The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-07-03


! you trom my sight - and he attempted to
spring from his bed.
His daughter clasped her arms around
him and withheld him but, he shook her
( of, and sat perfectly erect, with raised fin
/ ger. as he continued r.-t
CLEAR my last words William Herbert
and know that they are the utterauces of
/ as deadly hate as ever sprang up between
+ man and man. l have no pardon for YOU
and If my resentment can manifest itself
{ beyond the grave, | will come back to YOU
| and make your life a bitterness to you.
have little faith in parsons or their cant
but l believe there is a demon-I have
known him, | have felt his infiuence-and
/ At he Will give me the power to torment
| you. will surrender myself to him body
and soul. Now 60, and take with you the
renewed curse of him you would not suffer
/ to die in peace
Exhausted by the effort he sank back,
and by the time his head touched the pill
low he vas dead.
/ Horror-struck at the result of his effort
at Cancellation, Herbert left the house be-
wildered and trembling. As Ae walked
through the streets toward his own abode
/ it seemed to him that a form fitted beside
him., bTeathed coldly upon him, and even
! touched his person with icy fingers, but
F. when he turned toward it, nothing was
I there.
, He found his wife waiting for him ; the
children were in bed, and she sat beside
her solitary candle plying her needle indus
/ triously. One glance at his face Informed
her that something unusual and distressing
had occurred, and she apprehensively in
CURED .v,
"Where have you been, William? Has
any new wdisaster befallen us, that you look
| so wild ?''
.., 81 have seen my father, and he is dead
he briefly responded. Mrs Herbert started
| Ii,
her eyes.
''Aud he forgave you? He could not die
with bitter feeling against his eldest born"
Herbert shuddered as that appalling
scene arose before Kim; he gloomily replied
Hope for nothing for us, Mary, for an
| evil spell is upon us, and we may never es-
cape from the miserable doom of poverty
and suffering. The old man was inexor-
able, and my presence only exasPerated
him into an excess of fury that FASTENED
his death.' -.,. .,.5f..
He would not relate to her all the paIticu-
lars of the scene through which he had
just passed, for he knew they would only
uselessly distress her, and, after long and
| hopeless communion over their dism al pros
/ poets, they retiEed. . .-t.f ..
For many hours Herbert could not sleep,
for the same weird consciousness of a pres
eRc6 that was strange and nimcal to him
made itself felt, though it was invisible.
lie attributed this to the excited state of
his own nerves, and made every effort to
CALM himself, After long. effort heuslept,
and III his sleep that awful death. scene was
enacted again and again. When,he awQke
he felt even more jaded and worn out than
before slumber had fallen on him.
After breakfasting with his family he
went out and sought his brother. They
had not spoken for years for the father
had stood an iron barrier between the
| ii;
gone now, and the fraternal hands might
once more be clasped together. George
Herbert received him gravely but afectIon-
| ateV, and after converSlng q short time he
| informed him that, both from his sister
and himself, the dead man had exacted a
solemn promise that they would never seek
to evade his will lin any manner so as to af-
ford him any assistance.
The property is large" he added, ''but
it is tied up in such a manner that if either
Catherine or l should seek to aid you in
an effectual manner, it must at once be
discovered, and it goes to those who would
lose no time in prosecuting their claims. y
| William asked TO see his sister, but she
was too i'll from the agitation and excite
ment of the previous. evening to receive
| him. lie learned that the funeral would
take place on the second day from that,
for the miser had lively horror Of being
buried alive, and he requested that his
I bboy SIlOulu DS hSpS tihtli tlbC tAi4lNA bst
The evening Of the burial was cold
gloomy and depressing. Herbert walked
mechanically in the procession, looking
self-absorbed, and slightly excited. When
any one addressed him he started, looked
wildly around, and a thrilling shudder
would Vibrate through his frame. Those
who closely observed him thought he was
trembling upon the verge Of insanity, and
the story of the last awful interview be
tween the father and son was whispered
among them.
The two brothers stood side by side at
the head of the grave, and when the coffin
/ was lowered the elder one was observed to
! lean over and peer into it with an express
ion that seemed TO indicate an intense fear
that the dead might again arise to mock
him. he evidently listened eagerly when
the clods ratified upon the coffin; and when
the attendants were pressing down the
earth into the full grave, he suddenly jump
ed upon it, and aided in stamping 1t down,
while he muttered
'sBury him deep-fasten him in, so he
| can not come back to torment ne as he
/ threatened -
Scandalized at such conduct his friends
endeavOred to draw him away, but with a
| ghastiy smile he resisted them, as he said:
81 tell you must see that lie is well bur
led, for he has been with me ever since
the breath left his body. | cannot see him
/
me. Oh, men pack down the clods wei
/ pack them-pack them till they are as
hard as the heart that rests beneath them.
''Poor fellow, he is mad. lie must b,
taken care of - was said by many ; bu
, Herbert quietly replied
mo, l am not mad l am only haunted
, by a demon into whom the spirit OF my
= father has passed
Many present thought that even an eyl
I split would be badly treated by having tbs
f hardness and meannesS Of the deceased lm
: posed upon him, and the deepest sympa
tby was felt for the unfortunate son wh'
} had been so hardly used. They drew hin
Y away, and conducted him to his humble
home on the way he eOnyersed rationale.
{ enough and they left him III the hope tina
o rest aud quiet would restore his mind u
il its proper tone.
f Mrs. Herbert saw that he was suffering
! much, and she en6eavOTed TO soothe hi
f spirits. and beguile him from the predomi
5 nant idea that filled his mind. The hour
waned away, and the fire burned low upo