The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1871-12-16


Lott" the apparition said. in n
ioyia, rollicking voice. fiightfi,lly
like mine, as near as could Judge.
Evan Lost.
y am lost, | repeated, aEnazediy,
What !. singular name, Buf. pos
sibly. 90 not understand you..''
SO FIR as pronunciation goes, yes.
As to orthog,nllhy, doubtful. But
here Is my card
Itook The delicate Bit of pastetoald
that was rendered to nae. and read the
name, : Eyam Lost. with consider
able mystifieation.
u hope | Go not intrtl1e,'' my
visitor proceeded. evidently finding
some little difficulty in the articul;l-
tioa Of his words; ''but being in this
part of the country by accident, and
having strong desire TO make the
personal acquaintance Of 4 gentleman
famed for his wealth and hospitality.
l took the liberty of stepping to have
n Chat with yoa over y social glass.
Could ! detain you in privateq tea
minutes at
- am entertaining a large conl-
pany. Is yen Will perceive, tonight, =
| said hesitatiiigly ; 'bHt perhaps l
can excuse myself for the brief period
You mention. / will see.
That's Il good fellow" was the
free and easy rejoiatler.
And at the same instant. the identi-
cal hand that, Il moiDeiIt or two before,
had melted into air when | would have
grasped it, dealt me Il hearty blow on
the back.
This familiarity would have irri-
tated me had it not been apparent that
the-the person, let us call him. was
slightly in bis cups. As it was,
rather stifi1y babe him follow me to
the house, and conducted him to n
small room. opening out of my lib
r2ry, where left him, and went in
pursuit of Basil.
l found my brother i'll the great
drawing room, where orr guests were
arranging themselves tor tine first quad
rifle, | beckoned Basil aside. and with
a clearness and distinctness which |
consider highly creflitable under cir
cunIstances SO uncommon. explained
to him all that had happened, and de
scrihed thes remarkable visitor who
was at that moment beneath our roof.
He looked hard at me, and there was
tie outline of an expression on his
face that | never saw before.
I am not of 4 suspicious nature, but
it flashed into my mind in an instant
that this brother of mine was plotting
to possess himself of my great in
herifarce. through some cunning
scheme tl.at could not fathom. But
| kept the discovery to myself; and
telling him to excuse me to my friends
for Il feW moments, | Went back to
the little room where / had left the
newcomer.
found him seated at a round table.
with a bottle of<bElndy in his hand,
from which he was filling Il crystal
board stood a huge White OWL, with
eyes OF amethyst, that winled i,ices-
sanity in the strong light; and upon
the great ;lntlerS of a deer, suspended
just above his head, q monstroiIs ana
conda coiled in writhing coEyulsions.
. In the name of heaven, where
did that serpent come from 2" /
cried, starting back ia terror.
= It's only a pet of mine,'' my
guest answered. glancing up at the
reptile; perfectly tame, and HARM
less as kitten. Come down here old
fellow -
The snake obeyed, and coiled itself
upon the table between tile-the man
and the owl. who caressed it with his
great yellow claw.
:. You, see I'm making free with
Your capital brandy" my visitor said,
smiling. 9 Let me fill a glass for
you; and while N'e drink, L have
something to say
1 took the glass he handed me, and
gave attention, sitting well back from
the table, meantime, with its strange
occupants.
{. You must know he said, s'that
l come as n friend. [ happen to be
aware-it don't matter how-that your
brother meditates an act of unparallei-
ed perfidy.''
stAh. you've discovered tllat,'' 1
cried, beginning to be interested.
:. Pray, proceed
$ intended to. | never leave my
work halfdone. He has already ar
ranged with certain minions of his to
confine you in prison situated on the
outinost verge Of creation-to proclaim
you a lunatic, and seize your inheri-
tance. Already he is filling the minds
of the company here assembled in your
honor, with the notion that You are
beside yourself. in order to make of
them convenient witnesses. He means
to deprive you of liberty tonight !; but
he shall be foiled. My carriage will
return in five minutes, and you shall
escape with me-
8 knew he meditated some mis-
chief" cried. springing to my feet;
6 but am indebted to you for the de-
tails of II plot in which l should have
been involved but for your timely
warning. You have proved yourself
my friend. Give me your hand.
Again he extended the hand where
upon sparkled the great sapphire
again | essayed to clasp it. and again
my fingers closed OH nothing. A
brooding horror now began to spring
up in my mind, impossible TO describe,
terrible to remember. i gslzed help
Iessly at my new friend; and, as [
gazed, his features underwent won-
delfilI change. Great bloteiies appear
ed on either cheek, they eyes became
bleared and watery, his hair grew un-
kempt and tangled, and a dreadful
palsy seemed to take possession of his
whole frame.