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diff --git a/old/69307-0.txt b/old/69307-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aa15698..0000000 --- a/old/69307-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10161 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tibby, by Rosetta Luce Gilchrist - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Tibby - A novel dealing with psychic forces and telepathy - -Author: Rosetta Luce Gilchrist - -Release Date: November 6, 2022 [eBook #69307] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from - images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIBBY *** - - - - - - TIBBY - - -[Illustration] - - - - - TIBBY - _A Novel Dealing with Psychic Forces and Telepathy_ - - - BY - ROSETTA LUCE GILCHRIST - - Author of “_Apples of Sodom_,” etc. - -“The practical effect of a belief is the best test of its -soundness.”—_Froude._ - - NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON - THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY - 1904 - - - - - Copyright, 1904 - By - ROSETTA LUCE GILCHRIST - - - - - To my daughter - Jessamine, who - discovered and - introduced Tibby to the - Author - - - - - CONTENTS - - - Chapter. Page. - - I. The Fair Unknown, 9 - - II. Tibby’s Eyes, 18 - - III. The New Acquaintance, 27 - - IV. Through Clairvoyant Vision, 33 - - V. The Letter, 44 - - VI. An Old-Fashioned Journey, 48 - - VII. In the New Home, 64 - - VIII. Mother and Child, 74 - - IX. A New Development, 81 - - X. The Ghosts of the Cabinet, 86 - - XI. The Fire, 96 - - XII. A New Medium, 104 - - XIII. A Domestic Jar, 114 - - XIV. Before the Public, 122 - - XV. Welcome Guests, 126 - - XVI. An Old Acquaintance, 136 - - XVII. An Old-Time Seance Amidst Old-Time Scenes and Old-Time - Folks, 151 - - XVIII. Major Walden, 172 - - XIX. Led into Error, 180 - - XX. Spirits of the Air, 193 - - XXI. The Reaper, 202 - - XXII. New Arrivals, 209 - - XXIII. The Counterplot, 223 - - XXIV. The Trail of the Serpent, 232 - - XXV. Tibby Conquers, 241 - - XXVI. Esther’s Disappearance, 255 - - XXVII. A Legal Document is Received, 260 - - XXVIII. Horace Wylie’s Philosophy, 271 - - XXIX. Drifting, 277 - - XXX. The Coming of the Storm, 287 - - XXXI. Caught in a Blizzard, 301 - - XXXII. A Surprise, 314 - - XXXIII. Conclusion, 327 - - - - - TIBBY - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE FAIR UNKNOWN - - -The great bell of the cathedral chimed musically the hour of six, its -vibrant tones mingling with the muffled din and clangor of smaller -bells, steam whistles, town clocks and street-car jingle, making itself -heard above the roar and rattle of travel over the stone-paved streets -of the Forest City. - -Away at the north the blue lake rolled, its waters dotted by the many -white-clothed vessels and smoke-trailing steamships. The whole was made -bright by a lowering, unveiled sun, which ere long must sink to rest in -its waves. At the south a heavy cloud of smoke and vapor rested above -the river flats, hiding the blackened roofs of the shops and -manufactories, only broken by the scarlet tongues of fire that -occasionally shot upward from seething furnaces and tall chimneys. - -The rattle upon the pavement grew louder, and the confusion of sounds -greater, as the crowds of workmen thronged the streets, homeward-bound, -after the hard day of labor. - -At an upper window of La Grande Hotel a lady, screened by the hanging -folds of the curtain drapery, looked out upon the multitude of -pedestrians hurrying along the sidewalk below. The close-fitting gown of -soft, light material revealed a plump, stylish little figure, most -attractive in its fashionable perfection. Against the dark wood of the -window-casing rested a white, rounded wrist, and delicate, dimpled hand, -upon the fingers of which glittering stones caught the rich sunlight and -showered it in rainbow splendor upon the opposite wall. - -The fluffy rings of fair hair that rested above her forehead seemed -appropriate adornment to the bright, girlish face and careless, smiling -eyes, that showed so certainly her exemption from sorrow and care. - -The perfection and harmony of her costume showed also that she belonged -to that class that “Toil not, neither do they spin,” but are the -beautiful exponents of the art of modiste and hairdresser. - -Across the room, resting indolently in an easy chair, a gentleman -studied the third edition of the _Daily Leader_, apparently oblivious of -the presence of the fair lady at the window. He, too, had the well-fed, -well-groomed look of the man with full purse and few anxieties, together -with an air of unmistakable elegance and worldly wisdom. - -In age he appeared five and thirty. His face was smooth shaven, except -for the long, drooping mustache which shaded the corners of his -firm-lipped mouth. His dark hair, inclined to curl, was closely cropped. -His brown eyes were marvelously clear and penetrating, his forehead -broad and particularly full above the temples. His heavy, massive build, -with the squarely cut and rather prominent chin gave him an awesome -individuality, which was counteracted by the exceeding graciousness, -gentleness, and courtesy of his manner. - -He was well known in business circles, a man keen, shrewd, and full of -worldly cunning, but as honest and upright as the majority of his -compeers who make or lose fortunes in a day at the mart of speculation. - -At present he was connected with a steel industry, and greatly -interested in the fluctuations of the ore and coal market, the strikes -at the mines, and the attitude of the United States Congress with -reference to tariff rates. He was yet studying the columns before him, -and balancing in his mind the advisability of recalling salesmen from -certain localities, when the lady interrupted his thought. - -“Horace, have you ever noticed that pretty, sad-looking woman, dressed -in black, who goes by here so frequently, leading a little child?” - -“Pretty, sad woman, dressed in black—small child. A definite -description, truly. How many in this delightful city will answer to the -same, think you? Pretty—in a city noted for handsome women; sad—few are -happy; dressed in black—the fashionable street dress at present; and -small child—not a scarce article, I believe. Really, Nellie, you must be -more specific.” And Mr. Wylie laid his paper carefully over the arm of -his chair and smiled provokingly at his wife. - -“Oh, you are too bad! This lady has such a sweet face, she is really -conspicuous, and she always comes down Leader Avenue at about this hour -and turns down Herald Street, going into one of those blocks across the -way. I feel quite sure she gets sewing to do, for she usually carries a -good-sized parcel with her. She is very interesting.” - -“Why, my dear, I am surprised at your enthusiasm. You really seem to -have been cultivating a habit of observation.” Mr. Wylie leaned his head -against the back of his chair and looked at his wife through half-closed -eyes, while with his large, shapely hand he softly stroked his smooth -chin. - -“A woman with a parcel and a mystery,” he continued. “I am not sure but -you would shine as a female detective, Nellie. Shall I send in your name -at the next meeting of the police board?” - -Mrs. Wylie looked at her husband with a petulant pout of her pretty -lips. “You are really unkind to ridicule me when I want to be very -serious. Truly, I believe this _is_ a woman with a mystery and history. -She has attracted me wonderfully, as she would you could you see her. I -wish I knew of some way to learn more about her.” - -“And so you have been sitting here watching for the unknown, when I -supposed you were studying costumes, or mentally rhapsodizing upon the -architectural beauties of the stone walls opposite. I am afraid, Nellie, -you are getting lonely. The Misses Eldridge have not called lately, or -that dear, delightful Mrs. Lee, about whom you were raving a month ago, -has gone away. I must look into this. When my wife is forced to seek -amusement and objects of interest in the faces of the passers-by upon -the streets—” - -“Oh, how fortunate! There she comes now! You shall see for yourself,” -interrupted Mrs. Wylie, eagerly leaning forward and scanning the street -before her. “She will be opposite here before long.” - -Mr. Wylie arose languidly, and slightly shaking his body to adjust his -clothing, moved gracefully across the room to his wife’s side, where, -glancing over her shoulder, he sought the described woman. Among the -throng of hurrying pedestrians crossing the street a few rods away they -saw a lady, dressed in plain and unassuming black, slowly accommodating -her footsteps to the pace of the little toddler at her side, who trudged -along with the half-tottering, uncertain gait of infants of her age. So -slowly was she obliged to walk that the spectators at the window had -ample opportunity for close inspection. - -The woman was of medium height, slender and pliant, with a fine poise of -the head and grace of sloping shoulders. Her face was pale, too pale for -perfect health, Elinor Wylie thought, and her features were clear-cut -and expressive. But the beauty of her face was in her eyes. As she came -opposite the hotel she seemed accidentally to glance upward. -Involuntarily Mr. and Mrs. Wylie drew back from the window, then looked -at each other and laughed. - -“Is she not lovely?” questioned Mrs. Wylie triumphantly. - -“She has rather fine features,” returned the gentleman, absently -twirling the curtain about his fingers. “I fancy I have seen her before -somewhere, but I cannot now remember where.” He wrinkled his brow -thoughtfully. “I do not associate that face in my memory, however, with -black robes or the character of sewing woman in Forest City.” - -“I knew you would be interested if you could but see her; and now how -can I learn more of her? I might seek her in a business way to get her -to sew for me or something of that kind,” said the little woman, looking -inquiringly at her husband. - -He laughed, a soft-modulated laugh, that well harmonized with his -languid movements and studied grace. - -“I am afraid you are premature in arriving at conclusions. You are not -yet sure that she is a sewing woman. I think I begin to understand your -mission on earth. You should be at the head of an organized benevolent -society. You are such an adept at fishing out cases upon which to waste -your sympathy.” - -“Please do not laugh, Horace. It is very seldom I become interested in -anything of the kind and you should encourage me,” she said. - -And truly it was a rare thing for careless, thoughtless Elinor Wylie to -take interest in anything outside the fashionable circle which she -denominated “our set.” Her life had been too carefully ordered for her -to have much appreciation of the wretchedness beyond her gates. - -“And so you think I should allow you the luxury of an entirely new -sensation,” said Mr. Wylie, with his habitual drawl. “All right. Be as -benevolent as you choose, only be careful,” he continued, rising and -beginning to draw on his gloves. - -Mrs. Wylie looked at him inquiringly. - -“I am going to keep an appointment with Colonel Fenton. By the way, -Nellie, did I tell you, Doctor Lyman, the noted seer and spiritist, is -coming next week to give a series of lectures in Garrett’s Hall? I think -we’ll have to attend, will we not?” - -“Dr. Lyman? Oh, yes; Mrs. Wallace was telling me about him. Do you care -to hear _him_?” asked Mrs. Wylie doubtfully. - -“Most assuredly, and so must you. People say he is remarkably -interesting; and besides, it will never do to lose so good an -opportunity to learn of the invisible world toward which we are fast -hastening; eh, Nelly?” - -“But, Horace—” Little Mrs. Wylie hesitated and raised her blue eyes to -his questioningly. - -“Well, my dear, I am the personification of devout attention; what will -you have?” - -“I wonder—do you really believe he knows any more about the other world -than any one else?” - -“Undoubtedly; a great deal more.” Mr. Wylie assumed a serio-comic air. - -“I don’t see why; but I mean, do you really believe he is right? Do you -believe _they_ are right who believe in spirit manifestation and all -that sort of thing?” - -“Do I believe in them who do believe? My dear girl, you are asking -unanswerable questions. I believe in an infinite number of things or I -believe in nothing. It is to find out just what I believe that I propose -to attend Dr. Lyman’s lectures. I have listened to the preaching of -orthodoxy from childhood; now, I will absorb a little heterodoxy and see -if it is any more clear to the human comprehension. But I must be going. -Is not that the fair lady again?” - -“Yes, and see, she has another and different-sized parcel. Poor thing, I -wonder if it is hard work?” - -“I think I’ll go down on the street and get a nearer view of the fair -unknown. It seems to me I have seen that face some time before this. It -is probably a chance resemblance to some one I have known, that haunts -me. Good-by.” And kissing his hand to his wife, Mr. Wylie left the room. - -“Talk of woman’s curiosity,” laughed Elinor to herself. “It does not -compare with that of the sterner sex.” And she watched her husband cross -Herald Street and walk down the avenue with more than his usual -celerity. Then she touched a tiny bell, which was answered by a young -girl from the adjoining room. - -“You may bring Robbie to me, Tibby. Mr. Wylie has gone away and I am at -leisure to amuse him.” - -The young nurse departed, to return with a mischievous little lad of -four years, beautiful in his night robes of linen and lace, and the -mother-love, which even the society life could not destroy, shone in -Mrs. Wylie’s eyes as she clasped him in her arms. - -“You may leave us now, Tibby. I will call you when Robbie has done with -his play.” - -The smiling, dimple-cheeked maid withdrew, and the mother gave herself -up to the enjoyment of a frolic with the wide-awake child. When, an hour -later, she summoned the maid to put the cherub in his bed, she met with -opposition. Robbie had not wearied of his mother, and refused to go. - -“But it is bed-time, Robbie, and the sand-man will come to put sand in -your eyes,” remonstrated Mrs. Wylie. - -“Don’t tare, ain’t doin’ to bed,” asserted the wilful child. - -“But you must go, dear; mother desires it.” - -“Ain’t doin’ to,” persisted Robbie, with the perversity of a spoiled -child. - -The mother looked helplessly at Tibby, who came forward smiling, while -her eyes sought those of the little rebel. - -“Come,” she said sweetly, and to Mrs. Wylie’s surprise the boy put his -hand into the inviting one of the nurse and suffered himself to be led -from the room. - -“What remarkable eyes that girl has,” soliloquized Mrs. Wylie as the -door closed behind them. “I have been more fortunate than I dared hope -in securing her services.” - - - - - CHAPTER II - TIBBY’S EYES - - -As for Tibby’s eyes, no one had been able to decide upon the exact color -of them. On warm, sunshiny afternoons, when Tibby yawned in a swinging -hammock on the back veranda and the pupils were small and contracted, -they appeared of a cerulean hue, warm and languorous. On cloudy days, -when the sky was dark and lowering, Tibby’s eyes were gray and -forbidding. But when a tempest of rage shook her pliant figure her eyes -sparkled black as coal from the mines. Her brothers called them cat’s -eyes, not only because the name Tibby was a contraction of the more -severe Tabitha of her christening, but from the ever-varying, changing -light which shone in their restless depths, which now dilated until the -least rim of color was visible, now contracted like those of a purring -kitten. - -Tibby had not to depend upon the beauty of her opalescent eyes for -recognition, for nature had dealt most generously with her, giving her -regular features, and so mixing and intermingling the types of brunette -and blonde in her physique that no one could determine in which class to -catalogue her. The delicious glint of the sun in her brown hair, the -rich waves of carmine that tinged and receded from her cheeks, the -arched black brows which defined themselves so conspicuously against the -shining whiteness of her forehead were contradictions when compared, but -formed a _tout ensemble_ most charming. - -It appeared, too, that Tibby’s nature was as contradictory. Wayward and -wilful as she was at times, at others she appeared of angelic sweetness, -and the soft, innocent depths of those slumberous blue eyes captivated -the hearts of all who met her, and made them swear no evil could exist -in her. - -And now while Tibby, like her feline namesake, purrs most delusively in -the midst of her aesthetic surroundings, and her pink-tinted fingers -effectually conceal any hidden claws, her mind reviews a scene but three -weeks behind the present. - -She sees an old-fashioned, wood-colored farm-house with broad lawn, in -which are bright beds of dear old-fashioned flowers, marigolds and -petunias, bachelor buttons and scarlet poppies; and she sees herself in -calico gown and big sunbonnet standing under the old elm, in listening -attitude, while a shrill, chirruping note sounds in her ear. - -“Hello, Tib, what’s up?” shouts a boyish voice, and a stout-limbed, -bare-footed lad bounds down the path toward her. - -“Hush!” she says. “Ah, you have frightened it away! It was singing in -the old elm and I hoped to find it. It’s a tree-toad, isn’t it? Did you -ever see one, Tom?” - -“Hundreds of ’em,” replies the boy contemptuously. - -“What do they look like, Tom? Are they green?” - -“They’re mostly the color of the thing they’re on, I reckon,” says the -oracle. “Sometimes they’re like the bark of the trees or fence, and then -again they’re sort of green if they’re on the grass.” - -“Humph! You don’t expect me to believe such a fish story as that, do -you?” replies Tibby scornfully, drawing up her straight, slim figure -with dignity. “As if any mortal thing could change its color! As well -might the leopard change his spots,” she continues as her mind reverts -to the Scripture lesson of the preceding Sabbath. - -“That’s all you know about it! They’re thicker ’n spatter down in the -lane, an’ I guess I know what I’m telling you! Why, Tibby, they’re like -your eyes. A minute ago they were blue, now they’re yeller. Mother says -your eyes make her fidgety, they’re so changeable.” And Tom laughed -gleefully. - -“Did she, Tom; when?” - -“Yisterday. I heard her tell pop. And say, Tibby, if you don’t go down -cellar and do that churnin’, she’ll make it hot for you. She says you -allus slip off on churnin’ days.” - -“It’s already done, Mr. Tom. I did it before I came out here. But -mother’ll think I haven’t, and won’t she have a conniption fit?” - -Again the twain laugh. - -“Say, Tom, wouldn’t you like to go away somewheres, where folks are -different—into the city, or somewhere? It’s deadly dull here, an’ then -mother’s so cross—” - -“I dunno, pop’s all right if _she_ didn’t put him up to pitch into us.” -Tom gives his trousers a jerk, and digs his bare toes into the grass. -“An’ she tells him you’re wilful and headstrong as fury.” - -Tibby tosses her red-brown curls and purses up her small mouth -expressively, then she remembers her quest. - -“Just find this toad for me, Tom, and I’ll thank you ever so much, -that’s a good boy,” she purrs as she approaches the tree more closely. -“I want to see one for myself. Here, I’ll boost you up into the tree. I -think it’s out on that limb.” - -And the good-natured Tom, declining her proffered aid, climbs the tree -with an agility born of long practice, while the girl feels her eyes -dilate with expectancy, and then he captures the singer and brings it to -her for inspection. Good Tom! Tibby feels these same eyes filling as she -looks upon this picture. The toad is a dull gray, and looks incapable of -producing these strident sounds. What a queer, homely thing it is. Ugh! - -“Put it back upon the limb, Tom. I’m afraid to touch it,” she says with -a shiver, and Tom laughs contemptuously. - -“You know about as much about toads as Bess does,” he says; “we saw some -toad-stools, last night, growing in the moss down on the bank and she -said, ‘O, ain’t they pretty, Tom? And to think the _toads made_ ’em, -too.’ Ha, ha, ha! she thought the toads made ’em.” - -Tibby feels a little lump rise in her throat as she remembers this, and -as she turns away her head she sees, as she saw then, a glittering -carriage, drawn by a handsome span of bays, come swiftly down the big -hill on the east, and watches it with fascinated glance as it spins -across the level of the flats and up into the covered, wooden bridge. It -comes forth from the nearer end of the structure, and then something -happens, for almost before the house the horses come to a halt and the -driver springs out. Something has broken. Tibby knows that it must have -been caused by that steep pitch off the end of the bridge, which should -have been repaired, or filled in, long ago. - -“There,” she says to Tom, “if Path-master Morton had attended to that -place, this wouldn’t have happened.” - -“That comes from putting in politicians that don’t know beans from -broomsticks,” says Tom oracularly. “A man that don’t keep his own place -in repair can’t be expected to look after the public ones.” - -The driver examines the carriage closely, and then comes into the yard -and asks for hammer, nails, and other repairing material. Tom runs for -the supplies, while Tibby watches a small lady, accompanied by a -yellow-haired boy with long curls and kilts, step daintily from the -broken carriage and enter the yard. The lady smiles upon Tibby and asks -if she may sit down to wait under the shade of the patriarchal old tree; -and Tibby replies to her questioning, while she sits before her and -tells her of her brothers and sisters, and her heart swells with pride -at the lady’s praise of her home and surroundings. Her eyes follow those -of the lady to the old-fashioned, weather-brown farm-house, with its -low-browed gables and spreading lean-tos, built apparently without -regard to economy of ground space; then to the left, where upon a little -lower ground the great red-roofed barns and spacious corn-cribs stand, -and again to the nodding, smiling flowers dotting the lawn. - -Yes, it was beautiful, the old home, with all its homely comforts, but -Tibby had longed to try her wings in flight to seek other fields of -enchantment. - -By and by the little boy becomes restless and begs his mother to go and -ride, fidgets and whimpers. Tibby wishes to amuse him, and looks at him -longingly, until he comes and puts his small hands in her brown ones, -and she tells him of the little singing toad in the tree-top, and of the -twittering squirrels who make the elm their home, until his brown eyes -grow heavy and he falls asleep in her arms. Then Tibby sits and feasts -her eyes on the strange lady’s costume, a poem of harmony in color and -fit,—though Tibby does not name it thus,—and feels the contrast between -this lady’s attire and her own, marvels at the glittering jewels on her -white fingers, and alas, in the girl’s heart, a dormant wild desire -springs into active growth. She longs to go with this city-bred woman -and have dainty boots and beautiful gowns. - -Does the cry which she feels within herself reach the heart of the lady? -Surely, surely her lips have not spoken, but the stranger lady, as if -understanding her thought, says: - -“What a nice way you have with children, my dear. I should like to have -a girl like you to live with me and help me to look after Robert. You -have done wonders with him. He is usually averse to strangers. How would -you like to go home with me?” - -“I should like it very much indeed,” she replies, with conviction. - -“You have no mother, I believe you said,” the lady continues. - -“Yes, a stepmother. The children are my half-brothers, except Tom and -Bess. Our mother died when I was a little girl.” - -“And what are you now?” asks the lady, smiling. - -“Quite as large as you, I think,” Tibby says, with no intentional -disrespect. - -“That is true, but I suspect you are not quite so old.” And then the -child tells her she is fourteen and does not have to go to school any -more; and then—ah, Tibby heaves a sigh as she remembers the fluttering -of her heart while Mrs. Wylie was talking with her husband, standing by -the broken vehicle, and how she kept saying to herself, “I want to go! -Take me! Take me!” - -She smiles as she remembers Mr. Wylie’s good-natured banter and his -questions as to her trustworthiness and honesty. - -“As if my word would be of any worth if I were not honest,” she thinks. -And then Mr. Wylie talks to her father, and—here she is, surrounded by -all the luxury she coveted, with the tumult and noise of the great city -beneath her window. - -Tibby rises from her chair and stretches her arms high above her head -with a cat-like yawn, then walks with padding footsteps up and down the -thick-carpeted room, and back and forth before the long mirror, smiling -at the trim, well-dressed figure reflected therein. And the face in the -mirror smiles back at her, till the dimples deepen in the blooming -cheeks and the red-curved lips open to reveal the gleaming rows of teeth -behind them. - -“Tibby, Tibby,” the girl whispers to the reflection, “your feet have -been shod in French slippers and set in pleasant places. You have pretty -gowns and dainty ribbons. If you are only a nurse-girl, you have much to -be thankful for. You can learn to be a lady, and you must be very, very -good, so these advantages shall not be taken away from you. It will be -your own fault, your own fault, Tibby Waring, if you ever go back -to—to—” She hesitates, and stopping before the mirror she looks long and -searchingly into its crystal depths. - -The little Swiss clock on the mantel chimes musically. It is nine -o’clock. But Tibby’s eyes are half-closed, and she sees beyond her own -reflection the plain family room at the farm-house, with its bright -rag-carpet on the floor and its chintz-covered chairs. She sees her -gray-haired father dozing in his chair tilted back against the wall, -with his hands clasped before him. She sees Tom sleeping, stretched out -upon the old, green-covered lounge. She sees little Bess and Ted in -their night-gowns scampering up the closed-in stairway to their beds. -Ah, she is not there to give them their good-night kiss when they have -repeated their “Now I lay me down to sleep.” She sees her father rise, -yawning, and step heavily across the room to the old wooden clock in its -niche in the wall, and she can even hear the creaking of the iron -weights as he winds the clock for the night. She sees her own little bed -with its high posts and white valances. She closes her eyes tightly to -shut out the vision and the tears that stand ready to fall. Then she -hears her father call, “Come, Tom, you sleepy lubber! Get you up and off -to bed!” She knows how Tom will stagger to his feet and rub his leaden -eyelids, and start in the wrong direction. Dear lad! It is harder to -think of him than all the rest. But she has had her wish. She is in the -great city, and they—Tom, Bess, father—are there at home where the old -life will go on day by day, and she in this new life must be brave -and—grateful. - - - - - CHAPTER III - THE NEW ACQUAINTANCE - - -“I have succeeded in becoming acquainted with the lady in black,” -remarked Elinor Wylie, a few days subsequent to the date of the -beginning of this story, as, with her husband, she came slowly up from -the dining-room and entered their private apartment. “Did I tell you?” - -“No, I think not. Do you find her as interesting as fancy painted her?” -drawled Mr. Wylie languidly. - -“Yes, more so. At least, I find her very refined and cultured. She has -surely been in better circumstances.” - -“Ah, the pity of it, in this world of ours!” replied Mr. Wylie, throwing -himself into a luxurious armchair and shaking his head expressively. “It -is the story common to the lives of too many Americans. One day we’re -dining at Delmonico’s, the next, starving in a hovel. Ah, seductive, -evanescent, elusive Fortune, why do we trifle with you? To me the pathos -of life is epitomized in the words, ‘She has seen better days.’” - -“I have engaged her to sew for me.” - -“Indeed!” Mr. Wylie’s eyebrows were elevated quizzingly. “What has -become of Madame Somers?” - -“I found out by asking Mrs. Wallace,” continued Mrs. Wylie, following -her own train of thought, and ignoring his question, “that the block on -Herald Street had an establishment for making and selling ready-made -clothing, so that I felt sure she did sewing, and I followed her home -one day and saw her enter a stairway leading up over Mrs. Dray’s -hairdressing rooms. I accordingly asked Mrs. Dray if she could tell me -where I might find a woman to do plain sewing or embroidery, and she -spoke at once of a worthy woman in the block who wanted to get work, and -directed me to her rooms. She is on the third floor, in wretched little -quarters, but she has pretty things about her. She met me kindly, and -when I made known my business, seemed glad to get work. I’m thankful -that I went, for, if you will believe me, Horace, she had been making -buttonholes for Darkson at a quarter of a cent apiece, supporting -herself and child upon that.” - -“Such things are painful to hear of,” said Mr. Wylie, shaking his head -again. “I trust you will pay her better.” - -“Of course. And, Horace, she has been making cotton blouses and overalls -for workmen for eighty-five cents a dozen. Think of it.” - -“I suppose you learned her name and history?” he interrogated. - -“Yes—no—” hesitated Mrs. Wylie. “I learned her name was, or at least she -told me to call her Mrs. Lucien, and the child’s name is Dolores. Odd, -isn’t it? She nicknames her Dolly. Such a sweet little creature, too. I -wonder if that is Mrs. Lucien’s real name?” she continued musingly as -she toyed with a tassel of the upholstering. - -Mr. Wylie sank into the depths of his chair and studied the opposite -wall intently for several moments. - -“I wish,” he said, “I could think of whom it is she reminds me. I -believe if I could see her gowned in white silk and diamonds I should -remember.” - -“What an idea,” laughed his wife. “I should like to see her so dressed, -I confess. She should have more color in that pale face and less sadness -in those dark eyes, then she would shine in such a brilliant setting. -Yes, I am sure she has a history.” - -“Which you did not learn?” - -“Which I did not learn.” - -Again Mr. Wylie sat wrapped in thought, stroking his massive chin -softly. - -“Do you remember, Nell, all who composed our party two years ago in the -Adirondacks? Or was it _three_ years?” - -“More nearly four, I think. Why, there was Judge Matthews and wife; the -Misses Eldridge—just think, Fannie is married; Mrs. Harmon and her -brother; Tiny Lewis, Dr. Bessemer, and Cousin Harry and -Lottie,—and—no—let me see! That was all that there were at Paul Smith’s, -I believe, except the time that we went to Au Sable Chasm we met -Major—oh—what was his name, that Major Somebody and his wife, that -Cousin Harry was so taken with at the fancy ball? Don’t you remember -her, Horace? They went to Childwold with us, too.” - -Mr. Wylie started. - -“Ah, I remember! He went West. He did have a lovely wife. I wonder if -she is the one I am reminded of.” - -“And then there were the Pemberton girls who went to Saranac with us, -and old Professor Sawyer with his bugs and beetles, hunting specimens. -What a perfectly lovely time we had that summer.” - -“Yes,” dreamily. “We’d better be planning a trip for next season. This -fad of staying in the city because it’s cooler won’t last, I fancy. I’ve -been thinking of Ocean Beach,” tentatively. - -“And I of Bar Harbor; but it doesn’t matter. We’ve been most -everywhere,” Mrs. Wylie said with a little sigh. “I don’t know but what -I have enjoyed Forest City as much as I should any other place. It has -been delightfully cool here on the lake.” - -“Yes, but I suspect that my little Nell has a hankering for the moon, -just the same. I reckon we’d better go to the seashore for a little -while next month, just to break the monotony of life. And if you go, -you’ll want to take Tibby with you, I suppose.” - -“Most assuredly. She’s a perfect treasure. I couldn’t get along without -her.” - -“I see you are becoming much attached to her.” - -“Indeed I am. I never had a maid before so deft and pleasing.” - -“I’m afraid she’s too pretty for her position.” - -“O, no; not _too_ pretty. Children like a pretty companion. Robbie never -obeyed Mrs. Harbeck as he does Tibby. But she has remarkable eyes. For -some reason she has taken a great dislike to that young man with the -eye-glasses, on the third floor. It’s amusing to see the look with which -she regards him. Yesterday Tibby was waiting at the head of the stairs -for Robbie and that man came along and stared at her rather insolently -through his glasses. You should have seen Tibby. Her eyes began to -dilate like those of a tigress at bay, and she returned his stare. The -fellow started down, but for some reason stumbled and made a very -ungraceful descent to the bottom of the staircase. It really seemed as -if Tibby made him fall. You can imagine her delight at his mishap.” - -“That is the way of womankind,” said Mr. Wylie, smiling. “They laugh at -our downfalls, unless we drag them down with us, which we’re apt to do. -Tibby is no exception; but seriously, do not pet her too much, or she -may forget what is due to her position in life. She must not appear -impertinent.” - -“I’m sure she behaves well. Tibby is not ill-bred. Her parents were -quite superior people, if they did live on a farm. Tibby boasts that her -mother was a Devereaux, grand-niece to an earl,” said Mrs. Wylie, -laughing. - -“The little minx! She has pride enough, no doubt, and who cannot boast -of ancestors in America! She certainly is a bright girl, and has a -remarkably pretty face. She cannot fail to attract attention, especially -as you treat her like a younger sister, rather than like a servant. It -is really unfortunate for her that she is so unlike the ordinary maid.” - -“I have thought of all this, Horace, and I mean to make more of her than -simply a servant. In time she will grow to be my trusted friend and -companion, I am sure. Why may she not? She is well-born; better than -many in our best society.” - -“You dear little philanthropic soul, you’d better adopt her at once. But -don’t pick up too many pretty girls to waste sympathy upon or _I_ shall -be neglected, I fear. Besides, I have often noticed how illy such -kindness is repaid. You might have cause to regret it.” Mr. Wylie picked -up the evening paper and was soon absorbed in its columns. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THROUGH CLAIRVOYANT VISION - - -And now, as the exhibitor of a panorama might say, it becomes necessary -to introduce our readers or audience to new scenes and stranger people. -But these strangers being near and dear to the heart of the writer, if -not yet to the reader, become in their lives so intermingled and -interwoven in the lives and histories of the persons first introduced -that we can no longer allow them to remain behind the scenes. - -We must also go back in time several years to a period when the prairies -of the West were in some portions less thickly populated than at -present, and the mushroom growth of the towns was still a marvel to the -slower growing East. To a time, also, when the so-called modern -spiritualism was of a newer growth and when esoteric philosophy, -occultism, and the many other _isms_ dealing with the life beyond the -grave were less talked of. - -The place, a small town in western Iowa, and a country farm-house, -nestles down in one of the horse-shoe coves formed by the bluffs above -the eastern border of the Missouri River. - -There are no neighboring dwellings in sight, though but a few rods away -are other houses situated also in coves in the bluffs, forming quite a -large community, living near but out of sight of each other. - -Large herds of horses and cattle are seen grazing upon the unfenced -pasture land, and a small schoolhouse standing out like a beacon from a -ridge of highland is the only building visible, except the barns and -corn-cribs belonging to the farms. - -The house itself is low and long, with several additions or lean-tos, -but has an air of comfort and hospitality, looking out as it does upon -the many acres of rolling plateau, where far away is seen the dark line -of the country road winding about the base of the bluffs or climbing -steeply up the sides of them. A long lane branches from the main road -and leads up to the house, and affords a view of any coming visitor for -some distance away, and lines of cowpaths thread the steep hills at the -back of the dwelling. - -Thus sequestered and hill-environed lived Squire Bartram with his wife -and two sons, enjoying the peace and plenty of the average well-to-do -farmer, with none of the business care and excitements which a life in -town might bring. - -Squire Bartram was one of those who had the good fortune to have been -born in that most coveted birth-place, Massachusetts, and perhaps, -better than all, he first opened his eyes upon the renowned and -beautiful Berkshire Hills. In early childhood he had been taught the -religion and creed of those Puritan fathers who founded the first homes -there, and had been brought up to a most strict observance of all moral -and evangelical law. His life had been frugally and honestly spent upon -a farm up to the time when, listening to the preaching of the early -apostles of Mormonism, he felt himself called to a priesthood among the -Saints. - -Later, when he had endured martyrdom and privations for the sake of this -belief, he found himself face to face with the till-then concealed -doctrine of plural marriage. From this his Puritan instincts revolted -and he quitted the church with many others who located near Council -Bluffs. But, cast out from a church he had loved, his faith shattered, -his illusions destroyed, he was ready to turn to any creed or _ism_ -which came his way. - -As he learned more of the newly taught creed of modern spiritism, he -began to give it credence, the more so as he believed he could -understand, from such a standpoint, the life of the prophet Joseph -Smith. Was not Smith a spirit-medium and were not the trances and -visions which he claimed to have had similar or identical with those -mediumistic exhibitions which he now witnessed? Might not the prophet -himself have been deceived and the revelation which he supposed to have -come from God been but the communication of a false and dangerous -spirit? In this way, only, could he find an apology for the prophet, -whom he had loved and believed in as little less than a god. - -Squire Bartram’s sons had grown up stalwart, brainy lads, ambitious and -capable. Nathan, the elder, who had lately brought to his father’s home -a bright little sixteen-year-old wife, with black eyes, shining ringlets -and bird-like movements, had prepared a home on the Nebraskan prairies, -to which he was soon to take his bride. He had preempted a homestead, -bought another one hundred and sixty acres, and thus secured a nice farm -on the plain some distance north of the Platte River. He had, after the -manner of the pioneers of the country, built himself an adobe house, and -was now ready to begin life in earnest. - -His wife, Lissa, whose sister lived in that locality, was possessed of -the delighted eagerness of a child to see and occupy the new home and -was almost impatient of the delay which Nathan insisted upon, namely, -the visit of a few weeks at his father’s house. - - -The sun had already been hidden from view by the huge bluff behind the -house, though it was still broad daylight at the homestead, and good -Mrs. Bartram had dallied in her supper work to talk with Nathan’s wife, -when the Squire put his head in at the door to announce that Professor -Russell, the noted seer, medium, and clairvoyant, would honor them with -a visit and give them proof of his supernatural powers. - -“For the land’s sake,” exclaimed Mrs. Bartram, “why didn’t you tell us -before! Here I hain’t got my work done up yet. How long before he’ll be -here, I wonder?” - -“O, not for a half hour or so; he stopped down to Job Atkins to help -find them that colt that was lost,” replied the Squire. - -“And how can he help them, unless he’s the one that took it? Them that -hides can find, I take it,” continued the good lady, with a sniff. “I -haven’t much use for these folks that knows _too_ much and whose ways -are dark.” - -“Wait until after you see the Professor, before you judge,” said the -Squire. - -“And so we are to be entertained to-night by one who is in league with -the powers of darkness,” said Donald, a young man of eighteen years, as -he entered the family room and seated himself by the side of his new -sister-in-law. “Lissa, don’t you tremble at the thought of the evil -wraiths that are to fill this room?” - -“I fear more the evil spirit that shall animate your Professor, Donald,” -replied Melissa, who in her Eastern home had imbibed a deep prejudice -against the so-called spiritualists. - -“His spirit? Mne, let me see. I believe a big Injun, Stuck-in-the-mud, -or some such high-sounding name, is his especial _Control_; but he is -not confined to one familiar. His demons are many.” - -“How absurd,” laughed Lissa. - -“You won’t say so after to-night. I’ll wager the best pony on the ranch -you’ll be a firm convert before the evening is over. Maybe I’ll add a -side-saddle, too. Eh, Lissa?” - -“I’m afraid I can’t gratify you by accepting any such foolishness as -that, even for the sake of the saddle, or permit you to wager upon a -certainty of losing.” - -“Did I ever tell you how the Professor found his wife?” Donald asked. - -“No, but I suppose you’ll tell me through some celestial matrimonial -agency,” she replied. - -“Sure! His wife was a strongly developed medium living in London, -England. One day, while in a trance, the Professor, here in the United -States, was made cognizant of the existence of this lady by spirit -agency, and instructed to write to her, which he did. It seems she had -received a communication concerning him at about the same time and in -the same manner, with the same instructions, which she also followed. -The two letters reached their destinations simultaneously, and each -person, with the other’s letter in hand, could summon the writer’s -materialized spirit before him. In this way they communicated with each -other at will, and finally the lady embarked for this country at his -request. He was kept daily informed as to her whereabouts, and when she -arrived at New York he was there to meet her, and they were married -speedily, only one letter from each having passed between them, and yet -each was well acquainted with the past history of the other.” - -“Impossible! You must be very credulous, Donald, to believe such a story -as that.” - -“Quite convenient, wasn’t it? If the black powers would deal as kindly -with me I should not long remain a bachelor. This knowing to a certainty -all about the lady of one’s choice would remove the fear of flying into -the dangers we know not of. One could be certain then if she did up her -hair on curl-papers.” And Donald glanced significantly at Lissa’s -shining ringlets. - -“Surely, you don’t pretend to believe such a preposterous story, -Donald,” she said, laughing. - -“We have the Professor and his wife to testify to it, neither one ever -known to l—prevaricate; and in the mouths of two witnesses the truth -shall be affirmed,” misquoted Donald. “At any rate one story is good -until another is told.” - -“They must be a pair of charlatans, and I don’t think I care to make -their acquaintance.” - -“I suspect you begin to fear them. There is no telling what they may -discover,” Donald said with mock gravity. “But here comes the -redoubtable hero himself. All hail, ye Prince of Darkness, hail!” he -continued in a sepulchral voice, as a step was heard outside the door. - -A moment later the Professor entered the apartment. Melissa had time, -while he greeted the head of the family, to note that he was a -medium-sized, wiry-looking man, of about forty, with very long red hair -hanging to his shoulders, and bristling whiskers of the same color. His -lower jaw was prominent and his ears were flattened very close to his -head. But his most remarkable feature was a pair of keen gray eyes, -which gleamed restlessly from under rather overhanging brows. - -When presented to Lissa he fixed his eyes upon her in a way that caused -her to suppress a shudder, and regarded her steadily for a moment, then, -still holding her by the hand, which she would gladly have withdrawn, he -said: - -“You look like your mother, Mrs. Bartram, except that she has blue eyes. -She has a scar on her left wrist, made in a peculiar manner.” - -Lissa blushed painfully, and followed his eyes to her own wrist as she -drew away her hand. She knew the history of the scar alluded to, though -she believed it unknown to any one outside her own immediate family. She -felt the inquiring eyes of her husband’s relatives upon her, and sat -down ill at ease. - -Presently the company were seated about a table in the center of the -room, and the clairvoyant announced himself in readiness to afford proof -of his wonderful powers. - -Accordingly, two or three lines cut from a letter from a sister of the -bride were placed in his hand, so rolled that no words written there -could give any clue to the writer. - -Professor Russell gazed passively at the rolled scrap for a time, then -the muscles of his face began to twitch slightly, his eyes became vacant -and partly closed; there was a convulsive movement of his shoulders, a -long-drawn sigh, and he began to speak. - -“I can see a wilder scene than this, a country as far as the eye can -reach, a vast table-land, dotted here and there with adobe houses and -their contiguous cotton-wood groves of one or two years’ growth. One of -these houses stands facing south, and in the doorway I can see a woman. -She is looking anxiously westward, shading her face with her hand. She -has on a dress of some dark material, partly covered with a kitchen -apron. She has dark hair and—ah, now she has removed her hand; she looks -like a lady in this room, except that she is taller, and her hair, a -shade lighter, is worn in braids instead of curls. Her gray eyes have an -anxious look in them. A number of ponies are corralled near the house. -What is she looking at?” - -The Professor spoke slowly, as if studying the scene of his clairvoyant -vision. Nathan and Lissa exchanged glances, while Donald rolled up his -eyes with a concealed affectation of awe. Squire Bartram appeared -interested, and glanced toward Lissa inquiringly, while his wife, good -soul, gazed sternly and forbiddingly at the Professor as though she -believed him in league with his Satanic majesty, and the ghosts of her -Puritan forefathers were warning her against him. - -Meanwhile the face of the man was working strangely. - -“The house has disappeared from my vision,” he cried, “and I can see a -still wilder country, through which runs a placid, shining river. A -large party of Indians are cantering across the prairie, mounted on -round, sleek-looking mustangs. With them is a white man, young and -handsome, with light, flowing hair, and fearless blue eyes. He is -dressed in hunting costume, with wide-brimmed hat, and he rides a white -pony with an army saddle and large stirrups. There is a coil of rope at -his saddle bow and a couple of pistols and a hatchet in his belt. He -carries also a rifle. - -“The ground over which they are traveling is torn and trampled as if an -army had lately traversed it, and—ah, yes, I see, away in the west, a -herd of buffalo looking like a great black cloud against the sky, and -showing distinctly against the red of the setting sun behind it. But, -look, they have turned their course toward the south and are running -their horses at full speed! They turn in their saddles and look -northward. I see! There is another party coming from that direction.” - -The Professor looked fixedly a moment and continued: - -“They are Indians, also; a larger band, and hideously painted. The -others are spurring their horses toward the river to escape this hostile -band, who have seen them, and like the wind are rushing down upon them. -Their horses are more fleet, they are gaining upon them—they lift their -rifles and shoot! Good! Their shots do not reach them. The white man -rises in his stirrups and returns the fire. The Indians of his party -follow his example. Their rifles have longer range and their shots tell. -Several saddles of the pursuing party are empty.” - -The man spoke eagerly now. His restless gray eyes kindled, and his face -glowed with animation. His story had produced a like effect upon his -listeners, all of whom showed more or less excitement. - -Lissa was pale, her large, dark eyes fixed intently upon the speaker, -while her small hands gripped each other tightly in her lap. Squire -Bartram peered over his spectacles and rubbed one palm upon the other, a -habit he had when deeply moved. Donald looked from one to another -quizzingly, but said nothing. - -“The fleeing party have reached the river and taken refuge behind the -protecting bank—yes, their shots speak now. One, two, three of the -painted devils reel from their ponies. More fall! Half of them are down! -On come the rest, swinging their hatchets! They are at the bank! They -fight hand to hand with their tomahawks. Great Scott! There he is -struck, he is down!—the white man is hurt!—he topples over and falls -backward down the bank!—he sinks into the river and disappears!” - -A shriek from Lissa interrupted the further description of the scene. -Nathan sprang to her side, and in the confusion that followed the -Professor seemed to lose sight of his vision, nor could he be persuaded -to again enter the clairvoyant state. - -Poor Lissa was greatly excited. The man had so accurately described her -brother-in-law, then living in Nebraska, and knowing as she did that he -was in command of a party of Pawnee scouts she could not free herself -from the idea that the scene depicted was a true one, notwithstanding -her former scepticism. - - - - - CHAPTER V - THE LETTER - - -“What would you give me for a letter from Nebraska,” said Donald a few -days after the Professor’s visit, as he flung himself from his horse and -sat down on the steps of the veranda where Lissa sat, with her lap full -of flowers which she had been gathering. - -“O Donald, give it to me quick! I can’t wait a minute,” she cried, -espying the gleam of white sticking from the pocket of his coat. - -“But tell me first, before you read it, whether you have any faith in -Professor Russell’s vision,” he said, teasing. - -“Yes, no; I don’t know. I can tell better after I have read Alice’s -letter.” - -“Of course, but that will not demonstrate your faith. However, I’ll be -good and let you have it.” And Donald placed the coveted missive in her -hand. - -With the remembrance of the vision before her, Lissa’s fingers trembled -as she tore open the envelope. The letter would confirm or refute the -truth of the Professor’s clairvoyance. And although she would not admit -for a moment even to herself that she believed in any _spirit_ agency, -she understood so little of clairvoyancy as to believe it connected with -supernatural phenomena. - -As she read the letter, her expressive eyes dilated with wonder and awe. - -“What is it?” asked Nathan, noticing her agitation. - -She placed the written pages in his hand. - -“Read that, Nathan, and tell me what to think, what to believe. Read it -aloud that all may hear and judge.” - -Nathan took the letter and read as follows: - - - “‘Cramer Cabin, Prairieland, - “‘August 28, 18—. - - “‘My Darling Little Sister: - -“‘Don’t you wish you were here with me this summer evening? Outside, the -white stillness of the great prairie woos one to meditation and letter -writing. Now you will expect something poetical and fine, will you not? -Well, the inspiration is here, but alas, I am one of those “Who cannot -sing, but die with all their music in them.” My muse deserted me in my -infancy. Besides I have been having unexpected duties. - -“‘Mark is at home laid up with a couple of wounds, not serious ones, I -am happy to say, but such as to give me an opportunity to coddle and pet -him for a time. I am not sure I am _sorry_ he received them, but don’t -whisper this to him. - -“‘How did he get them, did you ask? Well, he was away on a hunting -expedition with a band of his Pawnees, when they were surprised by some -Sioux. Mark got a flesh wound in his shoulder from a tomahawk blow, and -a bullet grazed him in the left side. Close call, wasn’t it? The -skirmish was on the bank of the Niobrara, where Mark’s party had fled -for shelter, and he managed to get under water until a clump of -hazel-brush enabled him to climb out and hide. He was too exhausted from -the loss of blood to fight any longer. However, his men drove off the -Sioux and found him and brought him home. Mark says I have represented -him in a cowardly position. I hope not. He was in a dead faint when the -men found him. Anyway, I don’t see any bravery in standing up to have -your scalp taken off by a savage, do you? But men are so very sensitive -upon those points. - -“‘I can hardly wait for your arrival. Mark says I act like a crazy woman -whenever I speak of it. O Lissa, Lissa, Lissa! We’re out of the world -here, but I am sure you will enjoy it. I hug myself with delight -whenever I think of seeing you so soon.’” - - -Nathan paused in his reading. - -“It is wonderful,” he said. “Professor Russell must have seen the entire -skirmish.” - -“Yes,” responded Lissa, “unless he may have heard of it in some way. -Alice does not say upon what day Mark was hurt.” - -“Ah, you are yet a doubting Thomas,” Nathan said, smiling fondly upon -the winsome upturned face of his girl-wife. - -“No, only looking for a peg to hang a doubt upon. Nathan, I am very -anxious to get to our new home.” - -“My dear, we shall be there in a fortnight. I must wait until the wagon -is finished, you know. I hope, little one, you will not be disappointed -when you see what a _poor_ home it is,” he continued, shaking his head -doubtfully. - -“I shall not be. Read the rest of Alice’s letter.” - - -Nathan continued his reading: - - -“‘Just think, sister, of having no social barriers or stiff -conventionalities to hamper one. No fussing to prepare elaborate -toilets, no two-minute fashionable calls to make, no questioning as to -what one shall wear. I am happy and well-dressed for any occasion in my -pink gingham. It is a pretty gingham, and made up prettily, I assure -you, as I made it myself. Then, we are all so well acquainted with one -another, and call each other by the first names, and run about to each -other’s houses whenever we please and stay as long as we please, and -talk about our chickens and ponies, and—and—O Lissa, dear, you cannot -realize what a free, wild life this is. And the air is so pure and -invigorating.’” - - -“And there’s plenty of it,” interpolated Donald. - -“Yes, too much, sometimes,” said Nathan. - -“Now don’t, Nate! Don’t say a word to discourage me. If I were going to -Kansas I should be afraid of cyclones, but I am sure we shall have none -in Nebraska.” - -“And if we should, you know we have the _dug-out_,” Nathan replied. - -“I’d really advise you, Lissa, to arrange to sleep all the time in the -_dug-out_. It would be so uncomfortable to wake up some morning and find -yourself occupying some one else’s farm or tree-top,” said Donald. - -Lissa smiled indulgently, but made no reply, and Nathan continued -reading the letter. