The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1914-08-27
By Edgar Allan Poe

NORRIS
extending from the roof of the build
ing in front. made its way down tn
wall in a zigzag direction until it be
came lost In the sullen waters of til
tarn.
Noticing these things, rode over
short causeway to the house. A serv
ant in waiting took my horse, and
entered the Gothic archway of tn
hall. A valet of steaIthy step theme
conducted me in silence through man,
dark and intricate passages in m,
progress to the studio of his master.
On staircase I met the physi
clan of the family. His countenance
/ thought. wore mingled expression
OF low cunning and perplexity. He &C
costed me with trepidation and passed
on. The valet now threw open door
and ushered me into the presence OF
! his master.
The room I'm which 1 found myself
was very large and lofty. The win.
dows were long. narrow and pointed
and at so vast a distance from the
black oaken floor as to be altogether
inaccessible from within. Feeble
CLEANS of encrimsoned light made
their way through the trellised panes
and served to render sufficiently dis
tinct the more prominent objects
around. l felt that breathed an at.
mosphere Of sorrow. An air of stern,
deep and irredeemabIe gloom hung over
and pervaded all.
Upon my entrance Usher arose from
sofa on which he had been lying at
full length and greeted me with a
vfvaciOus warmth which had much in
1t, at first thought, Of an overdone
cordiality-Of the constrained effort Of
the ennuye man Of the world. A
glance, however, at his countenance
convinced me Of his perfect sincerity.
We sat down, and for some moments.
while he spoke not. l gazed upon him
with a feeling half of pity, half of
awe. Surely man had never before
so terribly altered in so brief a period
as had Roderick Usher 1t was with
difficulty that could bring myself to
admit the identity Of the one being
before me with the companion Of my
early boyhood. Yet the character of
his face had been at all times remarka-
BILE. A cadaverousness Of complexion;
an eye large. liquid and luminous be-
yOnd comparison; lips somewhat thin
and very pallid, but OF surprisingly
beautiful curve; nose of a delicate
Hebrew model. but with breadth of
nOstril unusual in similar formations;
a finely nodded chin. speaking in its
want of prominence, Of a want of
moral energy; hair Of more than
weblike sOftness and tenuity-these
features. with an inordinate expan-
sion above the regions of the temple.
made up altogether countenance not
easily to be forgotten. The now ghast-
~ pallor of the skin and the now
luster Of the eye. above all
things. startled and even awed me.
The silken hair, too, had been suffered
to grow all UNDECIDED, and as, in its
wild gossamer texture, 1t fioated rather |
than fell about the face l could not.
even with effort. connect its Arabesque |
expression with any idea of simple hu-
In the manner of my friend l was
1T once struck with an indifference
IN Inconsistency. and soon found this
% arise from series OF feeble and
'utile struggles to overcome an habit
laI trepidancy-an excessive nervous
lgitation.
His action was alternately vivacious
md sullen. His voice varied rapidly
rom q tremulous indecisi0n (when the
lnimal spirits seemed utterly in abey-
nce) to that species Of energetic con-
ision-that abrupt, weighty, unhurried
nd hollow sounding enunciatiOn: that
eaden, self balanced and perfectly
1odulated cultural utterance. which
nay be observed in the lost drunkard
r the irreclaimable eater Of opium,
uring the periods Of his most intense
excitement.
ect of my visit. of his earnest desire
, see me and of the solace he expect
d me to afford him. He entered at
ONE length into what he conceived to
e the nature Of his malady. It dis {
layed itself in a host of unnatural
,nsations. He suffered much from a
forbid acuteness of the senses: the ]
lost insipid food was alone endurable;
e could wear only garments of GER
lin texture: the Odors of all flowers !
ere oppressive: his eyes were tortur-
by even a faint light. and there
ere but peculiar sounds and these
ON stringed instruments which did A
't inspire him with horror.
To an anomalous species of terror
und him a bounden slave. 81 shall
irish. said ne. II must perish in =
is deplorable folly. Thus, thus. and
It otherwise, shall I lie lost. l dread &