University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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The IVlagic of a Window Pane. g)| KTER all, there is small mag-ic in it, apart from the mA, m3 ' stic a enc} ' of a somewhat inferior g-lass, and the happ3 ' accident of the wa} ' in which the window has been hung-. The accumulated dust of ag es — rather, to be more exact, of some six months — in which the rains have made strang-e zig-zag paths, and scattering- uncanny blotches, adorns the outer surface of the pane, and adds its portion to the weird effect of this would-be mag-ic g-lass. It is all easily enoug-h explained, and proved to be the natural result of the plans of the architect, together with the neg-lect of the house- keeper, and so reduced from the region of m3 sterious interest ot the level of ordinar} ' events. Perhaps it mig-ht be possible to find somewhere a ver} small and ig-norant child, to whom the revelations of the g-lass would seem to be the working-s of gnome or sprite, but even the infants of this degenerate age are so hopelessl}- well educated that the possibility is ex- tremely slight. The g-ood old da3 s of sorcerers who could read men ' s histories in a drop of ink, when such a thing might have been appreciated, are past ; and there is nothing to be done but to explain away the mystery- and to enjoy to the best of our sophisticated abilit} ' the poor little remnants of a curiosity that we have left. In plain fact, the window owes its peculiar properties to its situation. It is in an upper stor} ' , and, being hung after the fashion of a transom, w4th a pivot in the center of either side, it can be revolved to suit the pleasure of the inmates of the house. And therein lies the secret. For, on being opened, so that the pane exact!} divides the opening in which it is set into two equal parts, the curious observer then has before him all the resources of which this belated successor to the magician ' s drop of ink can boast. Above the glass is the sk}-, with its blue all flecked with hurrying clouds. From this part of the window, too, one sees hill-tops and tree-tops and roofs of houses with misty blue lines of smoke wavering away from their chimney ' s. Birds flit athwart this realm of vision amid all the light and stir of the upper air. But the other half of the world is to be seen only by ducking one ' s head under the jianc, at the imminent risk of

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thin . Wait until we return to the mission, Tehama. I can teach you better there than I can here. Astonished, she replied : You know you were to tell me here. Why are you not ready ? You must tell me now. Ferdinand ' s wits offered him no further subterfug-e, and that a powerless Indian duped was not much on one ' s cons- cience, he took refug-e in the truth : There is no secret ; I am not a mag-ician. for this stone (pointing- to the diamond) is found just as g ' old is. But you can take this ring- to your people, and tell them you imprisoned these sunbeams, and in time you will be able to imprison more. Then, sometime, I will send you another diamond. Tehama sprang- up, tall and straig-ht, not deig-ning to take the ring-, and cried ang-rily : You tricked me, then, for these yellow pebbles. You never intended to tell me the secret ; I will curse this spot forever. The gold shall sink into the earth, the stream shall disappear. I will make your white brothers die when they come here. You shall see them die. But ou shall not be a man to lie ; you shall be a stunted cactus to grow here forever and ever, and I will mock you. I will be as sweet water ever bej-ond 3 ou and your brothers ; I will see them thirst and die. Ferdinand tried to answer, but his tongue made no words. He tried to laug-h, but his laugh stopped, and fear was in his eyes. -X- The red magician did not see the work of his pupil, nor did Ferdinand ' s companions know what became of him. But the rattlesnakes slipped by and saw changed thing-s, and the coyotes howl near and complain that where the oasis once was is now a hideous valle} ' ; the stream is a salt marsh poisonous to men, and beside it, a stunted cactus leans toward a mocking- mirage, a vision of water, cool and sweet, but forever beyond its reach. Charlotte Teale.

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being- caug-ht in the fastening- of the casement, and of hang- ing there forever, a melancholy example of the fate which should overtake all who pry into the secrets of black art. But if such dang-er be successfully avoided, then the earth spreads itself out to view in a smiling- effort to supplement the scenes of mid air. The roofs with smoking- chimneys that adorned the previous picture are here fitted out with basements and lower stories. The tree-tops are now seen to come from sturdy trunks and far-reaching- roots. The roots are wide-spreading- at the base, and crowded with clustering- houses. This lower view gives an unequalled opportunity for un- interrupted gazing- at mankind. They hasten in long- pro- cession beneath the window — men, women, children, all un- conscious of the scrutiny under which they are passing. For once, the aristocrat forgets himself, and allows his manner a momentary lapse into naturalness. The old beau who has strug-gled painfully for more years than even his friends imag-ine, to disg-uise his rheumatism by a jaunty, indolent stroll, covertly g-lances about, and relieved by the sig-ht of a deserted pathway, permits himself to limp a few times ever so slig-htly before he meets a chance passer in w liose presence the painful semblance of youthful health and spirits must be resumed. People do unexpected little acts of kindness or small secret charities sometimes as they pass by here, that seem to be the natural impulse of their natures, and all be- cause they imagine they are for an instant freed from the necessity of posing- before an audience. Only the dogs and horses that wander through the lane are quite as they are in other places. To be sure, a bird sometimes flutters down and skims along above the dust of the way, or a fresh little breeze raises tiny, ineffectual cyclones as it passes by ; but aside from these occasional visitors, the travelers below the window re those who must be watched and taken unawares before the} are betraj-ed into forg-etting their chosen attitude in the eyes of the world. But, of course, all this is quite ordinary, and mig-ht be seen from any upstairs window if only the blinds were closed and the observer took pains to keep hidden. The glass has not displayed its claims as yet. To see the fullness of the mystery, then, one needs only