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The Judge's House · Dracula's Guest & Other Weird Tales

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The judges House. This is the LibriVox recording. All libervox recordings are in
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the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot
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org. Recording by Kate Mackenzie. The Judge's House by Bram Stoker. When
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the time for his examination drew near, Malcolm Malcolmson made up his mind to
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go somewhere to read by himself. He feared the attractions of the sea side,
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and also he feared completely rural isolation, for of old he knew it
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charms, and so he determined to find some unpretentious little town, but there
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would be nothing to distract him. He refrained from asking suggestions from any of
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his friends, for he argued that each would recommend some place of which he
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had knowledge and where he had already acquaintances. As Malcolmson wished to avoid friends,
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he had no wish to encomber himself with the attention of friends friends,
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and so he determined to look out for a place for himself. He packed
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a portmanteau, woods and clothes and all the books he required, and then
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took ticket for the first name on the local timetable, which he did not
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know. When at the end of three hours journey, he alighted at ben
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Church. He felt satisfied that he had so far obliterated his tracks as to
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be sure of having a peaceful opportunity of pursuing his studies. He went straight
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to the one inn which the sleepy little pace contained, and put up for
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the night. Benchurch was a market town, and once in three weeks was
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crowded to excess, But for the remainder of the twenty one days it was
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as attractive as a desert Larkhamston looked around the day after his arrival to try
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to find quarters more isolated than even so quiet an inn. As the good
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traveler afforded, there was only one place which took his fancy, and it
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certainly satisfied his wildest ideas regarding quiet. In fact, quiet was not the
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proper word to apply to it. Desolation was the only term conveying any suitable
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idea of its isolation. It was an old, rambling, heavy built house
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of the Jacobean style, with heavy gables and windows unusually and set higher than
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was customary in such houses, and was surrounded with a high brick wall massively
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built. Indeed, on examination it looked more like a fortified house than an
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ordinary dwelling. But all these things pleased Malcolmson. Here, he thought,
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is the very spot I have been looking for, and if I can get
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opportunity of using it, I shall be happy. His joy was increased when
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he realized beyond doubt that it was not at present inhabited. From the post
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office he got the name of the agent who was really surprised at the application
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to rent a part of the old house. Mister Carnford, the local lawyer
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and agent, was a genial old gentleman, and frankly confessed his delight at
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any one being willing to live in the house. To tell you the truth,
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said he, I should be only too happy on behalf of the owners
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to let any one have the house rent free for a term of years,
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if only to accustom the people here to see inhabited. It has been so
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long empty that some kind of absurd prejudice has grown up about it, and
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this can be best put down by its occupation, if only, he added,
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with a slight glance at Malcolmson, by a scholar like yourself wants it
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quiet for a time. Malcolmson thought it needless to ask the agent about the
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absurd prejudice. He knew he would get more information if he should require it
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on that subject from other quarters. He paid his three months rent, got
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a receipt and the name of an old woman who would probably undertaken to do
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for him, and came away with the keys in his pocket. He then
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went to the landlady of the inn, who was a cheerful and most kindly
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person, and asked her advice as to such stores and provisions as he would
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be likely to require. She threw up her hands in amazement when he told
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her where he was going to settle himself. Not in the judge's house,
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she said, and grew pale as she spoke. He explained the locality of
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the house, saying that he did not know its name. When he had
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finished, she answered, aye, sure enough, sure enough, for the
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very place it is the judges how sure enough. He asked her to tell
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him about the place why so called, and what there was against it.
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She told him that it was so called locally because it had been many years
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before. How long she could not say, as she was herself from another
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part of the country, but she thought it must have been a hundred years
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or more. The abode of a judge who was held in great terror on
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account of his harsh sentences and his hostility to prisoners at assizes. As to
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what there was against the house itself, she could not tell. She had
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often asked, but no one could inform her. But there was a general
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feeling that there was something, And for her own part, she would not
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take all the money and drinkwater's bank and stay in the house an hour by
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herself. Then she apologized to Markhamson for her disturbing talk. It is too
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bad of me, sir, and you and a young gentleman too, if
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you will pardon me saying it, going to live there all alone, if
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you and my boy, and you'll excuse me for saying it, you won't
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sleep there, and not if I had to go there myself and pull the
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big arm bells on the roof. The good creature was so manifestly in earnest
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and was so kindly in her intentions that Malcolmson, although amused, was touched.
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He told her kindly how much he appreciated her interest in him, and
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added, but my dear missus, witham indeed, you need not be concerned
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about me. A man who is reading for the mathematical tripos, has too
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much to think of to be disturbed by any of these mysterious some things.
