vJJILAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA:
yjmrsdciy Morning, October 21, 1858,
jsclttfcb sottrn.
THE PERPLEXED HOUSEKEEPER.
BY MRS. F. I). GAGB.
f wish I had a dozen pairs
Of hands, this very minute ;
I'd soon put all tlu-so things to rights—
The very duuee is in it.
Here's a Dig washing to Lc done,
One pair of hands to do it.
Sheets, shirts, stockings,coats and pants,
How will I er got through it?
Dinner to get for six or more,
Xo loaf left o'er from Sunday ;
\rid liahy's cross as he can live—
He's always so oil Monday.
And there's the cream, 'tis getting sour,
And must forthwith l>e churning,
Ami here's I!o!> wants a button on—
What way shall 1 be turning ?
'TH time the meat was in the pot,
The bread was worked for baking,
Tie' clothes were taken from the boil—
Oh dear! the baby's awaking.
Hnsh, baby dear ! there, hush, hush!
I wish he'd sleep a little,
Till I could run and get some wood
To hurry up that kettle.
Oh, dear! if I* comes home.
And find things in this pother,
He'll just ltegin to tell me all
About liis tidy mother!
How nice the kitchen used to lie,
Her dinner always ready
Exactly when the noon lrell rung—
llusli, hush, dear little Freddy.
And then will come some hasty word,
Right out before I'm thinking-
Tic y s.iy that hasty words from wives
Set sober men to drinking.
Now isn't that a great idea,
That men should take to sinning,
because a weary, half sick wife
Can't always smile so WINNING ?
When 1 was young I used to cam
My living without trouble,
Had clothes and pocket money, too,
And hours of leisure double.
1 never dreamed of such a fate,
When I, A LASS! was courted -
mother, nurse .seamstress, eook. housekeeper .cliam
. iid, laundress, dairy-woman, and scrub generally,
4'tlie work of six,
For the sake of being supported !
§cl cll c b fait.
From Blackwood's Magazine.
HIE IRON SHROUD.
BY WILLIAM ML'WORD.
The castle of the Prince of Tolfi was built
pthc summit of the towering and precipitous
Is of Sc\!la, and commanded a magnificent
*■ of Sicily in all its grandeur. Here, dur
izthe wars of the middle ages, when the fcr
plaitis of Italy were devastated by hostile
'.ion?, those prisoners were confined, .'or
Hi re, too, iii a dungeon, excavated deep in the
H I rock, the miserable victim was immured,
H tn revenge pursued—the dark, fierce, and
iiving revenge of an Italian heart.
VIVENZIO—the noble and generous, the fear-
H in battle, and the pride of Naples in her
H iiy hours of peace—the young, the brave,
H proud Vivenzio, fell beneath this subtle
|H i remorseless spirit. He was the prisoner
Tolfi, and lie languished in that rock-encir
r.H: dungeon, which stood alone, and whose
uurer opcued twice upon a living caji-
H it had the semblance of a vast cage, for the
( H'f. and floor, and sides, were of iron, solidly
' :lit, and spaciously constructed. High
■ - there ran a range of seven prated win-
U guarded with inassy bars of the same
HAI, which admitted light and air. Save
■ and tiie tall folding doors beneath them
HH occupied the center, no chink, or chasm,
■ r "i'Ttion, broke the smooth black surface
I* wails. An iron bedstead, littered with
•* -t<*>d in one comer: and beside it a ves-
*it!i water, and a coarse dish filled w itli
|>n the intrepid soul of Vivenzio shrunk
dismay as he entered this abode, and
l-Mlie ponderous doors triple locked by the
9'-' ruffians who conducted him to it. Their
'-seemed prophetic of his fate, of the liv-
H : -rave that had been prepared for him.—
menaces and his entreaties, his indignant
' for justice, and his impatient question
■- : their intentions, were alike vain. They
JM hut spoke not. Fit ministers of a
--that should have no tongue!