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - AN OLD-FASHIONED JOURNEY - - -“Put on your big sun hat and dust wrap,” Nathan had said, “we are to -drive through a wild region much of the way and shall have plenty of -dust and sun, besides you need have little fear of meeting acquaintances -on our long path over the prairie.” - -And Lissa had packed in big trunks, that were to be sent ahead of them -by express, all the pretty dresses and hats which were so becoming to -her, and reserved only the most serviceable costume for that season of -the year. This she covered with an ample linen wrap, and tied a leghorn -flat over her shining curls. - -They were to go in a wagon, and, contrary to the usual emigrant fashion, -an uncovered one. Nathan wanted a light spring-wagon to use upon his -farm, and Lissa insisted that she could see the country and enjoy the -ride after the fleet little mustangs better in that particular wagon -than in any other possible conveyance. - -They started upon a beautiful September morning, one of those days which -seem to blend the perfection of summer loveliness with the delightful, -hazy charm of early autumn. - -“All you need now is a brass band and a banner,” Donald said, as Nathan -drove up to the door with the scrubby little ponies attached to the -brightly painted wagon, “and you could take a bridal tour in first-class -style. - -“And, Lissa, if you should meet any Indians by the way be sure you shake -hands with them, and say ‘How,’ which is the Indian for ‘How d’you do.’ -It means, you know, that you are ready for decapitation if it so pleases -them and only question their _manner_ of procedure. They might be -offended if you omitted this little ceremony, and become unpleasant; -and, Lissa, if any of them shall ask you for a lock of your hair don’t -hesitate to cut off a curl and give it to them with the sweetest smile -you can muster, for they might take a notion to take the whole of them -just to hang in their belts for ornaments, and—But I don’t mean to -frighten you, ’pon my soul I don’t!” he continued, noting the suspicion -of tears in Lissa’s bright eyes and the tremor in her voice as she -turned to bid good-by to Squire Bartram and the irrepressible, -fun-loving brother whom she had taken into her affection. - -“The wild home to which you are going will have one star of the first -magnitude to brighten it before many days, but I reckon it will be -rather dark in this quarter of the heavens to-night,” he said, looking -graver than she had ever before seen him. - -“O Don, how can that be, when _you_ are to remain?” Lissa replied, -smiling through her tears. - -“I am a planet and only shine by reflected light,” he replied; “not that -I shall cast any reflection upon what has gone before,” he added in his -old manner. “But don’t be surprised if you should see a stray comet out -on the prairies before many moons-there’s no telling when one may be -liable to strike you.” - -“The sooner the better,” she responded brightly, and with a few more -words of final adieu they drove away. - -They had several miles of drive to the ferry which should transport them -across the Missouri River, or the “Big Muddy” as the Indians named its -roily waters. - -“It well deserves its name,” observed Lissa. - -“Yes,” responded Nathan, “and this river keeps its color and current -separate unto itself for many miles after emptying into the clear -Mississippi.” - -“I should say the Mississippi refused to be polluted by it and tried to -quarantine against it,” Lissa returned. - -They noted the pretty villages along the shore, which had looked so near -to them from the bluffs, before they crossed to the Nebraska side and -found themselves in the flourishing city of Omaha. There was little to -distinguish it from other cities in the East, except the regularity of -its streets and the newer style of architecture which uniformly met -their gaze. An hour later they were out upon the broad, balsam-scented -prairie. - -The wind-swept grasses nodded to them invitingly and the unrebuked sun -shone down smilingly upon the unmarred handiwork of Nature. - -Lissa was enraptured. This was the unfettered life of which she had -dreamed. Her buoyant spirit was exhilarated by the fresh, flower-scented -air and the glory of the landscape. - -“O Nathan, I shall never want to go East again!” she cried as they -approached the Platte River and viewed the magnificent stretch of land -for several miles up the valley, so level, so perfect, with the shining -thread of the river like a prescient nerve carrying health and vigor to -the adjacent territory. And far at the north and south the soft gray -hills arose, joining the clear blue of the sky above as if earth, -enamoured with the beauty of heaven, had arisen to meet the sky’s -embrace. - -They had been riding many hours, when Nathan said: “Look yonder, Lissa, -in our way. If I am not greatly mistaken, your desire to see a wild -Indian is about to be gratified.” - -Lissa beamed with excitement. A wild Indian! Should she be afraid? - -“How can you tell at such a distance? I can see nothing but a dark -object, and cannot determine if it be man or beast,” she said. - -“You have not trained your eye to long distances. I can see that it is a -pony and that it has a rider, and the swift, steady gallop, together -with the position of the rider, suggests an Indian; besides, we are in a -locality where we are more likely to meet the ‘noble redman’ coming -alone upon the prairie than his white brother.” - -Lissa watched the approach of the stranger with a shade of uneasiness. -The thought of meeting a savage aboriginal, who to her mind was -connected with all sorts of deeds of fiendish cruelty, caused a -fluttering of the heart which Nathan’s assurances could not wholly -allay. - -“How,” was Nathan’s salutation to the man as he drew near; and “how” was -the guttural response of the Indian as he came to an abrupt halt by the -side of the wagon, sitting in statuesque uprightness upon his pony. Not -a muscle of his face moved. His countenance was as stolid and blank as -if cut in stone, and during the time Nathan conversed with him in the -Pawnee dialect he neither smiled nor expressed any feeling or thought in -his face. - -Lissa studied this native specimen with much interest while Nathan -detained him. He was clad in gala costume and was going down to attend -an Indian festival at Omaha, he said. His head was bound with a woolen -scarf of red and black, knotted behind with falling ends. Beneath this -his long, straight, black hair fell to his shoulders. Several long -feathers were stuck in this zone, and a plaited lock of hair hung over -it from the crown of his head. His brown face was smeared with little -lines of red paint, seemingly ingrained in his skin, and his ears had -long slits in them, which were literally filled with ear-rings of -different kinds, sticking out in bunchy confusion. A large red blanket -covered his shoulders and one arm. The other was free and cinctured with -numerous bracelets, while his hand grasped the rope which bound the -lower jaw of his pony. He wore deer-skin leggins, fringed and ornamented -profusely, and beaded moccasins. - -Around his neck were strings of wampum and other beads, and he carried -the primitive bow and arrows. - -“I am glad you saw him,” said Nathan, “for it may be a long time before -you will have opportunity of seeing another Indian so magnificently -dressed. Their every-day costume is much less elaborate. Besides, this -fellow is rich. Those wampum beads around his neck are money and current -coin with them. You noticed it was a long string, wound several times -about his neck. He also had on wampum bracelets. That braided necklace, -made of what looked like dried grass, is a charm, and a valuable -possession. It is made from a rare grass or weed which is found only a -spear in a place, and is very fragrant. He carried the bow and arrows, -instead of gun, to take part in the festival.” - -“Did you ever see him before?” - -“O, yes. His name is We-wan-shee. He is one of Mark’s scouts. He tells -me they have been having trouble with the Indians stealing from the -post. Squint-eye and Handle-the-bow have been thieving, and the chief -has given them up to the Government for punishment.” - -“What did they steal,” asked Lissa. - -“Horses. They make little account of anything else. They have not been -many years subject to the United States Government, and are quite -primitive in their habits and manners, you will find. I’ll take you down -to the reservation as soon as we are settled. You will enjoy them -immensely.” - -“I suppose there is no danger in going among them,” she ventured. - -“O, no,” and Nathan laughed. “I believe you are trembling now. You are -not afraid of that one Indian, I hope.” - -“Yes,” Lissa said meekly, “I believe I was. It is lonely on this immense -prairie, with no sign of habitation anywhere, and—he looked ferocious.” - -Again Nathan laughed. - -“You’ll get used to them when you have them for neighbors.” - -In the middle of the afternoon they stopped upon the banks of the river -and baited their horses, and rested while partaking of their luncheon -which they had brought with them. They had passed through many small -towns on their way, towns of mushroom growth, and at one of them they -had bought their dinner. - -“We are upon the old overland route,” Nathan said. “Over this road many -emigrants have toiled along, suffering and dying, many of them at the -hands of the Indians. Do you see that ridge of earth which seems to have -been artificially thrown up there? That was undoubtedly a sort of -breastwork hastily made by a party of emigrants who were assaulted at -this place.” - -Lissa shuddered. “Can it be possible I am really in this wild land of -which I have read. I wonder if any were killed here, and if the ground -has been soaked with their blood. How strange it all seems! I can -imagine so much since seeing that Indian. He does not look much like -those I have seen at Niagara, selling bead-work.” - -“Not much; and you will receive another impression should you ever see a -band out on a war expedition against a hostile band, fully decorated -with warpaint and feathers. They really look formidable then.” - -Lissa shivered again. - -“We have made good time to-day. How far do you think we have driven?” -Nathan asked as, toward evening, they approached the suburbs of a small -town. - -“I am sure I have no idea. The ponies have trotted steadily all day. -These mustangs are good travelers, if they are small.” - -“They have endurance. I have been out on a hunt with the Indians when we -have kept in the saddle for a hundred miles at a time, the ponies loping -or running most of the way.” - -“But how could you stand it to ride so far?” - -“O, I can sleep in the saddle if necessary. One never knows what he can -do until he is put to the test. But I think we have come about -forty-five miles to-day. Yonder is the town. They are just lighting it. -How pleasant it looks, doesn’t it, this evidence of life after so many -miles of uninhabited wilds.” - -“The ride has been perfectly delightful,” said Lissa. “I never better -enjoyed a day in my life.” - -They drew rein at a freshly painted building, bearing a sign “Badger -House.” The landlady was evidently a Yankee, for she began a series of -questions to Lissa. Where did they hail from? Where were they going? Had -she ever been West before? - -To Lissa’s responses she vouchsafed a consolatory remark: “Well, I’m -kind of sorry for you. There is nothin’ but work out here. Ye don’t look -as if ye’d seen much hardships. Ye’ll git awful homesick, I reckon. What -with the poor crops and the hot winds, and the grasshoppers, there ain’t -much to look for’d to.” After which she left the room to see to their -supper. - -The next morning they started early, that they might get well on their -way before the intense heat of mid-day. They had been traveling for some -time, when Lissa suddenly started and grasped Nathan’s arm. - -“Stop, stop!” she cried; “I’ve been here before. I know just what is -before us! Ah, how can it be—and yet, yet, I’ve seen it all before. Just -beyond that large tree the ground descends to a river. There is a marshy -strip of ground at the left, and a log lying diagonally, thus.” Lissa -indicated the position by crossing her hands. She was excited and eager. -“What does it all mean? Am I, too, clairvoyant?” - -“We will see,” he said, chirruping to his horses. They soon came to the -height overlooking the river flats. Before them lay the scene Lissa had -described. The tears started in her eyes. - -“O Nathan, have I ever lived in another form than this? I certainly -could never have been here before. I cannot understand it.” - -“Not unless you have been here in a dream.” At the word, Lissa started. - -“Ah, I know now. I remember! It is a dream! It is written down in my -journal. I wrote it when I first began to keep a journal, many years -ago. The dream made such an impression upon me, I wrote it down, and a -description of the scene. I have frequently read it over since.” - -“What happened here, do you remember?” - -“No, I could not remember at the time, but I awoke with great fright, -trying to cry out, with the feeling that I had been passing through some -terrible experience, with this scene clearly imprinted upon my -consciousness.” - -“It is a very strange coincidence, Lissa, but this is the place where a -white man was flayed alive a number of years ago by the Indians.” - -“Ah, I remember reading of it, and how horrible it was.” - -“The man brought the punishment upon himself. He wantonly shot an Indian -woman. It was a terrible method of torture, however. He was flayed -before the eyes of his friends, and afterwards burned, I am told.” - -“Oh, dreadful, dreadful!” - -“The remainder of the party were allowed to go, I believe, after being -made to witness his suffering and death. I used to know the man when I -lived in Illinois,” Nathan added. “Remember, it is not so many years -ago. We are to go among the same tribe of Indians. Probably those who -committed the outrage are still living.” - -“Don’t let us speak of it. It horrifies me. I will look up the date of -my dream in my journal, when we get home, and see if it corresponds with -the date of the tragedy. If it should prove to be the same, I should -believe that I saw the crime in my sleep. Ugh!” - -“We will stop to rest under this tree,” said Nathan. “This is the first -large tree we have seen for some distance.” - -Later in the day they halted at a ranch, and bought some delicious -water-melons of a smiling and inquisitive Dutch farmer, who grew them. -After mid-day they stopped by the side of a lovely, quiet river, and -enjoyed their luncheon, taken in this primitive fashion. - -“I wonder if I was ever so hungry before,” said Lissa. “These peaches -are delicious, and surely melons were never so sweet and appetizing. The -biscuits are ambrosia and this lemonade is nectar. It was a good idea to -bring this ice, for the river water must be very warm to drink.” - -The lunch ended, Lissa went down to the water and bathed her face and -hands in its limpid depths. Suddenly she found the skirt of her gown -covered with persistent burrs, which stuck to her fingers as she tried -to remove them, and pricked and irritated her hands intolerably. - -Nathan laughed heartily at her discomfiture. - -“Why, those are only sand-burrs, dear. I wonder if you have never before -made their acquaintance? We have no patent upon them, and you may find -them in many parts of the country, East and West. We don’t lay entire -claim to them here.” - -“I should hope not,” said Lissa ruefully; “at least, we might dispense -with them, if they would permit us to, which is doubtful.” - -Lissa tried again to free herself from the noxious weed. With Nathan’s -help she at last succeeded, and they resumed their journey. - - -The sun was painting the western horizon a glorious crimson when they -entered the last town on their route. - -“Now, Lissa, we have twenty miles farther to travel before reaching -home. We have already come over forty miles to-day. Shall we stop in -this town and wait until morning?” - -“O, no, no, no, not for anything. Alice will be looking for us and I am -so anxious to see her and our home. Do let us go on, or will it be too -great a drive for our horses?” - -“They can endure it better than you, but I don’t think Alice will expect -you before to-morrow night. People usually take four days to drive -through. However, if you wish we will not stop.” - -It was pleasant driving in the cool of the evening and the ponies sped -along rapidly, apparently little wearied by the many miles behind. They -had gone but a part of the distance, however, when the sound of a -galloping horse over the soft turfed ground struck upon the ear. Soon it -was beside them and a cheery voice saluted them. - -“Hello, Nathan, is that you?” - -“Why, Mark, how d’you do?” - -Nathan grasped the hand of the handsome, yellow-haired fellow who came -along beside the wagon. - -“This is our brother, Mark Cramer, Lissa.” - -“And this is the little sister I have known so well, but never seen,” -said Mark. “You are very welcome to this western borderland, I assure -you. Alice is wild with happy anticipation of your coming.” - -Lissa’s sister had come West and married the year before, and this was -Lissa’s first meeting with her brother-in-law. - -“I heard in C—— that you were seen to drive through, so I hurried on to -catch you. My horse is fleet, but I have run him all the way. You drive -fast.” - -“I think our desire to reach home has been communicated to the horses. -They have needed no urging,” Nathan replied. - -“I wish you would change places with me,” Lissa said. “I am tired of -riding in a wagon, and a horseback ride would rest me.” - -Mark hesitated. “My horse has never been ridden by a woman, or in fact -only once or twice by anybody, and is but illy broken. I took him from a -herd of wild bronchos from the plains. They were brought here a few days -ago. I fear he isn’t altogether safe; besides, the saddle—” - -“Lissa is an expert horsewoman,” said Nathan, interrupting him. “If he -is not really vicious, I think she can manage him. As to the saddle, she -is used to that kind. Turn the off stirrup to this side, and it will be -all right.” - -All being soon arranged for her, Lissa stepped from the wagon to the -horse’s back, and experienced a delightful sensation of rest and -exhilaration at the idea of a canter in the dewy, evening air over this -wild, strange country. She started on ahead. Her horse sprang into a -lope, increased his speed to a run, and she was soon skimming over the -road at a pace unparalleled in her experience. She became alarmed and -sought to check him, but was unable to do so. The spirited, half-wild -thing had taken the bit in his teeth, and heeded not her utmost strength -upon the bridle rein. She heard the wagon coming behind her, and knew -they were running their horses at their highest speed to try to keep her -in sight, but the mustangs, jaded as they were, were no match for the -swift-winged Pegasus beneath her. On, and on, and on he sped, faster, -faster, and faster, until the gentle breeze became a strong wind, taking -her breath. How long would she be able to hold out, she wondered. At the -rate they were going it would not be long before they would reach home. -Home—what a meaning that word had for her. But suppose the pony took a -wrong road; this road was marked only by the borders of high grass on -both sides. There might be branches leading no one knew where. - -She had passed beyond the sound of the wagon now. On, on, on the swift -creature flew, no pause, no break in his mad flight. They must have -covered five miles at least, she determined. Her breath was coming in -frightened gasps, and her hands were trembling. She felt that she could -not keep her seat much longer. Suddenly the horse stumbled slightly and -slackened his gait. Lissa nearly fell, but by a desperate effort -recovered herself. She was holding tightly to the saddle horn. Again the -horse stumbled—there must be holes in the ground. Slump, slump, slump. -What was the matter? The broncho was going much slower now, and Lissa -spoke soothingly to him, and drew up on the rein. He submitted to her, -and subsided into an easy canter. At last, as the soil seemed to -frequently give way under his feet, he came down to a walk and permitted -her to keep him slowly at that gait, until she heard the welcome sound -of the wagon behind her, when she halted and waited until they came up. - -“What a fright you have given us!” cried Nathan, a quiver of relief in -his voice. “We feared you had been carried off bodily to the plains or -thrown down by the way-side. Why did you ride so fast?” - -“For the reason that I was obliged to. Whirlwind—I have named him—paid -no more attention to my commands for him to moderate his speed than if I -had been a gad-fly. He fairly flew with me until he stumbled, back here. -He seemed to lose courage or confidence then, and went slower.” - -“I wonder you did not fall,” said Mark. “I was afraid of prairie-dog -town. These little fellows undermine the ground until it is hardly safe -to ride over.” - -“And we, then, have been over a prairie-dog settlement?” questioned -Lissa. - -“Yes, there is a large one here extending a mile on either side of the -road. If you had come through here in daylight you would have seen them -coming out of their little houses, and heard them bark.” - -“I think I did hear one. Have they a little piping voice?” - -“Yes, very likely you did hear them. You will often pass here and have -plenty of chance to study them,” said Nathan. - -“Do they do any harm?” - -“No, except to undermine the ground and make it treacherous to -travelers.” - -The remainder of their journey was uneventful, and before midnight the -two sisters were united, and talking so animatedly that the night bid -fair to be sleepless. - -“Come, Alice,” Mark said at last, “Lissa must be very tired and you are -to have weeks and months together now to tell everything to one another. -You don’t want to make her ill at the beginning.” - -“No, I do not. But it does seem glorious to have some one to talk to.” - -“As if we were not of any use in that line?” - -Alice made a pretty grimace. - -“You are away so much. And then it—it is different.” - -But Alice kissed her sister, and left her to spend the remainder of the -balmy night in her new home. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - IN THE NEW HOME - - -The next morning when Lissa awoke the sun was shining brightly in -through one of the small windows of her adobe house and she had leisure -to look about her, and to survey this new, and to her, novel style of -architecture. - -The house was built of sod and mud, the roof being formed of poles of -cotton-wood covered with sod, and brightly green with the upspringing -grass. The inside of the house was lined by a strong paper, firmly -stretched and fastened at the corners, and presented a smooth and -cleanly looking wall. Through the windows Lissa could see the vast -prairies level gray, dotted with small houses, similar in construction -to this one to which her husband had brought her. - -There were but two large rooms in the house, and one bed-room. No second -story, as the roof was low. A large cupboard stood in one corner of the -kitchen and another in the bed-room. - -“That shall be my dressing-case,” said Lissa to herself; “in this other -I will put up some hooks and a curtain, for a wardrobe.” - -Just back of the house was a symmetrical little grove of cotton-wood -trees of perhaps three or four years’ growth. Some ponies corralled -near, together with herds of cattle grazing at a distance, gave life to -the scene; the sunlit grass sparkled and waved invitingly, and the halo -of the early morning enveloped all, presenting a landscape of pleasing -attractiveness. - -All this Lissa noted with the eye of an artist as, while dressing, she -peered from the door and window, wondering what had become of Nathan, -for he had risen while she slept. - -She was interrupted in her musing by the arrival of Alice, who came in, -bright and cloud-dispelling, bearing a basket which she placed on the -table, while she laughed at the wonder in Lissa’s large eyes. - -“I’ve come to take you over to breakfast with me,” she said. “Ah, I see -you haven’t even thought of breakfast yet. What a lazy girl! We get up -early here in the West. The sun doesn’t have to climb any mountains or -tall tree-tops before he reaches us. Why, how bewildered you look! I’ve -been to the post this morning, pony and I. Nate sent by me to get a few -things which are in the basket.” - -“You don’t mean to say you carried that big basket on the back of that -diminutive pony?” Lissa exclaimed. - -“To be sure I did, and another one like it. But come now, we’ll walk -over. It will give you an appetite for breakfast.” - -When Lissa had once more returned to her own home, which, humble as it -was, had an irresistible attraction for her, she found plenty of -employment in unpacking and arranging the contents of the large trunks -which had been brought out from C—— the previous day. Although at first -it seemed impossible to find places for so many things, there was -pleasure in devising ways and means. Lissa found that the trunks could -be utilized as packing-cases and window-seats, the dry-goods boxes -converted into cupboards and wardrobes, and before many hours, with -Nathan’s assistance, she had succeeded in arranging everything to her -satisfaction. - -As they were seated at their little table for an early tea, Lissa -suddenly gave a faint scream and overturned a cup of the scalding fluid -which she was handing to her husband, soiling the snowy whiteness of the -table-cloth. - -“Why, Lissa, what is the matter?” cried Nathan, in alarm; but following -the direction of her eyes, he saw the face of an Indian flattened -against the pane of glass of their small window, and his alarm changed -to mirth. - -The redman, seeing he was noticed, presented himself at the door, and -drawing in his chest, and assuming a most woe-be-gone expression, said -“te-cawpox,” accompanying his words by a gesture indicating that he -desired something to eat. - -“He says he is hungry,” said Nathan. “What can we give him?” - -Lissa lifted the plate of warm biscuits from the table, but Nathan -interposed. - -“He’ll take them all without any compunction if you offer them,” he -said, and selecting a couple, he handed them to the Indian, who dropped -them into a dirty-looking sack he carried, then spoke again in his harsh -guttural words, which Nathan interpreted as a request for water-melon. - -“He knows I have them growing out here and has probably helped himself -as fast as they have ripened, in my absence. Now he will beg the -remainder. Well, I must give him one, I suppose.” And going to the -little garden at the side of the house he plucked one from the vines and -gave it to the Indian, who returned a grunt of satisfaction and -departed. - -Then Nathan related anecdotes of their savage neighbors until Lissa, her -fright over, laughed merrily. - -“I am afraid I shall be constrained to keep the curtains down in your -absence if there is any danger of being frequently startled by such -apparitions,” she said, with a shake of her curly head. - -“You’ll mind nothing about it in a short time. I must take you out to -the reservation, and show you the noble redman in his home. But, come to -the door, I have a present for you. I see Mark has driven over the -ponies.” - -They stepped into the open doorway, and as Nathan whistled a call, a -beautiful white pony started up from the group grazing near, and came -cantering toward them. - -“I have had this horse in training for a long time, and she is as docile -and gentle as a kitten. Puss,” he said, stroking the pony’s smooth neck, -“this is your new mistress. No one shall ever drive or ride you from -this day, but this little lady.” - -Lissa flushed with pleasure and put out her hand to caress the pretty -creature, which seemed to understand, and acknowledged her acquaintance -by dropping its head and rubbing its pink nose in her palm. - -“Come, jump on her back. She requires no bridle, but will move in any -direction you may indicate by the motion of your hand.” - -Lissa permitted Nathan to seat her, and at the word the gentle little -creature lifted her ears and stared across the prairie at an easy lope, -most delightful to the rider. Lissa was charmed. - -“How delightful! How intelligent! How easy!” she cried, as the pony, -obeying the wave of her hand, turned back toward the house. “As easy as -a rocking-chair. How I shall enjoy going about with her.” - -“She is perfectly safe, and never scares at anything except farming -implements. She usually prefers to make a detour whenever she sees a -drag or plow. We tried to hitch her to a mower when we first brought her -here, but she utterly refused to be coerced into service and tried to -get away by vaulting into the air, lying down in the harness, and -performing other gymnastic feats. In fact, she behaved in such an -utterly demoralized manner, even kicking and biting, that we concluded -we would not subject her to such a trial again.” - -“The poor thing! She felt it to be a degradation and would not submit to -it. I do not blame her.” And Lissa caressed her pityingly. - -A few days subsequent to this Nathan announced his intention of going to -the trading post and Indian village, inviting Lissa to accompany him. - -Accordingly, one bright morning they mounted their horses, and after a -refreshing canter of several miles came in sight of the reservation. - -They overtook on the way a number of Indians, bestriding scrubby little -mustangs, which they managed with rope reins tied to the under jaws of -the ponies. At the post Nathan was greeted by a shout of “Ho, ho, ho, -Cheiks-ta-ka-la-sha!” which Nathan interpreted as a greeting to the -“white-man-chief” from the approaching brave. - -The lazy aboriginal then begged the privilege of sharing Nathan’s pony. -He was weary and would ride. But Nathan declined to grant the request, -telling him the pony was not strong enough to carry double. - -Several other Indians welcomed him in the same manner, each one asking -about the _chuppet_ who accompanied him. - -Soon they were at the village, a collection of Indian huts covering -quite an area of ground, built of sod or mud and most of them circular -in form, with but two openings, one at the top for the escape of smoke, -and a low passageway through which one must stoop to enter. - -At this season of the year the huts were but little occupied, being -infested with fleas, and small tents, made of poles covered by blankets -or bison skin, afforded more inviting shelter from sun and rain. - -Little nude children ran about here and there, or ducked in the waters -of the river, like so many young goslings. Stalwart Indian-braves -sauntered to and fro lazily about the wigwams or squatted on the ground -under cover of their tents. The Indian industries seemed to be confined -to the women, who were laboriously employed roasting corn in holes in -the ground or scraping and rubbing the bison skins which had been -recently brought in from the plains; for the braves were just home from -their summer hunt, and preparations were going forward for their great -green-corn festival. - -In vain our Eastern woman looked for the beautiful Indian maiden of -poesy and song. She concluded no poet could find inspiration to write of -these dirty humans, with unpleasant faces and tangled locks. - -Presently they rode to the tent of the chief of the tribe, who invited -them to dismount and enter. - -As Lissa followed Nathan into the small tent she confessed to an -instinctive desire to flee in the opposite direction, for as she sat -down upon the cushion her host placed for her, six Indian warriors -entered and squatted down in a circle around her husband and herself. A -timid look at Nathan, however, met assurance, and she tried to banish -fear, but the thought of the white man flayed on the banks of the river -would force itself upon her, and she found herself looking at their -hands with a feeling of horror, which with an effort she sought to keep -from appearing in her face. - -Two women were laboring assiduously at a large bison skin at the door of -the tent, scraping, pounding, and rubbing it, until it was white as a -piece of cotton, but paying little attention to her, save now and then a -stolen glance up from their work. - -Then Lissa was attracted to the movements of the chief, who took a -long-handled, red-clay pipe and filled it from several bone cups, filled -apparently with a variety of herbs, then lighted it, and after taking -two or three whiffs passed it to the Indian at his right, and thus it -was handed around the circle. The herbs gave out a pungent odor as they -burned, which to Lissa was sickening, and she was thankful that she was -passed by and only Nathan invited to smoke with them their _calumet_. - -The chief then took another of the odd-looking cups, and filling it with -a kind of chowdered, dried meat gave it to Lissa. - -She was embarrassed, for she dared not refuse it, yet shuddered at the -thought of tasting it. Nathan answered her imploring looks by laughing -and explaining to the donor that the white squaw was from the land of -the rising sun and had not learned to appreciate such a treat. The -chief, too, smiled, a little contemptuously Lissa thought, at her -ignorance of this dainty, and called to one of the squaws to bring her -corn. - -Lissa was glad to accept the shining ear of maize, roasted within its -husk to an appetizing brown, and she ate it with a relish, much to the -satisfaction of the Indians and the woman who brought it. - -In the mean time, Nathan, his eyes twinkling with amusement, was -carrying on an animated conversation with one of the Indians in their -dialect, and gesticulating toward Lissa, as if she might be furnishing -the topic of discussion. She felt relieved when her husband arose and -proposed their departure. - -When they were again in their saddles and careening over the -flower-strewn sward Nathan explained that the Indian was attempting to -bargain for the “white chuppet,” offering for her his three squaws, two -ponies, a wagon, some wampum—in fact, all of his possessions. - -“And you were really bartering me before my face, and I ignorant of it?” -said Lissa. “Well, I like that!” - -“Yes, and the fellow was terribly in earnest too. He thought you would -make a good wife to hoe his corn and work for him,” laughed Nathan. - -“Oh, the horrid creature! How my ideal of the ‘noble redman’ has fallen -since coming here.” And she quoted: - - “Black and glossy were her ringlets, - As the tresses of the sea; - Gloomy as the starless midnight, - Pretty star-eyed Estollee.” - -“O Nate, where are they, those beautiful children of the forest, whom -Longfellow and other poets dreamed of? The squaws are positively ugly -with their tangled hair, narrow eyes, high cheek bones, nakedness and -dirt. The men are not bad. They are at least straight and symmetrical,” -she added. - -“The women are bowed down and deformed by hard labor and heavy burdens,” -Nathan replied. “Be thankful for what civilization has done for women.” - -“Oh, it is dreadful! Those great lazy fellows lying about and doing -nothing. ‘Noble redmen’ indeed! Ignoble, rather.” - -“Well, the Quakers are at work among them. We may expect an improvement -in the next generation, if not in this. But here we are at the post. -Come, we will go in and look about.” - -In addition to the stores and trinkets of Indian manufacture for sale, -Lissa was interested in the girls of the Quaker school, who, though -dressed in the calico dresses of civilized America, were yet far from -the ideal maiden she thought. They were shy, hiding their faces if she -looked at or attempted to speak to them. And these were the real -American girls, the product of the soil. - -“Lissa,” said Nathan, when they were again in their saddles, “Major -Andrews, who has charge of the government stores here, offers me a -position as bookkeeper in his office this fall and winter, and I think I -had perhaps better take it, as I can do little on the farm until spring. -What do you think?” - -Lissa’s heart sank at the thought of his being away from home, but she -answered bravely: “By all means accept it if it will be for the best. It -will keep us through the long winter, and we can start fairly upon the -farm when the spring comes.” - -So it was arranged, and in the years that followed, when crops were -blighted from the drought or hot winds, and other accidents impoverished -them, Nathan could earn a livelihood at the office desk, and fared -better than his neighbors. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - MOTHER AND CHILD - - -“Come, darling, dinner is ready,” and Mrs. Lucien held out her arms to -the tiny sprite who was busily engaged in pinning a scrap of torn lace -about a broken-nosed doll, her face a study in its eager intentness of -purpose. - -“O mamma, has we somefin’ nice?” she exclaimed as her eyes fell on the -small table bearing the articles of food. “Why tan’t we have oranges -every day?” - -“My dear, mamma has not had money to buy them, but a good lady has given -mamma work to do, which brings money. Is not baby glad? Maybe we may -have good things to eat every meal, for Dolly, now.” Mrs. Lucien kissed -the child’s little face passionately, then turned away her own, lest the -tears should be seen that trembled in her lashes. - -It was a mean little room, as Mrs. Wylie had said, only lighted by one -narrow window, but the taste of its simple furnishing accorded with the -faces of mother and child. Mrs. Lucien’s was one of those rare faces -seen only occasionally among the masses, purely oval, with soft outlines -and exquisite delicacy of expression. The eyes seemed to index the soul -in their spirituality and clearness. It seemed impossible to think of -guile or hypocrisy finding lodgment in the heart of a woman with such a -face. The tinge of melancholy resting upon it only added to its -attractiveness. - -The child was the counterpart of the mother, even to the soulful eyes -and mobile lips. It was evident, as Mrs. Wylie had observed, that Mrs. -Lucien had seen better days. There was an unmistakable air of culture -and refinement in her manner, a dignity and grace of carriage that could -come only with one to the manner born. She appeared to be a stranger in -Forest City and was markedly uncommunicative as to her past life and -history in her intercourse with the few who sought further acquaintance -with her. - -Mrs. St. John, on the second floor, had been attracted by her face, and -tried, through the child, to know more of her, but succeeded illy. The -child was as reserved as the mother, or had been kept in ignorance of -its history. One thing she noticed, it never spoke of its father, and -Mrs. St. John discreetly withdrew, and refrained from further -investigation. - -“There must be something wrong when people are so much afraid to let you -know anything of them,” she reflected. She could not afford to risk her -own reputation by becoming associated with her. - -Mrs. Wylie, too secure in worldly caste to be deterred by such -considerations, had a new interest, and would leave no means untried to -learn more of her protege. - -She found she had an endless amount of sewing to be done, and made many -calls with reference to it, as well as necessitating much going to and -from her own rooms by Mrs. Lucien. And in all of those interviews the -little woman chatted away as blithely as though her caller were an -intimate friend instead of a stranger sewing woman, this being -characteristic of Elinor Wylie, and the outgrowth of her kindness of -heart, which neither fashion nor society, conventionality nor -worldliness could repress. - -Mr. Wylie joked her daily upon her enthusiasm, which increased with -acquaintance. - -“She is entirely lovable, Horace, and entirely refined and cultured. I -have not her superior in my whole circle of acquaintances,” she -reiterated one night, when he had chidden her for spending so much of -her time with Mrs. Lucien. “If she were not so proud I should have -gotten her out of that dark little jail of a room before now, but I dare -not openly offer her charity. But, Horace, I have made a discovery. She -was formerly from New York, and she came here to be among strangers. I -suspect—” - -“Well, what do you suspect?” said her husband, as she hesitated in her -speech. - -“Why—I half suspect she has run away from her husband,” admitted Mrs. -Wylie reluctantly, hastening to add, “I am quite sure she had a good -reason and that no blame can attach to her, whatever the cause.” - -Mr. Wylie shook his head. - -“Do not let your enthusiasm blind your eyes, Elinor. I give you credit -for being pretty keen-sighted usually, but a woman with such a history -may not be a desirable associate for my wife.” - -“Horace!” the blue eyes were raised reproachfully to his face. “Even if -my suspicions are correct,—and they are only suspicions,—we may suppose -a case where she might be entirely blameless, and oh, so much more to be -pitied, because of these very circumstances which may cast a shadow over -her fair name! Surely she needs my friendship so much the more.” - -“You precious little philanthrope!” said her husband fondly. “It is -difficult to answer you, but suppose there are plenty of associates for -Mrs. Horace Wylie whose characters are above suspicion and need no -vindication. And yet,” he continued gravely, “the woman’s face is -vindication for her. Do as you think best. Shall we invite her to attend -the lecture with us to-morrow night?” - -“Yes, if you will. She so seldom goes anywhere, and I am sure she needs -recreation. I could wish it was something besides Dr. Lyman’s lectures, -however. I am always glad to get home from one of them, and I dream of -ghosts and goblins when I sleep afterwards.” - -There was a compassionate look on Mr. Wylie’s face as he turned toward -his wife. - -“I am surprised, Nell, that you cannot appreciate what I enjoy so much. -Surely, Dr. Lyman is a very interesting speaker.” - -“A good talker, yes, but I do not like his subject,” and the little lady -drew herself farther upon the sofa and pursed up her lips defiantly. - -“And yet the subject is one that may materially affect us?” - -“I do not believe it can _materially_ affect us; if it does spiritually, -why, it may. We shall find out after we leave this world, probably, all -about it. What is the use of believing that the spirits of our friends -can communicate with us. I don’t want them to. It’s horrid, the whole of -it.” - -“I do not see anything particularly horrid about it. If I should die and -live again in the spiritland and should come back and reveal myself to -your material sight and talk with you as I do now, would you consider it -particularly horrid? That is,” he continued with his pleasant drawl, -“supposing I come in immaculate broadcloth, shining boots, etc., and -present you with a check for a few thousands to squander in bon-bons.” - -“Oh, do stop talking so dreadfully! I will not think about it.” - -“Then you will not want me to come back?” he queried provokingly. -“Especially if you are wedded to your second, and well provided for?” - -“Yes—no—I do not know. I think I should be dreadfully afraid of you if -you did.” - -“Aren’t you a little afraid of me now? Come, confess. Aren’t you?” - -Mrs. Wylie made a grimace. - -“No, I hope not, but I am afraid of Dr. Lyman.” - -“And why do you fear him?” said her husband, laughing as he bent over -and twirled one of her bright curls over his finger. “What do you fear -in him?” - -“I am afraid he will mesmerize me and make me think as he does. There -you have my reason for disliking him, and to go to the Lyceum,” said -Elinor, flushing slightly. - -Again her husband laughed. - -“Ah, that is it. Do you think there would be any harm in that?” - -“Why, I think it would be dreadful to be hypnotized; to have any one -control your will and make you think and do things you would not do -otherwise.” - -“I have an idea,” cried Mr. Wylie; “let me try it on you. Come, look me -right in the eyes, relax all your muscles and think of nothing but me.” -Mr. Wylie fixed his mischievous dark eyes upon his wife. - -She closed her own eyes tightly, and turned her face away. - -“Never! It would make me forever your slave. I have not much will of my -own now, and you would take that away from me. No, thank you!” - -“As if a woman ever lived who did not have her own sweet will and way. -But, Nellie, you may call upon Mrs. Lucien to-night, and ask her to -accompany us. I shall be curious to know her opinion of the Doctor and -his hobby.” - -“Mne! How kind you are! Man’s curiosity again! Well! I’ll go just to -gratify you, but she may not be willing to go to such a place even in -your company.” - -Mr. Wylie smiled indulgently, but made no reply. - -“Horace, I can almost believe Tibby exercises some such influence over -Robbie. It is really remarkable, the ease with which she can subdue him, -and put him to sleep at any time she desires. Mrs. Harbeck used to fuss -for hours.” - -“Tibby exercises a power woman has, since the world began—the power of -her beauty. Tibby is such a pretty girl, and Robbie is susceptible to -it. I remember when I was a youngster, the pretty teachers always had -the least trouble with me. Children have aesthetic instincts, and Robbie -recognizes the influence, if he does not yet understand it. Dame Harbeck -was a good old soul, but she did lack winsomeness. Eh, Nellie?” - -Mrs. Wylie laughed. - -“I wonder if that does make a difference.” - -“Certainly, and is it not a moral duty to cultivate beauty in the race?” - - - - - CHAPTER IX - A NEW DEVELOPMENT - - -True to her promise, Mrs. Wylie called the following afternoon at the -small room she had learned to designate as Number Nineteen, and invited -Mrs. Lucien to accompany herself and Mr. Wylie to the Lyceum. - -Mrs. Lucien’s pale face flushed slightly, and an eager, pleased look -came for a moment into her eyes, then she shook her head. - -“You are very kind, Mrs. Wylie, but you forget—that I never go out.” - -“I know you _should_ go. You are growing as pale as a calla, shut up -here so closely. You owe it to yourself and little Dolores here, to go -whenever you can. Besides, I have quite set my heart upon having you -with us, and I am supposed to always have my own way,” she added -playfully. “I want some one along who can enjoy a good lecture, if I -cannot, and Mr. Wylie thinks Dr. Lyman a very fine speaker. I am sure -you will reconsider your answer and go with us.” - -“But, your husband—I am afraid—” - -“Will be delighted. In fact, he first proposed your going,” said the -other, feeling that Mrs. Lucien was yielding. “You shall bring little -Dolores to our rooms and Tibby will look after her with Robert. She’ll -be sure to enjoy it, for Tibby is a rare entertainer. Robert is quite -happy with her.” - -“Dolly never makes any one any trouble,” replied Mrs. Lucien, smiling -fondly upon her child. “It is true I have taken considerable interest in -Dr. Lyman’s lectures as reported in the papers, and in his subject. I -have myself witnessed phenomena in the so-called spirit manifestations -which I could not account for by any knowledge of my own, scientific or -otherwise. If it is not spirits, then what is it?” - -Mrs. Wylie shook her head. - -“I confess I am very incredulous,” she said, smiling. “I think sometimes -with old Mr. Hucklebone, that it is the work of the Evil One, and feel -like avoiding it; but my husband is interested in the subject, and I go -to these lectures to please him. I cannot say that I enjoy them, -however.” - -“Can you not believe the soul is immortal? And if so, why may not one -come back to this earth and linger near those one has loved? Shall -spirits be limited by time and space? These are finite things. Does not -the spirit belong to the infinite?” Mrs. Lucien’s voice was low, sweet, -and persuasive. - -“I do not deny that it may be so, because I see nothing to entirely -disprove such a possibility; but I cannot see what good it can do us or -any one else to seek intercourse with those who have passed to the other -world. There has been a boundary line and a veil of death placed between -Time and Eternity, mortals and immortals, and it better remain. What I -cannot countenance is that people give up their religion to take up -spiritism. Why the testimony of the spirit of mortal man (admitting that -it may testify) should weigh more than the great Spirit of the Universe, -in whom even the wild Indian believes and whom we designate our Creator, -is to me a strange thing. It is making a religion of spiritism that I -object to.” - -Mrs. Wylie spoke with unusual seriousness and her friend did not -immediately respond. - -“I do not think _I_ believe in making a religion of it either,” she said -after a moment of silence; “but there is so much one does not -understand, and if by actual converse with those who have gone before -and tested the mysteries of the unknown we may learn without doubt of -the life in store for us, it is a satisfaction, to say the least.” - -“But _can_ we know without doubt? Do we know with what we are -conversing? I confess I have seen so much charlatanry I cannot be sure -of anything.” - -“Have you not had experiences in your life, dear Mrs. Wylie, which have -demonstrated to you a psychic power beyond explanation, save by this -theory of spirit force?” - -“Possibly; though I only think of one instance now which might be of -this class,” said Mrs. Wylie reflectively. - -“And may I ask if you will tell me that?” questioned Mrs. Lucien -eagerly. - -“It happened several years ago. I took a sudden determination to visit -my parents, and started immediately, without notifying them of my -coming. Arriving at the station I found my father waiting for me, he -having been impressed with the fact of my coming, in some unaccountable -way; my thought of the early day having been communicated to him by a -sort of mental telegraphy, I imagine.” - -“Ah, yes, there are so many instances of that kind. I have had many -myself. I wonder, sometimes, if I am naturally superstitious. There have -been many peculiar examples of second sight or clairvoyance in our -family. It has been traditional for generations, and proven by -accumulated evidence, that no great calamity can befall any member of us -without forewarning, not alone to the victim, but to the others of the -household. The warning always comes in the same way.” - -“And that is—?” Mrs. Wylie questioned. - -“By a footstep at the door,” continued Mrs. Lucien. “Before any death or -evil to any one of the house we are startled by hearing a footstep come -to the door, step heavily once or twice and then vanish from sound and -sight. If the door is opened no one is visible to mortal eyes. Sometimes -it comes more than once the same evening, and we know the evil is near -at hand.” Mrs. Lucien spoke in a low, soft voice, of indescribable -sadness, as she continued: “It has come to me several times, once before -a trouble worse than death. Ah, and the footsteps were heavy and loud. I -can hear and feel them yet, treading on my very heart. Then they came -again before my darlings died, and I knew there was no hope, no hope -that God would hear my prayer and spare them to me, though they were all -I had. Truly, I can say there is no justice in the heavens. But forgive -me, dear friend, I did not mean to so far forget myself,” she added, -turning her white face toward the little woman, whose eyes were filled -with tears of sympathy. - -“And you have had other children, and lost them? How sorry I am for -you,” cried Mrs. Wylie impulsively. - -“Yes, three; but I do not think of them as lost, only gone before. They -come to me at night and I feel the touch of the tiny hands upon my -forehead—only Freddie, he never comes to me. But I see you are -surprised. As I said before, I have seen much of spiritism, enough to -make me credulous. It is a blessed thought to me that my darlings may be -near me, and that possibly when I am myself more spiritual I may reach -out my hands and grasp their little ones and enjoy more fully their -loved presence. I am glad I may go to hear Dr. Lyman. He may make plain -to me those things I desire to know, may teach me how to make such -things possible.” - -Mrs. Wylie knew not how to respond to her. There was so much about this -theory to which she was opposed. She was disappointed in her friend, and -yet she could not condemn her. She took her leave shortly, wishing Dr. -Lyman at the antipodes. - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE GHOSTS OF THE CABINET - - -“My dear, I have come to invite you to a real materialistic seance,” -said Mrs. Wylie, a few weeks later, as she called at the door of Mrs. -Lucien’s improved lodgings. - -Mrs. Lucien’s eye brightened, and she clasped her hands with childish -naivete. - -“Really?” - -“Yes, really! Mr. Wylie has an especial invitation and tickets given -him, so we shall not feel that we are intruding. He bade me come at once -and tell you, as he knew how much you desired to witness such an -exhibition.” - -“How kind you are, dear Mrs. Wylie. I cannot express how grateful I am -to you for such an opportunity,” said Mrs. Lucien warmly. - -“It is arranged, then; we will call for you at half-past seven this -evening.” And Mrs. Wylie tripped away, feeling that she had at least -given pleasure by the invitation, little as she herself desired to -attend the seance. The lectures of Dr. Lyman, which she had attended to -please her husband, had rather prejudiced her against than converted to -his teaching, and she could not appreciate the interest which her -friends seemed to take in them. As for this seance, she would go that -Mrs. Lucien might have the desired privilege of attending, but her -conscience disapproved of it. - -At the appointed time the trio took a carriage to Scoville Street as -directed, and stopped before a small story-and-a-half house, with an “L” -upon one side, and a broken paling in front. - -“I am bound to investigate everything thoroughly,” said Mrs. Wylie, in a -whisper, as they went toward the house. - -“Certainly, that is your privilege, my dear. I am sure the spirits will -have no objections,” said Mr. Wylie. - -They were met at the door by a grave-looking man, who asked for their -credentials, and when Mr. Wylie had presented his card of invitation -they were ushered into a small square room furnished only by a centre -table holding a lamp, a little old-fashioned carpet lounge standing in -one corner, upon which two or three persons were seated conversing in -subdued tones, and a tall base-burner stove offering warmth to a small -group of people gathered about it. - -No one spoke to the members of our party, who, while warming themselves -by the fire, gazed into an empty room adjoining. This room had only the -light of a single lamp fastened near the ceiling in one corner and -covered and shaded by a Japanese umbrella. A string depended from this -lamp to the cabinet in the opposite corner of the room. An antique, -black hair-cloth tete was near the cabinet, and a carved mahogany stand -stood between the only two windows in the room. The remaining space of -the apartment was taken up by chairs for the invited spectators. - -All these separate details Mrs. Wylie observed and noted. Then she -turned to the man who admitted them. - -“Am I permitted to examine this room?” she asked smilingly. - -“Certainly, madam, we court the most careful investigation