The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1856-11-19

ssTalking of absent friends said he, and sud
denly fixing his eyes upon her, "you have not
spoken to me of Don Alvar de Soils. Are all
hopes of hearing from him relinquished? He
was a braggart and bertine, and boasted no
woman ever resisted his seductions, that no
husband ever suspected the injury be was pre-
pairing for him.
Then graspipg lis wife by the hand, he led
her up to a door at the farther end of the room,
and throwing it wide open, revealed to herviev
skeleton. suspended within, holding in one OF
his bony hands one of her embroidered gloves.
| "Behold,' said be, pointing to the ghastly
spectacle, 'the gallant and beautiful Don Al
var de Soils, the object of your guilty love-
contemplate him well, if the sight can render
your moments happier, for you are about to die
too-the wine have giveh you was polsonedf
When the last dreadful sentence and its
frightful illustration burst upon her affrlyhted
senses she became paraised with excess OF
emotion, the scream that had risen to her throat,
died there in strangng murmurs, and sinking
back, she fell, as one dead, upon the arms of
| Vesale. H..
| She was not dead, however; he had not poi
soned her; that crime he had hesitated to com
NIT, vet he was none the less her murderer
CONFUSION followed convulsion, and at last she
died and, in that solemn moment, herhusband,
who never quilted her, beheld one of those phe-
nomena that sometimes attend the dying
Awakening from a torpid slumber, conscious
ness and memory returned at once, and with
them a calmness and courage she had never
possessed in the flush of life. Is
''Andre. said she, fixing her eyes on her hus-
band, 81 am dying by your hand, yet l am in
nocent; l. never wronged you in word or deed
Don Alvar pursued me with his lovea and threats
but | repulsed him. | never loved but you
feared and honored you as much as loved you
but dared not tell you of his pursuit. Oh
Andre, believe my words-the dying deal no
in falsehoods! Should be thus calm were
guilty."
Vesale, sinking upon his knee solemnly pro
tested his faith in the innocence of his wife, anc
with choking sobs abjured her to believe tina
he only feigned to give her. poison, that he
could not nerve his hand to take away her life
but the terror of death, not death itself wa:
upon her! and, while yet he spoke, Isabel mur
mured- .-..
''Thanks be to heaven for this!' and draw
ing his hand towards her, laid it upon he
heart, and as she did so, it ceased to beat.
: BorroM OF THE ATLANr1c-The following
account, written by an officer Of the U. State
steamer Arctic, in relation to the soundings fo
the Atlantic telegraph, addressed TO the edito
of the illustrated London News, will be reat
with interest:
mot single rock has been met WITH not
particle of gravel or sand has been brought up
but it appears as if nature had provided a bee
soft as IL snow bank, to use Maury's words
for the express purpose Of receiving telegraph
cable"
, "Lcuenant Bergman says that he is salts
fed that the lead, with the sounding appara
tus has frequently buried itself ten or tftee
; feet deep in this soft material, and he doubt
not that the cable will likewise sink and imbe
itself in similar manner. The greatest dept
attained has been two thousand and sevent
fathoms, (about two and third miles:) br
perhaps the most remarkable and at the sam
! time, the most satisfactory result is the perfcc
confirmation which these soundinys give of tn
t opinion of lieutenant Maury as to the cxstenc
of a great flat or level at the bottom of th
: ocean, unparalleled by any thing on the SUI
face of the earth, and which he proposes t
name "The Telegraph Plateau.' For NOR
than thirteen hundred miles the bottom of tn
Atlantic in the direct line of our track, is foun
by these soundings to present an almost unbro
5 ken level plain. Nature has thus placed n
obstacle in the way of this great undertaking
5 which may not by cautious perseverance, b
overcome; nay, rather (f we except the enor
NOUS length of the cable which will be requir
: ed) it would seem that the line to be foIlowe
by the Atlantic cable presents absolutely fewe
engineering difficulties than the shorter rout
(thouyh more complex, from the nature of th
: bottom) on which the Mediterranean cabl
must be laid
? The steamer Arctic, arrived at New York
has sounded the Atlantic all the way across
: finding the greatest depth 2,07O fathoms. NOR
S than two miles.) 1t was not accomplishe
without difficulties, as many Of the instrument
/ used were new inventions. The bed Of tn
! ocean in the section traversed by the Arctic
t plateau, as already announced by captai
Bergman, who had twice before sounded acros
the Atlantic.
The bottom in the deepest part is a very fin
mud, of a mouse grey color, SO soft that tn
. sounding instruments frequently sank severe
) feet into the mud. They brought up spec
: mems Of the bottom at every sounding, in quill
e which were attached to the end of the SOUND
a inc instrument Toward the shore on each sid
this mud changrs into a fine green ooze. N
other substances were met with-no rock, nc
any thing that might prove fatal to te]egrap
wire There seems to be now nothing to hir
: derthe great work, to unite Europe and Ame1
ica by means of a telegraph wire-an unde
n taking SO grand that few thought ii posslh
S The whole distance across was found to be on'
= 1,649 sea miles, from St. John, N. B. to Waller
i tia harbor, Ireland. The greatest depth w
$ found nearly in the centre between the tw
l places The profile of the Atlantic bed on tn
S route is of by far easier grade than many OF OF
n railroad proflcs.
t The Inauguration of the Franklin statue
Boston, has been the occasion for reviving q
e incident connected with the life of the phi!os
If pher. His only son William, was governor
e New Jersey at the time of the declaration
d independence, and did what he could to pr
e vent the legislative assembly of New Jerse
u from sanctioning the proceedings of the gener
on,,aes of Phi1adelphia These efforts, hoy