er her shoulder at him and her mouth gaped.
I heard nothing, but I knew that she was screaming. And then, whether it
was this nerve-racking vision before me, or whether, my task finished,
all the overwork of the past weeks came in one crushing weight upon me,
the room danced round me, the floor seemed to sink away beneath my feet,
and I remembered no more. In the early morning my landlady found me
stretched senseless before the silver mirror, but I knew nothing myself
until three days ago I awoke in the deep peace of the doctor's nursing
home.

Feb. 9.--Only today have I told Dr. Sinclair my full experience. He
had not allowed me to speak of such matters before. He listened with an
absorbed interest. "You don't identify this with any well-known scene
in history?" he asked, with suspicion in his eyes. I assured him that I
knew nothing of history. "Have you no idea whence that mirror came and
to whom it once belonged?" he continued. "Have you?" I asked, for he
spoke with meaning. "It's incredible," said he, "and yet how else can
one explain it? The scenes which you described before suggested it, but
now it has gone beyond all range of coincidence. I will bring you some
notes in the evening."

Later.--He has just left me. Let me set down his words as closely as I
can recall them. He began by laying several musty volumes upon my bed.

"These you can consult at your leisure," said he. "I have some notes
here which you can confirm. There is not a doubt that what you have seen
is the murder of Rizzio by the Scottish nobles in the presence of
Mary, which occurred in March, 1566. Your description of the woman is
accurate. The high forehead and heavy eyelids combined with great beauty
could hardly apply to two women. The tall young man was her husband,
Darnley. Rizzio, says the chronicle, 'was dressed in a loose
dressing-gown of furred damask, with hose of russet velvet.' With one
hand he clutched Mary's gown, with the other he held a dagger. Your
fierce, hollow-eyed man was Ruthven, who was new-risen from a bed of
sickness. Every detail is exact."

"But why to me?" I asked, in bewilderment. "Why of all the human race to
me?"

"Because you were in the fit mental state to receive the impression.
Because you chanced to own the mirror which gave the impression."

"The mirror! You think, then, that it was Mary's mirror--that it stood
in the room where the deed was done?"

"I am convinced that it was Mary's mirror. She had bee