Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-09

Ne
Inc scare and perplexity of his first dis
coFery was now qualified by pride in this
ettoence OF sngularity and by vague init
nations of advantage. He became aware
mat the church clock was striking l. and
as IL CID not occur to him that his daily
duties at Gomshotts might be miraculously
dispensed with, he resumed undressing in
order 10 get to bed without further delay.
AS ne struggled to get his shirt over his
head he was struck with a brilliant idea.
Let me be in bed" he said, and found
himself so. "undressed," he stipula ted;
and, finding the sheets cold added hastily,
and in my nightshirt-no in a nice soft
wooden nightshirt. Ahi' ne said, with i'm
mense enjoyment land now let me be COM
fortably asleep"
He awoke at his usual hour and was PEN
sive all through breakfast time. wondering
whether his overnight experience might not
be particularly vivid dream. At length
MS mind turned again to cautious expert
ments. For instance, he had three eggs
for breakfast: two his landlady had sup
pied, good but SLOPPY, and one wes a de-
hcloaS iresn goose egg. laid. cooked and
served by his extraordinary VIII. He hur-
RED off to Gomshotts 81 a state of pro-
found but carefully concealed excitement
and only remembered the shell of the third
egg when his landlady spoke of it that
night All day he could do no work be-
cause of this astonishingly new self
knowledge but this caused him no incon-
Senlence, because he made up for it
nlracuieu5ly in his last ten minutes
AS the day wore on his state of mind
passed from wonder to elation, albeit the
circumstances of his dismissal from the
Long Dragon were still disagreeable to re-
cah and a sarbled account of the matter
that had reached his colleagues led to some
badfnage. 1t was evident he must be care
1ui now he lifted fragile articles, but in
other ways his gift promised more and
more as he turned 1t over III his mind He
intended, among other things, to increase
his personal property by transformations
acts of creation. He called into existence
q Dair of very diar
hastily annihilated them again as young
Gcmshott' came across the counting house
to his desk. He was afraid young Com
shCtt might wonder how he had come by
them He saw quite clearly the gift re-
CURED caution and watchfulness In its ex-
erclse, but so far he could Judge the diff
tculties attending its mastery would be no
greater than those he had already faced in
the study of cycling. 1t was that analogy
perhaps, quite as much the feeling that
he would be unwecome in the Long
Dragon, drove him out after supper into
the lane beyond the gas works, 70 rehea; Sc
a few miracles in private.
There was possibly certain want of
originality in his attempts, for, apart from
his will power Mr.. Fotheringay was not
very exceptional man. The miracle of
Moses rod came to his mind but the hight
was dark and unfavorable to the proper
control of large miraculous snakes Then
he recoIected the story of ''Tannhauser'
that he had read on the back of the Phil
harmonic program That seemed to him
SlnguIarly attractive and harmless. He
stuck his walking stick-a very nice Poona-
Penang lawyer-into the turf that edged
the footpath, and commanded the dry
wood to blossom. The air was immedia tely
full of the scent of roses and by means of
a match he saw for himself that this beau
tiful miracle was indeed accomplished. His
satisfaction was ended by advancing foot
steps Afraid of premature discovery OF
his powers. he addressed the poisoning
stick hastily: Go back What he meant
was Change back but, of course he was
confused. The stick receded at a consider
able velocity, and incontinentiy came a cry
of anger and bad word from the ap-
preaching person Who are you threw
ing brambles at, you fooi?" cried voice.
That got me on the shin
I'm sorry, old chap said Mr.. Fotherin-
gay, and then realizing the awkward ma
ture of the explanation, caught nervously
at his mustaches- He saw Winch one of
the three immering conStables, advancing
What dyer mean by it?" asked the con-
stable '-Hullo! It's you, is 1t? The gent
that broke the lamp at the Long Dragon!"
don't mean anything by it" said Mr.
Fotheringay. Nothing at all"
What yer do it for, them
20, bothert' said Mr.. Fotheringay
Bother, indeed. Dyer know that stick
hurt? What dyer do 1t for. eh?''
For the moment Mr.. Fotheringay could
not think what he had done 1t for. His ST.
lence seemed to iritate Mr.. Winch. You've
been assaulting the police. young man, this
time. That's what you done"
LULA mere, MI w lncn, SdlQ MT. roth
eringay, annoyed and confused, I'm very
sorry. The fact is
''Well2''
He ccdld think of no way but the truth
Il was working a miracle" He tried to
speak in an off-hand way but try as he
would, ne couldn't.
Working a! Ere, don't talk rot
Working miracle. indeed! Miracle! Well.
that's downright funny. Why, you's the
chap that don't believe in miracles
Fact is, this is another of yer silly conjur-
ing tricks-thats what this is. Now, l tell
you
But Mr. Fotheringay never heard what
Mr.. Winch was going to tell him. He real
lied he had given himself away, flung his
valuable secret TO the four winds OF heav-
en-. A violent gust of irritation swept him
To action. He turned on the constable
swiftly and fiercely. Here" he said, I've
had enough of this, l hayei I'll show you
a silly conjuring trick, will. Go to hadesi
Co. now"
He was alone,
Mr.. Fotheringay performed no more mir
acles that night, nor did he trouble to see
what had become of his Towering stick
He returned TO the town forthwith, scared
and very quiet and went to his bedroom
LORD he said. its a powerful gift-an
extremely powerful gift. 1 didn't hardly
mean as much as that Not really
L wonde: what hades is like
He sat on the beed taking off his boots
Struck by a happy thought, he transferred
the constable to San Francisco and with
causation went soberly to bed. In the
night he dreamed of the anger of Winch
The next day Mr.. Fotheringay heard two
interesting items of news. Some one had
planted a most beautiful climbing rose
against the elder Mr.. Gomshott's private
house in the marlborough road and the
river as far as Rawlings mill was to be
dragged for Constable Winch.
| Mr.. FotheriGgay was distracted and
| thoughtful all that day. and performed no
miracles either on that day or the next ex-
cept certain provisions for Winch, and the
miracle OF completing his days work with
puEctual perfection in spite of all the bee
swarm of thoughts that hummed through
his mind. And the extraordinary abstrac-
ton and meekness of his manner was re-
marked by several people and made a mat
ter for jesting. For the most part he was
thinking of Winch.
On Sunday evening he went to chapel,
land oddly enough Mr.. Maydg who took
certain interest in occult matters preached
about things that not lawful" Mr.
FCtheringay was not regular chapel-goer
but the system Of assertive skepticism. to
which 1 have already alluded, was now
! very much shaken. The tenor of the SER
men threw IN entirely new light on these
novel gifts, and he suddenly decided to
| consult Mr. Maydig imnedia tely affer the