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Speaker 1: A Quicksilver Cassandra by John Kendrick Bangs. 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 no room for anyone 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 is 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 woman, then Jingleberry

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had studied the sex all his years, and they were

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

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a sister to him that Jingleberry, knowing how dreams and

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women go by contraries, was absolutely sure that a sister

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was just the reverse from that relationship which in her

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heart of hearts she was willing to assume toward 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 is it in a

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man that makes a coward of him in the presence

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of one he considers his dearest 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, uh will

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you will you? And there he had often stopped contenting

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himself with such commonplace conclusions as go to the matinee

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with me tomorrow, or ask your father for me if

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he thinks the stock market is likely to straighten 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 purpose

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and the purpose he would grew at Coliam. His confidence

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in a successful termination to his suit had been re

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enforced that very morning by the receipt of a note

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from miss Chapman asking him to dine with her parents

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and herself that evening, and to accompany them after dinner

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to the opera. Surely that meant a great deal, and

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Jingleberry conceived that the time was ripe for a blushing

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yes to his long deferred question. So he was there

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in the Chapman parlor waiting for the young lady to

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come down and become the recipient of the interesting interrogatory,

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as it is called in some sections of Massachusetts. I'll

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ask her the first thing, said Jingleberry, buttoning his Prince

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Albert as though to impart a possible needed stiffening to

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his backbone. She will say yes, and then I shall

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enjoy the dinner and the opera so much more. Ahem.

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I wonder if I am pale? I feel sort of. Uh,

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there's a mirror that will tell. Jingleberry walked to the mirror,

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an oval, gilt framed mirror such as was very much

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in vogue fifty years ago, for which reason alone no doubt,

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it was now admitted to the gold and white parlor

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of the House of Chapman. Blessed things these mirrors, said Jingleberry,

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gazing at the the reflection of his face so reassuring.

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I'm not at all pale. Quite the contrary, I'm red

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as sunset. Good Omen that the sun is setting on

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

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ejaculation was one of pleasure for Pictured in the mirror,

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Jingleberry saw the form of Marian entering the room through

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the portieres. How do you do, Marion? Been admiring myself

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in the glass, he said, turning to greet her. I ah.

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Then 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

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surely thought I saw her. Why I did see her?

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That is, I saw her reflection in the glass. Ha

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ha ha. She caught me gazing at myself there and

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has hidden. He walked to the door and drew the

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porteriera aside and looked into the hall. There was no

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one there. He searched every corner of the hall and

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the dining room at its end, and then returned to

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

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the most strangely unaccountable event in his life. As he

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looked about the parlor, he for the second time found

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himself before the mirror. But the reflection therein, though it

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was of himself, was of himself with his back turned

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to his real self, as he stood gazing amazedly into

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the glass. And besides this, although Jingleberry was alone in

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the real parlor, the reflection of the dainty room showed

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that there he was not so for seated in her

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accustomed graceful attitude in the reflected armchair was nothing less

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than the counterfeit presentation of Marian Chatman herself. It was

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a wonder Jingleberry's eyes did not fall out of his head,

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he stared. So what a situation it was to be

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sure to stand there and see in the glass a

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scene which, as far as he could observe, had no

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basis in reality. And how interesting it was for Jingleberry

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to watch himself going through the form of chatting pleasantly

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there in the mirror's depths with the woman he loved.

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It almost made him jealous, though the reflected Jingleberry was

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so entirely independent of the real Jingleberry, the jealousy soon

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gave way to consternation, For to the wandering suitor, the

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independent reflection was beginning to do that for which he

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

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going on there in the glass, and Jingleberry enjoyed the

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novel sensation of seeing how he himself would look when

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passing through a similar ordeal. Altogether, however, it was not

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as pleasing as most novelties are, for there were distinct

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signs in the face of the mirrored Marian that the

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mirrored Jingleberry's words were distasteful to her. And that the

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proposition he was making was not one she would entertain

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

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more she shook it, the more the glazed Jingleberry seemed

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

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quicksilver counterpart fall upon his knees before Marian of the

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glass and hold out his arms and hands toward her

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in an attitude of prayerful despair. Whereupon the girl sprang

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to her feet, stamped her left foot furiously upon the floor,

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and pointed the unwelcome lover to the door. Jingleberry was

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fairly staggered. What could be the meaning of so extraordinary

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a freak of nature? Surely it must be prophetic. Fate

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was kind enough to warn him in advance, no doubt

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otherwise it was a trick. And why should she stoop

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to play so paltry a trick as that upon him.

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Surely Fate would not be so petty. Now 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

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simul tineity, it led instead of following or acting coincidentally

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with the reality. And it was the part of wisdom,

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he thought, for him to yield to its suggestion and retreat.

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And as he thought this, he heard the sweet, soft

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

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it said, and turning Jingleberry saw the unquestionable real Marians

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

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had a pleasant of very entertaining ten minutes, but I

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must hurry along. Marian, he added, I only came to

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tell you that I have a frightful headache and I

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can't very well manage to come to dinner or go

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to the opera with you tonight. Why, Tom, pouted Marian.

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I am awfully disappointed. I had counted on you, and

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

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you could rest a little while and then come. Well,

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I want to, Marian, said Jingleberry. But to tell the truth,

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I really am afraid I am going to be ill.

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I've had such a strange experience this afternoon. I tell

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me what it was, suggest tested Marian sympathetically, and Jingleberry

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did tell her what it was. He told her the

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whole story, from beginning to end, what he had come for,

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how he happened to look in the mirror, and what

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he saw there. And Marian listened attentively to every word

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he said. She laughed once or twice, and when he

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had done, she reminded him that mirrors have the habit

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of reversing everything. And somehow or other, Jingleberry's headache went away,

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and and well everything went the end of a quicksilver

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Cassandra by John Kendrick Bangs