Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-05-22
YORIzVuI1E, S. THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1856
Diohenbach, as soon as she observed my state

of nervous excitement, would insist upon
blisters and mustard -plasters, and perhaps
upon a little more phlebotomy. Hitherto 7
had had but one sister at time to deal with.
But if they formed triple alliance, and set
upon me in concert, was lost, without hope
of rescue. Fortunately neither of the elder
sisters made their appearance, and at last the
youngest, to my great relief, took up her
basket and departed. No sooner was she
gone than Frager, according to his custom,
tried to remove the disagreeable impression
she had made upon me. One got accustom-
ed in time, he said to her strange tastes, and
stranger pets, and when once she was mar
ried she would give up her researches in
natural history, and settle down into an ex-
cellent wife. was quite sick of the simple
old creatures infatuation and apologies and
begged to be allowed to go to bed.
"At last" said to myself, on finding
myself alone in my room, 81 shall have a
little repose after the heat and burthen of
the day, after all my dangers and adventures. Z"
So tired was I that Immediately undresscd,
blew out the lights, and sought my bed
Pulling back the clothes, I stepped in, and
much more hastily jumped out again. had
come upon some hard substance which moved
between the sheets. If l was not greatly
mistaken, it was live tortoise. Whilst |
deliberated whether should cry murder,
sleep on the sofa, or dress and leave the
house, something bit my great toe with such
violence that actually yelled with agony.
\ gigantic crawfsh clung to my foot kick
ed about in so desperate manner that | at
last shook the creature off, and I heard it go
with crack against the wall. fled to the
sofa A horrible thought assailcd me-
What if Frager, through absence of mind,
had ushercd me into Oken's museum and
menagerie. This appeared to me the more
probable that on all sides heard strange
sounds, as if numerous features were crawl
ing, trotting, singing and humming around
me. Something flew up to me with buzz
and bounce, and caught in my hair. l
cutched at it, and shuddercd as l found in
my grasp a beetle as big as sparrow. I
dashed it furiously from me, and had the sat-
isfaction of hearing it smash against some
hard substance Scarcely was I rid of the
beetle when I was bitten sharply in the calf
of the leg. 1 put down my hand, but the
creature had done his work and gone, leaving
severe smarting and irritation. Iknow not
whether it was he or one of his friends who
the next instant made an onslaught upon my
ankle. began to hunt about for the match
box, that mi ght at least see my enemies.
I sought in vain, and was quite unable to
I conjecture the nature of the monsters that,
during my search, pinched, bit, and stung,
and assailed me in every conceivable manner
Once or twice l trod with my bare foot on
hideous reptiles, whose cold Shiny touch made
me leap into the air. My capcrs would
doubtless have diverted any who saw them,
but to me it was no laughing matter. No
martyr of ancient times or victim of the
rehm.g .geri;rM ever suffered more than did
in that chamber of horrors. The monsters
that congregate on the bottom of the sea can
hardly surpass in variety the inmates of that
ROOM The darkness and my excited imagi-
nation further embellished them. Presently
T heard hiss. ga snake, by all that's hor-
rible !" said I to myself, sabout to coil round
and devour me-" And I set up such an in
fernal clamor, shouting and cursing, like
Ajax when wounded, that I must have been
audible half q mile round the house. To
add to the turmoil, in my eagerness to escape
from something which I heard coming after
me with sort of clappcring noise, [ upset
the table. Several large boxes which stood
upon it were opened by the fall, and i'm
mediately perceived great increase of ami
nation around me- | continued to storm
like lunatic 1t was all one to me wheth-
er anybody in the house slept or not. The
awful row I kept up at last reused the coun-
sellor, who made his appearance in his dres-
sing-gown, candle in hand. lie at once saw
the cause of the disturbance.
"Hang the girl !" he cried "she will soon
fill the whole house with her geological COL
lection"
put myself in mind of pictures I had
seen of Adam on the sixth day of the crea-
tion, surrounded by all manner of beasts and
creeping things. Fragcr led the way to an
other room, which us yet was not invaded by
Oken's vcrmin.
"You have nothing to fear here" said my
host and added, true to his system of ma
king the best Of everything, "you will sleep
all the better for your little misforunes."
"Heaven grant it !" sighed I, and thought
that I should have slept quite well enough
without them. After searching the whole
room, under the bed, in the drawers and clos
cts, and satisfying myself that no specimens
of natural history, either alive or dead, were
there, again got between the sheets-this
time without encountering a tortoise, but
not the less determined to fly Wiesenthal at
cock-crow. With this wholesome resolve |
stretched myself out and went to sleep, as
presume the tortoise did in the bed original
ly destined for me-
Scarce had Aurora, with her rosy fingers,
Tinged the hill-tops and bathed theplaini dew,
when was afoot and packing. Whilst thus
occupied, 7 reflected that, under all the cir
cumstances, French leave was decidedly the
best leave for me to take Otherwise, l
should have regular fight with Frager, who
would never let me depart. When halted