Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1863-02-05
THE TERRIBLE TREE.

Twas studying. smoking. and generally
running my constitution in the little colleg'
town of n. one fierce winter. when .
settled apathy took possession of me. !
lost my interest in every thing. Frequent
ly. to rouse my dormant energies, ] walk
ed down to the beach. and plunged in TN
icy surge. But it availed nothing. Books
cigars, all were Intellectual. Life looked
dreary waste. The cold, otjectless fields
covered with snow. seemed to me to image
forth the future. Like most very youns
men. had exhausted sensation AS sa
by my table one evening in January. Irar
over in my mind the possible s,imulants
into life lcould not take to drinking. be
cause. like Dick Swiveller. had taken tc
that before. could not take opium; tha,
made me deadly sick, and. consequently
sleepy. Was there any mental stimulant
such as love, hate. remorse. that had not
tried? No. hated every body. had
heen in love with all the college widows,
and several beside. MAN pleasured me
not; no. nor woman either" Remorse!--
i had disobeyed my father and grieved my
mother. / felt, ] suppose. suitable lie.
morse for these things. but they were pcc-
cadillos. and did not answer
Remorse!-the word pleased me. Sho d
i stick knife into the fat sides of my
landlady?. Would her innocent blood cry.
ing to Heaven, and her last gasp. calling
me murderer" m axe my palse beat quiek
cr? No; she was old, cheating, asthmatic
She would have no innocent blood 10 cry
with. She could not have cried murder.
cr!' audibly, on account of the asthma,
and / think she would have welcomed
death as an agreeable exchange from life
spent in taking borders. Where was the
victim whom could offer to my dying
sensations? What Iphigenia knelt before
The dull eleam of my languid knife?-
Where Tap, tap, tap! as if a ghostly
finger touched my window-pane.
started! yes. actually started. The
ocean m January had greeted nv numbed
frame as If it had Teen a warm vapor bath.
Thoughts Of murder. 81 poison. of love. OF
fame. had crcpt through my veins as Ian
ruidly as thought of paying an old debt
What these things had not done, tap did.
looked out--nothing there. The cold
neon looked down on the cold earth; the
cold snnw surrounded the cold white
houses; the lcafiess tices outlined themsel-
YES on tie cold sky; the cold charity stu
dent, shivcring in his thin coat, went by,
making coldncss visible.
Tap. tap. tap!
For the first time | saw--would that ]
had never seen j, again. saw the treel-
An old. lightning struck. dead sycamore,
with two branches left. and a charrcd top
with one hole burned m it by the lightning
There it stood. horrible cyclop. tossing
lis two skeleton aims in Tie air, and look
cd at me with its enc eye One ann lean
cd over toward my window. and skele-
ton forc6nger tapped on the glass.
knew what it was A demon lived in
that tree and wanted TO make my acquain-
tancc nodded TO the tree. ] shouli be
happy to make the gcntleman's acqraint-
ance. a gust Of wind surged through and
Iliroush the trees. and horid "Ha, ha.''
died away in the air.
had seen the tice lcfore. Of course
There il had stood a year before my cham
Ter window, but | had never seen i, rs
Jaw it to night. Formerly to me it was o
burned. deal tree. Now it was a familiar,
dead tice. determined TO get something
out OF that tree.
Just As ] lad admitted tie tree to my
confidence the hell rang. Loud. i'm.
Fortunate to lie let in, the ringer spaks
through the quivering wire. and / was con-
wheel it was a newcomer. No one who
had been quenched in the atmosphere Of
that house could ring in that way Pres.
emily / heard trunks brought in, thcr
strange voices. then goings up stairs.
looked out at the tree. lie waved a gaunt
finger at me. as much as to say. Go down
and find ont.' - W
Certainly / felt curiosity--always a
sign of vitality. l encouraged it by wait.
ing. ! said to myself, 1--WE will find ou,
TO morrow. my good fellow; keep quiet'
all the while slyly meaning TO ask Susan
the chambermaid, whom heard. with nc
fairy footballs, ascending and descending
the siairs. as
Susan had q great contempt for me-
Whether several years of residence in 9
boarding house had given Susan disgns
for her species. or whether she was actual
ly o misanthrope; or whether, again. /, o
the whole human race. had failed to i'm
press the mind Of Susan with my superior
claims TO respect. certain it was that Susar
had not that amcnity of manner or activi
| ty of service where was concerned, which
would have been expected from our rela
tive positions. If my pitchers were full
of water. my boots ever at the door wher
they should have been. have only to say
it was the exception. and not the rule
Susan's manner. too. of answering ques.
tion was abrupt. and not particularly res.
pectfnl. So was not surprised. on open
ing my door and addressing timid inter.
rogatory to Susan, to the effect that ]
should like to know who had arrived, that
she should answer somewhat in this wise:
"Go away. Mr.. Sidney. don't be a.
botheIin' me. who is tired and distracted
to death now" is5a. ss 'efei
However. Susan was woman, and co d
not resist the pleasure of telling piece oi
news a @
There is gentleman, and lady, and
sick one. and lots Of trunks; and the sick
one has tainted sway. and they is a-bring-
in her to- ga er as.e f'ia
oh,,t 49, H.. - 11t~~l~1 - - al /.