The Irish standard., 1915-05-08

No sooner had these syllables passed
my lips than. as If a shield of brass
had indeed Mt the moment fallen heav-
lily upon a floor Of silver, l became
aware Of distinct, hollow. metallic
and dangerous yet apparently muff1ed
reverberation. Completely unnerved, 1
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
eddy before him and throughout his
whole countenance there reigned a
stony rightly. But as l placed my
hand upon his shoulder there came Il
strong shudder over his whole person.
sickly smile quivered about his lips.
and saw that he spoke a low. hurried
and gibbering murmur, as If uncon-
scious Of my presence. Bending close
~ over him, at length drank in the
hideous import of his words.
"Not hear it? Yes, hear it and
have heard it. Long, long, long, many
minutes many hours. many days have
l heard it, yet dared notch, pity me,
miserable wretch that l AMI dared
not-dared not speak. We have put
her living in the tomb! Said not
that my senses were acute? now
tell you that l heard her first feeble
movement in the hollow coffin. heard
them-many. many days ago-yet
dared mott dared not speak! And
now, tonight. Etlelred-ha, ha!-the
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 coffin-and the grating Of
the iron hinges Of her prison and her
struggles within the coppered archway
of the vault: Oh, whittier shall fy /?
Will she not be here anon? Is she not
hurrying to upbraid me for my haste
Have not heard her footstep on the
stair? Do ] not distinguish that heavy
and horrible beating Of her heart?
Aadman"-here he sprang furiously
to his feet and shrieked out his sylla-
bles as II in the effort he were giving
up his soul-"Madman! tell you that
she now stands without the door,
AS ii In the superhuman energy of
his utterance there had been found the
potency Of Il spell, the huge antique
panels to which the speaker pointed
threw slowly back upon the instant
their ponderOus and ebony jaws. II
was the work of the rushing gust
But. then. without those doors there
did stand the lofty and enshroudcd
figure Of the Lady Madeline Of Usher
There was blood upon her white robes
and the evidence Of some bitter strug
gle upon every portion of her emaciat.
ed frame. For moment she remain
ed trembling and reeling to and frc
upon the Threshold; then, with Il low
moaning cry. fell heavily inward upon
the person OF her brother and. in he,
violent and now final denth agonics
bore him to the floor corpse and q
victim to the terrors he had antici
pated.
From that chamber and from tllnt
mansion l fled nghast. The storm was
still abroad In all its wrath as I fount
myself crossing the old cnusewny
Suddenly there shot along the path ,
wild light, and l turned to see whenc,
n CLEAN so unusual could have issued
for the vast house and its shadow,
were alone behind me. The radianc
was that Of the full, setting and bloo'
red moon. which now shone vivid.
through that once barely discernibl
assure of which have before spokel
as extending from the roof of tn,
building in zigzag direction to tn
base. While gazed this assure rapid
ly widened. there came u fierce breatl
Of the whir!wind. the entire orb of tn,
satellite burst Mt once upon my sight
my brain reeled as | saw the mighty
walls rushing asunder. there was
long. tumultuous shouting sound Xix,
the voice Of thousand waters, ant
the deep and dank tarn at my fee
closed sullenly and silently over th,
fragments of the "House Of Usher"