The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1853-12-08


the highest excitement, or else trying t,
out walk his companions, the owner of th'
carriage, Count L.
He was bare headed, his waistcoat wa:
unbuttoned, and one side of his coat tor
clear off from the lapel to the waist. His
face-but no-Fuseli might have painted
it-words cannot describe it; the deadly
hue, the white lips, the staring eyes, the
horrid distortion of the whole features!
"Che sia? che sia?" l exclaimed eager.
ly, as we reached the party; but they al
dashed past us, while the whole of oul
train fell into theirs; and if my companion
had not laid violent hands on one urchin
and prevented his secession, we should
have been left standing on the hillside by
ourselves. After straining our eyes after
them for some minutes, guessing and won
dering, and perplexing ourselves as to
what had happened and where the lady
could be, we resolved to hasten forward
with all the speed we could, in the hope Of
having our curiosity satisfied, and of per-
haps meeting the Countess at the farm
house, or cottage, which we understood
was to be found at the top of the noun
tain
When we got in sight of this dwelling,
our little guide ran forward; and we pres
emily saw him talking to a woman who
was standing in the door, and who ulti-
mately appeared to be the only living soul
left upon the hill. The woman gesticula-
ted, the boy held up his hands, and I once
more called out: 'Che sia? Dow e la don
na?" Where is the lady,)
mortal" (Dead!) was the reply.
"Dead!" we reiterated in amazement.
"Deadp' repeated the woman; "mur-
dered- d-drowned-gone over the falls-by
this time you would not find remnant of
her as big as my hand-she must be dash
ed into a thousand pieces amongst the
rocks. When the gentleman ascended
the hill,' she continued, in answer to our
questions, che drove the children back,
and desired them not to follow him; and
when they reached this place, he threw
money to those who wanted to conduct
him, saying he knew the falls as well as
they did, and needed no guide. Most of
them returned; but two, either from curl
osity, or in the hope of getting more sous,
followed at little distance, hiding them
selves amongst the trees that border the
river. They had not been out of sight
above quarter of an hour, when the
children came running back, all aghast and
out of breath, to say that the gentleman
had conducted the lady toa spot very near
where the river falls over the precipic,
and that there they saw him stoop down
and look into the water. He then ap-
peared to invite the lady to do the same,
and seemed to be showing her something
in the stream. The children averred that
she appeared unwilling. and that he rath-
er forced her to comply; be that as it may,
however, no sooner did she stoop, than,
going behind her, he gave her sudden
thrust, and pushed her into the water
She snatched at his breast as she fell,
but he tore himself from her grasp, leav-
ing one side of his coat in her hand; and
in another instant, she was over the edge
of the precipice, whirling in the torrent,
tossing among the rocks; one piercing
scream alone was heard to testify that she
was conscious of her fearful fate. Ere
the children had well finished their tale the
woman added, ''the gentleman had him
self appeared in the state we saw him.
Whether he was so overcome by re-
morse as to be unable to attempt giving
the color he had intended to the transac-
ton, or whether he saw by the demeanor
of the people that it would be uselss, re-
mains uncertain; but whatever his motive
might be, he merely glanced at them as
he passed, clasped his hands as if in great
agony, and then hurried down the noun
tain at the peace we met him, followed by
all the inhabitants There, then, was my
romance, even to the dire catastrophe,
completed already
1t may be imagined with what strange
and awe-struck feelings we proceeded to
view the falls. The river that flows across
the top of the hill is called the Velim.-
On each side there are trees-I think the
willow and the ash-which droop over its
margin and cast deep shade on the wa
ter. We walked along the bank till we ap-
preached the torrent, and within few
yards of the precipice we thought we
could discover the spot where the catas-
trophe had happened. The soil on the
edge of the bank had evidently been
newly disturbed; the grass, too, was i'm
pressed and trodden-we concluded-by
the Counts feet in the moment of the
struggle.
There was something white on the
ground; we picked it up; it was a little
scollop of very fine blond-amorsel of the
veil T had admiredl We were dumb with