Newbern weekly progress., 1860-11-13
THE ACTRESS IN REAL LIFE DEEP
TRAGEDY AT MIDNIGHT-A DEED
WITHOUT A NAME.

! TRAGEDY AT MIDNIGHT-A DEED
WITHOUT a NAME.
1t is well-estahlished fact, that the mind
whose associations have been all of one charsc-
ter, naturally connects all changes with an idea
OF danger. 1huS, person accustomed from
! birth to the monotony and drearv quiet of rus
tic life, is apt to regard city as q vast den of
robbers and incendaries, whose sole purpose
are the despoilment of the stranger and the i'm
promptu illumination Of private residences.
| Those who have read David Copperfeld will
remember Miss Betsy Trotwood's night of hor-
| rors IN busting London, when she took every
market cart for an engine on its way to some
| fearful conHagratiOn, and pertinaciously inter
| preted every football on the Street to be the
cautious step ola burglar armed to the teeth.
! We have many masculine Betsy Trotwoods in
our day and generation and according to q West.
| eTn exchange, one turned up last week in the
pig-slaughter acropolis Of Cincinnati The.
nervous, timorous creature was an individual of
rustic persuasion, ''who never had dozen
thoughts in ali hisslife the few thoughts he
did have being chiefly to the effect, that purity
dwells in the real districts, while the citizens Of
great cities were naturally given TO midnight
| robbery, assassination and peasant killing
| But business compelled him to quit his rus.
tic Arcadia and vi h fear and trembling he
went to Cincinnati, and took room at the
Spencer House. Strange to say, no whiskere6
bandits attacked him during the dav: but he
regarded his escape thus far as mere accident,
and retired to bed at night with horrible Ger.
tainty OF being robbed, slaughtered, and buried
before morning. Natures sweet restorer
balmy Sleep" refused to have anything to do
with him, and for three mortal hours he suffer.
ed waking dreams Of dark lanterns, daegers
and other burglarous ornaments, scandalouslv
supposing each peaceful boarder that passed
through the halls TO be that very identical
| burglar prowling for his prey" In this state
ofmind he lay until midnight, when, Just as ali
the clocks in the hotel were Ginning the witch
ing hour" the terrified wretch heard footsteps in
an adjoining apartment, and then voice ex.
claimed:
Midnight has fallen this silent sphere
The deep drear hour arrived. that fits the soul
Of man TO snatch the dagger and the torch.
And murder spread with conaagration dire"
Here were burglary and incendiarism in a
breathi The rural person felt that his last
hour was at hand, and commenced sayine:-
Now lay me down to Sleep" with intense
devotion Even while he was preparing him.
self for the bitter end, there came solemnly to
his startled ear:
' Prepare thyself predeetined wretch. p.ppn.s
To meet the fate that. awtul hens thee rou nd
As though grave walls already hal enclosed thee |
Stir not. siek not Not all the powers of Heaven
Can shut thee FROM thy doom Ali husLed I come
AS plHEue 1pon the ravens wiuE."
This was positively awful He must lie and
be murdered in an ineSprpssibly cool manner;
but must neither stir nor Shrek It was plirg !
it on too thick, you know. Asthe voice seized |
door slowly cTeaEed on its hinges, and the |
"predestined wretch" heard nary footstep in !
the hall The atrocious burglar was coming |
But country had no idea Of dying like sheep. |
He drew tremendous horse pistol from under |
his pillow, shivered himself to the door of his |
ROOM and nervously dashed it open, Before
him stood spectral form and with instiuc. |
tive terror, he seized it in his arms!
Great Heaven! you would not harm mel"
was the exclamation Of the detected burglar.
At the sound, the rustic's pistol fell from his |
hand; he staggered away from his prisoner |
rubbed his eyes, and suffered out:
"Why, you're woman You amt q bur.
glar, be yef'
BLESS your soul not bit Of it"
"What are you, then p
"Maggie Mitchell"
"Now-hoi hol-you don't mean to say
you're the actress gal that makes folks laugh |
at the sytre p said the countryman, recover
ing his senses, as he felt the influence of the
girls good !ooks
II don't know about that" said Maggie,
laughingly, but I'm Maggie Mitchell, anu no
one else-at your sirvice, SIR
And this was q veritable fact. L seems that
Maggie, tho 7gh Soubrette actress, is very
fond of the tragic sort of thing and is in the
habit Of reading the high old dramatist after re-
turning from the theatre, and before retiring at
night. On this evening (or midnight) she was
reciting from such works, and had taken the
liberty T. make some of her tragic strides in
the hall, as the limits Of her room forbade eu-
phatic gestculation. He heard her story, cum.
silly apologzed for his ludicrous mistake and
retreated back again to his room, with shame
faced leer to dreaul--aot of burglars, but--of
hours too numerous to mention, with nice
black eyes, and curls az in.J;aitunr.
M.,--Tho Rnrtnr,