Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-12-27

terly abandon the meanest of thy crea- lures. Even here, on the brink of terrors more hldeous than the most cruel death l still hope, l still believe that Thou wilt show me way of dehverancer
 The OctOrOOn arose from her knees a new creature aftor the 1tterance of this heartfelt prayer. Her very countenance seemed as if transfgured by the sublime emotions of the moment A holy light shone from her fearless eyes; a faint flush Of crimson relieved the paIlor of her cheek
 ''My father abandons me to my fate. Even he who was to be my husband can dc no moro to save me. IL is to Heaven, then, that 1 turn, and to One above who Is stronger than all earthly friends
 The apartment to which Cora had been conducted was on the upper floor of the villa; but the ceilings of the lower cham bers were far from lofty, and the window from which tho Octoroon looked was scarcely eleven feet from the ground Under this window ran arustic colonnade with slender pilasters, round which hung the leaves and blossoms of the luxuriant creeping-plants familiar to the South The roof of this colonnade formed 0 bal cony before Cora's window.
 For some moments the Octoroon stood at the open caAement, gazing on the scene beneath her, lost in thought.
 ''1f l remain in this house." she mur- mured, 'I am utterly in the power of that base man. Another moment. and he may enter this chamber: again may hear those words which are poison to my soul; and this time he may force me to listen to his infamous proposals. All those beneath this roof are the slaves of his will-it were hopeless, then, to look for help from them; but beneath that purple vault I might surely be safer i; ri {a o% hand"
 She shuddered as she spoke. To this girl. religiously educated there was something horrible in tho idea of suicide, It seemed doubt of Providence even to think Of this worst and last resource.
 But on one thiug she had determined, and that was to escape from the house to the gardens below; once there, sue might Hnd her way to some adjoining pfanta- tion, where she might meet with some benevolent creature who would interfere to shield her from her hated master
 It was not slavery she feared, it was dishonor.
 The rope with which she had been hound still hung to one of her wrists This rope might be the means of saving her.
 She examined the door of her chamber and found that it was locked on the out side.
 ''So much the better," she thought; {; ''he believes his prisoner to be safe. He thinks that l would not dare leap of a few feet even to escape from him. How little he knows of woman's power in the moment of desperation p
 She hurried to tho balcony, and att tached the cord, which was about five feet long, to the iron railing, then with the help of this cord she dropped lightly to the ground.
 She lighted unhurt upon the soft earth of a fiower-bed, but the slender ropes broke with her weight, and the best part of it remained in her hand.
 She was free!
 Free did she think, wher still within a few paces of her master?
 Swift as the wind she flew from the villa in the direction of the riverside, scarce knowing which path she took in her eagerneSS to escape.
 Her footsteps made no sound upon the dewy turf, ana she did not hear another footstcp hurrying close behind her.
 A broad lawn stretched before her. and beyond that thick plantation.
 Her anxiety was to reach this friendly shelter, for the moonlight night was bright and clear as day, and she trembled lest she should be perceived from the windows of the villa.
 She was nearing the plantation when an iron hand was laid upon her shoulder. and turning round with a scream of min- gied anguish and terror, she confronted Augustus Horton bare-headed in the moon light.
 He had watched her escape from the window of his own apartment. and had long enough to allow her to i'm aglne herself free before he had left the house in pursuit of her.
 ''So, Cora" he said, ''this is the way you repay me for my foolish indulgence This is how you show your gratitude for being received at Hortonville like a princess! Do you know how we treat runaway slaves in the south?"
 "No," answered Cora, with a look of defiance.
 "Oh! you don't; I'm afraid they neglected your education in England. But why, why, Cora do you compel me to use this language? It is not the right of a master that I would exercise, but that of a lover."
 "You forget" replied Cora, with icy coldness, ''that I love, and am beloved by an honorable man. who would make me his wife,
 '1t is you who must forget that, Cora" answered Augustus, fiercely. "Hence- forth, Gilbert Margrave and you are strangers. You are mine. I have kept my promise; have given the fifty thou sand collars owed me by your father as the price of this moment But it Is not as master that I address you The rigors of slavery are not for you. Re- ward my devotion with one smile, one word of encouragement, and life of luxury shall be yours but, if you value your own happiness, do not force me to femem her-'
 'That am your slave. Pardon me, Mr. Horton, 1t is that which 1 would not forget; but, as my education has left me very ignorant, I must beg you to teach me the duties of slave"
 'Those duties are told in one word, Cora" replied the planter, 'and that word Is submission absolute and un- questioning submission to every wish of the master. Blind obedience 10 every word, to each command, however re- volting to the will of the slave Body and soul, Cora, you are mine. Shriek, and your voice will echo through the plantation. but will awake no answer; for those who alone could hear it are slaves like yourself, and powerless to help you. Cease this mad folly, then, and thus let me"
 He advanced as if to encircle her in his arms, bat the Octoroon stepped back a few paces, and raising the cord which she held in her right hand, addressed him thus:
 ssOne stan further and if ic who will