The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-05-10

face with my dead and buried mistress
/ She was wearing the dress IN which l
| had last seen her alive; carried the
same tiny handkerchief in her right
hand and the same cardcase in her left.
A woman eight months dead with a
cardcasel had to pin myself down to
the multiplication table and to set both
| hands on the stone parapet Of the road
! to assure myself that JhaS at least was
real
..Agnes, repeated, 'sfor pity sake,
tell me what it all means. Mrs Wes-
sington leaned forward, with that odd,
quick turn Of the head I used to know
60 owen, and spoke
If my story had not already so madly
| overleaped the bounds Of alI human be-
| lief, i should apologize to you now. As
| know Mat no one-no, not even Kit
ty, for whom it is written as some sort
| of justification Of my conduct-win be-
Isve me, Twill go on. Mrs Washington
| SPOKE, and ] walked with her from the
| Sanjowlie road to the turning below
tbs commander in chiefs house as I
might walk by the side Of any living
woman's rickshaw, deep in converse
tion. The second and most tormenting
of my moods of sickness had suddenly
laid hold upon me, and, like the prince
! in Tennyson' poem, 81 seemed to move
amid world Of ghosts :" There had
been garden party at the commander
in chiefs, and we two joined the crowd
Of homeward bound folk As I saw
them then it seemed that they were the
shadows s-impalpable fantastic shadows
that divided for Mrs. Wessington's s
! rickshaw to pass through. What we
said during the course Of that weird
interview I cannot-indeed I dare not
tell Heatherlegn's comment would
have been short laugh and remark
that had been 'tmashing brain, eye
and stomach chimera. 1t was ghast-
" and yet in some indefnable way a
marvelously dear experience Could it
be possible, I wondered, that l was in
this life to WOO second time the WON
an had killed by my own neglect and
cruelty?
Imet Kitty.on the homeward road
a shadow among shadows.
If were to describe all the incidents
of the next fortnight in their order, my
story would never come to an end and
your patience would be exhausted.
Morning after morning and evening
after evening the ghostly rickshaw
end j used to wander through Simla to-
gether. Wherever I went there the four
black and white liveries followed me
and bore me company to and from my
hotel At the theater I found them
amid the crowd Of yelling jhampanies:
outside the club yeranda after long.
evening of whist; at the birthday ball
waiting patiently for my appearance,
and in broad daylight when I went call
ing. Save that it cast no shadow. the
r:cskhaw was in every respect as real
to look upon as one Of wood and iron.
More than once indeed have had to
caeck myself from, warning some hard
riding friend against cantering over it.
More than once have walked down the
mall deep in conversation with Mrs.
Washington to the unspeakable amaze
ment of the passersby
Before I had been out and about
week I learned that the eft theory
had been discarded in favor of insanity
However. | made 10 change in my
mode of life called. rode and dined
out as freely as ever ! had passion
for the society of my kind which l had
never felt before hungered to be
among the realities of life. and at the
same time felt vaguely unhappy when
had been separated too long from my
ehostly companion 1t would be almost
impossible to describe my varying
moods from the 18th of May up to to-
day.
The presence of the rickshaw filled
roe by turns with horror. blind fear. a
dim sort of pleasure and utter despair
dared not leave Simla, and | knew that
my stay there was killing me- I knew.
moreover. that it was my destiny to die
slowly and a little every day My only
anxiety was to get the penance over as
quietly as might be. Alternately hun
gered for sight of Kitty and watched
her outrageous firtations with my sue
cessor-to speak more accurately. my
successors-with amused interest. She
was as much out of my life as was
out of hers By day wandered with
Mrs. Washington. almost content. By
night implored heaven to let me re-
turn to the world as used to know it.
Above all these varying moods lay the
sensation of dull, numbing wonder
that the seen and the unseen should
mingle so strangely on this earth to
hound one poor soul to its grave
Aug. 27.-Heatherlegh has been indie
fatigable in his attendance on me, and
only yesterday told me that ought to
send in an application for sick leave.
An application to escape the company
Of pbantoml A request that the gov
ernment would graciously permit me to
get rid of FIVE ghosts and an airy rick
I L.