The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1920-01-09

something tntG time NO You WON'T Go&a
cross, but II dunno. II can't never teli
what they'll do. Well--r ETY. 71ps y
She sighed, closed her eyes, and was
silent, while Eugene, seated in the stiff
chair across the table from her.
watched her profile, thought himself
an idiot, and called himself that and
other names. And as the silence con-
tinued, and the impassive woman In
the easy-chair remained impressive, he
began to wonder what had led him to
be such fool. What had brought him
back to this absurd place and caused
him to be watching this absurd wom-
an taking a nap In chair? In brief !:
What the devil did he mean by it? He
had not the slightest interest In Mrs,
Horner's naps-or in her teeth, which
were being slightly revealed by the I'M
conscious parting of her lips. as her
breathing became heavier.
How long was he going to sit here
presiding over this unknown woman's
slumbers? 1t struck him that to make
the picture complete he ought to be
shooting flies away from her with a
palm-leaf fan.
Mrs. Horners parted lips closed
again abruptly, and became COM
pressed; her shoulders moved a little,
then jerked repeatedly; her small
chest heaved; she gasped, and the
compressed lips relaxed to a slight
contortion, then began to move, whis-
pering and bringing forth indistin-
guishable mutterfngs.
Suddenly she spoke in a loud, hus,;y
voice:
"Lopa is herer'
@Yes," Eugene said dryly. "That's
what you said last time. remember
Lepa.' She's your control / think
You said"
"I'm Lopa," said the husky voice.
'sI'm Lopa herself"
"You mean I'm to suppose you're
not Mrs. Horner nowY'
''Never was Mrs. Hornerr' the voice
declared, speaking INCIDENTALLY from
Mrs. Horner's lips-but with such con-
vietion that Eugene, I'm spite of every
thing, began to feel himself in the
presence of a third party, who was
none the less an Individual, even
though she might be another edition
Of the apparently somnambulistic Mrs.
Homer. "Never was Mrs. Horner or
anybody but just Lopa. Guide"
! "You mean you're Mrs. Horner's
guideY he asked.
"Your guide now" said the voice
with emphasis, to which was incon-
gruously added low laugh. "You
came here once before. Lopa remem-
bers."
''Yes-so did Mrs. Homer"
Lopa overlooked his implication, and
continued quickly: "You build. Build
things that go. You came here once
and old gentleman on this side,. he
spoke to you. Same old gentleman
here now. He tell Lepa he's your
grandfather-no. he says father He's
your father"
whats his appeaFanee?"
"How?"
"What does he look hkew
,'"very fine! White beard, but not
long beard. He says some one else
wants to speak to you. See here.
Lady. Not his wife, though. No.
Very fine lady! Fine lady, fine ladyI''
els it my sister," Eugene asked.
"Sfster? No. She is shaking her
head. She has pretty brown hair. She
Is fond Of you. She is some one who
knows you very well, but she is not
your sister. She is very anxious to
say something to yOu-very anxious.
Very fond of you; very anxious to talk
to you. Very glad you came here-oh,
very glad!'
"What is her nameP'
'tName," the voice repeated, and
seemed to ruminate. shame hard to
getaways very hard for Lopa.
Name. She wants to tell me her name
to tell you. She wants you to under
stand names are hard to make. She
says you must think of something that
makes a sound" Here the voice
seemed to put question to an invis-
ible presence and to receive an an
swer. "a little sound or big sound?
She says it might be a little sound or
big sound. She says a ring-oh.
Lopa knows! She means bell! That's
it, bell"
Eugene looked grave. "Does she
mean her name is BELIEF"
sNot quite. Her name is longer"
1Perhaps," he suggested, "she means
that she was BELLE"
'.No. She says she thinks you know
what she means. She says you must
think of color. What color?" Again
Lopa addressed the unknown, but this
time seemed to wait for an answer.
Perhaps she means the color of her
eyes? said Eugene.
mo. She says her color is light
it's light color and you can see
through it."
"Amber?" he said, and was startled,
for Mrs. Horner, with her eyes still
closed, clapped her hands, and the
voice cried out in delight:
"Yes! She says you know who she
is from, amber. Amberl Amber |
That,S iti Sba cove Won 1,n1ar,to MI