A Night in a Lons Cottage.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2343, 10 July 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Night in a Lons Cottage.

Count Fauthom, in his adventures' having lost his way in the forest, a' last chances upon a small cottage in a situation of peculiar gloom and melancholy. When he learned fiom lihhostess that there was iiot another house within three leagues, and that

she could accommodate him with a tolerable bed, and his horse with lodging and oats, he thanked heaven for his good fortune in stumbling upon this humble habitation, and deienuineil to pass the night under the. protection oi the old cottager, who gave him to understand that her husband, who was ut faggot-maker, hid gone to the nex; town to dispose of his merchandise, and that in.all probability ho would not return till the next morning, on account of the tempestuous night. Ferdinand sounded the beldame with a thousand iiilf-.rrogations, and sinanswered with such an appearance of truth and simplicity, that he concluded his person was quite secure; and, after having been regaled with a dish of o«gs and bacon, desired she would conduct him into the chamber where she- proposed he should take his repose. He was accordingly ushered up by a nort of a ladder into an apartment furnished with a standing bed, and idmtwt half filled with trusses of straw. He reined i-r.-mely w»li pleased with his lo'lgiu;'. which in reality exceeded his expo'.-iaii.-us; and his kind landlady cautioning him against letting the candle approach the combustible:!. took her leave, am) locked the door on the outside.

Fathom, whose own principles taught him tn bd suspiciious, and ever upon bis g a d agaiust the treachery of his fellow-creatures, could have iiispenun.l with this instanse of her care in confining her guest to his chamber; and began to be siezeel with strange fancies when he observed that there was no bolt on the inside of the door, In which he might secure himself fiviii intrusion, In consequence of these suggestions, he proposed to take an uccurate survey of every object in the apartment, and, in the course of \\U enquiry, had the mollification to find the dead body of a man, still warm, who hud b-en lately stubbed, and concealed beneath several bundles ol straw.

Such a discovery conn! not fail to fill the breast of our hero with unspeakable horror; for he concluded that he himself won't! undergo the same fate before Horning, without the intoipesilinn of a miracle in his favor, in tint iirst transports of his dread he imii to the window, ■.villi a view to oseap,by that outlet, and found his flight effectuaily obstructed by divers strom: bars of iron, Hist spirits were agitated into n state of fermentation and he was immediately hurried into measures for his own preservation. What upon a less interesting occasion

his imagination durst not propose, w he now executed without scruple or ■ remorse. He undressed the corpse that lay bleeding upon the straw, and conveying it to the bed in his arms, deposited it in the at'itudo of a person who sleeps at his ease; then he extinguished the light, took posse.-sion of the plane from whence the body had been removed, and holding a pistol ready cocked in each hand, waited for . the sequel with !ie;r determined purpose which is often the immediate pro d.iction of despair. About midnight ho heard the sound of footsteps ascending the ladder; the door was softly opened ; he saw the shadow of two men stalking towards the hed; a dark lantern being unshroudfld, directed their aim to the supposed sleeper; and lie that held it thrust a poni-ird to his heart. The force of the blow made a compi-e?sion on the chest, and a sort, of gnwn issued from the windpipe of the defunct ; the stroke was repeated without producing a repetition of the

note, so that the assassins concluded the work was effectually done, and VL retired for the present, with a design to return and rifle the deceased at their leisure. Never had our hero spent a moment in such agony as he spent during this operation. The whole suiface. of his body was covered with a cold sweat,

and his nerves were relaxed with an ,> universal palsy. In short, he remained in a trance, that in all probability contributed to his safety; for had lift retained the use of his senses, he might have been discovered by the transpons of his fear. The first use he made of his retrieved recollection, waK to perceive that the assassins had hill, the door open in this their retreat; and h" would have instantly availed himself of their neglect, by sallying oui upon them at the hazard of his liio, had he.

imt iu.Mii restrained by si conversution ! lie ovoi-lieartl in tho room below, im-1 |Mirtin:.' unit the ruffians were going to j set out on another expedition, in hopes | of finding more prey. They accord- j ingly departed, after having laid strong ] injunctions on the old woman to keep j the door fast locked during their ai.simci l ; and Ferdinand took his resolution without further delay. So soon as, by his conjecture, the robbers wero .it a sufficient distance from the house he rose from his lurking-place, moved sol'ily towards the bed, and rummaging tliti pockets of the deceased, found a purse well stored with ducats, of which together with a silver watch and dia, mond ring, lie immediately possessed himself without scruple ; then descending with great care and circumspection into the lower apartment, stood bofore the old beldame, before she had tho slightest intimation of his Approach.

