Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1861-02-15

Tie night had by this time set in cold and
wet. The damp logs spluttered on the
hearth, and a wailing wind swept down
the valley, bearing the rain in sudden gusts
against the panes. My brother soon found
that to read was impossible His atten.
ton wandered necessarily He read the
same sentence over and over again uncon-
scious Of its meaning, and fell into long
trains of thought leading far ilto the dim
past
Thus the hours went by and at eleven
o'clock he heard tie doors close below,
and the household retiring to rest. he
determined to yield no longer to this
dreamy apathy. He threw on fresh logs,
trimmed the lamp, and took several turns
around the room. Then be opened the
easement. and suffered the rain to beat
against his face, and the wind to ruff1e his
hair as it ruffled the acacia leaves in the
garden below. Some minutes passed thus,
ard when at length he closed the window
and came back into the room, his face and
hair and ali the front of his shirt were
thoroughly saturated To unstrap his
knapsack and take out a dry shirt, was of
course his first impulse-to start, drop
the garment, listen eagerly. and start 20
his feet, breathless, bewildered, was the
next. ~
For borne ftfully upon the outer braeze,
now sweeping past the window, now dy-
ing in the distance, he heard the well-re-
memberea strain of melody, subtle and
silvery as the sweet airs of Prospero's isle,
and proceeding Enthusiastically from the mu-
sic box which had the day before accom-
panied the lunch under the fir trees of the
Wengern Alp.
Had Christien come back, and was it
thus that he announced his return :? If so
where was hei Under the window? Out
side in the corridor? Sheltering in the
porch and waiting fer admission?
My brother throw open the easement
again and called him by his name
Christien
All was intensely silent. He could hear
the last gust of wind and rain moaning
farther and farther and farther away on
its wild course up the valley, and the pine
trees shivering, like living things.
Christien He said again, and his own
voice seemed to echo strangely on bis ear
Is it you?
Still no one answered He leaned out
into the dark night, but could see nothing
not even the outlines of the porch below
He began to think that his Imagination
had deceived him, when suddenly the
strain broke forth again and this time
was apparently in his own chamber
As lie turned expecting to find Christicn
at bis elbow, the sounds broke off directly,
and a sensation of intensest cold seized
him in every limb-not the mere chill of
nervous terror, not the mere physical re-
suits of exposure to wind and rain. bat a
deadly freezing of every vein, a paralysis
of every nerve, an appalling consciousness
that in a few moments more the lungs must
cease to play and the heart to beat =
Powerless to speak CT stir, he closed his
eyes, and believed he was dying.
This strange faintness lasted but few
minutes. Gradually the vital warmth re-
turned, and with it, strength to close the
window, and stagger to chair. As be
did so, he found the breast of bis shirt all
stiff and frozen, and the rain clnging in
solid iciclcs on his hair
He looked at his watch. 1t had stop
ped at twenty minutes before twelve. He
took his thermomt ter from the chimney
piece, and found the mercury at sixtv-eight.
Heavenly powers How were these things
possible in a temperature of sjxty-eight de-
erese, and a fire on the hearth?
He poured half tumbler Of cogniac,
and drank it at draught Going to bed
was out of the question. He felt that he
dared not to think. All that he could Dc
was to change his linen, pile On more logs
wrap himself in bis blankets, and sit in an
easy chair before the fire.
My brother hadnot long sat thus, be
fore the warmth, and probably the ner
vous reaction, drew him off to sleep. II
the morning be found himself lying OF
the bed, without being able to tell in the
least how or when he reached it. ..-
1t was again glorious day. The rain
and wind were gone, and the Silverborn at
the end of the valley lifted its head
to clear unclouded sky Looking
out upon the sunshine, he almost doubted
the events of the night before, and but for
the evidence of his watch, which still poin
ted to twenty minutes of twelve, would
have been disposed to treat the whole
matter as dream. As it was, he attrib
uted more than half his terrors to tht
promptings Of an over-actiye and over
wearied brain. For all this, he still fell
depressed and uneasy, and so very unwil
ling to pass another night at Lauterbrun
men, that he made up bis mind to proceel
that morning to Interlaken. While he
was yet lettering over his breakfast, anG
considering whether he should walk tht
seven miles of road, or hire a vehicle, {
char drove up to the inn door and a young
man jumped out
Why, Battisto! exclaimed my brother
in astonisbment, as he came into the room
what brings you here to-day? Where il
Stefano?
have left him at Interlaken. signor, re
piled he.
Something there was in his voice, some
thing in bis face, both strange and start
ling.
What is the matter. asked my brother
breathlesSly. He is not i'll? No accident
has happened?
Batisto shook his head, glanced furtivelJ
up and down the passage, and then closed