THE MIRROR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16824, 7 April 1915, Page 4

THE MIRROR.

| • (By F. J. GROVER.) Vurhor of " Tbe Canterburys' Garden," "Tito Lion in tho Path," etc. [All Rights Reserved.] It was Madeline Mason's birthday, and although she was something of a celebrity on tho concert platform, she was youthful and unspoilt enough to enjoy the excitement of anticipating and receiving presents; It was late in the afternoon, and tho task of opening packages and reading letters had not "yet become wearisome, although with an important recital before her on tho morrow she should have been resting. There was at least one more present to come now. Peter never forgot her birthdays—and bis presents were always " things oi beauty." No sooner had tho thought crossed her mind than the looked-for gift arrived. Sho took it from tho maid wondering what had prevented Petev bringing it himself; besides ho had promised to play soma songs for hor. Curiosity at his absence wa„s soon displaced by delight in the, latest of; hi* offerings--the dainties* of srlvei minors. Hcldmg it. before her pretty features, she felt that all her other presents, heautiiul as they nacl faded into insignificance. He* delight was so unbounded that she might have been the first of all women gazing mtc the first of all mirrors. Her mu-ror proclaimed itself a masterpiece of the silversmith's art, bnt how much of hei joy was due to the cunning of the workmanship, and how much to the fact that the gift bed come from Petei Morrison, the psychologist must decide. It was e.\e6edinsdy unfortunate foi ' Mr John Graham that the fates should Viavo brought him at this stage to laj his expensive offering at the sbrme oi of the Goddess Madehii 5. Althougl nuite unaware of the fact, ho had none of the personal advantages of Fetei Morrison. Peter, to divulge Madeline's private cpmion. was a man oi tnste; one of those rarar natures it winch a deep pool of senjnbihty fcei and al that is personal to it. Graham wai ! D*scoverin°\ hv cri««!Cß. Morrison'* -•"tenti'.ns with regard to a present Orr>bam had also selected a mirror but a more expons'vo one. as a birth-d-iv "'ft for Madeline, and thought U nn't Momson. for once in a way, n t*o shade. The mirror, despite it! nrice! it is kinder to imagine that ? w7th e ' the we'oMv object ttu-W und°r his arm, Graham preyed h-m----"elf t do ? r. He r»«o*j heavily on the ranels, anrl wit>~ut f n-ther .valk'd into ' e*££d£ °V} f ° a r r d G hi moustache bristling and %,s His tveJ .shook the room. ?Ja %l,„ conid of his v»'C* must have ?ffrWd any Who H" PP vihi ho rj-«ing overhead. p* *ry>FT •ritb hi*. t~».- an atmosphere of hightv_«^~it»cl *»iir oik , . ~ «Vr--v mnnv hnnny returns or tine dav Miss Mason," he said, and rnarchinc'to the table, ho roii-hly el-ared a cooce amount. the ether presents, and' qircklv undid his P»**»*f; .... "Th°re" be continued volub y, like a commerce! displaying goods and with the evident conv:ction that hi. nrese"t won l '. • " *." , . A .1 . <• Thorn is a memento ot Z I hope you will U With 'polite expresses of gratitude, Madeline* took into h« .h.pey|taj siVer-work, bearing a monogram, la in° faceM a ite 'complete hideousness, she scarcely knew what te say. " It is very good of you, I am sure, W- *h- fltct ;ut. "I've had such a lot of Presents," she wrtan; " fliia makes thirteen. I nope it won't be nnlucky-but there, I am sure it won't.'' .„ ' , ... I •'Thirteen!" said Graham, with as 1 sumed gravity. "It might be. I "Thirteen on a birthday. Barely 1 that would not count. Heaven would never be so unkind. i "Thirteen is unlucky. It is much better to make sure. Let me give you another. "Another? . .. , ~ .. , i "Yee. Madeline,'—ho thought he vis making a finely romant.c speech—«'l love you—let me give you my heart and' hand." ■ He* moved towards her, and she edg--led awav from him. As hi? did so, Peter's litt'o mirror, caught by a fold of her dress, slid alone the table and fell unnoticed to the ground. I '■' Mr Graham—l am afraid—you I are too eood —" she began in dismay. I' He full of confidence, believing she ' needed only n little mastering, advanced upon her. in a sort of bullish rush, his arms outspread. '■' Made'bie!" She stepped back hastily to evade his vulgar embrace, and immeckately something cracked and splintered boncith the heel of her shoo. Pho realised instinctively what had happened, and with a cry of uismay, that penetrated even Graham's thick h-cie, and quickly checkrrl h : s advances—sho nteoped io pick up tho broken mirror. " It ws3 the loveliest of all my presents," she said, m holding Peter's gift disconsolate I *' before her. Graham laughed awkwardly, and—-

