Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-02-07

glittering blade qulvering in his hand.
L felt the iron grasp of his hand upon
my shoulder, saw the bright blade of
the bowie knife pointed directly at my
heart, and stood powerless and motion
less as a statue.
But with this hour of peril came
strength adequate to the emergency.
The courage which had for moment
deserted me, revived and triumphed
over fear. l knew that to plead for
mercy, to sue for life, would be in vain.
My entreaties would be unheeded, and
perhaps instant des}h would be the con-
sequence. Ny en5Y hope then lay in
stratagem. A plan whirled through my
brain with lightning speed, and upon it
l determined to act.
Release me, Herbert" 1 said, with
as much calmness as I could command,
"and come sit down by my side. want
to talk to you."
He obeyed.
"You will be my wife?" he said.
" You accept my proposition ?"
l bowed an assent. A triumphant
smile lighted up his features.
Herbert" began, "you offered
me the rich treasure of your heart, but
1 blindly and foolishly refused it. ]
recklessly threw away my own happiness,
but the act was thoughtless, an unpre-
cedented one, and [ have never ceased to
regret it. This time you shall not sue
in vain."
Another wild, shrill laugh resounded
in my ears, and the maniac's eyes shone
additional luster.
"I knew" he said, proudly brushing
back the long black locks from his high,
broad forehead, 81 knew your woman s
heart could not second time Withstand
the power of my charms. Ladies have
always courted and admired me. have
been for years the center of universal
honor and homage, and though age is
creeping on apace, l can slip into the
heart of woman as slyly and subtly as
in the days of my early manhood |"
"Herbert. 1 will, as I said, be the
bride of your future life. The unseen
joys of the eternal world we will
share together. But no bride ever
leaves her fathers home without max
ing preparations; neither can 1 leave
the abiding place of my earthly hus.
band without making some ar.
rangements necessary for his comfort
and happiness. I will prepare dinner,
to be ready against his return, and for
the little ones God has given me.
While am in the flesh l must be faith
full to the VOWS made in the flesh. We
will refresh our bodies before starting
upon our long journey. 1t shall be our
marriage feast; you shall be the bride
groom and the honored. My husband
will be there to see tha happy exchange
/ have made.
Thus / ran on, besraying neither by
look nor act the mental terror of nv
soul. The eyes of the maniac glared
less aercely; the knife was replaced in
the belt. had touched the right cord
in his breast; his vanity had been fiat
tered by my praises, and by readily ac-
cording to his wishts for the passing
moment, I felt the danger was averted.
Determined to follow up the advan
tage I had so unexpectedly gained.
arose calmly, and with forced smile,
said, 81 will go now and prepare the
dinner-our wedding feast. We will
eat for the last time with our fellow
mortals, and take of them an affection
ate farewell"
$50 we will |" replied Stanley, gaily.
$50 we will. It shall be marriage
like the marriage of Cana. Water will
be turned into wine, and we will eat the
bread of life." and he folded me to his
bosom in rough embrace.
"Now, Herbert" said l, after mo.
ment, "I will go and make ready for
our journey; time is precious and we
will not delay our happiness. And l
proceeded to the dining-room and com
menced laying the cloth dishes on the
table; getting necessary preparation
for meal, I hoped by SO doing I should
be able to elude the argus eyes of my
jailor, and when favorable moment
present itself I would leap from the
window and escape by fight.
But no cat ever watched for prey more
closely than Herbert Stanley watched
me. His eyes never left me, and I saw
that an attempt to escape would be but
to jump into the very jaws of death.
But as my fight grew more and more
hopeless, my mind grew active. A
bright thought crossed it.
If I remember rightly, Herbert,
said I, "you used to be great admirel
of the canine species ?"
eyes," was the reply.
Now" said |, 81 will show you 6
most splendid specimen of dog; he is
as cunning as fox, and possesses traits
OF character and sagacity not unworthy
of the human race. Here, Neptune.
And large, shaggy, Newfoundland dog
came slowly into the room. wagging hit
tail with doggish joy.
"That is our only errand boy, con
tinued, pointing to the animal, "and {
better one could not be found. He doel
our marketing daily, and saves us dea
of trouble. Such sagacious creatur,
you never beheld. All l have to do il
just to write upon little bit of papel
whatever we want, and the quantity
and put it in basket, which Neptun,
takes in his mouth and presents to tn,
butcher, baker or grocer, as we tell him
and forthwith he returns with the arti
cles desired. Now, let me exhibit on,
of his exploits, and you shall Judge i
we overrate his exploits. We shall
want meat for our repast, and I vii
send for some"
took my pencil from my pocket anC
wrote upon little scrap of paper thes
words:
"MR. Brown For heavens sak
come Immediately to my rescue. I an
completely in the power of Herber
Stanley, maniac Come with fore
sufficient to save me and capture him
LAURA MORGAN"
"What have you written ?" inquire,
Stanley, whose attention had been TO
| the last moment onlv divartad tn th