The Litchfield County post. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1826-1829, 1826-11-21

cTcutate among the peasants, on the apDa-
rent improbability Of his pursuing acciden-
tally path not leading directly to his OBJ
lJect, and still more Of SO daring and enter
prising ahnnter returning without having
accomplished the ostensible purpose of his
perilous excursion.
Alloys, In perfect unconsciousness Of
the strange surmises which had arisen a.
mong bis ignorant and credulous, though
weli-meaning coumtrymen, related, in an
swer to the questions Of the Landamman.
the simple facts Of the slaughter Of the
cl1amols and subsequent REIMBURSEMENT Of
his prey to devote his services to the
lwounded an,producing, with an air Of iin-
Inocent triumph the still bloody knife with
which he had dismembered the spoil, as
the sole remaining evidence Of his sylvan
victory. a
! AT the sight of tie blood stainea knife,
a murmur ran through the assembly, as it
was evidently by q similar weapon that
the murder had been committed; and the
storyof the chamois, by which Alloys ,ac-
counted for its condition, began to bear
somewhat Of an apocryphal character to
minds already under the influence of pre-.
JUDGE. 1t was then mentioned by an i'm
habitant of that the deceased had
been supposed to quit his native valley,
under the Influence of rejected suit to
this very Clara Meyer who was now about
to be, united to Alloys and the return of a
rival with such an increase of wealth as
might probably weigh with her father, if
not with the maiden herself, seemed to
supply to this mysterious crime that
nsOtioe which had hitherto been sought ia
vain. is a
The tide of public opinion, till then ia
yorable 70 the youth, bravery, and reputed
probity of Alloys, began rapidly to turn !;
and the Landamman, though his suspicious
were strongly counterbalancedb by the open.
frankness, and honest indignation, painted
on Alloys countenance saw himself obliged
to yield to the Glamour which demanded
his detention, Willing. however, that the
young man should have the fun benefit of
the testimony Of his own neighborhood,
and the solace afforded by the society Of
his friends, he readily consented to have
him escorted to his own village Of M = =
which, indeed, as the principal seat of
justice in the valley, possessed the only
prison it could furnish, in the massey ruins
Eof sbafonials Castle, Of which the donion
alone remained entire. ss
The news Of this disastrous occurrence
had spread like wild-fire through the pas
toral valley, and ere the prisoner and his
escort reached M half its families
had been plunged in CONSERVATION by an
tievent SO tragical and unexpected. Very
few Of his townsmen lent the slightest
credit to the atrocious charge the young
men were with difficulty restrained from
attempting rescue; but the cautious ell
ders, though they disbelieyed the fact, saw,
A in the train of circumstantial evidence,
presumption against the accused, the con-
sequences of which nothing short of a
discovery of the real assassin, could well
avert.
| Alloys, while conveying to the chateau
on Hill overlooking the village, had to
pass the cottage of Conrad Meyer, the fa-
Their Of Clara; and it was some aileviation
to his misery, to see at his threshold the
aged Conrad, who, taking the young man
4 by the hand, said before the assembled mul-
ltitude, g / and my daughter know that he
is innocent. There, is in this mystery,
which God in his own good time will clear
up. He ismy son, and will accompany
| him to that, dreary abode, which. whatever
it may be to the convicted, should at least
to the suspected, be a place Of safety, not
of punishment."
i These words Of Conrad soothed the In
dignant spirit of the youth, while his infla-i
ence and activity gave to the. gloomy dun
4 geon all the air Of comfort it was capable Of
receiving. Y.ss
In the meantime, the characterof Clara,
which, amid the peaceful tenor OF pasto-
raj life, had hitherto found no opportunity
of developing itsssnergies, was reused hy
her lovers danger, to a heroic devotion
not incompatible, as history has often proc
we'd, with the domestic virtues of the Swiss
4 female character. Feeling the. most abso-
Lutte persuasion ofAloys' innocence, she
sought blythe most impassioncd eioquence
to impress "a similar belief on his simple
1judges: and finding that the circumstance
Eof the bloody knife was the one likely to
Eaford the strongest presumptive evidence
against him., she conceived the romantic
Lproject of endeavoring TO inyalidate 1t, by
the discovery IF such fragments Of his lost
Ebootyas were of auature to defy the effects
Of weather, and the rapacity Of the moun-
tain vultqre.
Il ~ 90 q