The La Jara chronicle., 1906-03-23

and at the same time determined TO
investigate the diabolical agencies at
work to destroy the happiness OF my
home and family.
told the driver to follow my wiie's
cab, and at the end OF It's destinaetuh
to stop about a square behind ne
followed these instructions and a1ter
long, noisy ride over the rouen
cobbles, halted abruptly and opened
the cab door for me to alight- l
paid him and dismissed the cab, and as
l saw my wife's dress disappear In
a doorway down about the middle OF
the next square, made for that di-
rection.
My heart gave a bound as ! hur-
ried up the steps to the door ! mad
seen her enter By some lucky chance
it was unlatched, and l walked INTO
the house. Great Heavens! The same
rich hangings, the divan with Its Grim
son drapery. the paintings-al re-
vealed themselves in the glare OF broad
daylight. 1 heard the murmur of
voices somewhere in the house and
paused to catch the direction OF the
sound. / could not seem to make out
Every minute was as an hour. stood
in breathless expectation a while long
er, then passed noiselessly over the
velvet carpet into the adjoining room
A heavy portiere at the rear led into
still another and from thence the
voices proceeded. l recognized my
wife's in the most excited tone.
glided closer to the curtain and dis
tinctly heard these words:
What you have already told me |
cannot help believe and while 1 would
know more, l am afraid Oh!
can not! not now /"
% tntarrnnfa1
in the unmistakable voice of my even
ing's enchantress, 81 am simply about
to present my impression of your
husband as he appears to me in that
astral personality which he is most
probably unconscious of possessing.
There was a deathlike stiffness for
few minutes; suddenly broken by my
wife's voice in the most agitated tone
accompanied with low sobbing:
"Oh my God! l cannot look! 1t is
my husband and yet so strangely diff
ferent!" l could hold back no longer;
I drew aside the curtain and through
the folding doors which were opened
wide enough for the purpose, passed
in. 1 found myself in total darkness.
There We're a few seconds of suspense
and then-at first indistinctly, then
clearer and clearer out of the dark
ness-a face appeared; finally stand
ing in startling bas-relief against a
fiery nimbus that surrounded 1t. In
the wide open staring eyes, the COM
pressed lips and sunlSen cheeks, rec
ognized my own phyiognomy!
"Sylviai"
1t was my wife's name I had ut
tered before / was conscious what
had done. There was distinct scream
from each woman; one of them fell!
l groped my way in the darkness and
found it was my wife. / picked her up
in my arms and got out of the room
and house l know not how. l have
vague memory of hailing a cab and
placing my wife in it and then driv-
ing home. All that night she was too
i'll to move; but the next morning she
had recovered enough for me to report
at police headquarters.
The detective to whom l told my
story smiled.
"You have been in the hands of
couple of notorious adventurers," he
explained, 'for whose arrest the au-
thoritieS of some large cities in this
and abroad are on the alert.
The woman is clairvoyant, and pro-
fesseS to make 4 speciality of the sci
ence of double personality; practicing
this humbuggery by the desperate
you describe by which she has
gathered a large clientele in this city.
The experiment in your case is one
of the most daring. The apparition of
your face is a reproduction of photo
graph taken in your z5enseless state
that evening in their house, for which
purpose you were decoyed there and
drugged. This by a clever stereopti-
con effect was used to present the
startling revelation of your second
personality for your. .wife's benefit, who
happens to be a patron of theirs, and
for whom the trick was contriyed.
They were arrested last night"