Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1873-06-14

this tradition of the vampires known, and
they are called 'Pisachas.'
Those and others similar thoughts came
in my mind. l meditated on the parent.
ship of vampirism with zoauthropv, when
men fancy themselves changed into ami
mails and act according to the logic of this
frenzy.
1t was already late when J woke up.
| The rain fell down in streams, and the
waiter brought me the tidngs that my
clothes were not dry yet and the bridge
near D had been torn away by the
boisterous mountain stream. could not,
in this state Of affairs, do any better than
to stay in the Red Lion. At the dinner
table ! formed acquaintance with "the
gentleman from the capital, who came to
lake away from the good citizens of r.
'thc pearl of the theater.' lie was one Of
the official agents for the Royal Theater,
| who in this dull place found even in me
( grateful listener to his Jokes and theater
and city stories. lie invited me to see the
! performance with him.
II was already late when we started for
the theatcr. The stage was lit up with
tallow candles, the scenery poor and
threadbarc n mouldy air filed tho whole
! building.
The performance had already commenced
when we entered, but what did we care for
the plotp We came only to see Miss leo
nita.
That is an aspiration y rcioined tho
agent, when she left tho scene. He had
measured her capacities at once with the
eyes ofa connoisscur, and rubbed his hands
with satisfaction.
viii you engage her p
At once he replied. a quarter Of an
hour after the performance of this stupid
piece she will be an actress of the Royal
Theater We shall of course be obliged to
take the poor old man in the bargain
The poor old man was Lconita's father,
who had just again made the most pitiful
cxcrtions to do justice to his part of mys-
terious tiend.
~ ruin,' proceeded the agent, alluding
to the old man, but he loves his daughter
so enthusiastically that he exposes himself
daily to the anger and scorn of the public.
in order to act on the stage with his child
All recollect from the VIII ole plot is that
in the last act the very lovely girl was to
be sacraficed to the Vampire. She was all
alone on the stage when the curtain rose.
After short monologuc she stretched out
on q bed, and now short pause, and her
father, the Vampire, mus. appear.
llc uppciilcu, nuu ucNcT uulll my Ia ST
hour shall forget the impression his ap-
pearance made upon me and every one else.
Was it possible to produce such death
like mask by means of paint and mimic
How shall describe the lead color or ra ther
the entire lack of color, the hideous, deep,
hollow eyes and the creeping, noiscless
step? l thought myself dreaming and
| cast hasty glance around me, but every
where l met the expression of horror.
Children clung to their mothers, WHO were
not less depressed. Powerful men covered
their faces with their hands, and even the
iron hearted agent shuddered with terror.
Not breath, not sound was heard in the
whole house. Deadly silence reigned !;
nothing could hear but the has:y beating
of my own heart, while the Vampire stole
to the resting place of the girl. Why |
was SO horror struck when saw him ap-
proach her / could not tell, but felt that
could not turn my eyes away from him.
| would have given fortune had I been
able 70 cry aloud, but could not.
seemed TO be under the spell of n sorcerer,
and hung with every nerve on the actor
who now bent over the girl. A moment
later, and she jumped up with n shrill cry
staggered toward the footlights, and fell
down. No. that was no longer acting
Only deadly stricken person can cry and
fall in this manner. and there, thcre-from
under her head gushing Il dark streak
| blood
The spell was broken with one leap
jumped over the balustradc, and the agent
lifted The wounded girl up ana carried her
into her dressing-room, where we gave her
all possible assistance.
Where is her IA ther p asked hastily,
while trying to stop the blood which was
running from CHASTITY wound in her neck.
| lie must not escape"
One OF the actors ran of, and soon came
back with the surprising information that
her father was lying unconscious in his
room.
What do you think of il p asked the
agent.
lie VAS not the man, he whispered to
me.
lie was not dressed yet for the last
act.'
shut all the doors = cried out
1t was too late. The other had A.
ready escaped.
For the poor girl it was also 'too late. ;
The wound had pr"ycd fatal.
y sharp inquest placed the innocence of
the unhappy father above all doubts. Ac-
cOrding to his own declaration he was in
his room dressing for the last act, when
suddenly form stood before tim in the
exact costume of his part, but with such
a horrible face that be tainted for fright.
The murderer was not discovered. They
suspected, however, u colleague nf the old
actor, who had solicited Lcnnita's haud
before she went on the stage, and had been
refused, but he had left Germany iung be-
fore the murder took place. Telegraph
lines were not so generally established at
that time.
Several years hal passcd bv since this
terrible incident had taken place. Fate
and disappointment had driven mn to the
city Of Vancouver, in the State uf Oregon.
Vancouver, at the present day nothing
but a shadow of what it used to be, was
at the time aourishing city, for the gold
mines in Upper Columbia had not been dis
covered yet. l was gold-digger, doctor,
newspaper edtor-in one word, adyeutur-
er, like all the rest. Ore evening l was
called to the sick-bed of dying man in the
hotel. The waiter did not think it worth
the while to show me up, but conteuted
himself hy giving fs.e a lipht and the MINI