(WE DOLLAR PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. TOAVANDA: Gatnr&an IHornmn, June 9. 1535. \ktixv. [From Putnam's Monthly, for May.] ROBERT OF LINCOLN. BY WILLIAM CCI.LKS BRYANT. MERRILY swinging on briar anil weed, Near to the ne-t of bis little dame. Over the mountain side or mead. Robert of Lincoln is telling his name : Bob-o'-link. bob-o'-link. Spink, spank, splnk : Snug and safe is that nest of onrs, Hidden among the summer flowers. Chee. ehee. cbee. RoVert of Lincoln is gayly drest. Wearing a bright biack wedding coat; White are his shoulders and white his crest. Hear him call in his merry note— Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink ; Look what a nice new coat is mine. Sere there never was a bird so fine. Cbe, cbee. chee. Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife. Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings. Passing at home a patient life. Broods i" the grass while her husbands sings Bob-o'-link. bob-o'-link. Spink, spank, spink ; Brood, kind creature : you need not fear Thieves ami robbers while I ain here, c'bee. chee, chee. Modest and shy a uen is she : Oue weak chirp is her only note, lbaecan and prince of braggart- is he. P.siring L><a-t- from bis little throat.— Bob-o'-link. bob-o'-link. Splnk. spank, -pmk ; Never was I afraid of man ; Cat.h me. cowardly knave- it v1 can. Chee. cbee. chee. Sit white egr* OP. a bed -t fcsy Flecked with purple. a pretty -i ..t;' TLere as the mother sit- all day Robert is -.ng.ng with all L.- might Bob-o'-liuk. l>obo'-link. Sphik -:ank. spink : Nice good w;.e, th..t never goes ouL Ket-pmg hons wb '.e 1 frolic ab-ut Chee. chee. chee. Soon as the little ones chip the shell Six wide mouths are open for food ; Robert of lAncoin beisir- him well. Gathering seeds for the hungry brood. Bob-o'-liak. bob-o'-link. Spick, spank. spink. This :ew life is likely to be Hard for a gay y _ng fellow like me. Chee. chee. chee. R lert of Lincoln at length is made S-dier with work and -i-ent with care ; OT is his h '.iday garment '.aid. Half f -rgotur. that merry air. Rob-o'-lick. bobo'-link. Sr : r.k spank -rink : N >hvlr kr -w- v -:t ir.y mate and I Where our n<t and nestlings he. Cbee. chee. ehee. Summer wane-i the :r. '.'ir arc gr . Fur. and fr 1 Eno M re he kr MR : Off he f -. an' wr ; "r. a- he goes Bob-oMiak. bob-o'-liak, np.ok. -paak -pink : When yva car. p.re that merry old -t.-A-U T. ler. • f Lin 'oSn come ta<k again. Chee. chee. chee. ? 111111 i) <T 311. Tin: IRON SHROUDL T e .vsUe of the Pr;ucc of T a was built -uuinut of tne towering and precipitous rack •SejHa. in ail its pudtV. Here. *:n vara >i ih- Msdd> Aces, whmflthe ... - Italy were duMUtod by hos :'v t.ous. tiutse prisoners wvre confined for 0- r-.r.v.>in an enormous price was detrxntl il re. to. in a dunge-oa. excavated - . r. • 1 solid rock, the rmserahle victim v s- Immured whom revenge pursued—the -*s ~ r - and unpityingreTempeof aa Italian tenic. the noble and the generous. the v s? ra Tattle, aid the pride of Naples in - "i. zj i -ur* of peace, the youcg, the brave, • " u:i V.vecii ) fell beueath this subtle and -pirit. He was the prisoner . T --i. and he languished in that rock en-( --"v.roi dungeon. which stood akae. and whose ; t'.r.xi. ietcr oj<eaei twice upon a living cap- It -a. the semblance of a vast cage ; for the ' •' floor, and sides, were of iron, solidij : aid spaciously constructed High avt* j-jjj a of seven grated win : r * zrankd with massive bars of the same *hx-h admitted light and air Save these. lv - tall folding doors beneath them, which the centre, THY chink, or chasm, or • •- broke the smooth black surface of **- s A a iron bedstead Ottered with ' lT c '-'i in one corner, and beside it a ves-. *• *'■ water, and a coarse dish filkd with • L%. /.YJJ y T — the intrepid son! of Yivenzio shrunk - fsss at as he entereii this a hole ami 'L*. as dogs triple-locked It the : who condactcd bin: to it. Tvir t T-:trt-d of bis fate, of the Ev " friv ' tttat hvl been prepared for ha IBs ■ v-< i- ] fatiwti s. u.5 'n l en.. : t ;7':- * .>t- * afli Im ■at 11 -n- st oe.ng " " • ■ were Hi • I (bey he •vst r>ke not. F.t r.-o A me taeeti tvave no toogwe. 1 - * da! was the SOQIKI of th;r rvt.r.at •J* "-k thew fa. Nt echoes died a km? 1 \ ' - nasssjes, a fearful prvswge grew ■(.'.