of mind, beggedher to proceed.
"About six or eight months after your departure, she continued, it wasreported to Miss Vernon that she had a rival in the Indies; that you hadthere found an American beauty, on whom you lavished those endearmentswhich belonged of right to her alone. This news made, at first, a deepimpression on her mind, but it soon wore away; and whether from thiscause, from fickleness of disposition, or that she never sincerely lovedyou, I know not; but this I do know, that a youth has been for some timepast her almost constant companion. To convince you of this, you needonly tomorrow evening, about sunset, conceal yourself near the longavenue by the side of the rivulet, back of Mr. Vernon's country-house,where you will undoubtedly surprise Miss Vernon and her companion intheir usual evening's walk. If I should be mistaken I will submit toyour censure; but should you find it as I have predicted, you have onlyto rush from your concealment, charge her with her perfidy, and renounceher forever."
"Of all the plagues, of all the torments, of all the curses whichtorture the soul, jealousy of a rival in love is the worst. Enraged,confounded and astonished, it seemed as if my bosom would haveinstantaneously burst. To conceal my emotions, I left my sister'sapartment, after having thanked her for her information, and proceededto obey her injunctions. I retired to my own room, and there poured outmy execrations.
"Cursed woman! I exclaimed, is it thus you requite my tender love! Coulda vague report of my inconstancy drive you to infidelity! Did not mycontinual letters breathe constant adoration? And did not yours portraythe same sincerity of affection? No, it was not that which caused you toperjure your plighted vows. It was that damnable passion for novelty,which more or less holds a predominancy over your whole sex. To a newcoat, a new face, a new lover, you will sacrifice honour, principle andvirtue. And to those, backed by splendid power and splendid property,you will forfeit your most sacred engagements, though made in thepresence of heaven."--Thus did I rave through a sleepless night.
"The next day I walked into the fields, and before the time my sisterappointed had arrived, I had worked up my feelings almost to the frenzyof distraction. I repaired, however, to the spot, and concealed myselfin the place she had named, which was a tuft of laurels by the side ofthe walk. I soon perceived Miss Vernon strolling down the avenue, arm inarm with a young man elegantly dressed, and of singular, delicateappearance. They were earnestly conversing in a low tone of voice; thehand of my false fair one was gently pressed in the hand of thestranger. As soon as they had passed the place of my concealment, theyturned aside and seated themselves in a little arbour, a few yardsdistant from where I sat. The stranger clasped Miss Vernon in his arms:"Dearest angel! he exclaimed, what an interruption to our bliss by thereturn of my hated rival!" With fond caresses and endearingblandishments, "fear nothing, she replied; I have promised and mustyield him my hand, but you shall never be excluded from my heart; weshall find sufficient opportunities for private conference." I couldcontain myself no longer--my brain was on fire. Quick as lightning Isprang from my covert, and presenting a pistol which I had concealedunder my robe,--"Die! said I, thou false and perjured wretch, by thehand thou hast dishonoured, a death too mild for so foul a crime!" andimmediately shot Miss Vernon through the head, who fell lifeless at myfeet! Then suddenly drawing my sword, "And thou, perfidious contaminatorand destroyer of my bliss! cried I--go! attend thy companion in iniquityto the black regions of everlasting torment!" So saying, I plunged mysword into his bosom. A screech of agony, attended by the exclamation,"_Henry, your wife! your sister!_" awoke me, too late, to terrorsunutterable, to anguish unspeakable, to woes irretrievable, andinsupportable despair! It was indeed my betrothed wife, it was indeed myaffectionate sister, arrayed in man's habit. The one lay dead before me,the other weltering in her blood! With a feeble and expiring voice, mysister informed me, that in a gay and inconsiderate moment they hadconcerted this plan, to try my jealousy, determining to discoverthemselves as soon as they had made the experiment. "I forgive you,Henry, she said, forgive your mistake," and closed her eyes for ever indeath! What a scene for sensibilities like mine! To paint or describeit, exceeds the power of language or imagination. I instantly turned thesword against my own bosom; an unknown hand arrested it, and preventedits entering my heart. The report of the pistol, and the dying screechof my sister, had alarmed Mr. Vernon's family, who arrived at thatmoment, one of whom had seized my arm, and thus hindered me fromdestroying my own life. I submitted to be bound and conveyed to prison.My trial came on at the last assizes. I made no defence; and wascondemned to death. My execution will take place in eight weeks fromto-morrow. I shall cheerfully meet my fate; for who would endure lifewhen rendered so peculiarly miserable!"
