The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-03-29

sleep
At about twelve O'Clock, feeling very ner-
Yous ! determined 10 call my cousin Emily,
who slept you will remenlher, in the next
room, which communicated With mine ny q
seuond d01r. by this private entrance found
my way into her chamber and without din 1
Guilty aperEuaied her 10 return 10 my room
and sleep with me- We arcordl gly lay down /
togaiher,she undrossed, and with my clothes
on ior ! was gYery moment walking up and
down the rnom, aud fslt too nervous aud mis-i
cradle % think Of resi- or comfort Emily vas
aoon fast asleep, and / lay awake, feryently
longng for the FIRST pale CLEAN Of morning,
and reckoning oysry stroke Of the old clock
With an impaueRoe which made every hour
appear Ike dN,
ftmuhi bave been about one o'c'ock when u
thosrht h-ar, -l,l,, r'''-', - ,l's, partition
door between EmilyA room aud mine, a. u
caused by turning the keE in the lock. II
held my breath, aud the same sound was re-
peated At the second door Of my room, that
which opened upon the lobby the sound WIS
here distinctly caused by the revolution Of
the bolt In the lock, aud Il WAS followed by.
slight pressure upon the door iiselfna IL 10 A.
certain the security OF tho lock, The person,
whuuvur n might rr WV t,---l,,l.ls -ss.ilaAGd-
ior ] heard the old boards OF the lobby crrak
and strain, a. u under the weight OF aomo-
body moving cautiously over them, My sense
OF hearing became unnAturally, almost pain
fully acute fsupposo the imagination added
diHtinotness tO sounds Vague in themselves, ]
thought that l could actually hear the breath.
ing OF tho person who was slowly returning
along the lobby.
AZ the head Of tho staircase there appear.
cd 20 occur pause and ! could distinctly
hear two or three sentences hastily whisper
cd the steps then descended the stairs with
apparently less caution, ] ventured 10 walk
quickly and lightly 10 the lobby door aud A.
tempted 20 open II IL was indeed fast lock ed
upon the outside hs was also the other, ] now
felt that tho dreadful hour had come but one
desperate eSpcdient remaincd-it was 10 ~
waken Emily, and by our united strength 10
attempt 20 force the partition door, which was
slighter than the other anil through this 10
pass to the lower part Of the house, whence
Il might be possible 10 escape 10 the grounds,
aud 30 To- the village. ! returned 10 the he'd.
side, and shook Emily. but in vain nothing
that could do availcd % produce from her
moro than a few incoherent words; il was n
death-liko sleep. She had certainly drunk
Of some narcotic, ~, probably, had also, IN
spite OF all the caution with which had eN-
1mincd evury thing prescnted to us 70 cHt or
drink, | now Attempted with A. little noise
other, but all in vain. ! believe no strength
could have effected my object for both doors
opened inwardS ! therefore collected what.
ever movabes could carry thiihcr, and pill
cd them against the doors, 70 as 10 assist mo
in whatever attempts should make 20 resist
the entrance oC those without Tthan return
ed 70 the bed and ondoayored again hut fruit.
icssly,to awaken my cousin, II was not sleep,
Il was torpor, lethArgy death knclt down
aud prayed with an agony Of earnestncss; and
then seating myselfnpon the bed, ] awaited
my fate with kind ofhorrible tranquility.
! heard u faint elenkiRe soahd from the
narrow court have already mentioned, hs II
caused by the scraping OF some iron instru-
ncnt against stones or rubbish. at first de-
iicrmned not 10 disturb the camncss which !
NOW cxPgFigHrpyt nv -JIrriussiy 1vat-hir.ur-tA-
proceedings ofthose who sought my life but
rs the sounds continued, tho horrible curiosi-
Try wiTtrt trit uvrrr1rrr every other crrotion
aud determined, at all hazards, 10 crafty H.
!, therefore, crawlcd upon my knees 10 the
window, 10 as 10 let the smallest possible por-
tion OF my head appear above the sill.
The moon was shining with an uncertain
radiance upon the antique grey buildinps,Rnd
Oblqucly upon the narrow court beneath I;
one sidc Of II was therefore clearly illumiuat-
pd, while the other was lost in obscurity, the
shnrr outlines Of the old gables, with their
noddi',g clusters OF fTy,i being at FIRST alone
visil le. Whoever or whatever had occnson-
cd the noise which had excited my curiosity,
was concealed under the shadow Of the dark
side Of the quadrangle. placed my hand o.
vcr my eyes TO shade them from the moon
| light,which was 50 bright as to be almost daz-
zlihg, aud, pcering into the darkness, first
dimly. but afterwards gradually, almost with
full distinctncss bchcld the form of man
engaged in digging what appeared TO be a
rude hole close TO the wall. Some implements,
probably shovel and a pickaxo, lay beside
him, aud to these hc every now and then APP
piled himself rs the nature of the ground re-
quired. He pursued his task rapidly, and with
as little noise as possible. iiSo thought /,
as shOveliul after sboyeliul the dislodgcd rub
bish mounted into hSap, rTticy are digging
the grave in which, before two hours pass,
must lie a cold, n,angled corpse. ann theirs
II cnnnot escape" | felt as IL my reason
was leaving me. started to my feet, and in
mere despair applied myself again TO each
of the two doors alternately | strained eve.
" nerve and Sinew, but might as we'll have
attempted with my single strength, 10 force
abe building itself from its foundations. /
threw myself upon the ground, and clasped
my hands over my eyes as lf to shut out the
horrible images which crowded upon me.
The paroxysm passed away. prayed once
more with the bitter agonized frvor OF one
WHO feels that tho hour of death is. present
and inevitable. When l arose. went once
more to the window and looked out Just in
time to see shadowy figure glide along the
wall. The task was finished, The catastro-
phe Of the tragedy must soon be accomplished
determined now to defend my life 10 the
last; and thatI might be able 10 do so with
some effect, | searched the room for some
thing that might serve as weapon; but either
through accident or else in anticipation Of
such possibility, everything which might
have been made available for such purpose
had been removed. -,
must then die tamely and without
an effort to defend myself A thought sud-
denly struck me; might il not bo possible to
escape through the door, which the assassin
must open in order TO enter the room re-
solved to make the attempt felt assured
that the door through which ingress to the
room would be effected was that which open
ed upon the lobby. 1t was the more direct
A. =. a -