in this -matter. Examine thoroughly everything in this room,” and in a solemn -manner he conducted them forward to the cabinet and lifted the curtains -of plain black cloth which hung before it. Rolling these, he threw them -over the top of the pole, that she might enter the cabinet and explore -the interior. - -Mrs. Wylie felt of the wall, which was covered with a faded paper; -tapped it to see if there were closets in the partition, pressed it to -learn if it was movable, examined for cracks or evidence of secret -panels, but could discover nothing. She even examined the carpet and saw -that the tacks holding it to the floor were rusted as if not recently -lifted or changed. She looked under and behind the tete, but could -discover no possible place of concealment in the room. - -“Are you satisfied, my curious Pandora?” said Mr. Wylie, who had been -watching her with a faint, indulgent smile upon his lips. - -“Yes, I find only plain, bare walls, and no visible outlet, save by the -one door through which we entered.” - -“Good! Perhaps your scepticism will vanish after to-night.” - -Mrs. Wylie shook her head and peered again at the ceiling and dependent -lamp. She was prepared for trickery, even if she could not fathom it. - -“Still unconvinced? Oh, most doubting of Thomases!” said Mr. Wylie, with -a gesture of despair. - -“Only cautious and conservative,” whispered Mrs. Lucien. - -“Conservatism, what crimes of doubt and unbelief are committed in thy -name!” responded the other. - -By this time people were beginning to file into the room, until the -chairs were filled. - -Our friends sat down near the door, where the hard-coal fire cast a dim -light into the room, and directly opposite the cabinet. No other light -was left in the room after the entrance of the medium. - -This person, who was tall and large-framed, and who weighed apparently -about two hundred and fifty pounds, walked over to the tete and sat -down. - -“I will sit here for a time, and perhaps we may have a manifestation -before I am under control,” she said. “Will anybody please sing.” - -The spectators began to sing religious hymns, and almost immediately, to -Mrs. Wylie’s astonishment, the curtains parted by invisible power and a -little figure of light, with indistinguishable features, stepped forth. - -“Good-evening, everybody. How do you do?” came from it in a thin, piping -voice. - -Some of those present, who had evidently seen the apparition before, -addressed it as Starlight, and the vision vanished. - -The medium then arose and stepped into the cabinet. No sooner had she -done so than three or four men’s voices were heard speaking together. -One, a Jack Tar, with nautical phrases; another, the guttural voice of -the American Indian, a third that of an educated citizen. - -Some in the audience seemed to recognize and greet the voices. - -After a period of quiet and another hymn the curtains again parted and a -slender woman appeared. No one approached her as she stood before them -and delivered a short oration, the theme of which was “Universal -Progress,” the diction and thought in no wise remarkable. - -She withdrew to give place to another figure, which called a name in a -soft, plaintive voice. - -“Oh, it is my wife!” cried a man in the audience, and he went forward, -and grasping the materialized spirit by the arm, he led her forward -about the room, while she shook hands with other friends who seemed to -recognize her. - -Mrs. Wylie shook in an agony of apprehension. - -“Don’t, don’t let her come near me!” she gasped, while her heart beat to -suffocation. She looked at the white, eager face of Mrs. Lucien, and the -not less interested face of her husband. She clutched him by the arm, -while she grew hot and cold by turns. But the figure turned away before -reaching her, and stepped back into the cabinet. Then several others -came out and were recognized, kissed, and spoken to by friends. - -At length came the figure of a man, who spoke in a faint voice. - -The usher came to the lady sitting next to Mrs. Wylie upon the left. - -“It is for you,” he said. - -The lady arose, went across the room to the cabinet, clasped the figure -in her arms, calling him her dear brother, and when he disappeared came -back to her seat, sobbing and crying bitterly. - -Mrs. Wylie wrung her hands in the pause of darkness and silence which -followed. - -“Oh! Mrs. Lucien, Mrs. Lucien, the next will be for you,” she whispered. -As if to confirm her words a figure of light advanced, so clear, so -luminous, so fair that a suppressed murmur arose from the spectators. It -seemed to float through the air and hover suspended before the cabinet. -Mrs. Lucien had arisen and moved forward with outstretched arms. - -“Mamma, mamma!” a bird-like voice repeated, and fluttering like a bird -in the air the tiny hands brushed the white face of the entranced woman. -Then by its side a second figure appeared, larger but less distinct. For -a moment they hovered flutteringly before her, then disappeared, and the -usher led the now nearly fainting Mrs. Lucien to her seat. - -Another figure appeared, a man. A woman behind Mrs. Wylie arose and went -forward. - -“O Jim!” she cried. - -“I have been so sorry,” a feeble, moaning voice replied, “that I did not -do more for you when in the flesh. I had no opportunity, before I passed -over, to tell you what was in my heart. I realize now that I blighted -your life by selfishly yielding to my appetite. I would undo it all if I -could, but it is too late.” With a groan he disappeared. - -Then a little boy ran out from the cabinet and cried: - -“I want my mash!” - -“Oh, that is little Eddie!” exclaimed a girl from the audience, and she -ran forward to clasp the little figure in her arms. - -At last came a figure of beauty and light, with extended, fluttering -hands and eager face. “This is for you,” said the usher, coming toward -Mrs. Wylie, who felt bound to her chair and unable to move. - -As the man approached her she felt as though her heart ceased to beat, -but she passively suffered him to lead her to the cabinet. - -“Sister, sister,” whispered the little sprite, and its tiny hands sought -to take hers. She felt the soft, cool touch of its hand upon her own, -then drew back with uncontrollable fear. - -“She wants to kiss you,” said the man, but Mrs. Wylie was too terrified -to permit it. Then the figure, so transparent and ethereal, vanished in -the cabinet and again all was darkness. - -When Mrs. Wylie was again seated there was a sound as of rushing wind, -and two little Indian girls came running out of the cabinet. One ran -back. The other called her out again. - -“This is little Moonlight. Come on!” said number one. - -“Good-evening, everybody!” said number two timidly. - -Number one laughed and danced about, while number two ran back into the -cabinet. - -“Dance for us, Starlight,” said a gentleman who seemed to recognize her -as a well-known favorite. - -“Mne! No music,” she said. - -The gentleman began to whistle. - -“No, no good,” cried Starlight. - -Mrs. Wylie could never after account for the influence which prompted -her to lean forward and clap her hands to the time of a waltz, while she -hummed a gay air. - -“Mne! That’s good!” cried Starlight, and her little feet kept time with -the grace of a ballet-dancer. - -“Good-night, good-night, good-night!” she cried, and danced back behind -the curtains of the cabinet, and all was still. - -The audience arose and began to go out of the room, and Mrs. Wylie, with -a dazed, unnatural sensation, turned to her friend. “Am I asleep or -dreaming?” she asked. - -“I feel like asking the same question,” said Mrs. Lucien. “What a -wonderful experience this has been.” - -When they were seated in the carriage, and proceeding homeward, Mr. -Wylie turned to his wife. - -“Well, Nellie,” he said, “what do you think of it?” - -“I think,” responded Mrs. Wylie slowly, “that I was hypnotized.” - -“Hypnotized!” exclaimed Mr. Wylie and Mrs. Lucien in unison. - -“Yes, hypnotized. I began to grow cold and feel so strangely as soon as -that medium sat down there. I think she sat outside long enough to -mesmerize us all. You remember she had them sing to distract our -thoughts.” - -“I must say, Elinor, when you try to be idiotic you succeed a little -better than any one I ever knew before you.” Mr. Wylie looked his -annoyance. - -“But, Horace, if I was not under some influence, why did I sing and clap -my hands for that spirit to dance? Do you think I would have done such -an absurd and unheard of thing of my own volition?” - -“There’s no telling what you might or might not do, Elinor. I confess -you surprise even me very frequently.” - -Mrs. Wylie sighed. It seemed difficult to combat the now apparently -fixed belief of her husband in spirit manifestation. - -“Did you hear the music that seemed to be playing in the air above our -heads from the moment the medium entered the room?” inquired Mrs. -Lucien. - -“No, I did not notice it; did you, Horace?” - -Mr. Wylie shook his head. - -“How strange! I heard the sound of many instruments blending in a -wonderful harmony,” murmured Mrs. Lucien. - -“A further proof that we were hypnotized,” replied Mrs. Wylie. “You, -Mrs. Lucien, were the most susceptible and first brought under control?” - -Mr. Wylie looked disgusted. - -“A proof, Elinor, that you were too frightened to know what was -transpiring about you. I am not surprised that Mrs. Lucien should -perceive harmonies beyond the hearing of our ears, or of less -sensitively organized ones. We were curious, antagonistic, unbelieving. -We were determined not to hear and therefore were deaf to the melodies -which entranced her.” - -“Entranced?” - -“Yes, I think we were all entranced, and made to see or hear anything,” -replied Mrs. Wylie. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - THE FIRE - - “Again has come the Springtime, with the Crocus’s golden bloom, - With the sound of the fresh-turned earth-mould and the violet’s - perfume.” - —Samuel Longfellow. - - -It is the spring of Lissa’s second year in her Nebraska home. Nathan, -through with his winter duties at the post, has become farmer again, and -the prairie, yet gray with the tall wild grass of the previous year, is -black-dotted with patches of newly plowed land, while the upspringing -verdure gives the landscape a gray-green tint of great beauty. - -Lissa has grown to love this Western home, and as we see her now, -tripping about the floor of her humble cabin, there is a maturer look in -her bright face and pliant figure, and though she is paler in cheek and -lip, her smile speaks the joy in her heart. Her neat calico gown is -supplemented by a white cambric apron, and as she critically glances -about her she is a picture of womanly contentment. She is obliged to -make up in swiftness now the time demanded from her work to care for the -little seraph who kicks, squirms, and even cries in her waking hours if -she is not given immediate and undivided attention. Their house has -grown with their family, and a nice little lean-to has been built, -giving an extra room, and Lissa seems to have forgotten to wish for the -spacious walls or wide balconies of her former home. She has as good as -her neighbors, and luxuries are only comparative, after all. It must be -confessed, Lissa is not a little vain of the handsome silver, few pieces -of cut-glass, and dainty napery which were among her wedding gifts, and -which she can now display on occasions to the admiration and envy of her -less fortunate neighbors. Only Alice, of all her neighborhood, can -outshine her in this, but Mark is an army officer, and quite the great -man of the place, and she cannot feel envious of one of the family. - -It is nearly dinner time and baby must be put aside while Lissa prepares -the table. A motherly solicitude shines in her dark eyes as she places -the little autocrat in her crib (a large wicker clothes-basket), puts in -her clutching, uncertain grasp the rubber ring, and turns toward her -work. - - “There, there, baby Lucy, lie still with your toys, - For papa is coming and does not like noise,” - -she sings, in her clear treble. - - “Hush, hush, there’s a deary, or mamma ’ll be weary; - There, there, but a minute, you’ll have to be in it, - Till mamma makes dinner, then baby’s the winner.” - -Thus sings and rhymes the girl-mother, and the cloth is laid in a short -space of time, and few moments later the dignified, manly figure of -Nathan enters. - -“How smoky it is getting outside,” Lissa says as she catches a glimpse -of the atmosphere through the open doorway. - -“Yes, the fires must be making considerable headway across the river. -The smoke is much denser than it was this morning when I began plowing.” - -“You think it is all across the river? No danger of its getting over -here?” Lissa questions, a note of anxiety in her voice. - -“O, no; the river ’ll protect us. I should think Linkwell and Jordan, -over there, would need to start back fires, though.” - -“We’ve been fortunate, this spring, not to have any started on this -side,” Lissa says. - -“Yes, with as much tall, dry grass as there is about. We don’t generally -have any fear of fires at this time of year. It’s the fall when they -rage worst. The spring burning is unusual,” continues Nathan in his -measured speech. “But I suppose some one thought he’d burn off his piece -of ground before plowing, and was careless about it, as we were once -upon a time. His plowed strip may have been too narrow, or the wind too -high.” - -“Oh, one cannot be too careful!” Lissa says with feeling. “I think what -a close call we had when you let me fire the ten-acre lot by the canon, -and all because the sod was not quite overturned on that rocky place at -one corner.” - -“Yes, but I reckon it was a good thing to happen. You wouldn’t have -known how to fight a fire if we had not had that experience. Now if one -should start up you would know what to do.” - -“Yes,” she says reflectively. - -The meal ended, Nathan goes again to his work, which is now upon the -upper end of the farm, nearly two miles from the house, and Lissa, when -the dinner-work is over, sits down to rock her baby to sleep. - -The smoke has become quite dense by this time, and as she looks out -across the river she sees leaping spires of orange-colored flames amidst -the lifting, rolling clouds of smoke. - -“Ah, baby Lucy, we are fortunate not to be over there,” she says, and -clasps the little one more closely while she croons a lullaby. - -Suddenly she is attracted by the strange actions of the family cat, -which has been stretched out upon a rug across the room. Puss darts -across the floor to the window, and placing her forepaws upon the -window-seat, looks out. Then with a look of terror she runs to Lissa, -and crouching at her feet begins to mew piteously. - -“What is it, Menkin?” asks Lissa, putting down her hand to stroke the -creature’s back. The cat darts again to the window, and Lissa, following -her, sees that which blanches her face and lips to chalky whiteness. - -The fire has crossed the river! The wind has carried the burning cinders -even to the nearer bank, and now, only three-quarters of a mile away, -she can see the curling smoke, and tongues of red fire lapping the dry -grass. - -Frantic with alarm, her thoughts work rapidly. She drops her baby into -the basket and rushes out to the well, which, with its buckets, stands -near the house. - -Heavens! How long it seems ere, working desperately, hand over hand upon -the rope, she can bring the filled bucket to the top of the curb. Then -with a pail of water and a gunny-sack she flies across the fields to -meet the oncoming fire. With supernatural strength, evolved from her -terror, with the wet sacking she beats back the ravening flames madly, -frantically, and with all the force of over-strained muscles and -fear-nerved energy she fights the merciless element, until at last, -blinded by smoke, and scorched and blackened, she turns toward the -house, and flies with all the strength left her, her only hope now to -get her baby and run with it to the only haven of safety, the black soil -of the plowed land. - -Snatching her child from its pillow and folding it in her smoke-begrimed -arms she dashes again through the doorway and runs on and on over the -soft earth, until, with many yards of the moist, upturned sod about her, -she pauses and turns her eyes backward toward her humble yet beloved -home. - -With fascinated gaze she watches the flames creep nearer and nearer, now -only like red snakes in the grass, then as the tall weeds catch, like -sheets of scarlet, wound and twisted in smoke-clouds. - -The fire has parted at the place where her frenzied efforts have been -most effective, and one part is sweeping down the side of the road -opposite the house, the other around the barn-yard toward the stables. -She can see the horses corralled beyond the barn, and anticipating their -fate she hides her face in her child’s clothing and sobs. - -She is startled by hearing the sound of galloping horses and looks out -to see a drove of frightened animals come madly down the road ahead of -the flames. Will their instincts guide them toward a place of safety? A -burning stack across the road is adding to the blinding smoke, and she -can see through smarting eyes but a short distance around her. - -“O God! spare the poor creatures tied there and helpless,” she prays. -“Oh, why didn’t I think to loose them?” - -She crouches down over her child and gives away to her grief. Suddenly -she hears steps near her, and glancing up, the pink nose of Puss, her -pony, is thrust into her hand. - -“O you dear creature, how did you get away?” she falters. Then as she -perceives the dragging rope, yet fastened to the up-pulled stake, she -knows what Puss in her fright has been able to accomplish. - -“We all have superhuman strength given us in our time of need,” she -murmurs. She strains her eyes for a glimpse of the burning house, but -the smoke is so painful she is fain to hide her face, while her faithful -horse rubs its head against her as if to assure her of sympathy. - -“Lissa!” cries an anxious voice near her. - -“O Nate! Oh, our poor horses and our home! What shall we do?” - -“I am thankful _you_ are safe, Lissa. I feared you might not remember to -come here soon enough. Keep your eyes covered and crouch down close to -the ground. This smoke from that burning stack is overpowering.” - -“And our burning house and barns! O Nate,” wails Lissa, “those poor, -poor horses!” She bows her head again, and for some moments neither -speak. - -“Lissa, Lissa, look up!” cries Nathan suddenly, his voice thrilling with -a note of exultation. “Our home is safe! Do you hear? Safe!” - -Lissa raises her eyes. The smoke has lifted, and to their surprise and -joy they see revealed to them the buildings standing, unharmed. The -fire, although raging across the road, has let the barrier of only a few -feet, the width of one wagon-track, turn its course, and now, passing -on, has left only a blackened, smoking trail behind it. - -It has passed back of the stables, turned by the yards, and left them -and the horses untouched. - -“It is a miracle, Lissa!” says Nathan devoutly, his slow speech giving -force to his words. “As soon as the turf cools we can go -home,—home—think of it!” - -But Lissa is weeping hysterically. - -“What, crying when the danger is over? This is not the time to cry. What -is it for, little girl?” - -“O Nate, Nate—Nate! I—can’t help it! I—I’m—so happy! I—I’m so glad!” she -sobs. - -“There, there, give me the baby. Your nerves are all unstrung, that is -certain, and small wonder at it. But what’s this? What’s the matter with -your hands? Why, child, they are all blistered and burned. What have you -been doing?” - -“I—I fought the fire,” falters Lissa. - -“My poor child!” - -“I beat it back just as long as I could,” she pants. - -“And divided it, and saved our home! I understand all now,” Nathan -answers in broken tones. - -“No, it was the yards, I think. It was a miracle. I only beat it out up -to the road.” - -“And kept it on that side. But these poor hands must be looked after. -Aren’t they paining you?” - -“I—I haven’t thought of them,” replies Lissa. “How could I when these -poor animals and—and our house were in such danger.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - A NEW MEDIUM - - -“My dear Mrs. Lucien—why, what is the matter?” - -Mrs. Wylie ran hurriedly to her friend’s side, but stopped, frightened -at the unseeing, vacant stare which met her. During the fortnight -intervening since the seance she had met her friend daily, but never had -seen her as now. - -Mrs. Lucien sat by a small sewing-table, her hands resting upon it, her -eyes gazing vacantly into space. Her expression was uncanny in its -fixity, and her hands moved restlessly over the smooth surface before -her. Her aspect was that of one whose outer senses were locked and all -thought and sight turned inward. - -The little Dolores, who had opened the door to Mrs. Wylie, resumed her -position by her mother, her hands resting in her mother’s lap, her -troubled eyes searching her mother’s face. - -Mrs. Wylie, unable to win any response or recognition, stood silent and -frightened, watching the entranced woman. Then her eyes fell upon the -swiftly moving fingers. What was she doing? Surely she was forming -letters—writing. Was it possible? She seemed to see her own name spelled -from the ends of those fingers. Mrs. Wylie had seen such things before -from professed mediums. Suddenly a thought came to her. She detached the -little gold pencil from her watch guard and laid in with her -shopping-tablet on the table before the woman. In a moment Mrs. Lucien -seized the pencil and was writing rapidly, her eyes still fixed and -unseeing. - -When she at last relinquished the tablet Mrs. Wylie took it up, and read -in letters scrawling and unlike the chirography of her friend, the -following: - - - “My dear friend: - -“Why do you hesitate on the dark borders of prejudice and ignorance? Why -not come into the full light of the truth? Our hands would gladly lead -you if you would take them. There is much to believe that is truth; -there is much to reject that is untruth. You accept much untruth. But -you shall soon know all. - - “E. M. B.” - - -What did this meaningless missive prove? That Mrs. Lucien was other than -she seemed? Mrs. Wylie could think of no one having those initials. Ah, -yes. She did have a friend, long ago, by the name of Emma Boyleson. She -could not remember her middle name, or if she had one. It might have -been “M.” But she was dead, died a long while ago, when only a little -more than a child. And why, if it came from her,—Mrs. Wylie’s instincts -denied the possibility,—why should she write such stuff as this? Simply -to mystify her? Could she be mistaken in Mrs. Lucien? Could it be -possible that she was one of those dreaded charlatans? But if so, how -could she have known anything about Emma Boyleson? She had never -mentioned her, so far as she could remember, even to Mr. Wylie. - -She would arouse Mrs. Lucien and sift this affair thoroughly. - -“Mrs. Lucien! Mrs. Lucien!” she said imperatively. - -She was gratified to see a change pass over the woman’s face. Mrs. -Lucien started, shivered, pressed her hands to her forehead. - -“What is the matter, Mrs. Lucien,” again demanded Mrs. Wylie, bending -over her. - -The dazed woman brushed her eyes and looked about her. - -“Have I been asleep?” she asked plaintively. - -“Yes, and writing me a letter in your dreams,” chirruped her visitor -gaily. “Now you may arouse yourself and interpret it for me.” - -Mrs. Lucien shook her head, while the look of awe deepened in her face. - -“Ah, can it be possible,” she murmured, “that Dr. Lyman told me the -truth, and that I am really a medium? How strange it seems, and yet he -promised me it should be.” - -“You a medium?” Mrs. Wylie shrank from her hostess involuntarily. - -“Yes, Dr. Lyman told me I was mediumistic, and that if I would sit down -at just the same time every evening, and allow myself to become entirely -passive I would soon be made the instrument to take and convey the words -of the invisible to the visible. I did not think, however, to obtain -this so soon.” - -“O Mrs. Lucien, how could you lend yourself to such experiments? You -would not deceive me, would you? Tell me truly, did you know what you -were doing when you wrote that message to me?” - -“No more than I know what I do in my sleep. I have a feeling that I have -had dreams, but I cannot recall them.” - -“Did this ever happen before?” - -“I have had this feeling and a partial remembrance of dreams, but I do -not know what I have ever written.” - -“Do you think Dr. Lyman had anything to do with this?” - -“No, only so far as he has assisted in developing me.” - -“What do you mean by that?” - -“I think he exercised some—mesmeric power or influence over me, while in -attendance at his lectures.” - -“You horrify me! And would you continue to go and hear him, when you -knew this?” - -“Why, yes. I hoped he might develop me into a medium. Why should I not?” -Mrs. Lucien’s innocent, dark eyes looked up inquiringly. - -“I think it is dreadful—dreadful! I would not be under his influence for -anything.” - -“But it is not his influence. It is—Oh! I cannot tell you. It is a power -from beyond. Why should I fear to speak to those I love?” - -“I cannot bear to think of it,” Mrs. Wylie said, shivering. “We do not -know to whom we are talking. We have no proof of their identity, and -know not if the power be good or evil.” - -“What, not when we see, as we did a short time ago, the faces of those -we have known and loved here on earth?” - -Mrs. Wylie shook her head. - -“A delusion of the senses!” she said positively. - -Mrs. Lucien gazed pityingly upon her. - -“I am sure, dear Mrs. Wylie, that when we see a photograph taken of a -spirit face we can not doubt its genuineness. Cameras do not lie.” - -“Don’t they? I am not sure. I have heard that people have tried to get -pictures of materialized spirits, and failed. The camera plate reveals -_nothing_, proving the delusions. Did you ever see an authentic -spirit-photograph?” - -“My father did, and I have often heard him tell the story, although he -does not profess to believe in spiritism. He is a member of the Masonic -fraternity, and while in the West, a number of years ago, one of his -brother knights sickened and died. The family had no good portrait of -the man, and my father, who was superintending the funeral arrangements, -obtained permission to get some one to take a picture of the corpse. - -“There was a young lady photographer a few doors away and she was called -in. She told them she was out of negative plates (they were in a country -town where supplies were not readily obtainable) but that any glass -would do. Accordingly she found a pane of window glass, and cut it to -the required dimensions and prepared it otherwise for the holder. My -father propped the man upon pillows as well as he could, and the artist -focused upon him with care. Removing the plate she took it to a dark -closet, previously prepared, to apply the developing solution, and then -brought it forth to show to my father. He looked at it, and exclaimed in -surprise, for instead of the dead man alone, there were three figures -upon the negative, a very good portrait of the corpse, and on either -side a man and a woman, their faces growing more distinct as they -looked. The artist was as much surprised as my father, and could not -account for the phenomenon. At last they called in a friend of the -family, who at once recognized and pronounced the portraits to be those -of a deceased brother and sister of the dead man. The widow corroborated -their statements, recognizing them and calling them by their names. My -father ordered the artist to take another picture, as he wanted to keep -this, and she did so, obtaining one of the dead man alone. I have not -only my father’s word for this, but that of others who were present at -the time and acquainted with the facts. Certainly, dear Mrs. Wylie, that -could have come only from actual materialized spirits before the -camera.” - -“Unless the images were already stamped upon the plate by some natural -process before the picture was taken. The glass might have been some old -cast-off negative from a studio; or I have read of breath pictures -stamped upon window-panes by natural, if not well-understood, forces. -There might have been a mirror behind the dead man, which reflected your -father and the artist as the picture was being taken. Of course it is -very mysterious, but might have a simple explanation if we could find -it. The orientals believe they have astral bodies which they can project -at will. I am willing, I think, to believe in _anything_, rather than -spirits; for, my dear friend, even if we grant that the spirits of our -dear departed are near us, and acting as guardian-angels to us, do you -think it would be necessary for them to resort to so much that is -unpleasant and almost ludicrous in order to make us aware of their -presence? And even if they are able to make themselves visible to the -eye of the camera, is it well for us to try to communicate with them and -to seek to discover that which God has hidden from us?” - -“My dear, we are told to seek for the _truth_. And why, then, is it not -well? Surely, if the presence of my children was dear to me on earth, it -is dear to me now.” - -“Yes, if you were in heaven with them; but I cannot believe such -doubtful converse as this, gotten through mediumistic agency, can be -well for any one.” - -“I can see no possible harm in it,” returned Mrs. Lucien, with an air of -conviction. “Even Christ materialized after his crucifixion.” - -“But He didn’t have a cabinet and a medium to assist Him,” replied Mrs. -Wylie, with some asperity. “There is really so much that is despicable -and demoralizing connected with the history of this belief that I -confess I have little patience with the followers of it.” - -“My dear, wrong has been done in all sects and societies. Any new belief -is apt to draw to itself many who are no honor to it.” - -“But think of all this buffoonery of materialization in a cabinet, and -table-rappings, and tying with cords, and so forth. I cannot believe in -it. Hermann can surpass it by his magic.” - -“Did not Moses and Elijah materialize?” - -“Not in a cabinet. Besides, the days of miracles are passed.” - -“I cannot think so,” said Mrs. Lucien, clasping her hands and looking -upward with a rapturous glance. - -“Well,” said Mrs. Wylie, rising, “I am sorry you are so much interested -in the subject. I have never seen anything but sorrow come of it.” - -“Is there not sorrow everywhere, Mrs. Wylie? This day is, I think, -symbolical of life, or of many lives.” She threw open a window, and the -two stepped out upon a small balcony above the street. - -A heavy calm was over and about all nature. The whistle of the oncoming -train, the rattle of the car over the pavement was louder and more -discordant than on brighter, sunnier days. Even the voices of the people -on the street grew distinct and harsh, as the air, damp with the -approaching storm, bore their words with clearness to the twain above -them. - -Little gusts of wind caught up the dust from the trampled pavement, and -whisked it over, in tyrannous derision, and a dusky, yellow hue shone -upon the faces of humanity. The swinging signs before the shop creaked -and groaned ominously, and the flag upon the tall pole in the park shook -out its folds, then wound them about the halyards and hung limp and -spiritless. - -The faint muttering of a cloud skirting the horizon was at times heard, -when the sound of busy humanity was for a moment hushed. - -Mrs. Lucien stood, leaning over the railing of the veranda, her pale -cheek resting in the soft upturned palm of her hand, and her eyes fixed -on the moving panorama before her. - -“I feel as though listening to the voice of God coming from yonder -storm-cloud,” she said. “How responsive is all nature to the ominous -warning there. Even the trees seem to be holding their breaths and -waiting for the presence to pass by. Notice how different is the quiver -of the leaflets now from their usual merry, rollicking dance in the wind -and sunshine at other times.” - -“I suppose the atmosphere is more dense and heavy,” said Mrs. Wylie, -determined not to be betrayed into sentimentality. - -“I like to think they understand the portent of the thunder and are -afraid,” replied the other. “They are saying their prayers now, and -asking that they may survive the blows and buffeting of the coming -tempest. Hear the sparrows chirp to call their families together. To me -there is no time so grand, so inspiring as this.” - -“But if you were in the West, where cyclones are common, what would you -feel?” asked the practical Mrs. Wylie. - -“Fear, terror, and trembling like the leaves, no doubt,” replied Mrs. -Lucien. “The anger and fury expressed in a tornado must be dreadful. I -shudder at the thought of it. But after the wind comes a still small -voice. Ah, how can people who live and breathe the beneficent air of -heaven, who witness the wonderful phenomena of nature, say or believe -there is no grand, marvelous unity controlling it all? Truly, it _is_ -the fool who sayeth in his heart, there is no God. - -“We can feel His wonderful love and care in the beautiful earth and -flowers about us, can perceive His righteous law in the retributive -justice of all nature, and His might and omnipotence in the -thunder-storm and cyclone. Ah, it is a wonderful thing to live, to know -that in a little while we shall have crossed to the other side, beyond -time and eternity. And then we may see and know the Law-giver, this -Almighty One, who carries worlds in his hands, yet deigns to note a -sparrow’s fall.” - -“Yes,” assented Mrs. Wylie, “it is a wonderful thing to live.” But she -sighed. She could not forget the scene that presented itself to her eyes -earlier in the morning, and she bade her friend good-by abstractedly, -and passed out into the hurrying world upon the street, her mind heavy -and oppressed. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - A DOMESTIC JAR - - -Mrs. Wylie went back to her home in a very dissatisfied frame of mind. -She mentally scourged herself for having been instrumental in bringing -Mrs. Lucien under Dr. Lyman’s influence. The whole subject was -distasteful to her and she resolved to keep away from Mrs. Lucien as -much as possible in the future. She could not rest, however, until she -had unburdened herself to her husband. - -“Horace, I am very sorry we ever met Mrs. Lucien,” she said that evening -as they sat in the quiet of their parlor at the hotel. - -“Regret meeting Mrs. Lucien?” Mr. Wylie raised his eyebrows quizzically. -“And why, may I ask? Am I to infer that you do me the honor to be—” - -“No, no, of course not. But—I feel that we have done her harm—an -incalculable amount of harm.” - -“We do her harm? Will you be so kind as to explain your anomalous words? -I am not accustomed to think of myself as a dangerous character, either -specially or as regards the body-politic,” he replied, frowning. - -“I mean that, by our aid, she went to hear Dr. Lyman, and I am afraid -his pernicious theories will ruin her,” faltered Mrs. Wylie, as she -detected her husband’s disapproval. - -“My dear, I would have you choose your adjectives more carefully. -Pernicious is an offensive word to use in connection with a subject of -which you know so little. Oblige me by deferring your judgment until you -are better acquainted with the subject. Your blind prejudice is making -you censorious.” Mr. Wylie employed his most lofty tone and manner. - -“I never want to know more of the subject, and I shall always regret -that I ever went or took Mrs. Lucien to hear that man!” Mrs. Wylie’s -blue eyes filled with tears. - -“Why, see here, Puss, you seem more out of humor than usual. What has -happened to Mrs. Lucien?” - -“Matter enough! She is entirely carried away with that—that Dr. Lyman’s -creed,” she stammered. - -“Perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me where she has gone,” he suggested -with serio-comic gravity. - -Mrs. Wylie smiled through her tears. - -“O, she is here yet, at least in body, but her mind is up in the clouds -roving around after familiar spirits. She was in some kind of a trance -when I went there to-day, and wrote me a letter purporting to come from -some mystical source.” - -“Ah?” Mr. Wylie became interested. - -“It didn’t amount to anything. The whole thing was dreadful.” - -“Why dreadful? Did you keep the letter?” - -“Yes, here it is upon my shopping-tablet.” She detached the ivory -ornament and handed it to him. He studied it carefully, then said: - -“And she was unconscious when she wrote this, you say?” - -“Yes, apparently.” - -“Strange, strange. It is as I thought. Mrs. Lucien will develop into a -writing medium. It is such ethereal natures as hers that are chosen.” - -“But, Horace, I cannot endure the thought of such a thing.” - -“And why not, pray?” Again his eyebrows were exasperatingly elevated. - -“Because there is no good in it. Because it will ruin her, body and -soul. Whoever goes into that belief does so at his peril. He either -becomes insane or helplessly demoralized before many months or years.” - -“Where have you learned so much, Mrs. Wylie? It appears to me I have -never seen you so much excited over anything before. Who has been -talking to you?” - -“I heard Mr. Smalley’s address at church last Sunday evening, which you -would not go to hear. He said it was a most pernicious and dangerous -theory to follow. That it led to—” - -“O, I know. It is the wholesale condemnation of heterodoxy by orthodoxy. -It is believe what I believe or be damned. All else is of the Devil. It -has been the habit of most people since the world began to denounce as -heresy, or ridicule as madness, things too high for their sight or too -deep for their comprehension. But the day has gone by for this sort of -thing. It is merely a confession of ignorance, now-a-days, to assert a -total disbelief in psychic and supernatural phenomena.” - -“But, Horace, there is much fraud and trickery connected with it. Think -of that exposé last winter of that Mrs. Brunner.” - -“O, that is liable to happen in any creed or theology. There are always -some who make pretensions from merely selfish motives.” - -“But, Horace, this is no theology. That is what I think so dreadful -about it. If people would only not make a religion of it and accept the -utterance of the so-called spirits for their guide in spiritual maters.” - -“It seems to me spirits should be good guides in spiritual matters,” -said Mr. Wylie, smiling. - -“Horace, Mr. Smalley said that, as a rule, false religions always led to -sexual immorality; that we would find the history of spiritism -associated with divorces and worse. Husbands separating from their -wives, wives from their husbands, minds becoming unbalanced, business -neglected, and a general lowering of the whole social fabric, mentally -and morally. You know, Horace, many spiritists are free-lovers.” - -“I am surprised that my wife has permitted herself to listen to such -utterances. Hereafter, I prefer you do not go to hear Rev. Mr. Smalley. -I will take you with me.” - -“And I will _not_ go with you to any more of those horrid seances!” said -Mrs. Wylie. - -“Very well. I shall not compel you to do so. But this childish anger and -lack of self-control is very distasteful to me. I hope I may not have a -repetition of it.” Mr. Wylie arose and left the room, while his wife -threw herself upon a sofa and shed tears of anger and grief over this -experience of marital infelicity. - -A small wedge may divide in halves a tree, but when divided no power on -earth can unite them as closely as before; and little cracks in the soil -of home life may form a place for germ deposits in which dissensions, -strife, and all manner of unpleasantness are bred. - -Mrs. Wylie would not have confessed to her dearest friends that her life -the succeeding winter was less happy than before, but it was true she -felt a growing estrangement between herself and husband. - -He was, possibly, as kind and indulgent as ever, treating her as a fond -parent might treat a wayward child, but she missed the old-time -confidences and evening talks. - -Probably there had never been that true unity of soul with soul that -should constitute the real marriage, but Elinor Wylie’s husband had -always seemed so proud of her, and fond, that until this winter she had -felt no lack in his affection. But, alas, so small a thing will turn and -divide a shallow stream, and when turned, how far apart the separate -branches may run. And the ideal marriage of true unity of thought and -purpose is so rarely consummated. Hence the world of divided lives. - -Mrs. Wylie felt that they were drifting away from each other, and every -wife knows what that may be. To feel the division growing wider and -wider, deeper and more impassable, and be impotent to stop it. - -The little coolnesses and differences which are at first made up with -kisses of cementing power grow more frequent and bitter. The endearing -word is less frequently given. By and by the good-by kiss is forgotten -when he leaves her, the salute of greeting omitted when he returns, and -each heart grows harder and harder, bitterer and bitterer, until at last -he thinks of her but to censure and condemn, she of him but to dislike -and fear. And finally, as Byron writes, “Hating one another, wishing one -another dead, they live respectably as man and wife.” - -Only the first act of this drama of life had as yet come to Mrs. Wylie, -but the little imp of unrest had crept into her breast, and the quiet -happiness of other days was no more. Horace Wylie spent less time at -home than formerly, and when there buried himself in books and papers, -and thus the little woman was left much to herself to seek pleasure and -excitement where she could. - -The one thing which caused Mrs. Wylie more heart-ache than any other was -her husband’s growing interest and adherence to the creed of Dr. Lyman. -Although that subject was tabooed between them, she knew he regularly -attended seances during the winter and no longer even asked her to -accompany him. - -Mrs. Wylie was grievously disappointed in Mrs. Lucien and went less -frequently to see her, for she knew her friend had been led into giving -public seances, and as a writing medium and psychometrist was being much -talked of in the city and sought after by a certain set, many of whom -Mrs. Wylie felt she would not care to acknowledge as acquaintances, -although they belonged to a psychical society or club of which Mr. Wylie -was a member. This club had made much of Mrs. Lucien and brought her -before the public. - -Hence, Mrs. Wylie, being left to her own resources, went more in -society, was gayer, more extravagant and fashionable than ever, and -little Robert was left more and more to the care of the remarkable -Tibby. - -Tibby grew and waxed beautiful, and became more and more a fact and -factor in Mr. Wylie’s household. She was no longer only nurse to the -child, but companion and friend to Mrs. Wylie. It was Tibby’s fingers -that brushed away the headache brought on by social dissipation. It was -Tibby’s sympathy and advice that soothed away the little vexations that -sometimes distressed her mistress. Mrs. Wylie would as soon have thought -of giving up little Robert as this Tibby who had grown into her heart -and love. Even Mr. Wylie was not insensible to the charm of her -presence. He began to treat her more as a daughter of the house and -indulge her in any whim or fanciful taste she might entertain. - -Truly, Tibby was in a fair way to become spoiled, according to his -earlier theories; but Mr. Wylie seemed to have forgotten those early -fears, and now helped in the spoiling. - -And thus, when Mr. Wylie’s business required his removal to the Pacific -slope, Tibby went with this family of her adoption, secure in her -present and future needs. - -And there, among strangers and strange scenes she was known as the -adopted daughter of the wealthy Mr. Wylie. Teachers were procured for -her, and a broader culture and further accomplishments were added to the -native graces of our little country girl. - -Tom and Bess became pleasant memories of that past which now seemed to -Tibby so far away, and though she laughed and shed tears occasionally -over their misspelled and somewhat illegible letters, she no longer -pined for the companions of her childhood. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - BEFORE THE PUBLIC - - -The large hall of the Lennox is filled with a curious and heterogeneous -assemblage of men and women. The majority of those present are believers -in spiritism, and ready and more than willing to credit all the -phenomena witnessed to spirit agency. A few are there who came in the -honest endeavor to learn the truth and to discover if there is something -in the mystic realms beyond the sight which may be made clear to their -comprehension. There are others, however, who came with malice -aforethought, desiring to thwart and expose the trickery which they -believe is practised by the medium. - -Before all this multitude she whom we have called Mrs. Lucien appears to -give an exhibition of psychometric reading and slate-writing. - -She has changed slightly since we saw her. She is even thinner and more -ethereal looking than she was then. Her eyes have a pained, timid look -in them, as if the life she is leading is fraught with haunting ghosts -and mocking spectres, with tortured nerves and sleepless nights. Mrs. -Lucien has had much to cause her extreme dejection and pain. - -These exhibitions which she gives are for the most part but as dreams to -her. She has little realization of what she says or does in the trance -state into which she passes. But it has happened once or twice that she -has been unable to become fully passive and entranced. Then she has been -obliged to simulate such a condition or wholly disappoint her audience -and make an utter failure of her work. It is the fear of this deception, -to which she may be compelled to resort at any time, which frightens her -and fills her with self-loathing. - -She has that fear upon her now as she comes forward and sits down before -the audience, her pale face waxen in the gaslight. - -If she should fail! She sits very still, seeking to hold her thoughts in -abeyance, that she may woo that sweet forgetfulness and waking dream -which reveals to her the mysteries of the invisible. - -It is coming. - -Her hands grow cold and sink weightily upon her lap. She feels the -mystic power enveloping her, creeping down, over and around her. The -lights grow dimmer and dimmer. Her eyelids are freighted with leaden -compresses. - -Soon eyes and ears are closed to all external sights and sounds. Strange -melodies, fitful and harmonious, sound within, and strange lights, like -electric sparks, flash across and illumine the recesses of her brain. - -She feels as if mind and body had become separate and apart. Thoughts -new and uncalled for come to overwhelm her. Then voices from out of the -distance are heard. Words, words come in numbers, half-consciously to -her lips, but she hears them as afar off. She sees with closed eyes, and -in this inner vision message after message written out before her. - -Words written upon a scrap of paper and crushed in her hand stand out in -bright distinctness before her mental vision. Words in languages other -than those she speaks are known to her. She forgets them as soon as -uttered. No—hark! “Tell Harry his mother is waiting for him.” - -Did her lips utter those words? She cannot tell. Words, words, -words—where do they come from? She is under control. No power or -volition of her own consciousness moves her. Songs, sweet songs, she -hears. Does she sing them? Is she out of mortal life or in it? - -It is over! - -The world in which she has been living floats away like evanescent smoke -in ether-filled space. She awakens to the unfriendly glare of the -foot-lights, the restless, garish crowd, the unfeeling world again. - -Ugh! She shudders. If she could never more waken. Whence comes this -pain, this actual pain which racks her? - -Even that is over at last, and she can arise and escape from it all. How -gladly she would shut herself up in her own little room with Dolores -again. But it must not be. The five dollars a night for these -exhibitions must be earned and laid by for Dolores. - -She puts on her wraps and enters her carriage to be whirled away to the -hotel, her temporary abiding place. What are her thoughts and -reflections upon this lonely, homeward ride! - -“O God, O God!” she is saying; “show me some other way! Am I wrong, -wicked to do this? Where does it come from, this power? From Thee or -from the shades of darkness? If I only knew! If I only knew! Why did it -ever come to me? Why should my life be so differently ordered from that -of other and happier women? Can it be I am the same who was once safe -and sheltered in the comforts of home? Safe? Did not the serpent enter -my Eden—even there? - -“O God! why did it come? Can this life be real? If I could but waken and -find it all a dream.” - - - - - CHAPTER XV - WELCOME GUESTS - - -We will pass over the first few years of Lissa’s pioneer life, only -mentioning one or two experiences which, though common to that section -of the country, brought terror and anxiety to the heart of our little -bright-eyed woman. Again they experienced the sweeping of a prairie fire -near them, when Nathan came expecting to find their home in ashes, and -another hour when a blizzard drove them terrorstricken to their dug-out, -where, during the long night, they listened to the shrieking and -pounding of the elements, expecting every moment to have the roof torn -from the house. - -There had been seasons of famine and distress, too, when neighbors had -been obliged to turn to each other for aid, and the higher and diviner -attributes of mankind had shone forth as gold from the crucible, and -others, alas! had been proven so encased in the rock of selfishness that -when Famine’s gaunt wolf howled about they thought only of themselves -and their own safety, and consoled their consciences by quoting, -“Charity begins at home.” - -But these trials had drawn the little community more closely together, -and the habit of calling each other by the first name became general, -showing the unity of feeling among them. - -Nathan, owing to his winter employment, escaped the privations common to -many, and Mark, also, had not to depend upon the mutability of the -seasons for a livelihood. - -Lissa had grown fully in the enjoyment of her home; and in the company -of her bright-eyed little daughter, who pattered about the house, adding -to her joy as well as care, she realized the ideal life of a mother. -What is it to her that away in the East the luxuries of life are -magnified, and things unessential to her are there necessities? - -She has enough to eat, enough to wear, so far as comfort demands; and -the fashion periodical which is sent to her each month keeps her in -touch with the outside world. She can fashion the simple fabrics which -serve to replenish her wardrobe after the latest modes. She reads the -daily papers, sent to her in bundles six or eight at a time, and is -familiar with the doings of metropolitans. If the time shall ever come -when she shall need to go back to city life she will be ready. - -Look at her now as she steps to the door in anticipation of Nathan’s -home-coming. Her shining ringlets hang about her fair face in the way -her husband loves best to see them; her arched, short upper lip -describes the Cupid’s bow over the full under one, and her large, -luminous black eyes, gleaming with slumbering fires, look out upon the -smooth, sunlit expanse before her. She is a beautiful and charming -picture of a happy and contented wife. - -A half hour later Nathan entered and greeted the little woman tenderly, -while he noted with the eye of love the pallor of the upturned face. - -“I am afraid the care of baby and all is getting to be too much for you -again,” he said. “I must get Neoka back from the post to help you. I -think she will prove more tractable, now the Quakers have had her in -charge so long. I want you to get out more. You are getting to look too -much like a cellar plant. Besides, we have visitors coming and I want -you to have time to enjoy them.” - -Lissa’s eyes dilated eagerly. - -“O Nate, it can’t be—Who is it? It _can’t be_—_mamma_?” - -“Yes, dear, and Donald.” - -“Mamma and Donald? But how did they come together? Where are they? O -Nate, I don’t understand!” And Lissa pressed her hand to her heart. - -“There, there, dear. Don’t get excited. I’m afraid I’ve told you too -suddenly. Your mother stopped with Alice to have me come on and let you -know. They’ll be here after a little while. Donald is out tethering the -ponies, and waiting, for the same reason.” - -“O Nate, now I’m entirely happy!” And Lissa caught up the child and -laughed and cried while she kissed it ecstatically. - -“Hello, sis! Aren’t you embracing the wrong one? You might save a little -for the rest of us.” Lissa looked up to see Donald’s laughing face -framed in the doorway. She extended both hands to him. “O Don, I’m so -happy, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!” she gasped, her tears -mingling with her smiles. - -“Well, Lissa, I don’t actually know which is the more becoming to -you—perhaps both. I always did like April weather. You are fully as -dazzling as a rainbow now. It was rather bad for us to come and surprise -you, that’s a fact; but I knew you wouldn’t mind me, and Nathan tells me -you didn’t receive your mother’s letter.” - -“No, and I’m glad I didn’t. I could never have waited for her to get -here; no, _never_! I should have started alone across the prairies, -horseback, to meet her. But how changed you are, Don. You look so much -taller and bigger, and—my!