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Quicksilver Cassandra by J. K.
Baines. It was altogether queer, and

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Jingleberry to this day does not entirely
understand it. He had examined his heart

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as carefully as he knew how,
and had arrived at the entirely reasonable conclusion

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that he was in love. He
had every symptom of that malady when Miss

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Marian Chapman was within range of his
vision. There was room for no one

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else there. He suffered from that
peculiar optical condition which enabled him to see

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but one thing at a time when
she was present, and she was that

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one thing, which was probably the
reason why in his mind's eye she was

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the only woman in the world,
For Marian was ever present before Jingleberry's mental

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optic He had also examined as thoroughly
as he could in hypothesis the heart of

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this only woman, and he had, or thought he had, which amounts

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to the same thing reason to believe
that she reciprocated his affection. She certainly

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seemed glad always when he was about. She called him by his first name,

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and sometimes quarreled with him as she
quarreled with no one else. And

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if that wasn't a sign of love
in a woman. Then Jingleberry had studied

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the sex all his ears, and
they were thirty two for nothing. In

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short, Marian behaved so like a
sister to him that Jingleberry, knowing how

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dreams and women go by contraries,
was absolutely sure that a sister was just

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the reverse from that relationship which in
her heart of hearts she was willing to

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assume towards him. And he was
happy in consequence. Believing this, it

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was not at all strange that he
should make up his mind to propose marriage

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to her, though like many other
men, he was somewhat chicken hearted in

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coming to the point. Four times
had he called upon Marian for the sole

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purpose of asking her to become his
wife, and four times had he led

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up to the point and then talked
about something else. What quality it is

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in man that makes a coward of
him in the presence of one he considers

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his dearest frith friend is not within
the province of this narrative to determine,

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but Jingleberry had it in its most
virulent form. He had often got so

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far along in his proposal as Marian
or will you will you? And there

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he had as often stopped contenting himself
with such commonplace conclusions as go to the

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matina with me tomorrow, or ask
your father for me if he thinks the

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stock market is likely to strengthen soon, and other amazing substitutes for the words

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he so ardently desired yet feared to
utter. But this afternoon, the one

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upon which the extraordinary events about to
be narrated took place, Jingleberry had called

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resolved not to be balked in his
determination to learn his fate. He had

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come to propose, and propose he
would ruat caleum. His confidence in a

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successful termination to his suit had been
reinforced that very morning by the receipt of

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a note from miss Chapman asking him
to die with her parents and herself that

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evening, and to accompany them after
dinner to the opera. Surely that meant

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a great deal, and Jingleberry conceived
that the time was ripe for a blushing

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yes to his long deferred question.
So he was here in the Chapman parlor

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waiting for the young lady to come
down and become the recipient of the interesting

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interrogatory, as it is called in
some sections of Massachusetts. I'll ask her

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the first thing said Jingleberry, buttoning
up his Prince Albert as though to impart

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a possibly needed stiffening to his backbone. She will say yes, and then

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I shall enjoy the dinner and the
opera so much. The more, ahem,

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I wonder if I am pale?
I feel sort of. There's a

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mirror that will tell. Jingleberry walked
to the mirror, an oval, gilt

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framed mirror such as was very much
the vogue fifty years ago, for which

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reason alone no doubt, it was
now admitted to the golden white parlor of

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the House of Chapman. Blessed these
mirrors, said Jingleberry, gazing at the

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reflection of his face, so reassuring. I'm not at all pale. Quite

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the contrary, I'm red as a
sunset. Good Omen that the sun is

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setting on my bachelor days, and
my scarf is crooked. Ah. The

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ejaculation was one of pleasure. For
Pictured in the mirror, Jingleberry saw the

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form of Marian entering the room through
the Poortierre. How do you do,

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Marian? Been admiring myself in the
glass, he said, turning to greet

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her. I er here he stopped
as well he might, for he addressed.

