Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-08-07

without some couse. Hide me somewhere for
mercy's sake.' -u 'Nl,- ss.sl 4di tl-
l do not know how it happened, bat my arm
was round her, and half carried her acr IS
the room to a large book close -
Can you stay here, asked hastily, Il will
leave the door ajar for air. as a. m
No, shut h-lock it-take away the key,
or shall not feel safe. There is plenty of air,
and she sprung into the recess l.s
For one moment her eyes met mine, and l
thought they beamed with deep, impassioned
love. The next, had locked the door upon
my treasure, thrown the papers she had brought
into drawer, and was apparently busy, pen
IN hand, when my friend entered He com
menced in roundabout wav, to question me
upon certain points of the law respecting mar
riage settlements, &c. and, after tedious
amount Of circumlocution, he gave me to un-
derstand that all this regarded desired trans
fer OF some property of his wife's into his own
hands. He had come, in fact, upon the same
errand as that generous creature He also had
copy of her relatives wills, and these was
compelled TO examine closely, for he was des-
perately petinacious, and would not be put off.
was angry at the very thought of what his
poor wife must then be suffering, pent up in
that narrow prison, and / felt that could
have kicked her husband out of doors for keep
ing her there. At last, he made move as if
IN | Star,ad nj
him out.
So,' said he, tying up his papers with pro-
voking deliberation, nothing but my wife s
death, you say, can put me in possession of
this money. | want it very much, but no one
will suspect me desiring her death for the sake
of having it little sooner
He laughed at his own poor jest, and made
a sort of hyena chorus to it, that sounded
strange and hystercal, even to my own cars
He went at last, but stopped again on the stairs,
and detained me there, talking, for full FIVE
minutes longer. l felt by sympathy all the
pangs OF suffocatiou. My throat seemed to be
swolen-my forehead bursting Great God
viii he never be gone, Will he stand here
talking about the weather and the generalites
OF the law, while his lovely wife, who came to
sacrifice her individual interests for his sake
dies terrible and lingering death He is gone
l rush back into my room. A step behind me
makes me turnround. 1t is my clerk-curses on
on him! ground my teeth in rage. could
have stabbed him-shot hm--beaten out his
brains-and hurled him headlong down stairs.
But any violence would have compromised
her. In few minutes my brain was clear
again.
Watson, cried, mr. r-- has Just left.
He is gone up Fleet street, l think, run after
him, and request him TO leave those papers
with me. Say to him would like to examine
them more at leisure. Run quickly, and You II
overtake him. --.
Watson disappeared | turned the key of
the outer door, and sprang towards the closet;
As unlocked it, | remembered the look she
had given me as shut it; and wondered,
with a beating heart whether the same express
sion would greet my enraptured gaze when
opened it. There she stood with her eyes
calmly fixed on mine.
You are safe, dearest murmured.
She did not rebuke me for calling her so -
and emboldened by her silence, / took her
hand TO lead her from her narrow prison
She moved forward, and fell into nv arms a
corpse!
| cannot well recall what followed / only
know that | tried every means for her restora-
! ton; but alas without success. Of one
thing was firmly convinced-she had not died
from sufocation. had once seen the body Of
man who was killed by the falling in of the
mouth of pit. recollected his purple and
swollen face, and his lax, warm limbs. She
was pale, rigid, cold The tumult of her own
emotion must have killed her the moment the
door was closed upon her. By some means
kept the secret from Watson and every one
else. All that night was trying to recover
her. Then formed the project of shutting
her up in the closet-locking up the chambers,
and going abroad for twenty years. But that
idea was rejected as quickly as formed for it
would be hardly possible that the presence of
dead body in the house should not be dscov-
cred before that time Next, | thought of set
ting fire to the place, burning all my books and
papers, making funeral pile of them; and
thus running myself to save the secret But
that thought, too. was dismissed, II might
cause loss Of life and property to many Innocent
people, and would be bungling proceeding
after all ; as, if the fire was discovered early,
policemen, firemen, mob, all would break in d,
and finding her there, all would be lost-for it
was more to save her reputation than my life,
that was striving and plotting.
In the meantime, l was prey to the most
painful anxiety. was sure that by that time
she must have been missed and sought for
Perhaps she had been seen to enter nv cham
bers. Every step that heard, feared might
be that of policeman. In the morning
stranger called on business. This, of course.
was nothing extraordinary but, when he had
gone, felt that he had come as spy. l
thrust few clothes into carpet bag, intend
ing to escape TO France. caught up bunch
OF matches, to set the place on fire. grasped
a-razor, and looked eagerly on its keen edge as
the surest and swiftest way of ending my mis-
cry. But then, all these would leave her to
the Jests OF the world, and my own sufferings
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