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And his work is of too exact and prosaic a kind to allow, as
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if having any corner of his mind for mysteries of any kind. Harmonical progression,
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permutations and combinations and elliptic functions have sufficient mysteries for me. Missus whan
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kindly undertook to see after his commissions, and he went himself to look for
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the old woman who had been recommended to him. When he returned to the
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judge's house with her, after an interval of a couple of hours, he
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found Missus witham herself waiting with several men and boys carrying parcels, and an
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upholsterous man with a bed and a car. For she said, though tables
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and chairs might be all very well, a bed that hadn't been aired for
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mayhaps fifty years was not proper for young bones to lie on. She was
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evidently curious to see the inside of the house, and though manifestly so afraid
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of the some things, that at the slightest sound she clutched on to Malcolmson,
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whom she never left for a moment went over the whole place. After
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his examination of the house, Malcolmson decided to take up his abode in the
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great dining room, which was big enough to serve for all his requirements,
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and Missus Witham, with the aid of the charwoman, Missus Dempster, proceeded
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to arrange matters. When the hampers were brought in and unpacked, Malkinson saw
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that, with much kind forethought, she had sent from her own kitchens official
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provisions to last for a few days. Before going, she expressed all sorts
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of kind wishes. Another door turned and said, and perhaps, sir,
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as the room is big and drafty, it might be well to have one
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of those big screens put round your bed at night. Though truth to tell,
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I would die myself if I were to be so shut in with all
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kinds of things that put their heads round the sides or over the top and
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look on me. The image which she had called up was too much for
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her nerves, and she fled incontinently. Missus Dempster sniffed in a superior manner
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as the landlady disappeared, and remarked that for her own part, she wasn't
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afraid of all the bogies in the kingdom. I'll tell you what it is,
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sir, she said. Bogies is all kinds and sorts of things except
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bogies, rats and mice and beetles and creaky doors and loose slates and broken
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panes and stiff drawer handles stay out when you pull them and then fall down
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in the middle of the night. Look at the wainskirt of the room.
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It is all hundreds of years old. Do you think there's no rats and
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beetles there? And do you imagine, sir, that you won't seen none
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of them? Rats is bogies are telling you, and bogieses rats. And
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don't you get to think anything else, missus dempster, said Malcolmson, gravely,
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making her a polite bow. You know more than a senior wrangler.
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And let me say that as a mark of esteem for your indubitable soundness of
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head and heart, I shall, when I go, give you possession of
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this house and let you stay here by yourself for the last two months of
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my tendency for four weeks will serve my purpose. Thank you kindly, sir,
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she answered. But I can't sleep away from home at night. I'm
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in Greenhouse's charity, and if I slept a night away from my rooms,
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I should lose all I have got to live on. The rules is very
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stract, and there's too many watching for a vacancy for me to run any
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risks in the matter. And if for that, sir, i'd gladly come
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here on a turns on your altogether during your stay, my good woman,
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said Malcolmson hastily, I have come here on purpose to obtain solitude. And
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believe me that I am grateful to the late Greenhouse for having so organized his
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admirable charity. Whatever it is that I am perforced denied the opportunity of suffering
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from such a form of temptation. Saint Anthony himself could not be more rigid
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on the point. The old woman laughed harshly. Ah, young gentlemen,
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she said, you don't fear for naught, And but I you'll get all
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the solitude you want here, she said, to work with her cleaning,
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And by nightfall when Malcolmson returned from his walk, he always had one of
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his books to study. As he walked. He found the room swept and
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tided, a fire burning in the old hearth, The lamp lit and the
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table spread for supper with Missus, Witham's excellent fare. This is comfort,
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indeed, he said, as he rubbed his hands. When he had finished
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his supper and lifted the tray to the other end of the great oak dining
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table, he got out his books again, put fresh wood on the fire,
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trimmed his lamp, and set himself down to a spell of real hard
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work. He went on without pause till about eleven o'clock, when he knocked
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off for a bit to fix his fire and lamp and to make himself a
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cup of tea. He had always been a tea drinker, and during his
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college life had sat later a work and had taken tea late. The rest
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was a great luxury to him, and he enjoyed it with a sense of
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delicious, voluptuous ease. The renewed fire leaped and sparkled and threw quaint shadow
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those through the great old room, and as he sipped his hot tea,
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he reveled and the sense of isolation from his kind. Then it was that
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he began to notice for the first time what a noise the rats were making.
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Surely, he thought they cannot have been at it all the time.
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I was reading. Had they been, I must have noticed it presently.