as ho put it nfterwards-witb "all the* stuffing knocked out ***> lh ** l s* to renounce his sum tor tno w be that fe un'uckv," he srij, with a'great too. " Seven years of. bad lucK, too, | "delto looked at him with something more than reproach in hei eye«. " The thing loons niore likei » fcuej doscope than a mirror, ho saio, lauding. " Never mind, X°" ul ,l not have Known what u- do with two. •"It. is dreadful," she said. . J»y birthday lias been spoilt, it.was a present from the best of my gww«. j This finished tho case for Graham. He could not fail to see that he was only making Madelwo angry, ana ! wisely ho took his departure-consol-ing himself with tne reflectiori that "Master Morrlson'd beastly giass was "done in." (-i„nt,»™ A few yards up the street Graham encountered his rival. '{ hey U t, C<^h | hardly be counted as friends, althougu I both socially and in business tho two men wero frequently brought together. .. Morrison appeared to secure the larger share of Miss Mason s favours; and therefore Graham obiected to him. It was annoying to Graham that his wealth failed to impress the fair lady, and that his luxurious car seemea to have no attraction for her. It was even more annoying that Morrison was in constant request as an accompanist, whilst Graham, who prided himself upon his ability to "vamp in any key," was quietly ignored; Morrij son's " tame playing" being always j preferred to his own more forciblo | art. Morrison would have passed Graham I v/ith no more th-n a nod of recpgni--1 tion. but he found himself buttonI holed. "G-ing no to soo the fair Madeline?" sustrested Graham. "I d:d "intend calling on Miss Mason," responded Morrison. , " Well," said Graham, with an air of solicitude, " if you don't mind me I giving you a piece of advice, you will trot ai ug and buy her another pre--1 sent. That glass of yours is a rotten failure. Funnily enough, I took her a hand-glass, too. A nico thing—l i bought it at Pilgrim's—cost me a ! fiver—hut she is worth it. I am I afraid 1 queered your pitch a bit. ! Anyhow, when I came along with my . I present sho just poked yours away; • I I suppose it fell to the ground—at i ! all events, before you could say Jack Robinson she had stepped on the i thing and smashed it to smithereens. I When she picked it up it looked more j like a k-le:doseope than a mirror—all little bits of glass, you know. Beastly bad luck," and, laughing at hi 3 joVo, Graham, feel'ng greatly cheered by the conversation, went on his way. Morrison was not easily impressed by anything that Granam said, but tni3 did rmtio him. It did not looic as though Madeline had appreciated his g.ft very much; and he nad been foolish enough to hope, sometimes, that a twopenny bunch of violets wou d !:avc been welcomed from him. Now sho had broken tho git over which he had taken such pains, and—- " Didn't seem to mind much." There was one thing, his problem was solved at last. It was> a nesdless martyrdom, keeping himself in the background, so that she could make tho best match to which her beauty and talents and charm entitled her. Evidently there never bad been any danger of him proving an obstacle in the way of w:se matrimony. She had never regarded him in the light of a possible lover. With g'oorny thoughts of this descr'ption revolving in his mind, Morrison almost' d°cided to postpone his i -visit, but he k?ot to his purpose, so be bel-'eved. with the stoical intention of aconstoming to the new and proner orde- of things. It was to be f-ioT , rl«'"'T) t-T'e b">ut;fnl T>rtf>:ibilities had drifted away, like , thistledown. | Madeline, meanwhile elad to be rid of Graham, stood bemoaning tho fate of her unhappy mirror. What could she say to Peter ? How was the accident to be explained? She could' hardly, in fairness to Graham, say what had actually happened. Peter would have to think «he had been careless, andft really began to look as though broken mirrors vrcra unlucky, and tliat the spell had started already. flow ut- • terly absurd and careless of her it would seem. " Thank you, so much, Peter, /or the mirror. Unfortunately, i I trod on it." Oh. it was too ridl'cuI loua! She wondered how long the mirror would take to repair—and immedi-ately-abandoned that plan as deceitful. And-still'she. could not bring herself te think of telling him tbe truth. j Before a way out of the difficulty on- : 1 eurred to her, Peter arrived- Madeline impulsively thrust the broken miri ror out of sight. Peter saw her do it, and her action seemed to strengthen Graham's story. She had been carej less, and was ashamed to own up. j "I was afr-id' I should not be able . toget hci;.