The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1854-06-08

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gratitude for her long, faithful and mer-
itorious services" But the concluding
words of the will l shall never forget;
they were from his own mouth, and made
me shudder as | wrote them There is
something fearful, dreadful-yes, devil
ish-in this deliberately recording, in
what purports to be your last written
wish, course upon your own offspring,
and felt, | wrote it, an involuntary
desire to tear the paper into fragments,
and to rush from the room, but the thous-
and dollars were like so many anchors,
SO staid and wrote:
81 leave to my daughter Dora all the
satisfaction she can obtain from my hear
ty curse. When rags whip about her in
her only home, the street, and dogs share
with her the refuse ofthe gutter, she may
regret she disobeyed him who once loved
her, but who dying cursed herl'
There was something like chuckle in
the direction of old Angeline as the dy-
ing wretch dictated these fearful words;
but as [ looked and saw the stern face
as rigid as marble, [ concluded l must
have been mistaken. l could not, how
ever, divest myself of certain feeling
that all was wrong. A rich old man &C
companied by an old house-keeper, and
dying in a strange city; her anxiety to
have the will so strong; the curse on his
daughter, and the large fee, all conspired
to make me feel that l was being instru-
mental in the accomplishment of some
villanous object. Again meditated the
destruction of the paper, and again my
fee and wants conquered. The will was
finished, and read it over aloud, the
old man groaning, and the old woman
looking an occasional assent; but when L
read the terrible curse, new actor ap-
peared on the scene;
"Oh tear it! tear it! Oh God you know
not what you do !"
The plaintive tones of the voice touched
my heart, even before my eyes beheld its
owner; but when saw her, heavens and
earth what an angel she was! The
language is yet undiscovered, Harry, that
is competent to give yeu description of
that face; the eyes dancing with excite
ment yet liquid with tears; the mouth
proud as Juno's yet compressed with
anguish But why do | attempt descrip-
ton? The most ajestic, yet the sweet
est countenance l ever beheld appealed
to me, and not in vain; for while the old
man, weak as he was jumped from his
bed screaming "Kill her kill her~ l
tore the will into fragments, and we both
fell to the floor, he dead and [ stunned
by a blow from the heavy candle-stick
welded by the old hag ADgeline.
When my consciousness returned, l
found myself in my own bed at my board
ing house, my host and hostess my sole
attendants. Ny mind was clear the mo-
m ent | looked about me, and | knew L
had been brought home and was now
confined from the effects of that blow. [
resolved to keep my own counsel, and to
ascertain what l could of the subsequent
proceedings of the night. Upon inquiry,
found that | had been brought home
by young gentleman in carriage, who
had left funds for the employment of a
physician, and had also left letter for
me. ! opened the letter as soon as [ was
alone, and found a fifty dollar bank-note,
with these words:
"You did last night deed worthy of
more gratitude than our present means
enable US to express. The property
which so nearly belonged to the Infamous
hag who struck you, will soon be ours
and you shall then hear from us. May
the same kindness which prompted you
to tear the paper, seal your lips hereafter
as to the painful scenes of last evening,
Gratefully yours,
Dora AND HER HUSBAND
Nv first act was to conceal the letter
beneath my pillow; my second, to call
my host and tender him the amount of
my board bill: to my astonishment he
told me that my companion paid it when
he left the letter. 1t seems | raved a
little about my inability to pay nay host
while [ was unconscious, and thus the
husband of Dora (for [ had no doubt it
was he who brought me honey had as
certained the fact and paid my bill. Ad-
ded to this, my wound was not severe e.
nough to need any surgery moro than
was offered by my landlady; so when |
had recovered, (Which was soon,) | had
only my office rent to pay, and then re-
sumed business with the larger part of
one hundred dollars in my treasury. |
made cautious inquiries about the
House as to the subsequent movements
of mysterious clients, but could only as
certain that the old couple arrived on that
evcntful night, the old man ordering a
pleasant room in which he could die;that
the young couple came by another con-
veyance, and had taken other rooms;that
the old mans body was Immediately box
edup & shipped fort north under charge
of his man servant; that the old woman
went off alone; and that finally the young
man paid the whole bill, and left also
with his wife, To do my worthy host
and his kind lady full justice, must say
that they never even hinted at the mat
ter and 7 Davar had a nuestlon to an