Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-07-22

| nighspiritcd free hear'e ed lads, of whom soma
had achieved hcnors and fame, but by far the
greater part had died on the battle feld-the
Diyouac fire, the merry laugh of the lns0aetaTt
>odrr-the DIN and excitement Of the light
the exutation Of victory, and the well-won and
h ghy relished pleasures Of the garrison town
after severe duty in the field the graceful
form Of Gertrudis now fitted acoss the picture
her jetty hair braided over her pure white
forehead, the light of her swimming eye that
Knocked her coal black veil" flashing from IN
der the manlilla The father with his portly
figure and good ,humored countenance, was be
side her They smiled at Ignacio, and seemed
to beckon to him. So fe-lke was the illusion
of his fancy he could almost spring forward
to join them But again there was change.
A large aud handsome room, a well covered
tabIe-all the appliances of modern luxury
plate and crystal sparkling in the brilliant
lights happy, cheerful party surrounding
the board. AaS, for the tragedy played on
the stage ! The hand Of the spoiler was there
- 'Iooi and wUlncn'S screams disheveIed hair
aud mems deep oaths, the wild and broken ac-
cents of dSpair, the coarse and ferocious exul-
tation of gratfed brutality. And then all
was dark and gloomy as u winters night. and
through tie darkness was seen q grave stone.
shadOwy and spectral, and man still young,
but with heart crushed and hopes blighted, ly-
ing PROSTATE before il, breast heaving with
convuis,ve sobs of agony, until at length he
rose and moved sadly away, to become al ex-
lie and wandcrer in foreign land.
Maddened by these reflections Ignacio
started to his feet, and was about to rush out
into the storm, aud fly, he knew not whittier.
from his own thoughts when he suddenly be
came aware of the presence Of man within q
few yards of him. The projecting crag, under
which he had sought a shelter, extended all
along one side Of the fire. In one corner al
angle of the rock threw q deep shadow. il
which Ignaco now stood, and was thus ena-
bled, without being seen himself to observe
the newcomer, who seated himself on o block
of stone close to the fire AS he did so, the
flame, which had been deadened by the rain.
again burned up brightly, and threw a strong
light on the features of the stranger. They
were those of L! Sang, ad0T.
With stcalthy pace, and trembling at every
step, lest his prey should take the alarm, and
even yet escape him, lgnacio stole towards
his mortal foe. The noise Of the storm, that
still ragged furiously, enabled him to get within
FIVE PAGES of him without being heard. He
then halted, and silently cooking q pistol, re-
manned for some time motionless as q statue.
Now that his revenge was within his grasp,
he hesitated to take it, not from any relent-
ing weakness, but because the speedy death
it was in his power to give, appeared al made
quate puni>hment-a paltry vengeance. Had
he seen his enemy tern by wild horses, or bro
ken on the wheel his burning thirst for re-
venge would hardly ha been slakcd and
an easy, painless death by knife or bullet. he
looked upon as q boon rather than punish.
mcnt An end was put 70 bis hesitation by
the Cariiat himself, who, either tormented be-
an evil conscience, or oppressed by one Of
those unacc0untahlC and mysterious present..
meuts that sometimes warn Us of impending
danger, became restless, cast uneasy glnnces
about him, and at last, turning round, found
himself face to face with IgnaciO. Almost be-
fore he recognized him, hand was on his col.
lar, and the muzze of q pistol crammed into
his ear The click Of the lock was heard, bu:
no discharge ensued. The rain had damped
the powder Before Ignaco could draw his
other pistol, the Carlist grappled him fcrcely.
aud terrible struggle commenced. Thcir
feet soom slipped u"on the wet rock, and they
fell still graspiny each others throatS, foam
fire, now nearly ont, afforded little light for
the contest but as they rolled over the smoul-
dering embers, clouds Of sparks arose, their
clothes and hair were bnrned, and their faces
srorched by the heat The CarIiSt was unarm-
ed, save with clasp knife, which, being in
his pocket, was useless to him for had he
yentured to remove one hand from the strug-
ge even for a moment, he would have given
his antagonist fatal advantage. At length
he contest seemed about to terminate in favor
Of Ignacio He got his enemy under, and
knelt upon his breast, while, with q chGrred.
haf.burned branch which he found at hand,
he dealt furious blows upon his head. Half.
blinded by the smoke and heat and by his owl
Hood the CarSt felt the sickness of death
coming over him. BY a last effort he slipped
one hand which was now at liberty, into his
pocket, and Immediately Withdrawing it. rails,
ed it to his mouth. IIS teeth grated upon
the blade Of the knife as he opened 1t, and the
next instant IgnaciO, with long deep sob.
rolled over among the ashes The Carlst rose
painfully and with difficulty into sitting pos
turc, and with grim smile gazed upon his
enemy, whose eyes were glazing, and features
Scttli into the rigidity of death. But the
conquerers triumph was short-lycd. A deep
bark was heard, and moment afterwards q
wolfdog drenched with mud and ran leaped
into the middle of the embers. Placing hls
black muzzle to Ignacio'S face, he gave long
deep how, which was succeeded by q growl like
that of on as he sprang upon the CarllSt.
The morning after the storm, when the char
coal burners returned to their tires they found
two dead bodies amidst the ashes. One OF
them had stab in his breast, which had caus-
ed bis death. The other was frightfuIly dis
figured, and bore the marks of fangs of soma
savage animal In that wild dis rict, tho
skirmiShing ground of smuggl"rs and d0uaaisrs,
the mountaineers think little of such occurren-