I dismal was the echo of their retiring
thH '• Ami, as their faint echoes died along
binding passages, a fearful presage grew
JJ^B/" 1 'in, that never more the face, or voice,
,J f man, would greet his senses, lie
human beings for the last time! And
■ •*<! looked his last upon the bright sky,
"•H "i"" 1 tllc ®"®iling earth, and upon a bcau-
world he loved, and whose minion he hud
Here he w as to end his life—a life he
begun to revel in! And by what
Secret poison? or by murderous us-
H . for then it would have been ueed
rt I ""iiig liini hither. Famine perhaps—
deaths in one! It was terrible to
't; but it was yet more terrible to p;c
--1 - r . long years of captivity, in a solitude
. '"'Ug.u loneliness so dreary,that thought
1,1 "f fellowship, would lose itself in mad-
' <r Magnate '"to idiocy.
1 TI H ,u 'd not ho|ie to esca|>e, unless he had
W| th his bare hands, of rending
for liberty from the relenting
0 h' B enemy. His instant death, uu
, ' , ?!?" refined cruelty, was not the
tor lie might have iuflictcd it,
THE BRADFORD REPORTER,
and lie had not. It was too evident, therefore,
he was reserved for some premeditated scheme
of subtle vengeance; and what vengeanco could
transcend in liendish malice, either the slow
death of famiue, or the still slower one of soli
tary incarceration, till the last lingering spark
of life expired, or till reason fled, and nothing
should remain to perish but the brute functions
of the body ?
It was evening when Vivenzio entered his
dungeon, and.the approaching shades of night
wrapped it in total darkness, as he paced np
and down, revolving in his mind these horrible
forebodings. No tolling bell from castle, or
from neighboring church or convent, struck
upon his ear to tell how the hours passed.—
Frequently he would stop and listeu for some
sound that might betoken the vicinity of man;
but the solitude of the desert, the silence of
the tomb, are not so still and deep as the O|H
pressive desolation by which he was encom
passed. His heart sank within liiiu, and he
threw himself dejectedly down upon his couch
of straw. Here sleep gradually obliterated the
consciousness of misery, aad bland dreams waft
ed his delighted spirit to scenes which were
once glowing realities for him, in whose ravish
ing illusions he soon lost the remembrance that
he was Tolii's prisouer.
When lie awoke, it was daylight; but how
long he had slept he knew not. It might be
early morning, or it might be sultry noon, for
he could measure time by no other note of its
progress than light and darkness. He had
Ieen so happy in his sleep, amid friends who
loved him,and the sweeter endearments of those
who loved him as friends could not, that in the
lirst moments of waking, his startled mind
seemed to admit the knowledge of his situation
as if it had burst upon it for the first time,
fresh in all its appalling horrors. He gazed
around with au air of doubt and amazement,
and took up a handful! of the straw upon which
he lay, as though he would ask himself what
it meant. Hut memory, too faithful to her of
fice, soon unveiled the melancholy past, while
reason shuddering at the task, flashed before
his eves the tremendous future. The contrast
overpowered him. 11c remained for some time
lamenting, like a truth, the bright visions that
had vanished and recoiling from the present,
which clung to him as a poisoned garment.
When he grew more calm, he surveyed his
gloomy dungeon. Alas! the stronger light of
day only served to confirm what the gloomy
indistinctness of the preceding evening had
partially disclosed, the utter impossibility of
escape. As however his eyes wandered round
and round, and from place to place, lie noticed
two circumstances which excited his surprise
and curiosity. The one, he thought, might be
fancy; but the other was positive. His pitcher
of water, and the dish which contained his food
had been removed from his side while he slept,
and now stood near the door. Were he even
inclined to doubt this, by supposing he had
mistaken the spot where he saw theiu over
night, he could not, for the pitcher now in his
dungeon was neither of the same form or color
as the other, while the food was changed for
some of better quality. 11c had been visited
therefore, during the night. Hut how had the
person obtained entrance? Could he have
slept so soundly, that unlocking and opening
of those ponderous portals were effected with
out waking him ? He would have said this
was not possible, but that in doing so, he must
admit a greater difficulty, an eutrance by oth
er means, of which he was convinced there
existed none. It was not intended, then, that
lie should be left to perish from hunger. Hut
tiie secret and mysterious mode of supplying
him with food, seemed to indicate he was lo
have 110 opportunity of couimuuieating with a
human being.