The wretched Malcomb here ended his tale of woe. No tear moistened hiseye--his grief was too despairing for tears; it preyed upon his heart,drank the vital streams of life, and burst in convulsive sighs from hisburning bosom.
Alonzo seriously contemplated on the incidents and events of thistragical story. Conscience whispered him, are not Malcomb's miseriessuperior to thine? Candour and correct reason must have answered yes."Melissa perished, said Alonzo, but not by the hand of her lover: sheexpired, but not through the mistaken frenzy of him who adored her. Shedied, conscious of the unfeigned love I bore her."
Alonzo and his fellow prisoners had been robbed, when they werecaptured, of every thing except the clothes they wore. Their allowanceof provisions was scanty and poor. They were confined in the third storyof a lofty prison. Time rolled away; no prospects appeared of theirliberation, either by exchange or parole. Some of the prisoners wereremoved, as new ones were introduced, to other places of confinement,until not one American was left except Alonzo.
Meantime the day appointed for the execution of Malcomb drew near. Hispast and approaching fate filled the breast of Alonzo with sympatheticsorrow. He saw his venerable father, his mother, his friends andacquaintance, with several pious clergymen, frequently enter the prisonto console and comfort him, and to prepare him for the unchangeablestate on which he was soon to enter. He saw his mind softened by theiradvice and counsel;--frequently would he burst into tears;--often in thesolitary hours of night was he heard addressing the throne of grace formercy and forgiveness. But the grief that preyed at his heart had wastedhim to a mere skeleton; a slow but deleterious fever had consequentlyimplanted itself in his constitution. Exhausted nature could make but aweak struggle against disease and affliction like his, and about a weekprevious to the day appointed for his execution, he expired in peace andpenitence, trusting in the mercy of his Creator through the sufferingsof a Redeemer.
Soon after this event, orders came for removing some of the prisoners toa most loathsome place of confinement in the suburbs of the city.It fell to Alonzo's lot to be one. He therefore formed a project forescaping. He had observed that the gratings in one of the windows of theapartment were loose and could be easily removed. One night when theprisoners were asleep, he stripped off his clothes, every article ofwhich he cut into narrow strips, tied them together, fastened one end toone of the strongest gratings, removed the others until he had made anopening large enough to get out, and then, by the rope he had made ofhis clothes, let himself down into the yard of the prison. There hefound a long piece of timber, which he dragged to the wall, clambered upthereon, and sprang over into the street. His shoes and hat he had leftin the prison, as a useless encumbrance without his clothes, all whichhe had converted into the means of escape, so that he was now literallystark naked. He stood a moment to reflect:--"Here am I, said he, freedfrom my local prison indeed, but in the midst of an enemy's country,without a friend, without the means of obtaining one day's subsistence,surrounded by the darkness of night, destitute of a single article ofclothing, and even unable to form a resolution what step next to take.The ways of heaven are marvellous--may I silently bow to itsdispensations!"
* * * * *
Alonzo passed along the street in this forlorn condition, not knowingwhere to proceed, or what cour
se to take. It was about three o'clock inthe morning; the street was illuminated by lamps, and he feared fallinginto the hands of the watch. For some time he saw no person; at length avoice from the other side of the street called out,----"Hallo, messmate!what, scudding under bare poles? You must have experienced a severe galeindeed thus to have carried away every rag of sail!"
Alonzo turned, and saw the person who spoke. He was a decent lookingman, of middle age, dressed in a sailor's habit. Alonzo had often heardof the generosity and honourable conduct of the British tars: hetherefore approached him and told him his real case, not even concealinghis being taken in actual hostility to the British government, and hisescape from prison. The sailor mused a few minutes. "Thy case, said he,is a little critical, but do not despair. Had I met thee as an enemy,I
Alonzo and Melissa; Or, The Unfeeling Father: An American Tale Page 21