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When the noise increased, he satisfied himself that it was really new. It
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was evident that at first the rats had been frightened at the presence of a
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stranger and the light of fire and lump, but that as the time went
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on they had grown bolder and were now disporting themselves as was their wont how
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busy they were, and harked the strange noises up and down behind the old
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wainskirt, over the ceiling, and under the floor. They raised a nod
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and scratched. Malcolmson smiled to himself as I recalled to mind a saying of
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Missus Dempster's burgers his rats, and rats his bogies. The tea began to
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have its effect of intellectual and nervous stimulus. He saw with joy another long
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spell of work to be done before the night was past, And in the
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sense of security which he gave him, he allowed himself the luxury of a
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good look around the room. He took his lamp in one hand and went
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all around, wondering that so quaint and beautiful an old house had been so
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long neglected. The carving of the oak on the panels of the wainscot was
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fine, and on and round the doors and windows, it was beautiful and
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of rare merit. There were some old pictures on the walls, but they
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were coated so thick with dust and dirt that he could not distinguish any detail
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of them, though he held his lamp as high as he could over his
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head. Here and there, as he went round he saw some crack or
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hole blocked for a moment by the face of a rat, with its bright
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eyes glittering in the light. But in an instant it was gone, and
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a squeak and a scamper followed. The thing that most struck him, however,
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was the rope of the great alarm bell on the roof, which hung
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down in a corner of the room, on the right hand side of the
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fireplace. He pulled up close to the hearth a great, high backed,
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carved oak chair, and sat down to his last cup of tea. When
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this was done, he made up the fire and went back to his work,
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sitting at the corner of the table, having the fire to his left.
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For a little while, the rats disturbed him somewhat with their perpetual scampering,
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but He got accustomed to the noise, as one does to the ticking
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of a clock or to the roar of moving water, and he became so
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immersed in his work that everything in the world except the problem which he was
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trying to solve, passed away from him. He suddenly looked up. His
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problem was still unsolved, and there was in the air that sense of the
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hour before the dawn, which is so dread to doubtful life. The noise
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of the rats had ceased. Indeed, it seemed to him that it must
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have ceased but lately, and that it was the sudden cessation which had disturbed
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him. The fire had fallen low, but still it threw out a deep
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red glow. As he looked, he started in spite of his Saint Foix.
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There on the great, high backed, carved oak chair by the right
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side of the fireplace sat an enormous rat, steadily glaring at him with baleful
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eyes. He made a motion to it, as though to hunt it away,
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but it did not stir. Then he made the motion of throwing something.
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Still it did not stir, but showed its great white teeth angrily,
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and its cruel eyes shone in the lamp light. With an added vindictiveness.
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Macolmson felt amazed, and, seizing the poker from the hearth, ran at
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it to kill it. Before, however, he could strike it, the
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rat, with a squeak that sounded like the concentration of hate, jumped upon
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the floor, and, running up the rope of the alarm bell, disappeared
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in the darkness beyond the range of the green shaded lamp. Instantly strange to
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say, the noisy scampering of the rats in the windscot began again. By
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this time, Malcolmson's mind was quite off the problem, and as a shrill
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cock crow outside told him of the approach of morning, he went to bed
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and to sleep. He slept so sound that he was not even awaked by
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Missus Dempster coming in to make up his room. It was only when she
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had tidied up the place and got his breakfast ready and tapped on the screen
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which closed in his bed, that he woke. He was a little tired
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still after his night's hard work, but a strong c above tea soon freshened
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him up, and taking his book, he went out for his morning walk,
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bringing with him a few sandwiches lest he should not care to return till
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dinner time. He found a quiet walk between high elms some way outside the
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town, and here he spent the greater part of the day studying his la
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place. On his return, he looked in to see Missus witham and to
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thank her for her kindness. When she saw him coming through the diamond paned
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bay window of her sanctum, she came out to meet him and asked him
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in. She looked at him searchingly and shook her head as she said,
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you must not overdo it, sir. You are paler this morning than you
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should be. Two late hours and too hard work on the brain isn't good
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for any man. But tell me, sir, how did you pass the
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night? Well? I hope, but my heart said. I was glad
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when Missus Dempster told me this morning that you are right in sleeping sound when
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she went in. Oh, I was all right, he answered, smiling.
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The some things didn't worry as yet, only the rats, and they
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had a circus. I'd tell you, all over the place there was one
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wicked looking old devil that sat up on my own chair by the fire.
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I wouldn't go till I took the poker to him and then he ran up
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the rope of the alarm bell and got to somewhere up the wall or the
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ceiling. I couldn't see where, it was so dark. Mercy your nose,
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said missus, witham an old devil and sitting on a chair by the
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fireside. Take care, sir, take care. There's many a true word
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spoken in jest. How do you mean upon my word? I don't understand
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an old devil? The old devil? Perhaps there, sir, you needed
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a laugh, for Malcolmson had broken into a hearty peal. You young folks
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thinks it's easy to laugh at things that makes old the one shudder. Never
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mind, sir, never mind, Please God, you'll laugh all the time.
