Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1855-02-01

another meeting to inquire closely into the
nature of Roderick's disease, and the circuIn-
stances that had reduced him to SO lamentablei
condition. He succeeded in obtaining the
necessary information from an eminent medi-
cal gentleman
Shortly after Elliston's separation from his
wife-now nearly four years ago-his associ-
ates had observed singular gloom spreading
over his daily life, like those chill, grey mists
| that sometimes steal away the sunshine from
summers morning The symptoms caused
them endless perplexity. They knew not
whether i'll health were robbing his spirits OF
elasticity ;; or whether canker OF the. mind
was, gradually eating, as such cankers do,
from his moral system into the physical frame,
which is but the shadow of the former. They
looked for the root of this trouble in bis shat.
tered schemes Of domestic bliss wi fully shat
tered by himself-but could not be satisfied
of its existence there. Some thought that
their once brilliant friend was In an incipient
stage ofinsanity, of which his passionate inn
pulses had perhaps been the forerunners 9TH
ers prognostIcated a general blight and grad
ual decline. From Roderick's own lips they
could learn nothing. More than once, it is
true, he had been heard to say, clutching his
hands convulsively upon his breast 1t
gnaws met 1t gnaws mel" but, by differ
ent auditors, great diversity of explanation
was assigned to this ominous expression--
What could it be that gnawed the breast of.
Roderick Elliston? Was it sorrow Was
it merely the tooth of physical disease Z? Or,
in his reckless course, often verging upon prof
lgacy, if not plunging into its depths, had he
been guilty of some deed, which made his bo-
som a prey to the deadlier fangs of remorse
There was plausible ground for each of these
conjectures; but it must not be concealed that
more than one elderly gentleman, the victim
of good cheer and slothful habits, lnagesteri-
ally pronounced the secret of the whole mat
ter to be dyspepsia!
Meanwhile, Roderick seemed aware how
generally he had become the subject of curl
osity and conjecture, and, with a morbid re-
rugnance to such notice, or any notice what
ever, estranged himself from all companion
ship Not merely the eye of man was hor-
to aim !; not merely the light of a friends
countenanee, but even the blessed sunshine,
likewise which, in its universal benifcence,
typiies the radiance of the Creators face, ex-.
pressing his love for all the creatures of his
hand. The dusky twilight was now too trans
parent for Roderick Elliston; the blackest
midnight was his chosen hour to steal abroad,
and If ever he were seen, it was when the
watchinaii's lantern cleaned upon his figure,
gliding along the street with his hands clutch
ed upon his bosom, still muttering = 1t gnaws
me! 1t gnaws me !" What could it be that
gnawed him? sl
After time, il became known that Elliston
was IN the habit Of resorting to all the noted
qGacks that infested the city, or whom money
would tempt to journey thither from dis
tance. BY one of these persons, in the ex-
ultation of supposed cure it was proclaimed
far and wide, by dint of hand bills and PAM
phlets on little dingy paper, that distinguish
ed gentleman, Roderick Elliston, Esq, had
been relieved of SNAKE in his stomach! So
here was the monstrous secret elected from its
lurking place into public view, in all its hor-
rible deformity. The mystery was out but
not 50 the bosom serpent. He, if it were any,
thing but delusion, still lay coiled in his liv-
ing den. The euipyric's cure had been
sham, the effect, it was supposed, of some stu
pefying drug, which more nearly caused the
death of the patient than of the odious reptile
that possessed him. When Roderick Elliston
legained entire sensibility, it was to find his
misfortune the town talk-the more than nine
days wonder and horror-while. at his bosom,
he felt the sickening motion of thing alive,
and the gnawing of that restless fang which
and fendish spite
He summoned the old black servant, -who
had been bred up in his fathers house. and
was middle aged man while Roderick lay in
his cradle e =
:. Scipiow he began, and then paused with
his arms folded over his heart. - What do
people say of nae, Seipio p
9 Sir my poor master that you had SER
penti In your BOSOM" answered the servant,
with hesitation.
{. And what else p asked Roderick, with a
ghastly look at the man.
Nothing else, dear master" replied Sci
pio. 8. only that the doctor gave you a pow
der, and the snake leapt out upon the floor
g No, mol" muttered Roderick to hImself
as he shook his head. and pressed his hands
with a more cenvulsive force upon his breast,
Il feel him still. It gnaws me! 1t gnaws
me p
From this time, the miserable sufferer cea-
sed TO shun the world, but rather solicited and
forced himself upon the notice of acquaintan-
ces and strangers. 1t was partly the result
of desperation, on finding that the cavern of
his own bosom hadsnot been deep and dark
enough to hide the secret, even while it was
50 secure fortress for the loathsome fend
that had crept into it. But still more, this
craving for notoriety had symptom of the
intense morbidness which now peryaded his
nature. All persons chronieally diseased are
egotists, whether the disease be Of the mind
or body whether sin, sorrow, or merely the
more tolerable calamity of some endless pain,
or mischief among the cords of mortal life
Such individuals are made acutely conscious
of self, by the torture in which it dwells
Self, therefere, grows to be SO prominent an
object with them, that they cannot but present