Accustomed as she was to the trade of blood, the hoary hag tin! not behold this appati.ion without giving siijns of inlin'te terror and astonishment. Believing it to be no other than tho spirit of her second guest, who had been murdered, siio fell on her knees, ,nid began to recommend herself to the protection of the saints, crossing herself with as much devotion as if she had been entitled to the particular care and ateiitioii of heaven, Nor did her anxiety abate when she was undeceived in this her supposition, and understood it was no phantom, but the real substance of the Strangn-; who, without staying to upbraid her with the enormity of her crimes, commanded her on pain of immediate death, to produce his horse; to which being conducted, lie sot liar on the saddle without delay, and mounting behind, invested her with tiie management of the reins, swearing in a timst peremptory tone, thai the only chance of her life was in directing him to the nsxt town ; and that as soon as she should give him the least cause to doubt her fidelity in llie performance of that task, he would on the instant act the part of hor executioner.

This declaration had its effect on the withered Hecate, who, with many supplications for mercy and forgiveness, promised to guide him hi safety to a ceitain villus at two leagues, where he might lodge i:\ security, and he provided with a fresh horse, or other eonvHiiienc! for pursuing his route. On these conditions he told her she might desene his clemency; and they accordingly took their departure together, she being placed astride upon the saddle, holding the bridle in one hind and a switch in the oth»r, ami our adventurer sitting on the crupper, superintending her conduct, and keeping the .muzzla of a pistol close at her ear. In this equipage they travelled across part of the same wood in which his guide had forsaken him ; and it k. not to lie supposed that he passed his time in thi! most agreeable reverie, while he found himself involved in the labyrinth of those shades, which he considered as ihc haunts of robherv and rtssassmu f ion.

. Common tear was a comfortable sensation tu what liu felt in this excursion. Tin) first steps lie had taken for his preservation worn tho effect of mere instinct, while his faculties were extitiguished or suppressed hy despair; hut now, as his reflection began to recur, lie was hauiued by the most iniolerahle apprehensions. Every whisper of the wind through the thickets was swelled into t'ne hoarse menaces of murder ; the shaking »i'the boughs was construed into the brandishing of poniards; and every shadow of a tree limimo the apparition of a niffiaii, eager for lilootl. In shore, at iMehoflhe.se occurrences lie iWt what, was infinitely more tormenting than the slab of a real dagger; and at every frosh lillip of liis fear, he acted as remeuihraucer to fiis conductress in a new volley of imprecations, importing that her life was absolutely connected with his own .sat'etv.

Human natuie could not long subsist under such complicated terror; but at iast, he found himself clear of the forest, and was blessed with the distant view of an inhabited place, He t'n n began to exercise his thoughts on a new subject. lie debated with himself whether he should make a parade of his inUepidity and public spirit, by disclosing his achievement, and surrendering his guido tu the penalty of the 1 '■•!, or 1 a-'fi the old hag and her accomplices to tho remorse- of their own consciences, and proceed quietly on his journey to Par s, in undisturbed posstsri ui of the prize he had already obtained. This, last step he determined to take, upon recollecting that in the course of his information, the story of the murdered stranger would infallibly attract the attention of justice, and, in that case, the effects he had borrowed from the defunct must be refunded for the benefit of those who had a right to the succession. This was an argument which our adventurer could not resist: he forsaw he should be stripped of his acquisition, which he looked upon as the fruits of his valor and sagacity ; and moreover be detained as an evidence, against the robbers, to the manifest detriment of his affairs. Perhaps, too, he had motives of conscience that dissuaded him from hearing witness against a set of i eopl' whose principles did not much differ from his own,

Influenced by such considerations, ho yielded to the first importunity of tho beldame, whom he dismissed at a small distance from the village, after he had earnestly exhorted her to (juit such an atrocious course of life, and atone for

her past crimes by sacrificing her associates to the demands of justice. She did not fail to vow a perfect reformation, and to prostrate herself to her habitation, with the full purpose of advising her fellow-murderers to repair with all despatch to the village and impeach our hero, who, wisely distrusting her professions, stayed no longer in the place than to hire a guide for the next stage, which brought him to the city of Chalons-sur-Marno.