* : ~~ A ,ft * : wore the face, or Toice, ' xaa would greet his senees. He . ® -tsan beings for the iast time ; and t . •' ' *ed ms last upon the bright sky. ' ' str earth, and BOOTS a bras- i THE BRADFORD REPORTER. j tiful world he loved, aDd whose minion be had | been. Here he was to end his life—a life he , had just begun to revel in. And by what I means ? By secret poison ? Or bv nirrder ous assault ? N'o ; for then it had been ueed ; less to bring him hither. Famine, perhaps ; a i thousand deaths iu one ! It was terrible to , think of it ; but it was yet more terrible to picture loug, long years of captivity, in a : solitude so appalling, a loneliue>> so dreary, | that thought, for want of fellowship, would lose itself in madness, or stagnate into idiocy, j He could not hope to escape unless he had .the power, with his bare hands, of renuinsr asunder the solid iron walls of his prison. He | could not hope for liberty from the relenting mercies of his enemy, llis instant death, un dor any form of refined cruelty, was not the l object ot Tolti, tor he might have inflicted it. and he hail not. It was too evident, therefore, he was reserved for some premeditated scheme of subtle vengeance that could transcend in i lieudish malice, either the slow death of fam i ine, or the still slower one of solitary inearcer ! ation, till the last lingering spark of life expir j ed, or till reason fled, and nothinsr should re i main to perish but the brute functions of the j body. , It was evening when Yivenrio entered his , dungeon, and the approaching shades of night '■ wrapped his cell in total darkness, as he paced up aud down, revolving in his mind these hor | rible forebodings. No tolling bell from the ; castle, uor from any neighboring church or ; convent, struck upon his ear to tell how the hours passed. Frequently he would stop and J listen for some sound that might betoken the vicinity of man ; l>ut the solitude of the des ert, the silence of the tomb, are not so still , and deep as the oppressive desolation by which he was encompassed. His heart sunk within him. and he threw hiuiseif dejected ou his couch of straw. Here sleej) irraduallv obiit rated the consciousness of misery, atul bland dreams walutl hi< deliiriitcd spirit to scenes which were once glowing realities for him m whose ravishing illusions he soon for ; go* tlie r :ii m'-rauee that he was Tolti's pri • soiier. AA • _:Wok . - i, V y'.jf, but IIOW : '°n_ he had s , • tw i It unght lie : early UKW:. :ig, or • e -uitrv uoou. for i he will :u a.-ur y ,;o other note of its progress tiian i.ght , . darkn He lad been j >o happy in his deep, amid friends who loved j him, and the sweet endearments of those who ' loveilhim as friends could not. that in tne first momenta of waking, his starth-d m ud seemed ; to admit the ktiow ltnige of his situation, as if it had bur>t ujx)n it for the fir-t time, fre-ii in ail its appalling horrors. 11-- gazed around with an a;r of doubt and amazement, and took up a handful of the straw ujon which he lav. ; as though he would a.-k himsA if what it meaut. I But memory, too faithful to her office, -oou j unveiled the melancholy past, while reason i shuddered at the task, 'lifting up before l is eyes t. e tremendous future. Te < n'n-t overshyw rod him. He remained f-r someti:: -• la nentmg. like a truth, the br'cfct visions that had vanished ; nd recoiling from the prosvut which clung to him as a gar ment. Won he grew more calm, surveyed ltis g| MMBT duty 08. Alas ! the stro-ngtr light"! day only served to confirm what the giootr.v it", i'-t ct" e<> of tie tre*.-*d : .r * coping ha-I [kir thfir disclosed, At utter iraposO ihty of es-1 catv. As. ho-'CTcr, hi? eyes wnr.dort%t aropnd and around, and from place to plaee, lie .notic ed two circumstances which excited his sur priae an.l curiosity. The one, ho thought, ' might be fancy ; bat the other was j o-itive. His pitched of water, and the di-h which cotv i his f esh had Iecn r.mov-.-tl from his sid- while be slept, and n!>w near the door ere he ev-. u ir- line-: to <®-.>abt thi-l-v suppoaay he had mistaken tike -j>t where he saw them over night, he could rot. for the' pitcher now ia Lis dsngeon was neither of tihe siime f nn nor color as the < :J-er. wh'le the fo>xl was changed for <> • c other of better ■ ,::-v. II- had vcr.v:-:-e.: :l : f r.- lurirvg the r ght But bad the person obtained en trar - ! 0 nhi he hart -! :.t -• - an !®v. that the unlocking and opening of those pooderoos ; portab, wereeflßrctcd witsOet awaking turn?! II- w :"1 late said this was not poes&le, but that in d.