Tiie other circumstance which had attracted
his notice, was the disappearance, as he be
lieved of one of the seven grated windows that
ran along the top of his prison. He felt
confident that he had observed and counted
them; for he was rather surprised at their
uuinlier, and there was something peculiar in
their form, as well as in the manner of their
arrangement, at unequal distances It was so
much easier, however, lo suppose he was mis
taken, than that a portiou of the solid iron,
which formed the walls, could have escaped
from its position, that he soou dismissed the
thought from his mind.
Vivenzio partook of the food that was be
fore him, without apprehension. It might be
poisoned; but if it were he knew he could not
escape death, should such be the design of
Tolfi, and the quickest death would be the
speediest release.
The day passed wearily and gloomily; though
not without a faint hope that, by keeping watch
at night, lie might observe when the person
came again to bring him food, which lie sup
posed he would do in the same way as before.
The mere thought of being approached by a
living creature, and the opportunity it might
present of learning the doom prepared, or pre
paring, for him, imparted some comfort, lie
sides, if he came alone, might he not in a fu
rious onset overpower him ? Or lie might be
accessible to pity, or the influence of such mu
nificent rewards as lie could bestow, if once
more at liberty and master of himself. Say
he were armed. The worst that could befall
if bribe, nor prayers, nor force prevailed, was a
friendly blow, which, though dealt in a damned
cause, might work a desired end. There was
no chance so dcsjierate, but it looked lovely in
Vivenzio's eyes, compared with the idea of
being totally abandoned.
The night came, and Vivenzio watched.
The morning came, and A ivenzio was confound
ed. He must have slumbered without knowing
it. Sleep must have stolen over him when ex
hausted by fatigue, and in that interval of le
verish repose, he had becu bullied; for theie
stood his replenished pitcher of water, and there
his day's meal! Nor was this all. Casting
his looks towards the windows of his dungeon,
he counted but FIVE! Hrr. was no deceptiou;
and he was now convinced there had been none
the day before. Hut what did all this portend ?
Into what strange mysterious den had lie been
cast? lie gazed till his eyes ached; he could
discover nothing to explain the mystery. That
it was so, he knew Why it was so, lie racked
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
his imagination in vain to conjecture. He ex
amined the doors. A simple circumstance
convinced him they had not been opened.
A wisp of straw which he had carelessly
thrown against them on the preceding day, as
he paced to and fro, remained where he had
cast it, though it must bave'been displaced by
the slightest motion of either of the doors. This
was evidence that could not be disputed; and
it followed there must be sonic secret machi
nery in the walls by which a person could en
ter. He inspected them closely. They ap
jieared to him as one solid and compact mass
of iron; or joined if joined they were, with
such nice art, that no mark of the division was
perceptible. Again nudjigain he surveyed
them—and the floor—and the roof—and that
range of visionary windows, IIS he was now
almost tempted to consider them—he could dis
cover nothing, absolutely nothing, to relieve
his doubts or satisfy his curiosity. Sometimes
he fancied that altogether the dungeon had a
more contracted appearance—that it looked
smaller; but this he ascribed to fancy, and the
impression naturally produced upon his mind
bj the undeniable disappearance of two of the
windows.
With intense anxiety, Vivenzio looked for
ward to the return of night; and as it approach
ed, lie resolved that no treacherous sleep should
again betray him. Instead of seeking his bed
of straw, lie continued to walk np a ltd down
his dungeon till daylight, straining Ids eyes in
every direction through the darkness, to watch
tor any appearance that might explain these
mysteries. While thus engaged, and as near
ly as he could judge (by the time that after
wards elapsed before the morning came in,)
about two o'elock, there was a slight tremu
lous motion of the floors, lie stopped. The
motion lasted nearly a minute; but it was so
extremely gentle, that he almost, doubted
whether it was real or imaginary, lie listened.
Not a sound could be heard. Presently, how
ever, he felt a rush of cold air blow upon him;
and dashing towards the quarter whence it
seemed to proceed, he stumbled over something
which he judged to be the water ewer. The
rush of cold air was no longer perceptible;
and as Vivenzio stretched out his hands, he
found himself close to the wa'l. He remained
motionless for a considerable time; but nothing
octured during the remainder of the night to
excite his attention, though he coutiuucd to
watch with unabated vigilance.
