Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-17

| oiu saxon cnurch on the hlil-tOp, ana Ia
| venhall-Lord Ormsby's seat"
! Il think I'll take stroll toward the old
saxon church, said Idris. who simple
In his tastes. and easily pleased.
| Il have to pass that way Beatrice said
| ana III you care to accompany me-
Icr1s. who found Beatrices soft gray eyes
| very attractive readily accepted her offer;
ana after pleasant walk of half an hour,
| the two reached the ancient church Of the
| Northumbrian saint. Oswald.
| rms, said Beatrice, as they passed
| through an arched doorway and stood
| within the subdued light cast by the stained
glass. this is the Ravengar Chantry."
! the Ravengars?"
Yes. These monumental brasses are the
| tombs or my ancestors, that IS. of those
| VINO antedated the restoration; those who
| lived after that time are inferred In the
private private crypt at Ravenhal For you must
abruptly. Some one is playing the organ"
| And playing with a mastery touch, too"
remarked Idris, after brief interval of lis
| tening.
VINO can it be?" murmured Beatrice.
our own organist Is not capable of such
| music
She was about to advance on tiptoe from
| the transept to the in order to obtain
/ a view of the organ loft, but Idris gently
| checked her.
Stay a moment If we show ourselves
We may discomfort the musician and put an
end to his playing.
He sat down on a stone seat in the tran
| sept. Beatrice followed his example: and
| for several minutes they listened in silence,
| entranced by the sweet and noble strains
| flowing from the organ loft
Then. gradually. a peculiar change came
| over the spirit of the music.
"Ah! what eerie strain murmured
| Beatrice. a shiver passing over her
ldris. too, found himself curiously af
| fected. Becoming oblivious of external
! things, yielding himself entirely to the in
| f1uence of the music, he essayed to enter
| into the spirit and meaning of the piece.
! Those solemn rhythmic cadences that thrill
| ed him with melancholy awe could be in
! terpreted only a funeral march. At in
| tervals there peaed from the organ SILVER
| ing, staccato notes. like the heart sobs of
| those who keen" for the dead. succeeded
! by mournful. stately measure, if the
| cold voice of fate We're declaring that death
| must be endured as the common lot of all.
| The very soul of grief was voiced in those
! notes, which, lofty and sad, mysterious
| the moonlight. seemed to weep as they
| kissed the cold stones of the chantry.
| During the dream-like spell induced by
| the weird character of the requiem Idris
| suddenly became subject to very strange
| feeling, the like of which he had never be-
| fore known. Vivid fire on a dark night
| there came upon him the startling convfc-
| ton that this was not his first visit to the
church Of st. Oswald He had been in this
chantry in time past; he had seen these
monumental braSse5 before: that funeral
march was a familiar air. The interior of
the edifice was as the face of an old friend
who has not been seen for years
He sitting in a part of the transept
from which 1t was impossible for him TO
view the opposite ends of the nave, unless
he possessed the power of being able to
see around a distant corner: yet, directing
his mental eye toward the Interior of the
church. he could see the chancel window at
it's eastern end, and the heXagonal font by
the western porch.
He felt that he could find his way about
the building without once stumbling even
though 1t were wrapped in the gloom of
,irhs of thn hal rry
tower above to the crypt below, was familiar
ground.
With a solemn long drawn-out dimin-
uendo the music ceased
Shivering like one reused from n sleep
upon the cold ground Idris started from his
reverie, to find Bea trice regarding him with
a curious, half-frightened look.
"A penny for your thoughts. Mr.. Break
spear. have spoken to you three times,
and you have given me no answer. Have
you seen a ghost? You look quite fey as
We say in these parts
II have been subjected to a very singular
experience" Idris answered. looking
around with perplexed air It'll today. 1
have never set foot in Ormsby. Yet 1
know this church, know 1t well as l
know my chambers In the Albany. Now,
tell me. does not the chancel window con-
tain three divisons?'
Beatrice murmured an affirmative, seeing
nothing wonderful in Idris' remark, mas
much as chancel windows usually contain
three divisions.
"And in the central pane is painted the
Madonna. treading upon the Old Dragon,
with the Holy Child in her arms?'
Beatrice, beginning to be surprised, said
that this was correct.
The right-hand pane represents King
Oswald setting up the cross his standard
for battle, while on the left portrays him at
his palace gate, distributing his gold and
silver plate among the poor"
Yes. How do you know, IL you have
never been here before?' Beatrice burst
forth. her amazemsnt increasing as Idris
proceeded to enumerate other details.
Mr.. Breakspear, you must have been
here before!
Never l solemnly assure you; at least,
not in the body
He walked toward the head of an oblong
marble sepulcher surmounted by the gilt
effigy of a crusading Ravengar, lying In
cross-legged repose
Mark me-" he said. turning to Beatrice,
II shall find on the other side of this tomb
a circular hole large enough to admit my
hand"
At the foot of the stone knight was
sculptured the heraldc shield of the Raw
engars. much defaced. and crumbling with
age: in the first auartering of which was
a round orifice of sufficient dimensions to
admit the insertion of Idris' hand.
What do you say to this?" he asked OF
Beatrice. who had followed him to the
tomb.
But Beatrice. full of wonderment, could
say nothing.
II have a distinct remembrance of plac-
ing my hand here In days gone by, 1drlS
continued Yes, have been in this church
before; am as certain of that / am OF
my own existence. But how? There's the
puzzle Not in the body, for my life has
been passed at a distance from Ormsby.
How then? Has the knowledge been i'm
parted to me in dream? Or is it fact
that during sleep the spirit of man may
visit distant places? Or was old Pytha-
goras right In asserting that we have all
had previous existence? Am l a reincar-
nation of one who was familiar with this
place in time past? Miss Ravengar, how IS
one to explain this psychological puzZleT'
Beatrice's reply was checked by a light
football A young lady, attired in a soft
clinging dress of muslin, was coming slow
ly toward the chantry.
Idris looked up and met her eyes. eyes or
a dark tender violet. One glance, and then
and then
If he had been previously required to
write an essay on love. that essay would
have run on the lines that love, to be sin
cere and lasting, must be grounded on the
esteem that a man and woman have for
ca h others good qualities; that love there
fore must be the product of time and that,
consequently. genuine love at first sight Is
an impossbility.
He thought differently now. he gazed
upon face fairer than any he had ever
seen; so pure the spirit breathing from it
that like the face of a Madonna upon a