The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-06-12

/ pering she was told to bring certain
! box. from which was extended n dread
! full picture of Richard Mansfield.
/ / looked at it closely and then Mt her,
/ and told her | would give her 81 more II
| she would give me his name. She SAID
that she didn't know that and wouldnt
rob me. but that he was coming across
/ the sea and would come when | least
! expected him. l hope he won't appear
| when he is got up as Richard, for 1T
| might make me nervous, and | want to
| be at my best at that time. To be quite
| truthful. Mansfield seems to be my fate. |
! dropped 10 cents in the slot down ut
| Coney Island one year ago to get pic
ttre of my future husband and Mr..
Mansfield was then to the fore, l am
forced to think 'What does this mean!'
although Mr.. Mansfield has a wife, and
bigamy is not yet recognized as quite the
thing in this country.
Then we went to another fortune tell
err, Il stern looking lady with half her
nose gone. She charged higher prices
than the first, but then, as she told You,
with a look on her face that meant deter
mination. II am forced to use Il fresh
egg with each one" | would have liked
her better if she had had more nose. She
broke an egg in a glass, then looked in it
and told me: "You will have a sorrow
ful life. You will never be rich. by
the bye this wasn't news to mel If
YOU marry you will be a childless and
unhappy wife" She wanted me to buy
a package of some kind of beautifer &C
So per package and said if / used it as
directed my entire life would be changed.
| don't know about my life. but / was
sure about my face. | would be Il
greasy horrid looking thing, with a sug7
gestion to the world Mt large that
I counted soap and water of no value
and thought much of her old cosmetic.
But it was funny. Our little party
went to FIVE women and not one of them
could tell who was married and who
was not, while they wandered SO far
from the truth in regard to other things
that these various children of destiny"
made it clear that while they might have
intercourse with the spirits. they did not
even have little, leaven of common
sense. | know n woman who goes to Il
fortune-te.er every week. She says it
makes her feel easier. 1 may mention
that she is a kind soul who runs a board
ing house. and if a dose of fortune-telling
is any pleasure to her think she should
be allowed to have it.
/ tumbled over / read. a story of Louis
XIV having his fortune told. He went
with Nine. de Maintenon to this man,
who was absolutely ignorant Of who the
people were who stood before him, but
he burned perfumes and offered prayers,
and then in some awe-inspiring invoca
tion he adjured the powers of hell to an
swer him. A frightful sound filled the
whole building, and the King and his
wife, for sh. was his wife then, We're
almost fainting with fright. The sooth-
sayer told tSc King that he would sue
ceed in all his undertakings and that
upon this very day one of his children
had been called to the Inheritance of
great fortune. Then he gave him a
tiny package wrapped in parchment and
said: 1.-THE day in which you form the
fatal resolution of acquainting your
self with the contents of this package
will be the last one of your prosperity.
If you desire to carry your good fortune
to the highest pitch, be careful upon
every great fcstival-that is to say,
Easter. Whit Sunday, the Assumption
and Christmas-tO plunge pin into this
talisman so that the point shall pass di-
rectly through it. Observe this, and you
will be perfectly happy all your life
4
and swore never to open the package.
Soon after he got news that on that very
October 2, 100, the King Of Spain had
died and left his successor and heir,
Philip of France. just such an enormous
Inheritance as the astrologer had pre-
dieted. After awhile. talking to the
great Bossuet about the magic and sor-
Gerry, the King told him the story of the
package, and his cOnfessOr insisted that
he should show his contempt for the
talismanic properties of the package by
opening it at once The King did not fan
cy doing this, but he had got a bit
scared. He obeyed the command and
opened the magic parcel. In it was
cOnsecrated wafer that had in it as many
pins as there had been saints days since
it had been received. The King was fill
ed with great remorse and underwent Sc
we're penances and long days of fasting
before he felt relieved of the crime he
had committed. But this was only the
beginning of the trouble. To those in
the secret Of this affair it was known
that the King lost from that time as
! many descendants as he had stuck pins
in the holy wafer.
1t seems funny that the stately Main
tenon should have encouraged Louis to
AaNS uiD INTO llle IulllFes nut Il DelleFe |
from Eve down to Marie Bashkirtseff, |
4vette Guilbert and Sarah Bernhardt
woman has had desire for knowing
that with which she would better have
had no acquaintance. After all, what
good does it do to know what is going to
happen? Confucius says that what wo-
man wills God wills" Therefore the flu
ture is in our own hands.
And, jesting aside, we do make our flu
lures. They are mirror-like pictures of
our pasts. Go to the "child of destiny
If you want her to tell you the same old
story-that a handsome man is dying of
love for you; that you will have beauti-
full children, happy home and plenty Of
money. 1t is feminine to like this sort
of thing. and between YOU and me l have
even known masculine somebody to 90
to fortune teller. He always said he |
went to find out something about the |
condition of his liver. Perhaps he told
the truth
But the fortune-teller wanted lust at |
present is one who is going to say. with