The first approaches of the morning were
visible through the grated windows, breaking,
with faint divisions of light, the darkness that
still pervaded every other part, long before
Vivenzio was enabled to distinguish any object
in his dungeon. Instinctively and fearfully he
turned his eyes, hot and inflamed with watch
ing towards them. There were FOUR! He
could nee. only four; but it might be that some
iutcrveuiug object prevented the fifth from lie
coming jierceptible; and he waited impatiently
to ascertain if it were so. As the light strength
ened, however, .and penetrated every corner of
the cell, other objects of amazement struck his
sight. On the ground lay the broken frag
ments of the pitcher he had used the day lie
fore, and at a small distance from tlicm, near
er to the wall, stood the one he hud noticed
the first night. It was filled with water, and
beside it was his food. He was now certain
that by some mechanical contrivance,an opening
was obtained through the iron wall, anil that
through this opeuiug the current of air had
found entrance. Hut how noiseless! For had
a feather almost waved at the time, he must
have heard it. Again lie examined that part
of the wall; but both to sight and touch it ap
peared one even and uniform surface, while to
repeated and violent blows there was no rever
berating sound indicative of liollowness.
This perplexing mystery had for a time with
drawn his thoughts from the windows; but now
directing his eyes again towards them, lie saw
that the fifth had disappeared in the same
manner as the preceding two, without the least
distinguishable alteration of external appear
ances. The remaining four looked as the sev
en had originally looked; that is. occupying at
irregular distances, the top of the wall on that
side of the dungeon. The tall folding-door, too,
still seemed to stand beneath, in the center of
these four, as it had at first stood in the center
of the seven. Hut he could no longer doubt,
what on the preceding day, he fancied might
he the effect ol visual deception. The dungeon
trus smaller. The roof had lowered—and the
opposite ends had contracted the intermediate
distance by a space equal, lie thought, to that
over which the three windows had extended.
He was liewildered in vain imaginings to ac
count lor these things. Some frightful pur
|M>s e —some devilish torture of mind or body—
some unheard of device for producing exquisite
misery, lurked, he was sure, in what had taken
place.
Oppressed with this belief, and distracted
more by the dreadful uncertainty of whatever
fate impended, than he could lie dismayed, lie
thought, by the knowledge of the worst, he sat
ruminating, hour after hour, yielding his fears
in succession to every haggard fancy. At last
a horrible sucpicion Hashed suddenly across his
mind and he started up with a frantic air.—
" Yes!" he exclaimed, looking wildly around
his dungeon, and shuddering as he spoke—
" Yes! it must lie so! I sec it!—l ieel the
maddening truth like scorching flames upon my
brain! Eternal God!—support mel it must be
so!— Yes, yes, thai is to be my fate! Yon roof
will descend! these walls will hem uic round -
and slowly, slowly, crush nie in their iron arms!
Lord God look down upon ine, and in mercy
stride ine with instant death! Oh, fiend —oh,
devil—is this your revenge ?"
lie dashed himself upon the ground in ng
ouy;—tears burst from Li in, and the sweat
stood in large drops upon his face—lie sobbed
aloud—he tore his hair—he rolled about like
ouc suffering intolerable anguish <if body, and
would have bitten tin- iron floor beneath Itiui;
he breathed fearful curses upon Tolfi, and the
next moment passionate prayers to heaven for
immediate death. Then the violence of his
grief became exhausted, and lie lay still weep
ing as a child would weep. Ihe twilight ol
departing day shed its gloom around liini ere
he arose How ot Utu * aud l, °l K *
less sorrow. He had taken no food. Not one
drop of water had cooled the fever of his parch
ed lips. Sleep hud not visited his eyes forsix
and-tliirty hours. He was faint with hunger;
weary with watching, and with the excess of
his emotions, lie tasted of his food; he drank
with avidity of the water; and reeling like a
drunken man to his straw, cast himself upon it
to brood again over the appalling image that
had fastened itself upon his almost frenzied
thoughts.
He slept hut his slumbers were not tranquil.
