Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1864-04-07

~"SSo', anu uciu ~ DtiOr6 nv eyes.
Mls face was ashy pale, his lips livid-
Inc room seemed whirling around me, but
still l had power to listen.
"Fear not" he said, 81 would not touch
a hair Of your head with these pollutipe
hands. You, who have never known siS
nor sorrow like mine, can dream not Of
the hell which is raging in my BOSOM
You would save me l read it in yow
voice, your eye; but no! Hear me !'' and
his voice sank to hoarse whisper. ~
have sold myself to the devil-sold myseE
body and soul. They tore her from me.
and y, lady, she was beautiful--more
beautiful than you can dream Of They
tore her from me, ana carried her, God
knows whittier. Then the world grew
black, black /! They tortured me tor
tured me till | knew nothing,-not even
my great sorrow. What followed cam
not tell but one night | remember my
chains we're taken from me- Oh! what a
night was that. The great, sleeping world
before me, vengeance and despair at nv
heart. 1t was wild night, ha ha for
flung away my soul !
DO you see this dagger2 plunged it
into his bosom that wild night. This
polnt-do you see it 2-it drank his hearts
blood !! Oh how he plead for mercy;
but had sworn that he should die.
even laughed as | drove the fatal steel
into his bosom. Did he think that | could
suffer that demon outrage, and leave to
Heaven its vengeance IL, with the same
blood in my veins as his 2
His father loved me, called me his plo.
rious boy, and sent me to schools, the
proudest in your land. 1t was worse than
madness. He might better have set me
at work with his lowest slave for the
learning ne gave me has proved but a
curse-bltter, bitter. You know the rest,
Again he paused, and silence fell between
US. Twice tried to speak, but no words
came. Oh that i might but save him
save him from himself. AT last spoke,
scarcely knowing what said:
SO, sir do pity you, from my soul
pity you"
''Yes, as you pity the victim at the
stake, the wretch at the gailows.n
There was irony in his words, but no
bitterness in his tone.
"Plty spurned it once, and must die
as have lived. O, Death They tell
me thy waters are cold--thy waves run
mountain high, but / fear thee not. 7
have fought with earth's pillows, | can
fight with thine.'@ I'D
His head dropped upon his hands, his
eyes ofoso1s, and ho sssnaad IN Gloon
How tearfully still was the room naught
save the ticking Of the old clock on the
mantel piece to break the silence. Even
the tempest outside, like the wild, warning
passions within, was still.
1t may have been FIVE minutes, it NAV
have been ten, it seemed much longer.
when the sleeper stirred uneasily, grOan
broke from his lips, and be started wildly to !
his feet. There was fierce stare to bis ewes.
terrible fear seemed cutching at his heart.
"They are after me the fierce blood
hounds !" he shriaked ssOh save her.
save her for whom would have died.n
|, too, arose. Strange that | felt SO
little dread. / even laid my hand upon
his arm, and said:
'Slr, there is nothing to fear, there are
none to harm YOU q
de grew calmer, and when he spoke
the wild light was gone from his eye, but
his voice was very low, very broken.
Lady, know not who you are 1t
matters not. Harsh, defiant as | have
seemed, do thank you for your pity.
your sympathy. To you only have I told
the story of my sorrows. 1t is dark
story; forget it. Only tell me, was tit
the dagger's work, the black sin, that /
have dreamed it? Is there mercy for
such as ~ ~.
strove to answer calmly, e
"lf you have sipned, God is greater
than your sin; If you repent, Jesus may
say to you, as He said to the penitent of y
old, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise 10
He grasped my hand, then drawing
from his bosom miniature q
Take it," he said, 81 thought to have
buried 1t with me, but it is better thus
You will look upon it sometimes, and shed, :
perhaps, a tear over the two lives thus
wrecked and wretched. Farewell! The
sands are almost out | shall sleep to- +
night aye !-seepr' =. at
| would have stayed him, but he was
gone. | opened the miniature. The face s
was young and girlish, and oh, SO won
drously beautiful. The figure was kneeL
ing, the hands clasped. Sweet, trusting
maiden The deflements of earth may have
ouched thy garments, but thy soul is white.
The clock struck twelve as | threw my
'elf down to rest, but could not sleep.
md was glad when the morning came.
Two days after a body was found in the
leep recesses of the wood. 1t was cold,
lfeless. The coroner's verdict was brief n
-"Dled from exposure" -
The stranger was buried in the village
hurch- h-yard, and there was one, at least,
o shed a tear over his memory. There is
10 stone to mark his last resting place, h'
lot even flower, for had he not told me
hat he hated even Gods flowers? The
,rass grows green above it, and the berries :
f the bitter-sweet flush and pale. They
eemed some way meet emblenls, for Bit =
er indeed had been his life-sweet, dared y
o hope was the "rest," knowing that God
eeth not as man seeth.