Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-07-16
For the MONITOR.
THE DEAD MISER.

BY DAAID HILL.
One evening four and twenty men
Sat in the village store;
Some talked of health. and some of wealth,
And some Of days yore
Some said nothing at all; but smoked,
And spat upon the floor.
storm which long had clogged the west
Like some stupendous WALL
At last rose on the wind, and hung
Above them like pail;
The lightnings flashed, the thunders crashed,
The rain began to fall. ~
1t seemed to throw around those men
A clouded veil of fear;
Their talk was more sedate and grave.
Without joke or sneer;
The merchant struck a match, and lit
Each hanging chandelier.
Zone face I've missed for fourteen days.
At last he slowly said:
"Old miser Bruce who lives recluse,
Is surely gone dead:
'Tis no uncommon thing to find
A rigid corpse in bed
ave thought of this" lounger said.
Myself this self same day;
saw tonight the blinds were closed
While passing down that way;
The man was DID, and weak, and frail-
On such Death loves to prey"
The more they broached the theme, the more
1t filed their souls with dread,
They needed not the storm that ragged
Around and overhead;
But all resolved to search at once
For the conjectured dead.
And so with lanterns lit, the crowd
Out through that doorway passed;
They filed along the muddy road,
And faced the raging blast;
And as they walked, their shadows stalked
Like phantoms. grim and vast.
They paused before the mlser's door,
Amazed and terror-bound:
Through crevice, and through seam, the wind
Doled out dismal sound;
The blinds and loose boards creaked the rain
Ran gurgling to the ground.
Two cats were fighting in the yard:
''If angry CATS" said one,
Can quarrel here without fear,
We should this terror shun."
With that. he raped upon the door:
But answer there was none.
He raped again-no answer came
The storm kept up its din;
He tried the latch-'twas fastened down
With either bolt, or pin;
Aud so he bore against the door,
And stove the panels in.
Then through the orifice they crawled,
And soon were in the room;
With muffled tread, they sought his bed,
And peered into the gloom
Two rats ran out, then all was still
AS some Egyptian tomb.
The ragged quilts were undisturbed.
The caseless pillows bare
And SO they passed from room to room,
And up the narrow stair;
The chambers gave an empty sound
No corpse was hidden there.
Once more within the room below
That band of searehers stood.
And council held, like savages
Within dreary wood;
The gloomy cellar-ahI the thought
Sent shlvers through their blood.
But growing bold, they sought the door,
And threw il open wide;
Yet, ere it struck the wall behind,
Each man had sprung aside;
horrd stencil they could not quench,
Told where the miser died.
At last with shaking knees, they fled
Into that yawnlng grave;
Some ghoullsh-haunted pit 1t seemed
Some Cimmerian cave,
So underground. and dead to sound,
1t no responses gave
And yet single table stood
Against the granite wall;
A caudlestick without wick.
A badly written scrawl,
And gold was there, and in his chair,
The dead man guarding all.
1t was CHASTITY sight to see
That corpse so stark and cold,
With gaping mouth. great, staring eyes,
And visage black with mold
And two hands on the table clinched,
And grasping sordid gold.
His head was slightly forward bent
The darkness was his shroud;
The rats had guawed his fingers bare
They scattered at the crowd
At last the man picked up the scrawl
And read these words aloud
"Accursed be gold! accursed be goldl
am its bonded slave;
1t holds me tight, as Scylla held
Young Hero. bold and brave;
sink and die in cavens deep
Beneath the crimson wave.
I've struggled hard, I've struggled long,
Against its deadly charms;
Alasi in dreams it is foe
That fills me with alarms;
But like an octopus it drags
Me down with horrid arms.
Godl that yellow, souless gold,
Should bind me like a slave;
That it should be my food and drink
And only thing crave
Then roll above me, like some huge
And overwhelming wave.
One time, my ears were charmed with songs
OF lark, and philomel;
With signing trees, and hum of bees,
And murmur-haunted she'll;
Sounds die in ears entombed for years
Within prison cell.
And thus it is while others sleep,
A joy to me forbid,
steal with still and cautious steps
To where my gold is hid;
kneel above the iron chest
And raise the rusty lid
rake the yellow metal out
And stack it up in piles;
place the pieces side by side,
And view the many styles
And eoddle. fondle and caress,
And ravish them with smiles.
But this one night sharp cutting pains
Go darting through my head;
The candle streams in fiful CLEANS
The flame is bloody red;
And on each COIN the face stands out
Distorted, like the dead.
And round me, eldritch shapes appear.
With fiery, flaming eyes;
Great gaping jaws and grasping claws.
And writhlng forms arse
And gaunt. and skinny hands reach out,
To grasp the gold prize.
fight the lanky phantoms off,