Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-03-25

cupIed by bed, IN which lay an old and
evidently dying man. A servant was with
him, but he left upon motion from the
hand of my companion who approached
the bed and said
81 have an attorney, here, sir; shall he
proceed p
The old mans eyes heightened up, and,
after glaring on me for moment, he spoke:
="lf you can draw my viii, do it; quick,
now, for must save my breath. !"
| turned to the tabf shere found pa
per, pens, ipllkIs and. Jag necessary:
and by the light az. { rs sperm candles in
heavy silver candiessticks Twas soon busily
engaged at the will
| will not trouble you With the details,
nor, IN fact, do [ remember them but it
IS enough to say thai a large amount of
property, real and personal bonds, mort
cages, ETC., were left, in the words of the
will, to "my good and faithful housekeeper,
Angefne-, as a token of gratitude for
her long, faithful, and meritorious service"
But the concluding words of the will [
snail never forget; they were written from
MS own mouth and made me shudder as [
wrote them. There was something fearful
yes, devilish-in this deliberately re-
cordlng, IN what purports to be your last
written wish, curse upon your own off
spring. And [ felt, as [ wrote it, an in
voluntary desire to tear the paper into
fragments, and to rush from the room, but
the thousand dollars were like SO MANY
anchors, and staid and wrote:
Il leave to my daughter Dora all the
satisfaction she can obtain from my hearty
curse. When rags whip about her in her
only home the street, and dogs share with
her the refuse of the gutter, she may re-
gret that she disobeyed him who once
loved her, but who, dying cursed her,"
There was something like chuckle in
the direction of old Angeline as the diving
wretch dictated these fearful words; but
as looked and saw the stern face as rigid
as marble, concluded I must have been
mistaken. could not, however, divest
myself OF certain feeling that all was
wrong A rich old man, accompanied by
an old housekeeper, and dying in strange
city, her anxiety to have the will SO strong:
the curse on his daughter; and the large
Zee, all conspired to make me feel that T
was being instrumental in the accomplish
ment OF some villainous object. Again I
medltated the destruction of the paper, and
again my fee and my wants conquered =
The will was finished, and [ read it over
loud, the old mant1roaning, and the old
woman lo5kingF ail sscasionaI assent (: but
when [ read the terrible curse, a new actor
appeared on the scene.
"Oh tear it tear it Oh God. Won
know not what you do p
The plaintive tones of that voice touched
my heart, even before my eyes beheld its
owner; but when [ saw her heavens and
earth what an angel she was The lam
guage lsyet undiscovered, Harry, that is
competent to give you description of that
lace, the eyes dancing with excitement, vet
liquid with tears; the mouth proud as
Juno yet compressed with anguish. But
why do attempt description The most
majestic, yet the sweetest countenance 7
ever beheId oppealed to me, and not in
vain; for while the old man, weak as he
was, jumped from his bed screaming "Kill
her Kill her y tore the will into frae-
ments, and we both fell to the door. he
dead, and | stunned by blow from the
heavy candlestick welded by the old hag,
Angeline. q
When my consciousness returned. 7
found myfelf in my own bed at nv board
ing house, my host and hostess nv sole
attendants. Ny mind was clear the mo-
nent looked about me, and knew had
neen brought home, and was now confined
nom the effects of that blow. [ resolved
to keep my own counsel, and ascertain what
could OF the subsequent proceeding of
the night, Upon inquiry, [ found that I
had been brought home by young gentle
man IN carriage. who had left funds for
the employment of physician, and had
also LETT Letter for me. I opened the
letter as | was alone, and found 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.
My first act was to conceal the letter be-
meath my pillow my second to call nv
host and tender him the amount of nv
board bill to my astonishment he told me
that my companion paid it when he left
the letter. 1t seemed raved little about
my inability to pay my host while I was
unconscious, and thus the husband of Dora
(for | had no doubt it was he who brouobt
me home) had ascertained the fact and
paid my bill. Added 60 this nv wound
was not severe enough to need any SURGERY
more than was offered by my kind land
lady; so when | recovered, (Which was
soon) [ had only my oaice rent to nav and
then resumed business with the larger nart
of fifty dollars in my treasury. / made
cautious inquiries about the - House
as to the subsequent movements of the
mysterious clients, but could oaly ascertain
that the old couple arrived on that eventfnl
night, the old man ordering a pleasant
room in which he could die: that the
young couple came by another CONVEYANCE
and had taken other roons; that the old
mans body was Immediately boxed M and
shipped for the north under charge Of his
man-servant; the young man paid the
whole bill, and left also with his wife To
do my worthy host and kind lady full ius-
tice, must say that they never even binted