The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1859-07-27
Stlpttp0 sturl(.
From russcll's Magazine.
My Landlady's Story.

A llat NOuf q llEnl5 DliCk arCH the key stone.
TAM OSnANrER.
Ms Grove, in her work entitled the
~ sht Side of Na:ure, makes a'Iusion
10 the facts upon which The following lit
t'e story is touuled bat, strange. she
does not give the details. II was case
st"itmg'y in poin; for her. Was i: too
horn be 10 put in her b, ok, or vas she
restrained by the stmc dcIicacy that
male every marvel mouger speak of il in
whisper!
1t was told to me in f Tinbur., by my
lanI,ady, Mrs. $. She was from
Mnntros', Gui spoke in a well marked
Gaelic lIi"m, rhnt greatly enhanced her
dn."r'v'ivc power. 1t l. q remarkable
t'ct lhal no language is SO wei adapted
/, tie thrilling, the pathetic, and the Iu
mvruuS. ns the I,al-ct OF the ScorLIsh
ii gliiander Sir Walker Scot, owes rau"h
OF lis sucre}s 20 il, and the Iyrics OF Burns
woud he crnpnr:.tive'y inspired without
i. member once hcaIln9 Mrs S
jes! With her husband about some non
ac,se he TcrYc;ra,cd in his courtship.-
Sic WAS 80 mach amuS".! at it that she
eel. back IN her chair and exclaimed, i
cauna think % it but it makes me almost
spleer me seeds Iaching.' The same
expression, in plain English 4 cannot
think OF il but what it almost makes me
split my sides a laughing, is utterly tame
by the side of the other. Mrs. s.,
moreover. had manner which made her
narration vivdly impressive.
1t was in the evening twilight, and we
were watching, from ;he parIor window,
the lnchkeith light in the Firth Of Forth,
throwing its flashes Of warning to the
mariner forgot what drew from Mrs.
S the awful recital, The interest Of
which have feebly attempted to main
tain, by drawing upon my fancy for some
amplihcation but she began in substance
AS follows, occasionally tapping me upon
my shoulder, and reducing her voice TO n
kissing whisper:
II is scarcely year ago since young
man died IN the town of Haddington.-
HIS conduct had been so outrageously dis
solute that everybody repulsel him with
adherence. Finally he sank down in a
haIfstarved condition, at the door of his
uncle, an old blacksmith Of Haddngton,
and WAS kindly taken in and cared for.
Everything was done for him that even
affection could suggest but he grew
worse and worse, until he went into a de-
lIrium, and uttered things of such II
frghtfnl import that few persons could re.
main near him. There were certain ex.
pressons which excited more astonishmen.
than others-indeed, they drew tears
from those vino heard them, as well oil
account of the earnestness With which
they were uttered, as the distracted ges.
tculations accompanying them. He
seemed to stare at some very distant oh.
ject-distant as fixed star; and, with
his outstretched hands thrust forward, as
il to resist the rapid approach OF some
thing, he shouted in vSice bubbIiug up
through his death-ratte, Back back !
ava wi ye! AVA vie ye! Ii is ma sac
written; ] am not to be bruised. No,
no, no! II is written that the seed Of the
woman shall bruise--awa' wi ye--mer
cy oh, mercy, mercy, mercy! These
rawlings at last ended in death.
II is the custom 10 Scotland to sit up
three nights with the dead. The corpse
OF Andrew Allan (for that was the young
mans name) was placed up stairs in a
back room. II rested upon a rude table,
consisting Of four small benches support.
ing two boards. II was wrapped in a
sheet, and two half crown pieces were
placed upon The eyes to keep them clos.
ed. The blacksmith's house was built
upon simple plan. The outside door
opened into small hall down stains, and
at the farther end Of this ball were two
bed rooms. A staircase commenced near
the door, and led to the second story, in
which there we're what nigh, be called
an ante room, and the large apartment
where the body Of Andrew Allan lay
A door opened into this chamber from a
narrow platform at the head OF the stains.
Any one descending the stair, from the