The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-03-19

/ NN&NSAAG AQ@
you're not quite sos1swqe- ~ Aru-
Gle I wanted al / tookiyou % be-" be
observed, &c he bangedith tn drawer -.
but some sort Of mOrbae fascination
about the mirror caused him b teke
e often from the drawer. He casna
70 lock upon II with lOakhtng. and each
time that uncouth face peered back
at him he felt creepy sensations Of
alternate warmth and chill: yet 90
strong was the spell II cast over his
better senses that he was unable TO
keep his mind from IL
When her birthday came. Caverley
took her the hourglass and made no
mention Of the mirror. Indeed, he
spoke Of Il to no one. for he felt an
intense disgust at his own actions
regarding it Yet every night he
brought it out and turned II about un-
l til the face he had come to hate stared
back at him. Then, with q curse, he
would throw It into the drawer and
paced the room until he was tired out
In time he discovered that the mir
ror must be held in Q certain position
for the face to appear. Otherwise
it gave normal reflections. His dis
covery gave him a certain courage.
It took away some Of the weirdness
Of the thing. and suggested the pro
safe course Of inquiring into the origin
Of the curio.
He sought the manager Of the
auction room. who, with a smile and a
bow, protested entire ignorance OF the
source whence the mirror had come.
Cayerley, taking out q ~ten-dollar
note, clipped 1t In two with his pocket
scissors. and handed one-half to the
auctioneer.
""This half IL now useless 70 me-
he said, "but it will be worth ten dol
lars to you when you discover who
sold you the mirror"
Some weeks passed and Cayerley
studied the mirror In . practical way.
He noted that It was Of unusual thick
o and this aroused his suspicious.
"I1l take 1t to pieces" said ha. and
this be proceeded to do. It took con-
siderable time and patience 70 work
! the back loose without damaging the
glass; but, by dint Of perseverance. he
i managed It. Back OF tie glass. be
found a shallow metal pan. He at
tackled this, and In a few minutes had
separated 1t from the mirror proper.
The pan removed, the whole matter
! was plain. Set siaEtNieS beneath the
/ beveling on the right hand side Yves
| an ambrotype OF the face ne knew Sc
we'll. The picture extended perhaps
q third Of the distance across the mir
ror, and was covered with q thick
plate OF glass. SO that looking square
ly into the mirror reflection was nor
mai. but by slipping It to the right
until the amhrotype was horizontal
the face with the scars appeared.
Caverley took the ambrotype to the
light, and stood looking at 1t for some
tinas,
whoever you are" said he, you're
not an attractive chap; but I'd double
that ten-dOllar note to md out about
you"
The matter was rapidIy slipping
from his mind when one day the
anage OF the a~uction-room called on
Finn and brought with him an elderly
gentleman, whom Caveriey judged
rightly to be a lawyer.
THAT mirror" the elderly gentle
mar said,. when the matter on which
they had called was preached. was
the property OF . client OF mine. o.
Miss Damon 1t was sold. after her
| death, with q lot of other personal
property. not disposed of ia her will.
There's a queer story about Il. but l
don't know that | can tell 1t correctly.
for It was told to me In fragments
whenever my client cared to mention
the subject, which. ! can assure you,
sir. was seldom indeed. AS well as !
IAN piece these bits together it was
something like this:
"Many PEARS ago her family lived
in the South, and there shs met q
young physician. who became greatly
attached to her. It seems an epidemic
broke out and the doctor risked his
professional reputation In getting tbs
Damons away, and through the guar
anime WnECu uhu DS0u d4IAoiAeASus
He remained there. and eventually was
struck down with the disease. which
left him with q number OF scars. Upon
his recovery. he wrote Miss Damon
telling her OF this. and she replied
In q letter filled with expressions OF
deepest sympathy; scars OF the skin.
she wrote, could not mar b soul. and
babe him come to her. but. somehow,
the letter miscarried. and he never re-
ceived it He waited for the answer
through several months. and then
wrote her saying he was going abroad
to bury himself somewhere ON the
Continent She was right. he said.
to consider him dead. He sent the
mirror at the same time. There
wasn't much to tell. and I fear I have
hardly done it JUSTICE the lawyer
concluded
Caxerley, with great patience, put
the mirror together again. and that
evening, he took 1t to the lady for