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That's what I wish you myself. And the good lady beamed all over
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in sympathy with his enjoyment. Have fears gone for a moment? Oh,
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forgive me, said Markinson, presently, don't think me rude, But the
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idea was too much for me. That the old devil himself was on the
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chair last night. And at the thought he laughed again. Then he went
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home to dinner this evening. The scampering of the rats began earlier. Indeed,
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it had been going on before his arrival, and only ceased whilst his
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presence, by its freshness, disturbed them. After dinner, he sat by
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the fire for a while and had a smoke, and then, having cleared
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his table, began to work as before to night. The rats disturbed him
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more than they had done on the previous night. How they scampered up and
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down, and under and over, how they squeaked and scratched and gnawed,
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How they, getting bolder by degrees, came to the mouths of their holes,
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and to the chinks and cracks and crannies in the wainscotting, till their
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eyes shone like tiny lamps as the firelight rose and fell. But to him,
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now doubtless accustomed to them, eyes were not wicked. Only their playfulness
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touched him. Sometimes the boldest of them made sallies out on the floor or
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along the moldings of the wainscots. Now and again, as they disturbed him,
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Markinson made a sound of frighten them, smiting the table with his hand,
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or giving a fierce shh, so that they fled straightway to their holes.
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And so the early part of the night were on, and despite the
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noise, Malcolmson got more and more immersed in his work. All at once
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he stopped, as on the previous night, being overcome by a sudden sense
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of silence. There was not the faintest sound of gnaw or scratch or squeak.
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The silence was as of the grave. He remembered the odd occurrence of
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the previous night, and instinctively he looked at the chest unenclosed by the fireside,
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and then a very odd sensation thrilled through him. There on the great,
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old, high backed carved oak chair beside the fireplace, sapt the same
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enormous rat, steadily glaring at him with baleful eyes. Instinctively, he took
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the nearest thing to his hand, a book of logarithms, and flung it
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at it. The book was badly aimed, and the rat did not stir.
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So again the poker performance of the previous night was repeated, and again
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the rat, being closely pursued, fled up the rope of the alarm bell.
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Strangely, too, the departure of this rat was instantly followed by the
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renewal of the noise made by the general rat community. On this occasion,
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as on the previous one, Malcolmson could not see at what part of the
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room the rat disappeared, for the green shade of his lamp left the upper
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part of the room in darkness, and the fire had burned low. On
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looking at his watch, he found it was close on midnight, and not
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sorry for the de vatismo, he made up his fire and made himself his
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nightly pot of tea. He had got through a good spell of work and
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thought himself entitled to a cigarette, and so he sat on the great oak
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chair before the fire and enjoyed it. Whilst smoking, he began to think
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that he would like to know where the rat disappeared to, for he had
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certain ideas for the morrow, not entirely disconnected with a rat trap. Accordingly,
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he lit another lamp and placed it so that it would shine well into
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the right hand corner of the wall by the fireplace. Then he got all
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the books he had with him and placed them handy to throw at the vermin.
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Finally, he lifted the rope of the alarm bell and placed the end
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of it on the table, fixing the extreme end under the lamp. As
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he handled it, he could not help noticing how pliable it was, especially
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for so strong a rope, and one not in use. You could hang
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a man with it, he thought to himself. When his preparations were made,
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he looked around and said complacently, there now, my friend, I
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think we shall learn something of you. This time he began his work again,
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and, though as before, somewhat disturbed at first by the noise of
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the rats, soon lost himself in his propositions and problems. Again he was
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called to his immediate surroundings suddenly. This time it might not have been the
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sudden silence only which took his attention. There was a slight movement of the
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rope, and the lamp moved without stirring. He looked to see if his
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pile of books was within range, and then cast his eye along the rope.
