The Lambertville record., 1911-02-24

The next morning at an hour when
the most light made its way into the
corridor, having bribed the maid to
lend me her pass key, / opened every
door Of those In the mysterious region
and explored every room for some
exit. / found none. Then l tapped
the terminal wall, but got no sound
indicating anything wooden or hollow.
The mural painting was landscape in
which was a womans figure in the
dress of ancient Rome. The picture
must have been very old, for the col.
ors were much faded, and 1t had evi-
IDENTIFY been painted in the stiff style
that had been In vogue when the
palazzio was built. My examinations
led me to no discovery whatever.
When 1t rains in Rome 1t rains hard.
One afternoon when torrent was
pouring from the clouds and 1t was
consequently very dark In the palazzio,
going to my room, saw a marvellous
sight. 1t seemed that the wall beyond
my room had been removed and the
corridor had been indefinitely extend
ed There were a few dim lights
about me, and the corridor In its whole
length was lighted by similar ones.
Owing to the dimness all this was
barely perceptible. Then the exten.
sion melted away, and there was only
the Ill defined space at the end Of the
corridor to which l had been used.
Thinking there must be something
the matter with my eyes. put fist
against each of them and gave them
prolonged rubbing. When 1 took
my fists away for another look there
was the mysterious lady coming to.
ward me.
She smiled as she passed me. Pos
sibly my senslbilities were much over.
wrought and my Imagination exag-
gerated everything, but 1t seemed to
me that smile was the sweetest I had
ever seen on n woman's face.
Again my superstitious instincts
caused me to stand stock still while
might have determined whether the
vision were ghost or flesh and blood
by means of touch But 1t seemed to
me that l had been swung back to
medieval times and this woman was
moving within the palazzio as she had
moved there several centuries before
When she had passed beyond me. In.
stead of following her l crammed my
fists again against my eyes to restore
normal sight. When removed then
the vision had disappeared.
That was the last view 1 had of the
mysterious lady at the palazzio. In
vain l waited for her to appear again,
vowing that IL she did would seize
her and detain her till l could deter.
mine whether she were flesh and
blood. But after several weeks pa.
tient waiting. since she did not appear
and l met her nowhere in Rome, !
was forced TO conclude that II she
were ghost she had been exorcized
and IL she were flesh and blood she
had left the Eternal City. | made no
effort to get an explanation, for In the
first place didn't care to let any one
know how superstitious or perhaps
stupid / had been, and the secret was
one that / preferred to keep down al
the bottom of my heart. l left Rome
still uncertain whether / had been be
witched by medieval ghost or my
charmer We're a real person.
Fate brought me solution. Return
ing to America, few days out fron
Southampton one morning on deck
passed the mysterious lady sitting II
a steamer chair.
l looked at her In amazement She
burst into laugh.
"You and l don't need an introduc
tion," she said. "We have met before
Be seated" pointing to a vacant chair
beside her. land ] will tell you all
about It."
accepted the invitation, and she
continued:
II occupied rooms In the compart-
ment next to yours In the palazzlo.
One who knew every nook and corner,
every secret passage, In the building
showed me wall dividing a corridor
filed by mirror. Touching a spring,
the wall swung on pivot, and when
reversed Il mural painting was where
the mirror had been.
at occurred to me that l would like
to astonish some one by passing
through this passageway. To heighten
the effect | wore a dress which is a
modernized costume of the sixteenth
century. The first person l hit upon
was you, and enjoyed your look of
wonder immensely. The last time I
appeared TO you when was passing
the wall / saw you near the staircase.
Crouching, turned the mirror toward
you, thus giving you a reflection of
the corridor in which you stood This,
l knew, would cause the hall to ap-
pear to you continuous. Then when
you covered your eyes l swung back
tho reverse"
"What a fool wasr exclaimed.
II have been In doubt whether you
were an apparition of medieval
dame or flesh and blood"
Have your she exclaimed, with de-
light. Had ! known that how much
more pleasure I should have derived
from the freak"
II presume" said musingly, that
the passage through the wall was
built and used by the for who first
owned and occupied the palazzioT'
Eyes. was told that on one occa-
sion 1t saved his life"
HE must have had skillful work
men to make 1t. examined It care
fully. even knocking on 1t. but could
find nothing more than a blank wall"
The next summer the mysterious
lady and l made n wedding trip to
Rome, stopped at the palazzio, and
made a very critical search for the
spring that opened 1t. My wife was
obliged to show me where Il was.