The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-05-04
=. ASHLAND J ASHLAND COUNTY, ,]oH1ogWEDNEsDAY NOR

the heavy gate closed behind it. He looked
-vaeantly upon the crowd, and fell heavily tc
| the ground.
| s"Although for many weeks after this he was
watched night and day, in the widest rawlings
of fever, neither the consciousness Of his loss
nor the recollection of the VOW he had made
ever left him for a moment. Scenes changed
before his eyes, place succeeded place, and
event followed event, in all the hurry of delir
ium but they were all connected in some way
with the great object of his mind. He was
sailed over a boundless expanse of sea, with q
bloody-red sky above, and the angry waters
lashed into fury beneath, boiling and eddyine
up on every side. There was another vessel
before them, toiling and laboring in the howl
ing storm !; her canvass futtering in ribands
from the mast, and her deck thronged with
figures who were lashed q the sides, over which
huge waves every instant burst, sweeping away
some devoted creatures into the foaming sea-
Onward they bore, amidst the roaring mass oi
water, with speed and force which nothing
could resist and striking the stern of the fore
most vessel, crushed her beneath their keel
From the huge whirlpool which the sinking
wreck occasioned, arose shrek so loud and
| shrill-the death-cry of hundred drowning
wretches, blended into one fierce yell-that ii
rung far above the war-cry of the elements
and echoed, and re-echoed, till it seemed to
pierce air, sky, and ocean. But what was that
that old gray head that rose above the wa
ter's surface, and with looks of agony, and
screams for aid, bafFetted with the wave! One
look, and he had sprung from the vessels side,
and with vigorous strokes was swimming to-
ward it. He reached it, he was close upon it.
They were has features. The old man saw him
coming, and vainy strove to elude his grasp.
But he clasped him tight, and dragged him be-
meath the water. Down, down with him fifty
fathoms deep, his struggles grew fainter and
fainter, until they wholly, ceased. He was
dead; he had killed him, and had kept his
oath.
Gle was traversng the scorching sanIs of
a mighty desert, blrefooted and alone The
sand checked and blinded him; its fine thin
grains entered into the very pores Of his skin
and stung him almost to madness, Gigantic
masses Of the :aale material, carried fer ward by
tine wind, and shone through by the burning
sun, stalked in the distance like pillars of liv-
ing fire The bones of men, who had perished
in the dreary waste, lay scattered at his feet; a
fearful light fell on everything around; and so
far as the eye could reach, nothing but objects
of dread and horror presented themselves
Yainly striving to utter cry of terror with
his tongue cleaving to his mouth, he rushed
msdly toward. Armed with supernatural
strength he waded through the sand, until ex-
hausted with fatigue and thirst, he fell sense
less on the earth. What fragrant coolncss re-
yived him what gushing sound was that?-
Water! 1t was indeed well and the clear
fresh stream was running at his feet. He
drank deeply of it and throwing his aching
limbs upon the bank, sunk into delicious
trance. The sound of approaching footsteps
reused him. An old gr,y-headed man tottered
toward to slake his burning thirst4 It was he
again. He wound his arms round the old
man. S body, and held him back. He struggled
in powerful convulsions and shrieked for water
for but one drop of water to save his life,
but he held the old man firmly, and watched
his agonies with greedy eyes: and when his
lifeless head fell forward on his bosom, he rolled
the corpse from him with his foot.
"When the fever left him, and consciousness
returned, he awoke to find himself rich and
free, to hear that the parent who would have
let him die in jail-,could! who had let those
who were far dearer to him than his own exist
ence, die of want and the sickness of heart
that medicine can never cme-had been found
dead in his bed of down. He had all the heart
to leave his son beggar, but proud even of his
health and strength he had put off the act un-
til too late, and now he mig hit gnash his teeth
in the other world, at the thought of the wealth
his remissness had left him He woke to this,
and he woke no more. To recollcct the pur-
pose for which he lived, and to remember that
his enemy was his wife's own father-the man
who had cast him into prison, and who, when
his daughter and her child sued at his feet for
mercy, had spurned them from his door
Oh, how he cursed the weakness that prevent
ed him from being up, and active, in his
scheme of vengeance! -as
"Hc caused himself to be carried from the
r. L. I
quiet residence the sea coast-net in the
hope of recovering his peace of mind or hap
piness. for 10th were fed for ever; but to re-
store his prostrate energies, and mediate on
his darling object. And here, some evil spirit
cast in his way the opportunity for his first,
most horrible revenge.
sit was summer time; and wrapped in his
gloomy thoughts, he would issue from his soli-
tary lodgings early in the evening, and wander
ing along a narrow path beneath the cliffs to a
wild and lonely spot that had struck his fancy
in his ramblings, seat himself on some fallen
fragments of the rock, and hurying his faue in
his hands, remain there for hours some. Sine s
till night had completely closed in, and the
long shadows of the frowning cliffs above his
head, cast a thick, black darkness on every OBJ
ject near him.
"He was seated here, one calm evening in
his old position, now and then raising his head
to watch the fight of a scagull, or carry his
eye along the glorious crimson path, which,
commencing in the middle of the ocean, seemed
to lead to its very verge where the sun was
setting, when the profound silence of the spot
was broken by loud cry for help; he listened,
doubtful of his having heard Alright, when the
cry was repeated with even greater vehemence
than before, and, starring to his feet, he hast
ed in the direction from whence it proceeded.
The tale told itself at once: some scattered
garments lay on the beach human head was
just visible above the waves at little distance
from the shore, and an old man, wringing his
hands in agony, was running to and fro, Shrek
ing for existence. The invalid, whose strength
was now sufficiently restored, threw off his
coat, and rushed towards the sea, with the in
tention of plunging in, and dragging the
drowning man ashore. a s
"'Hasten here, Sir, in Gods name; help,
help Sir, for the love of Heaven. He is my
son, Sir, my only SON. said the old man, fran
nc 10 odt-.inced IN n, ent hin, NV only