Danger in the Dark - ZseZse

DANGEl~ IN TUE DAI{K. 161
dear departed shades that have gone to rest, and
almost imagine I see, in the dusky air, their bright
spirits lingering near.
"Pard?n me, friend!" said he, suddenly rousing
from his dream, "my thoughts were wandering.
May it be yours to drink less of the cup of sorrow,
and enjoy more of life's sunshine, than have fallen to
the hermit's lot!"
"But for the story I was about to relate: From
New England, almost a quarter of a century ago, I
emigrated with my family, all of whom were then
living, to Cincinnati, where for years we were content
and happy. Relentless death, that sooner or later
comesto all, entered our abode and thinned our circle;
and now, in a graveyard of the Queen city, sleep
all that circle, save myself and one other; that one is
buried alive! 'doomed to death, yet forbid to die.'
I would to God she were sleeping with the rest !"
Now the aged sire covered his face, and wept.
Impatient to hear more, Carleton begged him to
proceed. Resuming his story, he said:
"It was our only surviving child - a precious
daughter, and in the most interesting period of her
.life; her mother's heart and mine were set upon her;
alas! 'twas more cruel than death I-a religious 'delusion
fastened upon her tender mind; she turned
unfeelingly from the embrace of fond parents, abjured
the world, and shut herself up in a Convent I
Too heavily fell the dreadful stroke on her mother's
heart; driven to insanity, she died a raving maniac I
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