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Article THE LONELY GRAVE, ← Page 2 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Lonely Grave,
glided calmly onwards with the fleetness of a solitary cloud ; and when at last the grim messenger of death crossed the threshold of his door , he -was found prepared to meet , with fortitude and resignation , that awful summons which mortals may not , and cannot resist . " The family of "William Skirving consisted of his wife and an only daughter , together with two serving-women and a young ploughman ; yet the whole inhabitants of the place ( or town , as it was called ) were
numbered under the farmer ' s own roof , with the exception of two or three poor individuals who inhabited the adjacent cottages , and who had no idea of any man being better or greater than their own master , "William Skirvinsr .
" The daughter of the good old man ivas a young and beautiful maiden , of modest , simple , and unassuming manners ; and , in the natural kindness of her innocent heart , she diffused in all around her the feelings of affection , happiness , and love . "Ellen had been nurtured in a style approaching to primeval simplicity , so that all her thoughts and actions were , as truly at least as could be assumed of any daughter of Eve , those of innocence and truth .
The wickedness and guile of a deceitful world were strangers to her ; for she had never known the villany of man , and in her own heart there was not the shadow of iniquity . Thus , like a lovely rose in the wilderness , blooming amidst the fragrance of its own creation , did Ellen bud and blossom , conscious of anything rather than her own beauty and personal attraction . No delusive hope or imaginary evil had as yet passed over the destiny of the lovely Ellenand every movement of her
, sylph-like form proclaimed her the happiest , as well as the fairest maiden in the parish . But time moved on , and the serenity of her pure and spotless heart became at last overcast and troubled by gloomy thoughtfulness and restless anxiety , the nature of which she herself was at a oss to comprehend . Ellen could not tell , even to her own heart , whatlhad thus so darkly overshaded the sunshine of her former happiness . Alas ! it was man—restless , sinful , soul-destroying man . The
shadow of man had passed over the bri ght blue eye of the maiden , and , like the trail of a viper over a bed of violets , had , in the progress of its foul path , withered and blasted the li ght of that eye ' s loveliness for ever .
" It was not unusual for Ellen to wander at sunset far into the deepshaded woods of the surrounding forest , to gather the wild flowers or the fruits of the moorland , as the season of the year might afford . In one of those solitary rambles , she happened to be overtaken by a tremendous thunder-storm , from the inclemency of which she sought shelter in the ruins of a woodman ' s hut that was near at hand , which she had scarcely entered , when the li ghtning shattered into a thousand
fragments a lofty pine which overshadowed the hut , and had resisted the storms and rude blasts of many generations . Ellen trembled lest another bolt might be commissioned to stretch her a lifeless corpse beneath the ruins of the solitary edifice , when she was suddenl y roused from her stupor by the entrance of a stranger , who , like herself , was seeking refuge from the storm , wliich still raged around , as if nature itself was on the eve of its final dissolution : nor was the youth less
astonished at the si ght of so much loveliness so lonely and unprotected . His first impulse was to retreat ; but the power to do so was denied him , and he remained with his eyes immovably fixed on the beautiful being so unexpectedly revealed to his sight . When the first
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Lonely Grave,
glided calmly onwards with the fleetness of a solitary cloud ; and when at last the grim messenger of death crossed the threshold of his door , he -was found prepared to meet , with fortitude and resignation , that awful summons which mortals may not , and cannot resist . " The family of "William Skirving consisted of his wife and an only daughter , together with two serving-women and a young ploughman ; yet the whole inhabitants of the place ( or town , as it was called ) were
numbered under the farmer ' s own roof , with the exception of two or three poor individuals who inhabited the adjacent cottages , and who had no idea of any man being better or greater than their own master , "William Skirvinsr .
" The daughter of the good old man ivas a young and beautiful maiden , of modest , simple , and unassuming manners ; and , in the natural kindness of her innocent heart , she diffused in all around her the feelings of affection , happiness , and love . "Ellen had been nurtured in a style approaching to primeval simplicity , so that all her thoughts and actions were , as truly at least as could be assumed of any daughter of Eve , those of innocence and truth .
The wickedness and guile of a deceitful world were strangers to her ; for she had never known the villany of man , and in her own heart there was not the shadow of iniquity . Thus , like a lovely rose in the wilderness , blooming amidst the fragrance of its own creation , did Ellen bud and blossom , conscious of anything rather than her own beauty and personal attraction . No delusive hope or imaginary evil had as yet passed over the destiny of the lovely Ellenand every movement of her
, sylph-like form proclaimed her the happiest , as well as the fairest maiden in the parish . But time moved on , and the serenity of her pure and spotless heart became at last overcast and troubled by gloomy thoughtfulness and restless anxiety , the nature of which she herself was at a oss to comprehend . Ellen could not tell , even to her own heart , whatlhad thus so darkly overshaded the sunshine of her former happiness . Alas ! it was man—restless , sinful , soul-destroying man . The
shadow of man had passed over the bri ght blue eye of the maiden , and , like the trail of a viper over a bed of violets , had , in the progress of its foul path , withered and blasted the li ght of that eye ' s loveliness for ever .
" It was not unusual for Ellen to wander at sunset far into the deepshaded woods of the surrounding forest , to gather the wild flowers or the fruits of the moorland , as the season of the year might afford . In one of those solitary rambles , she happened to be overtaken by a tremendous thunder-storm , from the inclemency of which she sought shelter in the ruins of a woodman ' s hut that was near at hand , which she had scarcely entered , when the li ghtning shattered into a thousand
fragments a lofty pine which overshadowed the hut , and had resisted the storms and rude blasts of many generations . Ellen trembled lest another bolt might be commissioned to stretch her a lifeless corpse beneath the ruins of the solitary edifice , when she was suddenl y roused from her stupor by the entrance of a stranger , who , like herself , was seeking refuge from the storm , wliich still raged around , as if nature itself was on the eve of its final dissolution : nor was the youth less
astonished at the si ght of so much loveliness so lonely and unprotected . His first impulse was to retreat ; but the power to do so was denied him , and he remained with his eyes immovably fixed on the beautiful being so unexpectedly revealed to his sight . When the first