have a
duplicate made. l agreed to call for t
the following morning as / was going
up to town for rehearsal. l was living
at Putney then, and we were actively
preparing play which deserved bet
ter fate than it received, if thought
and preparation go for anything, for
came near making myself i'll over it.
was feeling out of sorts on the morning
that called for the latchkey, and when
the locksmith swore positively that he
had given me the thing already-that
less than ten minutes previously ! had
come in for the key, paid for it, and
taken it away with mel will confess
that l lost my temper, and stormed at
the fellow; but l could not get him to
bulge line from his story. He
seemed to have an idea that was play
ing practical joke, and the only re.
suit of my talking was that nearly
lost my train to Waterloo. 1t was NOV
ing when reached the platform, and
had to run for the only compartment
of which the door was open, near the
end of the train.
"The compartment contained two
other passengers, but if / glanced at
them at all, | noticed nothing except
that each was pretty we'll hidden be-
hind daily paper. l had fortunately
bought my own paper before calling a,
the locksmith's, and speedily followed
their example. So far the story is
painfully commonplace. Now comes the
truly remarkable experience which
has stamped the doings of that day in
delihly on my memory"
The actor paused to strike match
and relight cheroot, which he had al
lowed to go out, and we all watched hin,
in silence, wondering what was coming
Macpherson only had the air of man
who had heard the story before.
II had become rather interested in
my paper" Dane went on, when the
cigar was lighted again, 'and did no,
notice my companions talking until one
of them started telling an anecdote,
Then it gradually daYped upon me that
the story he was telling was one that
consider my own particular property.
and when listened, it struck me that
the story was being told, not only in
yny exact words, but also in my own
soice. They say that man does not
recognize his own voice-when he hears
u IN the photograph for instance: but
wat is possibly the saags OF the phene'