Middletown transcript., 1871-01-28
MORNING, JANUARY

dim light in the heavy stiffness Of death,
with its whits and placid countcnance,
made his heart beat violently and his
nerves tremble The sublimity Of the
sight made him feel tho mcanness Of his
action with double force. Heavy drops
Of perspiration bedewed his forehead, he
felt faint. and returned into tho body Of
the church. The GOODNESS Of the air re-
freshed him, and he made up his mind to
abandon his wicked project, but upon
rceollec,ing that the id Of the coffin should
be replaced. he mustered mn air of intre-
pidity to his brow. and went again into
the vault to replace the lid
But the sigh, 9f the corpse was not SO
awful to him as Il had been before, and
his original intention seemed to suddenly
move him to action. BY a quick effort
he lifted the body, drew the chain over
the hand, dsengagcd the lockct from un-
der the hand, and then lowered the corpse
into its place. As he did this, the arm.
which before lay upon the breast. fell
with n strange hexibility over the side of
the coffin, aud a faint sigh came from the
body
At this moment ho thought he heard
the pendulum Of the great clock move
quicker and more noisily Had thun-
ierbot broken in upon the silence, he
could not have been more staggered than
he was Mt this awful moment. He rushed
hastily forth fear finds its way in the
dark and needless Of his lantern. which
he left in the niche, he passed out Of the
vault aud crossed tho cloister aud choir
with the swifincss Of hunted hare. He
opened the church door 10 20 oIt. when.
as If to increase his bcwilierment, the
first thing tia, met his eyes was the great
moon. lifting itself in unabatcd lus,er
over the edge Of iLc horizon, 1t shone
right opposite. and seemed looking Mt and
coming to expose him He did not dare
to lift his eyes again; but without stop
ping t. lock up the church, h. flew over
the fields. pursued ~ his own fears.
A reaction as sudden as il was sincere.
took place in his feelings and he became
anxious to make full aud ample conics
sion, aud, for this purpose, h. Mt once de-
trrmincd upon seeking m audience with
the Baron Anton Eselwicklc lie had not
much difficulty in this respect. as he
knew the Baron was staying Mt the Hotel
bellevue. lie malc quickly for the ho-
tel. rang the porters bell, and inquired
for the Baron AMI was at once shown up
into the apartments he occupied. His
palr face ani distracted appearance was
the occasion # same surprise, which was
considerably enhanced upon his falling
on his knees. and relating in hurried ac-
cents the adventure uf the nivht
III. Baron ~ may be supposed. heard
hm wih w5nler but his anger was tem-
pcrel with pit The story tie hitter h.a
heen felating appeared SO improbable.
that tie hasaayea husband wa nnles tie
impression thai the narrator must bc eth
er affected with some peculiar and nnde-
fined species Of manomanla, or else be
the victim af weak and superstitioas
fears
He eonsilcrtd moment. and then
.ail. . must, perfarce. give credenee to
the story you havr been telling me. the
more 50. sinqa gan confess yourself guilty
Of the crime of saerilcge. anl no nian
would hceaies>ly ef thenghtie>sly he his
own aeruser in such easc Still there is
one part II your statement which | find it
harl 10 believe. aal this here.. especially
concerns myself ani her whose memory |
hola dear lleintz Wherart, | will at
once hasten IN ihe church. Ii your story
hn trne. not moment is 10 be lost You
must lend me 10 the vault into which the
remains Of n> beloved wife were consign-
ed this morning
!" oh. no, no | dare not = exclaimed
the sexton. with upliftea hand -. dare
not return
. Then mus, tell You plainly that |
do not believe what you have been toll
ing me- returned the baron with
from.
.Dh. my lord. say not So | have been
tempted to eolamit an aet at which shua-
lerei but do hnre tha, you will not ac-
cnse me of adding falsehooi to my
crime.
..Why do You refuse TO accompany me-
the Baron asked
!" dare not-my courage Iails me, re-
piled the man.
= ean il he possible that you, who are
n sexton. should be afraid Of the dead =
n.inR Wherart. paler than the corpse
he had just visited trembled from head
to foot llo made no reply to the last
question.
.fnu look likn man that has been ter
rifel by the sight of ghost or spectre.
Any such unearthly visitor would move
you to the last extremity Of fear
= Alas. yes" murmurci the sexton.
:. Your brain is disturbed with some
strange FEELING of this description, but |
tell you plainly that you must pluck up
courage and return to the cathedral with
me. This is the least you can do to make
amends for your guilty act
II do not deny it, my lord" said
Hcin,z. MY duty prescribes it, my will
is good, but"
At present you are unnerved. Say |
not right Z"
- Such is the case, | plainly confess it,
returned the trembling repentant.