[Dark Saint Alaick]

Smith took the unmounted photograph, looked at it for a minute, turned
red and blue and green and finally very pale. Of course, we asked him
what the matter was and this was what he said:

"The third lady in the middle was my first wife, who has been dead these
eight years. Before her death she asked me a number of times to have her
photograph taken. She used to say that she had a presentiment that she
might die early. I did not believe in her presentiment myself, but I did
not object to the photograph. So one day I ordered the carriage and
asked her to dress up. We intended to go to a good professional. She
dressed up and the carriage was ready, but as we were going to start
news reached us that her mother was dangerously ill. So we went to see
her mother instead. The mother was very ill, and I had to leave her
there. Immediately afterwards I was sent away on duty to another station
and so could not bring her back. It was in fact after full three months
and a half that I returned and then though her mother was all right, my
wife was not. Within fifteen days of my return she died of puerperal
fever after child-birth and the child died too. A photograph of her was
never taken. When she dressed up for the last time on the day that she
left my home she had the necklace and the ear-rings on, as you see her
wearing in the photograph. My present wife has them now but she does not
generally put them on."