-.ng so. he anut admit a greater u*f fcnlty. an entrance bv o:h r mean-, of w! "cfc :he was coartncrd there exist*. lii me. It was i ( not iatend'Ai. then, ThaT he should be left to i perch by hunger. But the secret and my-- teriMis ir. xie supplying hmi with fVvt. seeiued to imlicate b-- wa- to ; avc no opi- r tunity oi communicating with a huiaati be ing i The other cirrnnistance which bail attracte-i hi? DOIJCC. was tb- disappearance. a be be-; , liered. one of the seveu trrated window* that ran along the top of the pri-oti He felt oo- • fideet that he had observed and counted : for t be was rather surprised at their namber. and j there was sooietli.ug pecahar -in their fona. a- ' well as in the manner -of their arrangetaeot. at ufiequ.ii diitances It was so teach easier. ; however, to sipf-iap he was mi-taken, than that a portion of sobd iroo which formed the walb coaid have e*aped from its position, that be soon dismissed the thought from his j ■and. ATiveazio partook of the food that was l>e fvwe him without apprcbensioo. I: might be poisoned, but if it were he knew that he could not escape death, shooki should -r, h bethede s.gt. of Toiti. ami the qui* kest death wouhi be tic speediest ro-i >ef Trie lay imssc-i wearily and c3x m.Ty ; tbo' sot * a f.at hope trat )>y * -cping- watch a*, n gi t. he murk: oi<serr- the persoa *:=>■ o i r.ac h;ia Tod ae su-poised be s,j.. .o :ii tfc s. m *ay ss before The mere j '..o2g?t of 1- v . i-rc vl-vi by a hviuw crea u->. —oj-.- r;u r g ; prcseat of ieara •u. -mx-a ♦; i. or jTCf-anoe for N,JU. .as.-- so V-RT. Bcafles, if ne came aiooe. a- not in a tareas? onset overpower hm ? Or be m'gat be *ocessi<-> to ptty, or the influence of sacc. amaiDcect rrwarvls as he couei tvestow if once more at ht*rty ami . master of i.imseif. Say he was annec. Tbe I worm that could befall, if neither bribe, cor PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT TOWANDA. BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH. 1 prayers, uor force prevailed, was a faithful blow, ? which, though dealt in a damned cause, might work a desired end. There was no chance so - desperate but it looked lovely in Vivenzio's - eyes, compared with the idea of being totallv i abandoned. > The night came, and Yivenzio watched : i morning came, and Vivenzio was confounded, i i He must have slumbered withont knowing it. , : Sleep must iiave stolen over him wlieu exhans -1 j ted bv fatigue, and in that interval of feverish j repose he had been baffled ; for there stood his 13 replenished pitcher of water, and there his day's ■, meal. Nor was this all. Casting his loo'ks 1 toward the windows of his dungeon, he conn ted but five ! Here was no deception ; and • he was now convinced that there had been ■ none the day before. But what did all this portend .' Into what strange and mvsterious den had he been cast ? He gazed till his eves ached ; he could discover nutiiiug to explain the mystery. That it was so, he was satisfied. Whv it was so, he racked his imagination iu vain to i conjecture. He examined the doors. A single circumstance convinced him they had not been opened. I A whisp of straw which he had carelessly thrown agaiust them tbe preceding duv, as he paced to ami fro, remained where he had cast it, though it must have been displaced bv the slightest motion of either of the doors. ' This was evideuee that could not be disputed ; aud it followed there must be some secret machinery in the walls, by which a person could euter.— He inspected them closely. They appeared to him one solid and compact moss of irou; or joined, if joined they were, with such nice art that no mark of division was perceptible.— Again and again he surveyed them ; and the floor : and the roof ; and the range of visiona ry windows, as he was now almost tempted to consider them ; he could discover nothing, ab solntely nothing, to relieve his .doubts, or satis fy hi- curiosity, he fancied that altogether the dungeon had a more contracted appearance : that it surely looked smaller ; but this he attributed to fancy, and tbe im pression naturally produced upou his mind by the undeniable disappearance of two of the windows. With intense anxiety Yivenzio looked for ward to the return of night ; and a it ap proached, he resolved that no treacherous sleep - lould again betray him. Instead of seeking his Ixd of straw, in- continued to walk up and down his dungeon