Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1845-09-27

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irif1ed with woman's affections who di,
not. ever after. find bitter curse in hi.
cup. Judgmen. follows hard upon sucl
mlsdeeds. believe there is a special woe
denounced upon The wretch and he
might as well attempt to fly into the re
g'ons Of infinite space as to try to es.
cape it.
Leave off these wicked ways. then,
Jededial, if you would prosper If you
would live 10 lie down without dreaming
of fire and birthstone, or would die with
out hearing the wall of broken hearted
one knelling IN your ears. Blu, let this
motto be your guide, when you go among
the sweet innocent flowers whom God
has raised up here:
Never excite expectations you do no,
mean to crafty !!
Here uncle Obed's voice grew husky.
lie took long and deep draught from
The mug Of cider. and then rose from the
table aud left The room.
As he closed the door behind him. Jed
ediah drew long breath. looked a, me.
half mad and half ashamed. and then con.
,emp,uously whislled w.h.e.w''
My foolish brother continued TO fl r,
with Isabel until her whole being was
locked up in his. Her friends cautioned
I.er in vain-she was blind to the sugges
lions even Of her better judgment. At
length. when he had completely triumph
ed over her gentle heart. he left her, and
sought some other sweet flower TO bligh.
as he had done this.
Isabel bore his GOODNESS a while with
apparen. Indifference. Bu, the lus,re
gradually left her eye. her cheeks grew
pale and thin. and her fine red lips took
death like purple hue. She murmured
no, agains: him. She complained to none.
Her friends observed she mingled more
with the pous, and less with the gay
II was evident. however. tha. The ma,
chinery Of her existence was gradually
running down. and every day was expect.
ed to bring some story Of her sickness or
death. At length she almost Stunned so.
cie,y. and spen. her time, when the wealth.
er would permit, in wandering among the
hills and forests.
One evening Of a pleasant day which
she had spen, away from home in this
no, return a, her usua! hour. They be-
came alarmed, and ronsing party Of their
neiglbors. hey went in pursuit of her,
they travelled the forest and THO he, for
Il long time in vain. They shouted her
name through the deep glens. and blew
their horns from the tops of the hills. But
echo alone replied.
A, length. about midnight, one Of the
party. on his return, discovered her on
the edge Of high ledge of rocks. seated
a. The foo, Of an old beech which hung
from the edge Of the precipice. lie called
to her, but she returned no answer. tie
thought, she m gh, be asleep, and he clam
bered up the rocks to where she sat. He
called louder and louder. but she answered
not. Then he touched her shoulder, aud
gently shook her. and started back with
horror. She was dead. cold and stiff /;
though as she sat, she looked more like
one enjoying a quie, slumber. Her left
arm rested on the trunk Of a tree, and the
fingers of her right hand were laid upon
the letters Of my brothers name cut in
smooth bark. 1t seemed as If she had
been irving to trace them on, in the dark
Doubtless such was the fact. and that her
broken spiri, had passed away while bu-
sled in This strange but natural effort.
She was buried in the village church,
ward The mex, day wi,hou, any parade
But the story Of her life and death became
one of the traditions of the place, and the
stranger may hear i, told by any one of the
villagers, should he chance to ask whose
| nea. white marble monument j, is which
stands in The corner of the yard. with a
strangely quaint device sculplnred upon u.
Our schoolmas,er had been a rejected
lover of IsabeI's. and he procured the art
list who executed The monumen, to engtave
upon j. an emblem Of his own devising.
1t consisted simply of her name. in beau
,ifuI German capitals. under which there
was dropping white lilly, in full bloom.
| around whose stalk small adder had
| coiIed himself, his head thrust into the
cup of the flower. as il he were sucking
away the life juice Of the lovely plant
This was her only epi.aph. No one who
knew he: story could be at loss as to
the design.
NV brother was absent when she died
When he returned and heard The story OF
her death, he showed some signs o: emo
ZION. For several days he KEEP. aloof from
society; you could read remorse in his
eve. and a, times there was a ,wi,chlng ol
the muscles of the face. as it he Tell the
cravings Of the 'worm that never dies.
| Rni il snnn wore off and he became az