Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-10-27

| ny lUiLSOHl0 IudTCly pGrSudu6t
myself that 1 was dreaming unit
night should come, and that
should then enjoy reality in tn
arms OF my dearest friends. Wha
agonizing fondness did | feel 70
them How did / cling to thei
dear forms, as sometimes they haun
| ted even my waking hours, ant
| persuade myselfthat they still liv
ed +! At such moments, vengeance
that burned with me, died in m,
heart, and pursued my path toward
the destruction of the demon, more
as task enioined by Heaven, a
the mechanical impulse of som,
power of which | was unconscious
than as the ardent desire of my
soul.
What his feelings were whom
persued L cannot know. Sometime:
indeed, he left marks in writing or
the barks of the trees, or cut in the
stone, that guided me, or. instiga
ted my fury. "My reign is not YET
over" (these words. are ligible in
one of these inscriptions): "you live,
and my power is complete. Follow
me; l seek the everlasting ices oil
the North, where you will feel the
misery. of cold and frost, TO which
/ am impassive. You will find
near this place, if you follow not too
tardily, a dead hare eat and be re-
freshed. Come on, my enemy; we
have yet to Wrestle for our lives
but many hard and miserable hours
must you endure until that period
shall arrive"
Soothing devil again do l vow
vengeance; again do | devote thee,
miserable fiend, to torture and death
Never will ornit my search, until
he or / perish; and then with
what ecstacy shall | join my Eliza
beth, and those who even now pre-
pare for me the reward of my te-
dious toll and horrible pilgrimage
AS still pursued my journey to
the northward, the SHOWS thicken-
ed, and the cold increased in a de-
gree almost too severe to support.
The peasants were shut up in their
novels, and only few of the most
hardy ventured forth to seize the
animals which starvation had FORE
ed from their hiding places to seek
for prey. The rivers were covered
with ice, and no fish could be
procured; and thus / was cut off
from my chief article of mainten-
ance.
The triumph of my enemy in
creased with the difficulty of my
labors. One inscription that he left
was in these words: Prepare your
tolls only begin; wrap yourself up
in furs, and provide food, for we
shall soon enter upon journey
where your sutferings will satisfy
my everlasting hatred."
My courage and perseverance
were invigorated by these SOOTHING
words; l resolved not to fail in my
purpose; and, calling on heaven to
support me, l continued with una
bated fervor to traVerS immense
deserts, until the ocean appeared at
distance, and formed the utmost
boundary of the horizon. Oh, how
unlike it was to the blue seas of
the South Covered with ice, it
was only to be distinguish from
land by its superior wilderness.
The Greeks wept for joy when they
beheld the Mediterranean from the
hills of Asia, and hailed with rap
ture the boundary of their tolls. l
did not weep; but l knelt down
and, with a full heart thanked my
guiding spirit for conducting me
in safety TO the place where L hop
ed, Notwithstanding my adversa-
ry's gibe, to meet and grapple with
him.
Some weeks before this perio d l
had procured, a. sledge and dogs,
and thus traversed the SHOWS with
incOnceivable speed. l know not
whether the fiend possessed the
same advantages but found that,
as before | had daily lost ground in
the pursuit, now gained on him
SO much so, that when | first saw
journey in advance, and hoped to
intercept him before he should reach
the beach. With new courage,
therefore pressed on, and in two
days arrived at a wretched hamlet
on the seashore. | inquired of the
inhabitants concerning the tiend.
and gained accurate Information.
A gigantic monster, they said, had
arrived the night before. armed
with a gun and many pistols put
ting to flight the inhabitants of
solitary cottage, through fear of his
terrible appearance. He carried off
their store of winter food, and plac-
ing it in Il sledge, to draw which he
had seized on "a numerous drove of
trained dogs, he had harnessed
them, and the same night had pur-
sued his journey across the sea in
the direction that led to no land;
and they conjectured that he must
speedily be destroyed by the break
ing ice, or frozen by the eternal
frOsts.
On hearing this Information, l
suffered Il temporary access of des-
pair. He had escaped me; and I
must commence destructive and
almost endless journey across the
mountainous Ices of the ocean-amid
could that few of the inhabitants
could long endure, and which L, the
native of a genial and sunny eli
mate, could not hope to survive.
Yet, at the idea that the tiend
should live and be triumphant, my
IdSC dLu SGuSSduCG ItluT uCu, duu,
like mighty tide, overwhelmed
every other feeling. After a slight
during which the spirits of
the dead hOvered round, and instig-
ated me to toll and revenge, 1 pre-
pared for my journey.
/ exchanged my land sledge for
one fashioned for the inequalities of
the frozen ocean and, purchasing a
plentiful stock of provisions, 1 de-
parted from the land.
l cannot guess how many days
have passed since then but l have
endured misery which nothing but
the eternal sentiment of a just retri-
button, burning within my heart
could have enabled me to support,
Immense and rugged mountains of
ice have barred up my passage, and 1
often heard the thunder of the
ground sea, which threatened my
destruction. But again the frost
came, and made the paths of the
sea secure.
BY the quantity of provision
which had consumed, 1 should
guess that had passed three weeks
in this journey; and the continual
protraction of hope, returning back
upon the heart, often wrung bitter
drops of dependency and grief
from my eyes. Despair had indeed
almost secured her prey, and I
should soon have sunk beneath this