till daylight, straining his eye- iu every direction through the darkness, to watch for any appearance that might explain these mysteries. "\\ iiiie thus engaged, and as nearly as he could judge, (by the time that af terwards elapsed 1 -elore the morning came in. i a l -out two oclock, there was a slight, tremu lous motion of the door. He stopped : the mo tion lasted nearly a miuute ; but it was so ex tremely gentle, that he almost doubted whether it was real or imaginary. Not a sound could be heard. Prose:.:ly, however, he felt a rash of cold air blow ui>oa hiui ; -and dashing tow . arols the quarter whence it seemed : > proved, he stumbled over something which he in lgcd to be the water ewer. The ru*h of air was no longer perceptible ; and as Yivenzio -trotched oat Lis hanus. he fonad himself clae : to the walls. He remained motionless for a considerable time: but nothing occurred during the remainder of the night to excite hi? atten tion. though he continued to watch with una bated vigilance. T----- -- i -'-1-' A'—. .*- Oi ..*c i._ were T.sii-'e throag:. the grated windows, breaking wi'l faint division of light the darkness that still pervaded every other y>art. long bef r? ivenz-o was enal-led to distinguish anv oU ;.ec .i ins dungeon. In-tiactively and fearful ly he turii-.-ii h:s eyes, hot and inflamrd with watching, towards them There w-.re four I II- 1 ortid see only r"-ur : but it might be that BOOM ::.tvrv-. • bject j-ro-venfetj the fifth le cowing percepribl* : and be wa ; ted hnpßttrat ly io ascertain J it were so A> the iig * strengthened, howev-.r, a.'Hi ]>er:-. truted evtrv i corner of the cell, other oojedi of flaw7 :.. at --rr k hi? right On the ground lay the bro ken fragments of the p:t- rhe had used the day before and at a >::iiil distanro fr>m th-'m. Lcarcr to t.v wail, soo*l the one had aotketl the t;r-t night. 1; was f.i ei with water, and ' v siri** it vi- his f3. ll r - was now cevtsua, *hst. by some ntevhau; a! contrivmev, anc-en .ng \ra- obtaind thro-ugn th" ir- n wall, sod that tiiroujrh this ofv nittr the anient of air ruu found entratKv. But how noiaelees. Idr had a feather almost waved a: the time, he mast have bear'i it. Again he examined tb3t par of tlie- wall ; but TSbtb to sight aci touch it ajqiearrd one even snl nmform urfav. ' wtile to repeated at Ivioleat blows there were j no reverberating aooihi* iadkative of ho.ioar j aess. I The perp.Texing my?tery had f-r a timewith j drawn hi? thought? fromi th" wiudow* ; hot now directing his eye again toward* them, he ' saw that the fifth had disappeared in tbe same ! manner a* the jweceding TWO. witb>at tbe least ; distingtiisbabJe alterattoq of external appear : aac* 1 ?. Tbe remaining four looked as the seven had originally looked ; that is. occupying, at irregular distances, tne of tbe wall -ou that side of the dungeon. Tbe tall folding door, too. still seemed to stand beneath, ia the cen ; tre of the four Bat be could no ledger doubt, what. 00 the providing day he fancied might be ti*e eff-ct of vi-toal da-eptioTi Tbe dungeon was -mailer Tne roof had lowereI; and the ; o; j ."site etuis had contracted the ; <i.stance by a qiace e*iuxi. be thought, to that ; over wL : rn tbe three windows had erteaded. lie WYS l--wikjered in vain isnpaatkn to sc : i-ooLt lor those thing?- S".oe fngutful t-ar viase : some torture of mind or body ; some usheard-cf derioe for prodactag exquisite misery, larked, he was sure, in what had taken plac* Oppressed w,:h this ?ehef. anddistrae . ;<*. nc.>re by the dreadfW cacertaiuty of what- Ter fate iinpeo-iod. than he eoald be dismayed, se tfloug&t. or tbe knowledge of the worst, be >! *ai ntmmalisg. hour after hour, yielding bis --ars in swoons*on to every haggard fancy. At ia?*. a b ombe sa-pecion Qasneti sadaemty acn:<s? Ibis sun>i. and ne startroi DL with a frantic air. ** Yes T he excJaiaxd lookmr wiidyr tronnd " RESARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER." | his dungeon, and shnddered as he spoke— " Yes !it must be -o ! I see it! I feel the maddening truth like scorching flames upon my brain ! Eternal (lod ! —sujqiort me ! Yes, yes, that is to be my fate ! Yon roof will de ! -vend !