The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-07-31
A Terrible Alternative.
By LADY Dakas Hardy,

bua1 PiCtugSa naiu ~ VAu AAtSAsA tne SolV
mel (for, as / don't mean to betray family
secrets, shall speak Of him as the Colo
mel" only, &c whose cosy nook in Buck
inghapshire T. had guartered myself
for few days. The picture he alluded to
certainly had attracted an unusual amount
ofmy attention, considering that, AZ a rule,
I am strangely deficient in artistic taste.
We'll, yes" I answered, my, eye turn
ing to rest on that particular object which
had attracted it many times before; re
garding it as picture, / should say it is by
no means the best of your collection, but,
regarding it as a portrait, there ls some
thing about Il that fetehes' me. Its not
that the face is either handsome or intel
lectual; but there is strange, weird some
thing about it which the artist seems to
have caught fresh from the living face and
transferred to the canvas and which all
his after art had failed to paint out" ",
The picture which gave rise to these
observations was that of man certainly
not past middle age, dressed in the fashion
of the earlier period Of the reign Of George
III. The face aid figure, as regarded
mere form and feature, were commonplace
enough: there was nothing sufficiently re-
markable in the portrait to attract more
than q passing observation, indeed, on
looking at It, you felt Il ought to represent
kindly, genial gentleman; but somehow
it didn't. There seemed to be something
behind Il, working out through the painted
eyes as though they had seen what they
should not, and were haunted by some
awful mystery that would not be hidden
even in the grave. Turning my back upon
it shifted the conversation, and my friend
seemed by no means displeased to dismiss
the subject We had a long, gossipy chat
on many matters interesting to old friends
who meet but. seldom and with long lapses
of,time between, 1t wss- late before We
could make up our minds to separate, Al
last,a left the room, candlestick in hand
j could not help against my viii, casting 9
furtive glance at the, portrait. and hastily
shut the.door behind me. was dead tired
for had come off long journey but Whei
got TO bed it was long time before j
could compose myself to sleep, and whel
did was troubled in my dreams. .Th.
portrait had followed me up stairs, slipped
into the room after me, and tried to ge
into the bed beside me but failing in that
went and leaned against the wall and came
out Of the frame and climbed up to the TOT
of my bed, hidin the curtain folds, apt
multiplied itself by thousands, till tn,
whole atmosphere above and around ma
was filed with the one weird strange face
10 the morning my friend hoped that
had slept well. l told him the sort o.
purgatory had endured, adding: -.
Il am sure there is some grim secre
connected with that picture: you may a
well tell me what it is. If it is famil,
secret promise to keep it sacred"
''Well," he answered after moment
reflection: ''thereis a painful story con
nected with it. The portrait is that of M
grandlather-Dr. Matthias, let us call him
He was one of the physicians-in-ordina
TO George Ill, which position he occupies
long before he had reached middle-age
lie was courteous, genial, kindly mar
full of those social qualities which make
man q favorite of society. So much
haye heard. When I knew him thing
were different. In The year ITO" full {
high spirits and pleasant anticipation,
he went on the Continent for month
holiday; he came back at the end of it a
altered man-his genial nature oloude
with an ineradicable gloom. He gave u
all practice all society; bought this plaC
and settled here; he received no visit
paid none; no lived In his library anon
his books, occasionally taking long solitaI
rambles the country. His nature did u,
degenerate into harshness, but strant
melancholy possessed him; its cause wi
unknown, so was its cure He turned n
back upon the world, and though he W,
no world scorner nothing would induce hi
to enter it again. He was a widower, ar
his only sonny father-was then be
ut Harrow. You may imagine this W,
lot lively place for high-spirited your
fellow to come home to, they saw little
each other. In due time my father ma
ried, and was born. Years passed, al
one wintry night, when l was about eigI
cen years old we received q telegra
summoning MS here. We came, and we
shown the room where you slept last nigh
The old man, with the stamp OF dea
upon his face. was propped up on pillo,
where he had lain for hours, his eyes tx,
on the hoor, watching for u.s. AS we e
tered tho room ibis hlmy eyes brightene
his eager Qutstretched hands Arembled,
we touched them. With the damp ldea
dew on his .brow,his voice quakiDg. and b
whole soul shuddeFiag as he lived ov
told us the story v hich, Z had better D
LOKOtuvk Az NY OWudWOFuS., .H.. TN
1T appears that hiring that nome
tous visit to tho Contiuent- went TO N
pies, He was received by the best soci
ty. and most Hospitality entertained In Il
most distinguished social aud political q
cles, where be passed many pleasant hou
discoursihg and discussing Intellectual al
scientific 'suhjeets-chemistry, surgery
and once among these things, the use al
misuse Of poisons cropped up in the cour
OF conversations; and some one present
gentleman OF some note and importan
asked what was the quickest aud easie
death to die. The subject was freely
pated. .CT-.. ID
"One evening he returned from one
those pleasant gatherings, and in refe
tive mood Of mind sat for an hour loekiI
over the moonlit city and the beautfft
world-famous bay. 1t was near midnig
when two strangers were shown into hir
who requested his immediate attendance
case OF great urgency. He represent,
that he was there on visit of pleasur
not for professional purposes. - They we
perfectly aware of that fact, they sal
still they urged him so strongly that
last they overcame his scruples, and
consented to 90 with them. A carria,
was atthe door; he got in first, thew Il
lowed him, pnlssd down the blinds, al
the carriage ratified away He did not III
his position. and began to suspect that
was not right. They kept utter silence.
They seemed to drive great distau
turning manyt times. Once he inquire
Had they far to go2' and received 4