The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-07-02

A0hAAN AAAAAf ~ hAaNf
turned my eyes upon the monuments,
almost expecting 10 see a third; but to mg
there were only two. Yet felt the hard
which was clasped in mine grow cold and
rigid, while her for face had become hk,
the marble upon which her eyes were sC
~intently fixed. I strove to draw her from
the window. 1t was impossible. | %entreat
ed her to speak to me. IL was of no avail
Thoroughly alarmed, I said / would cal
Mr.. Pereival.
'Not, no, not himr' she answered, while
a perceptible shudder ran through he1
frame.
But his name had reused her from her
strange lethargy or trance, or whatever II
might have been.
81 was reading the words" she said.
'cwhat words, Marie2" / answered. "You
know the words on the monuments; aud il
you did not, you could not read them at
such q distance.
She replied, ~ am speaking OF the thlrd
one. Il IA taller than the other two, and the
words are 80 distinct; Sacred 10 the Mem
ory of Marie percival, who died February
9th, 49, aged nineteen years and eleven
months.
Hush. Marier I said, II cannot hear
you talk So" and happily for me, MrPer-
ciyal, who was looking for his bride, dis
covered her at this moment. A few rapid
steps brought him to her side.
"Why, Marie" he said, ''you are as pale
as one Of Hornce Wnlpole's ghosts-bahl II
is this CHASTITY moonlight
He drew the curtains together, and L saw
the color come back to her face as he bore
her away. Bat / knew II had gone from
mine. I knew there WIS an unearthly pal
lor on my own face, as 1 sat thpre with my
back 10 the moonlight; and still the musi-
clans played ont was Weber's waltz,
and IL seemed asifthe walters would never
tire; my brain reeled, and circled, and qui.
vered, and still they played on, still the
waltzors waltzed-then Marie and her hus-
band noated by, the merriest among them
all.
Am ! the victim of a dream2 | said. Did
Marie Preoival stand by my side amomont
ago, reading the inscription upon her own
tomb? Was that truo2 or is this truc2 For
mt that moment II did not seem TO me that
both could be true. just as ! was losing
the power TO solve this or any other ques.
ton, the waltz ended and supper followed.
Shortly after tho party broke mp, and Marie
kissed me good night, without making any
a%llusion to tho singular episode which had
made such q painful impression on my
mind.
Marie kissed mo good night" ] said.
but IL was in reality good bye, for as they
were to leavoby five o'clock the next morn,
ing, i did not expect to see her again unit
her return. This would be In about foui
weeks, and l had promised TO remain Will
her parents until that time. But fate de
cided otherwise. A few lines from an onll
brother informed me that he had Just de
cided to carry out a long-cherishod wish,
which was TO 60 with his wife 10 Europe.
II was their desire that / should ACCOMPANY
them. As we were 10 start in less than q
week, / was obliged TO hurry Tome.
/ left a few lines for Marie. stating that
I would write 10 her ~ soon as possible,
and let her know where b. address n letter
TO me.
II is not my purpose TO speak of my liiC
in Europo-where we went or what We saw
only ihis. My brother could never nm,
derstand my dislike 10 visiting the tombs Of
the dead.
~ do not like rummaging in grave
yards" / would say 10 him. so, too, with
all moonlight nights; no beautiful TO him,
but Which were, and always will be, q ghast-
ly horror TO me.
I wrote frequently to Marie aud her
mother, but my brother had no fixed plan,
] hAAN ~ We WIN NhAANANAAAAAN vi NAAt NANNtsl
was impossible for me TO receive my replies.
We remained abroad until the following
April, n little more than a year. The day
after our arrival home, l started for Mr..
Linden's. l cannot exactly tell what my
feelings we're as the cars neared the old
town. Certainly i was not as calm as ]
would have been without that disturbing
vision. But il any one had asked me il j
believed in the possibility of its truth, ]
have answered. "No."
II was four o'clock when / arrived at the
end Of my journey. A few minutes wall
brought me 10 the house. / a the bell
which was answered by an old woman
whom / had frequently seen during my
previous visits.
"Come in," she said. 'Mr. and Mrs
Linden are in Europe; You did not know
it, perhaps"
81 know nothing" / replied quickly
90 have just returned from Europe my
self"
Icould not ask about Marie; but / aros,
and went 70 the window, the one that look
ed out upon the churchyard, and / saw
yes, reader, / saw the third monument; il
ten minutes | stood before IL. With a brnir
too paralyzed 10 admit of surprise, or an,
other feeling, | read: "Sacred TO thu
Memory OF Marie Percival, who died Feb
ruary 9th, IS, aged nineteen years anC
eleven months"
/ don't know how long il was before
was aroused by the old woman from th,
stuPor into which / had fallen. Beeomint
alarmed at my long stay, she had come GU
TO fud me. From her / learned all l shall
ever know. / will tell it in as few words a
possible.
On that day Marie, with her husband
and two or three other young friends, haC
Z gone out ON the bay. as was their frequen
custom when the weather was fine. Igath
cred, nom what the woman said, that III,
day had been unusually calm, but that
sudden squall had thrown the boat apains
q low reef of Shiny, -weed-covered rocks
which ran out into the water. II did no
upset the boat, but Mrs. Perciyal wa
thrown out. The accident happened OF
the seward side Of the rocks, and though
Mr.. Percival was a good swimmer, and re
manned in the water until he was dragged
out by n OF the party, yet Mrs. Perciya
was not found until some hours afterward
l have only TO add that Mr.. Linden, VIII,
was an Euglishman, took his wife TO Eu
rope, hoping that in change of scene sh,
might recover from the shock. But sh,
died shortly afterwnrd, and was buried
there. Mr.. Linden has never returned 4
this country.
Or Mr.. George Perciyal ! know nothing
Whether he married again, or whether h,
is still mourning for his lost bride, / canno
say, But reader ! have told you n tru,
story-the solution | leave for you.
No. 2S.
Nervous Debility with its gloomy attend
antA. low Rniritn. dnnrnaainn nnnL,nInn