—th<'e walls will hem me rouud : and | slowly,, slowly crush me in their iron arms ! Lord .' Liod ! loc-k down upon me, and in mer cy strike me with instant death ! Oh, fiend ; I oil, devil ; is this your revenge T* He dashed himself u; on the gronnd in ngonv; ! tears burst from him. and the sweat -tood in large drojxs upon his face : he sobbed aloud : ; lie tore his hair ; he roiled about like ouc suf j ft-ring intolerable anguish of body, and would . have bitten the iron floor beneath him ; he breathed fearful curses upon Tolfi, and the j next moment passionate prayers to heaven for ; immediate death. Then the violence of his j grief became exhausted, aud he iav still, weep ing as a child would weep. The twilight of departing day shed it? gloom around him ere he arose from that posture of utter and hope less sor- ov He had taken no food. Not a drop ot water had tooled the fever on his parch ed hps. srieep had not visited his eyes for six : and thirty hours. He was faint with hunger; weary w-tfi watching, and with the excess of his emotion*. He tasted of his food, he drank with avniity of water, and reeling like a drunk | en man to his straw, cast himself upou it to ; brood again over the appalling image that had ; had fastened itself upon his almost frenzied thoughts. He slept. Bat his slumbers were not tran quil. He resisted, as long as he coold, their ; approaches ; and when at last enfeehled nature yielded to their influence, he found no oblivion 1 from his cares. Terrible dreams haunted him: ghastly visions harrowed up his imagination ; j he shoo ted and screamed as if he had already felt the dungeon's ponderous roof descending on bim ; he breathed hard and thick, as though writhing between its iron walls. Then would he spring up : stare wildly about h : m ; . stretch forth his hands to be sure that he had yet space enough to live : and, muttering some incoherent words, sink down again, to pass through the same fierce vicissitudes of delirious sleep. The moral P? of the fourth dav dawned upon A ivenz-o. But it was high noon before his mind shook off its stupor, or he awoke to a full consciousness of his situation. And what a fixed energy of despair sat upon his pale fea tures. a* he cast h's eye upwards, and gazed ujYon the three windows that cow remained ! The three ! Tncre were no more, and they seemed to have numbered his own allotted dav-. ; Slowly and calmly he next surveyed the top and sides, and comprehended all the meaning of the diminished height of the former, as well as the gradual approximation of the latter.— The contracted dimensions of his mv-'erion? jwisou w-oe :u.w too srro-- and paioabie to be the jug-rie of hi- : eated imaginkt-oa. Still lost in woadi r at the mean*, Yivenzio could put no cheat n-K>i. bis reawm. as to the end. By what iorrii ie ingenuity was it contrived, that wall-, an ; roof, and windows, s ould tun* silently ami imperceptibly, without noise, an 1 wit .out motion alios:, fold, as it were, within each other, he knew not. He only knew thev . did so. and he vainly -strove t> persuade him self it was the intention of the contriver to rack tlie miserable wretch who m ght be i:n . mured there, with the am /put; n, merely, o: : a fr.t" from which, iu the cri-l* of Ll* agony he I was to b" rorrV-vH. Gla-ily w.mid be have clung even to this possibility, if hi* heart would have let him ; but Ik- felt a ur.-adful assurance of it- fifllacj. And w" t matchless inhuman ty it w*s to doom the safferer to ificb lingering torAen: : to lead hl'.'.i dav f-x |sv to Air trailing a ns -uo-> r.ew by : vo .solauo.-ia of religion, ua v,- tf .ty i.i H1 it f-eaflg; aiiau-xoucd to Cllg- - .fC . I :.i. nUu dc: itr-l CVCU iL.C t.y v .ii .1- , ;..;v ' A'os ! Lews* to per -i. : tin be was to wait a doNKoaog tort :r-. whose most tqfiite rang? would be a. Crti y v ry a-d ib&i tardy cOIU-Hq. ■lt i= not dcatl I f or." he exclaimed, let! the death I must prepare for! Methinks, too, I eoald meet even t * all icirrible n?~! rfn;:- Sag as it is. if it might overtake me row. Bat where snail i find fortitude to taiTy t.i it oootea How -.-an I i-udurv the threeloo£daya and nights I am to fire ? Ti. re power ia to b; i the hrivis cpA.-i> hcTjCe : nr-ne to : make it hflßwr to my thoughts; or mjmit, patient of flj? errand. My ihoaehts ratner h-e to m-\ and i giv-v '. i i k-ok.Lg t: Ou 1 for a deep - to la., upon sit 1 ttiut >o. in • A-f1 k- -- I m.gi.t ?zi'i gu..v -itatii its-.if. and ir-k no bit- of tlie car. that is presented to m- tb*. "iv rscitng ipint had already tas tOi 1 Iu iu. .ui .