Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1846-05-23
From tbe B9g'1a Hiaeeiia8g.
CATOCHt Is.
4 1uaibfd0e saErcu.

II wna o brcafhIe8s night IN juno. bfy
windows were Nil open, aad get Ghe fame
Of NY candle aearaeiy ~ftetnrri. Ind
become deeply Interested IN t5o pages Of
d new book, and waa heeile88 Of the Iapse
Of time, Or tho cireunstanceB aL9and ma,
nullI II moth FILTERED into the Earfa, aud
tbe ctastIjna Of ia Ginny wings attracted
my attention. Upon aianeiDa 1T my watch,
which bay beside f1a on the table, / found
70 my a~1rprian that It was aIreadt afer
midnight. ! determined t1cyeip5l 10 read
NJ more, and shutting my book, walked
across the room 10 draw the curtain, ~
tnadipg Immediately TO 60 to bed; but the
moonlight Bhone SD pleasantly II Mt the
window, that | waa fyFaed to et down md
lean upon the sin, md gaze out upon the
scfHn. There were II few thin, wtpifiah
clouds hanging about the horizon, Ike the
distant wings Of an enormous spirit, but
0ihcraiaa the sky was perfectly clondlcss.
Above, the moon Was shining peacefully,
mad below, tho world Of green Iay dream.
ing in itg misty STROUD, half o1acuroH, aava
where tie curYing river, gla0cing in the
moonlight, shonc like y Furnished belt #
stool, There is n strange G]sci9alion il
siding ii TIE tao3nji9hf-a0d fr almost m
hour ! SAT leaning on into the mir. All
was silent, gave The mgnotououa maalcll
glrglc Of frogs IL the pond, aud Mt intervals
the r1stling Of green leaves, as a trer1i-
ious breath Of wind sweIled gently, md
then died away, or the prolonged bark Of
some faroG dog. | had Gaiien into q vague
r~cycrie, when / heard the bell strike the
hour of one. | arose and went to bod
Bat no sooner had | left the window, than
| felt a sharp pain shoot through my head,
which, after recurring at intervals, through
the next half hour, tinalIY settled into D
raging headache. My brain throbbcd
violently, and seemed loose in ny head,
so that every motion added to the pain.
! lay thus tossing, restless and siecpIcas
for several hours and finally fell asleep.
/ dreamed | was lying beside a water
fall half asleep. The water rushed hiss
ing down beside me As If an ocean were
looscd, and hurried, boiling Gercely, down
a rocky decIivity. The air was drizzled
with spray, which fell over me ike hot
sparks, and the trees abovc me, seen
through it, seemed, at times, human sEeI-
etons, which bent their long bony arms
down to my face, and then slowly rising,
upIiied themselves into the air, and became
natural trees again. A thousand circles
.intertangling and i~nterlacing, dilatcd and
contracted necessarily, then slowly the
motion decreased, and they kept creeping
around more and more gently, until they
swan into a broad sea of smooth, CLASSY
water, and fading out Of my sight, LEFT the
air above all calm and clear. Soon a
small eye seemed looking placidly At me,
that grew larger and larger until TITLED
the wide ring of the horizon: then it chan
ged into 4 face which looked close into ms
eyes; gradually the features became distor-
ted into a hideous mask, and grinned, and
then a thousand similar faces crowded one
another, until the air seemed full Of
them, they were huddled together, and tos-
sed about without body, like the waves Of
the ocean. Now I suddenly seemed to be
crawling on my hands and knees over Shiny
and slippery rocks, when We're covered
with damp, green sea weeds As / CROPPED
along, the sea-weed began to change into
snakes, until the rocks seemed alive with
the nauseous reptiles, that rubbed their ST.
my sides against my limbs and cheeks, ard
cast over me a dreadful chill of horror: all
flesh seemed to creep, and the very
scalp to move on my skull.
In the midst Of my horror and torment,
I heard the wild ring Of a bell. I sudden
" and convulsirely opened my eyes and
heard the bell ringing. For a moment,
| experienced the most grateful relief froms
the torment of this nightmare, which had