El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-24
The House of Silence
A short story.

q SLEdu6G anu LOED4QuluE LOOK
ing house. It's gray walls are massive
with only a few windows guarded BIZ
heavy iron bars. The entrance is low
and narrow and the heavy iron dool
reminds one of an old prison entrance
Visitors, however. are very rare. The
windows are always closed, and nc
light is ever seen within. The whole
house resembles an immense tomb.
When was a young doctor, lived
in an apartment in the house opposite
I had plenty Of leisure time and in my
idle hours I often wondered what
mysterious secret was hidden in this
gloomy building. Eeighbors had told me
that it had been built by some foreign
crank years before and that It concealed
the real house which stood some dis
lance back IN the garden That was
all The stranger never went out no
tradeSman was ever allowed TO enter,
and all provisions were paSSed through
a special opening, at the side of the
door made for that purpose. Everybody
in the neighbOrhOOd was curious to
know more about the man, but nobody
had been able to penetrate the mys-
terry
One night the deep sound OF a bell
aWOke me from my sleep. 1 got up to
see what it was My door opened just
enough to admit a person. A mysterious
shadow slipped through and the door
closed itself automatically.
I got up quickly, dressed and hur-
ried out but some vague fear made me
hesitate.
Who is there?" I asked.
1T is about a patient" a voice re-
piled y on must come quickly. 1 sup
pose I am talking to DR.. Albin No
Quet?'
yes. I replied, still surprised at the
unexpected call, 1t is L" Then opened
h. n nd 1t ~-@a~
He was a tall, slender man. still
young though. his hair was white as
snow His face was CHASTITY pale and
his black eyes sparkled.
Yes he said in a decidedly foreign
accent, 1T is a very extra ordinary case.
Ny wife has had a stroke and does not
revive. She has often had similar at
tacls before, but they have never lasted
afraid"
While I finished dressing, he said:
1t is not far, just across the street"
Then he was the man who lived in
the house Of mystery, evidently. and
was to learn its secret I had never
thought that there was a woman there,
and discreetly 1 told him I was sur
prised.
quite natural" he replied. Nobody
knows it Since my wife was first
taken i'll It was necessary that I find
an absolute quiet place I viii tell you,
she is insane She imagines she is
dead and do not know it I did not have
the heart to send her TO an asylum, so
1 built this house where I have nursed
her myself. am with her as much as
possible, but often she wants TO be
alone, so have a flat in the city, too.
This time, however. I am afraid she is
really dead
I listened to his explanation with
out a word It was indeed a strange
story my visitor was telling me. Sew
eral time 1 wondered if 1 were not
dreaming. He drew me outside and
pulled the bell cord There was a sin
gle stroke and the door opened itself
This is a little invention Of NINE
ne said The door IS connected with a
mechanism which tells my wife that I
am coming, so that she does not have
to get up"
Very ingenius,7 said but felt
rather uneasy We went through the
hall across the garden, entered an
other house behind, walked through a
dimly lit corridor. and up a flight OF
stairs
Il love my wife dearly" said my
Client and did not want anybody to
know that she was sick But now L
feel that the end has come and she
is dead"
He stopped me in a large TestbuIe il
animated by many wax candles There
was a heavy smell Of incense, wax and
dust in the air.
Il will go and find her now. Per-
haps she has come back to conscious
AAEoG Dlt II very SENSITIVE ana the
sight of a stranger might do her harm
1 waited a little, then he came back
greatly perturbed-
She is stiu unconscious. or Worse,T
he said Come in please.
We passed through another corridor,
then he drew aside a heavy curtain.
A strange sight met my eyes. looked
into a chapel which had a doned cell
ing tinted in dark blue with lustrOus
stars rejecting the rays OF a hundred
candles At the back was a kind Of
vault IN which was coffin containing
the motionless figure Of a woman.
i stood SpellbOund.
That is She he said. For years
fin
I went closer. The body was cold and
rigid Her long fair hail fell across her
bosom. but her left breast was bare.
Her one hand touched the floor. Her
eyelids were closed, but the color of
her face was not that Of dead person,
being quite fresh and rosy.
She is alive I said "a very rare
case Of lethargy."
I bent down over her to listen to her
heart and suddenly stepped back.
What does this mystificatiOn mean27
I asked That is no woman but a wax
The man did not seem to have heard
my words. He burst out sObbing and
she is dead. doctor! Isn't she? Really
dead I knew this moment would come
Your science can do nothing for her
But have prolonged her life for years.
Wax, you said? Yes she looks as il she
were made Of wax, but that is an FLU
sion, an invention of mine to cure her
and preserve her
A strange CLEAN came into the eyes
Of the insane man, and he began to
howl ike a wild beast in distress. He
threw himself down at the side of the
coffin, and as the first rays of the
summer dawn made the faces Of the
candles look pale. he implOred the rays
Of the sun not to desecrate the tomb
he had made for his love
ran away like a coward in search
of assistance
Later on 1 heard the whole story.
The unhappy mans wife had died
without his knowledge on their we'd
ding night He awOlle clasping a dead
body in his arms. The shock made him
insane, though to all Appearances he
was sane in his daily life. He had his
house transformed into a tomb, where
he carried on a long conversation with
his wife. whose form and features had
been reproduced in wax
Gradually the true state OF things
was revealed to his mind and in semi
lucid intervals he asked my assistance.
Now that he is in an insane asylum
he is no longer insane He knows.
4 am only a wax figure he saws.
my soul is somewhere else