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As he looked, he saw the great rat drop from the rope on
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the oak arm chair and sit there glaring at him. He raised a book
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in his right hand, and, taking careful aim, flung it at the
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rat. The latter, with a quick movement, sprang aside and dodged the
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missile. He then took another book and a third and flung them one after
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another at the rat, but each time unsuccessfully. At last, as he
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stood with a book poised in his hand to throw. The rat squeaked and
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seemed afraid. This made Malcolmson more than ever eager to strike, and the
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book flew and struck the rat a resounding blow. It gave a terrified squeak,
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and, turning on his pursuer a look of terrible malevolence, ran up
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the chair back and made a great jump to the rope of the alarm bell,
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and ran up it like lightning. The lamp rocked under the sudden strain,
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but it was a heavy one and did not topple over. Malcolmson kept
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his eyes on the rat, and saw it by the light of the second
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lamp, leaped to a molding of the wainscirt and disappeared through a hole in
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one of the great pictures which hung on the wall, obscured and invisible through
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its coating of dirt and dust. I shall look up my friend's habitation in
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the morning, said the student, as he went over to collect his books
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the third picture from the fireplace, I shall not forget. He picked up
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the books one by one, commenting on them as he lifted them. Conic
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sections he does not mind, nor cycloidal oscillations, nor the Princeship here,
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nor Quaturnyon's nor Thermodynamics. Now for the book that fetched him, Malcolmson took
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it up and looked at it. As he did so, he started,
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and a sudden pallor overspread his face. He looked round uneasily and shivered slightly
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as he murmured to himself, the Bible, my mother gave me. What
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an odd coincidence. He sat down to work again, and the rats in
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the wainskirt renewed their gambols. They did not disturb him, however, somehow
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their presence gave him the sense of companionship. But he could not attend to
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his work, and, after striving to matter the subject on which he was
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engaged, gave it up in despair and went to bed as the first streak
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of dawn stolen through the eastern window. He slept heavily but uneasily, and
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dreamed much, And when Missus Dempster woke him late in the morning, he
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seemed ill at ease, and for a few minutes did not seem to realize
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exactly where he was. His first request rather surprised the servant Missus Dempster.
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When I'm out to day, I wish you would get the steps and dust
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or wash those pictures, especially that one the third from the fireplace. I
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want to see what they are. Late in the afternoon, Malcolmson worked at
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his books in the shady walk, and the cheerfulness of the previous day came
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back to him as the day wore on, and he found that his reading
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was progressing well. He had worked out to a satisfactory conclusion all the problems
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which it had as yet baffled him, and it was in a state of
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jubilation that he paid a visit to Missus witham At the Good Traveler. He
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found a stranger in the cozy sitting room with the landlady, who was introduced
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to him as Dr Thornhill. She was not quite at ease, and this,
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combined with the doctor's plunging at once into a series of questions, made
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Malcolmson come to the conclusion that his presence was not an accident. So without
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preliminary he said, Dr Thornhill, I shall with pleasure answer you any question,
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and you may choose to ask me if you will answer me one question
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first. The doctor seemed surprised, but he smiled and answered at once done,
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what is it? Did Missus witham ask you to come here and see
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me and advise me. Doctor Thornhill, for a moment was taken aback,
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and Missus with them got fiery red and turned away. But the doctor was
23:19
a frank and ready man, and he answered at once and openly. She
23:23
did, but she didn't intend you to know it. I suppose it was
23:29
my clumsy haste that made you suspect. She told me that she did not
23:33
like the idea of your being in that house all by yourself, and that
23:36
she thought you took too much strong tea. In fact, she wants me
23:41
to advise you, if possible, to give up the tea in the very
23:44
late hours. I was a keen student in my time, so I suppose
23:48
I might take the liberty of a college man and without offense advise you,
23:52
not quite as a stranger. Malkinson, with a bright smile, held out
23:56
his hand shake as they say in America. He said, I must thank
24:02
you for your kindness, and Missus witherm too, and your kindness deserves a
24:04
return on my part. I promised to take no more strong tea, no
24:10
to you at all till you let me, and I shall go to bed
24:11
to night at one o'clock at latest, will that do capital, said the
24:17
doctor. Now tell us all that you noticed in the old house. And
24:22
so Mackinson then and there told him minute detail all that had happened in the
24:26
last two nights. He was interrupted every now and then by some exclamation from
24:30
Missus Witham, till finally, when he told of the episode of the Bible,
24:33
the landlady's pentive emotions found vent in a shriek, and it was not
24:37
till a stiff glass of brandy and water had been administered that she grew composed
24:41
again. Doctor Thornhill listened with a face of growing gravity. When the narrative
24:45
was complete and Missus Witham had been restored, he asked, the rat always
24:48
went up the rope of the alarm bell always, I suppose you know,
24:55
said the doctor, after a pause. What the rope is? No,
25:00
it is, said the doctor slowly, the very rope which the hangman used
25:07
for all the victims of the judge's a judicial ora ancor. Here he was
25:12
interrupted by another scream from Missus Withham in steps had to be taken for her
25:15
recovery. Malcolmson, having looked at his watch and found that it was close
25:19
to his dinner hour had gone home before her complete recovery. When Missus Witheran
25:25
was herself against, she almost assailed the doctor with angry questions as to what
25:27
he meant by putting such horrible ideas into the poor young man's mind. He
25:32
has quite enough there already to upset him, she added. Doctor Thornhill replied,
25:37
my dear Madam, I had a distinct purpose in it. I wanted
25:42
to draw his attention to the bell rope and to fix it there. It
25:47
may be that he is in a highly overwrought state and has been studying too
25:51
much, although I am bound to say that he seems a sound and healthier
25:53
young man mentally and bodily as ever I saw. But then the rats suggestion
26:00
of the devil. The doctor shook his head and went on, I would
26:04
have offered to go and stay the first night with him, but that I
26:07
felt sure it would have been a cause of offense. He may get in
26:11
the night some strange fright or hallucination, and if he does, I want
26:15
him to pull that rope all alone as he is. It will give us
26:18
warning and we may reach him in time to be of service. I shall
26:22
be sitting up pretty late tonight, and should keep my ears open. Do
26:26
not be alarmed if benchurch gets a surprise before morning. A doctor, what
26:32
do you mean? What do you mean? I mean this that possibly,
26:37
nay more probably, we shall hear the great alarm bell from the Judge's house
26:41
tonight, And the doctor made about as effective an exit as could be thought
26:45
of. When Malcolmson arrived home, he found that he was a little after
26:48
his usual time, and Missus Dempster had gone away. The rules of Greenhow's
26:52
charity were not to be neglected. He was glad to see that the place
26:56
was bright and tidy, with a cheerful fire and a well trimmed lamp.
