Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-07-03

. your fingers with the venomous thorns,
feel their sickly contents bursting in the
wrong place and oozing out over your
snowy wristbands! this is an amount of
: downright misery for which the fruit has
no compensation. But for that violet
i eyed vision in Grape and lilies. what
: would | not have, gone throughl So.
; drawing off my gloves and taking small
pen-khife from my pocket, knelt down
! beside the bushes and began picking the
! plump ripe berries and giving them to
! my fair enslaver, with much satisfac-
, ton lsi1 $50" rsI27i iHs-.t 9s'h5 .77ih.
, Tplueked and cut, She ate, the emonot
ony of the proceedings being relieved
by some delicious pauses, in which our
eyes and hands would meet, and our
! hearts thrill with mutual sympathy. Ia
my entranced state forgot the young
lady's caution, and gathered the fruit
heedlessly, enough :, y,-T s.l.1-,, 81.
Deuce take the things!' I exelaim-
ed, as the sharpest of pointed blades
stuck deep into my finger; and thinking
we had had enough of gooseberry pick
ing for the present 1 rose from my, labors
and gave the last few i gathered to my
, companion, who was standing against a
, small fruit tree by my side. in doing
SO, ardrep of blood fell from my cut fin
ger on the little white hand held out, to
! receive my Offering s4a % vlims. e. 1
The moon was shining more brightly
than ever, and lit up the whole scene
with the clearness of day. The girl cast
her eyes to her hand, and marked the
crimson stain glistening there in the
mellow light O.. zes lsi a-E sa. ~,
Good God What is it? Why did
my, blood suddenly freeze within me |?
What was this awful terror which was
taking possession of me Why did her
eyes changeland her mouth lose its lovely
expression in those fierce, unnatural
lines2 Why is her small hand rigid
with rage as she points to the hateful
stain 2 | know not. 1 know and feel
nothing but frantic wish to run-to
run from this awfal spectre, standing in
the moonlight by the dark green apple
tree. see the froth seething through
the pale lips, the wild roll of the ferce
eyes, the livid pallor of the fair cheeks.
hear her shrill scream of triumph
as she q sees and seizes the small
knife glittering ON the ground, where
3 1 had dropped it, and with supernat.
ural will lift my feet, which seemed
rooted to the earth, and run-run for
dear life. Il hear still ringing on my ear
that fearful burst of unnatural, dreary
laughter, bubbling from her lips-the
sharp hysterieal animal-hke cry of
'fBlood! Blood!" and the swift light
steps of pursuit. / know not which way
to turn, when 1 suddenly think of the
gate, and rush in that direction. I hear
her steps gaining rapidly upon me; feel
her hot breath upon my neck as turn
the corner and see the gate at the end of
the walk. 1 fly like the wind. Shall l
reach the gate in time? 1t may be lock-
ed, think. No, mercyl it is ajar. 1 am
just through when with savage yell and
cat-like spring she is upon me. zsV a.o
l feel her iron grasp upon my throat,
and my heart stands still with terror. A
passing cloud had obscured The moon,
, and now felt more than saw the ghosts
I ly shimmering of her white dress, the
faint, distorted outlines of her. terrible
face, and the convulsive strainings of her
frame. think of the knife-nay, feel
its sharp point touching, wounding my
cheek. With sudden, desperate effort
I shake off theparalysis of terror which
is freezing my blood dtoice. and with all
the strength i am master of,wrench my
self free from her murderous grasp, and,
seizing her wrists, fling her violently,
savagely from me. She falls. 1t is no
time for qualms; and / rush on, bleeding
and breathless, through the gate, up the
walk, over lawn and fower-bed, straight
to the open window of the ballroom.
As reach the terrace hear the gate
open and my pursuer's rapid footsteps on
the gravel path. l have only time to
wrap my handkerchief around my bleed
ing hand and enter the ballroom, when
she rushes after me with the spring of a
tiger, shrieking, foaming lips, the same
fearful cry of ;"Blood! blood % -, -
-Four of the muscular attendants seize
the 1.-THE, struggling figure of the poor
maniac-for maniac She was-and bear
her, in spite of her terrible shrieks out
of the apartment .',..,i
"I'll never come to these asylum balls
again" said a nervous, corpulent old
gentleman, who had been a near witness
to the scene. "I thought these violent
ones were never allowed to, be present.
{ | shallIsee after my carriage at once
Too bad-too bad !''t00ie 5suGi- 3 ssl "A
I understood it all now. The little
practical joke, SO pleasantly arranged
by my friends in the morning, was to
take me unwittingly to this annual asy-
lum ball, that they might extract little
fun out of me-amuse themselves in
fact, at my freshness and innocent mis-
takes. / went up1to them, and was on
the point of seeking an explanation of
the whole business, when stopped short
For the frsttime in his life Osborne was
not up to taunt or a sneer. His lips
were bloodless, his whole aspect that of
a man shocked to his very marrow; and
as 1 reached him he fell senseless to the
ground.
The unhappy girl I had so strangely
met was his sister-the only being he
had ever reallyloved. la III. i',-.. ~
was, as may be imagined, much
shaken by what L had gone through,
and / saw the last of my friend Os-
borne when left him safe at his cham
bers on that eventful July evening.