The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-04-10

in incoherent words; she, her hands
crossed upon her knees, iher large eyes
, wide open, going from time to time TO
the window TO observe that which was
passing, for we could see from the foot
of the mountain the torches flashing
through the wood. We could hear their
gruF voices atar of, calling the one to
the other in the night.
"Upon the approach of her master
Agatha began TO tremble- The doctor,
entered hastily, pale, his lips pursed to-
gether, despair imprinted upon his face.
! A score of wood-cutters followed hIm in
tumult, with their large-brimmed hats
their sun burnt features, waving the de-
brisoftheir torches. Scarcely was he with
in the room when the shining eyes of
my tutor seemed to seek something. He
perceived the negress, and, without a
word being exchanged between them,
the poor woman cried out
% No. no! do not wish it,
"'And II wish III replied the Doc
tor, in sharp tone.
''It seemed as though she recognized
an invincible power. She4=embled from
head to foot, and, Christian Weber mo-
tioning her TO seat, she seated herself
upon it with the rigidity of dead body
"An the assistants, witness of this
moving spectacle, good men with coarse
and primitive manners, but full OF pious
sentiments, crossed themselves, and I,
who did not even know the name of this
terrible magnetic power of the will be-
gan to trembIe, believing that agatha
was dead
Christian Weber approached the ne
gress, and passing his hand over her
forehead with rapid gesture, said:
s'Are you there?'
"'Yes, MASTER
g Sir Thomas Hawerburch?'
".'At these words she shuddered vio-
lently
"fYou see himY
1es, yes she said, in strangled
voice; Il see himr
"'Where is hep
"'Below, III the bottom of the cavern
-deadp
"'Deadr said the Doctor 'How?'
"'The spider! Oh, the spider-like
crab-fsh! Ohp
"'Calm your agitation said the Doc
tor, now very pale; tell me plainly
"sThe crab-fish drew him to the gorge,
He is there, in the corner, under a rock,
enveloped in her net. Ahn
"Christian Weber cast cold look up
on the assistants, who, drawn up in a cir
Gle, their eyes starting out of their sock
els, listened, and I heard him murmur:
1t is horrible. horrible!'
"'Then he returned:
You see him?'
I 4 see him."
"'And the fish-is it large?'
/ 'Oh! master, never, never have l
seen it so large. It is as large as my
headr
"There was long silence. All the
assistants regarded the negress, her livid
face and her bristling hair. Christian
Weber alone appeared calm; having
passed his hands many times over the
forehead of the woman, he said:
"'Agatha, relate how death occurred
to Sir Hawerburch.'
"'He was bathing in the basin. The
fish saw him-saw his naked back, his
arms floating on the water. Suddenly
she darted out like lightning and put
her claws around the neck of the Com
modore, who cried. "Oh! oh! my Gedw
She stung him and fled. Sir Hawer-
burch tainted and died in the water
Then the fish returned, and surround
ing him with her net pulled him softly,
softly into the carvern. She has sucked
his blood, and now he is quite black
''The Doctor, turning towards me, who
felt no longer any fright, said:
els it true, Frantz, that the Commo-
dore was bathing?
"'Yes, cousin
"'At what hour?
"'About four o'clock
"'About four o'clock-was it not very
warm?'
"'Oh, yesr
That accounts for it. She struck
him upon the forehead, and the heat
prevented resistance r.
"He muttered some unintelligible
words, and then, glaneing at the noun
taineers, cried:
"'My friends, beheld whence comes
this mass of debris-of sEeletons-which
has thrown terror among the bathers.
Behold that which has wholly ruined
you-it is the spider-fsh! She is there,
gloating in her web and throwing her
prey into the bottom of the cavernl Who
can tell the number of her victims"
"And, filled with a sort of rage, he
rushed out, crying:
'Fagots! fagotsp
'All the wooe-cutters followed him
in tumult.
Ten minutes afterwards two large
wagons filed with fagots mounted slow
ly up the side of the mountain. A long
file of wood-cutters, their backs bent
and their matches upon their shoulders,
followed them in the midst of the dark
, ness. Ny tutor and walked on in ad-
vance, leading the horses by their bri-
:, dies, while the melancholy moon dimly
, lighted this funereal march. From time
! to time the wheels would CRATE; then the
: wagons, elevated by the rocky asperities
of the road, would fall back into the
:, beaten track with rough joltings.
: Near the cavern our cortege halted
The torches were lighted, and the party
. advanced towards the gulf. The lin
= pid water, flowing over the sand, reflect
ed the blush light of the resinous tor
ches, the rays of which lighted up thu
tops of the fr-trees growing upon th'
rock
IF "'We. will unload here said the Doc
h tor: the entrance to the cave must b.