Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1874-02-21

nj She pointed TO a door at the ex-
I'd | tremlty Of the apartment, a massive
he open door, black as ebony, and over
lg laden with grOtesque carving. It re-
sembled the entrance to a vault. The
II. room which l occupied was low cell
at Iuged, but very spacious, with an
te Oaken floor, and wainscOted in oak;
Id the furniture was Of the same mate
L. rial. Over the gaping fireplace a
small mirror in an elabOrately carved
G. oaken frame, stretching its ornament
D. alton all over the panel, reflected the
sepulchral light of the moderateur
lamp.
le A few portraits in ebony frames
l. adorned the walls, and a welI-knOwn
l. Turkey carpet covered the greater
portion ef the floor. There We're two
II doors to the apartment, one by which
l. l had entered, the other leading tony
Il bedroom.
b Upon opening my carpct-bag Tor the
|, purpose of taking out my slippers. /
Q discovered that it was saturated with
Y rain. The wet had penetrated, and
h such articles as happened TO lie close
5 to the outer portions Of it Were con-
/ slderably damped. Amongst them
= the packet Of papers belonging to my
= dead friend l fastened to dry tho
]
3 tenderly inside Of the fender without |
/ loosening tho binding string,
At this crisis the old woman enter /!
2 cd with tray laden Win inc supper. 7
Il shall not require you any more /
tonight" l said, glancing at my
watch, which Indicated the hour Of /
, half-past ten.
[ won't you try if the meats done
to your hking?" she croaked.
cts all right. good night" and 1
, pushed her from thereon, closing and
locking the door.
L returned TO the fireplace, and
found that the ends of the packet
which l had deposited IN the fender
had coiled up under exposure to the
heat. One paper would seem to have
forced itself from out of the bundle, L
and as | endeavored to push it back
into its place. the following words,
written in Bentick's unmistakable
hand, met my startled gaze:
''TO be read by John FOrdyce only,
and to be destroyed by him the mo-
ment he has finished the perusal.7 - ]
I plucked it from the packet. This
paper was to be read by me, John
Fordyce, and destroyed inStanter. {
resolved upon reading it there and {
then. Oh! why did break that seal? '
/ Oh! why did not that icy, clammy, {
oozy hand intervene between me and S
that paper, and bear it beyond NOR !
| tai reach? A strange fOreboding of I
evil smOte me as L broke the seal l
was treading upon the verge of I
precipiee.
''To you, John Fordyce, 1 reveal
| the ghastly triumph of an unprinci- c
pied man over a weak, loving and de- 2
fenseless woman"
These were the words with which d
the document tcommenced-thes were
the words which scared themselves
upon my brain.
Ihad proceeded thus far, and was Il
about to continue the perusal, when
shadow as of sOmepersOn endeaYeF- a
ing to read over my shoulder fell up C
on the paper. The same awful deliri- n
um of fear seized me. 1t was in the p
room! 1t was standing behind my a
back! The clammy,- OOzy, icy hand
stretching forth to grasp me! The II
sOulless, CHASTITY eyes fixed on me, h
Oh! for power to shrek! Gracious c
Heaven. e.
L became unconscious. When L re- I'll
covered my senses | was lying upon b
the hearth-rug; the fire had burnt it p
self out, but luckily the lamp seemed h
still full of vitality. With a fearful, W
shuddering gaze 1 slowly peered round 81
the room, expecting to encounter, h
knew not what of horror. p
The portraits frowned grimly from
the walls, the dark wainscot looked W
darker, but it was not to be seen. el
The shadow was from Out the room. cl
Carefully as the starving shipwreck-
ed mariner reckons his few remain II
ing biscuits, did examine the condi- d
ton of the oil in the lamp, and calcu- N
lated, with feelings almost akin to
rapture, that it would burn till day eC
dawned. Heaping such fuel as L could el
lay my hands on upon the fire, and 81
finding it bitterly cold, my veins
laden with ice and chilled to the very I'll
marrow, 1 resolved upon turning into I'll
bed without, however. divesting my p
self of any of my clothes.
Carefully placing Richard Bentick's
confession in my bosom, and grasping iy
the lamp in my left hand, 1 advanced al
towards the vault-like door, which ii
gave upon my bedroom. l threw it if
open with n sudden jerk. The room q
was small and wainscOted like the ad- e,
joining apartment. In one corner W
stood a aglOomy-looking, ,old-fashiOned ly
four-pOst bedstead, with a heavy can eI
opy and faded silken curtains; in an "
other ponderOus wardrobe, elabOT-
ately carved. The ceiling, represent cl
ing rome event in NEUROLOGICAL histo- d
", was black with age, and the ebo- tC
ny furniture seemed fitted fof the in it
nermOst torture chamber Of the inqui- d
sition. Il
1 dashed up the valance, and threw Ii
one short, sharp glance under the bed, W
1 thrust aside the mouldy curtains
which had been drawn across the win b
dow. Ifung open the wardrobe doors. S
There was nothing to inspire other
feelings than those Of security, case, o.
and comfort. V,
Placing the lamp upon small table
close at hand, and shutting the door d
leading to the outer apartment, 81
threw myself into the bed; where IN u
few minutes the extreme cold from "
which l had been suffering exchanged
itself for buring, feverish heat. To b
endeavor to sleep was SIMPLY mock g
cry, the words, ''TO you, John For
dyce, l reveal the ghastly triumph of Il
an unprincipled man over n weak, low o
inc and defenseless woman rang in Il
my ears, and repeated themselves in Ii
letters Of fire on my eye-ballS, when h
ever l attempted to close my eyes. $
Why not read Richard Bentick's b
confession? l would. Taking the doc p
ument from my breast, 1 drew the ta- o
BILE upon which the lamp stood more h
closely to the bed, l read the we'll Fl
known opening words, but ere my eyes Il
could take up the next time the fGmD G
lrdS e.rtiHguisded. I
The horror of being left il the v
darkness was something terrible. The
horror of feel ng that the light had II
been eXtinguished by supernatural I
agencv-that awful link between dead b
and living, that fearful gulf in whose "
unfathomable depths lay the secret b
never yet divulged-was exquisitely n
appalling. Like a frightened child, I t
was about buTying my head beneath b
she bcd-clothes, when, with a bound, p
all the senses of which was in pos Is
session concentrated themselves in
that OF sight. Ny bed faced the door b
communicating with the room IN b
which had spent the earlier portions
Of the night. That door stood open. I.
/ The outer apartment was brilliantly I
| illuminated, not by fire, or lamp, but b
/ by greenish-gray light, such as is t
! seen once III q life, when the sun, /
! thirsting for n peep at the earth, 4
/ forces his splCndors In one fierce rly {
/ through the murky gloom of i sable a
/ thunder-cload. Every object of the s
room stood forth with unusal distinct I
ness. The table upon which the sup c
per tray had lately stood had been re V
placed by an elegant fauteuii: small :