The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-10-01

- ltf~t - t=sAs I f4at =
de tnoonlk lake iaid nountaias thrbugh
thespenwindow, the same view, indeed,
that there was from the front Of the hotel.
The furniture, likewise, was changed, and
wore a foreign aspect. The foor, was car
petless and highly polished; the recess for
the bookcase was now much larger, and held
instead Of penderous tones, ? listls French
bed, with light muslin curtains festooned
above it. 1t appeared to be occupied, and
.Iremember striving in vain to see who
was lying there. Everything was perfect
ly familiar and yet SO strange, possessing
alllthat curious continuation of the real
and unreal which marks such scenes in
dreamland but when at last the sitting
figure rose, and turned towards me, j was
as if the living woman herself were there!
There was nothing unreal about her
So vivid was the apparitlon
that no. 3, doubt could have re
mained as toher identity. Her face, grown
much older, certainly, but as lovely as
ever. was, in its ashy paleness, the very
picture of despair and misery; her eyes,
yelling over with tears, looked at me
|piteously, as if appealing for help, whilst
stretching one, hand towards me, and
pointing with the other to the bed, she
seemed on the point of speaking but the
next moment she sank back on the chair,
and awoke with start, and q sensation
such as had never experienced before
need hardly say slept but little more
that night. lay ruminating till daylight
upon the strangeness of my dream !;
strange, under any circumstances, L
thought, but doubly so as being the first
in which I'had ever seen her, and as hav-
ing happened here, in spot where there
were no associations that could possibly
have induced it, Hmhde . great Impres.
sion on me, and it was only after had had
my breakfast, and had come into contact
a little with the outer world, that l began
to recover my usual equanimity yet it so
| unhinged me that could not make up my
mind to leave Lucerne as l had intended
that day. l felt irresistibly chained to the
place.
After dinner that evening, when the full
moon had risen clear of the mountains,
but vet not so high as to prevent her
bright rays from stealing partially beneath
the roof of the old bridge, lighted my cl-
gar, and strolled away to my favorlts
| lounge. Here l revelled, as usual, in the
| quiet and beauty of the hour; not breath
Of wind, and scarcely footstep broke the
silence, for your Swiss is early to bed, and
there were but few passengers at that time
crossing the broad embouchure of the lake,
where it seems to repOse in its greatest
calm ere it rushes forward to its narrow
channel, to lose its identity and name in
the sparkling river Reuss:
was leaning over the balustrade, about
midway across the bridge, and in one OF
the broadest floods of moonlight, when the
sound of the railway whistle announced
the arrival of the last train from Zurich.
Then heard through the still air the om-
nibus drive away from the station down
into the rough paved streets, but, as the
bridge formed short cut for foot passen-
gers to the better part of the town where
! the Schweitzer HOf stands, it was not un-
usual for few returning travellers to take
this way. Now heard echoing on the
old wooden planking, hurrying footsteps
coming towards me from the direction OF
the station. BIZ degrees, / fancied that
| these sounds became mingled with voices,
in anxious aud earnest converse. As they
drew nearer, could distinctly hear the
broken English of Fritz reiterating the
words, No, sare, no, sare; l tell you he
was not dead; zay only fear, zay only
II SThsn thetelwas some question which
could not catch, and with the talk still go
ing on rapidly, the two persons passed in
\ tofbe food of light where was standing.
| Naturally turning tolook at tlfem, the fore
most face instantly caught my eye; the
moons rays fell straight upon it, and
showed me, but very little changed, the
stern, hard features of my old Tutor Mol
lett. q 90 'i-i.it ~ =
Pondering as I had been over my dream,
nv mind filled with little else than the
thou Shts engendered by it vaguely run
ming over those early days, and all their
surroundings, the sudden appearance OF
Berthas father scarcely at first surprised
me az, much as, might, have been ex-
pected; it seemed perfectly natural that
he should be at hand / was more than
ever, for the moment, back amongst the
old scenes, and it was only in the course
of, a. minute or so, after. he had passed,
that I recovered myself sufficiently fully
| to realize the, to me, extraordinary circum-
stance. Had he dropped from the clouds,
| I could not then have been more startled.
Was it really he, or only a phantom OF
my own active imaginatiOn?, l had been
unobserved; so to follow and ascertain, to
speak to him, and set, ali doubt at rest,
was nv involuntary impulse. A few
strides brought me to his side, just as he
descended the steps at the end of the
bridge and emerged into the full light
upon the open place"
| Time had dealt less gently with me than
4 it had with him, and he did not recognize
me when spoke, but was passing on,with
a mere glance, as he said, Excuse me, sir,
I have not the pleasure of knowing you,
and I am in great haste" = ,flind
at see it," replied, "and I would not
venture to, intrude under such circum-
stances, were it not that cannot refrain
from making myself known to you. am
not prompted. by mere, idle curiosity
look! Mr.. Mollett, look again, do you not
remember me ?" iiiir b! srnsg .sais
We were going straight in the direction
Liza hotel and -Mithot stapping, he
turned his keen eyes eagerly upon me
and sfter H1tiniziug me sgainrsnd again
he said, Yes, yes, l seem to know your
face, but l cannot at this moment recall
who you are, and I am, in such anxiety
that you must really pardon my forgetting
you. Ny isen.in-la is dangerously i'll
here in this house; have been summon
ed from Zurich, and every moment is o.
importance if wish to find him alive;
mayeven'a as it is be too late.pI III y -s
With this, reaching the entrance to the
Schweitzer Hot, where the landlord was
waiting to receive him, Mollett passed rap
idly up the staircase with the host with
out deigning to bestow another word OF
look upon me. -
Thus left alone in the hall with Fritz
flor of course did not attempt to follow
I turned to him with a look of'bewildered
inquiry. Now it so happened that had Ho'
seen him the whole of this day, and there
fore had not been favored with his usua
gossip, otherwise I might possibly have
been prepared for the sudden apparitior
of my old tutor, and so perhaps have
gained clew as / now did to the mystery
of my dream. say, perhaps; for l vii
not be tempted to assert that it was any
thing more than 8 coincidence, howevei
difficult it may be to think Son.
"Ah! sare!' instantly began my gar
rulous friend, ''I have not had time to
day. Yes, Yes, you know him-I cough
you would, you all know each Ozer Land "a
has been such sad work! before h,
comet ze poor lady, too, so distress-hi
u danghter-did you see re book? No
! All Bien, I will show you'll Madame d.
Pomberas, French name Yes but Eng
y - .-zuuiHinn--ne=,6 ,6aaista}0 ia-aat - Anl
he hurried me into the salle-a-manger
!, seized tho book, ppened H. and put hi
, finger triumphantly down on the last entry
made, as / instantly recognized, in tn
| once familiar handwriting of Bertha Mol