Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1911-02-22

IdSScu Oh 10 the rooms at the OCner
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 it's 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 woman's figure in the
dress of ancient Rome. The picture
must have been very old, for the col
Ors were much faded, and it had evil
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 it rains in Rome it rains hard
One afternoon when torrent was
pouring from the clouds and it was
consequently very dark in the palazzio.
| going to my room, saw q marvellous
sight. 1t seemed that the wall beyond
my room had been removed and the
corridor had been indefinitely extend
ed. There were few dim lights
about me, and the corridor in it's 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 i'll defined space at the end of the
! corridor to which l had been used.
! Thinking there must be something
the matter with my eyes, l put fist
against each of them and gave them
| a prolonged rubbing. When I took
| my fists away for another look there
| was the mysterious lady coming to-
ward me-
She smiled us she passed me. Pos
| s1bly my sensibilities were much over
! wrought and my Imagination exag-
gerated everything, but it seemed to
| me that smile was the sweetest l had
ever seen on 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 it seemed to
me that / 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 I crammed my
| fists again against my eyes to restore
a normal sight. When l removed them
the vision had disappeared r
| That was the last view 1 had Of the
mysterious lady at the palazzio. In
| vain [ waited for her to appear again,
vowing that If she did l 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 I met her nowhere in Rome,
was forced to conclude that if she
were a ghost she had been exorcized
and if she We're flesh and blood she
had left the Eternal City. 1 made no
effort to get an explanation, for in the
first place l didn't care to let any one
know how superstiti0us or perhaps
stupid had been. and the secret was
one that preferred to keep down at
the bottom of my heart I left Rome
still uncertain whether I had been be-
witched by Il medieval ghost or my
| charmer were Il real persOn.
Fate brought me a solution. Return
ing to America, a few days out from
southampton one morning on deck I
passed the mysterious lady sitting in
a steamer chair.
looked at her in amazement. She
burst into a laugh
"You and I don't need an introduce
tion," she said. I'VE have met before.
BE seated pointing to a vacant chair
beside her, land l will tell you all
| about it,
I accepted the invitation, and she
continues:
! II occupied rooms in the compart-
ment next to yours in the palazzio.
! One who knew every nook and corner,
every secret passage. in the building
showed me Il wall dividing a corridor
filled by Il mirror. Touching spring,
the wall swung on a pivot, and when
reversed 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 l wore a dress which is a
modernized costume of the sixteenth
century. The first person I hit upon
was you, and l enjoyed your look of
wonder immensely. The last time /
appeared to you when I was passing
the wall / saw you near the staircase.
Crouching. 1 turned the mirror toward
! you, thus giving you reflection of
the corridor in which you Stood This,
I knew, would cause the hall to ap-
pear to. You continuous. Then when
you covered your eyes 1 swung back
the reverse"
"What fool I was"' I exclaimed.
Il have been in doubt whether you
were an apparition of a medieval
dame or flesh and blood''
! Have you:" she exclaimed, with de-
! light. clad l known that how much
more pleasure l should have derived
from the freak
Il presume" l said musingly, that
the passage through the wall was
built and used by the fox who first
owned and occupied the palazzio?'
Yes. l was told that on one occa-
| sion it saved his life" =.
"He must have had skillful work
| men TO make it. l examined it care