Year: 1870

] 10 me occasionally IL sue lOunu my
nervous system could bear 1t.


"How long time it took for all
this to tFanspire | am unable to say /;
but fearing that when daylight ar.
rived / should attribute it TO some
disorder of the brain or waking
dream, asked her TO leave me, be-
fore we parted, some token by which
| should know that this Was not all
Imagination, when | came to dwell
upon it on some future occasion.


Upon this she moved slowly TO the
corner Of my chamber, aud unlock
ing small writing. desk in which
| kept her miniature, raised the lid,
and taking up the picture, laid 1t on
u stand close by my bed. She then
returned to the desk, locked it and
laid the key by the side Of her like
ness, aud was gone!


"You may be certain that | did
not close my eyes for the remainder
of the night; but, will you believe,
that when morning dawned, and
although the portrait and the key
lay full in my view, l began TO
question the reality Of the whole
affair, and to set it down to some
nervous disorder or hallucinaliOn.
And what is more extraordinary
still, although have seen her sew
eral times since, and she assures me
that she is an absolute reality, and
that what had taken place is true. |
have always given way to the idea
on her leaving me that my mind or
vision Is at fault, and that, after all,
the whole affair is a creation of my
fancy. Last night, however, she
came again, and upbraided me with
my want of confidence in my own
reason and in her asseVeration, in
forming, me, at the same time, that
| II desired it | might now visit her
grave with q friend in whom /
could confde, and Judge for myself
as to whether her statement was
correct in relation TO the act Of the
students. How very beautiful she
was" he continued, slipping his
hand in his bosom and handing me
her miniature, lyon may soon see,
for this is the portrait TO which /
have alluded and which she gave
me in exchange for mine the last
time we met In the body"


When he mentioned the skull
with the initials on the silver
plate, l had some difficulty in keep
Ing my seat and preserving my
usual calmness but when l caught
sight of the miniature, l sprang to
my feet In a state of the greatest ex.
element. The skull was In my
possession ! and the portrait was
that Of the lady in black iwho
had visited me q couple of hours
previously Had she been sitting
in the scat she had formerly occu.
pied, she could scarcely have been
more palpably present with me. Eve
ry feature Of her face and line other
figure, and even the ribbon she
wore about her throat, were there
to the last touch of minuteness aud
perfection.


Presuming that | had been struck
with the sadness of his story and
the beauty of the portrait, my
friend attributed my sudden emo
ton to the sympathy felt for his
case, and continued:


"And now, doctor, what | would
ask as a special kindness is, that
you accompany me tomorrow
night to the grave, so that l may
determine for myself whether l
have been the subject of any men,
tai hallucinatiOn, or whether the
reality Of these visitations is to be
verified By the appearance of all
that is left Of what was once beau
tiiul for | find that this dreadful
suspense is undermining my health,
while may, at the same time, be
doing violence to an agency that
would, were it capable of proof,
establish a great fact in my mind
which is not yet clear to me-that
of an after life"


Scarcely had he finished this last
sentence when his eye caught the
skull on the table. Exceedingly |
white and perfect, as 1t was, and |
brilliant and pearly as the teeth |
were, a bright silvery gleam shot
from the parietal bone, and made |
itself radiant in the light Of the gas
that seemed, through some unac-
countable movement OF the tall
shaded burner, to fall suddenly up.
on 1t. In moment he had the |
solemn relic in his hands, and, ex-
amining the bright spot, while his
eyes dilated with horror aud amaze
ment, he exclaimed, as he fell back
senseless in his chair, "The initials
IL is hers"


The next night at u o'clock
we verified the truth of the dis
closure regarding the students, and
|, with my own hands, replaced
the skull upon the spinal column.
l told my friend, on the way to the
cemetery, of the visit that had been
made to me on the preceding even.
ing by the lady in black, and how /
instantly recognized her in the
miniature, to the utter loss of my
balance. To all this he listened
without a single observation; and
will you believe it, when we last
met he was cndeavOring to account
for all he had heard and witnessed
on natural principles. Ihavegiven
him up for a while to his logic, for
l am of the opinion the lady is not
done with him yet. Ny own mind
is, of course, made up on the sub.
ject, and so, l think, is that of the
reader also. But should l hear any
more of this mysterious being, or
receive the promised visit from her,
I ahall NhrOniCIA all tI,a c;rcnD,