-t of these iamenTatjOe*, Yirea *k> not.A>>i taat uis accustomed meal, with a pitcher M' Bat F-R ha 1 !JC—O coaveye-1 a- before, " into hi* dungeon. Bit this circumstance BO looser exeite-i hi* orpri*e. His inin.] was | ovcrwheimcd with otiK-rs of a far greater mag-' nitude. It suggested, however, a feeble hope * of deliverance ; and there is no Lop" so feebie. ] as not u> yield -xac support to a heart bead ing under despair Hr reserved to watch, du ring the ensuing night, for the sign* be bad be ' fore observed : and shooM be agam feel tbe gectle. tpKEaloa? moooo of tbe floor, or the carren; of air, to • that moment for giving audible expros.-i->n to hi? misery. Some pers-:c ma*t be sear bltr. aod within reach of hi* rorce. at the instant the food was cp;Eed : so®.? one. rorfap*. s-aseeptible of pity. Or. if LOT. to be told evrti that hi* apprehenri >ns were ;n*t. ar-d that hi? fate was to be what be fore boied. wotiki be preferable to a ?B*IK use wtueb ing visionary. The sIgLT ; and a* tbe bocr ed when ATiresro hsagiwd be might expect sigLS. be ?toci fixed a ad sleul aa a statae He feared to breathe. air*w*L ks? be mighr. lose acy soor.-i whadi wo-d *n. ma of their ■ rcoue While thus listening, wg.h every facui ; tt of mind and b->oj ?trtined to an cf (attention, it occwrred to ftla be shonld be more 3fn*i v le of tbe trotter if fce strttcbed bincr f along the floor. He accordingly laid ium.- softly down, and had not been long in that n< sition, when—yes, he was certain of it—t floor moved under him. He sprang up. and : a voice suffocated nearly with emotion, call aloud. He paused; the motion ceased; h felt no stream of air ; all was hushed ; novoic answered to his : he bnr>t into tears, and a he unk to the ground, in renewed anguish, ex claimed : "Oh. my God !my God 1 You alone have power to save me now, or strengthen me for the trial you permit." Another morning dawned upon the wretch ed captive, and the fatal index of his doom met hi* eyes. The windows ! and two dav? : and all would be over ! Frerii food ! fresh wat r! The mysterious visit had been paid, though he had implored it in vain. But how awfully was hi? prayer answered in what he now saw ! The roof of. the dungeon was within a foot of iii? head. The two ends were so near that in six pace* he trod the space between them. Yi venzio shnddered as he gazed, and his step* traversed the narrow area. But his feelings ; no longer vented themselves in frantic wailing*. With folded arm? and clenched teeth, with eye? that were bloodshot from much watching, and j fixed with a vacant glare upon the ground, ; with a hard, qaiek breathing, a harried walk, strode backwards and forwards in silent mns ing for several hours. What mind shall con ceive, what tongue shall utter, or what pen de- 1 describe, the dark and terrible character of his thoughts? Like the fate that moulded their, they had no similitude in the wide range of this world's agony for man. Suddenly he stopped, and his eyes were rivetted on that part of the wall which was over his bed of straw. Words are inscribed here! A human language traced by a human hand ! He rushed towards them, but his blood freezes as he read*:— " I. Ludovico Sforze, tempted by the gold of the Prince of Tolfi, spent three years in contri ving and executing this accorscd triumph of my art. When it wa* completed, the perfidi ous Tolfi. more devil than man, who conducted me hither one morning, to be witness, he said, of its perfection, doomed me to be the first vic tim of my pernHnn* ski!!, lest, as he declared. I should divu'ge the secret, or repeat tlie ef fort of my ingenuity. May God pardon him. a? I hope he will me, that ministered to this unhallowed purpose ! Miserable wretch, who ever thou art, fall on thy knees and invoke, as I have don". His rastafning mercy, who alone can nerve thee to meet the vengeance of Tolfi. armed with his tremendous engine, which in a few hour* must crm-h you as it will the needy wretch who made it." A deep groan burst from Yivenzio. He stood like one transfixed with dilated eyes, expanded nostril*, and quivering lip*, gazingat this fatal inscription. It wa- a* if a voice from the sepulchre had sounded in Lis ear* " Prepare ?" Hope forsook him. There was hi* sentence recorded in those di*mal words.— T; •? future =! >►.: c.-nctvra trwt Mm, *.*.. -•*- , appaling. ni- brain already feel* the de- end ing harrow ; his bone* seem to crack and • rumble in the mighty grasp of the iron wail* ! Unknowing what .! i* i.e does, he fumbles in hisgann i.t for some weapon .jf self-destruction, ne clenches his throat iu his convulsive gripe, a* though he would strangle himself at once. *!ares upon the w-al!