Litchfield enquirer., 1874-07-09

flames from window to window, in great
 leaps, to every angle and recess; and the
 entire mass soon became volcano of fire,
 roaring and whirling high against the bosom of the lowering thunder-cloud.
 The rain that fell in torrents seemed only to intensity the fire, and added to
 the red light of the confagration a blue
 halo of burning water, like the violet
 eolored vestment of the flame of candle
 in the damp air of mine. All around
 and above was sable darkness, relieved
 only by ruddY gleams reflected from the
 lawn and the semicircle of elms. Quick
 repeated flashes of lightning, hiding half the fire for an instant in white light, the yolleyed roar of thunder, peal after peal, Browning the rush and murmur of the cOnfiagration; an occasional fall inward Qi roofs and turrets; and the moving figures
 or groups of terrified villagers, driven
 back between rain and fire. by the fury of both elements, and seem only at inter- vals by flashes of electric illumination these strange and vivid appearances occu- pied me for a moment. It was impossi-
 ble to save any part of the group of bull dlngs. If any persons were in the man. sion they had perished. All had proba- bly escaped. In less than an hour the princely mansion of Saltone-that unrival- ed work of art and taste, the home of ele- gance and vertu-in an hour, all, pictures, statues, vases, cabinets of gems and coins, the rare library of books and works of the graver, furniture of graceful pattern, satin hangmgs, carpets of Brussels and Turkey, the enchanted rose gardens; the conservatory, rich with exotic prefumes of hundred kinds-All would be a heap of vile and smouldering ashes. A sensa- pressed me, for such irreparably loss of not think at that moment of the inhabi- would enable them to replace what they had lost. It twas I who suffered, more than they: insensibly I had become at tached to Saltone-more, perhaps, than if it had been my own; I had enjoyed all, from the first stone of the corner to the last decoration of the hall, without the burden or the care of proprietorship. The villa with it's beauties had gradually seated itself, though years of intimate ac- quaintance, in that passion with which men seem to be endowed, in common with animsls-the love of places, of odors, and of things; an attachment of whose till then had been unconscious.
 While stood watching with unspeaka- ble regret the fall of the last of the four square towers, as it plunged sullenly into the smouldering ashes of the ruin, and sent up a volley of pointed flames and rolling clouds of.smoke, I heard an anxious female voice calling my name. It was Sarah Behn, Madam Covenants Swiss housekeeper. moving about bare-headed ill the ram, half crazed with terror and excitement.
 'sOh, Sir! can you tell me where I will find Madam Davenant?' she exclaimed, running mp and seizing the bridle of my horse.
 The question was alarming. "When did you last see herr" asked. ''I heard it said she was safe in the farmhouse D
 ssQh! am afraid she is burned: I have net Been her. It was who ran to the farm house. had on dress of hers, and Juey mISJOUk nI0 fo. REs~a.na. ,a a---------
 At the same instant Deacon Satterlee came hobbling along on his crutch, pant ing and speechless with haste.
 '.Is Madam Davenant at the village?" I asked.
 :"At the village! Madam Davenant? How should she get there at this hour?"
 s.I know, know she Is burnedw scream ed Sarah Behn, clasping her hands. "Oh, it is horrible, too horrible! It all comes of that wicked John Cisco; he ran away with the rest, and no one went to waken Davenant. She IS dead-she is r
 Crazed with horror and grief, the wo- man threw herself down upon the wet turf, and lapsed into succession of hys- terical spasms, rolling over, shrieking, and tearing her hair like a maniac. Her out cries drew together a crowd of idlers and lOokers-on. 1 advised general search for the missing lady, ill the vague hope that, wandering off in the darkness, she might have lost her way and fallen ex- hausted in the forest. A score of active boys and men, and even women, acquaint- ed with the paths and by-ways of the vi- cinity, started in pursuit.
 The old Deacon, feeble and rheumatic. begged me not to leave him alone with the housekeeper, who came out of one spasm only to fall into another. With much difficulty, for she was fat and heavy, dragged her under 0 summer-house that had escaped the confagration, and rode back to the village to procure a vehicle. Luckily found wagon and harness in the tavern-stable, and so drove back with my own horse before 1t. The searchers had returned unsuccessful, and were gath cred in gloomy groups under the summer house.
 It was now broad daylight, and the wind and thunder had cleared away. The fires of the burning ruin were nearly quenched by the heavy rain. Knowing the situation of Madam Davenant's bedroom, I sent to the farmhouse near by for spades, axes. and rakes; and we began working in good dozen together, in that part of the cellar which was directly beneath her bed. The heavy oaken beams of the frame had fallen inward. These, still burning. we cut away and drew out of the pit, and aided the quenching rain with buckets of water. The fire, flashing up at hindered our progress, but by evening of that day, after repeated delays by the fire, we had thrown out all the ashes and rubbish from the pit. Frag- ments of half-burned books, silver can delabras melted into fantastic forms, a shapeless lump of gold. recognized as the case of Madam Dayenant's watch, which hung at night at her beds head; portions of the gilded bed-posts, bundles of singed feathers, the barrels of 8 brace of pistols that lay usually in the drawer of light stand between the bed and the wall, and, among other relics, the wheels, and the copper dial-plate of the great clock, which had once played the airs of Ros- sini. were successiyely drawn forth. Ihad these all taken to the summer-house and D guard plaeed oyer them.
 No human remains could be found. Meanwhile Sarah Behn, the housekeeper. had recovered from her mysteries, and came over from the village in a fearful but composed condition. She recognized, with many sobs, each article of her mis- tress's bedroom and wardrobe, as the rem nants were shown to her. The other ser wants of the household groom, two or three housemaids, and the assisted in the Identification. All the servants of Saltone werepresent. If any one of these, and not-as was generally believed the lighting of heaven, had been the destroy CT of Saltone, I thought should detect some difference of behavior, some proofs of q guilty conscience in the criminal. All were seemingly innocent, and gave no signs but of interest and regret.