The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-03-12

over to me and l promise you that I
will produce a set Of pictures that will
%accentuate all the best points in your
story and add to your reputation and
mine"
"You don't understand, Mr.. Hay"
she replied, quickly. Il don't mean
that you shall read my work first and
then illustrate it. Oh, no. Anybody
could do that. You shall illustrate it
through a system of mental telepathy.
The publishers are in no great hurry
for the story and l shall not try to
finish it in less than a month. During
that time you are not to see me at all,
consequently you will not be able to
gain the slightest clew from word or
look of mine as to what is the nature
of the article. All your knowledge
must be derived solely through the
communication Of your mind with
mine. Your brain must move in uni
son with mine and the aspirations Of
our souls must harmonize. You must
be possessed of that fine intuition that
will enable you to comprehend my
thoughts, whatever may be the dis
lance between us. In short, you must
turn author as well as artist and con-
ceive the same situations that I do.
The only difference will be in the exc
cution, 1 expressing them in words,
you in pictures"
Clarence groaned helplessly.
Great heavens, Miss Pearson!" he
exclaimed. what do you take me for,
anyway? I am no mind-reader. I
didn't know you believed in such
stuff"
"Of course, you didn't know. That
was what I meant when I said you
didn't understand me as you should.
I have dabbled in all the occult sci
onces. firmly believe in spiritualism,
hypnotism and theosophy-
Socialism, syntax and prosody," he
interposed, v%iciously.
Don't interrupt me, please" she
turned, with an air of severity. II
know that it is possible to read the
future in cards and in the stars and
I also know that mind-reading will in
time become as commonplace as con-
versing by means of spoken and writ
ten words is now. To be sure, I am
not such a stanch advocate of idealism
as to assert that our bodies exist in
imagination only, but l do believe that
mind is far more powerful than mat
ter. It has always seemed very strange
to me, Mr.. Hay" she added, tentative
ly, that you should be so practical. !
have always supposed that an artist
ChN11I0 iowa F. ar nvr0o6ln DIV uIUl
imagination"
Il am lot entirely devoid of it, he
retorted, bitterly; "but I exercise COM
mon sense more than anything else.
Besides, I am not a Raphael nor a Mu-
rillo. Perhaps if / were I should be
something of an anomaly with their
powers Of vision-seeing allied to my
decided practically. But I am only 6
commonplace illustrator, capable of
earning a good salary, and 1 never ex-
pect to be anything else, because it
isn't in me. I'm too practical. But
am pretty true to nature, and I think,
Miss Pearson, that if you will give a
fellow a fair show I could illustrate
your story as well as any one"
But she was obdurate to all his ap-
peals.
Don't argue with me or try to
change my views" she said. This is
no mere whim. On the contrary, it is
a serious matter. I decided upon these
conditions years ago. If you cannot
do as have suggested we are not fit
ted for each other"
1t was the most difficult problem
which Clarence Hays practical mind
had ever been called upon to solve.
There were times when he had serious
doubts of Miss Parsons sanity, and
had she been a less attractive woman
he would have abandoned all hope of