The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-05-10
NUNBER Il.
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NELLIE NETTERVMLE;
ONE OF THE TRANsPLANTED.
CHAPTER Iv-coNrr,surp.

CHAPTEH IV-CON1INUGO.
The sudden sound Of z pistol going OF
lions; and with psng Of ildesOrib ablefesr-
and presentiment Of evil ct her heart, she.
stood still It seened To- come from the
grove Of yew-trees round the church, and
was not repeated. Having, asceFtained this
fs Rect Il the sound, her mind in a a perfect
whirl Of fear, and only able to shapo itself
into the one thought, pregnant Of future
evil, that, either by some of her own people,
or by one Of the English soldiers, mnrdsrt
the grove Of yew- trees, she perceived some-
thing like the loose garb of a woman fut-
tering down the path before her, and then
suddenly disappearing behind the tower Of
the little church. She did not dare to call
out but feeling certain that this person
must either have fired the shot herself, or
have seen it fred by some one else, she
qnickened her pace in order to overtake her.
Twilight was already deepening among the
yew-trees; the path, moreover, was over
grown with weeds and brambles, and as
she ran with her eyes fixed on the spot
where the figure had disappeared, she felt
herself suddenly tripped up by some object
lying right before her, and fell heavily
against it. AT the first touch of that UNI
seen something, Q sense of terror, such as
animals are said to be conscious Of in the,
I,Eesence Of their ewn dead, seized upon her
senses, and all the blood was curdling in
her veins as slowly and, with difficulty abe
removed herself from its contact. GEadn-
ally, as abe recovered from the stunning
effects Of her fall, and her eyes grew accus.
on the ground shaped itself into the form
of . human bcing-but of q human being So
still and motionless, that it seemed probable
It was corpse already. Very reluctantly
really extinct; but suddenly discovering
that. she was dabbling it in pool of yet
warm blood, abe withdrew, it with shudder.
My. God my God !" she moaned, /" what
enemy bath done thisf Surely it is ono of
the soldiers from the castle, and they will
accuse our people of the murder! Grant
Heaven, indeed, that they are innocentl,
Would that Hamish were here to help me.
Yet no they would certainly in that case
try to fix the guilt on him. l will go hence
and let them discover it as they can. Yet
what if l should meet themf l am all
dabbled III his gore!'
With new and sharp terror in her
heart, as this thought took possession of it.,
she began hastily to rub her hands in the
moss anu dry leaves around her, in order
to free them from the blood which chung to
them; and she was still engaged in this
rather equivOcal occupation when a stream
OF light was cast ON her from behind, and.
rising suddenly, she found herself face to
face with the officer who bad been left in
command of the garrison of the castle.
Half-a-dozen of his men were at his back,
and by the light Of the lantern, which he
carried, she read in their faces their conyic-
ton of her guilt. At sign from their chief
they surrounded her in awful silence, and
shoulder:
"Murderess! he said, "thou art taken
in thy sin J"
al did it not" cried Mrs. Netterville, go
utterly COMPOUNDED by this terrible accusa-
ton that she hardly knew what she said.
/ ir,nn 1E
this deed"
"Innocent! sayest thou 2" the officer
answered firmly. "Innocent! thou with
his blood red upon thy hands! YEA and
thy very garments clotted in his gore! If
then thou art innocent, as thou wOuldst
have us to believe, say what vert thou
doing in this lonely spot at an hour when
none but the murderer the wanton would
care to be abroad 7"
L was returning from a visit to the SOL
der Jackson visit which, as thou know
est, Master Rippel, 1 pay him every evening
at the hour of dusk and had well-nigh
reached the castle, when hearing q shot in
this direction, and fearing mischief either
for my own people or for thine, came
hither if possible to prevent it,"
"a likely story, truly !" replied the OH
Ger, who, unluckily for her, was one of the
fiercest, if not the saiptliest, of the band of
warriors then domiciled ut the castle.
b" Nay, woman, and for thine own sake hold
thy peace, out of thine own mouth thou
shalt stand presently condemned. For tell
me, my Masters he added, addressing the
other men, I" where will you find woman,
who, hearing shot, and dreading mischief,
would not have fed from the danger, in
stead of incontinentiy rushing, as she would
have MS +" believe sl:c did, into it's very
iaws?"
"Yet have / rushed into the laws of
danger more than already within this
CONTINUED EIGHTH PAGR1 -!}-