- end_line
- 12688
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:26.988Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 12633
- text
- crime. What! to be thwarted by a woman! Peradventure baffled by a girl!
Confusion! It was too bad! To be outgeneraled, routed, defeated by a
mere rib of the earth? It was not to be borne! I thought I should never
survive the inexpressible mortification of the moment, and in the height
of my despair I bethought me of putting a romantic end to my existence
upon the very spot which had witnessed my discomfiture.
But when the first transports of my wrath had passed away, and
perceiving that the waters of the river, instead of presenting an
unruffled calm, as they are wont to do on so interesting an occasion,
were discomposed and turbid; and remembering, that beside this, I had no
other means of accomplishing my heroic purpose except the vulgar and
inelegant one of braining myself against the stone wall which traversed
the road; I sensibly determined after taking into consideration the
afore-mentioned particulars, together with the fact that I had an
unfinished game of chess to win, on which depended no inconsiderable
wager, that to commit suicide under such circumstances would be highly
inexpedient, and probably be attended with many inconveniences. During
the time I had consumed in arriving at this most wise and discreet
conclusion, my mind had time to recover its former tone, and had become
comparatively calm and collected; and I saw my folly in endeavouring to
trifle with one apparently so mysterious and inexplicable.
I now resolved, that whatever might betide, I would patiently await the
issue of the affair, and advancing forward in the direction of my guide,
who all this time had maintained her ground, steadfastly watching my
actions, we both simultaneously strode forward, and were soon on the
same footing as before.
We walked on at an increased pace, and were just past the suburbs of the
town when my conductress, plunging into a neighbouring grove, pursued
her way with augmented speed, till we arrived at a spot, whose singular
and grotesque beauty, even amidst the agitating occurrences of the
evening, I could not refrain from observing. A circular space of about a
dozen acres in extent had been cleared in the very heart of the grove,
leaving, however, two parallel rows of lofty trees, which at the
distance of about twenty paces, and intersected in the centre by two
similar ranges, traversed the whole diameter of the circle. These noble
plants shooting their enormous trunks to an amazing height, bore their
verdant honours far aloft, throwing their gigantic limbs abroad and
embracing each other with their rugged arms. This fanciful union of
their sturdy boughs formed a magnificent arch, whose grand proportions,
swelling upward in proud pre-eminence, presented to the eye a vaulted
roof, which to my perturbed imagination at the time, seemed to have
canopied the triumphal feasts of the sylvan god. This singular prospect
burst upon me in all its beauty, as we emerged from the surrounding
thicket, and I had unconsciously lingered on the borders of the wood,
the better to enjoy so unrivalled a view, when, as my eye was following
the dusky outline of the grove, I caught sight of the diminutive figure
of my guide, who, standing at the entrance of the arched way I have been
endeavouring to describe, was making the most extravagant gesture of
impatience at my delay. Reminded at once of the situation, which put me
for a time under the control of this capricious mortal, I replied to her
summons by immediately throwing myself forward, and we soon entered the
Atlantian arbour, in whose umbrageous shades we were completely hid.
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