Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-03-10


Ceylon, as understood, though how
or why never knew, and it always
seemed strange. Clarence's business
in Ceylon was coffee planting, and it
seemed that Simcox's was astral
bodies. The only natural thing about
their old acquaintance seemed to be
that Clarence always knew queer peo-
pie, and surely Simcox was queer.
"Why, how old do you take me to
be?" lie asked me suddenly one day,
when 7 had said that something OF
other had happened before his time.
And when I answered that he looked
to me to be about forty, lie laughed
quite heartily.
1t so happened that this converse
ton took place as we were walking to-
gether to Madison Square, where we
were to visit an exhibition of paint.
ings, old and modern.
When we had spent about half an
hour ranging through the galleries,
Simcox and found ourselves stand
ing before q portrait of Spanish
prince, who, Il believe. lived some
where about the time of Queen Eliza.
beth. The figure was dressed in
armor, except for the head, which was
bare, and showed fine head of dark
chestnut hair.
"This is the picture I wanted you
to see," said Simcox. "Let's sit down
on this settee and take it all in"
I could not remember that Simcox
had said anything to me about seeing
any picture in particular.
"Well, what do you think of it?"
Simcox asked me presently.
"Fine," I said.
II suppose it u.s." said Simcox. 81
suppose it is fine. People have been
saying that about it for three hundred
years. I suppose all the lords and
ladies OF the Spanish Court said it was
fine when they first saw it. 1 wasn't
there"
you're not quite SO old as all that?"
I INTERCEPTED, thinking of the mystery
of his age.
"No," he said, smiling, "not quite
80 old. And I wouldn't have been at
the Court of Spain, either. But there
is one criticism the lords and ladies
might have made, though I never
heard that they did,"
"What's that?"
"Simply that it isn't true to life. {"
"But you don't mean to soy it isn't
lifelike?" said in astonishment.
"What I mean is that it isn't as
much like the original as it might
have been. It would have been
just as easy for Velasquez to
have made it perfectly true. I
don't see why he didn't never did.
On the whole, it doesn't fatter His
Highness. His jaw was not nearly
such cruel looking square thing as
that. And yet the painter has taken
the trouble to curl and lengthen and
dandify the mustache almost out of
recognition"
"Why, Simcox," said, "you talk
as if you knew the original in the
Aesh!"
"Well," he said, II don't and + do.
You see, my dear fellow, to know a
mans astral body is about the same
thing as knowing the man in what you
coll the flesh You use the crude
term of wornout medieval philoso-
ply. An astral body may produce at
times o faint impression on the eye,
but it stands to reason it must be
exact"
1t occurred to me ct this point that
Simcox needed fresh air. I had never
before heard any one talk in this glib,
matter of fact way about astral bodies.
Either Simcox was crazy or there was
something uncanny about him, in
spite Of his brisk, happy, everyday
manner.
ooh, you're surprised, are your"
no said, chuckling to himself, 81 might
have guessed that a man who talks
about knowing people lin the flesh
would be. Lets have o practical dem
onstration."
"Good heavens! |" exclaimed. "You
don't mean to tell me that you are 60
ing to raise the ghost of this old Span
iard?" e..
II don't raise ghosts, Simcox
answered, with some impotence, "or
believe in them. But if you are going
to get fidgety, and as this is public
place, let's 60 to my rooms.
"Take one more good look at the
picture before you CO." he said, "and
pay particular attention to the chin,
mustache and eyes. 7 want you to see
if I'm not right in my criticism.
When we got to his rooms and had
seated myself as comfortably as my
nervous state OF mind would allow,
Simcox busted himself rumaging in
the drawers of rolltop desk.
II don't need any very elaborate
apparatus, you see," he said, "but
there is one thing somewhere in these
drawers, if I can only find it, that
ought to help q good deal. ALI, here
it is"
He produced what at first took to
be glass paperweight. On closer
inspection it turned out to be a Japan
ese crystal ball, very clear and exquis.
itchy mounted, but not mounted on any
carved stand, like most of those have
seen.
"Just hold this, will you?" he said.
Itook the crystal in my hand.
"You had better sit here" he said,
with you back to the window. I
want the light to come over your
shoulder"
ought to say that in that window
frame there was no curtain of any
kind, only brown holland window
blind, which was rolled up. In front
of me as 1 sat with my back to the
light was nothing but an open carpet
ed space. Indeed. baroness was the
most obvious characteristic of Sim