Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1871 — A Night of Terror. [ARTICLE]

A Night of Terror.

Tn following curious adventure happened in Bath, fij thuytarUtt-, and the lady who narrated it to the writer was iu those days a young girl stating in the hot#©. It wma in the palmy days of Hath, when the fallen city rivaled London in brilliancy and dlfadpaiion, and when all the rich, the gay and the high-born of Eiigland com;regated there in season and graced the balls and assemblies. Mrs. R , once the belle of the court of Group IIL, but at this period gradually ret Hug from general society, possessed one of tho laqgusi of Ihe old houses, and gave in it entertainments which were the ! most popular ol the day. She was celebrated for three things (once four, but the fourth—her beauty—waa of the days gone by); these things were her fascination, her benevolence, aud — a set of the mod bcautiful amethysts. - Her house doatalncd tapestried chain bers. The walla of the oue in which she slept were hung around with designs from heathen mythology, and the fines! pitch in the room was that hung over tier dressingtable. It represented Phosbus driving the chariot .of the sun. The figures and horses being life rise, it filled up the whole space between the windows, and the horses were connalcd behind the high, old-fashioned Venetian looking glass ; while Phcrbus. himself rix feet high, Wk--2 ed down by night and day upon- his mis tress at her toilet. One eveniug Mrs. R — had an unusually large party at home. She wore all h>r amethysts On retiring to her rqom, about four o’clock in the morning, sht' took off all her jewels, laid them on the table, and dismissed the weary maid, intending l-o put them away herself, bu before doing so knell down, as usual, to her prayers. While engaged in her devotions, it was a habit with her to look upwards,‘ and the face ot Phcrbus was generally the point of sight, as it were, and the ob ject on which her eyes most easily rested. On this particular night, as usual, she raised her dyes to Pho-bus. What does she see* Has Pygmalion been here to work* Has he filled those dull eyes with vital fire* Or is she dreaming? No. Possessed naturally of wonderful courage and calmness, she orih tinned to move her hps J as if in silent prayer, and never once withdrew her gaze, and still the eyes looked down on hers. The light of her candle shown distinctly on liquid, living orbs, snd her good, keearight enabled her, after a cleverly managed scrutiny, to see that the tapestry eyes of Phoebus had been cut out, and that with her door locked and the servants in bed in their distant apartments, and all her jewels spread out before her, she was not alone in her room. She concluded her praters with her face hinden in her hands. We can all imagine what those last prayers must ’ have "been! She km w there w as some one behind that tapestry; sh.- knew that the lulls and screams were equally use-h ss, and she lay down in her bed as usual, ami waited the issue, her only omission being that she did not put away her jewels. ‘-They may save my lifd,” said she to herself, and. she closed her eyes. The clock struck five before a sound was heard, aud then the moment arrived. She heard a ru-tle, a descent from behind the tapestry, and a man stood at her dressing: table, lie took off his coat, and one by one he secured the-riewtl.s beneath his waistcoat. What would be his next move? Would it be to her bedside, or the door, or windowy lie turned and approached her bedside; but bv that lime she Lad seen enough, and again closed her-eyes, resigning herself to the Providence whose protection she. had just been craving. Thii man was her coachman. Apparently satisfied, by a brief glance under Ms dark lantern, that he bad not disturbed her, be quietly unlocked her door and left her. For two hours—they mu>t. have seemed two days—she allowed the house to remain nualormed, her only movement having been to relock the door which her living Phcebua hail left ajar. At 7 iu’the morning she rang her bell, and order d the carriage round immediately after breakfast. All this was according to her usual habits. On the box was a man who had cost her a night’s rest, and, most probably, all htr jewels... However, she drove oftj she went straight to the house of a magistrate.- “ Seize my coachman,” said she; “ secure him and search him. I have been robbed, and I can handy think he has had time to disencumber himself pf. the jewels he has taken from me.” She was obeyed, hid sjm-was right; the amethysts were still about him f ami he gave himself up without a struggle. Ail he said was, “ I wish novy I had killed her. 1 H meant to do it: only she was so good I hadn’t the heart.” It is most ’probable that after this exciting episode the tapestry of that bed-cham-ber was remorselessly condemned, and the eyeless Phcrbus was consigned to oblivion.