The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-08-05
GhnaateIIigel1ee1.
A TERRIBLE ALTERNATIVE


Colonel Only,D ut whose cosy loVN -
Eurkinghamshire had CHARTERED mysel
Ina few DAYS, The picture he ALLUDED
4, certainly had attracted an unusua
,muunt OF my attention, considering that
al, a rule, / am strangely deficient II
1rtntic taste,
We'll, YES, answered, my eye return
u. to rel on that particular object which
b,! attracted it many times before; IRE
.nring it a5 q picture, | should say 1t Ii
/, bio means the best Of your collection
lIt regarding it as portrait, there il
.m4,thing about it that 'ietches' me. ]
/. ma that the face is either handsome OIL
Intellectual, but there is aistrangc, wier,
..m,rlrg aboutit which the artist seem,
uligc caught fresh from the living fac,
ud l-an.icrrcd to the canvas, and Which
All h.. after art had failed to paint ont.
The picture which gave rise TO these OBJ
,rryrions was that Of man certainly
MT Iast middle age, dressed in the fashion
III III. early period Of the reign OF George
m The face and figure, Us regarded
m,rt iulm and feature, were common
r.,n enough; there was nothing suiii'
,iru,lg remarkable in the portrait to at'
,r,rrmore luan passing observNtion; in
InI an Ilakng on it, you felt 1t ought to
rsrrr.,nt kindly genial gentleman; but
.onrhow it didn't. There seemed to be
.omcrlm, behind, working out through
fine pain,ed eyes as though it or they had
seem what they should not, and were
baanlcdby some awful mystery that would
M, he hidden even in thegrayc. Turning
ms back upon it, shifted the CONVERSE
lion, and my friend seemed by no means
di-pcasci to dismiss the subject We had a
long, cosby chat On many matters inter
citing to old friends who meet but seldom
with long llpscsoi time between, 1t was
late before we could make up our minds
10 separate. At last, as ! lCit.the room,
c,uiIrtick in hand, | could not help,
again., my will, casting furtive glance
nj the portrait, and hastily shut the door
behind me. | was dead tired, for | had
come oiI 4 long journey; but when got
10 bed it was long time before | could
compose myself to sleep, and when | did
/ wa. troubled in my dreams, The pOr.
tul hul followed me upstairs, slipped
into the room after me, and tried to get
in,u the bed beside me; but, failing in that,
went aud leaned against the wall and
zane ont Of the frame and climbed up to
the top Of my bed, hid in tho curtain
tod., and multiplied itself by thousands,
ull the whole atmosphere, above and
around me, was filled with the one wierd,
strange face. In the morning my friend
hoped had slept well. told him the
art nj purgatory had endured, adding;
Il nm sure there is some grim secret
connected with TINT picture; you may US
we'll tell me what ii Is, lift is family
secret promise to keep II sacred"
"Wcll, /" he answered, after moments
rejection there is n painful story con-
ucctcl with it, The portrait is that Of my
graudiather--Dr Matthias, let us call him.
lie was one Of the physiciNns.in.OHlinary
to George Ill, which position he occupied
long before he had reached middle nge.
lie wa1 u courteous, genial, kindly man,
full OF those social qualities which make
amln a iavOritc Of society. So much |
have heard. When knew him things
We're different. In the year 1910, full Of
high spirits and pleasant anticipatiOnI,
liz went IN the Continent for II months
holiday; he came back at the end Of II IN
altered man-his genial nature Clouded
with an incradicAble gloom. lie gave up
all practice, all society; bought this place
and settled here, lle received no visits,
paid none; he lived In his library among
hi. books, occasionally taking long soil.
ary rNmblcs about the country. His
nature did not degenerate into harshness,
bat a strange melancholy possessed him;
is cause was unknown, so was It's cure.
lie turned his back upon the world, and,
though lie was no world.sCOrner, nothing
would induce him to enter ii again.
H. was Il widOwer, and his only son
my iathCr-was then boy at Harrow.
YOU may imagine this was not lively
place for u hlgh.spirited young fellow to
rome home 10; they saw little Of each
,ther, In due time my father married,
and was born. Years passed, and one
Niuiry night, when | was about Is years
Old, We received n telegram summoning
IA here. We came, and were shown Into
The room " here you slept last night. The
old man, with the stamp Of death upon
his face, was propped up on pillows
where he had lain for hours, his eyes
liked on the door, watching for US. Az
We entered the room, his iilmy eyes
his eager, ortstretChed hands
Iremblcd IA we touched them. With the
lamp-dew on his brow, his voice quak-
INK, and his whole soul shuddeting as he
lived over again one terrible moment Of
lis life, hC told us the story which ! had
sitter put together in my own words.n
1t appears that during that moment
rus visit to the Continent he went TO Ma
lies. lie was received by the best socie.
Y, and most hospitality entertained in the
most distinguished social and political
,ircles, where he passed many pleasant
lours disCOursing and discussing intelleC-
ual and scientific ubjccts-Chemistry,
'urgcry, aud once, among these things,
The u1c and misuse Of pOisOns cropped up
in the course Of conversation; and some
one prcsent-n gentleman Of some note
aud importance-asked what was the
quickest and easiest death to die. The
subject was freely debated.
One evening he returned from one Of
those pleasant gatherings, and, in reIlec-
tive mood Of mind, sat for an hour look
Ing over the moonllt city and the beauli-
inl, worllfamous bay. II was near mid.
night when two strangers were shown In
To him who requested his immediate Mt
tendance in case Of great urgency. lie
represented that he was there on visit Of
pleasure, not for professional purposes.
They were perfectly aware OF that fact,
they said, still, they urged him 40 strong.
y that at last they overcame his scruples,
and he consented to go with them. A cur.
rage wnat the door; he got in first, they
followed him, pulled down the blinds, and
ne carriage ratified away. lie did not
Ike hi position, and began to suspect
silence.
They seemed to drive great distance,
turning and turning many times. Once
he inquired, clad they far to go" and
received the brief answer, "No.1 At last
l0cy drove into the courtyard Of great
house. The door opened as II by magic.
mere were no lights; he might as well
, nave been GIt9dioldcdi there would have