The daily morning oasis., 1920-10-29
The
Dark
Mirror
BY
Louis Joseph Vance
Aatlor of"The False Faces.
"The Lone Wolff" Etc.
illustrated BY
IRWIN MYERS
Observation-Disclosures Observation-Disclosures
Copyright, 1920. by the Authorl
continued from Yesterday
v. CONFESSION.

v. CONFESSION.
Philip Fosdick had a way of ex-
orcising cOnstraint and implanting
confidence even in those who had no
special liking for him. And Priscilla
was genuinely attached to him, more
so than she knew. And when she saw
how well he. looked. how very much
alive and alert-mentally and physi-
cally Philip always seemed at concert
pitch and never to know let-dOwn-
hesitation and doubts were swept
away like leaves before an autumnal
wind
81 suspected it," he announced, nod
ding sagely: you're a fraud-and
thank God for that! Now give me tea,
please, and tell me ALL"
She made a little move of petu-
lance. 81 knew you'd laugh at mel"
81 hoped I would"
Philip Topped bOyishly into his IA
vorite chair, helped himself to Gig
aret, and watched Priscilla narrow
ly while she sugared his cup with the
traditional two Jumps, added the slice
Of lemon, and drowned both In tea.
Never had she seemed more beautiful
or more perfectly poised. Impossible,
he told himself, there could be any.
thing amiss with a creature of such
radiancel Some girlish notion, moth
ing more serious
"How long have you known me,
PhilipT
'Tet me see To the best OF
my recollection, since you were about
a year old; l remember coming into
the nursery unexpectedly and finding
you"
"Never mindl Have you ever OBJ
served anything in me that led you to
believe was abnormal in any wayT
He contemplated a frivolous reply,
but seeing the gravity in her eyes re-
Trained.
'Neveri" said Philip solemnly.
swell, there is something /.
Philip: 1 have dreams. The strangest
dreams Let me tell you. And
please don't laugh, Philip. 1t isn't
any laughing matter"
He drew the soberest face Of sym
pathy imaginable. go on"
"As far back as / can remember,
I've every now and then had a special
sort of dream that seemed very real
to me. Even as little girl-though
then, / think, they weren't so definite
But when began to grow into
long dresses, the dreams took on a
certain form they've kept ever since"
"Such as-T'
"What I fancy slums must be like.
The self 1 see in dreams belongs there
dresses, acts, talks precisely like a
girl who's never had any advantages
to speak of, much education or con-
tact with the pleasant side of life. All
the same she is myself much
as If / put on some disguise SO COM
plete 1t disguised even my speech and
habits of thoughts, even my senti-
ments and impulses. This girl does
and says things | never could and,
awake, have never thought of. But to
her they seem quite right, the natural
and right things to do and say. The
truth Is, most Of the time she's rather
self-satisfied and pleased with every
thing-the life she leads, the people
she knows, the fun she has-every-
thing"
81 understand" Now unfeignedly
intrigued, Philip had abandoned all
pretense of treating the matter light
ly, and was sitting forward. cigaret
smoldering between his fingers, his
eyes intently searching Priscilla's
face. "Tell me something about the
content of these dreams. Go back as
far as you can
my first memories are very vague,
Priscilla told him. "They were child
ish and simple impressions of another
little girl who was rather unhappy
most Of the time. | think she livet
with an old wOman-a wretched ole
witch of woman who was cruel tt
her. seemed to hate her and enjO!
beating her-in mean little fla
somewhere. The old woman used tt
tell fortunes Win caFuS III tHe ITOH
room. But all that's very vague now
I don't remember much more, excep
that the little girl used to play a grea
deal In the streets"
But when sheer you-grew up
the dreams became more real?'
"Yes; about that time something
happened to the old woman, presum
she died, and the girl was left alone Il
look out for herself don't know wha
she did for living because l neve
saw her except at night. Then I woul'
meet her, or rather find myself wit
her In the Street of Strange Face
A questioning look obliged Priscill
to break off here and explain abOu