Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-07-28

ripped and tore all asunder that the
noise Of the dry and hollow sounding
wood alarummed and reverberated
throughout the forest"
At the termination Of this sentence
I started. and for moment paused.
for It appeared to me although at
once concluded that my excited fancy
had deceived mel that from some very
remote portion or the mansion there
came indistinctly to my ears what
might have been In its exact similar
ity of character. the echo lbut stifed
and dull one certainly Of the very
cracking and ripping sound which Sir
Launcelot had so particularly describ-
ed. l continued the story:
"But the good champion Ethelred.
now entering within the door. was
sore enraged and amazed to perceive
no signal of the maliceful hermit; but.
in the stead thereof. dragon Of
scaly and prodigious demeanor. and Of
a fiery tongue. which safe in guard
before a palace Of gold. with floor
of silver. and upon the wall there hung
q shield Of shining brass with this leg
end enwritten:
Who entereth herein q conqueror hath
bin:
Who slsyeth the dragon. the shield he
shall win.
And Ethelred uplifted his mace and
struck upon the head of the dragon.
which fell before him and gave UP his
pesty breath. with shrek so hOrrid
and harsh and witha so piercing that
Ethelred had fain to close his ears
with his hands against the dreadful
noise of 1t. the like whereof was nev.
er before heard"
Here again l paused abruptly, and
now with feeling Of wild amazement
for there could be no doubt whatever
that in this instance I did actually
hear, although from what direction 1t
proceeded found 1t impossible to say,
low and apparently distant. but
harsh, protracted and most unusual
screaming or grating sound-the exact
counterpart of what my fancy had al
ready conjured up for the dragons un-
natural shrek.
Oppressed. as / certainly was, upon
the occurrence Of this second and most
extraordinary coincidence by n thou
sand conflicting sensations. IN which
wonder and extreme terror were pre-
dominant, still retained sufficient
presence Of mind to avoid exciting by
any observation the sensitive nervous
ness Of my companion. l was by no
means certain that he had noticed the
sounds In question. although assuredly
q strange alteration had during the
last few minutes taken place In his
demeanor From a position fronting
my own he had gradually brought
around his chair so us to sit with his
face to the door Of the chamber. and
thus I could but partially perceive bis
features, although saw that his lips
trembled. as II he were murmuring In
audibly. His head had dropped upon
his breast. yet knew that he was not
asleep from the wide and rigid open
ing of the eye as caught glance OF
It in profile. The motion of his body.
too, was at variance with this idea.
for he rocked from side to side with a
gentle yet constant and uniform sway.
7 roaumed tho M rratiye.
"And now the champion. having es-
capped from the terrible fury Of the
dragon, bethinking himself Of the
brazen shield and Of the breaking up
of the enchantment which was upon
It, removed the carcass from out OF
the way before him and approached
valorously over the silver pavement OF
the castle to where the shield was
upon the wall. which in sooth tarried
not for his full coming. but fell down
at his feet upon the silver floor with a
mighty great and terrible ringing
sound"
No sooner had these syllables passed
my lips than. as II shield Of brass
had indeed at the moment fallen heav-
fly upon a floor Of silver. I became
aware of distinct. hollow. metallic
and dangerous yet apparently mutfied
reverberation. Completely unnerved, l
leaped to my feet. but the measured
rocking movement Of Usher was un.
disturbed. / rushed to the chair in
which he sat. His eyes were bent fix
edly before him and throughout bis
whole countenance there reigned a
stony rigidity. But as placed my
hand upon his shoulder there came d
strong shudder over his whole person.
a slckly smile quivered about'his lips
and saw that he spoke low. hurried
and gibbering murmur. as II uncon
scious Of my presence. Bending close.
ly over him. at length drank In the
hideous import of his words.
"Not hear It? Yes. hear it and
have heard 1t. Long, long. long. many
minutes, many hours, many days have
l heard 1t, yet dared notch, pity me
miserable wretch that l ami dared
not-dared not speak. We have put
her living in the tomb! Said l moi
that my senses were acute? ! now
tell you that heard her first feeble
movement In the hollow coffin. heard
them-many. many days ago-yet
dared not-I dared not speak! Ant
now, tonight. Ethelred-ha. hattie
breaking Of the hermit's door and the
death cry Of the dragon and the clan
gor Of the. shield-say. rather. the rend
ing of her cottin-and the grating ol
the iron hinges Of her prison and hei
struggles within the coppered archway
Of the vault, Oh. whittier shall dy'
Will she. not be here anon? Is she moi
hurrying to upbraid me for my haste
Have | not heard her footstep on tht
stair? Do not distinguish that heavy
and horrible beating Of her heart
Madmanw-here he sprang furiouslJ
to his feet and shrieked out his sylla
bles as II In the effort he were giving
up his soul" "Madman! tell you tha
she now stands without the door"
As II In the superhuman energy o.
his utterance there had been found tn,
potency OF a spell. the huge antique
panels to which the speaker pointed
threw slowly back upon the instan
their ponderous and ebony jaws. 1
was the work Of the rushing gust
|. put fhpn without those doors ther,