Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-10-21


no longer vented themselves in frantic wall
| ings. With folded arms, and clenched teeth,
with eyes that were boodshot from much watch.
ing, and fixed with vacant glare upon the
ground, with hard quick breathing, and a
hurried walk, he strobe backwards and for
wards in silent muSng for several hours What
mind shall conceive, what tongue uttcr,o what
pen describe the dark and terrible character
of his thoughts Like the fate that moulded
them, they had no similitude in the wide range
of this worlds agony for man. Suddenly he
stopped, and his eyes were riveted upon that
part of the wall which was over his bed of
straw. Words arc inscribed there A hu-
man language traced by human hand He
ruSheS towards them but his blood freezes as
he reads
/, Ludovico Sforza, tempted by the gold
of the Prince of Tof, spent three years in con-
triyng and executing this accurSed triumph of
| my art. When it was completed, the prof
douS Tolii, more devil than man, who conduct
ed me thither one morning TO be witness, as
he said of It's perfection, doomed me to be the
first victim OF my own pcrnciouS skill lest, as
he declared, | should divuIge the secret, or re-
peat the effort of my ingenuity May God
pardon him, as well as | hope he will me, that
mnStercd to his uuhalowcd purpose? Mis-
cradle wretch, whO'cr thou art, that readeSt
these lineS fall on thy knees, aud invoke as, |
have done, His sustaining mercy, who alone
can nerve thee to meet the vengeance of Talfi,
armed with this tremendous engine which, in
few hours must crush you, as it will the needy
wretch who made it,"
A deep groan burst from Vivenzio. He
stood, like one tranSfiXed, with dlated eyes,
expanded nostrlIs, and quiverng lips, gazing at
this fatal inscription. 1t was if voice from
the Sepulchre had sounded in his ears" Prepare"
| Hope forSook him. There was his sentence,
recorded in those dismal words. The future
stood unveiled before him, ghastly and appall-
ing. His brain already feels the descending
horror his bones seem to crack and crumbe
in the mighty grasp of the iron walls I'm
knowing what it he docs, he fumbles in his gar
ment for some weapon of Selfdesiruction. He
cencheS his throat in his convulsive gripe, as
though he would strangle himself at once. He
stareS upon the walls, aud his warning spirit
demands :" Will they not anticipate their Of
flee if | dash my head against them ?" An hys-
tercal laugh chOkes him as he exclaims "Why
should /? He was but a man who died first
in their fierce embrace and | should be less
| Inau man not 10 90 as much "
The evening sun was descending, and vi
venzio beheld it's golden beams streaming
through one of the windows. What q thrill
of joy shot through his soul at the sight? 1t
was precious link, that united him, for the
moment, with the world beyond There was
ecstasy in the thought. As he gazed long
and earnestly, it seemed as if the windows had
lowered sufficiently for him to reach them.-
With one bound he was beneath them-with
one wild spring he clung to the bars Whether
it was so cOntrived, purposely to madden with
delight the wretch who looked, he knew not ::
but, at the extremity of a long vista, cut
through the solid rocks, the ocean, the SKY. the
setting sun, olive groves shady walks and in
the farthest distance, delicious glimpses of mag
nifcent Sicily, burst upon his sight How ex-
quisite was the cool breeze as it swept across
his cheek, loaded with fragrance! He inhaled
it as though it were the breath of continued
life. And there was a freshness in the land
scape, and in the ripping of the calm green
sea, that fell upon his whitening heart like dew
upon the parched earth How he gazed and
painted, and still clung to his hold sometimes
hanging by one hand, sometimes by the other
and then graSping the bars with both, as 10th
to quit the smiling paradise outstretched be-
fore him ; till exhausted, and his hands swol-
len and benumbcd, he dropped helpless down,
and lay stunned for considerable time by the
| fall
When he recovered, the glorious vision had
vanished. lie was in darkness He doubted
whether it was not a dream that passed before
his sleeping fancy bnt gradually his scatter
ed thoughts returned, and with them came re-
membrance. Yes he had looked once again
upon the gorgeous SplcndOr of nature ! Once
again his eyes had trembled beneath their veil
ed lids, at the suns radience, and sought re-
pose in the soft verdurc of the olive trees. or
the gentle swell of the undulating wave. Oh,
that he were mariner, exposed upon those
waves to the worst fury of tie storm and tem-
pest or very wretch loathsomc with disease,
plague stricken, and his body one lcprous con.
tagion from crown to sole, hunted forth to gasp
out the remnant of infectious life beneath those
verdant trees, SO he might Shun the destiny
upon whose edge he tottcred
Vain thoughts like these would steal over
his mind from time to time, in spite of himself;
! but they scarcely moved it from that stupor
into which it had sunk, and which kept him,
during the whole night like one who had been
dragged with opium. He was equally inscnsi.
BILE to the calls of hunger and thirst, though
the third day was now commencing since even
a drop of water had passed his lips. lie re-
manned on the ground sometimes sitting, some
times lying at intervals sleeping heavily !;
and when not sleeping, silently brooding over
what was to come, or, talking aloud, in disor-
dcrcd speech, of his wrongs, OF bis friends, of
his home, and of those he loved with confus-
ed mngling of ALL
In this pitable condition, the sixth and last
morning dawned upon Vivenzio, if dawn it
might be caIlcd-tle dim, obscure light which
family struggled through ONE SOLITARY window
of his dungeon. He could hardly be said to