—so much older!” - -“Ah, it’s the added wisdom of my college years,” replied Donald with -assumed gravity. “That’s what ages a fellow. It’s the Greek and Latin -that you see sticking out all over me that has changed me.” - -Lissa looked up into the smiling eyes of this big brother and wondered -if it was those four years of hard study that had so chiseled and -thinned the boyish face of her remembrance. - -“I suspect that mustache is responsible for some of the change,” she -said aloud. - -“So? Shall I shave it off? It’s an outgrowth of _calculus_.” - -“No, you’re all right as you are. I’m not sure but you’re improved.” - -“O, that morsel of flattery is sweet, at last, and I’ve been fishing for -it so long,” said Donald, with an expansive sigh. “I rather expected you -to say at once, ‘how much handsomer you’ve grown!’” - -“I am very glad I did not say it,” said Lissa, with a grimace. “But I -see mamma coming. Excuse me, Donald, I must run to meet her!” and Lissa, -with all the abandon of a school-girl, ran down the path to meet the -stately mother, whose tears were ready to mingle with those of her -beloved child. And when, a few moments later, Lissa came in clinging -fondly to the maternal arm, the crimson flush of excited pleasure in her -cheeks, the intervening years seemed to have been stricken out and one -saw but the girl of sixteen who so trustingly gave her future into -Nathan’s care and bade good-by to Donald in his Iowa home. - -But there is little Lucy to be shown to grandma, and kissed and -commented upon, and the tea is cold, and the cakes in danger of being -spoiled before Lissa is recalled to her duties as hostess. - -“Ah, Donald, dear, I shall let you all starve, I am sure, before I can -bring myself down to such mundane affairs as bread and butter again. How -delightful this is. I didn’t know I was homesick before, but now I think -I must have been. But how did you happen to be with mother, Don?” she -babbled. - -“Our meeting was ‘purely accidental,’ as the fiction writers say. I saw -her at the station and heard her inquiring for a carriage to bring her -out here, and so I made bold to introduce myself. Of course she saw at a -glance the honesty in my face, and knew I was a confidence man—” - -“Oh, oh!” cried Lissa. - -“And I told her I was a poor navigator bound for the same harbor and we -set sail together,” Donald concluded. - -Mrs. Clyne nodded. “That is true, notwithstanding Mr. Bartram’s rather -mixed metaphor,” she said, smiling. - -“Ah, how strangely it happened, and fortunately. And now you will spend -the winter with us; and you, too, I hope, Donald.” - -“I have to take charge of a surveying party for a few weeks. After that -I may be back to spend some time here.” - -“Ah, yes, I remember you are a civil engineer. You will enjoy the -hunting in the winter on the buffalo grounds.” - -“Not hunting buffalo, I hope. At the rate they are being slaughtered -they will soon be extinct,” said Nathan. - -“Never fear, Nathan, I’ve little taste that way. It’s too noble an -animal,” replied Donald. - -“Come, now, I have made new tea, and we will have supper. It’s _supper_ -here, mother, instead of _dinner_, and I know you are all ravenously -hungry after your long ride of twenty-five miles from the station.” - -“It seems to me an extremely long distance to be from a railway,” said -Mrs. Clyne, after they were seated around the table, where Lissa’s -silver shone resplendent. “How did you happen to come so far from one -when you bought?” - -Nathan smiled. - -“I took up the land first, believing at the time the line would run -nearer, and it is only a question of time when it will do so.” - -“I suppose this is a great farming country.” - -“We have much to contend with here,” said Nathan. “The ground is rich, -but has little depth. We are liable to have a wind-storm that will carry -the land from one farm to another.” - -“Free transportation and exchange of farms,” said Donald. - -“Yes; again, we have a fine crop of grain or corn nearly in ear, when -there will come a hot wind and sear the leaves like a fire. We are never -quite sure, or able to prognosticate here for the future, whether we -will have corn, beans, and potatoes to eat, beans and potatoes, or -whether it will be beans alone.” - -“And you sometimes have real fires,” said Mrs. Clyne. “I have worried -about them ever since the one you wrote me about, which Lissa fought. -How did you do it, dear?” - -“Really, I don’t know. I was so frightened that I didn’t have time to -think. The grass was not so high on this side of the river or I don’t -know what might have happened.” - -“Lissa aided in turning the fire. I doubt if it would have spared us -otherwise,” said Nathan. - -“I shall always believe it a real miracle that time,” said Lissa. “It -was only a day or two before that that Nathan had brought the calves -around to crop the grass before the house. Had it not been for that, it -surely would have burned. And who inspired him to bring them just when -he did?” - -“I think you all learned something that time,” said Alice. “You have -since followed Mark’s example and kept the grass cut around the house. -But there’s always danger in the fall, when the weeds are high in the -outlying fields.” - -“When Mr. Elmer’s house was burned it was nearly as terrifying. Nathan -was thirty-five miles from home, and men came across the fields and -lighted back fires for me. The wind was driving the flames up from the -south and burning corn-fields and houses by the way,” Lissa said. - -“How dreadful! You sometimes have it very cold here also,” said Mrs. -Clyne. - -“Yes, but we are used to that, and our houses are warm. Don’t worry -about that, mother.” - -“Certainly not, I can stand it if you can, I am sure. But how are you -off socially? Have you pleasant neighbors?” - -“Yes, indeed, and neighbors are neighbors, here. We call each other by -the first name,—that is, most of us do,—and we are not above borrowing -from one another when necessary.” - -“I should think not,” laughed Alice. “We have often loaned our dresses -and shoes.” - -“And that isn’t all.” And then the twain looked at each other and -laughed again. - -“I don’t see how you ever became accustomed to it, girls. You were -brought up to such a different life,” Mrs. Clyne remarked. - -“O, it’s easy, just as easy as learning to skate,” responded Lissa, not -finding at hand any more suitable comparison. “It comes to one naturally -in a little time.” - -Mrs. Clyne shook her head. “I’m afraid it wouldn’t come to me. I’m too -old.” - -“O, now mother, don’t think that. You’ll really enjoy it. And we have -some really nice people here. The McClearys, for instance; and the -Davitts and the Youngs and the Garretts. Then we _know_ every one for -miles away, and intimately.” - -“Yes,” said Alice, “we know all the private affairs of each other. If -Mrs. Garrett gets a new dress all the neighbors know of it, and if I -have company to tea, or make plum butter, it is known from here to C——” - -“Ah, it’s all beyond me,” Mrs. Clyne sighed. - -“And when we visit one another we take our work along and stay to tea,” -giggled Lissa, “whether we are invited or not.” - -“And just think, mother, I have been in a carriage but once or twice -since we came here. I always go horseback,” added Alice. “And -Donald,—I’m sure you’ll allow me to follow our custom out here and call -you so, as you are one of the family,—the young folks go ‘sparking’ out -here, and—” - -“And sit in the corner and hold each other’s hands,” put in Nathan. - -“Whew, that sounds interesting. I’m booked for at least one winter here. -Are the girls pretty?” - -“Most assuredly, and there are heaps of them, as we say here. There are -more girls than boys, for some reason. Really I don’t know of more than -half a dozen marriageable young _men_ in this section.” - -“I suppose with so much land in sight they preempt a portion and marry -to live upon, and secure it,” said Donald. “But who are the girls?” - -“Well, there are the Pemberton twins, who look so exactly alike you -could never tell which was which,” continued Alice. - -“That sounds interesting! Two fair ones must be better than one. Shall I -put a mem. in my note-book concerning them?” - -“It will not be necessary. You will see them soon enough, and will -rarely see one without the other. They are quite the rage, and have -cropped yellow curls, and milky blue eyes.” - -Donald lifted his eyebrows quizzically. - -“Lissa is such a fine word photographist, one can see their very image,” -he said. - -“Come, Don, leave the women to their gossip and come with me,” said -Nathan. “I want a history of the old home since you were here.” And the -two men sauntered out into the night and the wonderful silence of the -moonlit prairie. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE - - -Among the visitors at Lissa’s home was one whom she at first received -with scant hospitality, if not actual discourtesy. This was Professor -Russell. - -How he had chanced to come to their neighborhood she never knew. He had -accompanied her husband home from the post one evening, and the dismay -she felt at the sight of him had not been easily disguised. - -Why he should have sought them was a question that often returned to her -as the months brought frequent visits from him, sometimes prolonged into -weeks of sojourn in the neighborhood. Sometimes for months nothing would -be seen of him, then suddenly he would appear like a dangerous comet, -bringing a feeling of uneasiness to Lissa, wherefore she could not have -told. - -When inquired of as to his wanderings and uncertain appearances, he -always said he had been in the East, but added no further account of -himself. - -Lissa at first distrusted and disliked him instinctively. His bland, -insinuating manner was thrown away upon her, she told herself. - -And yet she feared him too much to refuse him admittance to her home. -Since that night when, at the house of Squire Bartram, he had so -accurately described her brother-in-law’s encounter with the Sioux she -had not doubted his power of divination or clairvoyance, or whatever the -faculty might be termed. But it was an uncanny, unpleasant power, and -she felt a shudder of superstitious terror whenever he approached her. - -She would have been glad of any justifiable pretext to keep him from -visiting them, and was happy when the weeks would roll by without his -appearing among them. - -This feeling, however, gradually wore away in some measure as she became -more accustomed to his presence, and as her sister, and later her -mother, became interested in his theories, she began to tolerate with -more patience his teaching of spiritism. - -He held frequent seances in the neighborhood, and many of the families -about her had become more or less interested in the doctrines, few of -them openly opposing them and their teacher, except her handsome -brother-in-law, Mark Cramer. He was outspoken in his condemnation of -both the man and his _ism_. - -One mild November afternoon, when the sisters and mother were together -at Lissa’s home, the name of a sister who had died in infancy was -mentioned. - -“If,” said Alice, “there is any truth in Professor Russell’s -communications, I would like to have him bring me word from Elsie. No -one here, not even Mark, knows of her having existed, as we so rarely -mention her.” - -Lissa assented, and observed that it was the anniversary of her death, -the thirteenth of November. - -Before they had finished their conversation upon the topic they were -startled by a rap at the outer door and Lissa opened it to see the -ubiquitous Professor himself, who, after shaking hands with the sisters -and Mrs. Clyne, seated himself, and without asking for either Nathan or -Mark, observed suavely: - -“As both of your husbands are to be at home to-day, I called to see if -we might not invite in some of the neighbors and hold a seance this -evening.” - -“But Nathan is absent,” said Lissa, “and will not be home until -Saturday.” - -“And Mark is out upon the plains, forty miles from here,” added Alice. - -The Professor smiled indulgently. - -“They are both coming home and will be here before evening,” he said -with an air of assurance. - -The three women exchanged glances. Was this but talk, or did he have the -power of unveiling the future as well as the past? Or did he -clairvoyantly see Nathan and Mark directing their course thither-ward? - -“You speak with conviction, Professor,” Lissa at length replied. “Have -you received intelligence from the absent ones which is not known to -us?” - -“That which I see, ye cannot now perceive,” the man said sententiously. -“Yet the time is coming when you as well shall have the power to lift -the veil which hides the dreaded unknown and learn the mysteries which -are only revealed to those who are willing to seek in the right manner -and submit themselves to the spirit influences which surround them. You -can never know, Mrs. Clyne, the peace you will experience when you have -ceased to resist and rebel against the gentle influences which seek only -to promote your happiness and well-being. There is one angelic form now -hovering about you and anxiously striving to win recognition from those -so near and dear to her when on earth.” - -“Can you tell her name,” questioned Lissa, as the man, with his eye -fixed upon the opposite wall, paused and seemed wrapped in thought. - -“It is a woman, young and beautiful. She must be a near relative. Her -name is E-l-s-i-e—Elsie.” - -Alice looked at her mother with awe-shaded eyes. Whence did this man’s -knowledge come? It was certainly remarkable. He could not have known -Elsie. - -Further speculation or conversation was arrested by the sound of a -horse’s feet outside the door, and in a moment the handsome, smiling -face of Mark Cramer appeared. His curling, yellow hair hung in womanish -profusion to his powerful shoulders, over which a large soft hat rested -becomingly. His hunting costume of gray, with belt and pistols, spoke of -his wild, free life; and his clear blue eyes, florid complexion, and -Herculean frame made a magnificent picture of manly strength and -perfection, as for a brief time he stood framed in the open doorway -against the back-ground of the setting sun. - -A moment later, and Alice, with a little cry of welcome, sprang to greet -him. The Professor aroused himself from his semi-trance, and Mrs. Clyne -and Lissa were extending their hands and expressing surprise at his -coming. - -“How did you chance to come home so much earlier than you expected?” -Alice asked radiantly, when the greetings were over and they were -seated. “We did not look for you for a fortnight.” - -“We lost one of our men, Wish-has-ta, and as he was to marry Enona, -daughter of the chief, when he returned, we thought it our first duty to -look him up, and so started back to see what had become of him.” - -“And did you find him?” - -“Well, yes, in town. He had become separated from us by buffalo. The mad -little mustang he rode kept along with the herd, in spite of him, for -several miles, or until at last he came to a ravine and managed to fall -into it. He narrowly escaped being trampled to death as the herd went -over him, but he got out with only a few injuries. He lost his pony, -however, and instead of following us, made his way back to camp. He left -word at C—— that he was safe, as he knew we’d be looking for him.” - -“And did you see Nathan,” asked Lissa. - -“Yes, he’ll be home to-night too. I came into C—— early and called at -his place of business. That’s a fine place Nathan has, with the Major. -Good pay and light duties. Much better than his position at the post.” - -“Yes, only it keeps him away from home more. And so you will both be -here to-night after all. Professor Russell, you have in this case proven -a true prophet.” - -“I trust I am in every case,” he replied, with an expressive gesture of -the hand. “I do not rely upon lying spirits for my information.” - -“Well,” said Lissa, not perceiving Mark’s frown of disapproval, “if we -have a seance here to-night we must get word to our neighbors.” - -“I will myself go and call Mrs. McCleary and good Auntie Dearborn,” said -Russell, “and will get word to the Jenkinsons and Sol Garrett, if you -wish.” - -“Be sure and have Esther McCleary present,” said Mrs. Clyne. “I am -greatly interested in that girl.” - -“Certainly; no meeting would be complete without her,” responded -Russell, bowing himself from the room. - -“Esther will not come if she can avoid it,” said Alice after the -Professor had gone. “She feels deeply mortified because of the -exhibition she was forced to make of herself at Mr. Jenkinson’s. She -herself has no faith in spiritism, even though her mother is so absorbed -in it.” - -“Poor girl, I pity her,” Lissa said. “It is a shame the way her mother -misuses her. Letting her have all the care of that large family, while -she sits in her easy chair and holds communion with spirits, as she -claims.” - -“Was she always like that,” asked Mrs. Clyne. “I confess she impresses -me as being just a little out,” tapping her forehead significantly. - -“She was quite an invalid when she first came here,” replied Lissa, “and -of course the burden of household care fell upon Esther, and since Mrs. -McCleary has been in better health she does not seem inclined to -shoulder responsibility of any kind, and Esther is cook, housekeeper, -and nurse to those children, as entirely as though she were the only -woman about the house. She is a delicate girl, too, and must break down -soon if she is not relieved of some of her burdens, I’m afraid.” - -“Mrs. McCleary was all right until she became a convert to this accursed -spiritism,” said Mark. “I have known her for years. She used to live -near my old home in Iowa, and was a good, capable woman; but she seems -now to have no interest in anything that does not come from the other -world. If Esther should die and become a spirit she might become an -object of her interest and solicitude. I am utterly disgusted with -Russell and all of his nonsense about spirit manifestations, and -revelations, and the like. In my opinion, all the spirit he communes -with is the spirit of evil, his Satanic majesty. I can’t have a bit of -faith in the fellow, and I believe Nathan feels as I do about it.” - -“O, come now,” said Alice, “you are too bad, Mark. Professor Russell -certainly believes in his creed himself, and is honest in his -convictions, whether they be right or wrong.” - -“I even doubt that,” replied Mark. - -“He foretold your coming here to-day. What do you think of that?” asked -Alice triumphantly. - -“I think he probably saw Wish-has-ta, who told him we would certainly -come back for him, or possibly he may have seen me in C—— after my -arrival. I stopped there several hours. Depend upon it, he learned it -from no disembodied spirit.” - -“And more than that, Mark, he told us about our sister Elsie, and I am -sure he could not have heard about her,” Alice continued. - -“Unless he may have heard you talking about her, with mother or Lissa, -lately.” - -Lissa flushed. - -“How suspicious you are, Mark. I am sure he might have learned these -things through spirit agency, as well as many others which can be -explained in no other way.” - -“How do you know, Alice, that they can be explained in no other way?” - -“But have not all tribes and races believed in spiritualism since the -beginning of the world,” said Mrs. Clyne. - -“In a kind of spiritualism, perhaps; so have they believed in many other -_isms_, but that does not prove them true,” replied Mark. “The heathen -searchers after God have found Him in the water, in the fire, in the -sun, and in the creatures of His making, and have worshiped the spirit -of the universe as manifested in material things; but these so-called -spiritists put aside the Creator and make a religion of a belief in -spirits of mortals, like themselves.” - -“But do you not think this should strengthen one’s faith in the soul’s -immortality? Are we not spirits living in material bodies? And when the -material body dies, if our spirits are immortal, why should not they -seek to manifest themselves to their friends on earth? I am sure if you -would read Davis’s works you would have less scepticism,” said Alice -with some warmth. - -“Alice, have you been reading them?” Mark spoke quickly and almost -harshly. The color deepened in Alice’s face. - -“Certainly I have, and many others. What harm can come of learning all -one can? I am sure we should not condemn any creed until we investigate -it.” - -Mark frowned. “Where did you get all these books?” - -“Professor Russell has brought them to us, and mother, Lissa and I have -read them at his request, and I assure you we have been much interested -in them.” - -“All of them, as well as Swedenborg, teach sound morality and oppose -evil.” - -“Your Bible teaches you that, Alice; and as I understand it, it does -_not_ teach you that the spirit of mortal man comes back on earth to -perform the absurd feats of overturning tables, rapping and tapping upon -furniture, making it dance around the room, and like antics. It seems to -me, if I were a spirit, I would prefer to be engaged in some more -dignified occupation.” - -“I hope, Mark,” said Mrs. Clyne, “you won’t let prejudice make you -unjust. There is certainly much about this matter which we cannot -understand, and is it not our duty to learn all we can?” - -“Mother, there _is_ much about this that I don’t understand, neither do -I understand how the juggler or the East Indian magician performs his -marvelous feats, nor can I see that it is necessary for us to know.” - -“But if the knowing would be valuable to us? If we should learn from -it?” - -“I have great faith in my mother’s Bible. I believe that teaches all the -religion it is wisdom for us to understand. I prefer the teachings of -Christ and his disciples to any disembodied spirit, good or bad,—the -Professor admits that evil as well as good spirits commune with -mortals,—and I never have seen any really good results from a belief in -spiritism. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ I find that in many -instances its believers become its victims, and either end their days in -a mad-house or permit themselves to drift into free-love doctrines or -some other demoralizing fad, until they become unprincipled and lose the -respect of their fellow-men. This much I have learned from observation, -and I have yet to see one person whom this belief has made better, -nobler, or more useful to society. Nor, in my opinion, improved in what -pertains to good morality and good citizenship.” - -Alice looked abashed, but Lissa said: - -“I am afraid you will not relish spending your first evening here at a -spirit-seance. I am sorry that the Professor happened to come at this -time.” - -“I prefer to be here if Alice is to be present at such a meeting; in -fact, I strongly object to her attending one in my absence,” Mark said. -“I will say in all sincerity, I wish she and you had never seen this -Russell or heard of his abominable _ism_. I am sorry that you have been -fed on such literature as he has been sending you, and I regret more, -that you have given enough credence to it to tolerate his society or his -absurd seances. He is, in my opinion, a gross humbug.” - -“But that is only your _opinion_, Mark,” suggested Alice. - -“I don’t believe there is any mystery about this that cannot be -explained by one of three hypotheses: first, animal magnetism or -hypnotism; second, jugglery or sleight of hand in the medium; third, -thought transference, mind-reading and telepathy, or perhaps I should -say the force, not yet well understood, that makes these things -possible. These, aided by the excited and overwrought imagination of the -witnesses, can produce any phenomena adduced. There are men with strong -wills, sufficient to control entirely those with whom they come in -contact, and make them do, think, feel or believe whatever they suggest. -We have frequently seen these exhibitions from traveling mesmerists, who -make no pretense to spiritism, nor attribute their power to spirit -agency. I believe the Davenport brothers perform their feats in the same -manner. It seems to me that our mind, like our body, is dual, and that -one part of it can come entirely under the control of another person if -we are sufficiently interested in anything to be off our guard. How -differs this spiritism from the Babylonian necromancy? Undoubtedly there -is a force which, if understood by man, would enable him to put himself -in a hypnotic state at will, and when in that state to see -clairvoyantly, hear clair-audiently, and communicate with other minds or -intelligences in the same condition. Hence the remarkable clairvoyant -dreams, visions, etc., which come under peculiar stresses of excitement. -There is a queer thing about this force which may manifest itself in -another way. I remember that when I was at college we boys used to try -this experiment. We would place one of our number in a chair and two of -us would lift him high from the floor—while he held tightly to the -chair—by merely placing the little fingers of one hand under the bend of -his knees and the forefingers of the other hand under his elbows. We -would use no force, seemingly, in lifting him, and he would appear but a -featherweight, but we would all hold our breath at the same instant and -_think_ of lifting him. We lifted men weighing two hundred pounds in -this way. Ordinarily the muscles of those fingers would not sustain such -a weight. What then was the force which aided us? Mind-reading is a -proven fact, as is hypnotism. Subjects in the hands of a hypnotist will -imagine themselves Napoleon, Washington, or any individual suggested, -and assume the character and carriage of such individuals, talking, -reasoning, and affirming in harmony with the character assumed. - -“Why then should we attribute everything of this kind seen at a spirit -seance to spirits?” - -“Professor Russell is clairvoyant,” said Lissa. - -“But clairvoyancy, or psychic force, is not spiritism, and those mediums -are either self-deceived or deceive their audiences by their -legerdemain. I can understand that in some instances they might be -self-deceived, as a hypnotic subject, by suggestion. It seems this -second intelligence of ours will reason from a false starting point as -well as from a correct one, and, given a false suggestion—” - -“But, Mark,” again interrupted Alice, “you are only giving your opinion -and we all have a right to our own individual opinions, and we think and -reason for ourselves.” - -Mark sighed. “Yes, only do not let that Professor think and reason for -you. Read your Bible, and pray God that you may not be deceived.” Then, -passing his hand caressingly over her fair hair he continued lightly, -“Don’t you think we have had enough of this for the present?” - -“Yes; only—Mark, I want to say one thing. The Bible contains many -passages which confirm the truth of spiritism. Don’t you remember the -fingers of a man’s hand that wrote upon the wall at Belshazzar’s feast?” - -“Ah, some more of Russell’s thinking for you. That is the worst of it. -Almost anything may be proven by the Bible in the hands of a skilful and -unscrupulous manipulator, who quotes solitary texts without reference to -the subject which precedes or follows them. Professor Russell has -doubtless called your attention to many such ‘proofs.’ Beware of the -blind leaders of the blind, Alice. I do not object to the spiritualism -of the Bible, which comes from God; but I do make a distinction between -that and the modern spiritism, which consists of buffoonery and worse. -This demon worship, or worship of spirits who like to assume the form -and speech of an Indian child, or ignorant buffoon, is ridiculous. Let -me see, what was it Mrs. Jenkins said her mother appeared in?” - -“In the form of a morning-glory,” said Lissa, laughing. “But I didn’t -know before, Mark, that you were such a theologian.” - -Mark smiled. - -“I went to Sunday-school when I was a boy, and I had a praying mother -and father. Besides, I used to hear the Bible read each day when I was -at home, and one does not forget his early lessons.” - -“Well, come to tea now. I think your ride and talk must have given you -an appetite.” - -“It does not require a canter over the prairies nor a dissertation on -spiritism to give me that when you are the cook,” he replied gallantly, -and the party gathered about the table. - -Later, when Lissa and her mother were busy in the other room, Alice -approached her husband. - -“Did I understand you to say that you did not wish me to see Professor -Russell when you are away?” - -“I may not have said as much, but I should much prefer you do not.” - -Alice’s cheeks reddened and she lifted her chin angrily. - -“Yes,” repeated Mark, noticing her rising color, “I mean what I say. -Russell must keep away from my house in my absence.” - -“And I say—” began Alice, but paused as the door opened and Nathan -entered, accompanied by the light-hearted, fun-loving Donald. - -“O Don, we just needed you. Every one is so sepulchral here to-night,” -cried Lissa. Then she continued in a half-whisper to Mark: “Even -Professor Russell has no power over Donald. He did not foretell _his_ -coming.” - -“Mne! I suspect he would have been willing to have excused his absence,” -remarked Mrs. Clyne. - -“You do look a little solemncholy, that’s a fact,” Donald said. - -“Don’t we? And all because we are going to have a spirit seance -to-night.” - -Nathan started. - -“How does this happen,” he asked. “I thought that Russell had left the -neighborhood.” - -“He has returned. It’s the old story of the bad penny,” replied Lissa. - -“Isn’t it the still older story of the serpent in the garden?” suggested -Donald. - -“Yes, I think you’ve hit it, Don,” said Mark. “The cloven hoof is in -evidence and he leaves a trail of brimstone behind him.” - -“That must have been what made this room look so blue when we came in. -His excellency must have been here, I take it. Are there not yet blue -flames playing in the corners?” - -“If not there will be, doubtless, before the evening is over. But I must -make haste or you two hungry men will not get any supper. Come, sit down -and eat before it is cold.” - -“I, for one, need no second bidding,” said Donald. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - AN OLD-TIME SEANCE AMIDST OLD-TIME SCENES AND OLD-TIME FOLKS - - -When the tea things had been carried away and stowed with the washed and -shining dishes in the cupboard at one side of the room, the floor swept, -and the apartments made tidy, Lissa ushered into it, as first to arrive, -Mr. Jenkinson and Mrs. Jenkinson and their mother, Mrs. Price. - -They were English people, and firm converts to spiritism, Mrs. Price -being so absorbed in it as to appear of unbalanced mind. Mrs. Jenkinson -had a delicate constitution and a nervous temperament, which made her -easily excited and wrought upon. Already she figured as a medium. - -They were soon joined by Solomon Garrett, a stoutly built farmer of the -neighborhood, who had, several years before this, come from Scotland -with a party of Mormon emigrants. When met by the plural-marriage -doctrine he had renounced his faith and refused to continue his journey -to Salt Lake City. Subsequently he had located on the Nebraska plain. -His conversion to this new creed of spiritism had been recent and -half-hearted. - -With him were the Pemberton twins, two pale, fair-haired young ladies, -who looked so exactly alike as to appear one and the same person. No one -except their mother could identify them, and it was said that in their -childhood she was liable to whip Clementina for the sins of Seraphina. - -The young ladies themselves seemed to enjoy the confusion they caused, -and dressed always in twin gowns, imitating closely each other’s -speeches and gestures. It has been asserted on the best of authority, -their own words and their mother’s, that if one was ill the other one -was likewise affected. And since they had become spiritists they claimed -to have been visited by the same visions and communications. - -Following the Pemberton twins came the McCleary family, whom I shall -more fully describe. - -Those present were the father, mother, son, George and daughter Esther. - -Mr. McCleary was a small, quiet, pale, sleek, red-eyed, inoffensive -little man, usually known as Mrs. McCleary’s husband. He seemed to feel -it his bounden duty to affirm all his wife’s statements, and when asked -a question had a way of casting an imploring glance at her,—as if -begging her to answer for him, which she usually did,—but who, so far as -known, was a kind, indulgent father to his children, and an honest and -industrious neighbor. When not otherwise engaged, Mr. McCleary might be -found amusing himself with a planchette. With it he talked, reasoned, -and speculated upon the problem of life. Sometimes he whispered to the -partner of his bosom certain wonderful secrets which he believed the -planchette had imparted to him. And—they were secrets no longer. - -Mrs. McCleary was a short, well-preserved woman of the “fat, fair and -forty” type. She had remarkable black eyes, blue-black, waving hair, and -very white, plump hands, with which she continually gesticulated to -accompany the unceasing flow of words from her tongue. Her speech -retained enough of the Irish brogue to make it pleasant to the ear. - -Mrs. McCleary imagined herself an invalid, though no one, not even -herself, could determine the nature of the malady with which she was -afflicted. It seemed to be rather a delicacy of constitution than any -pronounced illness. Some of her neighbors were uncharitable enough to -remark that if Mrs. McCleary were to receive some shock that would rouse -her from the helpless state she fancied herself to be in she would be as -well and strong as any one. - -George McCleary, an undergraduate from an Eastern college, was in no way -remarkable, but Esther was the hundredth woman, whose influence was felt -throughout the little community. - -She was but a slight, delicately built girl of eighteen years, yet what -a marvel of diligence and endurance. - -In the McCleary family there were six children younger than herself, and -upon Esther devolved almost the entire care and responsibility of the -household, a responsibility which she accepted uncomplainingly and -discharged faithfully. - -Esther was pretty and more than pretty. She was interesting. There was -in her face a sweetness and brightness of expression that charmed all -who met her, and won their affection. Then, too, she was one of those to -whom all turn for instruction and advice. She knew how to do things. -From the fashioning of a gown to the most intricate fancywork, as well -as the rarer concoctions in the culinary department, Esther was the most -competent authority in the neighborhood. - -Nor did her usefulness end here. In the sick room she was unequaled. “A -most uncommon handy person to have around,” one of the good fathers in -the community had said, and perhaps that best expressed her -qualifications. God bless the “handy” person. - -What if Esther’s features were slightly irregular and her figure too -slight for beauty. No one thought of that after the first half hour of -her acquaintance. - -Donald felt his gaze returning repeatedly to that pale, cream-tinted -face, as seated that night near his sister-in-law he listened to the -chatter of the women. - -Mrs. McCleary sank into an easy chair, panting and short-breathed from -the exertion of removing her wraps, and turning to Lissa began to talk -volubly. - -“How very noice ye look, dear! Your hair curls so beautifully. When -Esther was a little girl Oi used to do up her hair on curl-papers for -her, but now she must do it for herself. It is really too much for me. -Alice, Oi see yer not intoirely free from thet cough yet. Ye should -nivver let it run. It moight run ye into consumption. Oi’ve known many a -case to turn out so, hev ye not Miss Lissa? Ye must attind to it. Oi do -wish ye’d thry some of moi Indian cough surrup. Oi hev a commoonication -from a great Indian docther, advoising it. Mrs. Cloyne, did Oi tell ye -how Georrge was cured of the faver?” - -All this she uttered without pausing for reply. - -Donald glanced at Esther at the mention of curl-papers, but not a tinge -of color dyed the paleness of her cheeks. She was evidently accustomed -to her mother’s revelations. George, however, looked a trifle annoyed at -the mention of his name. - -Mrs. Clyne took advantage of the woman’s brief halt for breath to say -that she had never heard the story. - -“Well, ye see, Georrge, was very ill, so ill we’d given him oop ter die, -an’ Oi was cryin’ an’ prayin’ the great docther ter do sumthing fer him, -whin if ye’ll belave me, the boy reached oop his hand, an’ in a moment -we saw some leetle black specks lyin’ in it, lookin’ fer all the world -like Ayer’s pills. He held thim so we all saw thim an’ thin he put thim -in his mouth, an’ in the shortest toime he was aslape, an’ frim that -very hour he was better.” - -“What do you think it was?” asked Mrs. Clyne. - -“Why, bless your sowl, what could it be but medicine put in his hand by -some watchful spirit? Ye needn’t smoile, Mr. Mark Cramer, nor you, Mr. -Bartram; there were a plenty present who’ll swear to what Oi tell ye. -Ain’t it so, Mr. McCleary?” - -“Yis, yis,” the little man mumbled; “it is as she says.” - -They were interrupted by the arrival of Professor Russell, who came -bustling in with Auntie Dearborn, a sprightly, handsome old lady, who -was carrying a huge basket upon her arm, which appeared filled with -manuscripts. - -She was most becomingly dressed in black silk, with fine white lace at -wrist and throat, and her pink-tinted face, white hair, mild blue eye -beaming with kindliness, and lips wreathed in smiles, made a beautiful -picture. She had arrived at a sweet old age. Every one liked her, -despite her eccentricities, which some pronounced a mild form of -insanity. Alas, the borderland between sanity and insanity is scarcely -defined, and if good Auntie Dearborn was insane she has many companions -who would scorn such accusations. Who among us does not like to believe -we have an inspired pen? - -Auntie was thoroughly imbued with the idea that the spirits of the -departed poets used her hand as the medium for presenting their verses -to the public, and she kept a constant and ever-accumulating supply of -her “poetry” on hand to read whenever she could find audience. - -After shaking hands with Lissa and kissing her most affectionately, the -old lady said in a stage whisper: - -“You see, my dear, I have brought along some o’ my poetry, for I know’d -you would want to hear it, because I’ve really been inspired by the -great Byron himself this week. It is most remarkable.” - -Lissa smiled kindly. - -“Thank you, Auntie. I shall be glad to hear it, I am sure, and so, -perhaps, will others here. You will stay with me to-night of course?” - -“Well, now really, dearie—it would be very pleasant and you’re drefful -kind to ask me, but you see there’s Natty, poor dog, shut up in his -kennel, who’ll howl all night if I don’t come back, and the chickens -will have to be fed in the morning—” - -Here she was interrupted by the announcement of the Professor that if -they were ready the company would form themselves into a circle about -the room, as he saw several spirit forms impatient to communicate with -their friends. - -In compliance with his request they were soon seated, except Esther, -who, unobserved by all except Donald, slipped quietly out of the room. - -Joining hands, the members of the circle sat expectant, their eyes -closed. - -We are describing an old-time seance, reader, and may be forgiven the -minuteness of detail, for even with later experiment with psychic forces -it is found there is magic in the mystic circle. - -The silence was broken by Russell, who declared there was a disturbing -element in the circle. Some sceptical person repelled the gentle spirits -who desired to communicate. - -All eyes were turned upon Mark Cramer, who smiled as he arose and left -them. Then Esther McCleary was missed. - -“Where is Esther?” asked Mrs. McCleary plaintively. “Oi declare that -girrl has left the room ag’in. Oi desire her to sit with us.” - -And Mark was sent after the run away. - -“They’re asking for you, Miss Esther,” he said as he saw her shrink into -a dark corner of the adjoining room as he entered it. - -“O dear! Can’t you hide me somewhere? I don’t want to go. I shall have -to dance again. It’s all so terrible, and I don’t believe it’s right, do -you, Mr. Cramer?” - -“No, Esther; but then my opinion should have little weight against so -many. I sat down in the circle thinking I might be able to help you. I -am really sorry for you, if you are unable to withstand the mesmeric -powers of that rascal—for I believe that is all there is of it. Try, if -you are obliged to sit with them, to keep control of your own _will_. -Put all your soul in opposition to him and don’t forget yourself for a -moment. Can’t you?” - -“I’ll try; oh, I’ll try, but I’m afraid ’twill be no use! Ah, they’re -calling me again, and I must go. Come into the room and help me if you -can.” - -Mark reentered, seating himself in one corner of the room outside the -circle. The Professor made room for Esther beside himself, but she -declined his civility, and passed around to the side of her mother, not -noticing, until too late to retreat, that she had placed herself next to -Donald Bartram. She flushed slightly as she gave him her hand, -humiliated that she should be placed in such a position. - -Again silence prevailed for the space of several minutes. Donald glanced -through half-closed eyes about the circle, noting the placid content of -Auntie Dearborn, the grim determination of Solomon Garrett, the -complacent expectancy of Mrs. McCleary, the awed, half-frightened look -of Lissa, the sly, furtive glance which each Pemberton twin cast -frequently at her sister, and he felt a hysterical inclination to laugh. -The thought must have been communicated to his companion upon the right, -for he felt her fingers tremble in his. He rolled his eyes up to hers -with an affected air of terror. Then a ripple of merriment burst from -Esther’s lips, in which he joined. The Pemberton twins giggled in -unison, while all started and opened their eyes. - -Russell frowned and demanded quiet, fixing his gray eyes upon Esther. -Mrs. McCleary rebuked her daughter, but explained that Esther was -“hystericky,” and biting her lips to subdue the nervous inclination to -laugh, Esther closed her eyes and quiet was restored. Donald, thrilled -by her trembling fingers, dared not again look toward her, and presently -he saw Mrs. Jenkinson, his neighbor on the left, begin to jerk -spasmodically. Her eyelids quivered, she sighed a few times, then -drawing her hands from those who clasped them she began rubbing them -briskly together, then slapped them energetically for a moment, while -every eye was fixed upon her. She was under “control.” - -Suddenly she began to speak in a high, shrill voice. - -“My friends, I have a message for you to-night,” and continuing without -hesitancy she delivered a somewhat tedious harangue to the listening -believers, who sat awed and open-eyed, as if her words were really from -the world beyond. All present knew Mrs. Jenkinson to be illiterate and -only able to use provincialism in conversation. They marvelled at the -correct English which fell from her lips, even though the thought -expressed was of little value. - -Her “inspired” speech ended, Mrs. Jenkinson sank into a chair, dropped -her face in her hands and remained quiet. - -A few moments later Mrs. McCleary began to manifest similar signs of -influence, and sang in a sweet, plaintive voice the old hymn, “Oh, sing -to me of heaven, when I am called to die! Sing songs of holy ecstasy to -waft me to the sky,” etc. - -Mark remembered that Mrs. McCleary was not a singer in her natural -state, and again was forced to marvel at this exhibition of power which -he had no faith to believe emanated from the source prescribed by -Russell. - -Donald, too, was becoming interested, and forgot the humorous side of -the spectacle. When his eyes again sought Esther’s, to his surprise he -found them fixed and vacant, her face unusually pale and rigid. He -noticed, too, that the small, brown hand he held felt cold and -unnatural. Glancing from her to Russell he saw the man looking fixedly -at her. Then the Professor arose, and passing to Esther’s side moved his -hands several times before her face, though without touching her. He -then took a handkerchief from one of the gentlemen and bound it tightly -over her eyes, closely shutting out every ray of light. - -“I think, my friends,” he said, as he placed several chairs in the -unoccupied space of the room, “we shall prove that, though Esther cannot -see with mortal vision, there are spirit forms about her who will direct -her course and thus demonstrate their presence.” - -All sat in hushed expectancy until Esther, rising from her chair, glided -like a phantom to the middle of the floor, and humming a soft, slow -waltz, she floated about the room, avoiding the chairs and other -articles in her way without losing step or breaking time in the least. - -It was wonderful. Mark would have been staggered in his scepticism had -he not seen the same performance once enacted by a subject in the hands -of a noted mesmerist. - -“This is only further proof of the scheming falseness of that villain -Russell,” he reflected. “It shall not be my fault if he is not banished -from my house from this day forth. If he would only attribute his power -to the right source I could endure him, but spirits—bah!” - -For ten minutes the girl waltzed without interruption, then, as if led -by unseen hands, she passed from the room and threw herself, apparently -exhausted, upon a small lounge in the adjoining apartment. - -“She has been dancing with a stronger partner than herself and got tired -out,” said Russell coarsely. “We’ll let her rest a while.” - -When the company was again seated in the circle Mark slipped out and -removed the handkerchief from the eyes of the prostrate girl. Her face -was chalky in its pallor, and there was scarcely a perceptible evidence -of respiration. - -“My God! How like death this is,” muttered Mark as he bent over her. “If -she were my daughter she should never come into the presence of that man -again. Then he strove to waken her. - -“Esther, Esther,” he said, shaking her gently by the arm. “Awake!” But -not a muscle of the rigid face relaxed. He lifted her hands and slightly -punctured the smooth flesh with a pin. She did not wince nor show that -she felt it. Again and again he sought to arouse her. Mark was beginning -to fear that the sleep was one which would find its awakening in another -world, when Russell entered the room. - -“You can see the result of your spirit-waltz, Professor,” he said. - -Russell placed his hand upon the girl’s brow. - -“Ah, yes, she has been taking a fine nap after it. But she is waking up -now. Come, Esther, ain’t it about time for you to come out to see us -again? I’m afraid you’re a sleepy-head. Come, you’re awake now!” and -laughing coarsely, Professor Russell returned to the company. - -Esther, to Mark’s delight, arose to a sitting posture, passed her hands -several times over her eyes as if striving to collect her thoughts, and -seeing only Mark present, asked plaintively: - -“What is it, Mr. Cramer? Where am I? What has happened?” She looked -about the room in a bewildered way. Then, as the sound of voices from -the adjoining apartment fell upon her ear she turned, and burying her -face upon the lounge burst into hysterical weeping. - -Mark sprang to her side. - -“Don’t Esther, child! Don’t cry! What is the matter?” - -“O Mr. Cramer, have I been dancing again? Has that horrible, horrible -man made me a waltzing puppet for the people to laugh at? It is too -dreadful! What shall I do? What shall I do?” - -“I am sure there was nothing ridiculous or laughable in your dancing, -for it was really artistic; but truly, Esther, are you entirely -unconscious when you perform that feat?” - -“Indeed I am. I could not believe them when they told me about it the -first time I danced that way. This time it seemed when I awoke as if I -had been dreaming of dancing or of hearing dance-music. _He_ makes me do -it, that horrible man! I am sure the spirits have nothing to do with -it.” - -“Your hands are placed some of the time as though dancing with a -partner.” - -“Are they? I can’t help it. I remember nothing since Mr. Bartram made me -laugh in the circle,—oh, he was witness to my disgraceful -exhibition!—until I seemed to hear the Professor’s voice, and looking up -I saw you there.” - -“You say you seem to have heard dance-music in a dream?” - -“Yes, I have a feeling as though I had been floating up in the air and -hearing music. A sort of dim remembrance of a dream. Oh, if mamma would -never compel me to see him again! I shall leave home and go where he -shall never find me if that man continues to come to our house. He is so -detestable! I hate him!” And the girl shuddered and again covered her -face with her hands. - -“I have told mamma so, but she will not listen to me. She is wholly -wrapped up in the belief of spirits, and in Russell.” - -“Your dislike is very strong to be based only upon this power he has of -making you dance hypnotically,” Mark said. “Are you just to him?” - -“I have reasons enough for my dislike of him,” Esther replied, -compressing her lips. “And what am I to do if my own mother will not -listen to me? Think of being subject to the power of such a man. I -believe him thoroughly unprincipled, and—” - -“The villain! If he dares!” Mark ground his teeth. - -Here Lissa put her head in at the door. - -“Come, Mark,” she whispered, “Professor Russell is writing messages.” - -Mark stepped quietly into the sitting-room just as the Professor, who -sat at a small table scrawling with a pencil a profusion of characters -on a sheet of writing-paper, finished it and paused, while the paper was -passed from hand to hand for examination. - -At first nothing could be made of it. Finally some one discovered it was -addressed to Lissa. Another read it Alice, and still another Anna. - -By this time the Professor had aroused himself, and read with little -difficulty: - - -“Lissa, my dear sister: How long I have desired to speak with you and -let you know I am near you. The only added happiness I could wish for in -this life is recognition of my friends on earth. If you will let me -converse with you, and Alice, and mother, I will improve every -opportunity. I can see you, so cast away all doubt and fear, and help me -to communicate with you. Believe, - - ELSIE.” - - -Lissa found she could trace the words as read, now that she knew what -they were. - -The Professor produced two slates, between which he placed a small -pencil, and immediately all in the room heard distinctively the sound of -the scratching of the pencil as it apparently wrote upon the slate. - -When the slates were brought forth from beneath the table and opened -there was a long communication upon one of them for Mrs. McCleary, -purporting to have come from her mother, and Mrs. McCleary declared it -was in her own handwriting. She could “recognize it anywhere,” she said. - -Whereupon Sol Garrett took part in the conversation. - -“I’ve been a thinkin’ sence I sot here a good deal about this here -writin’ business. An’ it seems to me mighty curis how my old mother came -to write me a message when she never in her hull life writ me a word, -nor never learnt how. Even her will was signed with her cross-mark. I -reckon she must ‘a ben learnin’ pretty fast sence she died.” - -Donald’s eyes twinkled merrily as he glanced at Russell’s face, which -really showed embarrassment for a moment. - -“We cannot tell, Mr. Garrett, what her opportunities may have been in -the other world. We may know hereafter much that is hidden from us now,” -he said after a little preliminary cough to clear his throat. - -“Well, how is it that Injun control o’ yourn hain’t learned to read an’ -write, if their chances are so good over there? He allus complains -’cause he can’t read.” - -“Perhaps because he is of another language and nation,” replied Russell, -evidently annoyed at the persistence of his interlocutor. - -“Wall, ye see my mother was a Scotch woman, and didn’t talk as we do, -an’ I can’t see how she come to use such perty English in that letter.” - -“Perhaps,” interposed Russell hastily, “there was some mistake about it -and the letter was intended for some one else.” - -“It was directed to me,” persisted the farmer, “an’ I don’t know another -feller round these parts that answers to the name of Solomon Garrett.” - -“Well, we will not discuss this matter now,” said Russell, anxious to -turn the subject of conversation. “Mother Dearborn is going to read us a -poem, Mrs. Bartram tells me. We will listen to that now, and continue -this subject at another time.” - -Auntie Dearborn, thus appealed to, fumbled in her big basket, and after -opening several papers selected one, which she smilingly announced was -“inspired by Lord Byron himself.” Then in a musical voice she read: - - “Friends of earth, to you I hasten - With a message from on high. - Sorrows seek you but to chasten; - Bear all bravely, I am nigh. - When the stars shine, I am by. - When you whisper, know I hear you. - When you call, to you I fly. - When the night falls, I am near you. - - “In the night-winds, hear me calling, - When your eyelids close in sleep, - While the evening dew is falling, - Still my watchful care I keep. - For in life, dear one, I met you, - Met you but to see and love. - Now I never can forget you, - Though I roam in space above. - - “O my darling, are you weary - Of the fruits the world can give? - Are your days and night-times dreary - In the lonely life you live? - Then, oh, think that you can fly, love, - To my waiting, loving arms, - For ’tis no hard thing to die, love, - When the world has lost its charms. - - “Still you will not know I’m speaking, - Though your blindness gives me pain; - Must I be forever seeking - For your notice, all in vain? - See, I softly press your pillow, - Softly touch your dewy lips, - Brush your bosom’s heaving billow, - Clasp your dainty finger tips. - - “Once when midnight shadows thickened, - In your dreams I saw _you_ start, - While your breath came warm and quickened - By the fluttering of your heart. - Then no more I need to try you, - For you felt my heart was thine, - Felt my hovering presence nigh you— - Then it was your soul met mine.” - -When Auntie had finished reading this production, which all present -declared truly Byronic, Professor Russell bade them each write upon a -piece of paper the name of some departed friend and the spirits would -respond to their questions through his “control.” - -The slips were written, folded as directed, and thrown into a hat, while -the Professor again went into a trance state, and taking one of the -slips in his fingers—his eyes having been previously bandaged—he awaited -communication from the other world. - -“I can see a name, ‘Henry Arthur,’” he read slowly. “He is present. I -see him distinctly. He is of medium height and wears a uniform.” - -“It is my brother,” said Mrs. Jenkinson. “He was in Her Majesty’s -service in England. Are ye well, Henry, and happy?” she asked. - -“I am well, and much happier than I ever was upon earth,” came from the -Professor’s lips in a thin, nasal tone. “You have the right principle, -Helen. No one can be sick. There is no sickness, if we only deny the -belief in such a thing. Stick to your faith and you are all right.” - -The Professor selected a second paper. - -“I see the name Maria,” he said. “Maria, are you there? Will you answer -if a friend wishes to speak with you?” - -“Has she—has she blonde hair?” asked Donald, with some hesitation. - -“Yes, and blue eyes,” answered Russell. “She is very delicate and pale, -and is holding out her hands to you.” - -“Ah, yes; she wants me to take her, probably. Sorry I can’t. Ask her if -she is all right and likes the other world as well as this.” - -The answer came in a husky falsetto: - -“Yes, better.” - -“Do you forgive me for all my ill conduct toward you?” - -“Yes, I have nothing to regret. I remember only the delight of our -acquaintance and your many kindnesses.” - -“You are sure you forgive me for the last blow I dealt you?” - -“Yes, I know it was not your heart that spoke, in that, but the force of -circumstances.” - -“You forgive all my neglect and—cruelty?” - -“O yes, if there was anything to forgive.” - -“Are you surrounded by friends?” - -“Yes, there are many we both have known.” - -“Ah, Tommy and Jack, and the rest, I suppose. Are you where I may see -you if at any time I should pass in my checks?” - -“O yes; certainly.” - -“Well, good-by.” - -“Good-by.” - -“I feel greatly relieved after this revelation,” Donald said, “as it -settles two doubts in my mind which have always troubled me. First, as -to whether it is a crime to slay innocent creatures whose only fault, -perhaps, is a proclivity to take what is not theirs; and second, as to -whether there is more than one heaven and whether we shall meet our -victims in the other world. I killed Maria because she would steal -chickens, a natural propensity for which I should not have blamed her, -probably. She was my favorite cat, and my conscience has never been -quite easy since, but now that I know that she is all right and safe I -feel relieved.” - -A peal of laughter from Mark was echoed by a loud guffaw from Solomon -Garrett and several others in the room. - -“Mr. Bartram, I consider such levity out of place,” said Russell -angrily. “It seems that you are the same incorrigible Don that you were -when I knew you in Iowa. Age doesn’t seem to have improved you.” - -“But if Maria’s spirit was not there how could you have seen her?” asked -Donald innocently. - -“There are many spirits who bear the name of Maria while upon earth,” -Russell replied with dignity. - -“But the one whose name I wrote is the one who should have appeared; and -I repeat, I am glad to know she is all right.” - -“How you can jest on this subject is more than I can understand,” -replied the other, as he began to make preparations for departure. - -The Pemberton twins giggled and said in unison, “How funny.” - -At this juncture Auntie Dearborn began to chuckle. She appeared to try -to control her desire to laugh, and put her handkerchief to her mouth, -while her face grew red. But the more she tried to stifle the laughter, -the more it overcame her. Finally her merriment became almost -convulsive, and Auntie shrieked in a frenzy of mirth. And in the midst -of the laughter, for the effect was contagious, Professor Russell took -his leave. - -This hysteria of the old lady was not an uncommon phenomenon, and -excited little comment among the guests, though most of them joined -heartily in the outburst, and departed to their homes freed from the -superstitious awe which had held them earlier in the evening. