M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1857-09-17
GlisteIImrous 9rtitIes.
A THRILLING SKETCH.
Charmed by "a RRItiesnake
BY W. GILMORE sIMMs.

A writer in the United States Mag
azine pronounces the following de-
scriptiOn of a young girl, charmed by
rattlesnake, one Of the most remark
able descriptions ever penned:
Before the maiden rose a little
clump of bushes-bright tangled
leaves Haunting wide in glossiest
green, with vines trailing over them
thickly decked with blue and crimson
flowers. Her eye communed vacant.
ly with these; fascinated by a star
like shining glance, subtle ray that
shot out from the circle green leaves,
seeming to be their very eye, and
sending out fluid lustre that seemed
to stream over the space between and
find it's way into her own eyes very
piercing and beautiful was that subtle
brightness of the sweetest, strongest
power. And now the leaves quiyered
and seemed to float away only to re-
turn, and the vines waved and swung
away in fantastic mazes, unfolding
ever changing varieties Of form and
color to her gaze; but the star like
eye was ever steadiast, bright and gor.
geous, cleaning in their midst, and
still fastened with strange tondness
upon her own. How beautiful, with
wondrous intensity, did it glOam and
dilate, growing larger and more luS.
trous with every beam it sent forth.
And her own glance became intense,
fixed, also; but with a dreaming sense
which coninred up the widest fancies,
terribly beautiful, that took her soul
away from her and wrapt it about as
with spell. She would have fled,
she would have flown, but she had no
power to move. The will was want
ing to her flight. She felt that she
could have bent forward to pluck the
gem like thing from the leaf in which
it seemed to grow, and which it IRA
dated with its bright, white CLEAN
but ever, as she stretched forth her
hand, and bent forward, she heard
rush of wings and shrill scream from
the tree above her-such a scream as
the mocking-bird makes, when angri-
ly it raises its dusky crest and flaps its
wings furiously against its slender
sides. Such q scream seemed like a
warning, and though yet unawakened
to a full consciousness, it startled and
forbade her effort.
"More than once in her survey of
this strange object had she heard that
shrill note of warning, and to her
mind the same vague consciousness
of an evil presence. But the star-like
eye was still upon her own-a small,
bright eye, quick like that Of a bird ;
now steady in its place, and Observant
seemingly only Of hers, now darting
forward with all the clustering leaves
about it, and shooting up toward hel,
as if wooing her to seize. AT anoth.
er moment riveted to the vine which
lay around it, it would whirl round
and round, dazzliDgly bright and beau
tiful, even as torch, waving hurrid-
ly BY night in the hands OF some play
full boy ; but in all this time the glance
was never taken from her own-there
it grew, fixed-a very principle of
Highland such a bright, subtle,
burning, piercing, fascinating CLEAN,
such as gathers in vapors above the
old grave, and binds us as we look
shooting, darting directly into her eye,
dazzling her gaze, defeating its sense
of discrimination, and confusing
strangely its sense of perception. She
felt dizzy; for as she looked, a cloud
of colors, bright, gay, various colors,
hoated and hung like so much drapery
around the single object that had SO
secured her attention, and spell.bound