OCR Text |
Show 194 RlCHARD nurmrs. Doubts thick('ncd in my mind with every addccl moment of cotljC'cturc, and at lcn~th l strove to think no m?rc ~1pon it. I rc~olv<'d to do so, tl10ugh ] soou found my resolut iOn tdlc. How could I forLear tile thongl1t, when I found it had made my hair grny in that f:ii11glc nigl1t! Either that or my fears l!:td done so, and I fain would believe it wns not the latter. I could think 11ow of nothing else. 'l'hnt mangled body lay before me whichever way I turned. I saw the ghastly glaze upon the starting eye that bulged lwlf way from its socket. I saw that mouth, whose smile it had been a plcnsmc to sec, distorted from its Hnlural shnpc, and smeared with dust and mire. Tl•erc, too, was tlw narrow orifice tln·ough which life had rush ed, prayerless llerl1nps, nnd oh, with such terrific :1.bruptncss ! I thought then of all his ways-his fr:mk , hearty laugl1, his generous spirit, his frc<', bold character, his love of truth, his friemlship, and the sweet heart-tics which had Uouml l1im to life and earth, and warmed him with promising h opes, never to be fulfilled. That last thought was the paug above nll. !'loor \Vill iam-poor Em· me1inc ! Little, in the gusldng fullness of their united hopes. did their h earts dream of a destiny like this I PAUSF.-HUT NOT B.F.POSE. 195 CIIAP'l' E R XXVIII. l'At.:SG-HUT NOT UEPOSB. " 'Vel\! he is dend- Murdered pcrhnpsl nnd I nm faint, nnd feel As if iL were no painful thing lo die!" - Cou.:mooe. \Vn'll a stunned mind and most miserable feelings, I was almost led away by Colonel Grafton to his dwelling. ~.._or three days I could t·csolve on nothing. I n that time we committccl ' Vill iam to the earth. A c1uiet spot under n, clump of venerable oaks. which the colonel had chosen for h is own fmal restirigplacc, afforded one to my friend. rfhc heavy moss d<'pemlcd from the trees above h im, and the warm sun came to h is turf in snbduc(l glances through tl1e withered leaves. Birds lwd built their nests from time immemorial in their boughs, and the constant rabbit might be seen leaping in the long, yellow grasses beneath tl1em, when the dusky shadows of evening were about to fa.ll. The hunter never crept to this spot to pursue his game of death . 'l'he cruel instrument of his sport was forbidden to sound therein. rl'he 11lace was hallowed to solemn sleep and to the brooding watchfulness of happy spirits ; and in its quiet round we left tl1e inanimate form of one whose heart bad been as lovely in its performances as to the eye ·were the serene shadows of the spot where we laid him. I envied him the peace which I was sure his spirit knew, when we 1Jut his body out of sight. God help me, for truly there was little that felt like peace in mine ! F or three days, as I said before, I was like one stunned and deafened. I lwd no quick ness to perceive, nor ability to examine. l\ly thoughts were a perfect chaos, and cont inual and crowding images of death were passing before my eyes. rrhe kind friends with whom I lingered during this brief but most |