STRANGE PRESENTIMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2134, 13 March 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

STRANGE PRESENTIMENTS.

In* tho ' Souvenirs do In Marquise do Crequi ' the following s»tory is told :— Tho I'rinoe aud l'rinrcvj Radziwill roared with theii own children .'in orphan hoko t ho Countess Atrues L tnskoronska, .it their chateau Ncwicmsko. In order to iro from tho grand apai ti:ienLs of the Prince ami Princess to the part of the chateau in which tho children lived it wjm necevsaiy to cross an immense hill, which divided aud ran the whole length of th« buildinir Tho Co:inte»B Asnea, only between five and mx years of axe when sbe cimo there, always uttered piercing hlirieks when they m.ide her pass through the door in the great h.ill which opened into the dr.iwing-r<iom. Ah soon as »ho was old enough to t.ilk intelligently and explain thih --tr.tngc behiivionr, she pointed, troniblmg- and paiaiyzed with termr, to a great \ ieture over the door, which represented tho Cumc.in SybiL They vainly nought to hive her grow familiar with the painting so horrible to her. There- was n.jthiiig about it which ou^hf to fughton a child .She fell into convulsions as soon as she entered tho hill Her uncle w.is unwilling' to yield to what he called a mani i, and -end the .Sybil to the g.irret, becanso it was a ma^nificient .picture by Titian. The Piincess, more compassionate, at list gave orders that Agnes should be brought aromi.l the outside of the chateau by the lug.' court or by the garden terrace biit always taken to and fro in a *ay to reach tlu other end of the buildin l' without crossing the gu-at hall. Here is the end of tint story, as told me by the Print* «le Hohenlohe. He was at the chateau de New iem«ko, during the ('hristinas festi* itk-s, at a re-union of fiom lifty to sixty of the noblemen of the neighbourhood, with their wives and families. The yoking people were going to give an entei tainmeut, which originated in France (but which is now out of fashion), called la const c dii Hot. There was talk of uiving it in the creat hall, and for the first time in her life the Conntfss Agues did not show any fear. Her uncle whispered that she had become reasonable, and the Princess added that, as she was to be married in three d<iy<*, she did not w.int to displease her uncle by refuting to enter the great hall where the wedding-ball would naturally be jiiven. They were obliged to let her pass fir^t, hpciiuse «.he was betrothed to a. Piinoe WiMiow>ki, who wa< a JajMlou. But when '-he reached the thie-hold hei he.nt failed her— she d.ired not enter. At 1 tst they pushed her in md clo->«d the dooif to pi event her coming out. Tin n ih"y hf.uvl mo ins nnd .supplication* tor them lo open the doors. iihe ( iicd ih it him w.is m danger of death, th it r«he w.is £ro:ii;r to die, that .she was djing. Thin ome an awful cra-h, and after tint they h'.md nothing more. The -.hock tlicy had jnven the door- w;iy had loosened the acttused picture, whicti had fallen with its black and masMvo h line. One of ilic orn.-imenta of tho Rud/iwill co«t-of-arnr», which was of gilded in»n, Ind pierced the poor girl's t»kull, and the unhappy Agueb lay there ugid iv death. Vermer, in his • Avenir Nationale,' relates another ea*-e within hi-» own knowledge It is v*. toll<iw> : Ue Musson, who was fond of mystification, grew more and more gloomy. At tour o'clock, one afternoon, I entered his studio just as he wa§ abonfc to polish his boots. ' You are going out to-night V 1 Yes,' he said, ' a dinner at Madam Hdinguerlof s house ' I Fine table, charming woman, intelligent company.' I 1 should much rather not go. I hud a bad dream la*t night. .Something dreadful will happen to me if I go out tonight I dieasned that I was here bu-y at woik, when hime one knocked on tho door three time-. Ih id Mjarcely answered 'Come in' bc-foie a very tall woman, with her frfco veiled, entered and took a heat ' I-. it M. Musbon,' >he haul, 'to whom I have the honour of speakiug '{ 'It i». Madam .' ' Will jou make my portrait? 1 ' I am at your -ervice, Madam.' ' Hut it inu-t be dove :it once.' I was impatient to t-ee tiie face concealed behind the veil. [ hastened to say: 'Let us begin this instant. 1 Tho unknown made a movement in her chair, as if trying to pat hetself in a suitable attitude. 'It will be necessary, Madam, to lift jonr •> eil.' \A heu the veil was removed I interred a cry. 1 hail before my eyes a death's head ! ' Isu't it good, la MyUifiraHun t' said the whistling voice winch issued from that empty mouth. ' Farewell till we meet again, Monsieur Musson.' I insisted that he had mistaken the meaning of his dream, and at last he again took up his brush and box of blacking At nine o'clock I pnsgod Madam Ham* gut riot's house on my way home. The night was stormy. The stieet l.i nps, illtended then, weie smoky and dim. A carriage' started away fiom the house at a rapid pace. I heard a loud cry. People i an out with lanterns. A man. stretched out on the pavement, was dying. I bent over the prostrate figure, and recognised the unfortunate Mu»son. The pole of the cart lage had penetrated his breast. His presentiment had not deceived him. — Translated from the French by E. F. Dawsou.

" Truth " write* of the List year as follows : — This has bren a very bad year for vendors of live stock generally, and especially for shorthorns It appears that 1750 beasts have been sold at 35 sales at an average of L 37 10a lOd, whilst last year the average for 1613 shorthorns was L 43 11s 9d. The best sales were those at Rowfant (Sir C. Lampson's), Hindlip (Sir Henry Allsopp's), and at Aiulley End (Lord Braybrooke's), at each of which the average considerably exceeded LlOO. Herefords have also fallen in value, and polled oxen have sunk to L2o 14s from L3O 12s last year, and LO2 18s in 1883. An estate in Lincolnshire, which was mortgaged about ten years ago for LI."), 000, has just been sold for L3OOO. Tiie moi tgagees were obliged to get rid of the pioperty on any terms, and they were workinn it at a considerable loss. The following story in connection with the elections is worth repeating: — Ha\ ing \ otcd for the Radical, the rustic began, to inquire where his new property lay, and was referred to a neighbouring lawjfi', with a sense of humour. The mail ma>lc knowu vis request — he, had one acre at the hack of his cottage, and should like three more in au adjoining Held, belonging to a neighbour The lawyer smiled, and reached down a plan of the estate, showing the rustic's cottige, "Let me see, 1 ' says the lawyer, " your land is here, I suppose, and you want three acres here ?"' " Well, I don't want them three acres at the back of my house." "Yes, quite so ; they must be here. I'll see if it can be arraneod." Shortly after he met the law yer. M Very sorry," said the latter, "afraid that little job of yours can't be managed. You a-e a little late, you see ; one of your neighbours has taken his three acres there, and has included your acre in his selection." "My acre," said the rustic ; "but what has he got to do wi my a^re?" "Oh," said the lawyer, "you ">eethe man has jn«r nn mnoh right to you- I'm ' up \ » ' > ;:,v)