-> this evening, after all." hej said. '• s "<-\ I suppose, that it would I have "rar"-ed if T had bee'i stuck at j tho office." he added. " Manv haor>y 1 returns of-tho day, r V re your presontpf" He said this with simulated indiffarenca. "Aren't they beautiful, Peter," she said eagarly, but wondering at the change in his manner. This was a new Peter, and' she did not altogether like huh. "Mother gave-, me tna-t dress-ing-case, Signor Coselli, the fan—Mr Willis sent tno flowers—isn't he a little dear?" Peter assented. " Who gave you this?" " Oh, Mr Graham—rather nice—isn't it?" Peter put it down grumpily; then he counted the presents. "Twelve," he*said. " Twelve," repeated Madeline unthinkingly, and then before she could correct the mistake—as siie really intended doing—Peter went on : " And the one in the box—thirteen." Madeline, feeling like a guilty schoolgirl, and displeased by her discomfiture, produced the broken mirror. "I am sorry, Peter," she said, none too graciously. "It was so pretty, and—l've broken it." . Peter laughed. She had never heard him laugh like that before.' "Never mind." he said. "You navo another to take its place." Madeline told herself she would never have believed ho would have boon so, tactless. , „ " It moans seven years or bad \w- kshe said. " I suppose my concerts win all be failures." , ~ "I am sorry if I have been > tho means of bringing you bad lue-JS, oe commented dryly. It was as though he had been poisoned by contact with Graham's malicious nature. He assumed without question that the silly superstition was the only tiling which troubled Madeline's mind. He had been a fool. At any rate he had no intention of wcepmg in public. Madeline mi't-ok hh precious stotca attitude for ind'fferencc. She decided that he was not greatly disturbed by the accident to Irs present or lor the matter of chat, at the possibility rt h<r concerts being failures. And she in turn, discovered that u ". had no indention of weeping in public. "Oh. we" " ?!ie said. "it. can't be '.-od '" She nut the mirror and 1/ brok.-n pieces oi g ass i-;t° e box ' "- 1 am beginning to thins birthdays a nuisance." , , .. " Thev bring along people yon don t particularly want to see?" suggested Peter. . •' Sometimes," said Madeline, thinking of Graham. 'l'll endeavour to keep out of the , next one," remarked Peter. " I should i nob l' 1 "* tn i~> alwavs 'cnnilins your 1

luck. And with that he savagely I jammed on his hat and' departed. I Directly he was outside the house, the ' house that he had once thought, and still tli ight, sholtered all that was most precious in the world, Peter began to relent. He had been an unspeakable cad —-and all over a mere present. There had been nothing to get "riled" about —nothing! The wretched thing could be mended'. Doubtless Madeline had felt a bit awkward about the accident —he ought to have tried to smooth it over. A joke or two would have helped her—instead, ho had lost his temper, and behaved like an insufferable prig. j As he hailed a taxi-cab he began to realise that his encounter with Graham had been the prime cause of the mischief. The reflection, however, afforded him no satisfaction or comfort, and as he stepped into the taxi to drive—he knew not where—be . almost hoped—quite regardless of the welfare of tho driver —that a typical " smash-up" nctisrht put an e-ncl to his career, and, W'th it, his tmhappiness. i Peter was too sensible a man to tolerate such a mood for long, and the farther the taxi carried him from Madeline the more inclined he was to return And' endeavour to put things right. He f-'lt the position was ridiculous for both of them. This was the sort of anarrel one read about. As his aspect of the episode became clearer, his inlcination to return to Madeline grew stronger; it wou'd be a humiliating thino; to do—but had he not nWadv humiliated himself by his childish behaviour. When, at last, he remembered that this was tho ei'e of her lecitalj and that they were to have had a rehearsal; he, as he sometimes did, was to havetaken Willis's place at her piano. Willis had a professional engagement that evening, and could not be brought in to help. The remaining shreds of Peter's anger now gave place to contrition. He was a fine friend indeed to have let such an appointment drift from his mind; and, worse than all, to have run the risk of unnerving Madeline, on a day like this, when rest and quiet above all things were essential to her artistic need 3. Hesitating no more, he stopped the cab to re-direct the driver. Tnen, as by a bright after-thought, smiling' as he did so, he said to the man: " Go round by Pilgrims." When Peter entered tho house again Madeline was patiently piecing together the broken mirror with the aid of a small brush and some pitent cement. It was a delicate task, and so engrossed her attention t/at was unaware of Peter's