The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-12-10

night, when all the world slept, 1t has
welled up from my own bosom, deepen
ing with its dreadful echo the terrors that
distracted me. l say / knew it well. /
knew what the old man felt, and pitied
him, although L chuckled at heart. L
knew that he had been lying awake ever
since the first slight noise, when he had
turned in his bed His fears had been
ever since growing upon him. He had
been trying to fancy them causeless but
could not. He had been saying to him
self" 1t is nothing but the wind in the
the fioor," or "it is merely q cricket
which made a single chirp." Yes, he
had been trying to comfort himself with
these suppositions; but he had found all
in vain. All IN rain; because Death, in
approaching him, had stalked with his
black shadow before him, and enveloped
the victim. And it was the mournful in
tluence of the unperceived shadow that
caused him to feel-although he neither
saw nor heard-to feel the presence of
my head within the room.
When / had waited long time very
patiently without hearing him lie down
L resolved to open little--a very, very
, little crevice in the lantern. So 1
opened it--you cannot imagine how
stealthily, stealthily-until at length
single dim ray, like the thread of the
spider, shot from out the crevice and fell
upon the vTllture eye.
1t was open, wide, open--and | grew
furious as | gazed upon it. | saw it with
perfect distinctness-all dull blue with
a hideous veil over it that chilled the
very marrow III my bones; but | could
see nothing else of the old mans face or
person, for had directed the ray as if by
instinct precisely upon the damned spot.
And now have mot told you that what
you mistake for madness is but over
acuteness of the senses l-now, l say,
there came to my ears a low, duh, quick
sound, such as watch makes when en-
veloped in cotton. L knew that sound
well, too. 1t was the beating of the old
mans heart. 1t increased my fury, as
the beating OF n drum stimulates the sol
uler into courage.
But even yet refrained and kept still
| scarcely breathed. | held the lantern
motionless. tried how steadily L could
maintain the ray upon the eye. Mean
time the hellish tattoo of the heart in
creased. 1t grew quicker and quicker,
and louder and louder every instant.
The old mans terror must have been eX-
treme? 1t grew louder, l say, louder
every moment do You mark me well
l have told you that ] am nervous so l
am. And now at the dead hour of the
night, amid the dreadful silence of that
old house, SO strange noise rs this eX
cited me to uncomfortable terror. Yet
for some minutes longer / refrained and
stood still. But the beating grew loud
er, louder [ thought the heart must
burst. And now new anxiety seized
me-the sound would be heard by a
neighbor The old mans hour had
come With a loud yell L threw open
the lantern and leaped into the room.
He shrieked once-once only. In an in
slant L dragged him to the floor, and
pulled the heavy bed over him. / then
smiled gayly to find the deed so far done.
But, for many minutes, the heart beat
on with a muflied sound. This, how
ever, did not vex me; it would not be
heard through the wall. At length it
ceased. The old man was dead. L re-
moved the bed and examined the corpse.
Yes, he was stone, stone dead. l placed
my hand upon the heart and held it
there many minutes. There was no pull
sation. He was stone dead. His eye
would trouble me no more.
If still you think me mad, you will
think SO no longer when / describe the
wise precautions 7 took for the conceal
ment of the body. The night waned,
and L worked hastily, but in silence.
First of all j dismembered the corpse.
L cut off the head and the arms and the
legs.
then took up three planks from the
flooring of the chamber and deposited
all between the scantlings. 1 then re-
placed the boards SO cleverly, SO cum
ningly, that no human eye-not even
his-could have detected anything
wrong. There was nothing to was out
no stain of any kind-no blood spot
whatever. L had been too wary for that.
A tub had caught all-ha ha
When / had made an end of these la
bors it was o'clock-still dark as mid
night AS the bell sounded the hour
there came a knocking at the street door.
1 went to open it with a light heart, for
what had i now to fear3 There entered
three men, who introduced themselves
with perfect suavity as officers of the po-
lice. A shrek had been heard by a
neighbor during the night suspicion of
foul play had been aroused information
had been lodged at the police Office, and
they (the officers) had been deputed to
search the premises.
1 smiled, for what had / to fear 1
bade the egentlemen welcome. The shrek,
/ said, was my own in dream. The old
man, / mentioned, was absent in the
country. 1 took my visitors all over
the house. / bade them search
search well. / led them at length to
his chamber. L showed him his treas
ures, secure, undisturbed. In the en-
thusiasm of my confidence ] brought
chairs into the room and desired them
here to rest from their fatigues, while L
myself, in the wild audacity of my per-
feet triumph, placed my own seat upon
the very spot beneath which reposed the
corpse of the victim.
The officers were satisfied. My man.
ner had convinced them. L was singu-
larly at ease. They sat, and while an
swered cheerily they chatted of familiar
things. But, ere long, felt myself