Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-01-10

"In this village lived three sisters. al
beautiful and accomplished. Their name
were Mary, Adelaide and Madeline.
am far enough past the age Of enthusi
asm, but never can I forget the beauty o
those three young girls. Mary was The
youngest. and a fairer haired. more laugh
ing damsel never danced upon the green
Adelaide, who was a few years older, wa:
dark haired and pensive; but of the three
Madeline possessed the most fire, spirit
cultivation and intellectually. Their ia
ther, man OF taste and education, and
somewhat above the vulgar prejuiices
permitted the visits Of the hero ot our sto
ry. Sill, he dill not encourage the affec'
tions he found springing up between Mary
and the poet. When, however, he found
that her affections were engaged, he did
not withhold his consent from their mar
riage, and the rccluse bore to his mansion
the young bride of his affections. Oh
sir, the house assumed a new appearance
within and without.
Crosses bloomed in the garden, jessa-
mines peeped through the lattices, and
the fields about it smiled with the effects
Of more faithful cultivation. Lights were
seen in the parlor in the evening, and ma
nv a time would the passer-by pause at
the garden gate to listen to strains of sweet
music, breathed by coral voices from the
cottage. If the mysterious student had
been neglected by the neie hbors, what
cared they? Their enduring mutual af-
fection made their home little Paradise.
But death came to Eden. Mary sudden
Iy fell sick, and after few hours illness,
died in the arms Of her husband and her
sister Madeline. This was the students
second heavy aflicton.
days and months rolled on, and the
solace of the bereaved was to sit with the
sister Of the deceased and talk of the lost
one. To Adelaide lie offered his widow
ed heart. The bridal was not one Of rev
elry and mirth, yet they lived happily,
and the rose again blossomed in the gar
den. But it seemed fatality pursued this
sin gular man. When the rose withered, ,
and the leaf fell. in the mellow autumn Of
the year, Adelaide ,-tUo. sckened and died
like her sister, in the arms Of her husband
and Madeline.
"Perhaps you will think it strange,
young man, that after all, the wreiched
surviN or stood again at The altar. Made
line l will remember her. She was q
beauty in the true sense Of the word-she
might have sat on a throne, and the most
loyal subject, the proudest peer, would
have sworn the blood in the veins descend
ed from hundred kings. She loved the
widowcr for his power and his fame, and
she welded him.
"They were married in that church. It
was a summer aflcrnoon-l rccOle6t-it
| well. During the ceremony, the bIackesL
cloud l ever saw, o'erspread the heavens,
and the moment the bride pronounced her
VOW, Il clap OF thunder shook the building
! ttc Is centre. ~ the fG.nalcs Shricked
but the bride herself made the response
with steady voice, and her eyes gs!5ten-
Ell with wild fire as she gazed upon hr1
bridegroom. When arrived at the house,
she sank upon the thrcshold-but this vas
the rimidity Of the maiden.
"When they were alone. he clasped
her hand, aud it was ns cold as ice
'Madeline,' said he, what means this ?
Your check is rs pale as your wedding
gown The bride uttered frantic shrek.
Ny wedding gown J. exclaimed she, no
no this is my sisters shroud The hour
Of confession has arrived. 1t is God that
impcls me to speak. 70 win you lost
my own soul, Yes! yes II am mur-
deress She smiled on me in the Joyous
affection OF her young heart-but gave
her the fatal drug Adelaide twined her
white arms around my neck. buI admin
istered the poison Take me to your
arms-I have lost my soul for you. ant!
mine yOu must be !
"And tn, n" continued he in hollow
voice, "at that moment came the thunder
and the gully woman fel! dead on the
Hoor.'
The countenance of the narrator ex-
pressed what he felt.
"And the bridegroom" asked I. "the
husband Of the destroyer and the victims
what became Of him ~
HE stands before yOu !'' was the thrill
ing answer.