Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-03-29

end Of the corridor or had left the
building. Probably she had entered
some private apartment. for It was
growing dark and too late for any
lady. especially one young and beauti-
full, TO be out on the street alone.
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. l found more. Then l tapped
the terminal wall, but got no sound
indicating anything wooden or hollow.
The mural painting was landscape In
which was a woman's figure in the
dress Of ancient Rome. The picture
must have been very old. for the col
ors were much faded. and II had evil
IDENTIFY been painted In the stif style
that had been In vogue when the
palazzio was built. My examinations
led me to no discovery whatever.
When II rains In Rome 1t rains hard
One afternoon when a torrent was
pouring from the clouds and 1t was
consequently very dark In the palazxio,
going to my room. saw a marvellous
sight It 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 extern
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 fst
against each Of them and give them
. prolonged rubbing. When ! 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 scnslbilities were much over
wrought and my Imagination exag-
gerated everything, but It seemed to
me that smile was the sweetest had
ever seen on womans 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 I had been swung back to
medieval times and this woman was
moving within the palaxxio as she had
moved there several centuries before.
When she had passed beyond me. In
stead Of following her / crammed my
fists again against my eyes to restore
normal sight. When ! removed them
the vision had disappeared
That was the last view ! had of the
mysterious lady at the palazzio. In
vain I waited for her to appear again.
vowing that II she did l would seize
her and detain her till I could deter
mine whether she were flesh and
blood. But after several weeks pa
tent waiting since she did not appear
and l met her nowhere In Rome.
was forced to conclude that IL she
were ghost she had been exorcized
and If she We're 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 I preferred to keep down at
the bottom Of my heart left Rome
still uncertain whether / had been be-
witched by medieval ghost or my
charmer were real person.
Fate brought me solution. Return
ing to America, a few days out from
Southampton one morning on deck l
passed the mysterious lady sitting in
a steamer chair.
looked at her in amazement. She
burst into a laugh.
"You and l don't need an introduc-
tion." she said. I'VE have met before.
Be seated" pointing to vacant chair
beside her, "and / will tell you all
about it"
l accepted the invitation, and she
continued:
II occupied rooms In the compart-
ment next to yours In the palazxio.
One who knew every nook and corner.
every secret passage. in the building
showed me wall dividing a corridor
dlled by mirror. Touching a spring,
the wall swung on pivot, and when
reversed q mural painting was where
the mirror had been.
1T occurred to me that / would like
to astonish some one by passing
through this passageway. To heighten
the effect wore dress which Is a
modernized costume Of the sixteenth
century. The first person hit upon
was you. and enjoyed your look Of
wonder immensely. The last time
appeared to you when I 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,
knew. would cause the hall to ap-
pear to you continuous. Then when
You covered your eyes I swung back
the reverse"
What fool vast l exclaimed.
6n~ g.