The Jersey City news., 1899-07-08

sort OF thing. 4 FtaChed the house at y
b. NJ. and we lunched at 2:30. | had
lunched there dozen times before. Mrs.
Girard's place was always set at the
head Of the table, and Girard told me his
wife WAS there He conversed with her
In my presence, made comments to her
on remarks Of mine, laughed heartily at
comments she made in return and repeat
ed thenl to me. never could see any
thing, hut it occurred to me from the
first that il Girard was merely acting he
was the most consummate actor | had
ever seen on or off the stage. Almost un-
consciously came to treat the vacant
chair at the head Of the table with defer
ential reverence to its supposed occupant,
but to me it was never anything but an
empty chair. / had not known Mrs Gil
rard insthe life, but Girard insisted that
some time or other / should be able to
see her. There was something uncanny
at first In the spectacle oe man defer
ring in every point Of conversation to an
invisible third party, but in time / be-
came used to it and lost my sense of dis
comfort in the spiritual presence. At 4
o'clock il the afternoon Girard received
q telephone message. 1t related to some
important matter and necessitated his CO.
ing at once to the West hotel. / wanted
TO 90 with him. but he wouldn't hear Of
Il. sTll be back in ain hour he said, and
we'll have quiet evening together,
"To tell the truth about it, / didn't
care about being alone there. Ordinarily
I am the reverse Of timorous but [ had
Witnessed such strange proceedings in
that very room that the idea of remain-.
ing there alone in the twilight was dis
satious. FOR he said, You're not afraid Of
Margaret, are your
s.Margaret was Mrs. Girard. OF course
T was NOT afraid of her. and told him so.
Al moment later he was gone. The house
was quite empty. The servants were all
out. The coachman has apartments over
the stable. The clocks licked more loud
ly every moment after Girard had left.
There Is biz clock at the head OF the
main staircase. and it has d disagreeably
audible halting tick-a-tack that seems al
wavs on the noint Of stopping. There is
smaller clock IA the front parlor and
still smaller one in the library. There
seemed to be Jealous rivalry between
them that afternoon
'sDusk was gathering. and parted the
curtains to size up the weather. A ter
IlQc S0QTfSlCTlu HlQ SET ia. AiLeQ0y LNe
walks were heavily covered. 1t occurred
to me that Girard would never get home
in a street car. He would have to take a
hack AS the storm increased in violence
/ doubted whether lie would find hack
even.
'sOppressed by the loneliness of the
place, / lit a cigar, pulled Girard's big
leather armchair up 70 the blazing log fire
y Il.
me to light the gas until, hearing all three
Of the clocks strike {, | was about to
make light. when the door of the room
opened, and a woman entered At first /
supposed one of the maids had returned,
but Immediately the impression was cor
rected. lnstinetively | knew that Mrs
Girard stood before me. She crossed the
room hesitatingly apparently embarrass-
ed IN the presence OF man she did not
know. it may seem odd to you. but
from tnat instant fEad no sense Of fear-
more a'etracuye woman ! nave never
looAeu upon. nhe cariled nerseiI me q
princess hl1er lhe Hrst rev steps IN my
qi,ec,'oh' I rose from lne cnalf IN Whien
: nao pesn ioungilss poWeo % ner anu
insloouceI q .n, lhysen.
~, ges' sue Isplea, ! know you
uuile wei, spoula no. nave lnlruaed
plon sou, que auueu, pat IN at 1iraro
mas lhet Win 'lL ace.aeht- Inc car upon
whlen ne vas returnlng mas peen showed
II ~. sa anu = now seanuihg Is On tne traek az
Inl il.esntl street. me storm IS 50 violent
snae ! ''ili alraio ne VIII NOT reach nome
'oss'1 :. sI.,i ri ua'sss
ANYTHING snnernotns,f abont fha trans-
act;on