Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-01-27

species Of the orsng-outsng had b.ea sc..
eially captured for Prim's Travelling Car
avan by eentaemsn we'll kuowu n The
world Of NatVaI History This rev spe-
cies oforsng -oatspg hsd very srtou5,l.
lag programme sll 70 itself, Anon q,
other wonderful capabilities. it would se,
drunk On rum and water of its own ac.
cord, on the condition Of those anxious 70
witness its inioxicatiou paying sum to be
settled beforehand. that the manager might
not lose by the incapacity which would
naturally follow .he orang-outanr's ine-
briatien. It vas also guaranteed 10 smoke.
to nurse baby better than any monthly
nurse, living or deaa-the price Of ad-
mission to be restored to tue mother. Il
her puby cried. a long list Of pcrform-
ances, all guaranteed by the manager.
followed; the only promise to which Mr..
frim would not pledge himself being that
the orang-outang should talk or laugh.
The reading of this stuff brough. me to
my home. had had enough Of dead
skeletons TO be By no means eager to wit
ness living skeleton and, as cordial
ly hated the monkey-tribe, I crumpled
the paper in my hand, threw it from me,
aud forgot it.
That evening. I read myself into a de-
pressed mooi. BY chauce-I considered
it fatali'y--I had got hold of two works
hardly calculated to inspire one with
cheerfulness and exultation. They were
Poe's Tales" and Mrs Groves Might
side Of Nature" l read Of eats with the
immortality of ghosts aud of monks who
walked in their sleep, impelled by the un-
comfortable impulse of assassination. Nv
wife had been in bed an hour. As I
continued to reaI--do not think that such
books are my usual reading they had
been left upon the table by my wife, aud,
having opened them. read-my lamp
seemed TO shed a less cheerful radiance !;
the Summer night-wiuds took a peculiar
ly dispiriting tone ; the cottage never be-
fore seemed so lonely to me. was pre-
pared for burglars and for FIRE for in nv
drawer lay fve-barrel revolver, loaded.
and under my bed was twenty-foot
rcpe-ladGer, properly armed with iron
claws TO catch. But against such assail-
ants, | thought, as Poe's cat, or Mrs.
Groves monk, what would avail all the
revolvers and all the rope-ladlers in the
world? Nay, | would have notLing
TO with Poe or Mrs. Grove l would
continc myself to my own horrors, which
were OF much more unconqucrable and
unkil!ahle nature. | meant the skulls.
aud the knec-ears, and the skeletons, and
the suggestions dead bodies beneath the
heartlistone>.
Having become somewhat chilly, I
came to the conclusion that there was af-
ter all, no place like bed. l took can
die, and went up stairs. On the land
ing l was stopped hy the peculiarly spec
trial aspect ct the moonshue streaming
through window. l Ipaused, and look
ed out upon the garden. The wind which
walled IN the front made no stir behind.
The weird trees stood up in the MOON
light, motiorless. Their shadows made
thin arms and long. curved fingers upon
the grass. A dog bayed in the distance.
l must have been asleep an hour or
more, when l was suddenly awakened by
a piercing shrek. So long. SO terrified
50 pealing was the cry. that it seemed to
vitrate IN many a shrill echo through the
house after had risen, and, on the SUP
port of my hands, was straiuinc nv ewes
into the darkness. "What was that ?''
cried my wife. ''Listen ~ I answered.
We held our breaths, but heard no other
sound. lu few moments my wife ex-
claimed, "Hush F! | hear the baby cry-
ing" Leaping out of the bed. I light
ed a can die. and. slipping ona dressing
gown, seized my revolver. opened the
door, and listened moment in the pas
sage. | heard the baby cry, but in a
sabdued manner, as have heard it cry
when being hushed to sleep.
LIT could not have been the nurse" 7
exclaimed to my wife, II hear her sooth-
ing the baby. Il must have been the
servant"
. | opened the door of the servants room
"For heavens sake, who's there ?" were
the hrss words l heard. Tue girl was
sitting up in her bed, and my candle
flashed light upon her eyes. dilated in
the extremity of terror. "Was that You
who screamed p / asked. "No," she
answered, 81 thought il was missus. -
| fastened to the nurses room. To reach
1t | had to so through the day-nursery.
The haadie creaked noisily as entered,
and. passing through the apartment.
opened the door the bedroom. and look
cd sn. As did 50. l heard shrill cry
behind me. and turning, l saw my wife
siDS in dead faint upon the Hoor.
The spectacle I witnessed froze my
blood. The window was open. The
curtain pulled aside. The full beams of
the moon aided the irraiissisu of the can
die and the nigh.-light. In corner op-
pcsi,e the bed stood a gaunt shaggy mon
ster. 1t was reared ON its hind legs, sud
repcsed against the wall. In It's arms it
held the baby, which it swayed 10 and fro
with the regular movement of see-saw.
Its teeth cleaned in the light. It's eye
balls. glanciug rapidly frnm side to side,
seemed to emit a dull red lustre. A long
tail lay cciiea about the fest, which,
though shagged with hair, seemed to be
those Of . human being. The monster
had the face OF grctesque man-sach a
face, seen in the moonlight, as the pencil
OF Michael Angelo would have giveu 10 q
devil OF Dantes ffth circle. ls locked
with unasterable ferOeiSasaess from be-
heath the hood Of curly heavy hair.
For moment seemed % hose al
Consciousness for moment ouiy. The
room swan, the candle shock in INV hand