The Cooperstown courier., 1902-09-25

1 young ladies' of his rather general
acquaintance, as q master of arts OF
Welsh rarebitry and badinage. But
no one was prepared for the almost
oriental beauty If his latest verses,
which appeared In one of tho best
OF the monthly periodicals under
the name of 'My Lady of the Realm
of Dreams" and which would have
done credit to a much more ambitious
poet than Billy Ashe. Ashe him
self thought rather well of them; he
felt that it in some way compensated
for the nasty knock on the head
that the lady had been the means of
giving him, and that he had turned
most perplexing dream to very
good account. It was better than
taking it to the Society of Psychical
Research, which he had thought Of do
ing in the vividness Of his first inn
preston, but six months without
any further developments, waking or
sleeping, had dulled his keen con-
viction of it's psychic value. Mean
while comfortable check from the
magazine had seemed to take the
thing out of the province of psychic
research.
Ashe was a modest man, but not
too much to find little lionizing
quite to his taste, and he went to
afternoon teas and cotillions with 9
feeling that tomorrow would be
someone else's day, and he must
gather his roses while he might. So
he entered Mrs. Fosters long draw
ing-room prepared to smile as he lis
tened to his verses misquoted by
fair fatterers; he retained that Sc
rene attitude of mind while he shook
hands with Mrs. Foster, and not one
minute longer. For beyond Mrs.
Foster, and standing just outside the
ring Of light from a tall lamp, was
the lady of his dreams, with her white
gown that chung to her shoulders and
rounded waist, and flared with heavy
folds at her feet. This time she
wore fan on the long silver chain
around her neck, and she had no
hat nor veil, so Ashe could see, that
she was regarding him with the
frankest interest from pair of most
attractive brown eyes. He flushed
with surprise. and his remarks to
Mrs. Foster died on his lips. She was
not q dream, then, his princess! A
sudden recollection Of the check from
the Hundred Years" made him
warm, and as corollary came the
realization of his narrow escape
from the Society of Psychic Re-
search-good heavens!
Meanwhile Mrs. Foster was saying
graciously, $50 good of you to come,
Mr.. Ashe, and not forget your old
friends, now you are such celebrity.
And to reward you, am going to in
troduce you to very dear young
friend of mine, Miss Gregory, who ad-
mires your poems so much" And
Ashe found himself before his prin-
cess, while Mrs. Foster went on
1uently, Constance, my dear, this is
Mr.. Ashe," and turned to greet an
other guest. All remnants of his
self-possession vanished at tho
sound of the names, and interrupt
ing Miss Gregory's polite express
sions of delight at making his ac-
quaintance, Ashe asked abruptly:
care you princess?"
She opened her brown eyes wider
and looked at him in surprise.
"Do-do you believe in telepathy
and astral bodies?" he went on after
a moments pause. "Or are you only
a dream?"
"Dear met" said the girl. ''Mrs.
Foster said you were so nice, and
not startling that no one would
know that you were poet or any
thing else awe-inspiring, and here you
have called me three alarming names
in as many minutes. Is this poetic
license. Mr.. Ashe?'''
"Did you really mind Cissy LOTUS ?"
he asked anxiously. .'You see she's
my favorite pipe, but she's rather
old, and I'm afraid she's little too
strong to be pleasant to strangers.
But I didn't expect you, you know,
when you came in so suddenly"
The girls face was gravely puz-
zled, but her eyes looked amused.
''I'm afraid Mrs. Foster has mis-
taken idea of you," she said with q
shake of her head.
'.Where do you live?" inquired
,Ashe. "When you are not in dreams,
you know-when you are not in
Thurston's library
"Well,'' said Miss Gregory, "I'm re-
lieyed. am glad to find that I
can at last take an intelligent in
terest in the conversation. The
Thurston's library-isn't it a fasci-
mating place?"
.'Yon wern't in it long enough to
find out" objected Ashe. "And do
you think it was quite kind Of you
to make me bump my head?"
"Long enough! I've spent hours in
Thurstons' library" said the girl in
mock indignation. "And I never
made you bump your head"
"Well, perhaps not consciously"
admitted Ashe, "but it was under
your SPELL" Miss Gregory looked at
him with smile beginning to show
at the corners of her mouth.
"You are certainly casting spell
over me-" she said. Really, Mr..
Ashe, I don't know what you mean
I'm sure I never had anything to do
with your humping your head, but