He resisted, as long as he could, their approach;
and when, at last, enfeebled nature yielded to
their influence, he found no oblivion from his
cares. Terrible dreams haunted liiin—ghastly
visions harrowed up his imagination—he shout
ed and screamed, as if lie already felt the dun
geon's ponderous roof descending on him—lie
breathed hard and thick, as though writhing
between its iron walls. Then he would spring
up—stare wildly about him—stretch forth his
hands, to be sure he yet had space enough to
live—and, muttering some incoherent words,
sink down again, Lo pass through the same
fierce vicissitudes of delirious sleep.
The morning of the fourth day dawned upon
Vivenzio. Hut it was high noon before his
mind shook off its stupor or lie awoke to a full
consciousness of his situation. And what a
fixed energy of despair sat upon his pale fea
tures, as cast his eyes upwards, and gazed upon
the THREE windows that now alone remained!
The three!—there were no more!—and tiicy
seemed to number his own allotted days.—
Slowly and calmly he next surveyed the tops
and sides, and comprehended the meaning of
the diminished height of the former, as well as
of the gradual approximation of the latter.—
The contracted dimensions of his mysterious
prison were now too gross and palpable to be
the juggle of Lis heated imagination. Slill lost
in wonder at the means, Vivenzio could put no
cheat upon his reason as to the end. I>y what
horrible ingenuity it was contrived, that walls,
and roof, and windows, should thus silently
and imperceptibly, without noise,[and without
motion almost, fold, as it were, within each
other he knew not. He only knew they did
so; and he vainly strove to persuade himself it
was the intention of the contriver, to rack the
miserable wretch who might be immured there
with anticipation, merely, of a fate, from which,
in the very crisis of his agony, he was to be
reprieved.
Gladly would he have clung even to this
possibility, if his heart would have let him;
but he felt a dreadful assurance of its fallacy.
And what.matchless inhumanity it was to doom
the sufferer to such lingering torments, to lead
him day by day to so appalling a death, un
supported by the consolations of religion, un
visited by any human being, abandoned to
htmself, deserted of all, and denied even the
sad privilege of knowing that his cruel destiny
would awaken pity! Alone he was to perish!
—alone he was to wait a slow coming tor
ture, whose most exquisite pangs would lie in
flicted by that very solitude and that tardy
coining!
" It is not death 1 fear," he exclaimed. " hut
the death 1 must prepare for! Methiuks, too,
1 could even meet that—all horrible and re
volting as it is—at' it might overtake me now.
Hut where shall I find fortitude to tarry till it
come? How can I outlive the three long days
and nights I have to live? There is no power
within me to bid the hideous spectre hence—
none to make it familiar to my thoughts; or
myself, patient of its errand. My thoughts,
rather will flee from me, and I grow mad in
looking at. it. Oh, for a deep sleep to fall up
on me! That so, in death's likeness, I might
embrace death itself, and drink no more of the
cup that is presented to ine, than my fainting
spirit has already tasted!"
In the midst of these lamentations, Vivenzio
noticed that his accustomed meal, with the
piclher of water, had becu conveyed as before,
into his dungeon. Hut this circumstance no
longer excited his surprise. His mind was
overwhelmed with others of a far greater mag
nitude. It suggested, however, a feeble hope
of deliverance ; and there is no hope so feeble
as not to yield some support to a heart bend
ing under despair. He resolved to watch, du
ring the ensuing night, for the signs he had be
fore observed ; and should he again feel the
gentle, tremulous motion of the floor, or the
current of air, to seize that moment for giving
audible expression to his misery. Some per
son must lie near him, and within reach of his
voice, at the instant when his food was sup
plied ; some one, perhaps, suseeptiole of pity.
Or if not, to be told even that his apprehen
sions were just,and that his fate ten* to be what
lie foreboded, would be preferable to a sus
pense which hung upon the possibility of his
worst fears being visionarv.
The night came ; and as the hour approach
ed wlicu Vivenzio imagined he might expect
the signs, he stood fixed and silent as a statue.
