MARY SPENSER PEASE.
Mrs. Pease is the wife of the engraver of that name, and a resident of Philadelphia. She has published in the magazines and annuals, within the last two or three years, some very beautiful poems and stories, which have attracted attention, and which show her to be capable of taking a high position as a writer. The extract which follows is from “The Captives,” a story that appeared in the “Snow Flake” for 1850.
THE WITCH-HAZEL.
Early in the afternoon of a warm June day, in the year 17—, a solitary horseman was riding leisurely along the rough road leading to Norwood from the north.
Both horse and rider seemed decidedly to belong to the “upper class”—for the animal was sleek and well-conditioned, seeming altogether as fine and spirited a piece of horseflesh as could well have been found; while the man—young, well-formed, and handsome, with eyes as dark as the blackest thunder-cloud, and looking as though their flash might be very much like that cloud’s lightning—had altogether that indescribable air of grace and ease about him that comes only to the travelled and highly cultured.
As the young man proceeded thus lazily on, buried in a pleasing revery, a slight rustling noise caused him to look around. A dozen dark faces, fierce with paint and scowling eyes, glaring on him, met his startled gaze. Still he would have felt no other emotion than surprise, at seeing so many around him and so suddenly, had he
