The Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1850-1852, 1851-05-05

ton Of the human ,oicc. The laugh.
Of ono asleep, even if it be q little
oalld--,hc maiman's laush--the Wild
screaming laugh Of born idiot are
sounds that We sometimes trcmble 10
hear, and would always willingly for
get. Poets have imagined no utter
ance Of ficnds or hobSoblins so fear
fully appropriate as a laugh. And
even the ob,use lime-burner felt his
nerves shake as this strange man
looked inward at his own heart, and
burst into laughter that rolled away
into the night. and was indis,inctly
reverberated among the hills.
Joe, said lac 10 his little son,
'scamper down to the tavern in the
I village, aud tell the jolly fellows there
tina. Ethan Brand has come back,
and that he has found the Unpardctt
able Sin I
! The boy dnr,ed away ou his GRAND,
TO which Ethan Brand made no ohjec.
ton, nor seemed hardly TO notice it,
He sat on log Of ood, looking stead
fasfly ut the iron door of the kiln
When the child was out Of sight. and
his swift and light footsteps ceased to be
heard ,reading first on the fallen leaves
and then on the rocky mountain path,
the lime-burner began to regret his de.
parlure. lie felt that the little fellows
presence had been barrier between
his guest and himself, and that he must
now deal heart 10 heart, with a man,
who, on his own confession, had COM
mitted the one only crime for which
Heaven could afford no mercy. Thar
crime in its indistinct blackness, SEEM
cd to oversbadow him. The lime-burn.
er's own sins rose up within him, and
made his memory ri0ious with throng
Of evil shapes that asserted their kin.
dred with the Master Sin, whatever it
. might be, which il was in the scope OF
mans corrupted nature to conceive and
cherish. They were all of one family;
they went TO and fro between his breast
and Ethan Brands, and carried dark
greetings from one to the other.
Then Bartam remembered the sto.
,ies which had grown traditionary in
reference to this strange man, who had
come upon him like shadow Of the
night, and was making himself at home
r in his old place, after SO long absence
that the dead people, dead and buried
, for years, would have had more right to
| be u, home, in any familiar spot than he
n Ethan Brand. il is said, had converset
/ with Satan himself in the lprid blaze o
- this very kiln. The legend had beer
: matter Of mirth heretofore, but looke'
n grizzly now. According to this tale, be
fore Ethan Brand departed on hi
e search ,he had been accustomed TO evok
s. fiend from the no, furnace of the lin
: kiln, night after night, in order to cor
2. fer with him about the Unpardonab!
4 Sin; the man and the Fiend each labor
h ing to frame the image Of some mode {
q guilt. which could neither be atoncd 70
q nor forgiven, And, with the first CLEAR
! Of light upon the mountain-top, the fen
" crcpt in at the iron door, there to abid
|, the intestest clements Of fire, until ayai
Il summoned forth 10 share in the drca'
II full task Of extending mans pos5ibl
guilt beyond the scope of Heavens els
!, infinite mercy.
y While the lime.burncr was s.rugglin
" with the horror Of these thoughts, Etha
10 Brand rose from the log and flung ope
the door ofthe kiln. The action wa
d in such accordance with the idea
II BaItram's mind. that he almost expcc
m ed to see the Evil one issue forth, re
hot from the raging furnace.
n. Hold, hold {" cried he. with trer
e, ulous attempt TO laugh, for he w
!. ashamed Of his fears, although The
- overmas,ered,him. Don't for mercy
- sake, bring out your devil now !"
" "Man ~ 'stcrnly replied Ethan Bran
e "what need have ] Of the devil? ha
" left him behind me on my track. 1t
u with such halfway sinners as you ,b
he busies himself. Fear not, bccau
n: open the door. l do not act by O
ad custom, and am going TO trim your fir
like lime-burner, as | was once"
an lie stirred the vast Goals, thrust
or more wood and bent forward TO ga
er into the hollow prison.house Of the Il,
it regardless Of the fierce glow that re
,ot dcnec upon his face. The lime-burn
VI sat watching him, aud half suspect,
an his stranger guest ofa purpose, II not
"A evoke a fiend, at leas, 10 plunge bod
Nv into the flames, and thus vanish irc
.! the sight Of man. Ethan Brand, no
90 ever, drew quietly back, and closed {
''e door of the kiln.
IL have looked said he. into ms
m human heart that Was seven lin
hotter with sinful passions than yonC
ro- furnace is with fire. But / found l
it there what sought. No. the unp
donahie SIM"
n, what is the objectionable p ask
tn. lime burner; and then he shra
further from his companion, trembli
a.. lest his question should be answered.
MS 1T is . Sin that grew within my o
an breast" replied Ethan Brand, siand
'ite erect, with = pride that dis;inguisbes
the enthusiasts Of his stamp. "A sin d
all grew nowhere else The sin Of an
nto ,ellec, that triumphed over the sense
hat brotherhood with man, and reverel
l. for God. and sacrificed everything