*, and his wavering spirit djmands : "Will they no; &ntk-i>xtt~ their off. e if I dash my head against theai V An hi*!erical lan/u chokes him a* he exclaims : " Why should I ? He wa* bat a man who die! UrA in their embrace ; and I should be less than man not to do a* much I" Tut- evening sun was descending, andTiveu-1 zi;• b-i. iJ its goUen beam* streaming through one of the windows. What a thrill of joy *l. a thr.-urh hi* s<an! at tbe sight 1 It was a precious iink. that united him. for them -met. to the wjrld beyond. There was ecstacy in the thought. A* he gaze 1 long and earnestly, it seenu -I a* T the windows had lowered suffi ciently for h'rn to reach them. W.th one slugle bc-tmd be was b:-r.cath them—with one " iii sprit he clung to the bars. Whether it wa* - contrived, purposely to rna-IJet with d light the wretch who looted, he knew &ot ; but r.t the extremity of a long rista, cut through the *oi.dr. s. :-■■■ > CJ*I. the sky, t.v:-setting .-ua live groves, sha-iy walk*, and in the distaste, ieiiciou* glimp-ses of magnifies nt Sicily burst nr;u Li* view. H :-w ex .u -1<; w tu re-:re ns it swig t aero** i.isch •k. 1 .1 1 with ri_r.su - 11-.-.aha.evl .! a.? t_jii_'-i t i* l.e the breath of continued life. And there w^ fr juu- - *._ the ia_d-capn-. a,.'! .n t_.- r.pj i.r.gs of the cairn green sea. tL-t fed upon his witb ering heart Tike dew upon the pare bed earth.— How he gaz-.-d and pan tel. avi still clang to his hold; *• a.times haugiug ty oae baud, sometimes by the other, aa-i tae a grasjKug th*.- bar with both, as if loth to quit the smiling paro-Ilse stretched out before him ; tiilexhiß*:- ed and his Land swoollen aifi besomed, he dropped down, aud lay stormed for some tim by the fall. WLeo be recovered, the glorious vision had vsci-hed Re wa.* ia the daritsess Hedoabt ed whether it wa* nc-t a dream that had psi>M before his sleepy fav-y ; bat gradually his scattered tbuogbts returned, and with them came remesnbraace. A'e?. he had keied ooce again B]oo tbe gorgec-os splendor of uatcre. — Otk-t acair his eyes had trembled beneath their veiled lids at the son's radiance, a xA sought repose in tbe *> ft vetdare of tbe olive tree or tbe gectic sway >f undulating wTe. Oh. that be were a mariner, exposed upon tbo*e waves to the worst fury of the storm ar:i tempest : or a very wretch, toothsome with 'ii*e-a*e. hi* bciy one leprous eoctagion from crown to sole, hunt-ed forth to rash cot the remiast of infectkw* Ufeb-eneath those verdant trees, so he might sbau the desrisy np-Yo wh >*c edge he tottered. Ya:n thoughts like these would steal over his miad from time to time, in spite of himself: hot they scarcely moved it from that stupor | into which it bad sunk, aod which kept hum. *or tbe wboJe night Eke one drugged with ■piarß He w *s equally insensible to the call? i hauger aad of th rsx. thoogb the thhd day i was now corameocioc since even a drop of I water hi-I pa*atd hit hp* He recia-scd oa VOL. XV. —NO. 5 >. the ground. sometimes standing, sometimes lying ; at intervals sleeping heavily, and when not sloping silently brooding what was to come, and talking aiond, in disordered speech, of his wrongs, of bis Lome, and of those be loved. In this pitiable condition the sixth and last morning dawned npon Vivenrio, if dawn it might be called—the dim, obscure light which faintly strnggled through the one solitarv window of bis dungeon. Ileconld hardly be said to notice the melancholy token. And vet he did not notice it; for, as he raised his evrs, and saw t his port eotious sign, there was a slight convulsive distortion of his countenance. But what, did attract his notice, and at the sight of which h's agitation was excessive, was the change his iron hod undergone. It was a bed no longer. It tood before h m the visible semblance of a funeral conch or bier. When he beheld this he started from the ground, and in raising himself suddenly struck his head against the roof, which now was so low that he could no longer stand upright. " God's will be done," was all he said, as he crouehed his lx>dy. and placed his hands upon the bier ] for such it was. The iron bedstead had been so contrived, bv the mechanical art of Lndovico Sorze, that as the advancing walls came in contact with its head and feet, a pressure was produced upon concealed springs, which, when