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - MAJOR WALDEN - - -The fire was burning with active energy in the tall stove, and the dish -of water sitting upon it, “to keep the room healthy,” was sending forth -steam clouds, as Nathan and Lissa, after closing the door behind the -last departing guest, returned to their family room. - -Donald had walked home with Esther McCleary, and Mrs. Clyne had retired -for the night, leaving them alone. - -“It is an ugly night,” Nathan said, shivering and lifting his shoulders, -as he stood with his hands held behind him and his back to the stove. - -“Yes, and I’m afraid I’m going to have neuralgia in my face again,” said -Lissa, pressing her cheek closer to the glowing heat of the fire. - -“That’s too bad. I should think that wisdom-tooth would have done -troubling you some time. Ain’t it through yet?” - -“No; I pity teething children, if they have the pain I have.” - -“Better get good and warm before you go to bed. The house seems -unusually cool to-night.” - -“It’s having the doors open so much. But, Nathan, what is the matter? -You have been uncommonly grave and silent all the evening. I hope you -have had no trouble at the office?” - -“_I_ have had no trouble,—only,—well, something happened which was quite -unlooked for by me, anyway. Major Walden is in trouble, I think, though -I do not understand the nature of it.” - -Lissa looked interested, and her eyes searched his face questioningly. - -Nathan drew up a chair and sat down. - -“We were both in the office looking over some notes and papers in the -desk this morning when the mail was brought in. There were two or three -letters and some newspapers, which latter he tossed over to me to -examine. While thus engaged I was startled by a strange sound from the -Major, and looking up I at first thought he was in a fit. His face was -pale and distorted, and he shook like a man with the ague. He clenched -an open letter in his hand, which I thought must be answerable for his -condition. I sprang to him and unbuttoned his collar, as he appeared to -be choking, and he seemed to be relieved, though it was some time before -he could control himself, or articulate. When he did, it was to hiss the -words ‘scoundrel, villain, devil!’ with insane fury. I did not know how -to act, or what to say to him, and so after shutting and fastening the -door, that no one might intrude on us,—an act which he seemed to -approve,—I stepped into a little private office opening from the room -and busied myself with the ledger accounts, while I waited for him to -grow calmer. - -“It was fully an hour, I think, before he called me, and then I was -surprised at the change in him. He looked ten years older, and his face -had the pinched look of one recovering from an illness. His hands shook -and he seemed entirely unnerved. ‘Nathan,’ he said, ‘I have received a -severe shock, and it has proven almost too much for me. But there are -reasons why I wouldn’t want my family to know anything about it, and I -shall have to ask you to say nothing here of what you have heard or -witnessed. I will explain it all when I feel able to do so. At present I -think the best thing for me to do is to take a little change of air, and -I believe I’ll run down to Omaha for a day or two. I reckon I’m really -sick enough to warrant a day off,’ he said, trying to smile. - -“‘Just call at noon and say to Mrs. Walden that I’ve gone to Omaha on -business. Had to hurry off to catch a train, or some such clap-trap, or -say—I’ll write a note to that effect. You see, I fancy she’d better not -see me now.’ - -“I told him his countenance would betray him, for he really looked ill, -and he had much better not go home if he wanted to conceal the fact, and -so he went off to the station and left me to fix up matters as best I -could. I am more puzzled about the matter, as I am familiar with all his -business affairs and investments, and know everything is ship-shape and -flourishing. However, as he promised to explain everything when he -returns, I need not speculate upon it now I suppose. - -“There is another matter I wanted to speak of,” continued Nathan, “and -that is in regard to this man Russell. I don’t know what to think of -him. Mark is terribly opposed to him and his coming to their home, and -if we encourage Alice’s meeting him here—” - -“I think Mark has no right to let unreasoning prejudice rule him the way -he does,” interrupted Lissa. “He knows nothing against him, and yet he -is ready to accuse him of all the crimes in the decalogue.” - -“I don’t like to think of his power over Esther McCleary, Lissa.” - -“O, as for Esther, I don’t think she need yield to his power if she -prefers not to. She can avoid him.” Lissa spoke sharply. - -“Not when her mother compels her to see him. My child, do you really -believe in spiritism yourself?” - -“Why, Nate, what a question for you to ask! I am sure you are the one -who gave the most credence to it when I first knew you. I didn’t take -any stock in it then.” - -“And now?” - -“And now I think there’s something in it which cannot be accounted for -in any other way, and—I think it is a blessed thought that our friends -are near us after death.” - -“I don’t know whether it is or not. It can’t be pleasant for them to be -witnessing all the pain and suffering which we are perhaps bearing. If -we are promised happiness in the other world it would seem a poor -fulfilment of it to me. I could not be happy if I could look back and -see you suffering for food and not be able to provide it.” - -“I was not thinking so much of their happiness, I confess, Nathan,” -Lissa murmured. “But if I should die, and be happy, wouldn’t you like to -feel that I was near you? Wouldn’t you like to hear from me?” - -“But how could I be sure of it? I think I should prefer you did not have -to worry over me any more. I was really startled by a remark made by -Major Walden the other day. In the course of conversation I chanced to -allude to Professor Russell in some way, and spoke of his being a -spirit-medium. The Major turned on me with more anger and vehemence than -I have ever before seen in him and said, ‘Bartram, in God’s name have -nothing to do with one of those mediums! Shun him as you would a -rattlesnake that crawls in the grass at your feet, for I tell you his -bite is as deadly, and you never know when he may strike. On no account -give him access to your home and family. As you value your present peace -of mind or your domestic happiness, never let him cross your threshold!’ -I was a trifle knocked out, but I told him the medium had been and was a -friend of the family and frequent visitor at my house, and that he -appeared to be a respectable and intelligent man. ‘Yes,’ he replied, -‘the Devil may wear the garb of a saint, but he’s not to be trusted for -all that. I pray you be warned, and shun the fellow in time, as you -would old Clovenhoof himself! I know what I’m talking about.’ I suppose -Walden is prejudiced for some reason, but I can’t help wishing Russell -did not come here.” - -“I’m sure I can’t see what possible harm he can do _here_,” Lissa -replied. - -“But about Alice. She was not looking well to-night, and I am sorry to -have her oppose Mark.” - -“O, of course she feels bad, because Mark has forbidden her to have -Russell at the house when he is not there, and Alice is very set in her -way. It may make trouble between them. I know Mark was angry, for Alice -told me so, and she said he should find she had mind enough to attend to -her own affairs. I expect she’d let him come in spite of Mark.” - -“We will hope not,” said Nathan gravely. “Mark may have wisdom in his -objection to Russell. I wish he did not come _here_.” - -“How absurd you are. _You_ were the one who introduced him to me, who -believed in him and tried to overcome the horror which in infancy I had -imbibed of spiritism. And now, because of Major Walden’s prejudice, and -Mark’s fanaticism, you are ready to turn round and forbid a spiritist -your hospitality.” - -“Well, perhaps I am wrong. I confess I have an unaccountable fear and -distrust of him. I presume Walden’s warning has had something to do with -it. I shouldn’t blame the man for his belief.” - -“But if the belief takes away all fear of death, why should we not -embrace it? If I should die before you, I want you to teach little Lucy -that her mamma is near and watching over her. Don’t you think it might -keep her from wrong-doing if she knew it?” - -“If she knew it? Ah, there’s the thing! If we really knew.” - -“But, haven’t we proof? What human, unassisted, could turn water into -wine as Professor Russell did a few weeks ago?” - -“But haven’t you heard Mark’s exposé of that? That is simple. Mark can -do the same.” - -“Mark Cramer?” - -“Yes; Mark’s university training has served him a good turn in this as -in everything else. You know he is a good chemist, and he can prepare -the glasses so that when water is poured into them a pleasant wine is -produced. He claims the Professor does the same. You will not deny that -Mark speaks the truth. We have known him much longer than Professor -Russell,—or at least much better,—and you know he is the soul of honor.” - -“Oh, how awful it is for Mark to do such a thing!” said Lissa severely. -“I wonder he does not receive some terrible punishment. I am sure he -will if he is not more believing. I pity Alice.” - -Nathan felt like retorting that he pitied Mark, but he forbore. - -“I confess,” he said, “I did feel as if Russell was almost sacrilegious -in assuming to duplicate one of Christ’s miracles, but I can see no harm -in Mark’s exposing the means employed.” - -“One thing, Nathan, I want to speak of now, while I think of it. If I -should die first, I will, if there is such a thing as the spirit -returning to earth—come back to you. Now let us determine upon a test, -and see how I shall come in such a way as to be convincing to you if you -are left behind. We will tell no living soul what it is. Then if one of -us goes and can fulfil the conditions, there can be no doubt in the -other’s mind of its genuineness. If I go first and give you the test, -you will have no doubt my disembodied spirit is near you.” - -Nathan looked thoughtfully at his wife. - -“Your idea is a good one, but God knows I don’t like to think of a time -when it could be tested. Still, it might be a satisfaction to the one -that is left.” - -Then they planned a test that should never again be spoken aloud or -imparted to another person. - -“There would be danger from the mind-reader, even in this,” Nathan said -to himself. “He might surmise the secret and make use of it to deceive. -Ah, how can we know the truth?” - -The next morning the white snow had covered and shut in all the outer -world, and so filled the air that they could only get to the stables by -tying themselves to ropes, and the cold was so intense that many of the -fowls froze upon their perches in the coops. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - LED INTO ERROR - - -Some time after the occurrences of the last chapter, Nathan received a -note from Major Walden, requesting him to call at his house. - -He went directly, and was ushered into the library, where he found his -friend looking worn and dejected, as if from haunted days and sleepless -nights. - -Major Walden motioned Nathan to a seat, and then paced slowly up and -down the room, as though striving to compose himself before giving to -his friend the promised revelation. - -At length he paused, and seating himself a short distance from his -visitor said gravely: - -“Bartram, I am about to confide to you a chapter from my private history -which perhaps might better never be disclosed, and in doing so I am -subjecting myself to a painful trial and tearing open a wound not yet -healed. And yet I cannot otherwise explain to you the scene which you -witnessed a few days since. My story may serve to show you the venom -that may exist in a species of human reptile. I need not say that I -trust this to you alone. You will understand how great the cause I have -for secrecy when you have heard what I am about to relate to you. - -“Twelve years ago my business often took me up and down the Hudson. Upon -one of those trips I met one who seemed to me the perfection of female -loveliness. Her deep, dark eyes seemed wells of crystal purity and -innocence, and her sweet, fair face haunted my vision for days. - -“I found myself comparing, mentally, every lovely woman I met with the -one face ever before me, and finally began to consider myself a victim -to a case of love at first sight. It is needless to say my trips upon -the Hudson were frequently repeated after this, and at length fate -rewarded me by giving me once more the same lovely fellow-passenger. I -managed to find a mutual acquaintance and so followed up my advantage as -to become, in a few months, an accepted visitor at her father’s house. -She was an only child, the idol of an aged father and mother, who at the -end of the following year made me the happiest of men by giving me their -daughter’s hand in marriage. - -“Everything prospered with me. My wife was all that could be desired; -three lovely children were born to us; my business ventures were -successful, and until five years ago there seemed to be nothing wanting -to make the harmony of our united lives complete. - -“About this time, at the house of a friend, we met a spirit-medium, a -Dr. Teasdale. How he ever obtained admittance there I do not know, but -there he was, and there we were forced to make his acquaintance. He held -a seance, as he called it, and among other things told what my wife had -written and sealed in our presence and which never left her hand. I -discovered afterwards a bit of impression paper concealed beneath the -outer cover of the book he handed her to write upon, which probably -aided the spirits in making their revelation. This so interested my wife -that she attended a number of seances, and finally invited the Doctor to -our house, where he became a frequent visitor. - -“I never liked the fellow. There was a sort of sneaking hypocrisy about -him, it seemed to me, that made me prefer his room to his company. - -“However, as I seldom interfered with my wife’s actions, I said nothing, -thinking she would soon penetrate his shallow mask of deceit and become -disgusted with him, as I had. - -“In one of his trances he wrote and delivered to me a sealed -communication, purporting to be from the spirit world, hinting,—barely -hinting,—among other things, infidelity on the part of my wife. I waited -until the other guests had gone, and then I called the wretch to one -side and told him what I thought of him, and bade him never set foot, -under any pretense, within my doors again. - -“I told my wife I had forbidden the fellow the house because he was -disagreeable to me, and she seemed more pleased than otherwise at what I -had done and said she, too, participated in my growing dislike of him. I -hoped then I had seen the last of him. - -“A short time after this my wife was summoned by telegram to visit her -mother, who was ill, and left home, taking with her the children, my -business being such as to prevent my accompanying her. - -“While she was gone two letters came to the house addressed to her and I -noticed the superscription resembled the chirography of the Doctor. I -wondered what he could have to say to her, but laid the letters aside -unopened, thinking it unnecessary to forward them, and that I would -deliver them to her upon her return and satisfy myself as to their -contents. I own I had some curiosity, as I could not imagine a reason -for correspondence with the villain. One evening, just before her -return, as I was turning over some papers in the writing-desk, a letter -fell out addressed in the same peculiar handwriting. It had been opened, -and this time my curiosity overcame my scruples of honor, and I opened -it and read a most impassioned love-letter to my wife, signed ‘Devotedly -yours, Z. T.,’ which I could only interpret Zenas Teasdale. - -“I hesitated no longer to open and devour the contents of the two -letters which had come to her later, and before I had finished, the -characters traced in ink had burned into my very soul, and my tongue was -parched with a thirst that water could not quench. The words stood -before my gaze like demon eyes. - -“The first letter spoke of the pleasure the writer had received in the -perusal of my wife’s last ‘white-winged message of love’ and quoted from -her letter sentences about the ‘bear that growled around her -hearthstone’ meaning me—and other like extravagant expressions, and -concluded by assuring her of his never-dying affection, and hope of -their ultimate union in spiritland, where no disagreeable tyrant should -ever presume to forbid them the pleasure of each other’s company. - -“The second letter, written three days later, chided her with her long -delay in answering, and informed her that the writer had received a -communication from the invisible world to the effect that the obstacle -in their way was about to be removed, and pictured the delights in store -for them. - -“All night I paced the room and swore and raved alternately. But with -the morning came calmer reflection. Retribution would overtake them, I -concluded, if left to themselves; I would not put my own neck in -jeopardy for the sake of such despisable wretches as they seemed to me. -Besides, a softer feeling, in spite of me, would creep into my heart, -when I thought of the happy past, and I felt I could not take the life -of one who had been dearer than all else to me—who was now the mother of -my innocent children. They would be from this time motherless. I would -not make them also fatherless, but would keep my life blameless and -unblemished for their sweet sakes. The stain of their mother’s fall -would be dark enough. - -“She returned home that day. I shall never forget how sweet and fair she -looked as she tripped from her carriage up the steps and into the room -where I stood like an avenging Nemesis. Her bright hair was blown into -little rings about her forehead, and a smile wreathed her sweet lips, -which expected the kiss of greeting. - -“See,” he said as he took from his desk a miniature and handed it to -Nathan, “was she not beautiful? And that picture was but a poor -representation of her, for art cannot produce on ivory the thousand -pretty changes of expression which constituted one of the chief charms -of her face.” - -Nathan looked attentively at the fair, sweet face of the picture, and -agreed as to its beauty. The Major continued: - -“I met her sternly, and she must have seen in my face something of what -I was about to utter, for the smile left her cheeks and gave place to a -look of terror indescribable. - -“‘Agnes,’ I began, ‘do not dare to face with a smile the husband you -have betrayed, wronged, and made a cuckold of in his own house; -miserable woman, that should ever have lived to become so low and vile a -creature, with so fair a face!’ She gazed at me in fear and horror and I -verily believe she for the time thought me insane. She pressed both -hands to her heart as though to quiet its fluttering,—ah, God! I can see -her yet,—and then gasped, ‘Markham, for Christ’s sake, what do you mean? -What, oh! what has happened?’ - -“I cannot describe accurately the scene which followed. I know I -flaunted the letters in her face, I accused her of her treachery, and -called her to account in the worst possible terms, such a maddened brute -was I, and refused to listen to anything she tried to say in denial or -palliation of her guilt. - -“She fell on her knees before me, and begged and implored me to listen -to her—to believe her. She called on God to witness and attest her -innocence. But I mocked at her, and told her that after such conduct as -hers had been, a falsehood was as nothing; that I would not believe her -if the angel Gabriel came down from heaven to testify in her behalf. I -bade her begone from my sight, that I might not so far forget myself as -to punish her crime with violence. Then she begged, if she must leave -me, that I would let her have the children. Finally, as I remained -obdurate, she prayed only for the one little girl, the youngest, three -years old—the baby, and most helpless one. The boys might stay with me, -but this little one, her baby, she could not give up. She should die -without her baby, and she pleaded as only a mother can plead for this -one boon, the privilege of caring for her own child, which she had -herself brought into this cruel world.” - -Here the Major’s voice faltered, and there was a sympathizing moisture -in Nathan’s eyes as he continued: - -“A shame upon such laws as give any one, even a father, the right to -deprive a mother of her God-given privilege!” - -“Amen!” said Nathan under his breath. - -“Finally I promised her that if at the end of six months I heard no -report of her holding any communication with Teasdale I would let the -little Eva go to her mother; but if I learned of her seeing or having -anything to do with that creature I would never allow the child to even -see her. With that she must be content. I had a sort of fiendish delight -in the thought that through the mother’s love for her child I might keep -her from the arms of her paramour. - -“Finally I left her, saying that I should expect her to take the next -boat back to her father’s and that I would make suitable provision for -her maintenance so long as she remained away from Teasdale; and that I -desired that she should take with her everything belonging to her or -that might help to remind me of her who was once my wife. That was the -last time I ever met her. - -“When I came back in the evening the nurse told me the mistress had gone -away, and the children were in the nursery crying for mamma. - -“Here was a feature of the case I had not, in my anger, counted upon. -What should I do to appease the children? I concluded to transfer my -business to other hands for the time, shut up the house, and take the -children to my parents, thinking that perhaps grandma might be the best -substitute for mother. This, as soon as I could make the necessary -arrangements, I did. - -“That night upon returning to my room I read, written in trembling hand -upon an open page of my note-book, these words, which are burned into my -memory: ‘Markham, my husband,—for God knows no act of mine has made me -other than your wife,—I feel that the time will come when my innocence -will in some way be vindicated. It may never be while I live, but I -cannot believe a just and over-ruling Providence will allow such a foul -wrong to be done and the perpetrator to go unpunished. And some day, in -some way, justice will be done to me or my memory. Then you may, -perhaps, realize the tithe of what I now suffer in the remorse which -will follow you to the grave. Deal gently and tenderly with my babies -who are to be without a mother, and remember, as you would have God deal -justly with you, to keep your promise and allow the little Eva to cheer -her mother’s desolate heart at the end of this terribly long probation. -May Heaven forgive you and open your eyes to the fatal and terrible -mistake you have made, is the prayer of your injured and heart-broken -Agnes.’ - -“Well, we had not been long at their grandmother’s before the children -were taken sick with that terrible ravaging disease, diphtheria, and in -three short days Arthur and Eva, the youngest boy and the baby girl, -were chill and cold in death. I would have sent for their mother, I -think, had more time been given me; but they were taken down so suddenly -and the disease made such rapid progress that ere I was aware of their -danger death had already set its seal upon them, and I could only -telegraph their mother the sad tidings that two of her loved ones were -no more. - -“It was some time before I heard from her, and then came such a letter -as I never read before, and have never dared to read a second time, so -full was it of hopeless agony and pain. I could not sleep for nights -after. The words kept ringing in my ears, together with the plaintive -moans of my little ones, who cried for mamma with their last conscious -moments. I would think, sometimes, that if I lived until the morning I -would take the first train to my wife, and despite her treachery would -forgive and take her once more to my heart and trust; but the morning -light would dissolve alike my visions and my resolutions, and I had to -read but one of Teasdale’s letters to harden my heart to all such -sentiments. Do you wonder that I never doubted the genuineness of those -letters? How could I doubt with the remembrance of their finding ever -before me? - -“After the death of my little ones I went to Chicago, that metropolis of -bustle and activity, hoping a change of scene and business would lift -the pall of gloom that rested upon my spirits. There I became acquainted -with my present wife. At the hotel where I boarded we were thrown into -daily intercourse, and as I became impressed with the strong, quiet -dignity and purity of her life, a warmer sentiment seemed to gradually -thaw my heart, the more so as I perceived she manifested an evident -partiality for me. - -“I found it easy, with the aid of those letters, to procure a divorce -from Agnes, in Chicago, and last fall I married my second wife and came -here, bringing with us the one child left me, whom you have often seen. -I have lived a peaceful and quiet life, and striven so far as possible -to banish from my memory and thoughts the scenes of the past—that -beautiful and nearly tragical past, the happiest days of my life and the -most miserable, until—Well, you were with me in my office when a certain -letter was delivered to me but a short time ago, and you witnessed the -effect upon me and wondered at my agitation. I promised to explain its -cause. You will wonder no longer when I tell you that the letter was -from Teasdale and contained a full confession of his villainy. In it he -avows the perfect innocence of Agnes, and explains just how and why he -secreted the letter in my secretary and wrote the others in her absence, -thus wreaking a terrible vengeance on us both. - -“Admiring my wife, he hoped if he could in some way separate us he might -get her into his power; and when she, with scorn, repelled his slightest -advances toward her, and I with threats drove him from the house, he -became unscrupulous as to his mode of revenge. He bribed one of the -servants to place the letter where I found it, as soon as he learned of -my wife’s absence from home, and then sent the other two letters, -conceived with diabolical cunning that the result would be just what it -has been. And I, blind fool that I was, worked right into his hands, and -acted the damnable part of an Othello, entailing a life of misery and -lifelong regret upon both myself and my innocent Agnes. - -“If I were free I would hasten to her, the bride of my youth, and on -bended knee implore her forgiveness of the most grievous wrong ever -committed by man upon the gentle being who gave her life into his hands, -and whose only fault was having loved and trusted so stupid a fool as I. - -“As it is I cannot right one wrong without committing another. _There_ -lives the wife of my youth, mother of my son and co-partner in the right -to that little grave upon the hillside where sleep the two innocents, -flesh of our flesh. _Here_ is the wife who married me in all trust, who -will soon be mother, also, of my child. Was ever man so unfortunately -placed? Curses upon a system that makes it easy for a man to get a -divorce upon the most trivial pretext. If I had only—but why speak of -what cannot be changed? I can see nothing but days and nights of -sleepless remorse in my pathway, whichever way I turn, whatever happens. -On my life, Bartram, the future is too black a hell to enter into! Were -it not a cowardly act, I believe I would make an end of my wretched -existence.” - -“Have you told her, your present wife, of all this?” Nathan asked. - -“No; I could not tell her all. It seemed unnecessary. She knew when she -married me that I had divorced my first wife for infidelity. Were I to -tell her now of this late discovery she would at once jump at correct -conclusions in the matter and be inconsolably wretched, for I believe -she loves me, unworthy as I am; while I—I must strive against hating any -object that stands in the way of retracing my steps back to those -halcyon days of love and happiness. I tell you, Bartram, the human heart -is a wayward animal and hard to be held in the leash. But forgive me for -giving utterance to thoughts that should never be allowed lodgment in my -brain.” - -“Have you written to your first wife, Agnes?” Nathan inquired, as Major -Walden began gloomily to pace the floor of the library. - -“Yes; I wrote telling her all,—all my misery,—and inclosed the letter -from Teasdale. She shall have that to clear herself there, and she shall -have the satisfaction of knowing that remorse with guilt is harder to -bear than injustice with innocence. I think, after a time, I will tell -Mrs. Walden as much as is necessary, and let little Freddy go to his -mother. I have promised Agnes that, and I have made my will providing -liberally for her, for I feel as if this strain cannot long be borne -without the snapping of some of those strings that are essential to the -harmony of this mysterious something we call life, and the grave or -mad-house will ere long claim a victim.” - -“You have my profound sympathy, Major,” said Nathan; “but you know it is -said, ‘life has no wounds time cannot heal.’” - -“I know, I know; but, alas, I am haunted by a fear that Agnes may not be -living; that she may have been crushed by this terrible blow of my -inflicting! She was so sensitive, so gentle. Oh, I cannot bear the -thought! I want her to know the truth, now.” - -“Do you not think she might know that, even if in the other world?” -Nathan ventured. - -“For God’s sake, don’t say that! It savors too much of that accursed -creed that has been at the bottom of all my trouble,” said Walden with -savage vehemence. “The nauseating flavor of the other world which I have -been obliged to taste from the hands of these spiritists has given me no -appetite for any more of it, I assure you. I’ll think of Hades or -Nirvana, but not of that intermediate place where spirits are supposed -to roam. Ugh! I’ll have none of it!” - - - - - CHAPTER XX - SPIRITS OF THE AIR - - “Are you visited by phantoms or by ghosts at midnight, walking? - See you grim and grisley spectres? Do you never hear them talking? - Talking low, in chilling whispers, of the worn heart’s secret sorrows, - Of the lone heart’s hidden treasures, and the hopes it vainly borrows? - - “When alone, at evening sitting, in the shadows of the twilight, - See them softly by you flitting—or in dimness of the firelight— - Phantoms of your youthful pleasures, mocking at you now, and scoffing, - Whispering as they brush you, lightly, ‘past the hours of mirth and - laughing.’ - - “Spectres of the dear departed, who once smiled upon you, brightly; - Of the fair and faithful hearted, whom you love to dream of, nightly. - Other forms from out the shadows walk and grin with horrid grimness, - Mock you with their ceaseless chatter, as the firelight fades in - dimness. - - “Then, sometimes you feel the coolness of the west wind softly blowing, - Of the cool sweet wind of summer, fresh from where bright waves are - flowing, - And it carries with it zephyrs, whispers of the happy childhood— - Of the joyous days of girlhood, and the fragrance of the wildwood. - - “And you clutch with eager yearning, but to stay them in their fleeting, - Clutch at air and soulless nothing, vain is all your soul’s entreating; - Gone beyond is all the sweetness, carried by the zephyrs lightly, - Borne afar beyond your reaching, by the mocking phantoms, nightly. - - “O the year so slowly drifting, with their freight of human sorrow, - Are they very near their ending? Will they end, too, on the morrow? - Ghosts of years and ghosts of pleasures, cease, oh cease, your midnight - stalking, - Fill no more the heart with anguish, by your tireless, soundless - walking.” - - -Alice Cramer stood by the small window of her home, her fingers -unconsciously thrumming on the pane, while she gazed out into the -shadowing twilight of early spring. - -The road was a dark line in the gray landscape and she watched eagerly -for a figure to arise from it into vision. It was the evening that Mark -should come, and she remembered that she had parted from him almost in -anger. She had expected then to see him soon again, in a few weeks at -the furthest, but the weeks had grown into months. There had been -trouble with the Indians on the frontier and Mark was ordered to report -for active duty and sent away a long distance from home. What a long, -dreary winter it had been, even though her mother had been with her. -Alice sighed as she thought of it. Even the mother had gone back to her -Eastern home now, and she was alone. - -Ah, she was glad, very glad Mark was coming; but there was a shadow of -fear tinging the brightness of her joy. She had disobeyed him. She -compressed her lips as she thought again of the command he had laid upon -her. Why had he been so bitter and prejudiced in regard to Professor -Russell? Mark was usually so tolerant of others’ beliefs and foibles. It -could not be from the cause the Professor had once insinuated. A hot -flush of shame swept over her as she thought of that dreadful -insinuation. Surely, the man had forgotten himself when he hinted that. -She should never dare repeat his words to Mark. He would shoot him, she -feared. Perhaps Mark was right in his dislike for the man, but she could -not refuse to credit his doctrine. Surely, surely she had proof of -unseen visitants surrounding her. She felt their presence. - -And even as she thus thought, a shiver of fear came over her. The air -about her grew chill. In imagination she could see without, in the -gathering darkness, a host of shadowy forms flitting backward and -forward before her, like swarms of tiny insects in the atmosphere. How -they swarmed about her and over her as she grew colder and her breathing -more difficult. Involuntarily she turned her head and glanced backward -over her shoulder. The shadows had deepened in the room. A frightful -figure began to take shape before her excited vision. Her heart beat -loudly and painfully. Her breath came in gasps. A moment, and the shape -began to approach her. She gazed in fascinated terror into the darkness, -not daring to move. Nearer and nearer it came,—ah, God! Alice felt her -limbs sinking beneath her, and dropping to the floor she cowered and -covered her face with her hands. - -Oh, the fright and awfulness of that moment! She felt the forms all -about her, shadowing and overpowering her. She heard them in a swarming, -buzzing confusion of sound. Suddenly, out from it all came another -sound, louder and more distinct, but she was too paralyzed to reason. - -She heard the sound of heavy footsteps outside. Nearer and nearer they -came. The door opened. Some one approached in the half darkness. There -was a rushing and roaring as of many waters in Alice’s brain, and she -crouched lower and lower and uttered a faint shriek of terror. - -“Alice, Alice!” a voice called in her ear. “Alice, where are you? All in -the dark by yourself?” Then, as the visitor nearly stumbled over the -heap upon the floor, he started back involuntarily. “Great Heavens! What -has happened? What is the matter? Alice, can this be you upon the floor? -Why, child, what has happened? Did I startle you by coming sooner than -you expected?” - -Mark Cramer, with anxious countenance, bent over the cowering figure of -his wife. - -Her face was still buried in her hands, her frame shaking, her whole -attitude one of extreme fear. - -Mark’s heart sank with a fear of unknown dangers. This was a strange -welcome after his long absence. - -Alice’s letter had, it is true, prepared him to find her ill, perhaps -only depressed, for he had noted the dejection of spirits in the written -words, but he could account for that; but could this shrinking, cowering -creature be his formerly light-hearted and happy wife? Surely he had -expected nothing like this. - -Nothing less than a serious nerve shock could have caused this -condition. From what source could the shock have come? Could it be, -Alice had brooded in her cabin until she had become insane? These and a -hundred other thoughts rushed through his brain in the space of a moment -as he bent over the abject form of his wife. - -“Alice, dear Alice, have you no welcome for me after all these long -months?” - -Mark tried to raise her, but she shrank back from him, limp and -helpless, yet trembling as with palsy. - -“Alice, do you know me? Have you lost your mind? My God, what a -home-coming is this! You surely are not afraid of _me_, Mark? Speak to -me, Alice.” - -She looked up at him with dazed eyes and tried to speak, but her lips -would not obey her will. - -“Alice, O Alice!” Mark lifted the trembling figure in his arms and held -her tightly. “Alice Cramer, do you not know me? What has happened to put -you in this state?” - -She turned her white face against his shoulder, hiding it. - -Darker thoughts took possession of the man. Was there a reason why his -wife should fear him, her husband? His blood grew hot with anger. Had -that villain, Russell, so poisoned her mind that she feared his return, -or had some person, just previous to his return, frightened and -prostrated her? He glanced into the adjoining room and listened for any -noise to denote an intruder. No, Alice was alone. - -“Alice, speak to me!” he commanded sternly. - -“Mark, Mark,” she murmured. “Oh! has it gone? Can you save me from it?” -And again she shrank fearingly against his arm. - -“There is nothing here, Alice; only I, Mark. What has disturbed you so? -Was any one here before I came? Has any one been trying to frighten -you?” - -Alice raised her head and looked shrinkingly behind her, clinging closer -to her husband as she did so. Then she began to sob, and clutch his -shoulders tightly. - -“Yes—oh—I do not know! I saw it behind me here in the room. It was so -hideous—so dreadful! I saw it over my shoulder there!” - -“I think, my dear, it was only the shadow cast by my horse as it came -down the road.” - -“Oh, no, no, it was there!” - -Mark looked distressed. - -“Alice, I shall not dare leave you alone again while your nerves are in -this state. Do you know that there has been nothing here but spectres of -your excited imagination. Since when have you conjured gruesome -hobgoblins out of the darkness? You never saw such things before, did -you?” - -Alice hid her face in his bosom. - -“Yes, Mark, many times. They are always about me. When I walk they come -up behind me and I hear their padding footsteps following me. They even -pull my hair sometimes at night when I cannot sleep. Oh, I cannot bear -it!” - -Mark frowned, and chewed his mustache reflectively, but he repressed the -words that came to his lips. - -“My dear child, I am home with you now.” - -“Yes, Mark, and I am so—so—glad! But you will go away and then they will -come again.” - -“I wish you might go when I do. You are nearly ill with nervous -prostration. You should see a doctor right away.” - -“O, no, Mark! Not a doctor! I am not sick!” - -“What has caused this trouble, Alice? I do not know unless it is that -miserable hound Russell. Can you not believe me when I tell you this is -all a mere delusion of the senses? You have thought and thought over, -and allowed your mind to dwell upon that wretched _ism_ until it has -nearly shipwrecked you. It was an evil day when that villain darkened -our door.” And Mark ground his teeth in impotent wrath. “But come, let -us have a light and drive away the spirits of darkness.” - -“But, Mark, dear,” said Alice, as she arose and lighted a lamp, “can you -not see that, to me, it is truth? I really see and hear them, and if it -were not for these hideous ones—” - -“They are _all_ hideous—the whole doctrine is hideous, my dear, and only -such as an unbalanced mind can conceive of,” he said hastily. “For my -sake,—for God’s sake,—try and use some reason and judgment in the -matter! You used to feel different from this—you, the little fearless -woman of five years ago. I was so proud of you for your bravery, as -became a soldier’s wife. You were all right until that man came -here—until that serpent came into our Eden. Now you are frightened, and -faint at your own shadow. But forgive me, dear, I didn’t come home to -scold you. I am sure it is because you are not well and your nerves are -to blame for it all. Queer things, these nerves, to play us such pranks. -You are better, are you not?” - -Alice turned her face, still pale and wan, toward him, and said in a -voice yet unsteady: “We will not talk of it any more. It is too -dreadful.” - -“No, we will choose pleasanter themes. I have some news for you. I have -received a letter from my sister Elinor, and she thinks of coming to -make us a visit. She will have a fine rest here after her round of -society life.” - -“But I thought she was in California.” - -“So she is, but will stop and visit us on the way East. I know it will -do you good to have her here. She is always bright and happy.” - -Alice’s lip quivered at the implied reproach, though Mark had no -intention of meaning it as such. - -“But will she be happy here? I am afraid our rude little cabin will -scarcely make her comfortable.” - -“Don’t worry about that, child. Nellie is a good-hearted little woman, -in spite of her wealth and love of society, and she will enjoy the -change, I assure you.” - -“I feel—afraid to see her,” said Alice, the tears quivering in her -lashes. - -“Alice, dear, can it be this lonely, isolated life that is ruining your -health and nerves? Shall I give up my commission and go back East?” - -“Oh, no, Mark! It is pleasant here—only—” And Alice again looked -apprehensively behind her. - -“My poor child, we will go East,—anywhere,—to get you away from these -scenes and influences,” he murmured. - -“But, Mark, do you not think they are everywhere? In the East and West -and North and South? The air is full of them, it seems to me. What used -to seem only thin, pure, fresh air, sweet to breathe, and space vast and -limitless, appears now a thickly populated ether or chaos in which are -countless thousands of spirits floating or coming and going in surging, -whirling, maddening confusion. Oh, you cannot see with my eyes! If you -could you would pity me!” Alice leaned against her husband’s arm and her -tears fell softly. “You wouldn’t scold me if you knew.” - -“Poor child, poor child! I will not scold you nor laugh at you. I will -cure you. I know disordered nerves are as bad as other functional -disorders, or worse, and it is a physician you need, and a big dose of -rest, and you shall have them. You shall not be left alone again, -either. You are not afraid when I am here?” - -“No, you seem to exercise control even over the inhabitants of the air.” - -“I thank God I am able to. Did you know, Alice, Nathan’s little Lucy is -ill?” - -“Little Lucy? Ah, how sorry I am. How did you learn it?” - -“I met Nathan down the road and came home with him.” - -“Mark, dear, how I am neglecting you. I am sure you are tired and -hungry, and here I have been taking your time with my woes, and -forgetting your needs. Supper is all ready, however, except making the -tea.” - -“Ah, that begins to sound like home again. Yes, I am hungry. I am always -hungry when I can come home to my own table and have my good wife’s -cooking.” - -And Alice, intent upon the hospitable entertainment of her husband, -forgot, for the time, the spectres that haunted her. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - THE REAPER - - -The spring brought trouble deep and lasting to the home of Nathan. Their -child, upon whom Lissa had rested her heart and hopes after the manner -of all mothers since the dawn of creation, sickened and died. - -One day its little, warm lips had been pressed to hers, while its eyes -looked inquiringly into her face with the mysterious intensity of -infancy. The next, the waxen body lay cold and still before her -unknowing and unheeding, and the weighted agony of her heart was beyond -expression. - -Oh, mothers who have had this experience, how I pity you! How my heart -bleeds for you! It is to tear out a vital part of your being, to rend -the very cords of life, to see that precious little casket of clay, so -pure, so fair, borne away. How can you bear it? - -Lissa did not bear her trial bravely, but sank beneath it. For days she -neither ate nor slept. She would sit in the spot where her baby died, -and beg that it should return to her. She would pray that it might -become materialized and appear to her as the children she had at one -time seen come from a cabinet at a seance. That seemed to be her one -thought, to see it, to feel its little warm hands once more. - -Nathan watched her with increasing anxiety, scarce naming, even to -himself, what he feared. At last one morning she startled him by -declaring that the child had come to her in the night. That she had seen -it and touched its hands. - -“It was but a dream, dearest. Little Lucy is safe in Jesus’ arms. Think -of that, Lissa, safe!” - -She turned from him impatiently. - -“I don’t want to think of it. I want her myself. I have the best right -to her. It was cruel to take my baby, my only one. He must let her come -back to me.” - -“But, my dear, that is impossible. Our little one is safe in a better -world, where no harm nor evil can approach her. She is waiting for us -there. Some day you can go to her, Lissa, but she may not come to you.” - -“But I know she can and does. She is there in that corner of the room. -Sit very still, and she will come to you. See her?” - -Nathan, startled in spite of himself, would sit, awed and expectant, -looking in the direction indicated, while his wife, wrapped in eager -absorption, would remain motionless, becoming angry if he disturbed her. - -And thus the weeks passed, bringing no relief. Lissa’s nature seemed -completely changed. She no longer took interest in her household -affairs, but left everything to her domestic, who at best was an -indifferent housekeeper. Nathan came home each week to find neglect and -chaos, where had once been care and order. - -Lissa was petulant and easily irritated, and her dark, sad eyes looked -as if she never slept. She lost in flesh and color and her constant and -ever-recurring theme of conversation was the child she had lost. - -“Ah, how far from comforting is this belief which my poor wife has -embraced! If Lissa would only become reconciled to the fact that the -child cannot come to her again, she would soon recover from her sorrow,” -he said to Mark Cramer, as after an unusually trying hour with her he -walked slowly with his brother-in-law toward the latter’s house. “It is -certainly wrong to try to recall the dead.” - -“I agree with you. God pity those who have no other belief than -spiritism.” - -“Amen!” replied Nathan. “It has been weighed in the balance and found -wanting. Poor Lissa keeps herself and every one around her wretched by -constantly talking of her lost one. I feel at times she is losing her -mind. She seems to care for nothing but what she calls ‘communing with -her child.’ I can see that she is failing in health as well as mind. I -hoped when the first outburst of grief was over she would, like other -mothers, become resigned, but if anything she is becoming more absorbed -in it. I cannot blame her friends for staying away from her. They do not -want to hear the same story continually. If I propose that we go away -for a time she looks alarmed and refuses to leave the house, because of -the nightly visits of her little one. Surely, surely, Mark, it is a -delusion. It cannot be that she _does_ see her?” he questioned. - -“I certainly believe, Nate, that she is self-deceived and that unless -her mind can in some way be diverted and given other food she will die -or become insane. I was surprised to-day to see the change in her, even -in the short time I have been gone.” - -“If she would only take some interest in her household affairs, but she -leaves everything to Neoka, who is poorly fitted for such -responsibility. I might send for her mother—” - -Mark shook his head. “I am afraid her mother gives too much credence to -this wretched fallacy that is making all the trouble,” he said. - -“Well,” groaned Nathan, “I’m to blame for all this! If I had never -brought that man Russell into the neighborhood this need never have -happened.” - -“Possibly not, but you don’t know. The Devil usually has some way of -finding victims. He might have sent along some other of his emissaries. -I suppose he has plenty, even of _this_ kind. But I will think about -this and see if I cannot find some way of deliverance.” - -“Heaven grant you may, and soon!” - -“I’ve often wondered,” said Mark, “why you ever had anything to do with -this belief. I always supposed you too sound a man to be deceived -easily, and yet you have half seemed to accept the doctrine.” - -“I never told you of an experience I had, a number of years ago, while I -was railroading, did I? You know I ran on the road three or four years. -At the time the incident happened I was acting as conductor on a freight -train running between R—— and Council Bluffs. I had a friend, George -Marvin, who was also a railroad man, and we were close chums. He was a -splendid fellow and supported a widowed mother, who idolized him. - -“One day he came down to the station and told me he had had a bad dream -the night before, and felt sure that if he went out upon his run he’d -meet with an accident. I pooh-poohed at him, but he was terribly -depressed and insisted that he’d had a warning and must not go. So -finally we hunted one of the boys to go in his place, and he jumped on a -passing train to ride up to the street-crossing near his home, standing -on the step of the third car from the engine. As the train moved out -between the tracks upon which other cars were standing, George leaned -out too far, was struck by some projection from a freight car, knocked -under the wheels, and killed instantly. - -“It was a terrible thing. I couldn’t sleep for nights after it happened. -And his poor mother—well, she never got over it. It killed her inside of -six weeks. - -“Two or three weeks after George was killed I took a freight train up to -the junction, where I was ordered to side-track and wait for the express -to pass me. I was some behind time, owing to an accident up the road, -when I pulled out onto the switch, and I was slowing up to stop, when -the rear door of the caboose was thrown open with a bang, and if you’ll -believe me, there stood George Marvin, as natural as life. - -“‘Nate,’ he said, ‘go back and close your switch.’ Then he jumped off, -and the door closed. For a moment I forgot but that George was living. I -rubbed my eyes to see if I was awake. I went to the end of the car, and -looked out, but no one was in sight. There were four drovers in the car -playing cards and laughing. While I was looking at them and wondering -what it all meant, the door flew open again and George Marvin once more -appeared. ‘Nate,’ he said, very slowly and expressively, ‘go back and -close your switch.’ I asked the drovers if they saw any one. They said, -‘Yes, a fellow told you to close your switch.’ ‘That man has been dead -two weeks,’ I said. - -“They urged me to go back and see what it meant, and as the train had -stopped, I ran back and found a piece of coal had fallen between the -rails and prevented the switch—which worked automatically—from closing. -I got it out and closed the switch just as the express came in sight. -Otherwise it would have run into us, and another railroad horror would -have been recorded. Now how do you account for that?” - -“Had it not been for the drovers seeing the vision I should think you -might have seen, standing in the rear of the car, that the switch did -not close; but as you were carrying on another train of thought, perhaps -thinking of your friend, you were not conscious of noticing it; and that -the other part of your mind warned you. Your imagination supplied the -vision.” - -“But the drovers?” - -“Well, perhaps it was thought transference. You received the impression -passively, scarcely realizing it. The passive mind might have -transferred it to their minds. I must confess there is much we cannot -understand even in the laws that govern mental telepathy.