The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1868-02-20

When it was completed, the per-
fidious Tolli, more devil than man,
who conducted me hitler one morn
ing, to be witness, rs he said of its
perfection, doomed me to- be the,
first victim of my own prenicious
skill; lest as he declared, 1 should
divulge the secret, or repeat the eff
fort ofiny ingenuity. May God par
don him as l hope he will me, that
ministered to his unhallowed pur-
pose! Miserable wretch, L whoe'er
thou art, that readest5 these lines
fall On thy knees, and invoke, as
have done, His sustaining mercy,
who alone can nerve thee to meet the
vengeance ofTolfi,. armed with his
tremendous engine, which in few
hours must crush you, as it will the
needy wretch who made it,, ~
A deep groan burst from Viven-
zio. He stood like one transfixed,
with dilated eyes, expanded nostrils
and quiyering lips, gazing at. this
fatal inscription. It was as if a
voice from the sepulcher had SCUM
ded in his ears. "Prepare n'4' Hope
forsook him. There was his sen
tence, recorded in those dismal
words. The future stood unveiled
before him, CHASTITY and appalling.
His brain already feels the descend
ing horror-his bones seem to crack
and erumble in the mighty grasp of
the iron walls! Unknowing what it
is he does, he fumbles in his gar
ment for some weapon of self de-
struction. He clenches his throat in
a convulsive grip, as though he
would strangle himself at once He
stares upon the walls, and his war
ring spirit demands: "sWiIl they
not anticipate their office if I dash
my head against them p An hys
terical laugh chokes him as he ex-
claims: "Why shenld T.? He was
but man who died first in. their
embrace; and I should be less than
man not to do as much p 3
| The evening sun was descending
and Vivenzo beheld its golden beams
streaming through one of the win.
dows. What thrill of joy shot
through his soul at the sight. It was
a precious link, that united him, fol
the moment, with the world beyond
There was ecstacy in the thought
AS he gazed, long and earnestly, i
seemed as if the window had lower
ed sufficiently for him to reach them
With one bound he was beneath
them-with one wild spring he, clun9
to the bars. Whether it was 81
contrived, purposely to madden will
delight the wretch who looked, HI
knew not; but, at the extremity of
long vista, cut through the solis
rocks, the ocean, the sky, the set
ting sun, olive groves, shady walks
and, in the farthest distance, deiic
ious glimses of magnificent Sicily
burst upon his sight, How zexqnis
ite was the cool breeze as it swept a
cross his cheek loaded with fra
, GRANGE He inhaled it as though i
were the breath Of continued life
And there was a freshness in th
landscape, and in the ripping of th
calm, green sea, that fell upon hi
, withering heart like dew upol
I the parched earth. How he ga
! zed, and painted, and still clung t.
) his hold! sometimes hanging b,
, enc hand, sometimes by. the othel
and then grasping the bars with botf
as 10th to quit the smiling paradis
; outstretched before him till e1
p hausted, and his hands swollen an
benumbed, he dropped down hell
: less, and lay stunned for consif
: cradle time Ey the fall. ..,s-..E
When he recovered, the gloriou
vision had vanished. He was i
darkness. He doubted whether
! was not a dream that had passed b.
} fore his sleeping fancy; but grae
tally his scattered thoughts returl
, ed, and with them came remen
lbrance. Yes! he had looked ono
again upon the gorgeous splendor G
] nature! Once again his eyes ha
q trembIed beneath their yelled lids, Z
a the SUMS radiance, and sought II
pose in the soft yerdure of the oliy
tree, or the gentle swell of undul:
+ ting waves. o, that he were ma
q, liner, exposed upon those waves t
the worst fury of storm and tempest
9 or a very wretch, leathsome wit
& disease, plague-stricken, and h
= body one leprous centagion fro
crown to sole, hunted forth to gas
r out the remnant; of his infection
life beneath those verdant trees, s
. he might shun the destiny upo
whose edge he tottered! !fR !.easf
q Vain thoughts like these woul
steal over his mind from time
time, in spite of himself but the
q scarcely removed it from that stupt
into which it had sunk, and whie
a kept hin during the whole nigl
like one who had been drugged wit
= opium. He was equally insensib
r to the calls Of hunger and of thir
o though the third day was now con
!. mencing since drop of water ha
passed his lips. He remained o
q the ground, sometimes sitting, som
= times lying, at intervals sleepin
o heavily; and when not sleepin;
silently breeding over what was t
y come, or talking aloud, in disordere
!, speech, of his wrongs, of his friends
a of his home, and Of those he 1ovet
with confused mingling of all. p
r, In this pitiable condition, tn
! sixth and last morning dawned upo
Vivenzio, if dawn it might be calleo
. the dim, obscure light which fain
! ly struggled through the ONE sol
+ tary window of his dungeon. Il
: could hardly be said to notice til
!, melancholy token, And yet he di