The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1858-09-16


May open my eyes in Heaven!"
The Secret-..or, Something ON my Mind.
Dark masses of my threatening fel-
low overtures, cloaked and cowled !:
chosen assassins equipped with noise
less goloshes and daggers diminished
to point, wherefrom drips gout of
gore; an executioner with half mask
and chopper, with its edge turned
towards me; vague and unknown
shapes following, with a deadly un-
swerving purpose, whittier soever l
take my frightened way; thousand
strangers with uplifted armed right
hands exclaiming together, artistically,
and in the pause of slow music: We
swear, we swear" and doing it; half
a dozen of intimate friends striking at
my breast with curious and varied
collection of weapons, from an over
whelming sense of duty, and averting
their looks for PHYS sake; secret con-
claves setting down my name in blood
with variety of other dismal pictures
selected from the haunted chambers of
imagination, had been presented to me
in dreams for months. / was rendered
miserable, through having been made
free mason, with the terror of carry
ing about with me so tremendous a
secret. l felt that / was fated to be
the unhappy wretch who should betray
that which had been held sacred by
multitudes for more than a thousand
years. Nor was this idea altogether
without grounds; for to so great a
pitch of nervousness had arrived that
| was continually whispering the mat
ter confdentially to myself, and then,
in the belief that l had spoken aloud,
looking horror-stricken around me or,
not seldom, / would write it down upon
slips of paper, which l afterwards took
care to tear up small, or put them into
the fire, or devoured them.
Once, however, when engaged in
this practice, a high wind, coming in
at the open window, scattered these
interesting disclosures in every dircc-
ton, and drove me as near mad as a
sane man could 60. There were as
many as twenty distinct revelations of
the most mysterious facts in the worlds
history thus set flying over space, so
that any one might run and read them.
Nineteen of these / recovered by
means of almost superhuman exertions.
Two were reclaimed, at peril of life
and limb, from neighbor's wall with
ehera,ts de frise at the top of it; three
of them had lodged in very lofty ia
pering tree, which practically demon
strated the dreaded fact of my Sybil-
line leaves becoming popular; five
saved by boat; seven had been whirled
into the kennel of proverbially savage
dog, which, however, was so impressed
by my eager haste and furious vehem-
ence, that he vacated his quarters at
the first summons, and fled, bowling to
utmost extent of his chain. One was
brought down from chimney-pot by a
very small sweep, who, luckily for me
and himself, proved to my satisfaction
that he had never been taught to read
one 1 found the kitten at play with in
the garden, which presently l put to
death, accordingly, without open trial,
after the manner of Westphalia; the
t,oentieth could mo,chere be found.
There was lying somewhere, patent to
the first passer by, an explicit solution
of the whole art of freemasonry in my
own peculiar and well-known hand
writing. That thought, which was OF
a nature to make the most stOlid anx.
ious, excited me to frenzy. l went
about demanding of my fellow-crea-
lures whether they had seen small
piece of paper in the air lately.
What paper? What was on it p
inquired they.
What was on it indeed? A question
not to be answered very readily.
did not go to bed for eight and forty
hours, and then / found the precious
missing manuscript nearly deposited
between my neckerchief and my false
collar, after which abstained from
writing out the secret any more.
carried it about with me on my mind
nevertheless, and very dreadful bur
den it was. Walking or sleeping, but
especially sleeping, l was always pictur
ing to myself the consequences of re
vealing what l know, and thereby en-
dured the imaginary pains of half 9
dozen opium eaters. Methought thai
the Provincial Grand of our lodge
who, in private life, is most respecta
BILE grocer, was the individual selected
by the society as the avenger of viola
ted faith. He was wont to pursue me
in his official costume, which, however
seemed to attract no greater attention
| in the streets of the city than in the
deserts all bearing an absurd likeness
to the back garden of my private resi-
dencel, whittier, l sometimes, in vair
betook myself for refuge. He held hi.
masonic ladder in one hand, and hi