27:00
The evening was colder than might have been expected in April, and a heavy
27:03
wind was blown with such rapidly increasing strength that there was every promise of a
27:07
storm during the night. For a few minutes after his entrance, the noise
27:11
of the rats ceased, but so soon as they became accustomed to his presence
27:15
they began again. He was glad to hear them, for he felt once
27:18
more the feeling of companionship in their noise, and his mind ran back to
27:22
the strange fact that they only ceased to manifest themselves. When that other,
27:26
the great rat with the baleful eyes, came upon the scene. The reading
27:30
lamp only was lit, and its green shade kept the ceiling the upper part
27:33
of the room in darkness, so that the cheerful light from the hearth,
27:36
spreading over the floor and shining on the white cloth laid over the end of
27:40
the table, was warm and cheery. Malcolmson sat down to his dinner with
27:44
a good appetite and a buoyant spirit. After his dinner and a cigarette,
27:48
he sat steadily down to work, determined not to let anything disturb him,
27:52
for he remembered his promise to the doctor and made up his mind to make
27:55
the best of the time at his disposal. For an hour or so he
27:59
worked right, and then his thoughts began to wander from his books the actual
28:03
circumstances around him. The calls on his physical attention and his nervous susceptibility were
28:10
not to be denied. By this time, the wind had become a gale,
28:12
and the gale a storm. The old house solid though it was,
28:17
seemed to shake to its foundations, and the storm roared and raged through its
28:21
many chimneys and its queer old gables, producing strange, unearthly sounds, and
28:25
the empty rooms and corridors. Even the great alarm bell on the roof must
28:29
have felt the force of the wind, for the rope rose and fell slightly
28:32
as other bell were moved a little from time to time, and the limber
28:34
rope fell on the oak floor with a hard and hollow sound. As Malcolmson
28:38
listened to it, he bethought himself of the doctor's words, it is the
28:42
rope which the hangman used for the victims of the judge's judicial rancor. And
28:48
he went over to the corner of the fireplace and took it in his hand
28:49
to look at it. There seemed a sort of deadly interest in it,
28:53
and as he stood there, he lost himself for a moment in speculation as
28:57
to who these victims were, and the grim wish of the Dodge to have
29:00
such a ghastly relic ever under his eyes, as he stood there, the
29:04
swaying of the bell on the roof still lifted the rope now and again,
29:07
but presently there came a new sensation, a sort of tremor in the rope,
29:11
as though something was moving along it. Looking up instinctively, Malcolmson saw
29:17
the great rat coming slowly down towards him, glaring at him steadily. He
29:22
dropped the rope and started back with a muttered curse, and the rat,
29:26
turning, ran up the rope again and disappeared. And at the same instant
29:29
Malcolmson became consciousness that the noise of the rats, which had ceased for a
29:32
while, began again. All this set him thinking, and it occurred to
29:36
him that he had not investigated the lair of the rat or looked at the
29:40
pictures as he had intended. He lit the other lamp without the shade,
29:42
and holding it up, went and stood opposite the third picture from the fireplace
29:47
on the right hand side, where he had seen the rat disappear on the
29:49
previous night. At the first glance, he started back so suddenly that he
29:53
almost dropped the lamp, and a deadly pallor overspread his face his knees,
30:00
and heavy drops of sweat came on his forehead, and he trembled like an
30:03
aspen. But he was young and plucky and pulled himself together, and after
30:08
the pause of a few seconds, stepped forward again, raised the lamp and
30:12
examined the picture which had been dusted and washed, and now stood out clearly.
