The Ely miner., 1914-02-27
CHAPTER XII.
A Critical Moment.

A Critical Moment.
Two days later, and in the middle OF
the afternoon, Rosalie was again In
Miss Estrilla's room suffering from in
cipient control" Her eyes stared.
Sorry" said Rosalie, on her en-
trance, "but I've got it again-an' I
can't beat it. Do you mind If lock
the door? l wouldn't be disturbed for
farm-don't know what it would do
to mel" She pumped down into a
chair. giving yawn which shook her
whole body. Gradually she relaxed.
With one heaving sigh she settled
back. Her eyes closed; she fell as
into sleep. And presently she was
babbling first in the baritone of Doctor
Carver and then in the liquid accents
of Laughing-Eyes
Let me omit the preliminaries. They
dealt only with trivial things-such
little affairs Of the house as occurred
to the mind of Rosalie LIE Grange,
working in flashes under her sleeping
exterior. She had growled and bab-
bled for five minutes before Laughing.
Eyes announced suddenly:
"The lady is sick-the pretty lady.
Spirit wants to talk to the lady. Pret-
ty spirit. feel like great big queen
was here-Vic-VicLV The
voice of Laughing-Eyes stopped. This
was a device of Rosalie's. She want.
ed to listen. Miss Estrilla had been
breathing regularly. Now, on the men.
ton of that name, her breath caught.
The voice of Rosalie, her whole facial
expression, her manner-if one can
attribute manner to a woman who
appears to sleep-underwent an alb
rupt change. The voice deepened; the
lines of her face fell; it was Doctor
Carver who spoke.
Victoria is not strong" said the
voice; 81 sense that she brings conso-
lation. She says that things are bad;
but they will be better by and by. II
is a mothers influence. Miguel"
here Rosalie stopped; and again she
noted the irregular breathing from the
couch. 1t was an eternal cuarter-min.
ute before she spoke again: this time
the voice was mans, but lighter and
higher than that of Doctor Carver;
and it spoke Spanish.
~ ami mate, hijita mia!" II said,
and died away. A silence again. "He
is gone," said the voice of Doctor
Carver. "a spirit wants the young
woman who lives below this room"
The seance drifted away into series
Of imaginary messages for Miss Hard
ing. But once again Miguel floated
into the talk, dropped word or two
of easily-pronounced Spanish. foated
out again. Presently Doctor Carver
came no more; the babblings OF
Laughing-Eyes became disconnected
monosyllables, and died out altogether
Rosalie lay as though asleep.
She lay for five minutes; she lay
for ten minutes. Wont she ever wake
me up?" thought Rosalie.
Miss Estrilla moved now and then;
now and then her breathing caught
And suddenly-she was not breathing
at all. Rosalie steeled herself for the
shock of cold water, If that were to
be the awakening. The shock came
but in another FORM
81 am going to kill you!" said the
voice of Miss Estrilla in Spanish; 81
am pointing a pistol at your head!
Come to meat once-or l shall fire!"
Thirty years in the profession which
deals with deceits both minute and
monstrous, thirty years of emotions
simulated, had given Rosalie one great
practical talent-control o: mind
muscle and nerve. 1t had given her,
too, a courage born of self-confidence,
of the well-grounded faith that she
could master any situation. Her i'm
pulse, under sudden shock of sur
prise, was to continue, naturally and
easily, just what she had been doing
That tided her over the moment oil
crisis. Her eyes remained closed, her
color changed not, her breath came a,
regularly and evenly as before. Their.
succeeded the critical moment when
the control Of instinct was gone and
the less dependable control of reason
reasserted itself. That was hardest
of all. She must remember to keen
her breathing regular, and her limbs
composed; above all-and this is
feat possible only to an actor of parts
or professional medium-to keep the
color in her face. She accomplished
this by the simple device of sinking
her chin close against her collar. It
was easier as the moments passed.
Nothing had happened, nor was there
any movement on the couch. It be-
came certain that this was a test.
TO BE coNTINuED)