The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-08-20
have brother, older than yoursolf-and

A hoirld convulsion struck the body
Of Clara, sudden and powerful as a lhun-
derbolt With a shrek of anguish, she
fcl! senseless on the floor.
The unhappy maiden was carried to
her chamber, where she lay apparently
ileless, for many hours, with none to
watch at her side but the gentle Onina.
This eventhappened at morning. The
sun slowly advanced, passed the zenith,
moved down the western heaven, van,
ishcd amid the brilliant escort Of eve-
ming Twilight arose and entered the
black halls Of night and darkness stalk
ed sullenly abroad. Slowly moved the
sadly solemn hoirs, and at last the mid
night moon, still and gentle, looked in
upon The cheek of the lnsensible maiden
aud called her spirit into life. The same
soft aud serene glance fell upon the
couch whereou the sick had been laid .
but there no g!eam of intelligence well
coined it, for she was dead.
Oh, good Onina" exclaimed Clara,
on awaking, ''lt is You that have watch
ed over me through all this horrible
dream | seemed to be dead then to
be cropping about in a world where there
was no sun. no breeze, no life. ! could
find no spot on which to rest, no human
being to look on for sympathy. 1t was
all dark, dcsolate desert. Did she say
so? Did you not hear her , Does she
vet live Let me ask her once more.
II cannot bet cannot be. But it was
ult dream will rise now aud ques-
lion my mother. She never deceived
me. She will not let me be deceived.
Help me, Oniua, to her chamber
dearest Clara" said the Indian girl,
81 pray you be quiet. Lie down and
compose your thoughts to sleep. You
must not now see your mother Lie
calmly until the morning
Till morningl Till she is dead
Till am madl No, Twill see her now
She must not die before | know it all
Then my Onina will no longer he'll me
But ! can arise have strength still
| will know if she said it. | will know
who told me lie. iSha will not deceive
me. She calls me. She would put hel
arm about my neck and whisper it all il
my ear. will 90. "
She made an effort to rise, but her
strength was gone. and she sunk back
again on her pillow, silent, insenslbe.
Onina turned pale as the unhappy CIR
went on with her wild rawlings; for t,
the Indian there is no object Of terrific
awe like the victim Of madness. Then
; she burst into tears, as she thought on
what Clara had all along hl.herto beer
TO her~-how kind, how wise, how cheer
ful. Aud she thought, too, of The dark
forcbodng which she had confessed OF
the departure f Edward-and of the
two who ha yA ed to be one, both liv-
ing and dyi.g-unul her heart was full
of the bitterness OF sorrow.
Clara was not near when the buria
5 words were said over the grave of Mrs
, Woodyille She cared for none of these
t things. For two days she had lain, now
listless, now apparently lileless, now
talking the words Of the heart-broker
maniac. On the third morning, her ap
, pearance had much more OF calmnes,
; and sanity, and Onina, for the first time
impaired to her the fact OF her foster
I mothers death. She betrayed no emo
r ton, but she understood the words in al
: their meaning.
, The influence Of spirit on spirit
$ through tones aud looks has been at al
times regarded as an nnialhomable mys
terry. Only less than supernatural arC
f unnumbered works of this wonderful a.
{ gency within the experience OF every
, one that read these wors s. You, gentle
reader, are perhaps smiling iucredIous-
r y while you are told of miracles per,
. formed by look. You, then, have yel
e kafnra Won all tho dark and oil tho lar hi
f experiences of LOVE. More certain,
/ more pleasing, perchance mure fatal,
than the power of the serpent, by which
he CASTS an irresistible spell on the un.
f suspectlng brd-a glance or tender
, tone, shall transform all things for your
: spir,t-shall make the world forever af.
ter another world to yOui
Ia the minislrations of Onna, there
was nothing supernatural. Nature need.
no foreign power. She herself is ON,
nipotent. But there was an ineXplcable
uluence in every motion aud in every
word of the fair minislrant, and her
presence had, before many days, restored
Clara to a state of calmness and apparent
consciou ness. Yet it was long before
Onina came fully to understand the ma
ture of the sober tranquility that "a by
degrees settled over the mind of the suf.
, ferer, and that revealed itself in her