The Irish standard., 1915-05-08

was, indeed, a tempestuous yet sternly
beautiful night, and one wildly singu-
lar in its terror and its beauty. A
whirlwind had apparently collected its
force in our vicinity, for there were
frequent and violent alterations in the
direction of the wind, and the exceed
ing density Of the clouds (Which hung
so low as to press upon the turrets of
the house, did not prevent our perceiv-
ing the lifelike velocity with which
they few careering from all points
against each other, without passing
away into the distance. say that
even their exceeding density did not
prevent our perceiving this. Yet We
had no glimpse of the moon or stars
nor was there any flashing forth Of the
lightning. But the under surfaces of
the huge masses Of agitated vapor, as
we'll as all terrestrial objects immedi-
ately around us, were glowing in the
unnatural light Of family luminous
and distinctly visible gaseous exhala-
ton which enshrouded the mansion.
"You must not-you shall not behold
this!" said shudderingly to Usher as
I led him, with gentle violence. from
the window to seat. ",These appear
ances which bewilder you are merely
electrical phenomena not uncommon.
or it may be that they have their
CHASTITY origin in the rank miasma of
the tarn. Let us close this easement.
The air is chilling and dangerous to
your frame. Here is one of your fa-
vorite romances. l will read. and you
shall listen, and so we will pass away
this terrible night together"
The antique volume which had TAX
en- up was the Mad Trist" Of Sir
Launcelot Canning, but l had called
it favorite of Usher's more in sad
jest than in earnest, for, in truth.
there is little in its uncouth and I'M
imaginative prolixity which could have
had interest for the lofty and spiritual
ideality of my friend. 1t was, however.
the only book Immediately at hand.
l had arrived at that we'll known
portion Of the story where Ethelred,
the hero of the trist, having sought in
vain for peaceable admission into the
dwelling Of the hermit, proceeds to
make good an entrance by force. Here.
it will be remembered. the words Of
the narrative run thus:
"And Ethelred, who was by nature
of a doughty heart and who was now
mighty withal on account Of the pow
erfulness of the wine which he had
drunken. waited no longer to parley
with the hermit, who. in sooth. was
of an obstinate and maliceful turn.
but. feeling the rain upon his Shout
ders and fearing the rising of the
tempest, uplifted his mace outright
and with blows made quickly room in
the plankings Of the door for his
gauntleted hand. and now. pulling
Herewith sturdily, he so cracked and
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
started. and for a moment paused,
for it appeared to me although l Mt
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 (but stifled
and dull one certainly Of the very
cracking and ripping sound which Sit
LauncelOt had so particularly describ
ed. l continued the story:
But the good champion Ethelred
now entering within the door, wal
sore enraged and amazed to perceive
no signal of the maliceful hermit; but
in the stead thereof, a dragon Of q
scaly and prodigious demeanor, and OF
a fiery tongue. which suite in guard
before palace Of gold, with floor
Of silver. and upon the wall there hung
shield of shining brass with this leg
end enwritten:
Who entereth herein a conqueror hath
bin;
, Who slayeth the dragon the shield he
shall win.
. And Ethelred uplifted his mace and
/ struck upon the head Of the dragon
J which fell before him and gave up his
pesty breath. with shrek so horrid
and harsh and withal so piercing that
: Ethelred had fain to close his ears
with his hands against the dreadful
noise Of it. the like whereof was new
, er before heard"
: Here again 1 paused abruptly, and
: now with feeling of wild amazement
for there could be no doubt whatever
that in this instance did actually
! hear, although from what direction II
proceeded found it impossible to say
q low and apparently distant, but
harsh, pr0tracted and most unusua
| 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 thou
sand conflicting sensations, in which
wonder and extreme terror were pre-
dominant, l still retained sufficient
presence Of mind to avoid exciting by
any observation the sensitive nervous
ness Of my companion. l was by nc
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 position fronting
my own he had gradually brought
around his chair SO as to sit with his
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