t until he
had placed me in a stage just starting for Philadelphia. I clasped his
hand in silence, and the next moment the horses plunged away at the
crack of the driver's whip, and we were soon far on the road.
Reflection ere long convinced me that I had been guilty of an
unjustifiable act. If it was no crime in the estimation of men, it was
certainly a grievous transgression in the eyes of God! I then
trembled. The bleeding form and reproachful stare of Wold haunted my
vision when the darkness set in. Oh, the errors, in act and deed, of
an impetuous youth thrown upon the world with no considerate friend to
advise him! The pity I felt for Laura was soon forgotten in the
horrible thought that I was a MURDERER! Oh, the anguish of that night!
Why did I not leave Wold to the judgment of an offended God? Why did I
not permit him to suffer the gnawing of the canker that must ever
abide in his heart, instead of staining my hands with his blood?
Freely would I have abandoned every hope of pleasure in the world to
have washed his blood away!

"When I arrived in Philadelphia, with a heavy heart, I sought a quiet
hotel, not daring to confront my uncle with such a tale of woe and
crime. For several days I remained in my chamber without seeing any
one but the servant that brought my food. At length I asked for a New
York paper. For more than an hour after it was brought I could not
summon courage to peruse the hated tragedy. Finally I snatched up the
sheet convulsively and glanced along the columns. When my eyes rested
upon the paragraph I was in quest of, I sprang to my feet in ecstasy.
The wound had not been fatal! Wold still lived!

"In a twinkling I was dressed and on my way to my uncle's residence.
Notwithstanding there was a dreadful epidemic in the city, and hearses
and mourners were passing every few minutes, I felt within a buoyancy
that defied the terrors of disease and death.

"But it seemed that disaster and desolation were fated to attend me
whithersoever I turned. A gloom brooded upon my heart when I
approached my uncle's mansion, and found the badge of mourning at the
door. I paused and asked the servant who was dead. He informed me that
my uncle alone remained. His wife and children, all had been consigned
to the tomb the day before, and he himself now lay writhing with the
fell disease. I rushed in and entered the sick chamber. It was the
chamber of death. My uncle pressed my hand and died. I followed him to
th