made to plar, set in motion a very simple though ingeniously contrived machinery, that effected the trans formation. The objeet was, of coarse, to heighten in the closing scene of this horrible drama, alt the feelings of despair and anguish which the preceding ones had aroused. For the same reason, the last window was so made as to admit only a shadowy kind of gloom rather than light, that the wretched captive might be surrounded, as it were, with every seeming preparation for approaching death. Vivenzio seated himself on his bier. Then he knelt and and prayed fervently ; and some times tears would gush forth. The air seemed thick, aud he breathed with difficulty ; or it might be that be fancied it was so, frotn the hot and narrow limits of his dungeon, which were now so diminished that he could neither stand np Dor lie down at his full length. But his wasted spirits, and oppressed mind no longer struggled within him. He was past hope, and bar shook him no more. Happy if thus re venge had struck its final blow ; for he would have fallen beneath it almost unconscious of a pang. But such a lethargy of the soul, after such an excitement of its fiercest passions, bad entered into the diaboiical calculations of Tolfi, and the fell artificer of his designs had imagin ed a counteracting device. The tolline of an enormoc bell trock open the ears of Vivenzio. He started. It beat bnt once. The sound was so close and stun ning. that it seemed to shatter hi* very brain, while it echoed through the rocky passages ; like reverberating peals of thuruer." Tais was , Lr a crasit of the roof and walls as if they were about to fall npon and close arour.d biu at once. Virenzio -creamed, and instinctively spread forth his anus, us though he had a giant's strength to hoid them I back. Th y had tnored nearer to him, and were now motionless. Viveraio looked np. and saw the roof almost touching his head, even a? he sat cowering beneath it; and he felt that a further contraction of but a few inches only must commence the frightful operation. Ron-- el a- he had been new ga=ped for breath.— His body shook violently ; he was bent near! 7 double, ni? hands rested upon either wa!!, . and his feet were drawn under him to avoid th" pressure in front. Thus he remained for more than an hour when th.3t deafening bel! sounded again an 1 again, there came the crash of horrid death. But the concussion was now so great that it tnnk V•renzlo down. As he In - gathered up in lessened bulk, the befl beat loud and frequent : crash succeeded crash ; and on, came the mys*er!on? engine of death, till V:T£.T2:O"S smothered rroar.s were heard no more H" was horribly crush ed by the ponder ous roof and collcpsrsz sides : and the flatten ed bier was his Iron Stroud. SCENE :N A Scroon Roox.— A r.c*v pupil entered of whom the ped.gome inquired— . " Can you read and speii V Yes." said the ureula, I can read in tr. primer, a*, i -t-e-IT 'titer and graTr " H-re the lad read and spelt in th< most rapid manner. ** In Aasta's tali, he *!nce: all—Ji hs Rwr? urnt Lis 'teak for r. sirtaii children, and one ; at tbabreast —t-a t-e —:a-tcr nu gra~<.—r-y— -later ar.d gravy." Yoa may take rour seat. And If I ity noise from yoa. I shall call j. up and give yoa a flogging " " Uicpb," said our Lero, shmgl-ig Ms shooldm as he wen: to his seat, •' I wouldn't come, though, L f yoe'd give me to.~ " Lo you know the pr Vr-er. Mr Jones ' Ye*, to the bone." " Waat is n<s character 1" • Didn't know he bad any." " Does he uve j near yew V "So near that be lias ossiv spent i five shillings for Sre wood in eight yearv"— ! " Did he ever come into codutoa with you in * any matter f " Only ooce. and that was ' wbeo be was drunk and m : stoos me for a iamp ! re>st V " From what p know of him would ! yoa bclieTe him a trier oath V " Tnax depends J apos cjn*m?ta r ce*. If he was so n;9ca IB i toikated that he did rot know what be was doing. I wou'-d. If not, I woaidn't." fca? 5 * We occe heard of a young li ly wl > wa- requested by a Ijacbek* s- cncwha; advi.v jed in years to & seat upon hi? kx-i while iQ a crowded sicigh. " No, thank 50a,"" &*ld ee. " I am afraA saca ait old s-:at wouki break i:-t .tb me. •oT- Truth is the brightest orsameat youth can wear A: the saaae thae. it is (be ost sable xreasare that can be iail up for ce ciiaiag years. ItSf Be dihreat k niy if if ycc odd b* w>< and trrczt
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