Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1914-10-02
PART II.

PART III.
IG~0NE evening, having informed
I'M me abruptly that the Lady
Madeline was no more, he stat
~ ed his intention of preserving
her corpse for a fortnight, previously
to its final interment, in one Of the
numerous vaults within the main
walls of the building. The brother
had been led to his resolution $50 he
told mel by consideration Of the I'M
usual character of the malady of the
| deceased, Of certain obtrusive and
! eager inquiries on the part of her medi-
cal man and Of the remote and exposed
situation of the burial ground of the
family. l will not deny that when |
called to mind the sinister countenance
! of the person whom ] met upon the
staircase on the day of my arrival at
| the house / had no desire to oppose
what l regarded as. at best, but a
harmless and by no means an unnat-
| ural precaution.
At the request of Usher, personally
aided him in the arrangements for the
temporary entombment. The body
having been encof6ned, we two alone
bore it to its rest. The vault in which
we placed it was small. damp and
entirely without means Of admission
for light, lying at great depth imme-
diately beneath that portion Of the
building in which was my own sleep
ing apartment. 1t had been used ap-
parently in remote feudal times for
the worst purposes of a donjon keep
and in later days as place Of deposit
for powder or some other highly COM
| bustible substance, as portion Of its
floor and the whole interior of long
archway through which we reached it
were carefully sheated with copper.
The door, of massive iron,, bad been
also similarly protected. Its immense
weight caused an unusually sharp
/ grating sound as it moved upon its
hinges.
/ Having deposited our mournful bur
den upon trestles within this region
OF horror, we partially turned aside
the yet unscrewed lid Of the coffin and
looked upon the face Of the tenant. A
striking similitude between the broth
er and sister now first arrested my at
tention, and Usher, divining perhaps
my thoughts, murmured out some few
words, from which learned that the
deceased and himself had been twins
and that sympathies of scarcely in
telligible nature had always existed
between them. Our glances restec
not long upon the dead. for we coul6
not regard her unawed. There was
a faint blush upon the bosom and the
face, with that suspiciously lingering
smile upon the lip which is so terrible In
death. We replaced and screwed doWI
the lid and secured the door of iron.
And now, some days of bitter grief
having elapsed, an observable change
came over the features Of the menta
disorder of my friend His ordinary
manner had vanished. His ordinary
occupations were neglected or forgot
ten. He roamed from chamber tx
chamber with hurried. unequal and
objectless step. The pallor Of his coun
tenance had assumed if possible 8
more CHASTITY hue. but the luminous
ness of his eye had utterly gone out
The once occasional huskiness OF bis
tone was heard no more, and tremu
lous quaver as if of extreme terror
habitually characterized his utterance
| felt creeping upon me by slow We
certain degrees the wild influences o.
his own fantastic yet impressive super
stitions.
1t was especially upon retiring t
bed late in the night of the. seventI
or eighth day after the placing. of tn
Lady Madeline within the donjon tina
l experienced the full power of sucl
feelings Sleep came not near m
couch. while the hours waned an
waned away. struggled to reason OF
the nervousness which had dominion
over me. endeavored to believe tina
much. if not all of what felt. wa
due to the bewildering influence Of til
gloomy furniture of the room-of tn
dark and tattered draperies which. tot
tured into motion by the breath Of
rising tempest. swayed fitfully to an
fro upon the walls and rustled uneas
lily about the decorations of the bee
But my efforts were fruitless. An Il
repressible tremor gradually pervade
my frame. and at length there sat upo