Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-08-27
it contained the manuscript 1 inclose.
On the outside was written


| On the outside was written
This is the story of my life No one will know it
| but you. Adieu-"
"The man was weeping. His master
had died in the night"
1 unrolled the yellow sheets. There
was no heading to the story they con-
tanned. / looked at the end there
was no name. 1t commenced abruptly:
81 come of a doomed race. A curse
hung over me at my birth. In conse-
quence of horrible crime committed
by one of my ancestors, the good genius
of our race deserted us, and demon,
fierce and cruel, shadowed us with his
black wings.
'The first-born child of every genera
tion was doomed, if boy, to an early
and violent death; if girl, to a life of
misery. Generation after generation
the curse had fallen. By water, by fire,
by the sword, the frst-born son had
perished; and the mother wept bitter
tears when girl was placed in her arms.
There was legend that the curse would
cease when one was found, bold enough
to foil the demon, then, and then only,
would the guardian of our race return.
''There is Moorish blood in our veins.
In the third generation our remote
ancestry shows itself. Men call me
the Moorish physician True to my
instincts, have devoted myself to the
study of Eastern lore. The volume of
the heavens had long been open to my
gaze. Earth's deepest mysteries have
yielded to my touch. The voices of
the deep breathe mighty secrets to my
ear, and in the war of the elements, the
flash of the lightning, the roar and
thunder of the waves, when man shrinks
back appalled,, my spirit finds its wings.
81 was the second son. My brother
was assassinated by an unseen hand.
81 returned to my home, and plunged
deeper and deeper into that abtruse
studies l delighted in. Why could
they not suffice Alas 1 loved. All,
fatal power, When We willed it, our
love must be returned. As 1 knelt
before an alter, looked upon the fair
creature who had yielded her pure heart
to me. as the priest may look on the
victims at whose throat he holds the
knife. was pressing the cup of anguish
to those ruby lips those sweet eyes
would soon overflow with bitter tears.
And yet, madman as 1 was, with eager
/ haste / clasped the fair blossom closer
/ to my heart, knowing that my fatal
grasp must blight its bloom forever.
For one short year, earth's fairest
hues spread out before me and then,
in darkness and in tempest, our child
was born. There were vague mutterings
in the air. as took my infant daughter
in my arms. Do You wonder that 1
could not answer back her mothers
happy smile? My rose and its sweet
bud grew day by day in loveliness. l
suffered tortures. o, that she might
be taken before her gentle heart should
bleed for the sufferings of her child
Years passed. She began to fade
my beautiful flower. / watched her
anxiously. The wind and the waves
saw my sorrow: they reveal no secrets.
Her sweet life ebbed so slowly-would
it be too late? With sigh of thank
fulness, closed her beautiful eyes.
81 wandered from land to land, taking
my child with me- Watched her every
step. In agony, l waited the time when
the doom of our dark race should fall
on her innocent heart. In Madrid,
Spanish nobleman saw her. Her beauty
charmed him. Rumors of my wealth
had reached his ears. Artfully, selfishly,
he wove his chains around her. How
| hated him From the first, / knew
him. The woe was ever worked by a
human hand, and as L watched the
baleful light in his hard eyes-the close
pressure of his thin, cruel lips i
gnashed my teeth in impotent fury.
NV darling can you not see how that
strong, fierce hand will crush all the
sweetness out of your fresh young life?
And she loved him. He would turn to
me with a smile of scornful triumph
when her innocent eyes told him this.
Madly jealous, if she displeased him he
would cast a cold, hard look upon her,
whispering harsh, cutting words of
anger, till she paled and troubled, lifting
pleading eyes to his. And was power
less
II took her home The Spaniard
followed us. Our German winter chilled
him; but he persevered. The spring
came. Step by step he was forcing me
back. In vain nj ghtly lifted despair
ing eyes to the proud stars they smiled
down coldly on me, but no voice came.
"Again 1 read the mouldering parch-
ment which recorded the dire curse,
and the mysterious words of prophecy
regarding its fulflment. By fasting
and by watching, 1 strove to read their
meaning:
/ fall
THE cypresscrowned cup shall confer immor-
tality."
''Both of these images forshadowed
death.
"Then followed legend:
"A fiowe- boomed in the cleft of rock The fierce
waves it, they coveted its beauty, but the rock
laughed down on them, as they surge and foaned
they dashed their sprays far up in the face of the
rock. Then the rock cried. 20. Azrael take thou
Azrael heard and, stretching out his strong right
hand he plucked the flower and bore it to sunny
plains. where long it bloomed in peace and beauty
'In the watches of the night, the
meaning was made clear to me. l
knelt and cried, so, Azrael! 1 give my
flower into thy keeping. See that thou
bear her tenderly to sunny plains, where
angel hands shall welcome her. Then
called my child. She came, and laid
her sunny head upon my shoulder. |
gave the cup of death into her hand l
watched her drink it. / spoke playful
words to her; told her it was the elixir
of life, and she smiled as she took it
from my hand 1 drew her to the case
ment: she lay in my arms, and l spoke
to her of the things she loved-of the
flowers and stars; and of the heavenly
plains where her mother wandered. She
listened dreamily. I forced my lips to
smile as she clasped her arms about my
neck. Her breath futtered little, and
her startled eyes sought mine. turned