Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/129

 MENTAL TELEGRAPHY

and then cut my letter suddenly short, because a strong instinct told me that the firm had begun to move in the matter. When I came down to break fast next morning the postman had not yet taken my letter away, but the electrical man had been there, done his work, and was gone again ! He had received his orders the previous evening from his employers, and had come up by the night train.

If that was an &quot;accident,&quot; it took about three months to get it up in good shape.

One evening last summer I arrived in Washington, registered at the Arlington Hotel, and went to my room. I read and smoked until ten o clock; then, finding I was not yet sleepy, I thought I would take a breath of fresh air. So I went forth in the rain, and tramped through one street after another in an

aimless and enjoyable way. I knew that Mr. O ,

a friend of mine, was in town, and I wished I might run across him; but I did not propose to hunt for him at midnight, especially as I did not know where he was stopping. Toward twelve o clock the streets had become so deserted that I felt lonesome; so I stepped into a cigar shop far up the avenue, and remained there fifteen minutes, listening to some bummers discussing national politics. Suddenly the spirit of prophecy came upon me, and I said to myself, &quot;Now I will go out at this door, turn to the

left, walk ten steps, and meet Mr. O face to

face.&quot; I did it, too! I could not see his face, because he had an umbrella before it, and it was pretty dark anyhow, but he interrupted the man

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