Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-12-01

teFtu.
The rest OF the night passed with
out any disturbance, and when the
first rays of the early morning came
into the room. they awoke me from 4
comforting sleep in the arm chair. |
rose and approached the bed softly.
Margaret lay still as death. But hav-
ing been accustomed to similar cOndi-
tions in my Alice believed | saw
sings of returning animation. and
Withdrew TO my seat. Nor was !
mistaken: for. in few minutes more
She murmured my name. | hastened
to her
Call Janet" she said.
| opened the door and called her.
She came i'll a moment, looking at
once frightened and relieved.
Get me some tea" said Magaret
once more.
After she had drunk the tea sh"
looked AT me and said:
Go home. now. Duncan, and como
back about noon. Mind you 20 to
bed"
She closed her eyes once more. |
waited till ! saw her fast in an alto
gether different sleep from the former.
if sleep that could in any sense he
called.
As | went ! looked back ON the Wis
ion of the night as on one of those IL
luSions TO which the mind. busy with
it's own suggestions, ~ always liable.
The night season. simply because II
excludes the external. is prolific in
such. The more of the marvellous any
one may have experienced in the
course of his history, the more skep-
.ical ought he 20 become, for he is the
more exposed to delusion. None have
, made more blunders in me course of
their revelations than genuine seers.
Was it any wonder that, as | sat at
midnight beside the woman of a hun
drcd wears, who hird voluntarily died
tpr the time that she might discover
! what most of all things it concerned
me to know. the ancient tale, on which,
! 10 her mind. my whole history turned
| AMI which she had herself told me in
| his very cottage, should take visible
| shape to my excited brain ana watch
| ing eyes?
| l nave one llllHS more 10 tell, winch
| strengthens still further this view of
| the matter. As | walked home, before
| had gone many hundred yards from
| the cottage, I suddenly came upon my
| old ConStancy. He was limping about,
picking the best grass he could find
from among the roots of the heather
| and cranberry bushes. He gave n
| I him nj hn,
| a jubilant neigh. But he could not be
so glad as | was. When | had taken
| sufficient pains to let him know this
fact. | walked on, and he followed me
! like dog. with his head at my heels.
but as he limped much. | turned to
examine him; and found one cause of
! his lameness to be that the loose shoe,
| which was hind one. was broken at
| the toe, and that one-half, held only
| at the toe. had turned round and was
sticking right out, striking his forefoot
every time he moved. I soon remedied
this. and he walked much better.
| But the phenomena of the night, and
the share my old horse might have
| borne in them, were not the subjects
as may we'll be supposed, that occ,l.
pied my mind most on my walk to the
farm Was 1T possible that Margaret
might have found out something about
her? That was the one question.
! After removing the anxiety of my
hostess, and partaking OF their High
| land breakfast. "A cremony not 10 bt
completed without glass of peaty
whshcy, | warde,ed TO my ancient
| haunt on the hu. Thence | could LOOK
| down on my 0!d home, where 1t lay
| unchanged. though not one human
form. which had made it home to me-
| moved about its precincts. | went nc
nearer. | no more felt that that wa:
| nome than one feels that the form In
the coffin is the departed dead. ! sal
| down in my old study chamber among
| rhe rocks, and thought that if l could
| hut find Alice. she would be my home
| of the past as well as of the future
| for in her mind my necromantic words
would recall the departed, and we
| should love them together.
| Toward noon | was again at the
cottage.
| NG".lret was sitting up in bed,
waiting for me. She looked weary,
| bat cheerful; and a clean white Dlutch
gave her certain company air. Janet
left the room directly, and Margaret
motioned me to a chair by her side.
| sat down. She took my hand and
said:
Duncan, my boy, l fear l can give
you but little help; but | will tell you
all | know. If | were to try to put
into words the things l had to en-
counter before | could come near her,
you would not understand what !
meant. Nor do | understand the
things myself They seemed quite
plain to me at the time, but very
cloudy when | come back. But | did
succeed In getting one glimpse of her.
She was fast asleep. She seemed 10
have suffered much, for her face was
very thin, and as patient as 1t was
pale"
but where was she:"
II must leave YOU to find out that,
II you can, from my description. But,
alas! ii Is only the places Immediately
about the persons that | can see.
gone 10 get there. | cannot tell"
She then gave me rather minute
description of the chamber in which
the lady was lying. Though most Of
the particulars were unknown to me,
the convicticn, or hope, at least, grad.
ually dawned upon me thar | knew
tie room. Once or twice | had peeped
into the sanctuary Of Lady Alice's
chamber. when ! knew she was not
there; and some points In the descrip-
ton Margaret gave set my heart in a
tremor with the bare suggestion that
she might now be at Hilton Hall.
Tell me. Margaret" | said. almost
painting for ubtcrance, was there a
mirror over the fireplace. with a broad,
gilt frame. carved into huge represen-
tations of crabs and Holsters. and all
crawling sea creatures with shells on
rhcm-very ugly. and very strange"
She would have interrupted me be-
ore. hut | would rot be stopped.
! muS. tell you, my dear Duncan"
... answered. that in non. of these
RANGES, or whatever yOL pl lse to call
hem. did ever see a mirror. Ii has
struck me before as a curious thing,
hat a mirror is then an absolute blank
% mc-I see nothing on which could
nut Il name. 1t DOES not oven sem
vlCant space TO me. A mirror must
nave nothing In common with The late
i am then in, for | feel kInd OF re-