Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-01-26
The Tell-Tale Heart.
BY EDGAR A. POE.

# Art is long and Time Is 1eeung,
 H% And our hearts, though stout and brave, x% Still like mufed drums, are beating
 E Funeral marches to the grave.-Longfeft"ac. s32 True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nerv- :ous had been, and am; but why will you say
 fhat I am mad? The disease had sharpened
 nv senses; not destroyed, not dulled them.-
 Ab bove all was the ss-se of hearing acute.
 heard all things in the heaven and in the earth
 i heard many things in he'll. How, then, am I
 mad? Hearken and observe how healthiIy, how
 ealmly. can tell you the whole story.
 It is impossible to say how first the idea en-
 1ered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted
 be e day and night. Object there was none.--
 Passion there was done. l loved the old man. Be had never given me insult. For his gold I had DO desire. 1 think it was his eye-yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture--a pale Eue eve, with film over it. Whenever it fell rpon me my blood ran cold; and so, by degrees xery gradually-I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.
 Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Wadmen know nothing. But you should have zen me- You should have seen how wisely I moceeded! with what cauton-with what fore Sipht-with what dissimulation went to work. Twas never kinder to the old man than during tie whole week before 1 killed him. And oSery night, about midnight, turned the latch sf his door and opened it--oh, so gently! And then, when had made an opening sufficient for ny head, first put in dark lantern, all closed, so that no light shone out and then 1 thrust in ny head. Oh, you would have laughed to see hw cunningly thrust it in. Imoved tslowly Every very slowly-so that 1 might not dis turb the old mans sleep.
 1t took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that 1 could see the old man as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then, when my head was we'll in the room, I undid the lantern cautiousl y--oh, so cautously!--for the hinges creaked. l undid it just so much thai a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights--every night just at midnig ght-but 1 found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his evil eye. And every morning, when the day broke, 1 went boldly into his chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone and inquiring how he had passed the night. So you see he would have been very profound old man, in- deed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, Hooked in upon him while he slept
 ~ pou IHc iSut Was IlOTe llldil USUAL. ly cautious in opening the door. A watch's mlnute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never, before that night, had felt the extent of my own powers--of my sagacity. could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and the old man not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts I fairly chnckled at the idea. And perhaps the old man heard me; for he moved in the bed sudden y. as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back-but mo- His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened through fear of robbers, and so l knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and l kept on pushing it steadily, stadly.
 had got my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out, "Who's there?"
 1 kept quite still and said nothing; for an hour did not move a muscle, and in the mean time l did not hear the old man lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; just as have done, night after night hardening to the death watches in the wall.
 Presently heard slight groan, and knew that it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief. Oh, 20! it was the low stihed sound that rises from the bottom ofthe soul when overcharged with awe. 1 knew the sound well. Many a night just at mid night, when all the world sep, it has weled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dread- full echo, the terrors that distracted me. say Knew it we'll. l knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although chuckled at heart- Knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing up- on him. He had been trying to fancy them canseess but could not He had been saying to himsef-"I It is nothing but the wind in the chimney; it is only mouse crossing the hoor," or, z it is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp"
 Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these supposi;ons; but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because death, in approach ing the old man, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and the shadow had now reached and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel-although he neither saw nor heard me--to feel the pressure of my head within the room.
 w hen had waited long tme very patient