Untitled

Southern Cross, Volume 11, Issue 16, 18 July 1903, Page 15

Rising softly she began to examine the hnmble furniture in the neat but very spare little room. After a short time she heard a noise—the soft singing of a girl i n the other room. ‘ That must be" Cecilia —the girl whose mind gets weaker and weaker. I’ll just have a peep at her. It will be all the better for me to see her without her mother.’

Without giving herself time for reflection, Lady Archie crossed the room and entered the next through the folding doors. The room iu the front of the house was a pretty one, in marked contrast to the plain little apartment to which the good lady had been introduced. There were soft draperies, many flowers, a cool carpet on the floor, and a cool paper on the walls. The whole effect of this room was bright and yet summery. On the sofa, with a many-coloured rug of eastern pattern thrown over her, lay a very young girl. Her eyes were wide open —she gazed straight, with an expectancy in her look, in the direction of the door. When Lady Archie in all her beauty stood upon the threshold the girl raised herself slightly on her elbow and smiled. Her smile was extraordinarily sweet. After a time she neld out one little white hand, and said in a low tone of great beauty and refinement :

‘ I dreamt of you and you have come. Come here, please. I want to touch you.’ Lady Archie was so amazed that she forgot herself quite. The girl on the sofa might have been twelve years of age. She had clouds of the softest, most exquisite hair, fine as spun silk and of a pale golden shade. Her eyes were dark and large, and their expansion made Lady Archie think of the angels in the painted windows ot the fashionable church where she worshipped. The memory of the old hymn which she used to repeat at her mother’s knee also came back to her. “ Around the throne of God in heaven Thousandb of children stand.”

‘ I was dreaming of you,’ said the gentle voice, ‘ but I didn’t know you would come so soon. Are you the angel Michael, or the archangel Gabriel ? ’ ‘ Neither, my dear child,’ said Lady Archie. ‘ I’m a little woman belonging to this earth, and. my name is -’ The child did not wait to listen. She closed her eyes. ‘ I must think,’ she said, in a faint voice. 1 Please don’t disturb me. Sit down, just there, and wait until I have thought it out.’ Lady Archie was never known to obey anyone very quickly, but at the child’s voice she sat on the edge of the nearest chair, perfectly still — almost motionlessl Her heart beat hard : she had an undefined pain at the back of the eyes, the sort of pain people have before they burst into tears. A curious sensation of fear came over her in the presence of this small, ethereal, lovely creature. As she sat thus, the great eyes opened again, and the voice said quietly : * I know about you now, You are neither the angel Michael, nor the archangel Gabriel. You look beautiful, but your not what you look. You’re an angel of darkness —not an angel of light. What is that shadow behind you ?’ ‘ How awful!’ cried Lady Archie. She sprang to her feet, uttered a cry, and rushed from the room. She was met on the threshold by Mrs Guest, who was carrying a daintily-prepared tray containing tea and freshly-made toast. ‘ I’ve seen your Cecilia, and she has terrified me,’ said Lady Archie. The widow’s eyes flashed. ‘ Cecilia has never yet terrified anyone,’ she remarked. ‘I don’t understand. Yon had no right to go in. But listen who can be afraid of her ?’ The child was singing. Her tones were clear and full, her voice, a magnificent one, soared up and filled the room. , , . ‘I long for that happy and glorious time, The dearest, and sweetest and best, When the dear little children of every clime Shall crowd to His arms and be blest.’

‘ There ! ’ said the mother, ‘ she is always like that. She never touches earth at all. What’s the matter ? Yes, Cecil, I’m coming, my darling.’ Laying her tray on the table Mrs Guest ran into the front room. Lady Archie stepped daintily after her. ‘ The angels of light have all gone away,’ said the child. ‘ Oh, they’ll come back again, ‘ I’ll bring yon a cup of tea now.' She brushed her mother’s hand away. ‘ They’ve been and they’ve gone,’ she cried. ‘lt is all on account of her.’ Here she pointed at Lady Archie. ‘ She is an angel of darkness; please put her out of the room at once.’ ‘ I never heard of anything quite so awful in all my life,’ cried Lady Archie. She backed out of the room and stood white and trembling in tbe little room at the back. She heard the child say in a sobbing tone to her mother—- ‘ Don’t don’t let the angel of darkness come back.’ ‘ I won’t, Cessie —I won’t.’ Mrs Guest went back to Lady Archie. ‘ You should not have startled her,’ she said. ‘ I would have taken you in quietly. You ought not to have gone in wilhout my taking you.’ ‘ Never mind that now, my good woman,’ replied Lady Archie. ‘ This is terrible. What ails the child ? ’ ‘ What ails her! ’ cried Mrs Guest. ‘ She is an angel—that’s all.’

‘ But she is not as others.’ ‘ Alas, no, Lady Archie.’ ‘ What is wrong ? Speak—a great deal hangs on this.’ $ ‘ I don’t understand you. My little girl will not be long with me—so the doctors say. She is, as you say, nob at all like others.’

‘ She is the most terrible, terrible child I have ever come across,’ said Lady Archie. ‘ You have no right to say that,’ replied Mrs Guest, with anger in her tones.

‘ I have every right. You don’t know what this means. Can yon come to see me at my hotel P I have something important to tell you. The child has frightened me. She is not sound in her mind. Is not that the case ?’

‘ She is not- like others !’ repeated Mrs Guest. Nothing would induce her to add another word. Her face was pale and her lips determined. ‘My dear friend,’ said Lady Archie, suddenly taking her hand, ‘ I pity yon and I understand. Believe me, I quite understand, but I cannot look at the child again, don’t ask me.’

‘ She does not wish to see you again, Lady Archie —alas for you.’ ‘ She called me an angel of darkness.’

‘ She sees what others do not see,’ replied the widow, slowly and solemnly. ‘ Oh, good Grod ! You frighten me more and more. That voice of hers will haunt me for ever. This is my address ; pray call at my hotel this evening. I have something most important to tell you with regard to Rosalind. Grood-bye. And thank you for the tea, but I could not touch it. Grood-bye.’ Lady Archie flew from the house. She trembled so much that she almost dropped as she was getting into her hansom. ‘ Take me to the hotel,’ she said to the man. (To be Continued.)