Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-05-22
THE POWER OF
THE IMAGINATION
TOriCinall

mcr house waiting for him. a man ap
preached whom ! recognized as one Of
the attendants at the insane asylum
few miles away.
"Have you seen anything Of a young
man about here who doesn't belong to
the placer" he asked.
NO. What does he look IikcE"
Handsome; black hair and eyes
with glitter in them. lie escaped last
night"
I haven't seen him. and I don't want
TO-"
IF he comes, viii you please toIe
phone meT
NO. I'll hide in the attic"
The keeper had scarcely gone when
saw a man in the distance coming up
the road. Great heavens, Could 60 bg
the insane manE I stood my ground
bravcIy TO see If ne answered tho DE-
scriptiOn tin hc came within "a dl>Criu
mating distance. lie was walking rap
idly and carried a suit case. To my
horror he walked straight 90 the gate
and entered. I pccred with an my
strength Of vision at his hair. Il was
black as night. I hooked al his ewes
They, too, were black and Sciucllatod
like pin wEccl> ON The Fourth u July.
y beg pardon" lie said. raising his
hat, Is this old OakSE"
NO" l gaSped. I led. would have
lied to an angel from heaven.
Singular" De said, hooking about
him. i SUCCly can't have mistaken tlC
placc. l followed the main uoad-tlo
only road i'm fact-SOd the gateway =
. Of stone. a round lSl on each roluuu." ."
'You VIII ind OLD oaks a rs5,c down
the road,'
He looked about him, every moment
more hCwt1,,Cryd,
Are there two such gatcwayST' be
asked presently,
~ dozen"
My heart was beating wildly, Nv
strained Imagination showed me only
a malWGU who would murder me IL l
did not succeed in turning him away,
''ThcSe are the asylum grounds" l
cried Go away at once, They arc
I looking for You, The keeper was here
this morning, He has been gone only
an hour, He told me il you came 20
telephone him, but l won't. l hope
you will set away"
Ry this time had become hySteriCal
and began 10 laugh and cry by turns,
The young man looked as badly fright.
ened as |. He cast n quick glance
about him, as If for some Que 10 take
me in charge.
His action reaSsured me. Had
made 4 mistaken | looked again at his
hair, this time through eyes unterri-
fed. 1t was auburn, remarked his
eyes, They were blue and, instead Of
scintillating, We're very mild. Mean
while the man was studying me. Grad
ually he came TO look upon me as sane,
after all, for he said:
81 am Arthur Andrews. | was to
come to Old Oaks for over Sunday
with my friend Tom Winslow. have
evidently got into the wrong place"
] oh, my stars, have mistaken Toms
friend for a lunatic! l would rather
/ suffer any torture than confess my err
ror. l must get rid of him before he
discovers who l am.
"Old Oaks is the next place to ours"
l said. DOUBTLESS you will easily find
! "The gateway"
| "Just like ours-a ball on each post"
care tie columns brownstone or
| granite? Yours, see, are granite"
'Theirs are granite too"
"Square or round|
] To this made no reply. Somehow
l didn't like his tone. Besides, there
was no necessity in being so minute.
Thanks" he said. 81 will doubtless
find the place. am sorry to have dis
turbed you."
He departed. | arose, went to the
house ard shut myself up in my room.
In the afternoon heard Tom talking
with solle one on the piazza. looked
through the blinds and saw the-the
lunatic!
/ rams, for the maid and when she
came told her to tell my bru.her that
had one of my sick headaches and
would not be well till Monday-after
the train had gone.
Tom came to me and found me with
wet Goth on my brow.
awful sorry, Lucy; have brought
Arthur Andrews up purposely to meet
you"
ooh, 20 away, Tom! You don't know
how / suffer"
The next Saturday Tom brought ''the
lunatic," as l called him, for another
Sunday. Before | met either of them |
overheard a conversation which indi-
Gated they had explained my action to
their own satisfaction. | went down
stairs and walked out on the piazza
as cool as an iced cucumber.
"My friend. Arthur Andrews" said
Tom, "of whom you have often heard
me speak"
"Think | have had the pleasure OF
meeting you before" said the guest,
smiling.
"When2" l asked, with we'll feigned
wonder.
"a week ago today"
"You must be mistaken. Last Satur-
day | was confined to my room with Il
! sick headache"
Arthur Andrews made frequent visits
to Old Oaks, and we took many n stroll
through the grounds. | always dreaded
TO pass the gateway, for Arthur would
Invariably ask me about that counter
part which stood at the entrance OF
that other Old Oaks n short distance
below. met these sallies with a dig
nlfied silence, hoping that in time lie
would become tired of them. When hC
chose the shadow Of this gateway as g
place to propose marriage, | rejected
him. He afterward selected another
spot, and | accepted him.
ARIETTA HOPE TURNORD.