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Speaker 1: Quicksilver Cassandra by J. K. Baines. It was altogether queer,

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and Jingleberry to this day does not entirely understand it.

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He had examined his heart as carefully as he knew how,

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and had arrived at the entirely reasonable conclusion that he

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was in love. He had every symptom of that malady

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when Miss Marian Chapman was within range of his vision.

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There was room for no one else there. He suffered

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from that peculiar optical condition which enabled him to see

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but one thing at a time when she was present,

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and she was that one thing, which was probably the

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reason why in his mind's eye she was the only

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woman in the world, For Marian was ever present before

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Jingleberry's mental optic He had also examined as thoroughly as

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he could in hypothesis the heart of this only woman,

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and he had, or thought he had, which amounts to

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

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She certainly seemed glad always when he was about. She

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called him by his first name, and sometimes quarreled with

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him as she quarreled with no one else. And if

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that wasn't a sign of love in a woman. Then

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Jingleberry had studied the sex all his ears, and they

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were thirty two for nothing. In short, Marian behaved so

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like a sister to him that Jingleberry, knowing how dreams

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and women go by contraries, was absolutely sure that a

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sister was just the reverse from that relationship which in

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her heart of hearts she was willing to assume towards him.

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And he was happy in consequence. Believing this, it was

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not at all strange that he should make up his

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mind to propose marriage to her, though like many other men,

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he was somewhat chicken hearted in coming to the point.

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Four times had he called upon Marian for the sole

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purpose of asking her to become his wife, and four

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times had he led up to the point and then

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talked about something else. What quality it is in man

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that makes a coward of him in the presence of

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one he considers his dearest frith friend is not within

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the province of this narrative to determine, but Jingleberry had

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it in its most virulent form. He had often got

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so far along in his proposal as Marian or will

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you will you? And there he had as often stopped

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contenting himself with such commonplace conclusions as go to the

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matina with me tomorrow, or ask your father for me

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if he thinks the stock market is likely to strengthen soon,

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and other amazing substitutes for the words he so ardently

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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,

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Jingleberry had called resolved not to be balked in his

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determination to learn his fate. He had come to propose,

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and propose he would ruat caleum. His confidence in a

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successful termination to his suit had been reinforced that very

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morning by the receipt of a note from miss Chapman

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asking him to die with her parents and herself that evening,

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and to accompany them after dinner to the opera. Surely

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that meant a great deal, and Jingleberry conceived that the

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time was ripe for a blushing yes to his long

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deferred question. So he was here in the Chapman parlor

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waiting for the young lady to come down and become

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the recipient of the interesting interrogatory, as it is called

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in some sections of Massachusetts. I'll ask her the first

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thing said Jingleberry, buttoning up his Prince Albert as though

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to impart a possibly needed stiffening to his backbone. She

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will say yes, and then I shall enjoy the dinner

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and the opera so much. The more, ahem, I wonder

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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,

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gilt framed mirror such as was very much the vogue

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fifty years ago, for which reason alone no doubt, it

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was now admitted to the golden white parlor of the

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

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the reflection of his face, so reassuring. I'm not at

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all pale. Quite the contrary, I'm red as a sunset.

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Good Omen that the sun is setting on my bachelor days,

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and my scarf is crooked. Ah. The ejaculation was one

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of pleasure. For Pictured in the mirror, Jingleberry saw the

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form of Marian entering the room through the Poortierre. How

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do you do, Marian? Been admiring myself in the glass,

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he said, turning to greet her. I er here he

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stopped as well he might, for he addressed. No one,

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Miss Chapman was nowhere to be seen. Dear me, said Jingleberry,

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rubbing his eyes in astonishment. How extraordinary I surely thought

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

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I saw her reflection in the glad ha. She caught

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me gazing at myself there and has hidden. He walked

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to the door and drew the portiere aside and looked

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into the hall. There was no one there. He searched

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every corner of the hall and of the dining room

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at its end, and then returned to the parlor, but

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it was still empty. And then occurred the most strangely

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

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he for the second time found himself before the mirror.

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But the reflection therein, though it was of himself, was

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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,

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although Jingleberry was alone in the real parlor, the reflection

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of the dainty room showed that there he was not

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so for Seated in her accustomed graceful attitude in the

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reflected arm chair was nothing less than the counterfeit presentment

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of Marian Chapman herself. It was a wonder Jingleberry's eyes

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did not fall out of his head, he stared. So

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what a situation it was to be sure to stand

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there and see in the glass a scene which, as

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far as he could observe, had no basis in reality.

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And how interesting it was for Jingleberry to watch himself

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going through the form of chatting pleasantly there in the

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mirror's depths with the woman he loved. It almost made

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him jealous, though the reflected Jingleberry was so entirely independent

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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

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to do that for which he himself had come. In

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other words, there was a proposal going on there in

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the glass, and Jingleberry enjoyed the novel sensation of seeing

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how 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

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there were distinct signs in the face of the mirrored

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Marian that the mirrored Jingleberry's words were distasteful to her,

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and that the proposition he was making was not one

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she could entertain under any circumstances. She kept shaking her head,

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and the more she shook it, the more the glazed

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Jingleberry seemed to implore her to be his. Finally, Jingleberry

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saw his quicksilver counterpart fall upon his knees before Marian

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of the glass, and hold out his arms and hands

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towards her in an attitude of prayerful despair. Whereupon the

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girl sprang to her feet, stamped her left foot furiously

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

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Jingleberry was fairly staggered. What could be the meaning of

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so extraordinary a freak of nature? Surely it must be prophetic.

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Fate was kind enough to warn him in advance, no

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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.

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Surely Fate would not be so petty. No, it was

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a warning. The mirror had been so affected by some

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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,

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it led, Instead of following or acting coincidentally with the reality,

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and it was the part of wisdom, he thought, for

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him to yield to its suggestion and retreat. And as

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he thought this, he heard a soft, sweet voice behind him.

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I hope you haven't got tired of waiting, Tom, it said,

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and turning jingle Berry saw the unquestionably real Marian standing

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in the doorway. No, he answered shortly. I have had

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a pleasant, very entertaining ten minutes, but I must hurry along. Marian,

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he added, I only came to tell you that I

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have a frightful headache and er I can't well manage

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to come to dinner or go to the opera with

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you tonight. Why, Tom, pouted Marian. I am awfully disappointed.

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I had counted on you, and now my whole evening

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will be spoiled. Don't you think you can rest a

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little while and then come. Well, I want to, Marian,

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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

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a strange experience this afternoon. Tell me what it was,

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suggested Marian sympathetically, and Jingleberry did tell her what it was.

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He told her the whole story, from beginning to end,

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what he had come for, how he had happened to

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look in the mirror, and what he saw there. And

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Marian listened attentively to every word he said. She laughed

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once or twice, and when he had done, she reminded

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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,

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end of a quicksilver Cassandra