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

] made my preparations with fendisl
GOODNESS. / louked long and steadily il
the depths Of the looking glass, max in.
my countsnnnce as interesting as the cas-,
would permit. / puIled out Of drawer
blue cravat. which in a moment of preyi
ous despair j had rejected. but which be
came me much. spent an hour or Sc
over my hair. and curled my lip until i
was quite lame These preparations over
/ had nothing before me but the mundane
! necessity of going to bed. AS common
life. with its perpetual grind OF buttons
and boots, and shaving. came back to me
l relapsed again into apathy. and began tc
. tire even of the idea of killing the girl
The tree kept me mp. however, and tapped
and NODDED. and winked in most uncom.
mon manner. EIf THI
She was not at breakfast, no, nor al
dinner. heard. too. TO my disgust. tha,
she was married--a Mrs. Brown! How
the tree gibbered and pointed its skinny
fingers at mel Evening came. and alone
! in my rood Itried not to see the tree; but
let me look where would. so firmly was i,
dagucrreotyped on my mind that / could
, but see it. AMI ever and anon came the tar
tap, as if to remind me | was not alone
Mrs. Brown was travelling with her nurse
and physician. Who or where was Mr..
Brown did not appear. One day stop
ped the nurse in the hall and inquired for
her mistress. She told me she was better,
and would come down in day or two
As for the physician, he was a very
silent, d:sagreeable fellow. with gray hair
and young face, contradictory sort ol
expression. and a pair of eyes which never
met yours.
As proof that / got better of nv apa-
thy about this time, will mention that in
passing through the halls. l heard the
nurse ask Susan who that young man was
who spoke to her. Susan replied:
'-Oh, miserable kind of dyspepsia fel-
ler--he don't know nothing 0c
AS psychological fact, and proof that
had come to have some feeling, | was
very glad TO observe that this remark a.
roused in me a considerable degree OF
wrath. fH 1855.
That evening / saw Mrs. Brown! As
came home at twilight went mp TO nv
room, but before entering l sprang back as
from an electric shock; for coming out OF
it was a wJman--;hc strangest womanl-
A small, pale. guant woman, with black
eyes aud great hollows around them, dress
ell in black, with white halo round her
throat. she seemed all black and white--a
stormy sky with moon shining in it,
Excuse me, Sir; heve mistaken your
door for mine.'' said voice which froze
/ the marrow in my bones.
"A low. dreadful voice, as If coming from
the tombs. scarcely remember what
followed, / knew she fascinated me.
knew | loved her. She was like the tree;
| could not escape her. She had but TO
ask me question. and / tnrned to listen
to her. She held me spell.bound. How
strange. how wonderful was her talk
She spoke of dreams, of omens, of that
wonderful power of the Indian iuggler>
who could compel dreams. She believed
IN frances. Common life did not appear
to touch her. Some sirocco seemed to
have blown over her. and withere all her
blooms. So strikingly dill she make this
! impression on me. that once invol luntari
ly asked her, "Were you ever struck by
ghining?" All
4 She did not show any surprise at the
question, bnt Immediately answered.
''les, and complet ely scathed."
She was dreadfully ill., Sometimes she
was brought down and put in a carriage
by her nurse. almost like child. Some.
times moans of agony reached me from her
room. Once l accidentally touched her
hand-it burned me. Yet now and then
she talked with almost superhuman ener-
gy, graphing with great social problems,
and thinking and working like n strong
man. n ~ g4.s
ie loved her No one knew it but the
tree. and he only pointed skinny arm at
me in deri.ion. ''Dying'' be seemed TO
moan-"Dyingl" echoed the wind. that
went sobbing through his branches.
One night, when the wave Of life seem.
ed to surge more strongly in her breast,
and she had fash of strength. i told her
j loved her. took one of those burning,
atlenuated hands, and said. "Live for me
~ love you'll is SIS
She looked at me with unutterable pity
Poor boy. you had better neyer have been
born!'' so
! did not attempt to answer her. AS
soon would have answered the ocean,
had it thrown me like weed on the rocks
Still / sat by her side--still strove to
move her easy chair to the most sheltered
corner--still marked with growing an
guish the fading light Of her face. One
evening as | was SO occupied. my landla.
dy burst into the room, and uttered. "Mur-
der! murderl" and sank into her chair,
crying and sobbing. ~.
| "Who is it?" we both said. s
"Mr. Montague Lewis has been found
murdered in his bed. No one went to his
room till an hour ago. when his servant
got alarmed, opened his door, and found
him dead--stabbeil Oh dea,! oh dear''
WAS he quite dead?'' said Mrs. Brown,
in her calm, sepulchral voice. 5ss
4. Quite. Oh. what family! and Mr..
Clifford not here; and whatever became OF
his wife; should like to know? There
is something wrong somewhere" and with
this profound reflection our fat and asth-
matte informant left us. ls..Ias
These gentlemcn.--the murdered O man
and his b. belonged to an old family
| in N. They were the Redgauntlets
of the neighborhood. Handsome, aristo-
cratic e-looking men, they were reserved to