Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1863-08-15
THE EVENING STAR.
THE STORY or TnE EYES,
fcoHTiNuKD.]

"AlI," replied.
81 win leave You, .hsn." ne said, after a
contemplating the still face Of the Dead "my
presence. perhaps. disiurbs you
Mot at ALL" replied, hastily; for thought
upon this occasion, In spite of the proyero, that
1 continued to draw. while he stood siisntly
at the foot OF the couch-a half stified and con.
Suleive Fob from time to time breaking the
otherwise oppressive silence. As glanced at
him fuFtiyely, / noticed that grief or some
cause Lad wrought great and dreadful change
in his face since / iast saw him; his cheeks were
pinched and hollow, his eyes dun and haRgard,
his face altogether wore lssden and unear,hly
hue, strongly resembling the face Of the dead
woman before Gs.
II was evident that eince saw him Last, he
had suffered intensely; he was suffering intense
Iy Eow. found, before long, that 1t was ne
cessaIy that should make some alteration in
the arrangement of the body. It was habi,ed
In shFoud and the jaws were bound up, in
the customary manner, with Il linen oandage.
This latter proposed should remove, and
for that purpose approached the couch
Bnt before / could effect nv purpose, he
sprang before me and wildly waved me back,
his eyes glittering with an awful excitement,
which was a little short OF madness.
aNo, no." cried he, hercely, pushing me
away with has lett hand; ssno one but mono
one but me-
AS he spoke he Iooeened the bandage, and
then laid the linen down by the side of her
Then, her jet black hair, in thick, glossy ring
lots, tell about her face and upon her snowy
bosom.
She looked very beautiful as she lay there,
SD calm and still. 1inyoluntarily said as much
but the next moment regretted having spoken,
for my words called forth burst of passionate
raving from my companion, which were ter
rifle in their utterance.
ayes ~ he screamed rather than cried, az he
fell upon his knees at the bedside, and kissed
and sohbed over one Of the cold, white hands
which lay crossed npou the dead woman's
a she is +, Oh, lust Heaven, why was robbed
OF her What have done that should suffer
SO! On, God, give me strength to bear the
sight of her whom have loved more than nv
immortal sonl, lying here stark and dead before
me. but what is there in her death should
gIieye for !" he continued; in quite An altered
tone, at the same time tearing his hair and
grinding his teeth in fury. II would rather see
her dead thar in the arms OF the black hearted
wretch that robbed me of her. Ha! ha she Is
dead and rejoice, for my bitterness Of grief
Is shared by him. can console myself by the
thought that every pang suffer rends his heart
as il does mine.'
"She was not, then, your wife :"
My wife !" he answered savRgely; .sno she
was another's wife. She was led, and I was
deceived, ana she married him. That ie why
have had to do what have done to obtain her
portrait. would have her portrait, though
the grave robbed me of her dear self am de-
terminedto have something by which may
preserve her loved feature; in my memory.
gave her my portrait onse-once when we
piighted our troth. But they robbed her of it,
] suppose. ss they have robbed me of herr
"What is that. I" said j, pointing to the wo.
mans neck, upon which it seemed to me some.
thing glistened brightly. "lt is q chain,
think"
He uttered low cry and sprang at it, Next
d oment he held in his hand a gold locket, 10
which the chain had been attached.
alt is mne!' he cried, in q transport of dc.
light. alt is the portrait gave her God bless
her! thank thee, Heaven, for thy infinite
mercy - and STOPPING ever he kissed the cold
lips of his dead love with frenzied eagerness
babbling incohereDt words of endearment as
be did so.
Then springing to his feet, and needing NOT ali
effort which i made to retain him, he caught
mp one OF the candles, and, claspiHg the locket
TO his heart, hastily quilted the apartment.
called after him loudly, hnt he made no re-
ply. doubtless. he wanted to be alone to open
cided upon going on with the picture as quick.
~ as ] could, and so put an end 70 this un-
pleasant business.
He had shut himself mp in the % m, and
The house was az silent as a tomb, and al.
most fancied for moment that was in a
tomb, and buried alive with corpse.
PAINTING THE PICTURE
am not quite so sure that fellow inclined
10 be nervous at that sort OF thing might not
ave been seized with panic at the idea OF
being thus left alone TO draw a dead woman's
portrait. For myself, though. must own l
rather preferred the company OF the corpse 70
that Of the maniac lover. / was not quite sure
that he might not suddenly take itinto his head
that had in some manner injured him, and
plunge hat dagger into me, the handle Of which
i had caught glimpse of.
applied myself now seriously TO the work
i had before me- and drew with all my might.
Very soon j had sketched the face and finished
the hair. The picture was atolerable likeness.
and have il now at home, where the curious
can see il on application; but IL is very corpse
like. Without being told, one might have sup
posed that IL was pos thumous portrait.
II was TO remove this ghastiness that slight
ly tinted the lips and cheeks, but as wanted
10 paint the eyes, i CURED to know what color
The eyes really We're. The lover was not 1T
hand TO interrogate upon the subject The only
way left me was 10 gently raise one of the eye.
lids, and look at the pupil.
! hardly liked the Job, though. In The first
place did not relish the notion Of touching the
dead flesh. III the second, was fearful lest
my passionate friend should return, and find
me in the act. Thirdly, / was afraid tina, ne
might find ont afterwards that the body had
been touched, even if he did not surprise me.
thought, with shudder, that might Go:,
perhaps, ne able 10 close the lid again when
once had raised II. waited, therefore, q long
time, Until the irkscmeness of the DELAY be-
came absolutely unbearable, hoping that The
stranger would return.
Then ] rose and drew near the face /
stretched forth my hand, with the intention Of
touching one of the eyes, and the mex: moment
started back, struck dumb with horror. For,
as i stretched out my fingers, one OF the ewes,
without my having touched il, opene slowly
under my hand, and stared straight at me; while
j, in my turn, stared straight back st the eve,
my nanQ SLlll spread IN the air, as though j
had been suddenly petrified to r stone. As
was endeayoring 10 reconcile the horrible oc.
currence with any law OF nature l could call
TO mind, the second eye slowly opened in like
manner, and stared at me also
Upon my SOUL in all my life never remem.
Der TO have felt such nervous shock as a. tina:
moment. was so startled-so taken back-so
utterly pros trated with terror-that for an in
slant verify believe my heart ceased to beat
and my blood 10 circulate. II was only for an
instant, though, and then reason came to my
aid. i saw that the eyes were not glazed.
knew that the woman was alive. understood
that she had been in q trance, and had been so
buried
Without being in the least able 10 account
for so doing, or 10 restrain the strange impulse
which tempted me, j fell back into my char
and burst out laughing Historically.
Then aroused by the sound, the womaa heav-
ed a deep drawn sigh, raised herself upon her
couch, and sat shivering and looking round her
with scared, white face.
j hardly knew what ought to do, though
what dreaded most was the mans return, for
j felt certain that the effect of this unexpected
sight upon him would be terrible. No; must
see him first, and 10 the best OF my power pre-