He feared to breathe, almost, lest he might
lose auy sound which would warn him of their
coming. While thus listening, with every fac
ulty of mind and body strained to an agony of
attention, it occurred to liiiu he should be more
sensible of the motion, probably, if lie stretch
ed himself along the iron floor. He accord
ingly laid himself softly down, and had not
been long in that position when—yes, lie was
certain of it—the floor moved under liiiu ! He
sprang up, and in a voice suffocated ticarlywilh
emotion, called out. He paused—the motion
ceased—he felt no stream of air —all was hush
ed—no voice answered his—he burst into tears
and sank on the ground, in renewed anguish,
exclaimed —"Oh, my God ! my God ! You
alone have power to save mo now, or strength
en me for the trial you permit."
Another morning dawned upon flic wretched
captive, and the fatal index of his doom met
his eyes. Two windows!—and tiro days—and
ali would be over! Fresh food—fresh water!
The mysterious visit had been paid, lliough lie
had implored it in vain. Hut how awfully was
his prayer answered in what he now saw! The
roof of the dungeon was within a foot of his
head. The two ends were so near, that in siv
paces he trod the space between them. Vi
venzio shuddered as he gazed, and as his steps
traversal the narrow area Hut his feelings
no longer vented themselves in frantic wail
ings. With folded arms, and clenched teeth,
with eyes that were bloodshot from much watch
ing, and fixed with a vacant glare U|M>II the
ground, with a hard quick breathing, and a
hurried walk, lie strode backwards and for
wards in silent musing for several hours. What
mind shall conceive, what tongue utter,or what
pen describe the dark and terrible character
of his thoughts ? Like the fate that moulded
them, they had no similitude in the wide range
of this world's agony for man. Suddenly lie
stopped, and his eyes were riveted IIJIOII that
part of the wall which was over his bed of
straw. Words are inscribed there ! A hu
man language traced by a human hand ! He
rushes towards thein ; hut his blood freezes as
he reads :
" I, Ludovico Sforza, tempted by the gold
of the Urince of Tolfi, spent three years in con
triving and executing this accursed triumph of
my art. When it was completed, the profi
dous Tolfi, more devil than man, who conduct
ed me thither one morning, to be a witness, as
he said, of its perfection, doomed rue to lie the
first victim of my own pernicious skill ; lest, as
lie declared, I should divulge the secret, or re
peat the effort of my ingenuity. May God
pardon him, as well as I hope lie will me, that
ministered to his unhallowed pur|M>sc ? Mis
erable wretch, wlio'er thou art, that rcadest
these lines, fall on thy knees, and invoke as, I
have done, His sustaining mercy, who alone
can nerve thee to meet the vengeance of Talfi,
armed with this tremendous engine which, in a
few hours, must crush you, us it will the needy
wretch who made it."
A deep groan burst from Vivenzio. He
stood, like one transfixed, with dilated eyes,
expanded nostrils, and quivering lips, gazing at
this fatal inscription. It was if u voice from
the sepulchre had sounded in hisenrs"l*repare."
Hope forsook liiin. There was his sentence,
recorded in those dismal words. The future
stood unveiled before liini, ghastly and appall
ing. His brain already feels the descending
horror—his bones seem to crack and crumble
in the mighty grasp of the iron walls ! Un
knowing what it lie docs, he fumbles in his gar
ment for some weajion of self destruction, lie
clenches his throat in his convulsive gripe, as
though he would strangle himself at once. He
stares upon the walls, and his warring spirit
demands : " Will they not anticipate their of
fice if 1 dash my head against them ?" An hys
terical laugh chokes him as he exclaims "Why
should I ? He was but a man who died first
in their fierce embrace ; and I should be less
than man not to do as much !"
The evening sun was descending, and Vi
venzio beheld its golden beams streaming
through one ol the windows. What a thrill
of joy shot through his soul at the sight ? It
was a precious link, that united him, for the
moment, with the world beyond. There was
ecstasy in the thought. As he gazed, long
and earnestly, it seemed as if the windows had
lowered sufficiently for him to reach them.—
With one bound lie was beneath them—with
one wild spring lie clung to the bars. Whether
it was so contrived, pnrjmsely to madden with
delight the wretch who looked, he knew not ;
but, at the extremity of a long vista, cut
through the solid rocks, the ocean, the sky,the
sitting sun, olive groves, shady walks, and in
the farthest distance, delicious glimpses of mag
nificent Sicily, burst upon his sight. How ex
quisite was the cool breeze as it swept across
Lis cheek, loaded with fragrance! He inhaled
it a* though it wi re the breath of continued
life. And there was a freshness in the land
scape, and in the rippling of the calm green
sea, that fell iqiou his withering heart like dew
upon the parched earth. How he gazed, and
panted, and still clung to his hold ! sometimes
hanging by one hand, sometimes by the other,
and then grasping the bars with both, as loth
to quit the smiling paradise outstretched be
fore him ; till exhausted, and his hands swol
len and benumbed, lie dropped helpless down,
and lay stunned for a considerable time by the
full.
