The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1861-07-02

Ger, decked out IN Dutch metal and span
giles. Nor had she been without some AZ
traciioDs--not altogether derived from ai
but still further removed from feminine
grace. She had been Tie admired OF tire,
+ husbands in succession, and for period
two At a time; and had so far oulliyed heI
I youthful charms, whatever they might be
/ that she had At the time Of her intercours,
with Ms, q son grown up TO manhood
f Likes, they say, draw 10 ike, but il i
because the object they like. is common Il
both and IN the case Of M-- and
Nh, the likeness was singular il
another and different respect; for tie one
had been the husband Of three wives, an(
The other the wife of three husbands, and
boil, had grown-up children
j have a curiosity to see the smithy.'
said l. and we entered, Ii is the identi.
iieaiion Of the spot that forms the charm
which forces Us 10 place our eyes upon tile
scene Of some strange event. The work
man who had been an apprentice 70
Ms, had been curious enough TO keep
an exact remembrance Of the very part Of
the floor where the two had that evening
sat down. There was nothing there but
the soddcned clay, yet | could not keep
my eyes from of it. Amid the roar Of
the forge and the echoing sound of the
hammer on the anvil, my friend whispered
in my ear:
"Can you realize a vision, here Z"
Il will try" said |.
"The hour is near TO six" he began,
still in low whisper. "Thc same fam
ing fires, the same clangs from the iron,
tie same smoke; but the night is falling,
and the fires are keeping up an unequal
conflict with the increasing darkness with
out. David Ms is himself working
at the anvil, with his bald head the still
strong, muscular arm, that had so often
brought down the heavy hammer, WELD
ing the instrument that is TO be used the
next hour for taking away his life--his face
begrimmed with sweat and smoke. Yet
his eye is clear and tvinkling in the red
glare Of the smithy, for his fancy is active
in another direction; he is TO meet the
quondam show-dancer in the same place
where he is working. He is 10 taste, him
self, the sweets Of purloined pleasure,
from one, herself, a thief in the same way
aud TO him, as TO many, this is the zest
which makes lasciyiousness pleasant by Sc
cresy and mystery. Six O'Clock comes
the fires are eXtnguished and the noises
cease. 1hermen and boys 20 home to
their chaste wives and loving mothers so,
too, does the hoary satyr, David, 20 home
to his wife, to get himself washed, to take
his tea, and act the liar in his own house,
in her presence and that of his children.
lie leaves his wife and family and goes
out. Tie hour isuot yet come, and lie hangs
about the workshop in the deep twilight,
avoiding the figures of men. lie has no
reason TO think there is any watch upon him
that some one is dogging him and
while avoiding him, marking his own steal
hy movement. AT length he espies the
figure Of woman, as she cspies him, and
they meet and whisper for few minutes
nor does he suspect that some one-a
young man or middc-aged woman-has
found means TO enter the workshop and
eaye the door as he found it. Certain it |
IS there is person there-whether male
1r female, secreted in the corner behind |
hose bellows
You are working up said !, interrupt |
ne him for moment, for effect, and
hese noises and lights aid by their con-
rasts TO your whispered mysteries
" Not a bit OF eXaggeration, and for no
fleet greater than that which belongs to
,cculiar actions wrought in certain po-
,ltions and under singular circumstances.
Gould il have been possible to divine the
motives, least the real purpose, Of that Sc
,recd person beyond the suspicion that
here was wish for mere detection, and
perhaps some revenge Of natural and
lut uncommon kind But the eye, if seen,
would have betokened something very dif-
erent. The door IS heard by that Sc
.reicd person 10 open stealthily; The ex-
,ected David Ml-----s it is who come in
nd stands in the shop for little while in
ilent expectation and in few Minutes
ilerwards comes the female, wrapped Up
n a concealinJ cloak. In all but their
conversation there is dead silence, and
n all but moonbeam that steals through
he square window behind them there is
but that moonbeam is reflected
rom the bald scalp. The man or the |
roman steals out from behind the bellows
"A hammer is in the firm hand-the bald {
caip Is the mark; the hammer falls with {
smiths arm force on it. There is a
ea.h-scream A corpse is laid on the I
cor and the woman's face Is splashed ,
18th blood and brains She stands for
loment, shuddering, and then fees, nor |
aiis a single instant to try to ascertain |
y whom that terrible act was done" q
" A horrible picture said l.
: Aud true rejoined he; true, and c
e how unlike these colors are to the in /
rival touch Of experiences, as in these r
iree parties concerned in the tragedy {
.yenge IN one, the pang Of sudden death I
the very heart Of the indulgence Of .
easare, IN the second; fear pursued by .
'ime in the third" id