"
"Disappeared!" said I in a harping way, once again, "and left the skin
discoloured."
"But it was there, and I saw it with these eyes," cried Graeme, "and the
doctor saw it, and Betha, but, thank God, not the mother."
"The vouchsafing of the eyes is an easy task," drawled Rogers. "The
truth of present fact is of the moment of experience as regards the
seer; but, as a moral entity, it never dies. The great Author of nature
has his intention in these mysterious signs. We know only that there are
two kinds of these God's finger-touches--the enduring and the
evanescent. That we have now witnessed was of the latter kind, which we
also call superficial in opposition to the other, which is painted on
the _rete mucosum_, and never goes off. The difference of indications
we know not, further than that a mysterious purpose is served by both.
But might I ask if ever there was any occasion on which the figure of
this card might, as connected with some thrilling incident, have been
impressed upon the imagination of the mother?"
"Never," cried Graeme, as he shook violently.
"Then it betokens fortune to the heir of the Moated Grange," said
Rogers.
"It betokens vengeance!" roared Graeme, no longer able to contain
himself; and he began to pace rapidly the room. Then stopping before
me--
"How long will you torment me with your scepticism? Here, Betha," he
cried to the woman, who at the instant again called Rogers, "what did
you see on the back of the boy?"
"The ten of diamonds, sir," replied she, evidently frightened by the
wild eyes of her master.
Pages:
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297