When he recovered, the glorious vision had
vanished, lie was in darkness. lie doubted
whether it was not a dream that passed before
his sleeping fancy ; but gradually his scatter
ed thoughts returned, and with them came re
membrance. Yes ! lie had looked once again
upon the gorgeous splendor of nature ! Once
again his eyes had trembled beneath their veil
ed lids, at the sun's radience, and sought re
pose in the soft, verdure of the olive trees, or
the gentle swell of the undulating wave. Oh,
that lie were a mariner, exposed upon those
waves to the worst fury of t''e storm and tem
pest ; or a very wretch loathsome with disease,
plague stricken, and Lis body one leprous con
tagion from crown to sole, hunted fortli to gasp
out the remnant of infectious life beneath those
verdant trees, so he might shun the destiny
upon whose edge he tottered !
Vain thoughts like these would steal over
his mind from time to time, in spite of himself;
but they scarcely moved it from that stupor
into which it had sunk, and which kept him,
during the whole night, like one who had been
drug-red with opium. He was equally insensi
ble to the calls of hunger and thirst, though
tiie third day was now commencing since even
a drop of water had passed his lips. He re
mained on the ground sometimes sitting, some
times lying ; at intervals, sleeping heavily ;
and when not sleeping, silently brooding over
what was to come, or, talking aloud, in disor
dered speech, of his wrongs, of his friends, of
his home, and of those he loved with a confus
ed mingling cf all.
In this pitiable condition, the sixth and last
morning dawned upon Vivenzio, if dawn it
might be called—the dim, obscure light which
faintly struggled through ONE SOLITARY window
of bis dungeon. He could hardly be said to
notice the inclanchcly token. And yet he did
not notice it ; for as lie raised his eyes and
saw the portentous sign, there was a siighl
convulsive distortion of Lis countenance. Hut
w hat did atti'act his notice, and at the sight of
which his agitation was excessive, was the
change of his iron bed bad undergone. It was
a lied no longer. It slood Itclorc him, the visi
ble semblance of a funeral bier ! When he
beheld this lie stalled from the ground ; and
VOL. XIX. —NO. 20.
in rising himself suddenly struck his head
against the roof, which was now so low that
he could 110 longer stand upright. "Hod's wilt
lie done," was all he said as he crouched his
liody, and placed his hands upon the bier ; for
such it was. The iron bedstead hod lieen so
contrived, hy the mechanical art of Ludovieo
Sforza, that as the advancing walls came in
contact with its head and feet, a pressure was
produced upon concealed springs, which, when
made to play, set in motion a very simple
though ingeniously-contrived machinery tlmt
effected the transformation. The object was
of course, to heighten, in the cfosing scene of
this horrible drama, all the feelings of despair
and anguish, which the preceding ones had
aroused. For the same reason, the last win
dow was inade us to admit only a shadowy
kind of glooin rather than light, that the
wretched captive might lie surrounded us it
were, with every seeming preparation for ap
proaching death.
Yivenzio seated himself on his bier. Then
he knelt and prayed fervently ; and sometime*
tears would gush from him. The air seemed
thick, and lie breathed with difficulty ; or it
might be that lie fancied it was so, from the
hot and narrow li mi is of his dungeon, which
were now so diminished that he could neither
stand up nor lie down at his full length Hut
his wasted spirits and oppressed mind no lon
ger struggled within liiiu He was past hope,
and fear shook him no more. Happy if thus
revenge had struck its final blow ; for ho
would have fallen beneath it almost unconscious
of u pang. Hut such a lethargy of the soul,
after such an excitement of its fiercest passions
had entered into the dialiolicul calculations of
Tolti ; and the fell artificer of his designs had
imagined a coiitcracting devise.