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No one, Miss Chapman was nowhere
to be seen. Dear me,

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said Jingleberry, rubbing his eyes in
astonishment. How extraordinary I surely thought I

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saw her. Why I did see
her, that is, I saw her

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reflection in the glad ha. She
caught me gazing at myself there and has

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hidden. He walked to the door
and drew the portiere aside and looked into

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the hall. There was no one
there. He searched every corner of the

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hall and of the dining room at
its end, and then returned to the

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parlor, but it was still empty. And then occurred the most strangely unaccountable

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event in his life. As he
looked about the parlor, he for the

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second time found himself before the mirror. But the reflection therein, though it

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was of himself, was of himself
with his back turn to his real self

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as he stood gazing amazedly into the
glass. And besides this, although Jingleberry

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was alone in the real parlor,
the reflection of the dainty room showed that

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there he was not so for Seated
in her accustomed graceful attitude in the reflected

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arm chair was nothing less than the
counterfeit presentment of Marian Chapman herself. It

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was a wonder Jingleberry's eyes did not
fall out of his head, he stared.

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So what a situation it was to
be sure to stand there and see

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in the glass a scene which,
as far as he could observe, had

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no basis in reality. And how
interesting it was for Jingleberry to watch himself

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going through the form of chatting pleasantly
there in the mirror's depths with the woman

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he loved. It almost made him
jealous, though the reflected Jingleberry was so

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entirely independent of the real Jingleberry,
the jealousy soon gave way to consternation,

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for to the wondering suitor, the
independent reflection was beginning to do that for

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which he himself had come. In
other words, there was a proposal going

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on there in the glass, and
Jingleberry enjoyed the novel sensation of seeing how

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he himself would look when passing through
a similar ordeal. Altogether, However,

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it was not as pleasing as most
novelties are, for there were distinct signs

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in the face of the mirrored Marian
that the mirrored Jingleberry's words were distasteful to

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her, and that the proposition he
was making was not one she could entertain

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under any circumstances. She kept shaking
her head, and the more she shook

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it, the more the glazed Jingleberry
seemed to implore her to be his.

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Finally, Jingleberry saw his quicksilver counterpart
fall upon his knees before Marian of the

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glass, and hold out his arms
and hands towards her in an attitude of

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prayerful despair. Whereupon the girl sprang
to her feet, stamped her left foot

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furiously upon the floor, and pointed
the unwelcome lover to the door. Jingleberry

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was fairly staggered. What could be
the meaning of so extraordinary a freak of

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nature? Surely it must be prophetic. Fate was kind enough to warn him

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in advance, no doubt otherwise it
was a trick. And why should she

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stoop to play so paltry a trick
as that upon him. Surely Fate would

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not be so petty. No,
it was a warning. The mirror had

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been so affected by some supernatural agency
that it divined and reflected that which was

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to be. Instead of confining itself
to what Jingleberry called simultaneity, it led,

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Instead of following or acting coincidentally with
the reality, and it was the

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part of wisdom, he thought,
for him to yield to its suggestion and

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retreat. And as he thought this, he heard a soft, sweet voice

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behind him. I hope you haven't
got tired of waiting, Tom, it

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said, and turning jingle Berry saw
the unquestionably real Marian standing in the doorway.

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No, he answered shortly. I
have had a pleasant, very entertaining

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ten minutes, but I must hurry
along. Marian, he added, I

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only came to tell you that I
have a frightful headache and er I can't

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well manage to come to dinner or
go to the opera with you tonight.

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Why, Tom, pouted Marian.
I am awfully disappointed. I had counted

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on you, and now my whole
evening will be spoiled. Don't you think

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you can rest a little while and
then come. Well, I want to,

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Marian, said Jingleberry. But to
tell the truth, I really am

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afraid I am going to be ill. I've had such a strange experience this

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afternoon. Tell me what it was, suggested Marian sympathetically, and Jingleberry did

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tell her what it was. He
told her the whole story, from beginning

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to end, what he had come
for, how he had happened to look

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in the mirror, and what he
saw there. And Marian listened attentively to

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every word he said. She laughed
once or twice, and when he had

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done, she reminded him that mirrors
have a habit of reversing everything. And

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somehow or other, Jingleberry's headache went, and well everything went, end of

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a quicksilver Cassandra