Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-05-09
Between her past and future, great gulf had
truh yawned Hencefbrth, she must act.
Kill.
EATING THE DUMB CAKE,


i Kill
/ i EATING THE DUMB CAKE.
lie festivities at Hadden were drawing to
clos The guests had exhausted every species o
amrsement, and were about to separate.
j One ceremony only remained-the Eating o
1 |AsDunb Cake.
), his singular rite If we may call it such -has
|bee, from time immcmorial, popular amusemen
wild young people in the Colony. The object o
thaoeremony was to ascertain the personal appear
lane of a maiden future husband and to achiev,
thi coveted end, solemn and mysterious device
wee resorted TO- First, bucket was filed from
th mystic locality where three streams met, ant
tbs was placed in the chamber of the young lad!
wb would make the essay. Upon retiring, sh,
INST dof the garment nearest her person, dip the
triAtsleeve in the water and placing it upon
hair, fix her eyes upon it when the clock strucl
, Midnight.
The figure of the future husband was sure tt
apear from the folds of the garment, and the fu
tie thus lie patent to the eyes of the maiden.
j Such was the ceremony called, for some un
Eown reason, Eating the Dumb Cake.
The merry guests unanimously fixed upon Homo
n for the present occasion. She was little in the
bmor, however, for amusement, ut the moment
I'D at first refused. This refusal was not listened
IL The gay crowd protested agrinst her indiffer
|ece to the important result, and declared thai
se "must be engaged to somebody without hel
lfher's consent" or she would never be so obsti
lpte.
} At these words, Honoria gave sudden start
sd the little maiden who had uttered the words
ded out and clapped her hands in triumph, ad
mg that the only proof which she could give o.
DIR being ''in maiden meditation fancy free, u
IOuld be- compliance with the wishes Of the COM
Ieny.
Honoria, fearful of discovery, and caring little
If the idle ceremony, which was easily complied
Eth, thereupon consented; and the night prece'
ing the departure of the guests was fixed upon.
The merry crowd had their last dance together
Ia the appointed evening, and many jests were ut
lred at the expense of the heroine Of the night.
lhe party was all the more merry, from the fact
hat violent storm was raging fearfully without,
ind the old negro fiddler sawed away at his instru,
bent with happy consciousness that he was 'in
rht of the weather." with smoking supper in
be distance.
\ As the night advanced, Honoria appeared IRA
lonally gay. She Joined in the dance the war Of
'Fords, and the general meriment with unusual
'pirit Something feverish might, it is true, have
seen perceived in her voice and gestures, but no
,,ne stopped to regard her. The youthful compa-
by were determined, apparently, to end their frolc
with unabated gaiety.
The hour of eleven finally arrived, and every
one, weary of the revel separated for the night
Many jests were uttered at the expense Of Homo
Tia, and when she retired alone to the chamber
fixed upon as the scene of the ceremony, the SOM
bre silence grew oppressive She felt that the
wild merrilnent which she had taken part in, had
oyertaxed her strength; and as she now sat by the
blazing wood fire, and leaning her head pensivey
upon her hand, listened to the roar Of the storm
without, profound lassitude, the result Of reac-
ton after excitement, seized upon her. Her nerves
had been too violently agitated, and she trembled
at every sound.
As her eyes fell upon the bucket, filed with wa,
ter by a ready-handed and superstitious maid ser
want, from a spot on the Haddon estate where
three rivulets met she realized, for the first time,
the meaning of the ceremony-half grotesque-
which she had undertaken to perform. On that
,,;olt she acas to see the form, Of lerJ future husband
and the face of Edmund rose to her mind, and
made her blush crimson. Could any other person
ever sustain toward her. that most sacred relation
Was it within the bounds of possibility, that any
other human being could be her husbands At the
very thought, the cheek, which had Redeemed so
impulsively, as quickly grew pale; and the young
girl sat, like marble statue, staring at the tall
andirons whose grinning heads seemed laughing
at and mocking her.
By degrees, the nervous agitation which had sue
ceeded the wild gaiety of the drawing room, deep,
ened. The storm roared with a fury far more SOM
bre and appalling than before; the shadows assum.
ed more threatening shapes, and at every sound
the young girl started, looking around, and shud'
dering.
This nervous excitement finally grew so power
full that she scarcely dared to move. With a trem-
bling frame and coorless cheeks she listened fear,
fully: and once she almost screamed aloud, tor
low painful breathing seemed to issue from the
great white bed, which, with its spectral curtains,
d drawn together like shroud, alternately appeared
and disappeared as the freight leaped aloft or died
away. The breathing had scarcely ceased when
another sound of terror was presented to her. The
dark -browed scowling portrait of an old ancestor
lust above the mantelpiece, seemed suddenly en-,
dowed with life, and the cruel, stony eyes, were
plainly eyes of flesh and blood, which gittered as
they were fixed upon her, with heartless triumph
in her agony. As she looked, the eyes became
more threatening and fierce, the heavy moustache
curled alot, the white sharp teeth grinned at her.
and the form seemed on the point Of stepping from
the frame into the chamber.
Honoria started and rose to her feet, trembling
violently. Her fear had reached its climax; and
she felt that unless she disspated the influence clos
ing round her, she might faint from terror. She
thought of calling for assistance, but the fury Of
the storm now spending its last strength, would
render her voice inaudible; and she shrank from
such an exhibition Of weakness.
No, she would not become the laughing stock Of
the crowd she would perform the ceremony, and
90 quietly to sleep. If she really thought there
was more than foolish jest in it, she would not
thus tempt Providence was only jest, and she
would play it to the end.
"I am no longer child I must prove myself a
woman." she murmured for his sake, if not for
my own!'
And partly disrobing herself, the young lady
placed the snowy garment upon the chair before
=, c., frst d;nnino tho ripht sleeve in the mys-