The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-02-23

| about to be performed. s....l r.,
9 AT last a man rose up, whose mag
/; nifcent dress distinguished from tn
; rest, and showed him to be of highe
. rank. He strobe eesily along th
: empty aisle, while the multitude gaz
!, ed. upon him, and his steps. resounae
I through the church, He was Q
! middle stature, broad shoulde. ed
: and strongly, built; his mein wa
: hanghty his countenance bronze,
: with exposure to the weather hi
: ahair like the raven; his feature
; strongly marked, and his lips com
pressed with angry determination 4
: high aquiline nose increa.el the -hau
tcSr of his aspect; and long, bush1
: eyebrows overshadowed the small ant
fierce black eyes which CLEANED be
meath them. Heswore a green sur
coat, richly orpamented With SoLi
and OH his bosom glittered Il Star.
The bride, who now kneeled beside
! him, was also splendidly dressed; ;
/ blue robe, embroidered with silver
enveloped her slender form, and fell
i in thick folds over her graceful limbs
while diadem, resplendent with jew,
I els, decorated her long lair hair. +
| Notwithstanding the change which il
was evident had lately passed. over
her features, beauty and loyeliuess
could still plainly be discerned. Her
! tcheeks now looked as cold and inani.
mate as those of a marble" statue ;
nOt'a muscle of her .ceuntenanee moY-
ell, her paleslips seemed dead, her
eyes were fixed and glazea9as those of
a corpse, and her arms hung power
Hess by her sides. Thusrshe kneeled
"a picture OF death; and the by
ISLANDERS ight. we'll be in doubt
whether her overpowering terror. had
deprived her of consciousness, or if
'nature were merely striving to re-
cruit her shattered frame by, a deep
| and almost preternatural slumber.
+ Now, ior the first time, the. pastor
observed asl. oldiand ugly female, who
lIattired in n fantastic ioricntil4Iooking
costume, with Il MALICIOUS, nay, al
most mocking expression, watched
the knecling bride. Behind the bride
groom stood Il dark, gigantic man,
who seemed to. gaze immovably on
vacancy ,-a ... d.. ...-.,-t.E ..... ..-.
The pastor, whose senses had al
most forsaken him. from terror re-
mained some time silent, until a stern
glance from the bridegroom reminded
him of the duty he had to perform. -
But what pat him into new confusion
was the uncertainty whether the bri-
dal p rir would understand his Ian
guage 1t was indeed improbable;
nevertheless, lie composed himself,
and d-demanded their names. .'' -
'tNeander! Feodora!' replied the
bridegroom, in n hoarse voice. '
The OLD man now began the mar
riage service; but his voice qnivered;
he constantly went wrong, and repeat
cd the same words twice. The kneel-
ing pair, however, took no notice of
his confusion, which confirmed him
in his previous conjecture that they
were either. 'unacquainted with his
language, or understood it but imper
fectly. When he asked the question::
y Neander, wilt thou receive Fedora
who now zkneeIs beside thee for thy
welded wife = he was doubtful
if the bridegroom would understand
him so.as to;.reply; but, to, his aston
ishment, the lalser rpronounced les
SO loudly and distinctly as te nring-
through the church. Deep groms. is
suing on every side from the nulti
tuGe, accompanied this terrible Yes
and a silent shudder, for the first
time, set in motion g the corpse like
features Of the bride The pastor
now turned himself to, the latter, and
speaking more loudly as though he
would fain awake, her from her Death
like slumber, tins addressed her.
'Feodora, il thou, wilt acknowledge,
Neander.. now. kneeling beside thee,
for thy. husband, then answer y es.
Upon fhis the inanima:e. bride seem
ed to awake, an expression of over
posernig terror passed over her coun
tenance, her pale lips 'quivered, a
transient brilliancy cleaned from her
eyes, and her bosom heaved.:,. Jfhe4
.YesT sounded like, the Shrek Of an
guish from the mouth OF a dying
person, and seemed to, find an echo in
The involuntary m,irmur of pity
which ESCAPED frohn the crowd. : "a
The bride sank insenslble into the
arms of the malicious old crone be-
hind her, and some minutes passed in
the most appalling silence. At last
she resumed her place, more dead
than alive, and the pastor concluded
the service. The bridegroom. now
arose and led the tottering bride to-
wards her former scat, while, the old
woman and tall man followed behind.
The first co,npaai)n ofthe clergynln
then reappeared, and having once
more tied a bandage over his eyes,
led him with 5somc difficulty through
the crowd. When they reached the
door he was pushed out with violence,
and left to his solitary meditations,
while they barred and bofted it from't
within. '-'- 80. +'''.'
For a few minutes he stood confus-
ed and uncertain whether the. late
scene ofterror, with all the extraordi-
nary circumstances accompanying it,
might not be a painful dream: but
when he had torn the banda e from
his eyes and beheld the church brilliant
Iy Illuminated before him, and heard
the; voices of the multitude within,
he. could no longer doubt the reality
Of what had happened. In order to
Ieatn the sequel, as far as was in his
power, he now coGcealed himsel in q
niche on the opposite side of the
church; and, while listening here,
heard the noise within becoming
louder and louder, as though n vio-
= :, -, -, IL oo,,ld