Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1849-04-04

!, raj woman turned 10 her chamber. and.
with ioy.we will not attempts to picture
paced up and down the room. Al lenotb'
she thought bersMishes were about 10 o, IL
fulfilled: her boy--Iler darling bow would
inherit the broad LANDS she saw from her
easement; and shel she paused and NUT.
tered fab! thereSMiill 50 vast difference
betwixt the mere widow Of sthe. proprietor
of w entworth Hall.an the mother Of that
ipersonage.' So: =:
+ IN a short time sha ealmed her trans.
Eportsaand, retugnip he bedside Of the
/ 1 new insef,sibss katched aaasefe sun-
til late at night, when she retired with up.
parent reluctance, leaving orders, howev-
err, to be called, should any change be per-
ceptible in the patient.
She had fallen into an uneasy sleep, in
which thousand wild dreams fitted thro'
her mind, and the clock had just struck the
second hour after her retirement, when q
maid servant knocked at her chamber-door,
and saying that her young master had sud-
denly awoke sane, and had conversed ra-
tionally with the nurse, departed
'He is going, then,' mutlered the unnat-
ural' woman in delirium of joy; sthey al
ways are so just before death;' and hastily
throwing on loose dress, she hurried to
the room Of the sufferer
The curtains were clos ID when she enter.
ed, and the nurse held up her finger whis-
pering-
'He has just fallen asleep. Praise to
God, the crisis is past, and the dear youth
will recover! His fever has left bim-bis
skin is no longer hot: he is free from de-
lirium.'
The words of the faithful old creature al
most took away Mrs. Wentworth's breath:
she felt herself turning pale, and her brain
swan around. Happily the room was i'm.
perfectly lighted, SO that the nurse could
not detect the changes in the countenance
of her mistress.
And as there anyfear Of rezapse?,
said Mrs. Wentworth, forcing herself to as.
sumo feelings outwardly, far different from
those raging in her bosom. is the dear
boy safe?'
i 'The chances are infinitely in his favor;
yet there is possibility of relapse. |
pray God no such evil may overtake Mas
ter Herbert
Her mistress nodded, and feeling that she
could not much longer maintain her com.
posure, she said she would return to he1
room for q nomcnt % procure her slippers
when she would aid her in watching by the
sick bed, as she was too orsrjoyedto sleep
What pen can paint her feeling When
she reached her chamber? Here were all
her light visions disspated. What would
become of herself after her husband g death?
) what, indeed, would that husband saw
when he returned and heard Herbert's yer.
sion of his brothers. and her conduct? What
would become of her darling son, subject,
perhaps, to his fathers displeasure, and,
at most, left with nothing but a younger
sons fortune, with which to support his ex.
pensive habits? She paused in the cenler
of her room. A thousand furies seemed
}, agitating her countenance. Pride, fear,
hate, all chased each other, by turns, thro'
her bosom. Suddenly her face assumed q
look of comparative calmness. She walk
ed to neighboring closet took from its
wall a small vial, and then, gazing mo-
: ment at her fnce in the glass, she placed
her slippers on her feet, land sought the room
of the invalid. Motioning to the nurse to
keep her seat, this faithful woman crossed
to the other side of the bed, and sat down
by the little table on which stood the medi.
cine for the sufferer. The cup already
contained the dose which was to be given
him at the expiration of the hour. She
!, looked at the watch-but few minutes re.
mained to the time She looked round the
/, room-no one was in it but the nurse, who
Was concealed by the curtains of the bed.
She hastily uncorked the vial, and, with q
) trembling hand, let fall few drops of the
liquid it contained into the cup. The vial
was then secreted, and, with face as ashy
as the dead, she heard the next instant the
clock strike the hour. The patient awoke
at the noise, and, almost on the instant, the
} nurse came around and took the cup in her
} hand. My pen trembles so can scarce
ly proceed; but must. Suffice it to say
the cup was drained, and the invalid, as il
exhausted, sunk back on his pillow. When
next the attendant drew aside the curtain,
:. she gazed on the face of the dead!
Let me escape from the terrible tragedy
The young heir was buried in lordly estate
) and no suspicion ever arose that he died
; otherwise than by sudden relapse. Bu
!. was Mrs. Wentworth happy? She saw hel
son the acknowledged heir of the estate
and for this she had lobored her whole life;
, but was she happy? | will answer in the
, words of Scripture, when speaking of the
wicked ed-sTerrors take hold of him as wa
tiers; tho tempest swalloweth them up ir
> tho night: For God shall cast upon him ane
} not spare ...-
Time passed. Even Mrs. Wentworth
began to find in the lapse of years, and ir
gazing on her son, now near eighteen
some alleviation for her tortured mind. Bu
t God, whose inscrutable providence had
t hitherto seemed to forget the unholy deco
we have Just narrated, was now preparing
for its author fearful retribution.
II was just five years from the day oi
Herbert's death, when the doating mothe,
} was standing in the door of her house, sur
rounded by party Of visitors of her own
age, awaiting for the approach of gay cav
: alcade of young people, coming up the av
, enue. The sky was gloomy and threat
!, ened storm, and the riders were evidently
returning in haste. But the tempest was
ouickn or thoo nyon their Aootoot staoJ- ~