Literary cadet, and Saturday evening bulletin. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1826-1827, 1826-06-03

a'i bNI ~ u hou hNi OChg u huiC Y
self into her arms.
1t was in vain that the gentle Rachel s~upplica-
ted her mother 10 find rest 10 sleep. mot here"
she muttered, at must not be here; the deep cave
and the hard rock, these shall be my resting place:
and the bedfellow, 10. now, he waits my coming"
Then she would cry aloud, clasp her Rachel to her
heating heart, and as suddenly, in horror thrust her
from il.
The next midnight beheld Ruth Tudor in the
cave, seated upon a point of rock, at the head Of
the corpse, her chin resting upon her hands, gazing
earnestly upon the distorted face. Decay had al.
ready begun its work; and Ruth sat there watching
the progress of mortality, as If she intended that her
stern eye should quicken and facilitate its opera
ton. The next night also beheld her there, but
the current of her tho lights had changed, aud the
dismal interval which had passed appeared to be
forgotten. She stood with her basket Of tood:-
swift thou not eat?" she demanded; .aise strength-
en- thee for thy journey; eat, eat, thou sleeper; wilt
thou never awaken? look, here j, the meat thou
lowest" and as she raised his head, and put the
food to his lips, the frail remnant of mortality shat
tered at her touch, and again she knew that he was
dead.
II was evident to all that 4 shadow and q change
was over the senses Of Ruth; till this period she had
been only wretched, but now madness was mingled
with her grief. II was in no instance more appa-
rent than 10 her conduct towards her beloved child:
i~ndulgent to all her wishes, ministering to all her
wants with a liberal hand, till men wondered from
whence she derived the means Of indulgence, she yet
seized every opportunity to send her from her
presence. The gentle hearted Rachel wept at her
conduct, yet did not complain, for she believed
II to be the effect Of the disease, that had
for so many years been preying upon her SOUL
Her nights were passed in roaming abroad, her days
in the solitude of her hut; and even this became
painful when the step Of her child broke upon it.
At length she signified that a relative Of her hus-
bnDI had died and left her yyealfh- and that II
would enable her to dispose Of herself as she had
long wished; so leaving Rachel with her relatives
IN H., she retired to a hut upon . lonely
heath: where she was less wretched because sban.
doned to her wretchedness.
Ia many of her rawlings she had frequently spo-
ken darkly of her crime, aud her nightly visits to
the ave; aud more frequently still she addressed
some unseen thing, which she asserted was forever
at her side. But few heard these horrors, and
those who did called to mind the early prophecy,
and deemed them the workings Of insanity on a
fierce and imaginative mind. So thought also the
beloved Rachel, who fastened dailyto embrace her
mother. but not now alone as formerly; a youth of
the village was her companion and protector. one
who had offered her worth and love, and whose
gentle offers were not rejected. Ruth, with a hur-
ried gladness, gave her consent and a blessing to her
child; and 1t Was remarked that she received her
daughter more kindly, and detained her longer at
the cottage, when Evan was by her side than when
she went to the gloomy heath alone. Rachel her
self soon made this observation, and as she could
depend on the honesty and prudence Of him she
loved, she felt less fear at his being frequent wit
ness Of her mothers terrific rawlings. Thus all
that human consolation was capable to afford
was offered to the sufferer by her sympathislng
children.
But the delirium of Ruth Tudor appeared to in
crease with every nightly visit to the cave Of secret
blood; some hideous shadow seemed to follow her
stem in tho iarknpsa and ait nv har aide in tho l0ht
Sometimes she held strange parley with this crea-
ton Of her phrensy, and at others smiled upon it
in scornful silence; now, her language WAS in the
tones OF entreaty, pity, and forgiveness; anon 1t
was the burst VI execratio on, curses and scorn. To
the gentle listeners her words were blasphemy: and
shuddering al her boldness, they deemed, IN the SIM
pie holiness Of their own hearts, that the evil one
was ~besetting her, and that religion alone could
Danish him. Possessed by this idea, Evan one day
suddenly interrupted her tremendous denunciations
upon her fate, and him who, she said, stood over
her TO fulfil it, with ~imploriug her to open the book
which he held in his hand, and seek consolation
from its words and its promises. She listened, and
grew calm in a n moment; with an awful smile she
babe him open, and read at the first place which
should meet his eye: from that, the word of truth,
as thou sayest, | shall know my fate; what is there
written | will believe.' He opened the book aud
read
"Whither shall | go from thy spirit, or whittier
shall | flee from thy presence! Ii 60 up int hea-
ven, thou art there; ifI make my bed in hell, thou
art there; if I take the wings Of the morning, and
dwell in the uttermost parts Of the sea, even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me-"
Ruth laid her hand upon the book: 'it is enough;
its words are truth; it hath said there is no hope,
and | find comfort in my despair: | have already
spoken thus in the secrecy Of my heart, and | know
that he will be obeyed; the unnamed sin must be
-" Evan knew not how to comfort her, so
he shut up his book and retired; and Rachel kissed
the cheek Of her mother, as she babe her q tender
good night. Another month and she was to be the
bride Of Evan, and she passed over the heath with a
light step, for the thought of her bridal seemed to
give JOY to her mother. I'VE shall all be happy
then" said the smiling girl, as the youth other
heart parted from her for the night; "and heaven
kindly grant that happiness may last"
The time appointed for the marriage Of Rachel
Tudor and Evan Edwards had long passed away,
and winter had set in with unusual sternress even on
that stormy coast, when, during a land tempest, on
a dark November afternoon, a stranger to the coun-
try, jourheying on foot lost his way in endeavoring
10 find a short route to his destination, over stub
BILE fields and meadow lands, by following the foot
marks Of those who had preceded him. The stran-
ger was a young man, Of a bright eye and hardy
look, and he went on, bufIeting the elements and
a single expression Of impotence. Night descended
upon him as he walked, and the snow storm came
down with unusual violence, as if to try the tenn |
per OF his mind, a mind cultivated and enlightened,
though cased in a frame accustomed to h~ardships,
and yelled by a plain, nay almost rustic exturior.-
The thunder roared loudly above him, and the
xu.xul bIaxuiu0 tram aptAualv rstso1 tho naw fallen |