Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1910-01-07
A GLIMMER From
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
BY SUSAN p. LowalE.

There are many things that are con
sidcred superstitiuus which may he
outcrOppings of natures laws. We
scientists can trace animal life back
to the very cicaricula of the egg.
which is an embryo living being. but
we rannot tell why two people will fire.
quently think Of the same thing at
the sane moment. In other words.
we have never made beginning IN
the science of mental tecpathy. Ell
Their between living people or between
the living and the dead. This is pre-
liminary to an experience given me
by one of my most gifted pupils short
~ after she had taken husband.
professor" she said. you remem-
Der that once confided to you that
there was mystery in our family.
that when | was child my nurse was
dismissed for the mere mention Of 1t
TO me. though she had given Inc no
idea of what it was. Well. the even.
ing before my marriage while explor-
ing garnet for some needed article
came upon Il trunk. which | opened
and found to contain sundry knick
kuacks. all evidently very old. One
was daguerreotype of a girl. anoth-
err Il pastebOard box tied vii b faded
ribbon. | opened the box and found a
small piece of wedding cake. dried to
a crisp. Girls. you know. sleep with
wedding cake under their pillows to
influence their dreams. took the
piece | found away with me and that
night slept with it under my pillow.
Il dreamed this dream:
II was walking in one of those old
fashioned gardens still common in old
New England. and more so in the
southern states. inclosed by high
wall. Through vista OF trees and
flowers could see the rear of IL house.
Through door opening Oh to Il porch
came Il young man and girl. The
man wore frOck coat with brass but
tons. Il profusion of neckwear and
trousers strapped beneath his shoes.
He carried cane. The girls dress
was covered with flowers. and her
hair. parted In the center of her head,
was plastered down over her temples.
The two came toward Inc over walk
drew near recognized the girl whose
daguerreotype | had seen in the trunk
in the garrett The mans face looked
familiar. but | could not place it.
They were talking excitedly. but
what they said did not hear. Indeed.
| didn't hear their voices; only knew
they were discussing some subject of
vital Importance to them. Suddenly
IL wooden door in the garden wall open
ed. and another man entered. He. TOO,
| was young and dressed in the same
| fashion as the man walking with the
girl On his entrance she gave cry.
and the two young men stood and glar-
ed at each other There was some con-
fusion in my dream from this point
for awhile. and the next feature | re-
member distinctly was seeing the man
VINO had come out of the house with
he girl pull his walking stick in TWO
pieces, separating it just below the
handle. The upper part was Il long.
thin piece of steel. With il he rushed
upon the man who had entered last
and stabbed him. The steel with
drawn. | saw the red blood gush forth.
The girl fell over on II bed of flowers
in Il faint.
II awoke in one of those horrible
conditions produced by bad dreams.
Had mine been the consequence of
some internal aillnent like indigestion
might have quoted down and gone
to sleep. But my seeing in the girl the
person whose likeness | had found IN
the trunk convinced me that had
been carried back to some scene ell
acted in the past. Consequently puZ-
Zled over it till morning and arose Oh
my. wedding day. having slept only
few hours. At breakfast father. MOTTO
ing my appearance. looked at me anx-
iously and asked me If were ill.
told him my dream.
After my return from my honey
moon father told me the family Sc
cret. My grandmother. his mother.
was Il New Orleans creole. A coquette,
she had encouraged two suitOrs. The
scene had dreamed had been enacted
I'm the garden behind her fathers
house in that city. My grandmother
had chosen the young man who had
entered the garden with her. His
portrait taken when he was about
forty years old. hangs in our drawing
room. No likeness of my grancmoth-
or remains. except the daguerreotype.
which was taken year before the
crime. Indeed. she would never have
her portrait painted. living II retired
life. burdened by the thought that she
had been the cause of the tragedy.
The weapon used was sword cane.
much in vogue in that day"
NUhaO fha mammalian canSad the in