30:18
It was of a judge, dressed in his robes of scarlet and ermine.
30:22
His face was strong and merciless, evil, crafty, and vindictive,
30:26
with a sensual mouth, hooked nose of ruddy color, and shaped like the
30:30
beak of a bird of prey. The rest of the face was of a
30:33
cadaverous color. The eyes were of peculiar brilliance, and with a terribly malignant
30:40
expression. As he looked at them, Malcolmson grew cold, for he saw
30:45
there the very counterpart of the eyes of the great rat. The lamp almost
30:49
fell from his hand. He saw the rat with its baleful eyes, peering
30:52
out through the hole in the corner of the picture, and noted the sudden
30:56
cessation of the noise of the other rats. However, he pulled himself together
31:02
and went on with his examination of the picture. The judge was seated in
31:06
a great, high backed, carved oak chair on the right hand side of
31:10
a great stone fireplace, where in the corner a rope hung down from the
31:15
ceiling, its end lying coiled on the floor. With a feeling of something
31:19
like horror, Malcolmson recognized the scene of the room as it stood, and
31:22
gazed around him in an awe struck manner, as though he expected to find
31:26
some strange presence behind him. Then he looked over to the corner of the
31:29
fireplace, and with a loud cry, he let the lamp fall from his
31:33
hand. There in the judge's arm chair, with a rope hanging behind,
31:36
sat the rat, with the judge's baleful eyes now intensified him with a fiendish
31:41
leer. Save for the howling of the storm, without there was silence.
31:47
The fallen lane, re called Malcolmson to himself. Fortunately it was of metal,
31:51
and so the oil was not spilt. However, the practical need of
31:55
attending to it settled at once his nervous apprehensions. When he had turned it
31:59
out, he wiped his and thought for a moment. This will not do,
32:02
he said to himself. If I go on like this, I shall
32:06
become a crazy fool. This must stop, I promised the doctor I would
32:10
not take tea faith. He was pretty right. My nerves must have been
32:15
getting into a queer state. Funny, I did not notice it. I
32:20
never felt better in my life. However, it is all right now,
32:22
and I shall not be such a fool again. Then he mixed himself a
32:27
good stiff glass of brandy and water, and resolutely sat down to his work.
32:30
It was nearly an hour when he looked up from his book, disturbed
32:35
by the sudden stillness without. The wind howled and roared louder than ever,
32:40
and the rain drove in sheets against the windows, beating like hail on the
32:44
glass. But within there was no sound whatever save the echo of the wind
32:50
as it roared in the great chimney, And now and then a hiss as
32:52
a few rain drops found their way down the chimney in a lull of the
32:55
storm. The fire had fallen low and seen flame, though it threw out
33:00
a red glow. Markhamson listened attentively and presently hid. A thin squeaking noise,
33:07
very faint. It came from the corner of the room, where the
33:10
rope hung down, and he thought it was the creaking of the rope on
33:14
the floor, as the swaying of the bell raised and lowered it. Looking
33:17
up, however, he saw in the dim light the great rat clinging to
33:23
the rope and gnawing it. The rope was already nearly gnawed through. He
33:28
could see the lighter color where the strands were laid bare as he looked.
33:31
The job was completed, and the severed end of the rope fell clattering on
33:36
the oaken floor, whilst for an instant the great rat remained like a noble
33:39
tassel at the end of the rope, which now began to sway to and
33:43
fro. Makamsen felt for a moment another pang of terror, as he thought
33:47
that now the possibility of calling the out well to his assistance was cut off,
33:52
But an intense anger took its place, and, seizing the book he
33:54
was reading, he held it at the rat. The blow was well aimed,
34:00
but before the missile could reach him, the rat dropped off and struck
34:02
the floor with a soft thud. Malkinson instantly rushed over towards him, but
34:07
it darted away and disappeared in the darkness of the shadows of the room.
34:10
Malcolmson felt that his work was over for the night, and determined then and
34:15
there to vary the monotony of the proceedings by a hunt for the rat,
34:17
and took off the green shade of the lamp so as to ensure a wider
34:20
spreading light. As he did so the gloom of the upper part of the
34:22
room was relieved, and in the new flood of light great by comparison with
34:28
the previous darkness, the pictures on the wall stood out boldly. From where
34:31
he stood, Malcolmson saw right opposite to him the third picture on the wall,
34:37
from the right of the fireplace. He rubbed his eyes in surprise,
34:39
and then a great fear began to come upon him. In the center of
34:44
the picture was a great irregular patch of brown canvas, as fresh as when
34:47
it was stretched on the frame. The background was as before, with chair
34:52
and chimney, corner and rope, but the figure of the Judge had disappeared.
34:58
Macmson, almost in a chill of horror, turned slowly round, and
35:01
then he began to shake and tremble, like a man in a palsy.