The tolling of an enormous bell struck upon
the ears of Yivenzio ! He started. It beat
but once. The sound was so close and stun
ning, that it seemed to shutter his very brain,
while it echoed through the rocky fiassages
like reverl>cratiiig peals of thunder. This was
followed by a sudden crash of the roof and
walls, as if they were about to full and close
around him at once Yivenzio screamed and
instinctively spread forth his arins, as though
lie had a giant's strength to hold thetu back.
They moved nearer to him, and were now mo
tionless. Yivenzio looked up and saw the roof
almost touching his head, even as he sat cow
ering beneath it ; and he felt that a farther
contraction of but a few inches only must com
mence the frightful operation. Housed as he
had been, he now gasped for breath, llis
body shook violently—he was nearly bent dou
ble. His hands rested upon either wall, and
his feet were drawn under him to avoid the
pressure in front. Thus he remained more
than an hoar, when that deafcuing hell heat
again, and again there came the crash of hor
rid death. Hut the concussion was now so
great that it struck Vivcnzio down. As he
lay gathered up iu lessened bulk, the bell beat
loud and frequent—crash succeeded crash—
and 011, and ou, and on came the mysterious
engine of death, tiil Yivenzio's smothering
groans were heard no more ! He was horri
bly crushed by the ponderous roof nnd collaps
ing sides—and the flattened bier waß his
Iron Shroud.
WEBSTER MATCHED BY A WOMAK.— In the
somewhat famous case of Mrs. Hodgeu's will,
which was tried in the Supreme Court some
years ago, Mr. Webster appeared as counsel
lor for the appellant. Mrs Greenough, wife of
Rev. William (Ireenoogh, late of West New
ton, a tail straight, queenly-looking woman,
with a keen black eye—a woman of great self
possession and decision of character—was cal
led lo stand as a witness on the opposite side
from Mr. Webster. Webster, at a glance, had
the sagacity to foresee that her testimony, ifit
contained anything of importance, would hare
great weight with the court and jury. He
therefore, resolved, if possible, to break her
up. And when she answered to the first ques
tion put to her, " I believe," Webster roared
out, " We don't want to hear what you believe
wc want to hear what you know !" Mr*.
Greenough replied. " That's just what I waa
about to say, sir," and went ou with her testi
mony. And notwithstanding his repeated
efforts to disconcert her, she pursued the even
tenor of her way, until Webster, becoming
quite fearful of the result, arose, apparently in
great agitation, and drawing out his large snuff
box, thrust his thumb and finger to the very
bottom, and carrying the deep pinch to both
nostrils, drew it up with a gusto ; aud then
extracting from his pocket a very large hand
kerchief, which flowed to his feet as lie brought
it to the front, lie blow his nose with a rejiort
that rang distinct and loud through the crowd
ed ha'l. Webster—" Mrs Gteenough, was
Mrs. Hodgen a neat wouiau ?" Mrs. Greenough
—" I cannot give you very full information as
to that sir ; she had one very dirty trick."—
Webster—" What's that, ma'aiu?" Mrs.Grcen
ough—" She took snuff?" The roar of the
court-house was such that the future Defender
ol the Constitution subsided, and neither roae
nor spoke again until Mrs. Greenough had
vacated her chair for another witness, having
ample time to rellcet upon the inglorious history
of the man who had a stone thrown ou his head
by a woman.— Boston Tsrtgrr.
CHINESE WlT.— Somelody writes from an
American vessel in the Chinese waters, that
a worthy missionary had scattered several
copies of the Ten Commandments on the
shore. The next day they were sent back
with the request that they might lc distribut
e l among the French and G iglish, for tho
tracts contained admirable doctrines, and theso
people evidently much needed them.
A KKIKNIJ of ours thus eulogizes his musical
attainments—" I know two tunes. Tim one
is ' Auld Lang Sync,' and the other isn't. I
always sing tlm latter."
"O, MY FKIKX n," said a doctor to an Irish
patient, " be composed ; we must all die once."
" And it's that what vexes me" replied Fat ;
•' if I could die a half a dozen times, I'd uot
cure a half-penny about this time."