Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-06-12
the hand upon the stand and prepared to cut
il of. The doctor restrained him.

poor tlnOerti.
'Wha, is that to your I, must be sol
wish 10 have It, and madam wishes il also.--
II it is necessary that she herself shall en-
treat you, she will do so. Come, madam,
bog-the doctor to do yeu this service
NJ. tluber,I, pale, be~idercd. aghast, could
hardly keep from fainliug.
A half smothered voice came from the al
cove, which said. in an ndescribable accent
Of mingled despair and resignation:
Sir, since you are a surgeon-yes, l en-
treat vou-do it-don't let hm-for mercy's
sake
Game, doctor said the man, you or | 7
The resolution of his dreadful! compapion
was so implacable and so terrifying, the
PRAYER Ct the poor woman so poignant and
so despairing, that the doctor saw that the
dictates of humanity commanded that he
should obey. He took his implements, cast
one more enquiring look upon the unknown,
swer with an agonised heart and with his
brow bedewed with cold sweat. and sum.
moning ali his energy TO his aid, he applied
the knife 10 the wrist. Twice his hand failed
him-at length the blood eusl,ed forth, a
shrek was heard from the alcove, and the
silence of death followed. The unknown
stood silent and unmoved-the noise of the
horrible operation alone was heard. soon
both the knife and the hand fell togcther.-
The doctor was deadly pale; he looked at
the unknown with haggard eyes. The latter
stopped, picked up the hand, took the ring
from the huger, and presented it TO the
doctor:
Take it DOCTOR said he-'let it be a
souvenir no Que will ever demand il Of you
again.
lie then added, in a loud voice-'It is
done Immediately the two other masked
men entered again bandagcd the doctors
eyes, and led him away. The same carriage
that had brought him carried him back to his
own door. The doctor took of his bandage,
and saw the berlin disappearing in the dark
ness. Ii was 5 O'Clock in the morning.
For three months NJ. HUBERT sought in
vain to discover by every means an explana-
ton Of this terrible adventure. Had it moi
been for the ring, an undeniabe evidence OF
the reality Of his remembrance, he would
have supposed himself the dupe Of some llu-
SION. But hoping that this very ring, the
only token he had preserved of that terrible
night, might sooner or later bring about some
explanation, he wore it suspended to the
chain OF his watch. A few days since, the
doctor was invited to the ball given by the
Countess of P, at her hotel in the Rue
dc Varennrs. All the elite Of the titled
fashionable crowded thiIhrr. The greatest
names of France elbowed the most dislin.
enishcd of The German diplomaccd. In the
commencement of the evening, the attention
Of all was attracted by a young man, with a
pale face, a sad expression, who from time
to time wandered through the saloons, in an
anxious manner, and then sadly Withdrew
from among the crowd.
This Young man Glanced, in the course o.
the evening, To stand in front Of NJ. HUBERT
His eyes, which had lighted upon him at frs
mechanically, now seemed fixed upon him
and rested with a fearful expression upon the
ring which shone above his wastcnat.
Suddenly, the young man passed abrupt,
through the group that separated him from
the doctor; he went slraigh, up to NJ. Hu
BERT, and Joslled him rudely and in delibe
rate manner.
The doctor very politely expostnated.
The young man, without making any an
swer, struck him. The nproar produced b,
this scene may be easily judged. A duel il
10 take place between this young man ant
the doctor. We are guilty of no indiscreiio'
in speaking Of this affair, which is known t.
/. all Paris. Before the police can read lhi
feuilleton the duel will have taken place, ant
very probably II will give rise to explanation
that may throw some light upon this mystic
rions affair. and npon the sad history which
Doctor HUBERT has been one of the actors.
The Brussels OJserpafeur. gives the fol
lowing explanation Of this my sterious ant
horrible adventure:
Truth Is sTRANGER-sTRANGER THA'
rlcrioN.-Ths, the following relation vii
prove:
1t turns out that the story recently pub
lished, of the hand cut of, and which was 81
strongly tinctnrrd with the Jealous hidalgo
the revengefnl Spaniard, and which our read
ers supposed TO be designed as some pui
and winch, we confess, we did not Ourselve
believe, so little it seems like Paris, is new
erthelrss true-true from one end to the 9th
err. One of the actors in this affair has bee
in Brussels The last two days. II is from hin
tina. we have the particulars, which we has
| ten 10 relate.
. The young Matilda de-, Jour reader
will understand why we do not indicate he
name even by her initials is the daughter o
one of our mos, distinguished soldiers OF tn
empire. Her father gained an elevated sta
ton, glory and high grade in the army, bu
is one of the few generals whom the EnPe
ror did not enrich. Matilda had therefore
no fortune 10 Give her husband.
Napoleon De- is the grandson OF th'
noble Duchess De-. The Duchess ha
only her rank, an empty lille without fortune
The Duchess and the General, who had lonl
been friends, had promised each other TN
union of their children but they soon repent
ed of, While Matilda and Napoleon low
ed each other, the General and the Duchess
both uneasy as to the welfare Of their chill
d'rn, and looking somewhat TO their own in
teres,, performed together scene borrowed
from genleel comedy.
'lf my daughter said the General, mar
ries this poor devil Of Napoleon, the,
farewell to all chance Of luxury or pleas
ure ID
IL my grandson, said the Duchess, 'mar
ries maiden without dowry, how shall ",
be able 10 restore the dignity Of the nobl
house 7