return until she heard him. at her door, asking permission to come in. She hurriedly covered the mirror again, and turned to give him a none too gracious welcome, supposing he had come back to say one or two horrid things more. She waited for him to speak. Had sho been less intent upon a vain endeavour to cletn her fingers with i dainty piece of cambric which was palpably not designed for such a purpose she would have seen that at least it was the real birthday Peter who had come to call.' He was his old serene, smiling self. He quietly contemplated her for a moment, inwn"dly declaring—a long established habit of his—that she wan the flower of perfect womanhood. " I am sorry, Madeline." ho said steadily. "I had forgotten the practice." ~.,.. could b» no mistaking Ins intention ; ho h°d not come b"ck merely to show thft he was indispensable; he was actuated bv better motives. She promntly left off scrubbinc her fingers. "P°ter," jsh'p said gentlv. "you aro the kindest friend I ever had." _ Such a bright frankness was in her eyes that Peter began to wonder whether an " average city fellow bad a chance after all. Ho found it difficult not to avow there and then what wai in his' mind, but ho obstinately Vent back th« wo-' T «s. He could not nd h ; ms?lf of the idea that she should marrv into a b'ther station than his. Kind hearts were not more than coronets. „ , "That is f" !ie pros*art." And be went over to the piano and onened it. _■ "I must w.sh my fingers first, ehe said " Don't think me ridiculous," sho went on. " I've been trying to mend the mirror. I hoped it might alter tho bad luck." She laughed at her confession, as she stood thero seemingly mo-e incline for conversation than sinking; although for the matter of that, every word she spoke was music in Peter's ea-s. " D->es it seem very • ?" she asked. "Anyhow brought von b-ck—to play for mo, and so I shall finish the mending." " Did you consider it bad luck, then my running away?" demanded Peter, abruptly coming towards her, his scruples deserting him. " Oh," said Madeline, beginning a retreat' through the doorway. " It had only been broken a little while— I don't think spells works as quicklv as that—do they?" And thus demurling she vanished. ■ Peter, when she had gone, immediately began to seek for tho unfortunate mirror, and finding it, wen. on with Madeline's unfinished task, only to desist a moment later, apparently under the «udden inspiration of applying h'mself to some more suitable occupation. When Mu'Vline returned ho was seated inn' , "°"r , y at tho "iano playing ~!h«*»rn. She took up the melody, simzi.ns softly to herself went- to the tablo to p-ramine her handiwork. She was still troubled about tho mi'—or; she wanted Peter to understand how sorry she- was it had been broken. She wished sho could be bold enough to j tell him how tho mishap had oc- . eurred. -. | She removed the covering which she had thrown over his present, and with a cry of wonderment nicked up th" mirror which was lying there. Peter gravely went on flaying. "What has happened, Peter?" she said, comi-g to the piano. " What have you b j en doing?** Tho mirror which she held was without a flaw. " You +o hove mended it very nicely," was Peter's remark. There was a touch of r>'arie about the transformation; but the truth dawned upou her. " You've brought me another mirror, Peter!" " It's nothing really," be snid airily. " Piiarcms were ouite decant when I explained what had happened. Graham can't say this is like a kalei. . doscouo," he added rcllectivcly. "You met bin)? He told you?" cried Madeline, j her cheeks reddenin" 1 I -

" Why should wo go all over that again? It didn't matter," 'ha said gentU'. {' I wonder if ho told you the truth. Tell me what ho said. Peter." In a few words Peter recounted what Graham had related. "Peter—and you believed him?" "I suppose I was jealous," lie confessed. " I thought you might bo taken in by him. I don't want you to marry him. He couldn't mako yon happy." She laughed happily, then said, very softly: "It was in avoiding him that I broke the mirror; and when that happened lie must have seen that it was better for him to go." She looked so radiant as she mado the admission that the last of Peter's scruples left him. " Madeline," ho said, " I believe you are going to have bad luck after all." She looked at him inquiringly. "You might have married a duke or some big not like that, and instead ?' She know what he implied. " I am going to marry—Peter," she said bravely. Madeline did not avoid him when he sought to take her in his arms, and so no more mirrors were broken. Although it must be said after events seemed to show that a broken mirror can on occasion bring nothing but good luck.