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - NEW ARRIVALS - - -The soft and balsam-scented air of summer fluttered the white curtains -of Alice Cramer’s house as she sat before the open doorway awaiting, -with no little anxiety, the arrival of her fashionable sister-in-law -from San Francisco. - -And when her practised eye saw the carriage, a mere speck against the -sky, coming across the prairie, her heart throbbed with the dread of -meeting and she looked about her mean little apartments with a sense of -embarrassment. What had come over her, that she should have lost the -self-possession and ease of manner inherent in her, and become timid and -awkward as the most illiterate of her neighbors? - -“I have been so long out of the world I am no longer myself,” she -murmured, “and yet—and yet it is not wholly that. I seem to be living in -a state of chronic fear. If only her coming will free me from those -other visitors.” - -With a choking sensation in her throat, and trembling in her limbs, she -arose as the carriage turned from the highway toward the house. She took -in with a glance the blonde-haired, blue-eyed sister, the curled, -elaborately-dressed child, and then her eyes rested upon the most -beautiful face she had ever seen, it seemed to her. A face so commanding -and bright, so impellingly attractive, she gazed at it in joyous wonder. - -Mark lifted them down from the carriage, one by one, and presented them -to her, and the tears started in her eyes as Elinor kissed her fondly, -called her sister Alice, and appeared to overlook the shabby apartments -which had so distressed the housewife a few minutes before. - -The little boy bounded and capered in the joy of freedom as he looked at -the boundless prairie, and Tibby Waring’s eyes glowed with tender -moistness as she feasted upon the beauty of the expanse before her. - -“Oh, Mrs. Wylie, how lovely it is to breathe freely again,” she murmured -as, after removing her wraps with the dust and stain of travel, she -stood, later in the day, outside the cabin door and watched the red sun -touch the prairie’s distant rim. - -“Yes, Tibby, you will be a child again with all these country wilds -about you. You will have chickens, cows, and horses to your heart’s -content. Mark, do you remember how we youngsters used to go out to -grandpa’s?” - -“Indeed I do. I remember how you tried to walk a log across Willow brook -and fell in.” - -“And I remember when grandpa whipped you for taking eggs from under his -sitting hen.” - -“Because a little girl about your size—you haven’t grown much—told me to -do it.” - -“Yes, and I ran and hid in the dry-house and fell asleep there. What a -time they had finding me.” And Elinor laughed at the recollection. - -“’Twas old Tige that found you. We never could understand how he opened -the dry-house door,” responded Mark. - -“Ah, those happy, happy days,” sighed Elinor. “Look yonder, Tibby, what -a lovely group of ponies.” - -“They are coming this way. May I go to meet them, Mr. Cramer?” And -Tibby, with Robbie at her heels, swiftly went across the crisp, dry turf -toward the approaching horses. - -“Is it safe for her, Mark?” asked Elinor, looking anxiously after her -protege. - -“Yes, come on, we will follow them.” - -“How lovely they are, Mr. Cramer. Are they all gentle? May I go near -them?” asked Tibby as the twain approached her. - -“If you are not afraid, select one for your own use,” Mark replied. - -Tibby went nearer and surveyed them for a moment. - -“I like that roan the best, though he looks a trifle wicked,” she said, -pointing to one a little distance from the herd. - -“Ah, that is Tempest. He is a little wild. Better choose again.” - -The horse lifted his ears and struck the ground with his fore-foot -challengingly, as Tibby slowly went toward him. Mark expected to hear -him snort viciously and take to his heels as she neared him, but to his -surprise the horse kept his position. - -Then, as Tibby spoke to him, he backed a little, and again struck the -ground with his foot. - -“Soh! Good fellow, good fellow! Come here!” Tibby paused, and holding -out her hand beckoned the animal toward her. Then they stood looking at -one another steadily. Finally the roan took a few steps forward, -striking the ground, and seeming to question her right to command him. - -“Come here, I tell you!” said Tibby imperiously, again, and to the -surprise of all the horse once more took a few steps nearer her. -Haltingly it walked toward her, nearer, its eyes fixed on the girl and -her outstretched hand. A few more steps and it was within reach, and -Tibby’s hand was upon its nose and she had conquered. - -“Well, I’m astonished at that!” exclaimed Mark. “He’s the Devil’s own, -usually. He must have an eye for beauty, the rascal.” - -Tibby stood and stroked the animal’s nose, whispering to him as she did -so, and feeding him grass which she pulled from the ground. - -“You are not afraid, Tempest. You must always come when I call you. Soh! -Good Tempest; come, sir, come! I’ll show you to the mistress.” And Tibby -turned toward the house, the horse following the hand touching his nose. - -“Why, if that girl ain’t leading Tempest!” Alice exclaimed. “He’s the -wildest colt of the lot. Even Mark hasn’t been able to do much with him, -he’s so vixenish. And without a bridle! How did she manage it?” - -“She can manage almost anything,” laughed Mrs. Wylie. “I sometimes think -she manages all of us. I don’t know how we should get along without -her.” - -“Where did you find her?” - -“In a country place not far from Forest City. I took her for a nurse -girl for Robbie, but as I wrote you, I’ve made a companion and daughter -of her. She is invaluable in any capacity. The only trouble I have is -keeping the young men from running off with her. She attracts a great -deal of attention wherever we are stopping, and woe be it to any young -woman who purposely ignores her. She makes her a wall-flower from that -time on, and draws away every young man who would pay the offending one -any attention.” - -“But how can she do it? Of course she is remarkably handsome, but that -does not always—” - -“The goodness knows! It’s her own secret. Sometimes I think it is her -compelling eyes that bring every one to her upon whom she casts them. -Haven’t you noticed that quality in them?” - -“They are wonderfully bright, and—electrical,” replied Alice. - -“Electrical? Yes, that is the word. Aren’t they? I can sound Tibby’s -praises by day and night. One feels them ever when not looking at her.” - -“Well,” said Mrs. Cramer, “we have very few young men here. None of much -account, except Donald Bartram. He is nice, and entirely eligible, so -you need not fear him. The girl is remarkably attractive.” - -Tibby Waring had indeed become an important element in Mr. Wylie’s -household. Every one liked her, from Robbie, who was restless and uneasy -in her absence, to Grandma Wylie, who, when she made her annual visits, -insisted that Tibby was better than a doctor to relieve her aches and -rheumatic pains. And Mr. and Mrs. Wylie found need of her on all -occasions. - -From the position of servant she had become a daughter of the house. Her -ready wit and imperturbably good humor made her a welcome adjunct in the -parlor, and if some of Mrs. Wylie’s society friends sneered and -complained of her when by themselves for her presumption in forcing an -unknown girl upon them, they were careful not to shadow forth any -dislike in her presence. Latterly, when traveling, Mrs. Wylie had -introduced her as a foster-daughter, and thus Tibby was saved any -affronts. - -Alice Cramer was never weary of watching both Tibby and her -sister-in-law and feasting upon the brightness and freshness of their -apparel, with the many little accessories of fashion which, of late, -were unknown to her. And Mrs. Wylie herself was like a wild bird set at -liberty. She sang and rode with Tibby and Mark over the plains, her -fluffy blonde hair blowing in the wind, and her pink and white -complexion, which no wind could mar, only took on a richer tinge, more -healthful and attractive. But she became alarmed at the peculiarities -which she observed in Alice. - -One day, while galloping over the soft turf, she questioned her brother. - -“Mark, is Alice entirely sane?” - -“Sane, Nellie! What do you mean?” - -“Why, she acts so strangely at times. She sits and looks back over her -shoulder in such a startled way, and early this morning, after you had -gone out, I heard some one cry out in her room and I ran in there to see -what was the matter. She was sitting up in bed and brushing the wall -about her with a broom. Her face was red, her eyes bright, and she kept -saying, ‘Get away with you, you little imps!’ - -“‘Why, Alice,’ I cried, ‘what ails you?’ She dropped her broom and -looked embarrassed when she saw me, and said imploringly, ‘I can’t help -it, Nellie! Don’t blame me, I can see such horrible crawling things on -the walls. There are all manner of creatures, some on two legs and some -on four or more, and they grin and chatter in such a fiendish way I have -to fight them.’ And she began to sob. I told her it was only her -imagination from disordered nerves, and she ought to have a doctor. But -she assured me she was well, physically. One can see, however, from her -thinness and pallor that such is not the case.” - -Mark’s face grew dark and he shut his teeth hard. - -“Nellie, it all comes from the evil machinations of one man who has been -coming here to the house; a spirit-medium, he calls himself, but I -imagine him an agent for Satan. He holds seances, and has given Alice -books to read until she is filled with his theories. She has been alone -too much since mother went home, and has become melancholy and nervous. -I am very glad you are with us. Try to keep her cheerful and her mind -off those things as much as possible. I need help.” - -Mrs. Wylie sighed. - -“Ah, I know what it is, Mark. Horace has been interested in this -subject, and I have seen more of it than I enjoy. Horace’s sister in -Oakland is a believer and gives up her house to seances and meetings of -that sort.” - -“Indeed, I am surprised that so solid a man as Mr. Wylie should give ear -to such nonsense.” - -“But, Mark, you can’t say it is all nonsense. There are very many bright -people who believe in it, though they are perhaps the exceptions; but -there is certainly something supernatural about it.” - -“No, Nellie, I do not think it is supernatural. It is only because we do -not understand Nature’s laws and forces that we thus designate the -phenomena produced. I really believe the time will come when every -phenomenon adduced will be explained from natural hypothesis. Much of it -can be now. I am not sure but all of it can.” - -“I have a friend, Mark, a very sweet young woman, who I am sure would -not stoop to deceit, who can do many wonderful things. She can write -messages from the spirit world, is clairvoyant, and can, if an article -is placed in her hand, describe the owner, his surroundings, etc. I have -recently heard that she has developed as a materializing medium.” - -“But, my dear, she may be ever so honest and be self-deceived. Those -things do not prove the agency of any disembodied spirit. We all have -more or less of the psychometric power, no doubt, which, although we -cannot account for it, is no more wonderful than the electric current -and many other forces of Nature. There certainly seems to be a force -which connects individuals and forms a medium for thought transference. -The Hindoos understand this much better than we do, hence the mysteries -of their conjuring tricks. They must make use of this psychic force of -which we are but dimly conscious. Possibly we may, in the future, learn -to control it as we do now the lightning. But there is no spirit agency -in it.” - -“The most mysterious to me is the slate-writing,” said Mrs. Wylie. “My -friend does that also. I have seen instances where there seemed to be -absolutely no opportunities for fraud.” - -“We may have belief in the power of mind over matter. I have thought -much over this and am willing to admit that the spirit of man may even -act upon matter to produce this slate-writing, but I believe it is the -medium’s spirit rather than any other. If the disembodied spirit is -supposed to do this, why not the spirit or intelligence of the medium -also? All things considered, I prefer to believe the medium responsible. -Of course, in many cases it is probably only a trick or sleight of hand, -in substituting one slate for another; but I think I have seen cases -myself where such explanation could not be given. - -“But this hypnotic force which can make a subject do, believe, assume -personalities and see whatever is suggested to him is a wonderful force -and I know not what its limits are. It may account for the supposed -slate-writing. The Oriental can produce phenomena beyond anything known -here, and yet, as I understand, he does not pretend that his power comes -from the spirits of departed friends. As for mind over matter, the -planchette is certainly governed by the intelligence of the operator or -manipulator.” - -“If,” said Mrs. Wylie, “one mind may influence another, now annihilating -time and space, why may not the mind or spirit of the dead so act after -it is separated from the body?” - -“I do not deny that such a thing is possible. I am not prepared to state -absolutely that such things are impossible, but I have never had any -proof sufficient to convince me that they were at all _probable_, and I -don’t believe that spirits have anything to do with all this table -rapping, etc., which really amounts to nothing. You will find that all -written answers to questions, even in slate-writing, tell only that -which is known to some one in the room. If a question is asked which -demands an unknown answer the so-called spirit either refuses to speak -or the answer is so ambiguous as to admit of several interpretations. -Really I have never seen one such communication that even stated a fact -clearly. They usually deal in generalities.” - -“That is true. I’ve often told Horace that they could get along all -right until some question was asked which the mind-reader could not find -out about, and then they fail. I have heard that only inferior spirits -are capable of producing psychical phenomena.” - -“So we have the Indian children and big medicine-men to instruct us so -much. Strange that people should pin their faith to the utterances of -spirits of those with whom they would not associate were they living -upon earth.” - -“After all, it’s the making a religion of it that I object to,” said -Mrs. Wylie, “and letting these communications, wherever evolved, control -one’s morals and living.” - -“Did you ever know a person made better by giving up his religion and -substituting spiritism?” - -“No, that is it. I have often told Horace that the doctrine tended to -demoralization; but he will not listen to me. Of course there is much -that is wrong in the followers of any religion, but this seems -especially lowering in its tendency, so far as I have observed.” - -“Well, you can see what it has done for my poor Alice. And her sister -Lissa is nearly insane from it. It will unbalance the mind if not the -moral nature.” - -“I suspect you will not be willing to go and hear Mrs. Lucien when she -comes to C—— upon her Western tour. I care nothing for the exhibition in -itself, but am a little anxious to know how she has developed. I have -not seen her since she first began to try her mystic powers, as we went -to the Pacific coast soon afterwards.” - -“O, yes, I am willing to see your friend. I am not so intolerant as -that. She may, as I said, be sincere and self-deceived. Such a condition -might be possible. However, it is quite as likely you are deceived in -her. By the way, you have a remarkable maid—this Tibby. She is extremely -pretty and has wonderful eyes. - -“Ah, you are stricken with a shaft from those eyes. I don’t wonder at -it. Tibby has been with me ever since she was fourteen, and I have heard -that remark over and over again from each one to whom I have introduced -her.” - -“I could believe she practises hypnotism, though perhaps unconsciously.” - -“Ah, I have frequently suggested as much to Horace, but he says it is -her beauty. She certainly can do what she wishes with any one. The young -men at the summer hotels where we stop swarm about her like bees about a -honey jar, but she does not seem to care for them. Sometimes she plays -the most absurd tricks upon them. One evening, when we were at the -Metropolitan, a young man called whom I had especially recommended to -Tibby. I left them in the parlor and stepped out upon the veranda. -Shortly, Miss Tibby followed me, her eyes dancing with mischief. ‘Where -is Mr. Bevington,’ I asked. ‘In the parlor, asleep,’ she said demurely. -I went in, and sure enough, there the fellow sat in an easy chair, sound -asleep, his jaw dropped, and looking anything but picturesque and -charming. Tibby stood by me, looking wickedly at him. - -“‘There, you see how gentlemanly your fine young man is,’ she said. ‘I -must be interesting company. Don’t you pity me? Shall I cover him with a -shawl and let him sleep?’ I shook my head at her. ‘Better waken him.’ - -“‘Mr. Bevington, we’ll excuse you if you would rather sleep at home,’ -she said. I wish you could have witnessed his confusion when he awoke, -as he did immediately upon Tibby’s addressing him. I really pitied the -poor fellow. He muttered, of course, something about late hours, etc., -but I am satisfied Tibby had something to do with his sleeping. She has, -when she chooses, a very soothing influence over one.” - -“So I perceive. I saw an instance of her mesmeric power yesterday. She -wanted to go and ride upon Tempest (by the way, there is a proof of her -strength. Tempest was the worst horse on the ranch) and Robbie insisted -upon her staying with him. She sat down upon the horse-block and looked -at the child until he came to her as if she had been leading him by a -rope. - -“‘I think you may as well sleep while I am gone,’ she said, ‘to keep you -out of mischief.’ To my surprise the little fellow dropped down by the -side of the block and appeared to be asleep in a minute. He slept until -she returned from her ride, when she awakened him, and they both came in -together.” - -“You don’t think there is any harm in it? It will not hurt Robbie?” -asked Mrs. Wylie anxiously. “I have learned to rely upon her so -completely.” - -“Perhaps not, though I have heard that it weakens the will to be -frequently mesmerized. But we’ll hope she does not abuse her power.” - -“Really, Mark, I believe I obey Tibby myself. We have never disagreed -upon anything yet, that I did not yield, I am sure. And when I have a -headache she can sooth it away with her touch.” - -“Tibby has a very positive character. I fancy Donald is interested in -her already.” - -“Donald! Why, I thought they told me he was fond of Esther McCleary.” - -Mark smiled. - -“I do not know—possibly. Meanwhile, have I your permission to talk with -your protege on the subject of mesmeric influences?” - -“Most assuredly, or upon any other subject. But really, Mark, isn’t -there something uncanny about a person possessed of such power?” - -Again Mark smiled. - -“You are possessed of the intolerance of our forefathers. You would not -suffer a witch to live.” - -“Well, it does seem as if such a person had a familiar spirit. We are -commanded to abhor such, and in olden time they were put to death, it is -true.” - -“I do not class hypnotists with spirit-mediums,” Mark replied. “And I -have an idea with regard to Tibby which may be useful. She should be -able to exorcise other evil influences, as did the priests of old. I’d -like to pit her against Russell.” - -“Russell? O, yes, he’s the man to whom you ascribe Alice’s perversion of -mind. Well, I wish she might be able to. I wish she might.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - THE COUNTERPLOT - - -Mark sought a convenient opportunity to interview Tibby. He found the -girl one morning pacing slowly up and down the pathway leading to the -horses’ corral, her riding-whip in her hand and riding-skirt upon her -arm. She was smiling softly to herself and flipping the tops of the tall -balsam weeds with her whip as she passed them. She looked up, a -startled, challenging look in her large eyes as he approached her. - -“Well, Miss Tibby, what new mischief are you hatching to-day?” Mark -asked as he joined her. - -“None, I assure you. I was only thinking how I would like to see a -prairie on fire.” - -“I trust the wish has not been father to the act. You haven’t set a -match to it?” - -“O, no! I haven’t yet looked up a convenient hiding-place for myself. -And then I don’t believe I’m quite so bad as Nero. My desire to see a -burning Rome is not strong enough to make me set it on fire.” - -“Indeed? You reassure me!” - -“As if that were necessary.” - -“You haven’t told me what you really think of us here, Miss Tibby.” - -“I think it is lovely here; you have so much breathing space.” - -“Is that all we are supposed to do—breathe?” - -“There doesn’t seem to be a chance for much else. Now does that sound -impolite? I don’t mean it so.” Tibby flicked the toe of her boot with -her whip, and drew in one of the deep corners of her mouth as if she had -said something she ought not to. - -“Not in the least impolite. It’s a fact. We may exist here, not much -else.” - -“But I didn’t mean that. I like it here very much. But one is so free -from restraint, breathing seems the easiest and about the only necessary -thing to do.” - -“You were country born?” - -“Yes, and I remember it seemed there as if I was repressed and confined -and I looked yearningly out into the greater liberty of the world. Think -of it! From the freedom of country I longed for liberty.” - -“And now?” Mark questioned. - -“And now I am not tired of the other life. O, no. I enjoy it truly, only -I think part of the people one meets in society life are often very -silly and flat, as—as—” she hesitated for a comparison, then gave the -familiar one of her childhood,—“as dishwater.” - -“Isn’t that the trouble with a part of the people everywhere? After all, -it’s a great thing to be to the manner born,” said Mark, setting his -large hat farther back upon his head, and looking the bright sun in the -face. - -“Ain’t it? There is an ease, a consciousness of power, a—a something -which the very rich have which one may covet. Perhaps it is the -consciousness of always being well-dressed. I think that was what I used -to covet. As to birth, I had nothing to envy in any of them. My mother -was a Devereaux, my great uncle an earl.” Tibby lifted her chin with -conscious pride. Mark saw that the girl was still smarting from affronts -received when she was only Mrs. Wylie’s servant. - -“Even in this democratic America we still are proud of what we please to -call blue blood, are we? Well, it may be foolish, but I reckon it won’t -hurt us,” said Mark. “I hope many of us are better men than our -ancestors of feudal times, however. Our women are certainly more -intelligent, if we may believe history.” - -“Yes?” Tibby was looking out into the expanse dreamily, her eyes -narrowed and yellow in the sunlight. - -“What do you call the restraints of society life?” questioned Mark -suddenly. - -“The necessity of putting on war paint and feathers. The necessity of -hiding behind a mask of conventionality and pleasant phrases, of fine -clothes and fine speeches. I enjoy it immensely—immensely.” Tibby shut -her lips tightly to emphasize her words. “But after all, it is -artificial, and the only fun is seeing through it all. It’s really more -fun to be a spectator than an actor in a comedy. The actors see all the -tinsel and making up.” - -“But you have been an actor?” - -“Yes, in the minor roles.” - -“Tibby, Mrs. Wylie tells me you sometimes see people you do not like and -have a way of punishing them.” - -“Yes,” said Tibby meekly; “sometimes.” - -“Miss Tibby, haven’t we walked about enough? Let us sit down upon this -roller. I want to talk to you. You conquered Tempest very easily. I -believe you have uncommon power,” he continued, as Tibby sat down and -began to fan her face with her riding-hat. - -“Do you think so?” Tibby’s voice was mockingly suggestive. - -“Yes, I am convinced of it. And I have been waiting for an opportunity -to ask how long you have known and used this power.” - -Tibby looked keenly at Mark. - -“I am not sure I understand you. To what power do you refer?” - -“The power to make every person or beast yield to your will. You are a -hypnotist, Miss Waring, and an uncommonly powerful one.” - -The girl looked up eagerly. - -“Do you really think so, Mr. Cramer? I have wondered myself if that -might not be the case. I know—have known for a long time—that if I -really willed any one to do a thing, he was quite apt to do it. When I -was a little girl I used to sit in church and make people turn and look -at me—it was the only way I could amuse myself through those long -sermons which my stepmother made me listen to every Sunday; and -sometimes I have made people stumble, or even fall, just for fun or to -punish them. I know it wasn’t a praiseworthy amusement, but—” Tibby -hesitated. - -“You can put Robbie to sleep.” - -She nodded. “How did you know?” - -“I have been watching you.” - -“You don’t think there is any harm in it?” she questioned in a troubled -voice. - -“Perhaps not, yet I do not think I would exercise my power in that way. -It might weaken the lad’s will. I am sure you would not willingly do him -harm.” - -“Oh, no, indeed! I never mean to do any one any harm. I have sometimes -played jokes on the dudes at the hotels, or occasionally punished some -one, as Mrs. Wylie told you.” - -“There is a person whom I wish you would punish, if it be in your -power.” - -“And that is—?” - -“Professor Russell. You know who he is, and what he has done. If he -comes here again, use all the power you possess to get control of that -man.” - -“What shall do with him if I can hypnotize him?” - -“Anything. Show him up for what he is. And above everything, break his -power or influence over others.” - -“You may be sure I will. Mrs. Wylie has been telling me of him, and that -he is responsible for Mrs. Cramer’s nervous condition.” - -“Yes, and for a hundred other offenses, large and small. Lissa Bartram -is nearly insane over his accursed delusions. By the way, can you not -suggest a different train of thought for her? She sits brooding over her -sorrow, and trying to recall the spirit of her child. You know the -hypnotist can get control of the mind and govern the current of thought -by suggestion. Can you not turn her morbid fancies into dreams of hope -and brightness? Ah, Miss Tibby, if you can bring relief to that darkened -spirit you will be an angel of light!” - -“Mr. Cramer, I will try. I wish I understood better just how to use the -power I have. I know I have it—but sometimes I forget and fail to make -people do as I wish. But I am interested in Mrs. Bartram, and will do -what I can.” - -“Come, let us walk over there now,” said Mark. “The others are occupied -with themselves.” - -“All right. I’ll leave my riding accoutrements here, and we will go. I -wonder, Mr. Cramer, if this power comes from a strong will.” - -“Are you strong-willed?” - -“Ah, you answer my question in the Yankee fashion. I suppose I am. My -stepmother used to call me ‘that self-willed, headstrong girl,’ because -I could coax papa to let me have my own way sometimes. And when I was -right, why should I not have it?” The uptilted chin rose higher. - -“It is usually woman’s way,” Mark replied. - -“The right way is. I agree with you.” - -Tibby walked forward with the free, upspringing step of perfect health -and high spirits. - -“Mr. Cramer, you have not answered my question. What is this power of -hypnotic control?” - -“You should know better than I, Miss Waring. So far as I understand it, -it is the controlling of one person’s will and senses by another, the -subject passively submitting to it. I cannot imagine your hypnotizing -me, for I am naturally very positive myself. You might do so if I were -off my guard. Neither have I your power over others. Why, is not clear -to me.” - -“I made you ask a question for me a couple of days ago,” Tibby -confessed, laughing. - -“When?” Mark looked surprised. - -“It was when you and Mrs. McCleary were talking together, and I wanted -to hear her tell about the planchette. So I told you to ask her—that is, -_willed_ you to. And immediately you turned around and said, ‘Well, how -does Mr. McCleary get on with his planchette?’” - -Mark laughed. - -“I remember I was sorry for starting her off upon her hobby, and was -provoked at myself for asking afterwards,” he said. “But here we are at -Nathan’s. I’ll take you in and then I’ll leave you to entertain Lissa in -your own way.” - -They found her sitting listlessly by her low window, her hands folded in -her lap, her sad, dark-rimmed eyes full of unshed tears. - -“I have brought Miss Waring over to keep you company for a while,” Mark -said brightly. “I think you’ll get along well together without me, so -I’ll run back to Alice. How are you feeling? Better?” - -Lissa arose and came forward to meet them with extended hands, then her -eyes followed Tibby’s about the disordered room. A flush of color came -faintly into her cheeks. - -“I—am about as usual, thank you,” she said to Mark, then apologetically -to Tibby: “Neoka has neglected the work to-day. She wanted a holiday and -I let her off, and have not attended to it myself.” - -“Are you not well, Mrs. Bartram?” asked Tibby. - -“No—that is, I am better than I was,” she stammered, looking at Tibby in -an embarrassed way. - -“You ought to be out in this lovely sunshine. Don’t you think so, Mr. -Cramer?” - -“Yes, indeed. There’s life and health in every gleam, thanksgiving to -the sun,” misquoted Mark, and he touched his hat and turned away. - -“I have a headache,” began Lissa. - -“Which I can rid you of in short order,” cried Tibby. “Did Mrs. Wylie -never tell you what a good doctor I am? I can always cure her headaches -in a moment. May I try upon you?” - -Mrs. Bartram signified her assent, and Tibby stepped to her side and -began to rub her head, talking the while in her low, rich tones. - -“You are to stop thinking about anything and let your head rest easily -against the back of the chair. I will take the pain here and carry it -away on the ends of my fingers—so. Ah, you are beginning to feel better -already. The pain is going, now almost gone—now it is gone. Isn’t it? I -do not think it will trouble you any more.” - -Lissa smiled. “It has gone,” she murmured. - -“Ah, that is lovely. Now we will go and walk. It will complete my cure. -Shall we go down by the river and gather plums?” - -Lissa assented, and Tibby noticed the brighter look that already -animated her face. - -When, three hours later, the twain came back to the house, their arms -filled with wild flowers and plants, Lissa’s dark eyes were shining with -a new interest, and the dawn of a brighter life had shone upon the -darkened, despairing soul of Nathan’s wife. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - THE TRAIL OE THE SERPENT - - -“Alice, have you seen Esther McCleary lately?” Mark asked abruptly as he -entered the house. - -“No, I have not. She seems to avoid us since Elinor and Tibby came. I -wonder if it is on account of Donald? Why does she act so?” - -“I am afraid, Alice, there has been, or will be, a tragedy in Esther’s -life, which will wreck it,” Mark answered. - -“Why, what do you mean? What can have happened?” - -“Have you heard nothing about her mysterious wanderings away from home -lately?” - -“No.” - -“Well, it seems she has been given to somnambulancy. She has gotten up -in the middle of the night and left the house upon more than one -occasion. Last night, when I was coming home from the fort, I came upon -her walking alone upon the prairie, wringing her hands and sobbing -bitterly. I called to her, and she at first tried to run from me, but at -last she allowed me to put her upon my horse and bring her home. I -questioned her, and finally the poor child told me the cause of her -wanderings. It seems Russell’s power did not end with his presence, but -after hypnotizing her a number of times he could control her, even -though absent. He never tried to use this baneful power until recently, -or since he was here the last time before now.” - -“But when did he come back? I didn’t know he had returned,” said Alice, -a troubled look upon her face. - -“The Lord only knows!” replied Mark, with a scowl. “I hoped we’d seen -the last of him.” - -“I did too, Mark. I really did. I have been so much happier since Elinor -and Tibby came, and now, when it is most time for them to go, to think -he’s come again.” - -“He must not come here—after they have gone away, at any rate. I don’t -mind it much if they are here, for Tibby, I think, will be a match for -him. But afterwards, if I catch him here I’ll shoot him like the vermin -he is!” - -“But, Mark, they’d hang you for it.” - -“’Twould be in a good cause. But really I don’t think he’ll come again -after I have interviewed him once. This affair of Esther’s is going to -make the place too hot for him.” - -“O, yes, you were telling me. Go on. What about Esther?” - -“Why, it appears he willed her to meet him in the cotton-wood grove that -borders the canon. The poor child swears that she knew nothing and was -conscious of nothing until she found herself face to face with this -arch-fiend, alone and beyond the call of friends. She tried to flee from -him, but could not. He seemed to hold her, powerless to help herself.” - -“You horrify me, Mark!” - -“I am myself so enraged I can hardly exercise self-control. Think of -having a man in the community with the power to call his victims to him -at will.” - -“Does Donald know of this?” - -“No, I think not yet. I am afraid that when he does it will end -everything between him and Esther, if there has been anything, which I -doubt. I believe Don has a friendly interest in Esther, but I suspect he -is growing fond of Tibby.” - -“Indeed! Well, I don’t see how he could help it. But Esther is such a -good girl.” - -“Yes, before she became the nervous wreck she is, because of -that—Russell.” Mark ground his teeth. - -“O Mark, this is dreadful, dreadful! What can be done?” - -“The hound must be driven from this community, now and forever. This -poor girl’s obsession is sufficient excuse for a mob with tar and -feathers. Were it not for the publicity of the thing, and the pain -Esther would experience should these night wanderings be made public, I -would organize a posse myself, to-night, and ride the fellow out of the -territory on a rail.” - -“Ah, Mark, you must not go against the laws of the land. Mob violence -can never be right.” - -“I don’t know, Alice—when one has a case like this which the law would -not touch.” - -“Will not the law touch it?” - -“I don’t know. I am going to town to-morrow to find out if there is not -some way in which he may be held under the law. As for Esther, I wish -she might be sent away from this place—away from his hateful influence -and pestiferous power.” - -“Ah, could she get away from it? Is there any place where it might not -follow her? Mark, wouldn’t it be well for you to see Mrs. McCleary? -Surely she could not sanction such possession of her daughter.” - -“That is a good idea, Alice. I will go to see her to-day—now. If there’s -a heart in that woman I’ll try to find it. This is a mission for which -you are better suited, but in your nervous state it may be more than you -could do.” - -“I would rather trust you,” Alice replied. - -Mark rapped at Mrs. McCleary’s door a half hour later, and asked the -child who admitted him if he might see her mother. - -“Well, well! Oi declare, Mr. Mark, Oi’m delighted if you’ve found toime -an’ inclination to give us a little of yer society,” cried Mrs. -McCleary, coming forward. “Oi told Esther Oi didn’t see why some of the -neighbors didn’t call oftener. We’re always glad to see ’em. And how is -Alice, and that noice sister, and the perty girl with her? Oi am shure -Alice must enjoy their company so much.” As she paused to take breath, -Mark interposed. - -“We do both enjoy them very much. But where is Esther, Mrs. McCleary?” - -“Esther? O, she is giving the children their baths. Oi have to leave all -such work to her now. But she’ll be through varry soon, Oi’m shure. Just -help yourself to some of them plums on the table, Misther Mark.” - -“Thank you. They are very nice, and I always enjoy eating them. This -fruit makes up to us for the lack of apples and other fruits of the -East, which we have not started here yet. Nature is compensative. But I -want to talk to you, Mrs. McCleary, rather than Esther, and upon a -somewhat delicate subject.” - -“Yes?” Mrs. McCleary’s voice slid upward interrogatively. “Oi waant ter -know.” - -“Do you know the extent of Professor Russell’s power over your -daughter?” - -“Why, to be shure, Mr. Cramer. Who should know, if not her mother?” - -“And do you approve of his compelling her to walk in the fields at -night? Believe me, Mrs. McCleary, I ask this from no idle motive. I am -interested in your daughter’s welfare and good name.” - -“He compel her? Professor Russell compel her? Why, ye’re crazy, Mark -Cramer!” The woman’s Irish temper was rising. - -“But it is true she has gotten up in the night and wandered away, alone, -is it not?” - -“It is thrue Esther has walked in her shlape once or twice.” - -“But is he not the cause, when she goes to meet him?” - -“Mr. Cramer, what d’ye mean, insinuating such things of my Esther?” - -“Mrs. McCleary, this is a painful revelation I must make you. But I know -that this has occurred, at least once, and I know that Esther was -constrained to go to this meeting by other power than her volition.” - -“Oi don’t belave ye, Mark Cramer,” said the now thoroughly angry woman. -“Oi don’t know what yer object is in coming here and defaming moy poor -girrl. Oi don’t belave Professor Russell would use any power he has to -hurt moy child’s good name. It’s all along of yer prejudice of the maan, -that yer thryin’ to make trouble.” - -“But, Mrs. McCleary, listen to me, I beg of you, for Esther’s sake. You -don’t want me to believe that Esther would go of her own free will to -such an appointment?” - -“If she has gone, it’s the sperits as has led her. And Oi can’t belave -they would harm a hair of her head, aither. When the sperits used to -come here first, McCleary used to say, ‘Ye’ll lose all yer friends, -Miranda, av ye toike ony sthock in these sperits,’ and Oi sez, sez Oi, -‘If moy friends can’t sthand the sperits, they’re not moy friends at -all, an’ I can get along without thim.’” - -Mrs. McCleary was thoroughly aroused, and her hands trembled as she -clasped the arms of her rocking-chair. - -“You are willing, are you, that the spirits should compromise your -daughter? Mrs. McCleary, there is not a man, woman, or child in this -community that would not grieve to hear this thing of Esther, and would -gladly shield and protect her from such influences; but her own mother -will not listen nor try to save her.” - -“Ye don’t know what ye’re talking about, Mark Cramer. If the sperits—but -I don’t belave it at all, at all.” - -“Mother!” It was Esther herself who interrupted them, Esther standing in -the doorway, her face white to chalkiness, her dark-lined eyelids heavy -with their burden of tears, her voice thrilling with its passionate -intensity. “Mother, Mr. Cramer speaks the truth. It is no spirit that -controls me, but the wicked, black one—oh, blacker than hell -itself!—which lodges in the breast of that dreadful man, Russell. I have -prayed to you, O my mother, to save me from him. I have prayed to Heaven -as well, upon my bended knees, but Heaven and my own mother have been -deaf to my prayers. You would not hear me, you would not believe me. -Yes, you, you, mother, have made me see him, forced me against my own -will to see him, until he now controls me, body and soul. If he bade me, -I should walk into the bottomless pit. And I hate him, hate him, hate -him! O mother, mother, mother!” Esther’s voice ended in a shriek and her -slender body swayed as she staggered forward toward the woman whose -breast should have been her safe and sure refuge. - -Mark caught the half-fainting girl and supported her to a chair. - -“Try to calm yourself, Esther,” said Mark. - -“Yes, Esther, do be calm! Ye’ve upset moy nerves complately. What does -make ye take on so? Oi nivver saw ye in sich a state, nivver.” - -“Mrs. McCleary, in view of all this, will you not promise me that -Russell shall never again enter this house?” Mark asked with resolution. - -“Oi—oh—what can Oi promise? Where is Mr. McCleary. It seems to me ye’re -all afther drivin’ me crazy!” And putting her handkerchief to her face -she sobbed and waved one hand despairingly. - -Fortunately the hesitating, shuffling, uncertain step of Mr. McCleary -was heard coming up the path, and in a few moments he entered the room. - -He looked from one to the other in a helpless, bewildered manner, then -turned to his wife. - -“Mr. McCleary, will you try to keep Professor Russell from your house? -This is all trouble of his making. He has gained possession of your -daughter’s will until she is obliged to wander out upon the prairie at -night if he bids her to do so. She is completely in his power, poor -girl. Only careful watchfulness upon your part and the expulsion of the -villain from the community can avail. Look at your child, Mr. McCleary, -and see if you will permit him to destroy her!” said Mark, with feeling. - -He pointed to the sobbing face of Esther, now pressed against the back -of the chair, and ghastly in its grief. - -The little man looked helplessly at his wife, then at his stricken -child, and his head shook with agitation. - -“Yes, I’ll try—I’ll try. We will, won’t we, Miranda? We’ll try to keep -him away from Esther. I say, Esther, do you want him kept away?” he -continued, going to her side and lifting her poor head in his arms. “My -little girlie, do ye want him kept away?” he quavered. - -“Yes, yes! O papa, if he had never come here!” she moaned, pressing her -forehead against his breast. “Papa—papa!” - -Mr. McCleary blew his nose and coughed uneasily. - -“I’ll promise yer, Mr. Cramer. I’ll promise he sha’n’t. He sha’n’t come -if I can prevent it. Poor Esther—there, little girl! He sha’n’t come -here again if I can help it.” - -For a wonder, Mrs. McCleary said nothing, but with her face concealed in -her handkerchief, rocked back and forth in her chair to the -accompaniment of her sobbing; and feeling that Esther was finding -comfort in the paternal arms, with the old man’s promise, Mark took his -leave. - -“Nor if I can prevent it, shall he come here again!” he muttered as he -walked away. “And I think I can—I think I can.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - TIBBY CONQUERS - - -Upon the second afternoon of Mark’s absence from home Alice was -surprised by the dreaded appearance of Professor Russell. The man had -changed his outward guise considerably. His auburn whiskers had given -place to a smooth-shaven chin. A red mustache, grizzled with white, -decked his upper lip, and his hair was closely cut. Even his eyebrows -seemed to have shared in the general cut, and the man looked sleeker -and, if possible, more like Uriah Heep than before. Alice did not at -first recognize him as he came toward the house, but a glance from those -gray-green eyes identified him. - -She shrank back with a perceptible shudder of abhorrence. - -“You here, Professor? I supposed you had departed to lands afar!” she -exclaimed. - -“You did not then receive notice of my coming?” he asked, with a meaning -look. - -“Notice? No—why—how could I?” - -“I have numerous unseen messengers.” - -Again Alice shivered, and turning toward her sister-in-law, beckoned her -approach. Mrs. Wylie left the bunch of prairie flowers she was plucking, -and came forward, while at the same time Tibby came around the corner of -the house, leading Robert. - -As Alice presented the Professor to each in her turn, she observed the -keen look he cast upon them, and noted later the return of his gaze to -Tibby. Her beauty was evidently not lost upon him. - -As for Tibby, she regarded him steadily, as again and again his eyes -sought hers. They appeared like two children trying to look one another -out of countenance. Then Russell’s eyes fell and he turned to enter the -house, while Tibby, her eyes dancing in triumph, followed him in and sat -down opposite him, watching him much as a cat watches the crevice in a -wall through which a mouse has disappeared. Evidently Tibby was very -ill-bred. There was a peculiar electrical charging of the air. Mrs. -Wylie noticed it, and looked apprehensively out of doors to see if a -storm was approaching, then at Alice. Alice felt its influence and -trembled. Tibby alone seemed unmoved and entirely serene. A wicked, -yellow gleam shone in her expressive eyes. - -“Is your husband at home, Mrs. Cramer?” Russell asked at length, after -taking a chair a short distance from the door, and tilting it slightly -backward against the wall. - -“No, I am sorry to say he is not. But why do you ask, Professor? I -supposed you always knew.” - -“I have neglected to make inquiry this time, Mrs. Cramer. Undoubtedly I -might have learned had done so.” - -Tibby rolled up her eyes with an expression of youthful innocence. - -“What a lovely idea that would be for making calls, Mrs. Wylie! One -could always go and leave cards when people were away from home.” - -Mrs. Wylie shook her head at the girl reprovingly. - -“Ahem! I have taken the liberty to invite over some of our friends for a -meeting to-night,” said the Professor. - -Mrs. Cramer could hardly repress signs of her annoyance. - -“I am very sorry—” she began. “It is unfortunate Mark is not here or -that you did not take the trouble to inquire beforehand. For he -decidedly objects to anything of the kind here in his absence.” - -Truly, Alice was becoming brave. - -“I am sorry for Mark’s blindness,” the Professor said, with priestly -assumption. - -“Mark blind? How very strange. I should never have suspected it,” said -Tibby with childish naivete. - -“He is blind to the truth, Miss Waring. A sort of moral blindness, which -is the worst form of ophthalmia.” - -“Oh!” Tibby opened her eyes to their widest extent and met his look -squarely. Then her eyes narrowed until only a rim of blue was visible, -and she did not take them off the visitor. It soon became evident that -the Professor was annoyed by this childish scrutiny. He changed his -position several times and finally turned upon the girl abruptly. - -“Have we ever met before, Miss Waring?” - -“I think not,” Tibby said, with an emphasis that sounded much like “I -hope not,” but she did not relax her persistent watchfulness. Surely the -girl, though handsome, was very ill-mannered. She acted like a child who -had met an interesting specimen. - -“Have you had any new experiences, Mrs. Cramer?” the man asked, again -changing his position nervously. He was evidently upon the defensive so -far as Tibby was concerned, and did not care to longer challenge her -attention. - -“N—no,” said Alice. “I think I have been less annoyed by unpleasant -influences, lately,”—then, catching Tibby’s eye,—“since you went away,” -she added. - -Professor Russell gave Alice a sharp glance, as if to determine whether -any disrespect was intended by her remark, while Tibby’s eyes danced -mirthfully. - -“We trust,” said Mrs. Wylie, with a dignified raising of her chin, “that -as Mrs. Cramer is getting her nerves under better control, she will not -be haunted any more by imaginary spectres.” - -“You think them, then, a mere delusion of the senses?” - -“Most assuredly.” - -“But if I should tell you that I, who am not in the least nervous, can -see forms about Mrs. Cramer, why should she not see them?” - -“Because they are not there. Because you make her see them. Mr. Russell, -we feel, my brother and I, that you have done a serious wrong to Alice, -and I know if Mark were here he would not permit you to see her.” - -“Eh? What? Not to see her? Mark must be beside himself. Why, I am sorry. -I regret very much that—that—that—Why, bless you! how sleepy this warm -weather makes me. I have really allowed myself to become wearied. -Perhaps I ate too hearty a dinner. Mrs. Cramer, may I trouble you for a -glass of water?” And Russell started up and passed his hands before his -eyes as if to brush cobwebs from them. “I have been walking about in the -heat all day and it’s almost overcome me, I reckon.” - -Alice rose to go to the well at the back of the house, and it was -several moments before she returned. - -“Here is the water, Professor,” she said, coming forward with a pitcher -and glass upon a small tray. “I have drawn some fresh for you.” - -But her words seemed wasted upon the man before her, who was apparently -deaf and blind to all external influences. “Why, can it be he’s asleep?” -she continued, under her breath. - -“Ah, I hardly think—he’d be so severe as that. I am—much—interested—much -in—the dark,” muttered Russell. “I’m—m—m—” His chin dropped, his eyes -closed, and he sank back heavily in his chair. Tibby arose and -approached him with cat-like tread, looking at him eagerly. She waved -her hand before his face. “Yes, you’re asleep fast enough!” she said -exultantly. The man began to breathe with the measured rhythm of deep -sleep. - -“Mrs. Cramer, you are free from that man’s influence,” Tibby continued, -with a long sigh of conscious relief. “I was so afraid I could not get -him under control, as he might be on his guard. But you distracted his -attention, Mrs. Wylie, and then I got him. He was warm and tired from -walking, and a heavy dinner too, probably. Did I do the baby act well? -He probably thought I was the personification of rustic innocence and -did not fear me. Ah, you’re asleep now, old fellow, and cannot awaken -until I give you permission. I can see Donald Bartram coming,” she -continued, looking out of the door. She waited for him to come up, -standing upon the step of the cabin, a picture of animated life. - -“For once, Mr. Bartram, you are on hand when you are wanted.” And she -courtesied to him mockingly. - -“For once? Rather say, always,” he replied with assurance. “But what is -it now? Whew!” as he caught sight of the slumbering man. - -“Can you ask? Don’t you see it is a sleeping beauty; and as he’s liable -to wait until the Millenium for the princess to come to awaken him, or a -thousand years, more or less, suppose we bury him.” - -Donald looked from the face of the laughing girl to the sleeping man, in -amazement. - -“I put him to sleep,” she vouchsafed. - -“By all that’s good, if old Russell hasn’t met his match!” he whispered. - -“O, you needn’t whisper, he won’t waken; and it isn’t a lucifer-match, -so don’t look surprised, but please suggest to me what to do with him.” - -“It’s Tibby that has put him there,” said Mrs. Wylie. “She has -mesmerized the creature. Ugh! I hope there is no danger of his -wakening.” - -“Not until I waken him,” said Tibby. - -“Then suppose you wait until Gabriel sounds his trumpet,” Donald -suggested. - -“Mr. Bartram, I am bad enough, but you are positively wicked! To think -of punishing poor Mrs. Cramer by having such a clod as this left around -to look at.” - -“Miss Waring, if the man is in a hypnotic sleep, any suggestion you may -make to him, he will act upon. Why not use him as he has Esther -McCleary? Make an exhibition of him.” - -“What, make him dance? I might try. Wouldn’t it be fun? We should have a -larger audience, though. I wonder if I can. Oh, what a joke it will be!” - -“Certainly you can. He can be made to dance, talk, make a speech—even -tell the truth, perhaps. Try it!” - -“He said when he came in he had invited some people here to a seance -to-night,” said Mrs. Wylie. “It is nearly time to expect them, is it -not?” - -“That’s so. Jump on your pony and go after Esther, Mr. Bartram. How I -wish Mr. Cramer were here. It will be a joke for them to find him -asleep.” And Tibby’s eyes glowed wickedly, with yellow fire in them. - -Donald, nothing loth, started upon his errand. - -“Be sure he does not waken,” he said. - -“Never fear! I’ll see to that,” she called after him. - -Poor Alice Cramer had not spoken since the drama began. She was -frightened, yet glad in her secret heart. She feared this man so much, -it was a satisfaction to see him harmless and sleeping, and Mark would -be home before the night was over. - -“Ah, Mrs. Cramer,” cried Tibby, “just pay no attention to him. I’ll make -him go and lay in the corner, if he is in your way.” - -“Oh, no!” cried Alice, frightened at her daring. “Let him remain where -he is. You’re sure you can bring him out when you please?” - -“Yes, indeed!” - -Alice stepped about softly, as if in fear she would wake him, while she -arranged the furniture in the room. - -“I am sorry he arranged for a seance here to-night,” she whispered. -“Mark will be angry.” - -“But _he_ isn’t to have one. Don’t you see. It’s _I_ that will have the -seance, and he is to dance at it. Oh, you wicked man, I have heard -enough about you! Are you not wicked? Answer me!” - -“Yes, I am wicked,” came from the lips of the slumberer. - -Tibby clapped her hands with delight. - -“I can see Sol Garrett coming now,” Alice said, going to the door. - -“Dear me! What will they say?” - -“They’ll say Satan is outwitted,” said Mrs. Wylie. - -“Well, I am sure I hope it is all right,” Alice replied, with a sigh. - -Before Mr. Garrett reached the house, Donald galloped up from the -opposite direction and threw himself from the horse. - -“How is it, have you got him fast?” he asked, hurrying in. - -“Yes, but where is Esther?” - -Donald frowned. - -“She is either not at home or would not see me,” he said. - -“And her mother?” - -“Was nursing a headache and would not see me.” - -“Ah, then they will not be here. I am so sorry,” murmured Tibby. “Esther -ought to see him act the clown’s part.” - -Mrs. Jenkinson soon arrived, with Auntie Dearborn and the Pemberton -twins. Sol Garrett waited to come in with Lissa Bartram, and three or -four others soon followed them. They all started back at the sight of -the sleeping Professor, and looked at one another inquiringly. - -“Too much spirits,” said Tibby audaciously. - -“Why, you don’t say? Has he been drinking?” queried Auntie Dearborn in a -loud whisper. - -“No, he’s overcome by spirits, but not of that kind,” Donald said. - -“A stronger spirit than his own controls him,” added Mrs. Wylie. - -“Strong spirits are always dangerous,” giggled Tibby in an aside to -Donald. - -“Weak ones are more so,” he replied in the same tone. - -The company were soon seated about the room, looking curiously at the -slumbering medium. - -Then Donald explained to them that his sleep was an unnatural one, -induced by Miss Waring, who had, like the Professor, hypnotic powers. - -“We propose to prove to you that much that this man has taught is -fallacy,” he said. “That which he has claimed to be spirit manifestation -is much of it only hypnotic suggestion.” Then at a signal from him Tibby -came forward. - -“Come, Professor!” she said with authority. “You are asleep, very sound -asleep, are you not? You cannot open your eyes if you try to, can you?” -The man made an evident vain effort to do so. - -“Now, put out your arm.” The subject obeyed. “Put it down.” Again he -obeyed her. - -“He is all right,” said Donald, biting his mustache nervously. “He will -dance if you tell him to.” - -“Come, these people have come here to see you dance, Professor. You know -you are a dancing master and can perform in a wonderful manner. Mr. -Bartram will whistle a jig for you. Now begin!” - -Donald gave Tibby a humorous grimace, but he struck up a lively tune, -and the Professor, springing to his feet with the agility of a youth, -kept time with him in a most ludicrous manner. He flourished, kicked, -double-shuffled and pirouetted in the manner of a professional stage -minstrel. - -“That will do now! You are tired,” said Tibby, after the man had -continued his exhibition until his audience was convulsed with laughter. - -“You see,” said Donald, “it was not spirits, but hypnotism, that made -Miss McCleary entertain us by waltzing.” - -“That is true, is it not, Professor?” Tibby asked. - -“Yes,” he nodded, “it is true.” - -“Well, I swan!” said Solomon Garrett. “If this don’t beat all creation! -Has that man been foolin’ us all this time, or is he dancin’ with -spirits himself.” - -“He is controlled by this lady here. There is nothing supernatural about -it,” replied Donald. “She controls him, as he has us, many times, making -us see and believe what had no existence. Miss Waring will make him see -things not here.” He looked at Tibby. - -“Professor, Mark Cramer is standing over you with a horse-whip. Look -out, he is going to strike you!” The man showed signs of terror, and -shrank away from the supposed antagonist. “You had better strike back.” -He doubled up his fist and struck back with energy. “There, you have hit -him, he is down.” The Professor glared at the floor, smiling with the -air of a conquering pugilist. - -“Here is a piece of candy for him,” said Donald, handing Tibby a piece -of balsam-weed. - -“Yes, here, Professor, you are fond of sweets. Eat this.” - -The Professor took the stick and bit it, smacking his lips, and chewing -it with apparent relish. - -“What is it?” asked Tibby. - -“Candy,” he responded. - -“No, it’s poison,” she said. - -Immediately his face was distorted and he strove to eject it from his -mouth. - -“There, it is all right. You know you have been deceiving these people -and now you are going to make a speech and tell them the truth. Tell -them how you tricked them,” continued Tibby. - -“My friends,” said Russell, “I will now undertake to explain to you all -that has seemed to you mysterious and supernatural. I am a mind-reader -and a hypnotist. I sometimes figure as a spirit-medium. I have the power -of going into a trance, when my senses no longer control my mind, and -then I can see through time and space; and what has seemed to you -unaccountable except by spirit agency is simply the result of natural -forces not yet well understood.” - -“That is true,” said a voice at the door, and the spectators turned to -see Mark Cramer entering the room. Tibby gave him a meaning look and put -her fingers to her lips. - -“I have deceived you and worked harm among you,” the Professor went on; -“and not only here, but in many other parts of the country. I am -planning more mischief still. Esther McCleary is in my power—” - -“Stop! You have said enough!” cried Tibby, alarmed at his words. - -“Yes, I’ve said enough,” he repeated. - -“Shall I awaken him?” Tibby asked, turning to Mark. - -“So you’ve really hypnotized the villain. Good girl!” cried Mark, and -his hand was extended to her in friendly appreciation. - -“Yes, he’s been dancing, and giving himself away badly,” said Donald. - -“Are you all satisfied that he is a fraud and a villain?” asked Mark, -looking about him. - -“We have his own word that he is,” replied Sol Garrett. - -“O, his dancing was too funny,” giggled the Pemberton twins. - -“I don’t know what to think of it, but I believe the Professor will -explain it when he comes out of his trance,” said Mrs. Jenkinson. “I am -sure he has been under control.” - -“Under Miss Waring’s control,” said Mark, with a frown. “Can it be that -you will yet ascribe this to spirit agency?” - -“He was controlled by a dancing master,” said the twins. - -“Mark, I wish you would send him away,” whispered Alice; “I am so -tired.” - -“You may as well awaken him,” Mark said. “These people are bound to be -deceived.” - -“Awake!” cried Tibby. - -For a moment the Professor’s face became convulsed, he struggled -desperately, then fell prone upon the floor. Donald and Solomon Garrett -assisted him to his feet, and for a few moments he stood staring and -glaring about him. - -“What are you doing here, sir, when I forbade you the house?” cried -Mark. “Get out of here at once, and never let me see your face in this -part of the country again, if you value your miserable life!” - -The man glared at Mark in impotent rage. - -“Come, go! I know all your iniquity and I swear I’ll have a mob after -you before another night if you’re in this vicinity!” - -Mark spoke with angry vehemence. - -“I go, but your wife will follow me,” Russell said, turning and fixing -his eyes upon Alice Cramer. Mark saw her totter forward, and catching -her in one arm he drew a revolver from his belt and levelled it at the -Professor’s head. - -“Will you go?” he hissed. - -Professor Russell did not stop long to question the muzzle of a -revolver, and sprang out into the night. The neighbors, too, frightened -by Mark’s savagery, made short adieux and went home. - -Alice was nearly unconscious from her fright, and Mark bore her to a -couch. - -“I should like to have kicked that hound into the middle of next week!” -he muttered. “Heaven knows what he has done to my poor Alice.” - -“I hope it’s not I who have harmed Mrs. Cramer,” faltered Tibby. - -“No, no, child! Not you! You have done good work. I wish I had been here -earlier.” - -Tibby lifted Mrs. Cramer’s white face in her arms and whispered softly -to her. “He has gone, and will never harm nor frighten you again.” - -“Mark did not kill him?” she questioned. - -“No, only frightened him away. Mark is here.” - -“You will not let him come again,” she said, looking with appealing eyes -into Tibby’s face. - -“Never!” said Tibby with finality. - -With a sigh of relief she sank back upon her pillow, and after a time, -Tibby, believing her asleep, stole softly away. - -“I’ve been a brute to frighten Alice so,” Mark said as Tibby came out. - -“No, it was Russell that frightened her. I wish before I wakened him I -had driven him out and told him not to stop going,” Tibby replied. - -“We would have a second edition of the Wandering Jew,” Mark responded. