The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-12-02
Volume ll-No. 28.

| iumh darkness whore 1t lay--m,
Tread companion through the watch
es OF The night. lpictured itin every
Iabhorrent form which all excited fan.
Icy could summon up: now as a skele.
ton, with hollow eve holes and grin.
ming fieshless jaws; now as vampire
with livid face and bloatcd form, and
dripping mouth wet with blood
Would it never be light And yet
when day should dawn, / should he
forced to see IL face to face. | had
heard that spectre and fiend were
compelled to fade rs morning bright.
ened, but this creature was too real
too foul a thing of earth, to vanish
at cock. crow. No! | should see it
the horror-face to face! And then
the cold prevailed, and my teeth chat.
tered, and shiverings ran through me-
and yet there was the damp of agony
, on my bursting brow. Some instinct
lm0dc me snatch at o shawl or cloak
that lay on q chair within reach, and
wrap it round me. The moan was
renewed. and the chain just stirred
Then | sank into apathy, like an In.
dian at the stal G, in the intervals of
torture. Hours 1ed by, and l re.
mained like y statue Of ice, rigid and
mute. | even slept, far 1 remember
that / started to hnd the cold gray
light of an early Winters day was on
my face, and stealing around the room
from between the heavy curtains Of
the wincow.
Shudde.ing, but urged by the i'm
pulse that rivets the gaze of the bird
upon the snake, I turned to see the
Horror Of the night. Yes, 1t was no
ievered dream, no hallucmation OF
sickness, no airy phantom unable to
face the dawn In the sickly light |
saw it lying on the bed, with its grim
head on the pillow, A manY Or a
corpse arisen from its unhallowed
RGhat2G RGGHYsat 29q3t i awqtjs thffa @emp2 2attaRRat ttaRRat
gigantic form, wasted to n skeleton,
half clad, foul with dust and clotted
gore, its huge limbs flung upon the
couch rs il at random, its shaggy hair
streaming over the pillows like a
lions mauo. lis face was toward me.
Oh, the wild hllcOusuess Of that face,
even in sleep! In features it was hu-
man, even through It's horrid mask OF
mud and halr-dried bloody gouts, but
? the expression was british and saw
agclv fierce; the white teeth were
visible between the parted lips, in q
malignant grin; the tangled hair and
beard were missed in leouine confu-
, sion, and there were scars disligurin.
/, the brow Rouud the creature wai-
/ was a ring OF iron, to which was ut
] tached . heavy but broken chain
| the chain had heard clankng. Witt
a second glance l noted that part o
= the chain was wrapped in straw tC
) prevent its CALLING the wearer. The
| creature--l cannot call il man -ha,
= the marks Of letters on its wrists, til,
= bony arm that protruded through on,
+. tattered sleeve was SCARED and bruis
\ ed; the feet were bare, and lacerateC
: by pebbles and briers, and one o
. them was wounded, and wrapped il
= morsel of rag. And the lean hands
one of which held my sleeve, wer
1 armed with talons like an eagle S.
t was in the grasp of n madman -
n Better the phantom that scarcs th
O sight than the wild beast that rend
/ and tears the quivering hesh--th
5 pitlcss human brute that has no hear
= 10 be solteued, no reason at who's
r bar to plead, no compassion, naugh
o otman save tue form and the cunning
A ! gasped in terror All! the myster
y OF those ensanguined fingers, thos
!. CORY wolfsh jaws! that face, all be
S smoarcd with blackening blood, i
!. revealed!
G The slain sheep, so mangled an
G rent---tAe fantastic butchery th
4 print OF the naked foot-all, all wer
/ explained; and the chain, the broke
: link Of which was found near th
h slaughtered anImals--it came fror
D his broken chain--the chain he la
). snapped, doubtless, in his escape fror
c the asylum where his raging frenz
@ had been tettered and bound. I
= vain in vain All, me! how had thi
L grisly Samson broken manacles m
t prison bars - how had he clude
p. guardian and keeper and n hostil
d world, and come hither on his viii
}. way, hunted like beast Of prey, an
O snatchins his hideous banquet like
Y beast of prey, to2 Yes, through til
/ tatters OF his mean and ragged gar
: l could see the marks OF the seYeri
q ties, cruel and foolish, with which me
a in that time tried to tame the NIGH
G ofmadness. The scourge-its mark
4 were there, and the scars Of the har
}. iron letters, aud many a cicatrice an
K welt, that told dismal tale Of hars
4 usage. But now he was loose, tre
to play the hrute-the baited, tortuI
o ed brute that they had made him
/. now without the cage, and ready I
n glOat over the victims his streugt
l should oyerpower, Horrog! horror
f | was the prey--the victim-alread,
/ in the tigers clutch; and y dcadl.
N sickness came over me, and the iro
e entered into ny soul, and logged t
scream, and was dumb! | died
thousand deaths as that awful morn
q ing wore on. dared not Faint. Blu
words cannot paint what | suffered
I as | waited-waited till the momen
-, when he should omen his ewes and b,