Ivan the Terrible; or, Dark Deeds of Night — page 35: what you’re looking at

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31 THE GHOST’S HOUSE IN THE LONELY ROAD. (Continued from Supplement given away with No. 3.), —<+—_-— The lower he sunk in despondency, and the more desperate grew his affairs, an inward spirit appeared, forced him to renewed exertion, and quelled those feelings which controlled his fortune, and uttered the words, ‘‘ Tony, thy task is not yet hopeless.” The darkness increased every moment ; the swallow skimmed the surface of the pool ; the rooks cawed as the threatened tempest commenced, yet the delver pursued his occupation through the pyiless rain which fell, and heeded not the lightning flash as it overed round the upturned mould. His strength in a short time was almost exhausted, the torrents of rain beat fiercely in his face, and his cheek and eye lost their hue and brillianey ; at that moment his heart wholly failed him, a pers- piration bedewed his brow, and, as one stricken by death, he fell senseless to the ground. How lonz he remained in this state he did not know; but he was recalled to life by a sound resembling, as he imagined, a human cry. The storm howled as wildly as along the mountain side, and it was now pitch dark; but, on turning his head, he saw, ata little distance above where he lay, a small steady light. Tony started as it advanced towards him. Approaching, he per- ceiyed it was borne by a figure arrayed in white from head to foot. He was now a prey to the most agonizing disturbance of mind ; he could not have experienced greater mental torment if his heart had been consumed by the fabled fire of Eblis ; for the first time in his life re- morse had assailed his soul, and he felt compunction for the evil deed he was about to eommit. **T3 it possible, Lady Edgeworth ?” he exclaimed, in amazement, as he recognised the form and features of his haughty mistress. “Waste not time in words,” said she, “‘ much may yet be done, and IT have the most perfect assurance that now, at least, I am not deceived. Up, and be of good heart; work, for here is light. I will sit down in yonder broken arbour, bleak though it be, and aid with my prayers since I cannot with my hands.’ Tony seized anew his axe, and, stirred half with shame and half with admiration by the courage of his resolute companion, resumed his toil with a fresh-born vigour. ‘< Be of good heart, Tony,’’ continued Lady Edgeworth, “and all will yet be well. Bravely, bravely done. Be sure the saints have heard us; be speedy, and ere morning the prize will be within your reach.” As he proceeded more frequently she repeated the injunction to make haste. Tony laboured like a Hercules, and his blows fell heavily on the stubborn stone. Submitting to his superhuman efforts the slab yielded, and disclosed to his eyes the hidden chest. “The fiend I serve has granted my desire,” he shrieked, in a voice of exultation. ‘* The papers, the gold, are mine! The lantern ; quick, my lady !” ‘* My time is come,’”’ she replied. ‘I shall be wanted; I am wanted ; I can stay no longer—farewell !” Astounded and dismayed by the sudden disappearance, Tony, for a minute, was alarmed by the terrible conviction that some un- earthly power had carried off his mistress, but divesting himself of such superstition he was still puzzled at the strange desertion. If determined to go why did she go alone, aware, as she must have been, that his remaining in the dark could be of no use? Was it her intent to sacrifice lim to save herself? It was a bitter and un- generous thought, nevertheless it served to bridle the speed with which he sprung forward to overtake Lady Edgeworth. He had not gone far when a sudden thrill arrested his progress, his heart ceased to beat, and, but for a tree, against whieh he staggered, he would have fallen fainting to the earth. covering, and finding his pursuit useless, he retraced his steps as accurately as it was possible to do in the utter darkness and a fog which reigned everywhere around. He knew not whether he found the exact spot upon which his mistress had stood, but he was sure of the localities, and if she was still there her white dress would no doubt gleam even through the thick night which encireled her. _ With a lightened heart (for compared with the phantom of the mind which had presented itself, a)l things seemed endurable) he at length again descended into the hollow he had dug in the ground. ; The stone resting at its depth had been so far displaced as to admit of Tony Foster persisting in his quest. His mattock once more leapt into the sward, and he was again at his employment. As he threw out the mould, the spade with which he delved struck against a hard substance. ‘* By heavens, I have it atlast!”’ heexclaimed. ‘‘’Tis the secreted casket !”’ Nerved by the discovery he returned to his labour with threefold energy, but only to meet with chagrin and disappointment. In place of the coveted wealth was laid bare an old black coffin, of oak, curiously fashioned, and marked with a quaint device. Tony scraped earefully the clay from the costly carvings in order to get at a name or date, but could find neither. Impelled by curiosity the bewildered man raised his pick, and with one tremendous and heavy blow shivered the lid of the chest which held the corpse into a thousand pieces, and scattered the fragments far and wide. A terrible sight was that which was now presented to the view— *twas a dead body in the last darksome stage of decomposition. There was no flesh upon the grisly skeleton, but its unnatural posture rivetted the fixed gaze of the awe-stricken Tony, and, as if to add to the impressive spectacle, the queen of night hai broken from her ebon bonds. The bony hand was clenched, the teeth set, as if the entombed wretch, buried alive, had striven to burst from his sepulchral couch ; the neck was bent, the nails torn, neither limb, joint or particle were straight but rigidly distorted, and glued as it were together - by black and coagulated blood. In this the fingers of the treasure- seeker were defiled, the dank, slimy substance passing over his arm as he stooped to lift the coffin plank. Everything betokened the agony of that miserable being who had awakened from death to a life more horrible; he had struggled, but struggled vainly to behold heaven’s light which he was doomed to see no more. Tony sprang forward as the moon more fully revealed the ghastly object; his eyes started from their sockets as he discovered the memento which had dropped from its bony grasp, bearing an escutcheon and the crest of the Edgeworths ; the whole truth was now made known to him, the last link of the chain of mystery broken, and it wanted but this to confirm his previous doubts. This evidence was conclusive, the stain of blood was on his father’s name, and Job Foster had died a murderer. The extraordinary sensation that now oyerpowered Tony led him to suspect that the incidents of the pa$t hour must have Ween a dream, but, picturing by fate dread reality, his meditations were abruptly put an end to by a voicein elose proximity. He looked up, and, in the beams of night, saw a dark form which to his disturbed imagiuation appeared as one unearthly; the form was that of the Doctor Manethio. CHAPTER IYV.- THE NIGHT-TRAIN. 11.30 p.m. the time; the railway-station at Dartford, Kent, the place. The transition from the most profound quiet that had hith- therto existed 10 universal bustle at now reigned on the platform was most striking to the silent observer as he watched the officials hurrying forward with their lanterns, the sturdy breaksmen work- ing at their posts, and the impatient passengers rushing irom the offices to anticipate the last train from London which was now due. | For some hours Frederick Edgeworth had waited at this spot anxiously expecting the arrival of Doctor Manetho by every carriage ; each had come and departed without any appearance of the worthy professor, or explaining the reason why he had failed to keep his appointment with his well-beloved pupil. e recollected also with increased uneasiness his last words that if he saw him not on the following evening he might rest assured that some imminent danger had befallen him. With doubt and anxiety Frederick was pacing the landing place as the midnight express hove in sight and stopped in a narrow gorge with high shelving banks; her ruby lamps glisten on the corn patches, rural lanes, and woodland through which with light- ning speed she has passed. As he peered into the outer darkness a flying scud of sparks from the engine funnel hoyered over his head, and, by their light, as well as that of the furnace below which seemed to steep the earth cliffs on either side with a lurid, red-hot glare, he was enabled clearly to distinguish his tutor, who, bowing in acknowledgment, indicated by signs that he would be presently with him. Smiling at his late alarm Frederick in good spirits seated himself on the platform and attended the eoming of his reyered and honoured friend. - eCopmicloooks.conm