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - ESTHER’S DISAPPEARANCE - - -The shock of Professor Russell’s last visit and forced departure -prostrated Alice Cramer, and in the days that followed, a little life -that should have brightened Mark’s home opened its eyes to shut them too -quickly, and went away into the unknown from whence it came, leaving -desolation and sorrow behind it. But this bereavement was swallowed up -in the anxiety for the mother, who for many days seemed about to follow -her child. - -At the same time another calamity befell the community, a tragedy that -touched all hearts. This was nothing less than the sudden and -unaccountable disappearance of Esther McCleary upon the night Russell -had been driven from Mark’s house. - -Where she went or how, no one could determine. She had gone to her room -at the usual hour of retiring. In the morning she was gone, leaving no -word or trace of her going. Her mother refused to believe that any harm -could have befallen her, and would have kept the matter secret; but the -poor father at last dared to think for himself, and notified the -neighbors. - -With their help he searched the canon and the weed-covered tracts of the -prairies to find, perchance, her body, while Donald went to the nearest -railway stations to learn if she had been seen to depart by any of them, -but to no avail. - -Whether she had, in the depth of her despair, taken her own life; -whether, to free herself from the noxious presence of Russell, she had -disguised herself and fled to parts unknown; whether she had been -spirited away by some of his familiar spectres, or whether, in his -complete obsession of her, the unprincipled scoundrel had abducted her, -could not be learned. She was gone, and the unfortunate mother had -leisure to inquire of her own conscience, how far she had been to blame -for this tragedy in her home. - -Professor Russell had not been seen in the neighborhood again, and -during Alice’s convalescence the unfortunate events occurring during her -illness, as well as those preceding it, were rarely alluded to, and her -friends were delighted to find her apparently happier and brighter than -formerly. Lissa, too, had largely recovered her normal condition, owing -chiefly to Tibby’s influence, and the world looked brighter to some of -the actors in this part of it. - -The exposure of the deception practised upon them, added to the -mysterious disappearance of Esther upon the same night of Russell’s -departure, staggered the belief of many of his converts, and no seances -were held in the neighborhood. - -The weeks wore away, and yet Mrs. Wylie remained at her brother’s home. -She felt as if Alice really needed the companionship of Tibby and -herself. In the early autumn Mr. Wylie was going to New York on business -and would call for her, and together they would go East. The sojourn had -been a pleasant one for Mrs. Wylie, despite the tragedies enacted, the -excitement, and the absence of the fashionable circle of her friends. -Her little boy had grown brown and stout-limbed in his liberty, and she -herself was rested and happy. The long letters from her husband, which -came with unfailing regularity, filled with news and anecdotes of the -life in which he lived, helped to break the monotony of rural life, and -as September approached and she began to look forward to his coming, the -little estrangements were forgotten and Nellie Wylie dwelt fondly upon -her husband’s perfections as she talked of him to her sister-in-law. - -“You cannot think, Alice, what a wonderful business man Horace is,” she -said as they sat in the little doorway of the house one beautiful -September evening watching the sun sink behind the fringe of cotton-wood -trees in the distant west. “If he were to fail in business to-day he -would be on sound footing to-morrow. He seems to know instinctively what -to do. I need never have any fear for the future, having him to rely -on.” - -“He has been very kind to allow you to stay with us so long. He must be -very lonely without his family,” Alice replied. - -“Yes, though he is with his sister a great deal, and she is—Forgive me, -dear, I was about to say she was one of those dreadful spiritists. But -really she is fanatical in her beliefs and goes to such lengths in it. -That is the one regret I have for being away. I don’t like her influence -over Horace. But forgive me, Alice, I beg of you. Though I hope now you -feel the same as I do about it, I know I should not have introduced the -subject.” - -“On the contrary, I am very glad you have done so. I want to tell you -that since Professor Russell went away I have seen fewer visions and -thought less upon the subject. I am really much less nervous than when -you came, and yet I cannot entirely rid myself of those—spirit -presences. If the evil ones have been driven away, there are kind ones -who come to me in my dreams. I believe Tibby exorcised the evil ones who -made life such a torture to me, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am -that you came here this summer and brought me deliverance. But for this -I should have been lying there with my baby, or been in the mad-house. I -am sure of it. But I see Mark coming. I must run and see if tea is made -for him.” - -“Well, sister mine,” Mark said, springing from his horse and throwing -the reins over its neck. “When do you expect to hear from Horace?” - -“To-day, now! Give me the letter quick!” she cried, holding out her -hands to him. “Ah, a telegram. He must have started, then.” And she -hastily tore open the envelope. “Yes, it is from Johnson, his partner, -and says, ‘Wylie started on No. 5, to-night, for the East.’ Oh, isn’t -that grand! He will be here in a few days.” - -“You have been somewhat lonely here in the wilds, I suspect, little -sister; but we shall regret your going.” - -“And I shall miss you all very much, wherever I am; but I suppose Horace -will be willing to stop only a very short time, so we can be here but a -few days longer. Let me see, this is the eighth. He should be here by -the twelfth, should he not? Robbie, come here, dear. Papa is coming. Do -you hear?” And Nellie Wylie caught up the little fellow and kissed him -in the exuberance of her delight. - -“I am glad you will leave Alice in so much better health, mentally and -physically, than she was when you came,” Mark said. - -“Yes, and better than all, with that man banished from this place.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - A LEGAL DOCUMENT IS RECEIVED - - -“He will be here to-day! Surely, Horace will be here to-day,” Nellie -Wylie repeated to herself as the hours crept slowly on and the time -arrived when, by her reckoning, her husband should have reached C——. - -Mark had driven out to meet him, and the little woman scanned again and -again the broad bosom of the plain for a sight of the returning -carriage. The grass was dry and golden in the sunlight and her eyes -ached from the reflected brightness as, shading them with her hand, she -stood for the fiftieth time before the cabin door and sought to trace -the slender thread of roadway. - -“Alice, I am sure there is some one coming,” she cried at last, as a -brown speck became visible against the horizon. Alice came and looked -over her shoulder. - -“It is only Jackson, the mail-carrier, I am afraid,” Alice replied. “You -know, dearie, Mark would be detained for a little time, while Jackson -has hastened directly here. You must not look too much upon Horace’s -coming to-night, for the train may have been delayed or many things may -have happened to detain him.” - -The letter-box was fastened at the roadside nearly opposite Mark’s -house, but seeing Alice in the doorway, Jackson threw his package of -mail to her and galloped on to the next post. - -“Here is a letter for you, dear,” said Alice as she sorted out the mail -and came slowly up to the waiting sister. - -“A letter? And from Horace, too! He must have written before he -started.” And her bright eyes glanced eagerly over the sheet she had -hurriedly opened. “Oh, merciful Heaven!” - -The cry startled Alice, and she turned to see Elinor stagger as if -stricken by a blow and then sink in a limp and helpless heap upon the -ground. - -“Why, Elinor! Nellie! What is it?” cried Alice, running to her and -lifting the poor fallen head in her arms. “My poor Nellie! Is it bad -news? Tell me!” she implored, while she rubbed the pulseless wrists and -tried to arouse her to consciousness. - -“Mamma, mamma!” cried little Robbie, frantic with alarm, trying to open -her eyes with his little brown fingers. “Mamma! Is she dead?” - -“No, Robbie, not dead. Oh, my child!” cried Alice; “if Mark would only -come!” - -“Uncle Mark is coming,” cried Robbie, and Alice lifted her head with a -silent prayer of thanksgiving as she heard the sound of horses’ -footsteps over the soft earth. - -“How glad I am you’ve come!” she sobbed, as a few moments later he -reached her side. “What can have happened to poor Nellie? Some dreadful -news, I’m afraid.” - -Mark lifted the letter, which still remained in her nerveless fingers. -An enclosure fell from it to the ground. He picked it up and hastily -looked it over. It was evidently a legal document, and as he read the -first line his face grew pale with surprise and anger. - -“Great Scott! What is this! Oh, my poor little girl!” And the -great-hearted Mark Cramer turned away his head and groaned aloud. He -turned to see Elinor staring at him with rigid eyes, full of wonder. - -“What has happened, Mark—Alice? Oh, I know, I know!” and again the blue -eyes were covered with the heavy eyelids. Then Mark lifted her in his -arms, and bearing her as lightly as though she were a child, he carried -her into the cabin and laid her upon a couch. - -“Poor child, poor child!” he muttered. “It is her only chance of -forgetfulness. It would be better almost if she never wakened.” - -“Mark Cramer, will you tell me what has happened?” cried Alice, who had -followed him in and now stood holding Robbie’s hand, her eyes dilated -and expectant. Mark hesitated, but finally said through closed teeth: - -“That paper is a copy of a bill of divorcement from Nellie.” - -“A divorce? I don’t understand!” Alice caught her breath. - -“Yes, that knave of a Wylie has divorced this poor girl! God only knows -for what or why he has done so. But, by the eternal powers, I’ll know -why! That man shall answer to me for this!” Mark’s eyes blazed. - -“Hush, Mark! You are excited and know not what you are saying. There -must be some mistake. It is probably only a joke. He has written Elinor -every day, kind, affectionate letters, and I think he was to have come -to-day, may be here in a few hours. He is only playing a practical joke -upon her.” - -“If so, he shall pay dearly for his joke!” Mark exclaimed. “Ah, my poor -little sister! My poor Elinor!” - -“Don’t, Mark! Think of Robbie hearing you! There is surely some -mistake.” - -“It’s a mistake he shall rue,” he groaned. - -But Mark’s anger gave way to fear as hour after hour went by and Elinor -only awoke from one swoon to go into another. Mark paced the floor, -distracted with anxiety. - -“Poor Nellie, I dread the hour when she shall finally awaken. Heaven is -merciful to her in thus keeping her unconscious,” he repeated again and -again. “What can have made the change in Horace Wylie? I should have -supposed him too proud a man to have entered a divorce court, even if -their life had been unpleasant. And I have always believed them to be -congenial and happy. Surely my poor little sister loved him.” - -“I am afraid, Mark, there is another woman in the case,” Alice said with -conviction. “Depend upon it, no man could do such a cold-blooded, cruel -act as this unless his affections were enchained by some other charmer -who has usurped his wife’s place in his heart.” - -“Hush! she hears you,” Mark whispered, as a faint moan came from the -couch and he saw the blue eyes slowly unclosed to be fixed with painful -directness upon him. - -“What is it, dear; can I do anything for you?” he asked, going to her -and stroking her curl-fringed forehead with his hand. - -“Where is Tibby,” she murmured. - -“Sure enough, where is Tibby? Alice, is it not time for Tibby to be -home? Where did she go?” - -“She went over to Nathan’s this morning, and has not yet returned. Shall -I go after her?” - -Elinor shook her head and looked with stony, unseeing, fixed eyes at the -farthest corner of the ceiling. How pinched and drawn the white face -looked, that had bloomed so rosily a few hours before. - -A moan again escaped her white lips. Alice sighed in sympathy. - -“Don’t, Nellie! Think of Robbie. Poor Robbie, he wants to speak to you.” - -“Mamma, I love you,” Robbie said, softly patting her cheek with his -little brown palm. “What makes you sick, mamma?” - -“Robbie, Robbie, dear, dear Robbie! O God! O God! It cannot be!” - -And again her eyes closed and she was still. - -“It is better, anything is better than that awful stare,” Mark said, -bowing his head. At last, as evening approached, Tibby was seen coming -slowly along over the gray plain, swinging her hat in her hand and -laughing with Donald, who accompanied her. Alice looked at the flushed -face of the happy girl, so radiant, so hopeful, so roseate, and her -heart sank at the thought of her meeting with the crushed, broken lily -who lay upon the couch behind her. And she slipped quietly out of the -door to meet Tibby and prepare her. - -She put up her hand, enjoining quiet, as Tibby swung her hat in -salutation. - -“Tibby, dear,” Alice said as the twain came to her side, “Mrs. Wylie has -received bad news, and is quite overcome by it. She asked for you and I -think you may be able to comfort her.” - -Tibby’s face blanched a little, and the laughing lips were sobered. - -“I will go in at once. Good-by, Mr. Bartram. I’ll leave you to Mrs. -Cramer’s care.” And she flitted away. - -“We’re in great trouble, Donald. Mark will explain to you at another -time,” Alice said. - -“You have my sympathy, whatever it may be,” the young man replied -gravely. “If I can be a help in any way, command me.” - -“Thank you, Donald, we are always sure of that.” - -He lifted his hat. - -“You may bring Lissa over to-morrow. Perhaps the skein of mystery may be -untangled by that time and more explainable,” she said as he turned -away. - -With the coming of Tibby the stony stare of Elinor’s eyes was washed -away by blessed tears, and with her head upon Tibby’s breast she wept -long and silently, while Tibby soothed her with whispered words. Then -after a time the sobs became less frequent, and to the relief of all, -Elinor slept. - -“Thank God for this! and thank you, Tibby, also!” Mark ejaculated. “I -feared her mind would give away to the shock. But this sleep will -restore her. What a blessing is sleep. This world would be a mad-house -of maniacs without it.” - -“Yes, Mr. Cramer; but may I not now know what this all means?” - -Mark handed Tibby the document which had wrought the ruin. She read it -through with corrugated brow, and then sat thoughtfully with it in her -hand. - -“Can you understand the cause for this, Tibby?” - -She shook her head. - -“No, unless—I do not know, but there was a woman on the boat with us -when we went to Santa Barbara, whom Mr. Wylie seemed to admire and who -appeared completely infatuated with him. So much so as to cause remark. -I did not tell Mrs. Wylie, but I overheard people talking of her. She -was in some way one of his kind, that is, she believed in spiritism and -he seemed to enjoy her society. - -“Mrs. Wylie did not like her because she had been at the hotel in the -mountains when we were there, and the ladies had been somewhat -scandalized by her behavior. But of course it seems incredible that she -should have been able to cause trouble. I should not think of her, only -at the time I felt such an instinctive dislike for her, and fear, as if -she was dangerous.” Tibby spoke with evident reluctance. “I am afraid I -tried to punish her sometimes.” - -“Punish her? How?” - -“O, I made her upset her coffee, spill her soup, and do other awkward -things. I am glad now that I did them; that is, if she is to blame—for -this.” - -“I see you feel convinced that she is,” Mark said. “And I am inclined to -trust your intuition.” - -Tibby’s care of Mrs. Wylie was untiring, and when another day had come -and the grief-tortured woman could control herself sufficiently to talk -of her trouble, Mark sought from her to learn something more of the -cause of it; but any suggestion of the idea that Horace had been -beguiled by another woman met with indignant protest from Elinor. - -“O, no, no; there is nothing of the kind! Horace has always been devoted -to me. I think he must be insane. I can account for this in no other -way. I am sure his belief in spiritism has in some way been the primary -cause of the trouble. It does unbalance the mind, we know,” she -faltered. “We never had any disagreement except over that.” - -“Yes,” Mark said, “I am willing to believe that anything may come from -embracing that creed. But what does he write you, Elinor?” - -“Here is the letter. Read it and interpret it if you can. I have read it -several times with no further enlightenment,” she replied sadly. - - - “‘My dear Elinor: - -“‘I fear this letter may prove a surprise to you, and a shock. I hardly -know how to make you understand the reason why I have taken this step. -It seems to be a necessary one. But I have not taken it without due -reflection. I am convinced our marriage has not been the soul-marriage, -which is the only true one, and that our tastes and requirements are so -dissimilar, it is better that we should go separate ways. I am willing -to provide abundantly for all your needs and for Robbie. You will, of -course, desire to keep him with you at least until he is old enough to -be sent away to school. I have placed with my attorney a sum of money -which shall be paid to you regularly each month, sufficient, I am sure, -for all your requirements, and I shall be glad to supplement it if at -any time you desire more. - -“‘Is there anything here at home which you would especially desire me to -send you? I imagine you will prefer to make Forest City your permanent -home, and I would suggest that you keep Tibby with you as long as -possible. Your harp and piano I have already had boxed awaiting your -order. And now, dear Nellie, I hope you will accept this trial in the -right spirit, believing it for the best, as I do. It has been a trial, -also, to me, I assure you, but it has seemed a duty, if not an actual -necessity. - - “‘Very affectionately yours, - “‘HORACE WYLIE.’ - - -“The man is certainly insane, or—” - -“Infatuated with some other woman,” interrupted Alice as Mark hesitated. - -“I will never believe that,” said Elinor pathetically. “I shall write to -him. Yes, I must write to him. This seems so unreal, I am constantly -feeling as though I should awaken and find it but a painful dream.” - -“Yes, write to him by all means, and learn, if possible, the cause of -this change of heart.” - -“I’ve been wondering where I should address him. You know his partner -wired me that he had started for New York. You don’t think he could have -gone through east, already?” - -“I will go to town to-day and telegraph Johnson,” Mark responded. - -He did so, and received this reply: - - -“Wylie left San Francisco for New York, the eighth instant, in company -with his wife.” - - -“‘Oh, my prophetic soul!’” quoted Alice, when she heard it, and Tibby -nodded assent. - -“I know it is that woman of the boat. My instincts did not deceive me,” -she said. - -How Elinor lived through the next fortnight she could never have told. -She remained as one stunned, and unable to talk to any one. She would -lie on the couch for hours and not move, or sit under the canopy of the -doorway, her hands lying listlessly in her lap, her sad eyes staring -pathetically into space. When spoken to she would arouse herself with a -start, and look at her friends with so pitiful an expression in her blue -eyes that they would turn away to hide their tears of sympathy. She ate -only when urged to do so, and slept only when forced to do so by Tibby. - -“If we could only interest her in something,” Alice said over and over, -for she scarcely even noticed little Robbie. - -At last Lissa came in one day, bringing her herbarium of Nebraska -flowers. - -“This was a God-send to me,” she said, “when I was brooding over my -sorrow. Perhaps I can interest Mrs. Wylie in it.” - -“O, how much you have done with it,” cried Tibby, “since the time when -you and I made our first botanical excursion together.” - -“You drew my attention from the dead to the living, growing things about -me, Tibby, dear, and I can never thank you enough,” Lissa replied. - -Wonderful as it may seem, Mrs. Wylie did allow herself to become -interested in the bright descriptions which Lissa gave her of the native -wild flowers of the State, and promised to go with her in the afternoon -to gather autumn specimens, and thus the first step was taken in -distracting her mind from her grief. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - HORACE WYLIE’S PHILOSOPHY - - -Let us now make a flying trip to the Pacific slope and go back to that -hour of parting at San Francisco to learn more of the motives that -prompted the tragedy in Elinor Wylie’s life. - -Passenger train No. 9, eastward bound, pulled slowly out of the great -depot building of the Oakland Mole, and the hurrying and excited throng -of people pressed forward, jostling elbows and crowding one another -after the manner of travelers, who sometimes leave their politeness and -good breeding behind them when they take up their valises. - -The coaches were fast becoming filled, when a gentleman entered one of -them, accompanied by a child and two ladies, one a pretty blonde, whom -he helped to a seat and bent over in tender leave-taking. - -“Good-by, Nellie! Write me when you get through, or better, wire me from -Denver, so I may know all is well. Tibby is with you, so I need not -worry if the trains run right.” - -The little lady smiled through tear-moistened eyelids as she replied, -and kissing her again, and the child, and shaking hands with her -companion, he sprang from the train as it began to move. - -Horace Wylie stood watching the long line of coaches as they moved away -from him, biting the ends of his mustache in an absent, absorbed -inattention, then turned slowly back within the gates, a strange mixture -of emotions controlling him. - -The inward monitor, conscience, was not yet stifled, and it was holding -a mental mirror before his vision. He caught a flitting glimpse of his -real self, stripped of all the sophistries and delusions under which he -loved to hide. Was he not a traitor, double-dyed? For a moment he felt -an impulse to rush after the departing train and seek to stop it in its -flight. A vision of his wife, looking trim and attractive in her -fashionable costume, remained and upbraided him with her trusting blue -eyes. - -It was but a moment, however. Another face superseded it—a dark, -brilliant face, with passionate southern eyes, and red, full lips; a -face more sensuous, more bewilderingly intoxicating to him in its -voluptuous beauty and piquancy. - -Horace Wylie shrugged his shoulders and shook himself as if to shake off -the oppression of self-reproach. He had made his decision and would -abide by it. After all, what mattered it? He had but one life to live. -It was right to get all the enjoyment out of it within his reach. - -He had not confessed to himself before why he had been so willing, and -more than willing, that his wife should make a visit of three months at -her old home. It had been her wish to go, and he had magnanimously -granted her permission. Thus he told himself. But he knew he concealed, -under a pretense of self-denial, the secret joy he felt that her own -voluntary act should lend aid to the furtherance of his half-formed -designs. He had not told the better part of himself what these designs -were. It is doubtful whether at this time he had faced the fact that -they were designs at all. They were mere desires. At least they were -vague, shadowy, evanescent creations, taking form from his desires, and -developing slowly in the secret, dark chambers of his bosom. - -He felt now, rather than thought consciously, that the barrier which had -restrained the current of his impulses was washed away and he might sink -in the lethal waters or be drifted away from prudence and engulfed in -the maelstrom of pleasure. He could not say _vice_, but a guilty -consciousness oppressed him now as he stood upon the platform watching -the last curling waves of smoke float backward. - -Wylie boasted of being a man of progressive ideas, a modern philosopher, -who had outgrown the old-fogyism of the past generation and arisen to a -plane where he could sit and lay down laws unto himself—mark out a plan -of life for this world and the hereafter. He was well-read in modern -sciences and a student of mental philosophy. He confessed himself -infidel in that he denied the Divine origin of the Scriptures, laughed -at what he called the pretty fables that bound the conscience of the -orthodox Christian, and felt himself superior in his latter-day wisdom. -He claimed to be a free-thinker and a liberalist, who read Huxley and -venerated Ingersoll, but had adopted a modern creed more in accordance -with modern requirements. He confessed to a decided leaning toward -spiritism. In fact, if his ideas were really expressed, he believed a -man had a right to do about as he pleased in this world, despite moral -and civil law. Not that he would have confessed as much to himself. That -was another of his self-delusions. But he had outgrown in theory, with -the fables taught him in his youth, his boyish code of morality. He had -also outgrown, so he believed, his love for his wife, whom he had -married many years ago, when he was but twenty-one, a mere boy, -incapable of judging or choosing wisely. So he argued with the better -self. Not that he found serious fault with her. He secretly wished he -might do so, but she had been faithful to him, he believed, and upheld -the family honor; was pretty, stylish, domestic, social, and a kind -mother to his son. All this he was forced to acknowledge. But she was -one ideaed, commonplace, he told himself, and she was not his _spiritual -affinity_. Ah, there was a reason furnished by his lately adopted creed. -She was not his affinity. - -He could remember a time when she was all in all to him. But he had -outgrown that time too. Of course he loved his boy, and if,—if certain -imaginings and fancies should materialize,—well, he needn’t consult his -better self about that yet. - -“Hello, have you fallen asleep, watching that train off?” A friendly -hand slapped him upon the shoulder. - -Wylie started as though his thoughts were patent to all observers. - -“I—I have just sent off Elinor and the boy,” he said with confusion. - -“Ah, that is—shall I say fortunate or unfortunate? Fortunate for them -perhaps—bad for you. And you were following them with your mind. Are -they to remain away long?” - -“Three months. They will go to the Atlantic coast before they return.” -Wylie spoke with an effort. - -“And what will you do while they are gone? Board at the club, I -suppose.” - -“Yes, at the Bohemian. I am at the office all day, and most of the -nights, so shall have little time to miss my family.” - -“I see. Well, come to the club oftener, when you can get away. By the -way, have you attended any of Mrs. Mount’s receptions lately?” - -“Yes, I go often. They are enjoyable, which is saying much.” - -Wylie spoke with enthusiasm. His companion shrugged his shoulders -suggestively. - -“I suppose that depends whether you are in sympathy or not with the very -liberal ideas discussed there.” - -“Are you not in sympathy?” - -“I don’t like some of the people who go there.” - -“Did you ever find a society every individual of which you deemed -companionable?” - -“Possibly not, but I have reference to two or three conspicuous persons -who are notorious for their immorality.” - -“To whom do you refer? Not Mr. Falkner?” - -“Yes, Mr. Falkner for one. He is much married and divorced.” - -“I am sure all was legal, so far as I know. He separated from number -one, and was again married. When number two ran away and left him, he -obtained a second divorce, and—married again.” - -Wylie’s companion looked at him with curious eyes. - -“I am surprised that you approve of him. From his conduct last evening I -should judge there will be a chance for a third divorce. I cannot like -the man.” - -“His conduct? How?” Wylie inquired, shifting his weight from one foot to -the other, nervously. His companion gave him a scrutinizing look. - -“With Mrs. Hartner,” he replied in a dry tone. - -Horace Wylie winced, but he said in a tone of affected indifference, “I -consider Mrs. Hartner a lady.” - -“Yes? Do you know where her husband is?” - -“No.” - -“It is rumored that he has been hired to leave the country.” - -“For what reason?” - -“To enable her to get a divorce.” - -“So? Well, it’s none of my affairs,” and Wylie laughed a mirthless -laugh. - -“Nor mine, but if I were interested in the lady I should keep her away -from Mrs. Mount’s. Ta, ta, Wylie. This is my corner.” - -Young Holden sauntered around it slowly, out of sight. - -“Confound the fellow! Why did he say that to me? It can’t be that he -suspects—but no, that is impossible. There is something confoundedly -disreputable about a divorce, that’s a fact. But this double life is -risky, especially with such a keen-witted wife as Elinor, and Berenice -is so determined, and insists—well, time enough to think of this later. -It’s a relief to know that Elinor is where she need not hear all the -gossip of the clubs.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - DRIFTING - - “Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods, - And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt, - And night by night the monitor blast - Wails in the keyhole, telling how it passed - O’er empty fields, or upland solitudes, - Or grim wide nave; and now the power is felt - Of melancholy, tenderer in its moods - Than any joy indulgent Summer dealt.” - —Allingham. - - -The autumnal days were nearly gone, and occasionally was felt the sharp -tooth of the biting wind as it swept over the open prairie and drove the -Westerner into his cabin, with a tingling warning in his ears that -winter was soon to come. Then again the sun would shine brightly and the -soft graces and tints of Indian summer would brighten the landscape. - -The weeks had brought a degree of calmness and resignation to Elinor -Wylie, and to Tibby varied experiences. For some reason, though Donald -Bartram spent most of his spare time with her, she preferred not to be -recognized as the object of his affections. Poor Esther McCleary’s -disappearance was too recent, and although nothing definite had been -known as to Donald’s interest in her, the gossips of the neighborhood -had been pleased to couple their names together. - -It was not certain that Esther was dead. She might purposely have hidden -herself from Professor Russell, and if so might return at any time, now -that the man came no more to the community. - -It ill became Donald to give so much time to this fair enchantress who -deserved so little consideration from him. Of all the provoking, -undisciplined minxes, Tibby appeared the worst. Alice and Nellie -wondered daily at his forbearance, and commented on Tibby’s behavior. - -As for Donald himself, he was drifting with the tide of events, and the -pastime pleased him too well to care to interrupt it by very serious -thoughts or determinations. Tibby was interesting. He enjoyed her -society. That was sufficient. - -To-day he had claimed Tibby for a ride to the post, and as they came -cantering slowly along the soft gray turf, Tibby with her riding-hat -tipped back from her wide, smooth forehead, her feline eyes half closed -from the sun’s bright rays, her dark hair partly escaped from comb and -pin, and fluttering in curled rings about her face, her red lips half -parted above the white teeth, she looked to the man a disheveled Hebe, -too adorable, too incomprehensible to withstand. - -His eyes flashed with a new resolution as he rode up close by her side. - -“Miss Tibby, were you never serious in your life,” he asked, bending -toward her. - -The girl slackened her horse’s pace and looked over and past him -reflectively. - -“Yes, once,” she said at last, as if she had taken time to review her -life from the beginning. - -“I should like to know when it was.” - -“Well, I will tell you, though it is a very impertinent question for you -to ask, and I feel under no obligation to answer it. It was when I lived -in the country and had an attack of quinsy. I couldn’t speak for three -whole days, and the village doctor diagnosed my case as diphtheria. I -expected to die, of course, and I really felt quite serious and anxious, -I must confess.” - -“You had reason to, if you could not talk,” Donald replied in a dry -tone. - -“So I thought. When one can neither talk nor breathe, one has time for -serious reflection. Now, please, Mr. Bartram, don’t say anything about -the delight of my friends under the circumstances, for I think I have -heard something of the kind before. I wrote notes to them.” - -“That must have been delightful.” - -“For them or me?” - -“Both. Miss Waring, why are you so unlike other girls?” - -Tibby opened her eyes to their widest extent. - -“You alarm me, Mr. Bartram,” she said. “How am I different? I’ll wager -two bits that I know. It’s these freckles on the side of my nose.” She -turned her head toward him with a bewitching air of candor. “I don’t -mind them, indeed I don’t. Besides, they are not there all the time, -only since I came here and rode about in the sun and wind so much.” - -“I am afraid you are incorrigible. You know very well that’s not what I -mean.” - -“O, isn’t it?” ruefully. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me how I am -at fault. I don’t want to be told. I—am very sensitive, as sensitive as -a—a nettle, so please do let me down easy, that’s a good fellow,” she -said in a wheedling tone. - -“You are not sensitive. You don’t care what any one says or thinks of -you.” - -“Don’t I? Then I must be desperately wicked. My mother used to say that -Don’t Care represented total depravity.” - -“It is evident you do not care what I think of you,” Donald said, -looking straight before him. - -“Mr. Bartram, your discernment is wonderful; or is it intuition? -Whichever it is, you arrive at correct conclusions. What did you kill -when you went hunting last week? Lovely little birds, whose song has -been wantonly stilled forever?” - -“Indeed, no. I am not so wicked as to kill song birds, not even though -heartless women delight to decorate their hats with their dead bodies.” - -“Ugh, I do not,” said Tibby, with a shudder. “I don’t even like women -who are thoughtless enough to wear them. They are as bad as the Indians -who love to dangle scalp-locks from their belts.” - -“Granted it is thoughtlessness rather than carelessness, why do you not -make it your business to do missionary work among your fashionable -sisters and help save the birds.” - -The girl shook her head slowly. - -“I haven’t enough influence. I do use what I have. But it does no good. -Woman’s vanity is such that she will sacrifice even the lives of -innocent little birds for the sake of adding to her finery. O, I am -really disgusted with my sex when I think of it.” - -“Why not use the other power you have and make women see this as you -do?” - -Tibby looked at Donald thoughtfully. - -“I’ll do it. When I get back to—” - -“Civilization, you mean. Why not say it? I shall not be offended.” - -“The first service I attend in church I’ll make every woman feel the -weight of the poor bird upon her hat, if possible. It shall be the -heaviest sin upon her conscience. She shall feel the ‘Thou shalt not -kill.’ But you have not told me what you did kill.” - -“Nothing except prairie chickens and a gray wolf.” - -“Are there wolves here?” - -“Not right here, perhaps, but not many miles away. You may see them in -the gray of the morning standing on the top of the sandhills, apparently -taking a survey of the country.” - -“‘The gray wolf like a sentinel stands,’” quoted Tibby. “Do you know I -don’t like to think of hunting or killing anything and I think the -reason so many accidents happen to hunters is because the spirits of the -victims come back to play mischief with the guns.” - -“If you really believe that, you are a spiritist, are you not?” Donald -asked absently as he looked at the glowing face before him. “It is a -fact there are a great many accidents among hunters.” - -“Yes, guns are discharged unaccountably. If we may believe the Eastern -religions that our souls are reclothed in the form of animals, why may -not one of these freed spirits avenge itself; that is, if it be -permitted to drift about in ether and overlook us?” - -“Or if there is an animal’s heaven. You know Professor Russell saw the -spirit of my cat.” - -“So I heard. It must have been a spirituelle cat.” - -“You look very pretty with your hat tilted in that way,” Donald said -irrelevantly. - -“Thank you, but such a remark is entirely foreign to the subject under -discussion and in very bad taste,” replied Tibby, with a pout of her red -lips. “To punish you, I shall not speak to you for a long time.” - -“Won’t you,” he answered dreamily, his eyes partly closed against the -half-veiled sun. - -“Most assuredly not,” she answered with a finality that should have been -convincing. Then as she did not speak they rode on for some time, -silently gazing, as their horses walked slowly, at the beauty of the -wonderful farm-lit expanse before them, the gray fields, the dotted -river wold, the sand hills in the distance, the adobe dwellings and the -adjacent stacks, all silently touched by the golden glory of the setting -sun. - -“I like this gray landscape,” Tibby said, breaking the harmony of -silence. “Its very monotony is restful. A symphony in gray and gold. A -light gray sky, a darker ground, and a girdle of gray hills against the -horizon. The whole sun-tipped. Even the river is hidden to-day, usually -shining in evidence. - - “‘The day was dying and with feeble hands - Caressed the mountain tops. The vales between - Darkened. The river in the meadow lands - Sheathed itself as a sword and was not seen,’” - -quoted Donald. - -“Say rather, ‘Twilight gray had in her sober livery all things clad,’” -responded Tibby. “See, the sun has disappeared.” - -“I have an idea,” began Donald. - -“All your own,” asked Tibby gravely, while she whipped the tall weeds by -the roadside with her riding-whip. - -“No,” Donald replied pleasantly; “it is borrowed.” - -“You don’t care then to pass it on.” - -“No.” - -Again they rode for several rods in silence, while Tibby, with wicked -insistence, punished the balsam-weeds and kept her face turned from her -companion. - -“Miss Tibby.” - -“Tabitha, if you please.” - -“Miss Waring.” - -“Ah, you are improving.” - -“Is this our last ride?” - -“I hope not,” she replied, looking about her in feigned alarm. “You are -not expecting the day of judgment?” - -“Why not? We know not the day nor the hour—” - -“O dear! What have I done now, that you should talk like judge, jury, -and executioner all in one?” - -“I am a pretty good judge.” - -“Of what? Live-stock?” Tibby replied pertly. - -“I should not presume to judge the dead.” - -“Indeed!” - -“Have you enjoyed your wild sojourn here, Miss Waring?” - -“Extravagantly! There are some marplots, of course,” she added, looking -at Donald and smiling wickedly. “But I really have enjoyed the summer.” - -“It’s a pity this fine weather cannot always last.” - -“I never did enjoy a croaker!” - -“I am a weather prophet. This fine day is the herald of a storm. We -shall have few such before the winter will be upon us.” - -“I am sorry. Tempest and I have been such good comrades, have we not, -old boy?” Tibby patted the horse’s neck with her gauntleted hand. - -“You have kind words for everything except me,” Donald said accusingly. - -Tibby laughed a ringing, merry laugh, and turned toward Donald with -shining, challenging eyes. - -“The poor little man, was I unkind to him? I really didn’t know it. What -shall I say that is kind?” - -“That you love me and will become my wife.” It was an unsuitable time -and place for such a demand, and Donald realized it when the words had -escaped his tongue. He had not intended to say as much at this time, and -he execrated himself for his folly. - -Again Tibby’s large eyes opened to their widest extent, rebellion and -reproach in their depths. - -“O, you foolish, wicked man! How you have disappointed me! Where is -Esther McCleary? O, you shifting weather-vane!” - -“Don’t, Miss Tibby. Why should you ask me of Esther? You surely do not -think me responsible for her abduction. Esther was to me as to you, a -friend. I never professed to love her, or any other woman save you.” - -“You are mad! You don’t know your own mind!” - -“I’m afraid you do not, Tibby. Listen to me.” - -“Hush! I command you!” Then, with a laugh, she touched her horse with -her riding-whip. “Race for me then!” And she was off like a rocket. - -Donald accepted the challenge. Madly they flew along over the gray -sward, Tibby several yards in advance, her mellow laugh ringing back to -him as the two mustangs, evidently enjoying the fun, settled down to -their fastest paces, needing no urging. But urge as he might, Donald -could not gain the advantage Tibby had taken at the outset, and for four -miles they rode thus, until flushed, panting and defiant, Tibby drew -rein at Mark’s doorway, and reached her hands to Mark himself to take -her down from the horse. - -“Why, what foolishness now? I’m afraid you’ve been racing,” he said, -noticing the heaving flanks of the horses. - -“Yes,” Tibby explained, with a note of contempt in her voice, “that -presumptuous young man thought he could catch me. I hope he realizes his -folly.” And she shot a triumphant glance at Donald, who had dismounted -and stood by his horse’s head. He smiled serenely. - -“Yes, when you are carried on the back of a Tempest,” he replied. -“Besides, we didn’t start fair.” - -“Ah, the beaten ones always complain of a poor start, don’t they, Mr. -Cramer? I shall always ride Tempest. I can never give him up, never!—for -anything but a cyclone,” she added, with another swift glance at Donald. -Mark laughed. - -“You’ll have to take him with you when you go, I reckon,” he said. - -“You dear man! And you dear horse, not to stumble and betray me! What -more can I ask for in this life?” - -Donald stood looking thoughtfully at Tibby for a moment while she -stroked and patted her pony, then, reaching out his hand for the bridle, -he led the horses to the stable, while Tibby, provoked at Donald’s calm -acceptance of defeat, went slowly into the house. - -“I do wish I could make him angry just once,” she said to herself. “He -is so exasperatingly cool and self-controlled, I can do nothing with -him. He must think me the most undisciplined girl extant. But I beat him -in the race. What should I have done if I had not?” - -Meanwhile, Donald called himself unflattering names for so far -forgetting time and place in his wooing, but smiled as he thought, “She -has challenged me to race for her, and I shall win at last. The race is -to the one with the best staying qualities, and I shall not know when I -am beaten. She is worth racing for.