Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-23

should not life be- tal1enfor alife?1{ fr8f |
emil Irepeated, slowly. |
His eyes glittered1ikei phosphorus as he |
nodded his head inreplya9 4jain3i.i 3tiu |
sd%Whatido you T6ean2Y3 GsasG .1.3r'rH-lE |
THAT your liie,is forfeited for Emme- |
line's.": ,1t9elead- ies8 .aaf;e4s..U ofu; |
are you mad PSI .1s a.s3Fis 3.ti ia. i9 |
a"Possibly i may be, but that is fereign to
the question:. .;gs aal - I |
."Oh, come, you are joking,pI exclaimed, |
doing my bestto be jocular, but am sadly
afraid failing lamentably in the attempt |
t"My good sir, was never more in ear
pestlin my life. have sworn that / will
exact a terrible vengeance onyou abd----'
-'Stay, stay,'I cried, s'you are going on
too quickly. If you are out of your mind
you are not so bad as to be deaf the voice
OF reason.ba bG5- Ii 500 uBF aTTy' 191s |
snake haste. j must have your life, and
yet-no. Speak; say what yDu have to say.
[ will. play cat. and mouse with you.n sGV
Filling the tnmbler to the brim with
wine he emptied il at a draught, and l, ex-
hausted and feeling iri'need of some stim-
ulant, made bold enough to follow his ex-
ample, to which he did not object. He
Lcontented himself with. watching me as a
lynx watches anything. His eye. restless
as a comet moving in an eccentric orbit
followed my every action.o He was evil
IDENTIFY prepared to spring upon me if l
made the slightest ATTEMPT to escape.
The generous wine warmed my blood,
and raised my spirits. l became more cour-
ageous, though / was yerJsill at ease.
Setting the glass down on the table, lex
claimed, ''You seem to forget, Mr.. Barring
ton, that If you took my life, as you jest
ingly threaten---''', ,f.f.s. ...,i....... .-3t
II am not jesting,n he calculated. ,-.I
"The law would take yours" continu-
ed, unheeding the interruption. y.,.irr,I
Il rather doubt that" -,;d - i.alIc,,
"Why so ?" .r... .l.'fl .fz3s,-l,.iy-
Because being thoroughly wrefched and
miserable, shall save the law the trouble.'
A hollow laugh sounded through the
room. ~ .-i.i-ls .-.-s,.,
"Are you tired of your lifeP'' asked.
sTired (? Yes; more than tired. What
have to bind me to this world now that
Emmeline is gone? l would rather dare
| the dangers I know nothing of that may
await me in another world than drag on a
weary and miserable existence in this vale
/ of tears" -asr p co. ..T.,.
Rising put on my hat, and buttoned up
my coat as if preparing to depart. Re
marking this, Mr.. Burlington, rolling his
lElynx-like ewes, said in an authoritative tone,
4 "Sit down." -.;l5 orr. 80. -.g.... e.F.
"You really must excuse me-" replied.
"EXcuse you? Why?"s ..,..,I-lj.l
"I cannot wait any longer. My wife ex
poets me to supper. A little matter of a
Welsh rabbit-that's all; but would rather
not keep it and her waiting" ..-. --
L
, thy. Such is your idea of prudence and
J grammatical sequence" he, Observed
'.Were L married, l should speak of my
wife before L should speak of cheese toast
| ed in barbarous and peculiar manner; but
let that pass. I am censorious in my man
ner tonight, and perhaps talk at random
: The fact is, I can only think of one thing
sThat is I ventured to remark. ~
: 'sThat is-death!" ..l., ST.. E. ...,..
"Well, must wish you good night. sir
r I resumed. THANK you for your Kindness
l ''Sit down." he thundered. 7,---z.-zs
: Imoved quickly toward the door, utterly
) regardless of his command. -P
5 just as my hand clutched the handle, and
1 was 5congratulating myself upon my
courage, thinking l was likely to escape
!, from this den of insanity and haunt of &
!, palpable madman, heavy hand fell upor
: my shoulder. 30
a With a bound like that of an antelope
g Mr.. Darlington was upon me, and as If
i had been a lamb in the jaws of tiger
d was hurled to the ground.
o Extracting a coil of rope from his pocket
he bound my arms tightly behind my back
: and then placed tne near the wall, so that
could sit up without any trouble and see al
: that was taking place. .r
: ''Now you recognize the fact of my being
L in earnest?" " he said. g. = IL r4
i was too much shocked and alarmed tC
T make any reply. .-.,
i Look he continued, stretching fortl
: his arm. sLook at that barrel-wha
o think You it contains You make m,
n answer, Shall tell you what 1T contaius o
yes" said, with my eyes riVeted upol
S the barrel.
: Gunpowder!" a'o 90
t This was all that fell from his lips; bu
e had he given utterance to a whole dictlon'
n ary of words he could not have Impressed
s me more. -...- ..,.i5.-, s....;.;..,.. .l.t.-.
/ Taking a hammer and chisel from unde
d a chair where he had previously deposited
e them, he commenced knocking Oft the liz
: of the cask, which operation did not tax
t him long.
Throwing the pieces Of broken wood oi
!! one side, he displayed quantity of fin
:, powder, such as is called diamond-graIne'
: in the trade. .-... r..L
e From the mantlepiece he took sinal
! taper, made of blue wax, and CAREFUL!
d lighted it with a match.
II This he placed with the utmost care i
= the very middle of 1.-THE cask of powder
}. standing it up in the midst of the highl.
k infiammable material, whose power TO bloV
e us all into the air in few seconds, an
! bring the'house in tremendous ruins abou
= our ears, did not doubt for moment.
Then he sat down complacently in hi
g armchair and began to smoke a cigar.
It NV feelings may be imagined, but L Zee
d itdifficult to describe them. =,
'e The smallest space in the power of tn
)f agination to compass divided etern1t
n and myself. -H." ir1l-
If macteric might be precipitated by tn
1T spluttering of the candle, faint breez
It an obstruction in the wax, an accidents
It stumble, would, one and all, occasion ou
! destruction.
yI "You see how completely you are in m
e., power" he said. In half an hour at tn
3 utmost we shall quit this world, and solv
) the great secret of human existence. If
is am weary with waiting, 1 can, by castin
is nv cigar into the powder, hurry on the ent
= and supply a sensation paragraph for til
r. morning papers, though l don't suppos
Y the public would care much more ABOUT n
than they would about postman. The II
terest would be in the manner of our deatl
e, the romance attendant upon it, the UTE
I'd dismemberment of the bodies, the tindin
ut of an arm now and leg then, and all th'
s. sort of thing"
y, "If your Object is to frighten me-" sai
I'd must congratulate ynuupon succeedinn;
s. but don't you think the joke has gone f;
enough, sir?"
pit "It will 60 further yet"
mt Looking at the candle, saw there VIZ
in about an inch or an inch and half left.
Sc z" "Have you no regard Tor your own life!
ps "None whatever" was the cool reply.
en 1t was madness to reason with man WI
argued in that way.
hit So made up my mind that there WI
he nothing but death5before me.
he = had only one hope.
its My wife might by some possibility a
us rive. and in some strange way bring su
?'' cor, though no decided dependence was
ed be placed upon her help.
y, The flying minutes passed swiftly; tt
skeleton clock on the mantlepiece chime
the hour of eleven.
el- L counted each tick-tick of the swingir
ce pendulum, and wondered why only six
he went to aminute. My eyes wandered fro
lat the clock to the taper, which was now bur-
Id ing dangerously low.