Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-11-17

door,
And lang TRIED at the pin:
At length up gat his fause mother,
Says, 'Wha's that wad be INF
Love Gregory started frae his sleep,
And TO his mother did say:
Il dreamed dream this night, mither.
That makes my heart right wac.
81 dreamed that Annie of Lochroyan,
The flower of a her kin.
Was standing mournin' at my door,
But name wad let her in
l sprung to my feet. and opened the
hidden door. There she stood, white,
asleep. with closed eyes, singing like a
bird. only with a heartful of sad
meaning in every tone. l stepped
aside, without speaking. and she
passed me into the room. l closed the
door. and followed her. She lay al
ready upon the couch, still and rest
ful-already covered with my plaid.
I sat down beside her. waiting; and
she was possessed of very superior in
tellectual powers, whatever might be
the cause of their having lain dormant
so long, l had already fully convinced
myself; but l was not prepared TO find
art as well as intellect / had already
heard her sing the little song of two
verses. which she had learned from
Io,. r,,rca Put bpra n of
her own making as to the music. so
true and 50 potent, that, before l
knew anything of the words, it had
surrounded me with n dream of the
place in which the scene of the ballad
was laid. 1t did not then occur to me
that. perhaps. our idiosyncrasies were
such as not to require. even the music
of the ballad for the production Of
rapport between our minds, the brain
of the one generating in the brain of
the other the vision present to itself
! sat and thought: Some OBSTRUCTION
in the gateways. outward, prevented
her, in her waking hours. from utter
ing herself at all. This obstruction.
damming back upon their sources the
outgoings of life. threw her into this
abnormal sleep. In It the impulse to
utterance. still unsatisfed. so WI >ught
within her unable, yet complain, form.
that she could not rest, but rose and
walked. And now, a fresh surge from
the sea of her unknown being, unre-
pressed by the hitherto Of the<objects
of sense, had burst the gates and bars
swept the distractions from its chan
mel. and poured from her in melodious
song.
The first green lobes, at least of
these thoughts. appeared above the soil
Of my mind. while sat and gazed on
the sleeping girl. And now had once
more the delight Of watching a spirit
dawn. a soul rise. In that lovely form.
The light flushing Of Its pallid sky was.
as before. the first sign. l dreaded
the flash Of lovely fame, and the oup
burst of regnant auger, ere I should
have time to say hat l was not to
blame. But when. at length, the full
dawn, the slow sIiirise came. it was
with all the gentl' ness of a cloudy
summer morn. Nerer did n more ce-
lestial rosy red harg about the skirts
Of the level sun, than deepened and
glowed upon her fs.ce, when, opening
her eyes, she saw rle beside her. She
covered her face W tn her hands; and
instead of the words of indignant re-
proach which 1 hal dreaded to hear,
she mu mured behind the snowy
screen, Il am glad you have broken
your promise"
My heart gave a bound and was
still. / grew faint With delight. No.
| said: Il have not broken my prom
ise. Lady Alice: l have struggled near
Iy to madness to keep it-and L have
kept it."
81 have come theIl of myself. Worse
and worse! But it is their fault!'
Tears now found their way through
the repressing fing gers. l could not
endure to see her weep. l kneeled be.
side her, and whis she still covered
her face with her LANDS, l said-l do
not know what l said. They were
wild. and, doubtless, foolish words il
themselves, but they must have been
wise and true in their meaning. When
l CeaSeu, hDeN tudl hdu SSdoSu
only by the great silence around me. /
was still holding her hands. Slowly
she withdrew them. 1t was as when
the sun breaks fort1 on a cloudy day.
The winter was over and gone; the
time of the singing of birds had come.
She smiled on me through her tears
and heart met heart In the light of
that smile.
She rose to go and begged for no
delay. L only stood with clasped
hands, gazing at her. She turned at
the door, and said:
Il dare say l shall come again; | am
afraid 1 cannot help it; onlv mind you
do not wake me-"
Before l could reply 1 was alone:
and l felt that / must not follow
her.
CHAPTER XIII.