Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-08-31

80 , l hesitated and
[GS > murmured some
thing about the
trouble of having the furniture moved
in a hotel, ETC., while handing my
wife the English letter L had brought
upstairs for her. She had been lying
down after our journey, and now sat
up on the bed to utter the above re-
marks about the wardrobe. She wpI
very pretty, that little wife of ming,
with her curly, tousled head, and the
face that sleep had flushed to soft
rosy-pink-very pretty, and so ludi-
crously, ludicrously young to look at.
Her letter did not occupy her long.
She looked at me again.
"Jack, darling, you will have that
wardrobe moved, won't you? If [
were to wake in the night and see my
own face in it, L should be horribly
frightened. Do have it moved, Jack,
dear!" She knew perfectly we'll, lit
tie witch, that ii she spoke to me like
that, and looked at me pleadingly out
pf her pretty eyes, she would get ex-
actly what she wanted-and, of
course, she did this time. The ward
robe, which had been placed precise
ly opposite one of the two beds that
jutted out from the wall between the
door, and window, was now moved to
the corner near the window itself, SO
that, although from the beds we could
still catch glimpse of the glass, we
could see nothing reflected in it,.
We were staying in big, pleasant
hotel, the locality of which matters
little. We found many pleasant folk
among our fellow-guests, and we had
really a delightful evening, spent
chiefly in sitting upon the terrace
which overlooked the very lovely
garden of the hotel. The delicious
scents of the many towering shrubs
filed the air with exquisite fragrance;
the fresh breeze blowing softly round
us seemed to come straight from the
great range Of mountains along the
horizon, giant shapes, dim and misty,
outlined against the pale green of the
evening sky, where the stars were
aiming out one by one.
1t must have been very late before
we reluctantly dragged ourselves in
doors, and went up to our room. Just
before putting out the light, | opened
The venetians outside our window to
breathe the heavenly air once more.
1t was still, starry night. The
garden below me was quite dark, and
the dim mountain shapes could no
longer be seen. The nightingales in
the bushes sang and sang as if they
could never sing enough, and to the
music OF their song, with deep
undercurrent of the bull-frogs en-
phatic voices, [ fell asleep.
slept the sleep Of the Just, as I
usually do, and, [ should think, must
have been asleep for some time,
when, suddenly, flash of light be-
fore my eyes woke me. My first i'm
preston was that it must be light
ming; my next, that my wife had
turned on the electric light over our
heads. But, as I woke up fully, [
realized that the room was dark:
from the bed next to mine [ could
hear quiet breathing, showing, be-
yond a doubt, that my wife was
asleep. .a-.
But-bu5-. sat up in bed and
stared; for the long glass in the cup
board, which had been moved that
afternoon, was entirely lighted up.
As [ have said, this cupboard now
stood nearer to the window than it
had done before, and, though it was
not opposite my bed, the light upon
the glass had evidently flashed into
my eyes and awoke me. But where
IN the name of fortune had the light
ecme from?" rubbed my eyes, I
leant little out of bed, as L tried to
persuade myself that some light from
outside must be reflected in the glass.
though l knew perfectly well that
this was impossible, for not only were
the venetians closed, but the curtains
inside the room were also drawn.
Then L tried to think that the light
came through the keyhole of q room
opening into ours; but this was a still
more fallacious argument, for the door
in question was on the farther side OF
my wife's bed, and nothing could by
any means have been reflected from it
into that glass.
''Well," l thought, 81 am the vic
tim of a most extraordinary optical
delusionl" For, whilst [ sat up in
bed and started at it, that glass re.
NAMED steadily lighted upl
II shall get up and see if it is some.
thing outside the window" I NUT.
tered; and, creeping very softly out Of
bed. L drew back the curtains and
gently opened the venetians. Every.
thing in the garden was absolutely
still, and pitch, pitch dark. Not Q
sign was to be seen in any direction
of light of any sort or kind, and ever
the stars were blotted out by great
black clouds. 1 turned back toward
the room. 1t, too, was entirely dkil
| with the execution o1 sthe o]aca