The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-02-01

snU their ungueAts and charms at the
| rorv snot. and the Sabbaths that were oc
| cas;onally held there. Although Gilles W,
snvthinr but courageous, still ne Wa ~
inch in love that he accepted the .o nr
/ nd promised TO fulfil them witnous sHys
ANYTHING about them TO any one: shat g
s a' cnmsnrted himself by thinking tnst II
n nc If sinister looking and grotesqueiy.
s."a norsonapes had been seen there IL
u,;nht after ali have been gipsies, with
mhon, Al that epoch, the forests OF Luxem-
hnro and Limburg were infested. :.
About n quarter Of an hour afterward
wenceslas Stroobant came In his turn.
Gertrude received him very graciously.
He was handsome, and he was rich; and,
vain of these two advantages, he was not
wanting in self-sufficiency.
cit Is not your fortune that tempts me-"
said Gertrude.
Wenceslas made a bow, and then pulled
himself up in the attitude Of man VINO
says to himself, 81 understand we nave
ether attractions"
| "My heart is totally disinterested," con-
tinued Gertrude, "and / will willingly
give YOU my hand If you will render me a
service which shall prove to me your
worth"
"Speak," said the handsome young man
al am at your orders in all matters"
ain that case it is my duty to inform
YOU that one of our relativeshas been killed
in a duel. Active steps are being taken 10
secure him a respectable interment. In
the mean time his body lies near where ne
was slain, in the old Roman tomb. AS TINS
sepulchre is much exposed, | would ask
YOU to 60 there at half-past 8 this eve
ming"
@What to the tomb where the witches
hold their Sabbath What fancy
"What are you afraid I"
81 am not afraid. But what ; strange
commission you give me-"
GA fancy, perhaps, as you say. Yet l
cannot intrust the execution of 1T to any
one who is not devoted to me. No one
must know this mystery. Go there, then,
at halfpast 8, disguised like an angel OF
light, with torch in your hand. The
tales which are connected with the tomb
will serve your purpose. Seeing you
seated at the foot of the sepulchre, those
| who might have entertained the project of
| robbing the dead will be terrified, and no
one will come near. Do you agree -
al agree" said Wenceslas, terrified at
the idea of the commission, but still more
terrified at the idea of losing his mistress.
"You come back at midnight. But not
a word of what has been said: that is the
price of my hand"
Wenceslas, sitting his nocturnal appre-
tensions, swore that he would be discreet
that he would be at his post at half-paSt y,
and that he would keep such good watch
over the dead that not even the bats should
come near.
A very brief time had elapsed before
Lambert van Moll made his appearance
also to pay his homage. He was young
barrister, of whose future the whole town
predicted the greatest things.
"If it is true that you love me" said the
coquette, 81 wish to have proof of it.
Neighbors whom you know, and who are
our enemies, wish to annoy us. To do
this, they have put dead body into the
Roman tomb which belongs to the family.
wish the body to be removed-a thing
that you can easily do.'
eli" exclaimed Lambert, taken aback.
eyes, you. | know that you are
courageous"
"That is true; but you give me so ridi-
culous commission"
"There will, in all probability, be no.
thing but children there to watch the
corpse tonight. To drive them away,
blacken your face, make yourself as ugly
as YOU are handsome in fact, disguise your
self as demon. 1t is ridiculous COM
mission, if you like; but go to the tomb at
10 o'clock, carry away the corpse, bring 1t
here, and expect everything from my gra-
titude."
"Lambert Won Mol felt, after all, that it
was not too much to do TO win so fair q
person as Gertrude so, like the other two,
he promised punctuality and discretion.
Sipismond de Vletter came in his turn
tn nav his respects to Gertrude. But
when, doing as she had done with the
Others, she proposed to him to play hispart
in the projected comedy, he replied that
he was at her orders in all serious mat
tiers, but not for absurdities childish acts,
he said, should be left for children to do.
The coquette, finding him so little amena-
BILE, dropped the subject.
In the mean time, at o'clock precisely,
GILES Colin arrived at the Roman sepul-
chre. He had taken little lantern with
him, and it shook in his hand, partly be-
cause the night was very cold, partly from
other causes. After looking cautiously
around, in the tomb and in every bush, he
stretched himself out full length in the
tomb, drew a sheet over him from feet to
head, fastened it with napkins round his
neck and waist, and then blowing out the
light, delivered himself up to his refcc-
tions, which were anything but Of an agree
able character.
Half an hour had barely elapsed before
he became sensible of the sound Of foot
steps coming in his direction. lie raised
his head and saw a mysterious phantom,
clothed in long silver-white robe, with
blue band, the head covered with golden
stars, and the shoulders loaded with two
pieces of muslin, which foated like wings.
The apparitiou held q lighted torch in its
hand. Poor GILES, who had not antici-
pated such a vision, sunk down to the bot
tom of the sarcophagus, and covered his
head with the sheet.
"Is it an angel :" he said to himself.
But the angel coughed. 1t is not an in
habitant of Heaven" he added. If it is
one of the people who hold Sabbath here,
/ shall come off badly"
The angel, on its side, did not appear to
be quite at his ease. He cast side glance
at the sheet that covered the body, but did
not seem at all inclined to examine it more
closely. With his torch in his hand, he at
length seated himself at the foot of the
sarcophagus; and it was lucky that it was
of solid stone, or each party would have
been aware that the other was shaking
violently. The cold that had at first mani
tested itself by a slight cough now got up
to Wenceslas's head, and he sncezed twice.
Not being able to get a. his 'kerchief, ne
/ up;pod Ia, pnoo NTH ono 80 b,c yvipoc