35:06
His strength seemed to have left him, and he was incapable of action or
35:09
movement, hardly even of thought. He could only see and hear. There
35:15
on the great, high backed, carved oak chair sat the Judge in his
35:21
robes of scarlet and ermine, with his baleful eyes glaring vindictively, and a
35:27
smile of triumph on the resolute, cruel mouth as he lifted with his hands
35:31
a black cap, Malcolmson felt as if the blood was running from his heart,
35:37
as one does in moments of prolonged suspense. There was a singing in
35:40
his ears. Without he could hear the roar and howl of the tempest,
35:45
and through it swept on the storm. Came the striking of midnight by the
35:49
great chimes in the market place. He stood for a space of time that
35:52
seemed to him endless, still as a statue, and with wide open horror
35:58
struck eyes breathless. As the clock struck, so the smile of triumph on
36:02
the judge's face intensified, and at the last stroke of midnight he placed the
36:07
black cap on his head. Slowly and deliberately, the judge rose from his
36:13
chair and picked up the piece of the rope of the alarm bell which lay
36:15
on the floor, drew it through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch,
36:19
and then deliberately began to knock one end of it, fashioning it into
36:22
a noose. This he tightened and tested with his foot, pulling hard at
36:27
it till he was satisfied, and then making a running noose of it,
36:30
which he held in his hand. Then he began to move along the table
36:34
on the opposite side to Malcolmson, keeping his eyes on him until he passed
36:37
him, when, with a quick movement, he stood in front of the
36:39
door. Malcolmson then began to feel that he was trapped and try to think
36:45
of what he should do. There was some fascination in the judge's eyes,
36:51
which he never took off him, and he had perforced to look. He
36:54
saw the judge approach, still keeping between him and the door, and raise
36:59
the noose and throw it to towards him, as if to entangle him with
37:01
a great effort. He made a quick movement to one side and saw the
37:05
rope fall beside him and heard it strike the oaken floor. Again, the
37:08
judge raised the news and tried to ensnare him, ever keeping his baleful eyes
37:13
fixed on him, and each time, by a mighty effort, the student
37:15
just managed to evade it. So this went on for many times, the
37:19
judge seeming never discouraged nor discomposed at failure, but playing as a cat does
37:23
with a mouse. At last, in despair which had reached its climax,
37:29
Malcolmson cast a quick glance around him. The lamp seemed to have blazed up,
37:32
and there was a fairly good light in the room. At the many
37:36
rat holes and in the chinks and crannies of the wainscut, he saw the
37:38
rat's eyes, and this aspect that was purely physical, gave him a gleam
37:43
of comfort. He looked around and saw that the rope of the great alarm
37:46
bell was laden with rats. Every inch of it was covered with them,
37:52
and more and more were pouring through the small circular hole in the ceiling whence
37:54
it emerged, so that with their weight, the bell was beginning to sway.
38:00
It had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell. The sound was
38:04
but a tiny one, but the bell was only beginning to sway, and
38:06
it would increase. At the sound, the judge, who had been keeping
38:09
his eyes fixed on Markhamson, looked up and a scowl of diabolical anger overspread
38:15
his face. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals, and he stamped his
38:21
foot with a sound that seemed to make the house shake. A dreadful peal
38:25
of thunder broke overhead as he raised the rope again, whilst the rats kept
38:30
running up and down the rope as they were working against time. This time,
38:34
instead of throwing it, he drew close to his victim and held open
38:38
the noses he approached. As he came closer, they seemed something paralyzing in
38:44
his very presence, and Malcolmson stood rigid as a corpse. He felt the
38:49
judge's icy fingers touch his throat as he adjusted the rope. The noose tightened,
38:54
tightened. Then the judge, taking the rigid form of the student in
38:59
his arms, carried him over and placed him standing in the oak chair,
39:04
and stepping up beside him, put his hand up and caught the end of
39:07
the swaying rope of the alarm bell. As he raised his hands, the
39:10
rats fled, squeaking and disappeared through the hole in the ceiling. Taking the
39:15
end of the noose which was round Malcolmson's neck, he tied it to the
39:20
hanging bell rope, and then, descending, pulled away the chair. When
39:27
the alarm bell of the judge's house began to sound, a crowd soon assembled.
39:31
Lights and torches of various kinds appeared, and soon a silent crowd was
39:35
hurrying to the spot. They knocked loudly at the door, but there was
39:39
no reply. Then They burst in at the door and poured into the great
39:44
dining room, the doctor at the head. There, at the end of
39:47
the rope of the great alarm bell, hung the body of the student,
39:51
and on the face of the judge in the picture was a malignant smile.
39:57
End of the judge's house