The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1899-07-05
A VOICE AND A FACE.

III the SCCOiu pace, lcl IL w uhuSi-
stood that all men think they are not
superstitiOus.
So did we. So especially did Jim
Beasley, the artist at whose diggings
we had gathered to help consume
big Thanksgiving turkey that his
mother had sent him all the way from
Vermont.
Beasley was a skeptic in all things.
He had been born that way. Yet he
was n member of the Society for
Psychical Research, and the time that
he did not put in in the artroom of his
newspaper he spent looking into hyp-
notism, telepathy, spiritualism, and
kindred subjects.
So ii was Beasley who proposed af
ter the turkey had been disposed Of
and cigars smoked that we try some
psychical experiments.
II am sure we can get results" he
said Attention here will make a good
subject, | know"
All of us were newspaper men eX-
cept Attention. He was young lawyer
recently arrived from the East. He
was a rather silent, peculiar chap. but
a thoroughly good fellow. None of us
knew much about his past or cared to
know Among newspaper folk a man
is taken for what he is, not what he
has been. Attention had a high strung,
nervous system. and this ii was that
made Beasley say he would be a good
subject.
We pulled a card table into the CEN
ter Of the room. turned down the gas,
and sitting down formed mystic cir
Gle around the table. with hands
touching. Then we waited for the
spirits to come. For half an hour we
sat in silence Then Rogers leaned
over to me.
We're pack of fools, old man." he
whispered. AS he spoke sound came
from the piano in the corner. 1t was
followed by another and still another.
An unseen hand seemed to be passing
over the keyboard. Each of US looked
at the piano in blank establishment.
The lid was closed
This did not bother the unseen per-
former, who was evidently looking for
a keynote. In a moment it was found.
Then through the room the sweet
tones of a woman's voice stole softly.
1t was Il rich contraltO of wide com
pass, and in IA manner never before
heard by mortal ears il sang Balfe's
beautiful ballad, The Heart Bowed
Down"
The effect was weird beyond the tell
ing of words Each of Us looked like
a craven image, and no man dared
look in the eyes of his neghbOr. The
song seemed to come from a long way
off, yet every tone was distinct and
the accompaniment on Beasley'S piano
perfect 1t was sung with depth of
feeling that told that the heart of the
singer was in il.
The last verse was breathed in
passion of sorrow. The wall of it is
with me still.
My God, that voice-that voice"
1t was Attention who spoke. He had
thrown his head down on the table
between his arms, as if TO shut out the
sound. Just then the dying notes of
the song suddenly changed into the
strains of the "Lohengrin" Wedding
March. have heard ii played at many
a wedding. yet never have | heard its
majestic chords rendered as il was
that night by invisible hands on Beas-
ley's closed piano. In a paean of
triumph 1t finally ended
en-
was broken by gentle tap on the win
dow. Beasley, who alone had kept his
nerve, went forward softly and threw
up the blinds.
Heavens. Look therer' he said.
On the frosted window-pane, stand
ing out against the clear moonlight
was the face of a woman 1t seemed
to have been drawn with a sharp point
in the film of the frost. Every line was
perfect. 1t was a beautiful face, with
an expression Of sadness never to be
forgotten. The wide-open eyes looked
straight into the room. Beneath the
picture, in "A wOman's hand these
words were written
81 have come for you. AGNES"
80, God-it is she-it is sher'
It was Allenton's voice again. He
had risen from his chair and come to-
ward the window In the moonlight
his face was a blush white. Terror
was written on every feature. Like
one under a horrid spell he stood for a
full minute, his eyes looking into the
eyes of the face on the window. Then,
throwing up his hands and half gasp
ing, half grooming, the name "Agnesw
he tumbled TO the floor unconscious.
In the excitement that followed we
forgot the face. When next we looked
it had vanished. The frost IN which it
had been outlined had melted from the
glass. Yet frost still chung to the other
panes.
When Attention had recovered he
begged TO be excused. / walked home
with him. He became confidential and
told me his story.
Agnes had been his sweetheart in his
native town. On the night before their
wedding day, while under the influence
OF wine, he ran away with a worth
less woman