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - THE COMING OF THE STORM - - -Winter was slow in claiming sovereignty over Nebraska in the year of -which we write, and coquetted with summer through all the weeks of -November and December. Such snows as had come were light and -short-lived, and the winds had been less furious and threatening than -usual at this season of the year. - -Donald and Tibby had enjoyed many rides over the gray plains and river -wold, and were apparently the best of friends, notwithstanding Donald’s -premature declaration. But their camaraderie was far from sweethearting. -It looked as if Tibby had decided to put their acquaintance on the -I’ll-be-a-sister-to-you footing. - -To a less determined man than Donald this might have been disheartening, -but he had firm faith in the efficacy of persistence, and though he -never annoyed Tibby with declarations of love, he made her ever -conscious of him as the considerate, attentive lover. - -As for Tibby, she badgered, cajoled, teased, and tried his temper and -patience in the manner for which girls have been noted since the world -began. Why it is that the average girl delights in such actions has -never been satisfactorily explained, the parallel of such conduct being -found only in the cat playing with the live mouse. - -With Tibby the feline nature seemed fully developed, and she toyed with -the victim in her claws most exasperatingly. Never consciously had she -given Donald reason to think, or flatter himself, that she cared for him -except as a good comrade with whom to pass the winter and summer of her -sojourn in this western land. - -But when Tibby behaved worst there lurked a smile of conscious power in -the unrevealed depths of Donald’s gray eyes, much to the girl’s vexation -and discomfiture, while he remained outwardly unruffled. He had entered -the race to win, and his nature was buoyant and strong. Why need he be -discouraged? Physically strong, handsome, and athletic, he was possessed -of average ability, enjoyed a good income, and his future looked -promising. Why should he fail? Thus he reasoned. - -A fortuitous chain of events had thrown Donald into Tibby’s society and -kept him in close communication with her until he felt that he knew her -better, appreciated more her real worth, of nature and character, than -any one else about her. She had challenged him to win her. He would make -it the business of his life to do so. - -Mrs. Wylie’s change of plans had aided him in keeping Tibby in the -community, though had she gone away he doubtless would have followed -her. The bereaved woman shrank from meeting her society friends in -Forest City, and to go to the Pacific Slope was to put her in proximity -to her recreant husband, and—sadder to contemplate—his newly wedded -wife. And Elinor had listened to her brother’s persuasions to spend the -winter in their home. Thus, much to Donald’s satisfaction, Tibby had -remained to be his daily companion in this isolated region. The world, -with its modern pleasures, seemed far away from them. He need fear no -competitor while she remained here. For this reason Donald could bide -his time, free from anxious disquietude. - -“How lovely the air is this morning,” cried Tibby one day in early -January as she stepped from the door of Mark’s home and looked across -the farm-lit plains to the brightening glory of the winter sun in a sky -of cloud-fleeced blue. The low-lying ridge of hills skirting the eastern -horizon gave the effect of a mural and fortress-crowned landscape, and -Tibby’s eyes glowed with pleasure as she gazed about her. - -“You should not brave, bare-headed, even the winter’s mildness,” said -Donald, who had come over early to bring a message from Lissa. - -“Since when were you called Dr. Bartram?” asked Tibby mockingly. - -“I was only prescribing the ounce of prevention,” returned Donald. - -“O, the cure comes later, I suspect.” - -“I am afraid it will have to, for one so careless as you are inclined to -be.” - -“This is a lovely day for a ride. I am going to ride Tempest over to -Anna Falkner’s,” Tibby continued, ignoring his remark. - -“Better not go so far. This bright morning is a weather breeder. I can -feel snow in the air.” - -“Mr. Bartram, the role of mentor does not become you.” - -“Think not? How am I as a weather prophet?” - -“Worse and worse! One could have no faith in your predictions.” - -“Not until they have been proven correct, perhaps.” - -“Tibby,” said Elinor Wylie, interrupting them, “hadn’t you better come -in and make an angel-food cake this morning? Alice is busy and the girl -doesn’t know how.” - -“Certainly, there’s nothing I like to do so well,” responded Tibby -cheerfully, springing up the steps and starting toward the kitchen. - -“Sha’n’t I come too?” asked Donald. “I want to learn to cook; besides, -you don’t know how useful I can make myself.” - -“Do you hear that, Mrs. Wylie? The audacity of the man! As chief cook I -am queen of the kitchen and no intruder dare enter its precincts.” - -“Without invitation, of course. But I expect to be invited.” - -“O, you do? The conceit of some people is unbearable. Well, if you will -be upon your good behavior I’ll not be inhospitable. But see that you -don’t talk too much and make me spoil the cake. What do you expect to do -to help me?” - -“O, stone raisins, and build fires, and—and—look at you.” - -“Stone raisins? We don’t use them in this kind of cake, you ignorant -fellow.” - -“Donald sat down by the stove and watched the girl as she broke the eggs -and separated the yolks from the white, and dexterously whipped the -latter to a snowy froth; then sifted the flour. - -“Whew! What a lot of eggs you use!” he exclaimed. - -“The whites of eleven only, and I’ll make a gold cake of the yolks. -That’s economy.” - -“Ah, I understand.” - -“As you do the magic of Hermann. You wouldn’t know how to make this if -you watched me make a dozen, I am sure.” - -“The whites of eleven eggs,” began Donald. - -“Yes, and one glass of flour sifted five times, with a teaspoonful of -cream of tartar.” - -“But cream of tartar is sour, and cakes should be sweet, shouldn’t -they?” questioned Donald. - -Tibby looked at him with an expression of pitying contempt. - -“I told you, you couldn’t understand it. It’s beyond your -comprehension.” - -“Try me and see! What else do you put in this wonderful compound? Sugar, -of course?” - -“Yes, one and one-half cups of sugar and a teaspoonful of flavoring. -That’s all.” - -“O, that’s easy to remember,” said Donald, repeating it glibly. - -“Good boy! You’ll do with good tuition. Then you must _beat_, not -_stir_, the sugar and flour and beaten eggs together in this way. See?” - -“Yes,” answered Donald, noting with admiring eyes the movements of the -rounded wrists as she exemplified her instructions. - -“And now you must put the batter into a bright cake pan, perfectly dry, -and bake fifty minutes in a slow oven.” - -“But how can I tell whether the oven is slow or quick?” he asked. - -“That is something beyond your comprehension. One of the things out of -your reach, you know.” - -“Ah, I see! I confess I have my limitations. But what is the name of -this snowy creation? Didn’t I hear Mrs. Wylie speak of angels?” - -“Certainly! This is angel’s food.” - -“Ah! Food for angels, or made by them? Which?” - -“Neither. It is of the earth, earthy. Even you can safely eat it.” - -But Donald was watching the graceful contour of the dimpled elbow -beneath the uprolled sleeve, and did not for a moment respond to her -retort. - -“Yes—ah—what is it?” he asked, recalling himself. - -Tibby’s pink chin was elevated. “Shakespeare never repeats,” she said -sententiously. - -“But you are not Shakespeare.” - -“Well, I’m nearly the same thing. I’m bakin’,” she said with a giggle. - -“O, you’re too bad! Such a pun as that is atrocious! Bacon? Oh!” And -Donald sank back in his chair and made a feint of fanning himself. “I’m -struck all in a heap.” - -“Well, when young men are so impolite one feels like throwing puns, or -any handy weapon, at their heads. I may take the rolling pin next,” said -Tibby. - -“Really, Miss Tibby, I beg your pardon for my inattention, but the fact -is, I was following a train of thought which was—” - -“Composed of empty cars,” put in Tibby. - -“No, I assure you, heavily freighted.” - -“Indeed!” with an exasperating lifting of the brows. “No doubt you were -reflecting upon your past misdeeds.” - -“I was thinking of you.” - -“Then your thoughts were not worth questioning. Your train was surely -overloaded. To punish you, I shall bid you adieu, and go to get ready -for my ride,” replied Tibby, with a severe tightening of her pretty -lips, as she went over to the sink and began to wash the dusting of -flour from her arms and hands. - -“I suppose you do not intend to invite me to ride with you,” Donald -remarked tentatively. - -“No, indeed. You might take cold. And besides you prophesied a storm.” - -“If you should be caught out in a blizzard I might be of some help to -you.” - -Tibby turned and faced him, her mischievous, glowing eyes holding his. - -“You?” she said. - -“Yes, even I.” - -“But if I don’t want you along?” - -“I shall meekly stay at home, of course. But it strikes me you are -extremely unkind.” - -“Not to myself. Besides, I do not want you to run into danger. See?” She -gave him a sidelong glance from the corner of her eyes. “Mr. Bartram, I -am going to ride and meditate all by myself to-day.” - -“If I withdrew to a safe distance couldn’t you meditate at home?” - -Donald looked through half-closed lids at the mocking eyes and pouting -lips before him. - -“There is nothing like a canter over the prairies to aid one’s -meditation.” - -“I wish I could persuade you to stay at home to-day. You are certainly -taking a great risk in going, at least in going so far.” - -“It is my risk. No one else need worry about it.” - -“You are of too much value to your friends to expect their unconcern in -what affects you so seriously. Even I am anxious, you see,” continued -Donald, speaking quietly. - -“Even you? Of all persons in the world least interested, or ought to be. -Since when have you become responsible for my actions?” - -“Since I learned to care for you more than all others.” - -“Mr. Bartram, you are melodramatic. I shall not listen to you any -longer,” said Tibby, a flush dyeing her cheeks as she gathered up the -discarded apron and hung it up. - -“Will you not shorten your ride and come home before the storm?” Donald -asked persistently. - -“I shall not measure the length of my rides by your tape measure,” -retorted Tibby, tossing her head, while the crimson spot on her cheek -deepened; “neither shall I let you accompany me, even if you rode behind -me. Your presence would mar all my pleasure.” - -Tibby felt the tactless impertinence of her words, and her eyes fell -beneath the gray ones fixed questioningly upon her. - -“That’s pretty severe, if you mean it,” Donald replied, speaking with -great deliberation. “Thank you for your frank manner of telling truths, -however. It is good of you. One would rather be hit straight in the -forehead than in the back. Is it George Eliot that says, ‘Truth has -rough flavors if we bite it through’?” - -“Why don’t you get angry with me?” Tibby tapped the floor impatiently -with the toe of her boot. - -“Because you are trying to make me so, and besides, it isn’t my year to -be angry,” he said with a drawl, his gray eyes still upon her. - -“O, you insufferable prig!” exclaimed the girl desperately. “As if the -man ever lived who didn’t get angry. Tell me, were you never angry?” - -“Yes, I think so—once,” he drawled. “Yes, now I reflect upon the matter, -I remember I was once, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I’d rather -not repeat it, even to please you, Miss Tibby.” - -The girl turned from him petulantly. - -“I think it would please me very much,” she said. “Such even tempers are -abominable. Good-by!” And Tibby backed out of the room, waving her hand -dramatically toward him. “Dryden tells us to ‘Beware the fury of a -patient man,’ and I will run before your wrath breaks forth.” - -“Is Tibby more perverse than usual this morning?” Alice asked as Donald -buttoned up his coat preparatory to departure. - -“Yes, in tempting Providence by riding to the fort this morning. If I am -not very much mistaken, we are to have a small blizzard before night.” - -“O! I hope not,” sighed Mrs. Wylie. “I have never experienced one, but -Alice has been telling me of blizzards, and of people perishing in them -not far from their own doors. I cannot realize such a thing possible.” - -“Wait until you’ve seen one,” said Donald soberly. He shook his head as -he stepped out of doors. “Tell that wilful girl to take no chances,” he -said, turning back. “There’s surely a storm coming. She will not listen -to me.” - -“Don’t forget, Mrs. Cramer, to take my cake from the oven in fifteen -minutes,” Tibby said a little later, entering the room. - -“Why do you go when there is a storm coming?” inquired Mrs. Wylie. - -“Who says there is a storm coming? No one but Donald, and he is a -croaker. I’m not afraid. Tempest will be a match for any storm that ever -blew.” And a few moments afterwards Tibby tripped gaily down the path to -the horse’s stable, her riding-skirt thrown over her arm, and her whole -figure alert with joyous anticipation. As she emerged upon the back of -her favorite horse and swept past the pedestrian, Donald, she called out -saucily: - -“Isn’t a Tempest more in evidence to-day than a blizzard, Mr. Bartram?” - -Donald waved his hand at her, and she was gone, her low, rich laugh -coming back to him in the moist air. - -Before Donald reached Nathan’s the sky had begun to be flecked with -clouds, light and fleecy, that seemed to speed swiftly high in the air. -Then he felt drops of rain that seemed to come out of the somewhere. At -intervals the sun would shine brightly and warm. As the hours wore away -Donald’s anxiety increased. - -Lissa looked out at three o’clock, to see the sky overcast with clouds, -and large scattering flakes of snow floating about in the chill air. At -the same moment Donald rode up from the stables on the back of his -favorite horse, Duke, a large, powerful animal, of great intelligence -and endurance. - -“I am going over to Mark’s, Lissa,” he cried, “to see if Tibby has -returned. Within a half hour it will be impossible to see a rod ahead of -one. If that wilful girl should attempt to start back in the face of the -storm, as she is almost sure to do, she can never get home alone. Don’t -go out of doors yourself. I’ve made all secure at the stables. If Tibby -has returned I shall be back in a few moments. If not, I shall go to -meet her.” - -Lissa’s face paled. - -“I know the danger, Donald. I hope, oh, I hope you’ll find her all right -at Mark’s!” - -Donald was already far down the road, when the wind, suddenly veering, -swept the house with such a shock Lissa was glad to close the door and -draw up to the great stove for warmth. - -A few moments later Donald was at Mark’s door, and the swift-falling -snowflakes were already obscuring the landscape when he rapped with his -riding-whip and met the startled face of Mrs. Cramer. - -“Has Miss Waring returned?” he asked anxiously, searching Alice’s -countenance. - -“No, and I am becoming worried about her. She would be sure to start -home when she saw the storm coming up.” - -“Yes, I am going to try to find her. The wind is rising fast. Can you -lend me a couple of blankets?” - -Alice flew to an adjoining room, and quickly returned with a bright -woolen parcel, which Donald strapped to his saddle securely, while a -wild gust of wind swept past him and struggled and tugged with him for -their possession. - -“Why are you carrying your rifle?” Alice asked, noting his strange -accoutrement. - -“I will tell you,” said Donald, again seating himself firmly in the -saddle. “Have you a gun here?” - -“Yes, certainly.” - -“And you know how to use it?” - -“Most assuredly.” - -“Then you must help me to find my way. I want you to fire it every time -you hear the report of my rifle. Do you understand?” - -“Yes, Don. Do you think the danger is so great?” - -“Yes, we are in for a furious storm. Now remember, answer all my -signals, and—if you should not hear from me for a time, keep firing -every few moments anyway.” - -“Yes, Don. Heaven help you to find Tibby and bring her home safely to -us!” - -A moment later Donald was lost to view in the whirling, swirling masses -of snow that filled the air, and Alice, taking down the heaviest gun -from the wall, examined it carefully, and loaded it with a charge of -powder. - -“What are you doing with that gun, Alice?” asked Mrs. Wylie, who, -hearing the sound of voices, had risen from her couch and now came into -the room. - -“I am going to answer Donald’s signals to guide him through the storm.” - -Mrs. Wylie’s eyes opened wide with alarm. - -“But why has Donald gone out in it?” she questioned, looking from the -window into the impenetrable, snow-filled air. - -“To find Tibby, Elinor.” - -Mrs. Wylie sank down in a chair and pressed her hands to her side, while -her lips grew white. - -“Why—Alice, do you suppose Tibby can be out in this terrible storm? I -have been sleeping and did not realize it was upon us until the gusts -struck the house and I heard you talking with some one—Donald, was it?” - -“I hope, Elinor, that Tibby has not started out in this, but if she has -she may lose her way and freeze if some one does not find her. I have -been very uneasy about her for some time.” - -“Oh, how dreadful, dreadful!” And as Mrs. Wylie continued to gaze out -into the opaque snow-world about her she began to realize for the first -time what a western blizzard might mean. “Why did I not have sense -enough to keep that child at home?” she moaned. “I shall never forgive -myself if she is lost.” - -“We should both of us have seconded Donald’s caution, I’m afraid,” -replied Alice. “I am not so weather-wise as he, yet I should have known -what such a morning in midwinter portended here. Tibby delights in -teasing Donald, and of course would not heed his warning; but she would -have listened to us had we been persistent.” - -“I don’t know. I’m afraid I am the one who always listens to her. I -don’t see why she treats Don so,” Mrs. Wylie said. - -“Don’t you? I think I do. It is because she cares for him, and will not -acknowledge it, even to herself. But do look at the storm, Elinor. Is it -not terrifying? Where does all this snow come from? The ground is -already heavily sheeted with it. And listen to the wind. How it wails -and shrieks, buffets and pounds. We are fortunate in being safely -housed, Elinor.” - -“But if Tibby is out in it! Oh, I cannot bear the thought!” - -“Hark! there is the report of Donald’s rifle. I must answer it.” And -Alice sprang to the window, and raising it a little way, put forth the -heavy gun and discharged it, its detonation bringing an answering shriek -from Mrs. Wylie. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI - CAUGHT IN A BLIZZARD - - -Tibby had foolishly dallied in her home-coming. Even after mounting her -horse she sat in the saddle and indulged in the prolonged exchanges of -good-bys so common to young girls, until the blackening sky and -threatening flakes of snow admonished her, forcibly, to return in haste. - -Tempest, glad to have permission to go at last, sped over the ground -with wonderful strides, covering the first half of the journey in a -short space of time; but as the wind arose and the soft flakes gave way -to hard, rice-like, cutting kernels of snow that beat in his face, he -became staggered in his pace, and finally, as the storm in all its fury -bore down upon them, both horse and rider lost all knowledge of distance -and location, their only effort being to keep the road. Tibby, blinded -by the storm, and forced to ride with her head bent forward and down, -felt her faithful beast stop and whirl half around as a furious blast, -chill as the arctic snows, struck them. The icy flakes cut into her -flesh like splinters of steel as she lifted her face to look about her. -She could see nothing except the whirling deluge of white enveloping -her. She was lost, lost. - -“O Tempest, good Tempest!” she wailed, “can you see the path no longer? -Will not your instincts guide you home? Try again, Tempest! Alas, I know -not which way to turn you! But go, Tempest, go! We shall freeze if we -stay here. Go!” - -But the horse, buffeted by the driving storm in his face, would move -forward only a few paces, then turn his head and stop, bewildered. - -“O my God, what shall I do?” she moaned. - -The cold was creeping up her limbs and benumbing her. She felt that she -must die there, and so near home. She thought she must have traversed -nearly the distance, if they had kept the road. Ah, if they had kept the -road. She was in doubt as to that. The horse, cowering and baffled, had -turned around. She turned him back, facing the storm, and with hand and -voice she urged him forward. For several moments he plunged into the -opaque snow-world before them, then again blinded, baffled, and -storm-beaten, the faithful animal stopped, and bowed his head to the -fury of the elements. - -Tibby lost courage, and laying her face on the poor beast’s neck, sobbed -in despair. Oh! why had she been so wilful and neglectful of Donald’s -warning? He had been anxious about her, and tried to save her, but she -had in her silly pride and egotism ignored him and his counsel, and now -she must die. How cold she was. Her breath came in short, hard pants. -The wind seemed to take it from her and carry it away. It seemed to her -that the elements sported with life, and the wind, with demoniac shrieks -of frenzy and laughter, pounded and pommeled and bruised her as she lay -upon the neck of the trembling, cowering beast which had borne her so -gallantly that morning. - -“O Tempest, Tempest, we are surely lost, lost!” she wailed. “God has let -loose all his furies upon us; no where on the bleak, cold, storm-driven -and storm-beaten prairie is there shelter for us. If a stable were but a -rod away we could not find it. We must die, must die, good horse! -Die—i—i—i—ie!” Her chattering teeth would scarcely permit the words to -pass. - -Tibby tried to pray, but the words would not form themselves. She could -only think of her child’s prayer of “Now I lay me down to sleep,” and -she remembered reading once of a man who, upon the neck of a maddened -bull, thus prayed, and in a hysterical revulsion of emotion she -laughed,—laughed and shrieked with the shrieking wind, in hysterical -gasps,—laughed even in the face of death. Then, chill and trembling, she -felt as if the hand of the grim reaper was upon her, and she lay -motionless upon the neck of the horse, half unconscious. - -Suddenly she was startled by a sound—the crack of a rifle not far -distant. The horse started and lifted its head, then whirled around -again in the direction of the sound. She felt the quiver of the animal -beneath her, and with an effort roused herself. There was hope in that -sound. Some one was near. - -“Go, Tempest, go!” she cried. “There is some one near! Some one is -looking for us!” - -The horse, as if understanding the meaning of the rifle-shot, was -already plunging forward, and Tibby clung sobbing, in convulsive -reaction, to his neck. - -She tried to shout, but the howling wind drowned even her powerful and -far-reaching voice. It was blowing fearfully now. Each gust nearly tore -her from the saddle by its violence, benumbed as she was by the cold. -Again the friendly rifle-crack sounded its peal of deliverance in her -ears. And farther away she heard, more faintly, a second sound, like an -echo, respond. - -“They are searching for us, and it must be—Donald!” she thought. Good -Donald, whom she had treated so illy! If she ever lived through this -terrible time—but how cold it was. She must not die now, so near, almost -within sound of his voice. The horse, animated by the nearness of the -deliverer, was struggling ahead, not swiftly, but desperately, in the -persistent, whirling phalanx of snow. Again, a third time, the friendly -rifle spoke, and its tone rang sweetest music to the nearly paralyzed -and helpless girl. She felt her faithful horse turn, guided by the -sound; she felt his heaving flank, against which her feet were placed -for warmth, sway, as he pressed onward, and then she heard him neigh, -loud and strong. Good creature! She tried to pat his neck with her numb -fingers. His voice was stronger than hers. Hark! Is that an answering -neigh borne to her? She cannot shout, for her voice is spent; but -Tempest, good Tempest, is calling for her. She clings with desperate -grip to his mane. Is that a voice coming out of the darkness of the -snow-world? A roar, deeper than the roar of the storm, sounds in her -ears, and she feels herself sinking, sinking, down, down. - -“Tibby, Tibby!” - -She hears a voice at her side and Donald is clasping her and enveloping -her in something woolen and warm. She tries to reach to him her poor -frozen hands as she sobs “Don, Don!” and then in a thankfulness too deep -for words she snuggles down in the warm folds of the blanket and again -drops her head upon the neck of her noble horse. - -“That is right, keep your head down! I will lead Tempest,” she hears -Donald say, shouting in his strong voice to her, and again Tibby -realizes they are yet in the clutches of the merciless blizzard; but her -fear is gone, for Donald is with her and will save her. - -“Now don’t be frightened. I must discharge the gun to get my direction,” -he shouts again when he has tucked her comfortably in the blankets. -Tibby hears the detonation answered by a fainter sound at their left. - -“We are all right, child. Alice is signaling us. Try and hold out a -little longer.” And Tibby feels the motion of the horse as it sways -beneath her, and is dimly conscious of a sense of warmth and relief -unutterable. And she forgets the storm, the danger, the oppression of -death which was upon her, and sinks away into a half-sleeping state, -from which she is aroused only when, at the door of Mark’s home, Donald -lifts her from the saddle and carries her into shelter somewhere. She -hears, as though far away, the repeated echoes of the rifle; she hears -murmured words of encouragement from her rescuer, and then she opens her -eyes in bewildered uncertainty as to her surroundings and feels that she -has awakened from a harassing dream to find herself safely at home, and -with a sigh of relief she lays her head more heavily upon Donald’s -shoulder and sinks away to sleep again. - -Not until afterwards did she realize the struggle Donald had undergone -while bringing her home. Not until the neighbors had gathered about her, -days later, and commented on the terrible severity and destruction of -the storm, which had lasted three days and brought death and sorrow to -many homes. Then Tibby heard of those who but a stone’s-throw from their -own doors had perished; of others who, like herself, had been lost and -wandered about to finally lie down and die; of horses and cattle, in -large numbers, frozen to death; of a whole school of children who, -headed by the teacher, had tried to make their way through the -impenetrable snow and fallen to be gathered in the icy embrace of the -blizzard, and delivered into the arms of Death. - -And as Tibby reflected upon her narrow escape from the grim harvester, -she turned in horror from her wilful self, as she stood with the light -of recent experiences upon her. How nearly fatal had been that foolish -ride across the prairie which she had wilfully persisted in taking in -the face of better counsel. But for Donald, whom she had snubbed and -abominably ill-treated, she would have perished. Ah, she was punished, -and yet she would not be willing to owe so much to any other man. Donald -had been forced to remain at Mark’s until the storm lessened in its -severity, but he had gone away before Tibby had fully recovered from her -lethargy. He had aided in caring for her frost-bitten ears and hands, -but he had not returned to make inquiry concerning her since then. Tibby -was becoming restless at his continued absence. Was he thoroughly -disgusted with her behavior that day of the storm? she questioned. - -Could any one have been more exasperating and unladylike? Yes, she -merited his contempt—and he had saved her life, saved her from such a -terrible death. Ah, if she could blot out the memory of that morning. -How she despised herself, her foolish, egotistical self. He would be -divine if he ever forgave her. She had tried to make him angry, and how -she had been punished. She had even mocked at him when he paid her the -highest compliment a man can pay a woman. Why had she acted thus? Why -must a woman always be false to herself? - -Thus, bitterly, Tibby cogitated, and scourged herself, and shed tears of -contrition. But the second week went by and still Donald came not to see -her. Tibby became hysterical. She was wildly mirthful and hilarious at -times, and again her eyes showed signs of weeping. - -Mrs. Wylie became anxious concerning her protege, fearing she was ill. -Tibby ate little, and was in every way capricious, and unlike her -strong, forceful self. “The shock of her dangerous ride has unnerved -her,” Mrs. Wylie reiterated. She believed she ought to consult a -physician, but as the nearest one was twenty-five miles away she put off -doing so, hoping for an improvement in her child. - -At last Tibby could stand the uncertainty no longer. She must know if -she was forgiven and reestablish the friendship between them, and thank -Donald for preserving her life. - -She resolved to interrogate Mrs. Cramer, and act upon her advice. - -For some reason she felt less reluctant to advise with her than with -Mrs. Wylie. She found her hostess putting on her wraps preparatory to -going out. - -“My dear Mrs. Cramer,” she said coaxingly, “I want to see Donald -Bartram, and thank him for rescuing me. I was too ill to do so when he -was here, and besides I did not know the magnitude of the risk he ran. -Do you think it would be proper for me to send him a note, asking him to -call?” There was a touch of anxiety in Tibby’s tone. - -“Why, certainly,” replied Alice. “We are not at all conventional here. -Besides, the straightforward way is always the best, I think.” - -“I hope so,” responded Tibby soberly. - -“Yes, you write your note, and I will take it over to him now. Mrs. -Wylie and I are going over to Lissa’s.” - -“Here it is, I have written it beforehand,” Tibby returned, a flush of -carmine vividly emphasizing her embarrassment. “I would rather you did -not—that is—Mrs. Wylie need not know of it—at least not now,” she -stammered. - -“Certainly not. I’ll give it to Donald myself.” And Alice took the -gingerly proffered note and slipped it into her pocket. - -“It is all right, dear,” she smiled cheerily, in answer to the pathetic -questioning of Tibby’s eyes, and she tripped away blithely, happy at the -thought that she had made a discovery which would aid in adjusting -matters to her liking. - -Alice awaited her opportunity to place the missive in Donald’s hand, -unobserved by any one else, and was pleased to see the start he gave as -he looked at it. - -Alice Cramer, like every other womanly woman, was a born matchmaker, and -this evidence of contrition on the part of Tibby filled her benevolent -heart with delight. This submissive, questioning air of the girl was so -unlike her usual imperious manner that Alice augured much from it. - -“You will go, Don?” she whispered when he again approached her. - -“Yes, if you think best.” He met her eyes with an inquiring look. - -Alice nodded. - -“Now?” - -“Yes.” - -Donald set out across the fields toward Mark’s home with some -reluctance. He knew he had, by rescuing Tibby, put her, in a sense, -under obligation to him, and he dreaded to meet her upon such a footing. -He had remained away from her, resolved that until the remembrance of -that struggle in the storm had become less vivid, he would never force -his attentions upon her; would never annoy her with words of love. - -“If she really cares for me she will be conscious of it in time, and I -shall know it,” he reflected. “I will not trade upon the service I have -done her. I want her _love_, not her _gratitude_.” And he set his lips -firmly in the resolution not to be betrayed into a renewal of his suit -until a more fitting season. - -Donald found Tibby sitting dejectedly by the stove, her feet upon the -fender and her dimpled chin resting upon her pink, upturned palm, while -her eyes studied intently the red coals before her. This was the picture -of which he caught a glimpse through the low window as he approached the -door. At the sound of his footsteps she sprang up and came forward to -meet him, the scarlet flame of the fire blazing in cheek and lip. - -“It is so nice of you to come,” she said, giving him her hand in -welcome. “You have been so shy of receiving thanks that you have -remained away an age.” - -“I am glad if it has seemed an age to you,” he answered, smiling. “One -likes to have his absence noticed.” - -“I didn’t realize how much—how very much I am indebted to you,” she -began shyly. - -“Don’t, please, Miss Tibby. You know there is no question of debts or -credits between friends. I am thankful God gave me strength and -direction to find you. It is a serious thing to battle with the elements -in the West, Miss Waring.” Donald spoke gently and soberly. - -“I realize it now. Can you ever forgive me for my dreadful talk that -morning?” Tibby’s lip quivered slightly and she dropped her eyes. - -“Why, was it dreadful? I don’t remember it to have been so.” - -“And my wilfulness in going against your—advice?” she continued, -resolved to finish her confession. - -“Ah, that was nothing strange. One could not expect an Eastern -born-and-bred maiden to be weather-wise on the prairies or realize the -kind of storms we have here until she had some experience with them.” - -“But she might have sense enough to take some one else’s word for it,” -Tibby replied, tapping the floor with her foot. - -“Ah, Miss Tibby, I’m afraid we all like to experience for ourselves. We -don’t relish excitements second-hand, nor always have faith in the words -of others.” - -“Well,—I—hope I’m forgiven,” Tibby faltered. - -“Indeed, yes, if there was anything to forgive. I didn’t think there -was. In fact, I am sure there was nothing of the kind. However, it must -be pleasant to exercise the divine function and have no room in one’s -heart to remember a wrong. How pleasant this fire is. Nature makes -recompense for all the cold and storm outside by giving us the blessing -of fire.” - -“Yes,” absently replied Tibby, twirling her handkerchief about her -finger, and gazing before her in abstraction. - -“I am afraid you are thinking, Miss Tibby,” Donald said, after an -interval of silence, in which both had studied the fire. - -Tibby turned and looked at him with challenging eyes. - -“Would you know of what I am thinking?” she asked. - -“If I might dare ask so much, yes.” - -“I was wondering what one should do who has done what she regrets.” - -“Undo it, if she can,” Donald replied, speaking lightly. “What is it you -do when you are sewing? Pull out the wrong stitches and do it all over -again, do you not?” - -“I wonder if you could or would help me in the undoing.” - -“Most assuredly, if I can.” Donald saw a roseate flame, deeper than that -in the stove, blaze in her cheeks. - -Tibby put her two hands to her forehead and shaded her eyes. - -“But you don’t,” she said. - -“Don’t what? I do not understand you.” - -“You don’t help me.” - -“But you must first tell me how.” - -“O, you are bound to make me go down in the dust before you,” she said. -“You will not—help me. Suppose you unravel the work, back to—to—that -time—when you—asked me to be your wife,” she whispered. - -“Tibby, Tibby, darling, do not jest with me!” Donald took the pink -fingers in his, and the downcast eyes were uncovered save by the dark -lashes. “Look at me, Tibby, and tell me—if I ask you the same question -again, what will you say?” - -“Yes, Donald, if you can bear to take such a wilful, good-for-nothing -girl as I have been.” - -“Tibby, dear, it is love I want, not gratitude. If it is because I saved -your life—” - -“Indeed, indeed, Donald, it is because—I—I love you, have always loved -you,—ever since—” - -“Since when, sweetheart?” - -“Since I found you were the one man I could not control,” she whispered. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII - A SURPRISE - - -At Boxwell Hall a large audience sat expectantly waiting the appearance -of Mrs. Lucien. - -Among the members present there were five with whom our readers are -familiar. The lights were yet turned low, and there was the usual buzz -and hum of low-voiced conversation which even those afflicted with -superstitious awe could not repress. - -“I had some trouble to persuade Major Walden to come,” said Nathan in an -aside to his wife. “He has such a horror of this sort of thing, he -flatly refused at first; but when I asked him as a personal favor to -meet you, he consented.” - -“I am sure he can’t denounce Mrs. Lucien, if she is as Elinor describes -her,” said Lissa. “I have really begun to like her, just from the -description. Ah, I wonder if she is coming now. What a perfectly -seraphic face.” - -Mrs. Lucien was clothed in a soft, clinging gown of white wool, from -which her pure, oval face arose in statuesque grace and beauty. - -The dark waves of her hair were brushed back from the rounded forehead -and gleamed in shining ripples to her neck as the glare of the -foot-lights fell upon her. - -“What a striking face! A painter might have made a model of her for a -Madonna. She is grace personified,” whispered Alice. “I can think of -nothing but a statue of one of the graces.” - -“Doesn’t she look more like a painting of St. Cecilia?” Mark replied. - -“Yes, she does look like her. She is about to speak.” - -The chairman of the psychical club led her forward and briefly -introduced her as Madame Lucien, who would give exhibitions of -psychometric reading and slate-writing. Mrs. Lucien bowed slightly for a -moment to the vociferous clapping of hands which greeted her, and then -spoke in a low, sympathetic voice, which thrilled her hearers. - -“Dear Friends: I do not come to you to-night with any gift or knowledge -of my own winning. For some inscrutable reason it has been given me to -read that which my physical eyes cannot discern. By some psychic -telepathy, or telegraphy, which is as mysterious to me as to any one -here, I am made the bearer of messages and permitted to see and describe -to you that which is not visible to our mortal eyes.” - -She turned toward the gentleman by whom she had been presented, who now -bound a handkerchief tightly over her eyes, and addressing the audience, -requested that while Madame Lucien was passing under control an usher -would gather up from the audience such articles as they would like to -submit to the medium for psychic reading and identification. - -Handkerchiefs, gloves, pocket knives, etcetera, were being collected, -and Nathan was about to detach a charm from his watchguard with which to -test her powers, when he chanced to glance up at Major Walden. - -He was startled. The scene at the office seemed about to be reenacted. -The Major’s face was livid and distorted. - -“What is the matter?” Nathan asked with alarm. - -“You—you—knew of this!” Walden hissed, with a desperate effort at -self-control. - -“Knew of what? Great Heavens, Major, what do you mean?” - -“I can’t stay here. I will not!” He arose to his feet, and Nathan, -taking his arm, led him to the open air. - -“You’re a villain, sir! I wouldn’t have treated an enemy as you have me. -And I thought you my friend and trusted you. O Nathan, Nathan, how could -you have done it? Why didn’t you tell me?” - -“Major Walden, I don’t understand what I have done that was wrong. ’Pon -my honor I don’t!” said Nathan stoutly. “You knew it was a spirit—” - -“Did you ask me to that place to-night? Tell me!” - -“I certainly did, but I did not suppose it could be so offensive to -you.” - -“You asked me there to see her?” - -“Her? Whom? My wife? I asked you to meet my wife, and Mrs. Wylie, and—” - -“And her, the woman that—” - -“Good God!” cried Nathan, a light breaking in upon him. “You don’t mean -that Mrs. Lucien is—” - -“My lost wife, Agnes! Yes.” - -“Oh! my poor friend, forgive me. I never dreamed of such a thing. -Believe me, Major, I am innocent of any such plot as this. Mrs. Lucien -is an entire stranger to me. I only knew of her through Mrs. Wylie’s -friendship for her, and she knows nothing of her past history. We have -been blind instruments in the hands of Providence, Major. Why should it -have happened?” - -“God knows, or the Devil. I’d rather have seen Agnes in her coffin, -Bartram. That villain Teasdale must be with her.” - -“Impossible! Did he not tell you otherwise? Don’t, Major, lay that crime -upon her in your excitement. Surely, surely she is blameless and good. -Her face shows that.” - -“Aye! Her face is the face of an angel. O Agnes, Agnes! Nathan, I’m -beset by a thousand furies and fiends of torture. What shall I do? I -want to see her and talk with her. I must, now, now—that I’ve seen her -at all.” - -Nathan was perplexed. - -“You might call at her hotel and see her in the morning,” he ventured to -suggest. - -“No, I’ll see her to-night. I’ll be here at the door when this infernal -business is over, and I will see and speak to her. I want to lift the -weight from my conscience, if possible, and I _will_ speak to her.” - -“But, think of the shock to her. My friend, is it best?” - -“Best? Perdition take me! I don’t know what is best. Leave me! Go back -into the hall and tell your friends I am sick—vertigo—jimjams—anything. -But leave me to think.” - -“But,” began Nathan, loth to leave him by himself in his excited -condition. - -“Go in! I can’t be spoken to now. Go back into the hall. Will you?” he -exclaimed vehemently. - -Nathan turned away slowly and reentered the building, beset with many -misgivings. What might not this irascible and tortured man do if left -alone? - -Mrs. Lucien had begun her reading. She held in her hand a knife which -had been submitted to her for test. - -“I am sure the person to whom this knife belongs is one of very orderly -habits, or was. The present owner has not had it very long. I can see -the woman to whom it formerly belonged. She has auburn hair, and is -rather below the medium height. She is laughing, and says she won the -knife on a philopena.” - -“Is this true?” asked the chairman, taking the knife from Mrs. Lucien -and holding it up. - -“It is true,” responded a man from the audience. “I am acquainted with -the knife’s history.” - -Suddenly an idea presented itself to Nathan, upon which he immediately -acted. - -He picked up one of the Major’s gloves which, in his agitation, he had -withdrawn and left behind him, and motioning to an usher, asked him to -place it upon the table for Madame Lucien’s reading. Then he awaited -results with eager curiosity. - -One after another the articles were taken up and read. - -“This brings me face to face with an aged woman,” she said, as a thimble -was presented. “She calls ‘Annette, Annette.’” - -A woman across the aisle from Nathan began to sob. He noticed the tawdry -showiness of her attire, and read in her face a pathetic history as she -stood up to reclaim the thimble. “It was my mother’s,” she sobbed, as -she dropped back into her seat. - -Then Madame Lucien’s fingers lifted the glove Nathan had sent to her. - -“I am sure the owner of this glove is a person of very positive -character,” she began. “He will combat any irrational belief, or one not -proven to his satisfaction. I can feel a chill of opposition. I—I—can—” -Mrs. Lucien began to breathe in gasps. Her hands shook. Nathan was -frightened at the spasm of agony which swept her face. She dropped the -glove and stretched out her hands helplessly. - -The manager came forward and assisted her from the platform, amid a buzz -of excitement in the audience, returning in a few moments to announce -that Madame Lucien had been affected by the heat of the room and would -be unable to continue the reading, but he would introduce in her place -the trance medium Mr. Eugene Potts, who was both clairvoyant and -audient. - -While this scene was transpiring in Boxwell Hall, Major Walden was -hurrying down the street as though driven by a legion of furies. He felt -that he must get away or do that for which he might be sorry. On, on he -walked, heeding not his direction or whereabouts. He was fleeing from -her and from this nightmare of horror which beset him. And the vision -before his eyes of the pale, spirituelle face of his lost one kept pace -with him. He could not escape it. - -An hour later he had turned his steps homeward. He had walked away the -uncontrollable emotion which had possessed him at the sight of Agnes, -and a calmer spirit prevailed. He had decided that it was better that he -should not meet her again. He would go to his office and write her -fully, and send her again the letter which he had sent to her Eastern -home and which had been returned to him through the dead letter office -but a few days before this. She should know how completely he had been -punished for his lack of trust in her, and should forgive him, if her -sweet, forgiving nature could do so. - -The people were returning from the hall. He stepped into the shadow of a -doorway and waited for the crowd to pass by and the street to become -once more deserted. He realized he scanned each face and figure closely. -Was he hoping to see her? No, it were better that he did not; he had -settled that question, but now, in the struggle with himself. - -The street lamps flamed and flickered, casting weird shadows on the -darkened buildings of the business street where he stood. Ahead of him, -as he again started forward, he saw a solitary individual stop under a -light and take a letter from his pocket, which, leaning against the -lamp-post, he began to read. Something in his figure and attitude -arrested Major Walden’s attention. He looked at him searchingly as he -approached him. At the moment the man, hearing his footsteps, turned his -face from the letter toward him. - -A flame of angry fire shot from the Major’s brain to each prescient -nerve and muscle of his being. With a spring he was upon the man, his -hand upon his throat. - -“Ah, ha! You miserable, white-livered abomination! It is well I have -found you now,—now, when your victim is here in this city,—you -fiend-ambassador of Satan! Killing is too good for you!” - -The attack was so sudden the victim had no chance to cry out, and sank -to the ground, with no show of resistance, the Major’s hand in a -death-grip upon his throat, shutting off breath from his lungs. - -“Take that—and that—and that!” cried Walden, raining the blows with his -clenched fist upon the other’s face and shoulders. “I shall kill you! do -you hear?” - -The victim struggled, his eyes, protruding from their sockets, pleaded -for mercy, and his speechless tongue hung swollen from his lips. Voices -were heard approaching him, but the infuriated and frenzied man did not -heed them. The higher man had, for the time, been lost in the maddened -animal. - -“You snake! It is a joy to throttle you, to see your lying tongue -palsied! Your forked tongue that has stung with its venom God’s best and -purest. A thousand deaths could not pay for the ruin you have made, you -viper!” and the Major’s eyes, red with passion and fury, glared into the -terrified ones beneath him. - -It is a fearful thing to see a man, made in the image of God, unchain -the passions of his soul and allow them to control him. Major Walden -was, for the time, a madman. - -“Hold on, what’s the matter here?” cried a voice, and a hand grasped the -collar of the would-be murderer. - -“I should think the fellow was holding on with a vengeance,” said -another voice. “Come, let up that fellow, or you’ll be an assassin.” - -Releasing his hand from his victim’s throat, Major Walden wrenched -himself free from the intruder’s clutch, and planting his foot upon the -prostrate man, turned defiantly. - -“Is it murder to kill a reptile—a miserable, venomous viper?” he hissed. - -“Good God! It is the Major. Have you gone mad, friend? What does this -mean?” - -“It means that I’ve nearly or quite squeezed the life out of that -villain Teasdale. I’ll assure you I shall not let him go till I’ve -finished him.” - -“Markham! O Markham!” - -“Agnes!” he faltered, as he heard the tones of her voice, so pathetic in -its intensity. - -She stood before him, her hands clasped, her pale face agonized with -fear and supplication. - -It was a scene for a painter. The gladiatorial attitude of the Major, -the frightened faces of Lissa, Elinor, and Alice, with Nathan and Mark -standing at either side as rescuers. - -“‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord,’” feebly quoted -Agnes. - -The Major’s hands fell. He took his foot from Teasdale’s body as the man -began to breathe and struggle to rise. - -Mark bent forward to assist him, then started back in disgust. - -“It’s that contemptible hound Russell,” he said, with a gesture of -abhorrence. “Lie where you are, sir, you travesty upon man, until we see -about this! Lie still, or, by the powers, I’ll finish you myself!” - -“Get him out of my sight, or I’ll not answer for the results!” the Major -cried in a hoarse voice. “There is all of murder in my heart, and my -conscience would not trouble me more than if I had killed a snake.” - -“The lock-up’s the place for him. He’s unfit to run loose,” said Mark. - -“I’m sorry to be found in such company, Captain Cramer, but Nathan will -explain to you my cause of provocation,” Walden continued. “And this -letter will explain to you,” turning to Mrs. Lucien. - -He took a letter from his pocket with a dead letter stamp upon it, and -handed it to her. “This has but recently been returned to me from -Washington.” - -“Wait! He shall explain,” cried Nathan, catching the battered and -bleeding Teasdale, or Russell, by the collar and jerking him forward. - -“Here, you knave, explain to these ladies that those letters you wrote -and sent were but forgeries, fabricated and secreted by you or your -emissaries, to work ruin and unhappiness.” - -Russell gulped and gasped in an effort to speak. - -“Speak! Out with it! Tell the truth!” Mark commanded savagely. - -“I admit it,” he groaned at last. “I wrote the letters and bribed a -servant to hide them in a desk at the Major’s house when his wife was -away from home, in the hope that he might find them and believe that she -was false to him. She knew nothing of them, nor did she ever receive a -letter from me.” - -“Oh, wretched man! How could you conceive of such infamy!” murmured -Agnes, turning away her pallid face. - -“It is to be hoped you will receive a just reward for your wickedness,” -said Mrs. Wylie, who in the light of this scene could unravel all the -mysteries that had so long puzzled her with regard to Mrs. Lucien’s past -history. - -“He shall receive it if there is any justice in this land of ours,” said -Mark. “This is not the only crime he has to answer for. What could have -been your object in this case, you dog?” - -“Revenge!” Russell uttered the word with an evil sneer. - -“Can you ever forgive me, Agnes?” Major Walden had turned from Russell -and was looking at Agnes beseechingly. - -“As I hope to be forgiven, Markham,” she replied solemnly. - -“Thank you. It is more than I have a right to expect. I—” His voice -broke in its utterance, and he turned away to recover his self-control. - -“And now what shall we do with this fellow?” asked Nathan. “Turn him -over to the police?” - -“He certainly should not be allowed to go about leaving in his wake the -slimy trail of the serpent,” responded Mark. “I’ll swear out a warrant -charging him with abducting Esther McCleary.” - -“There are reasons,” said Major Walden, “why it might be unpleasant to -bring my affair into court. However, I am ready to testify against him -if needed.” - -Mark turned again toward Russell, but to his consternation and -astonishment the man had vanished. Before the eyes of six persons he had -managed to glide away unobserved. They looked up and down the streets, -peered into stairways, and searched alleys, but he was not to be found. -He had disappeared as suddenly and entirely as though the ground had -opened and swallowed him. - -“A guard of his imps must have snatched him away,” said Nathan as the -men came back from their search to the place they had left the women. - -“Perhaps he assumed his natural form and slithered away on the ground to -his den,” said Walden. - -“I imagine the fellow must have hypnotized us,” Mark replied. “I can’t -account for his getting away without being seen by some of us by any -other hypothesis. But let us believe it is good riddance. He’ll not be -apt to trouble any of us again. I should like to have had him reveal -Esther’s whereabouts, however.” - -“It’s a pity he’s at large to ruin other homes,” Mrs. Wylie murmured. -“But if God permits him to live, I suppose we may.” - -“Markham!” - -“Agnes!” The Major turned toward his former wife and stood with bowed -head and dejected countenance. - -“I must ask you a question which has been upon my lips since I met you, -but which I am almost—afraid to ask. Is Freddie alive?” - -“Yes, Agnes, yes. He is with me. I will send him to you at once. Oh, my -God!” - -“What is it? Is he ill? Is anything wrong concerning him, my precious -boy?” - -“No, he is well,” he groaned. “Freddie is well, and bright and good. You -may well be proud of him.” - -“Thank God, oh, thank God!” She put her handkerchief to her eyes and -sobbed for very joy. The other women wept with her. Finally, while her -moistened eyes shone with the happiness of the moment, she said -tremulously: “I have news for you, Markham. I want to tell you what -perhaps I should not have kept from you, that God sent me solace for the -loss of my children. A little girl was born to me soon after the death -of my darlings. She is with me here at the hotel. Do you care to see -her, your child, the little Dolores?” - -“Yes, only—Good God, I cannot!” - -“Markham, I do not understand you. Have you aught against me now?” Agnes -Walden said, raising her eyes, now filled with doubt and questioning, to -search his face. - -“No, no; Heaven knows I have not, but—some one tell her. I cannot.” -Major Walden turned from her and walked forward several paces, his face -set and drawn. - -“He has another family, another wife,” said Lissa softly. “God pity both -him and you!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII - CONCLUSION - - -It is radiant summer-time and the June roses are making the air sweet -with fragrance. June breezes are fanning alike the flower-crowned -prairie of the West and the crowded thoroughfares of the Eastern cities. - -The electric current has bridged distances and connected the breath-note -of Chicago with that of New York. By it we can listen to the voices of -our friends, across the mighty expanse of the continent. We can even -store up their words and songs and reecho them at will. A strange force -is this invisible current of which we are now learning the Alpha. What -its ultimate possibilities are, who shall determine? With it the -opposing forces of nature are made subservient and the very winds can be -made messengers between physical and sentient beings. - -We look at the trolley car passing our door and wonder at the power that -propels it. Little by little we are opening our souls to the reception -of beliefs in the invisible powers of nature. - -How far is it to the end? What new and marvelous revelations shall each -succeeding year bring to us? - - -A reception is being held in the parlors of the hotel where the scene of -our first chapter was laid. Forest City has become a town of -metropolitan proportions and its citizens are among the most progressive -people of these twentieth century days. - -Among the guests filling the parlors are several whose names are -household words throughout our land. - -“A strange case,” says one, “that reported of double identity. A -Welshman half of the time and an Englishman the other half, and the two -wholly unacquainted with each other.” - -“Did you hear,” inquires another, “of the psychic experience of Dr. -Seba?” - -“No, what was it?” - -“Why, as I heard it, the Doctor was out one day at the farther end of -Grande Avenue, and on his way home, when he felt an impelling force -direct him to go to a certain house. It was a place which he had never -before visited, and he could not account for the power which moved him. -However, he yielded to the influence, and arrived just in time to save -the life of a lady taken with hemorrhage from the lungs. He prescribed -for her, wondering that no one expressed any surprise at seeing him -there, and did not know until he reached his down-town office that a -telephone message directing him to that same place awaited him, having -been received by his clerk after he had left the office.” - -“How do you account for it?” - -“Telepathy. The message was taken to him by a mental current, no more -mysterious nor wonderful than that which propels that electric fan -there. All the mechanism of the world is governed by unchanging law. -Thought transference, hypnotism, clairaudience and clairvoyance are -undoubtedly governed by laws which, when understood, may appear simple. -Science is a divine revelation, and some genius will be given the key by -which its mysteries shall be deciphered. Tesla’s discoveries are opening -the door to a before-closed world of knowledge. The Roentgen ray has -proven supposed opaque bodies transparent. Who among us would not have -denied a few years ago the possibility of such a thing? And then think -of wireless telegraphy, another wonderful discovery.” - -“Of course you have read Hudson’s explanation of psychic phenomena?” - -“Yes; his idea of subjective mind explains much of the -before-unexplained, so-called spirit manifestations, at least to my -satisfaction; but there is much more that I would like to understand. It -will be some time, I imagine, before we shall equal the Hindoos in the -knowledge of psychic forces. I confess, when I read of some of their -performances, I am ready to believe it supernatural.” - -“True, but think how much is no longer mysterious which, a few years -ago, was deemed supernatural!” - -“Yes, we are a progressive people. For one thing, Doctor, mental -therapeutics has done much to prevent the mortality from drug-poisoning. -Don’t you think so?” - -“Ahem! Well, yes, perhaps it has. The great trouble is, when a person is -given a glimmering of a great truth he immediately jumps at conclusions -and carries the idea beyond the bounds of common sense. I am Rosicrucian -enough to believe that nature has given an antidote to every ill human -flesh is heir to, and that every leaf and flower that grows has its -beneficent uses if we were wise enough to understand them. I don’t deny -that the mind has much to do with the condition of the body, but I -believe even mind influence has its limitations. Of course, nervous and -hysterical people are most susceptible to it, and oftentimes diseases -exist only in the mind.” - -“What do you think of hypnotism as a factor in healing, Doctor?” - -“Well, the French have been experimenting somewhat with that. It is even -a more dangerous agent to use than electricity. Hypnotism may be -dangerous even if self-imposed. For one thing, I believe it is -enervating to the will, and a person controlled by the will of another -may be evilly influenced. Again, what is insanity but the loss of -control of the will over the subjective mind. Each time a person yields -himself to the control of another or suffers himself to be put in the -condition called trance, is he not approaching the borderland of -insanity?” - -“I suppose, generally speaking, a sound nervous organization is not -susceptible to hypnotic influence.” - -“Not as susceptible as the more frail, disturbed ones.” - -“But, Doctor, it is a great thing to control delirium and render a -subject insensible to pain, even during a surgical operation.” - -“Yes, if it can be done. I am told that it has been done, and may serve -with a certain class of subjects; but it will not reset a broken arm nor -remove a cancer. I have not much use for it.” - -“Beware, Doctor, we have not learned all its possibilities yet. By the -way, that Major Walden and his wife are a fine couple.” - -“Yes; did you ever hear that they had been twice married?” - -“Twice married? No; how was that?” - -“Why, it seems that a rascally spirit-medium separated them ten or -fifteen years ago, and the Major married again. Fortunately, or -unfortunately as the case may be, number two was smashed up in a railway -wreck and the story turned out in the orthodox fashion. She herself used -to be a clairvoyant or something of the kind.” - -“What, not that pretty woman he has with him now?” - -“The same. I heard her myself once, out in Denver.” - -“Ugh! That is incredible. She is the last one I should think of -connecting with the idea of spirit-mediumship. She looks as innocent as -an angel.” - -“Ah, my friend, see what prejudice will do. She is as innocent as one, -in my opinion. She was merely self-deceived as to the source of her -power, and not understanding it, supposed it supernatural. It is a -wonder it had not either killed her or made her insane, for even -self-imposed hypnotism, as I said before, seems to weaken and wear both -the mental and physical beings, and where one escapes injury, many -suffer from it. But we all hug our delusions. The more monstrous, the -dearer they are to us.” - -“And yet, as you have already stated, what may appear false to us in one -generation may prove to be truth in the next.” - -“Yes; but remember the hunter after Truth took from his breast the -shuttle of Imagination and wound on it the thread of his wishes, and so -wove his net to entrap Truth. What we must do is to hunt for Truth with -a different net, one in which credulity and desire have no place.” - -“But, Doctor, who shall determine when we have complied with the -requirements? May each generation pass away, holding but a feather from -Truth’s wing in his hand? Shall we believe in nothing of which a shadow -of doubt remains in our minds? What creed—what _ism_ can bear the test?” - -“We read, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ We are also told that -Truth is the work of God, falsehood the work of man. If any belief bear -evil fruit, shall we not reject it? According to Froude, ‘The practical -_effect_ of a belief is the real test of its soundness.’ Let us apply -that test to modern beliefs. Wherever we find misery, wretchedness, or -demoralization concomitant or subsequent, let us reject the creed or -belief as false and dangerous.” - - -We have been told to learn of the philosophers always to look for -natural causes in all extraordinary events; and when such natural causes -are wanting, recur to God. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - 3. 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