(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