Evening star., 1927-10-10


duced The outstanding quality of his work
is the mastery handling of atmosphere
often that of gloom and horror; His poem.
presc=t story. the cast Of A!montillado is a
rare wine-a kind OF sherry
I had borne a thousand injuries
from Fortunate, and now ne has ven
tured upon insult. have vowed ven
geance. Not that / have threatened,
but at length 1 shall have vengeance. 4
And 1 must not only punish, but pun
ish with no harm to myself. and with
Fortunate knowing full well that it is
| who am avenged.
Neither by word nor deed did give
Fortunate cause to doubt my good
will. 1 continued to smile in his face,
and he did not guess that in my smile
was the thought of his doom.
He had a weak point, did Fortunate
he prided himself on his knowledge
of wines. Few Italians have such
spirit of artistic perception; indeed, in
painting Fortunate was q quack, but
in his attitude toward wines he was
sincere. In this I did not differ from
him; dealt largely in the Italian vim
tages, and bought well wherever 1
could
1t was about dusk, one evening, dur
ing carnival, when l met Fortunate.
He had been drinking, and greeted
me warmly; he was in a clown suit.
with conical cap and bells. 1 was in
decd pleased to see him, and l said:
MY dear friend, / have just received
a cask of what is claimed to be Anon
! tillado, but 1 have my doubts"
"How?" said he. 'Amontillado?
Impossible at this time"'
II have my doubts" I said. "But
I paid full price, for could not find
you to ask your opinion. Still, you
are busy. I'll go and ASK
stay! No one knows Amontil-
lado as I. Let us go to your vaults"
But you have a severe cold. My
vaults are damp"
LET us go, nevertheless. The
cold is nothing. Amontillado, in
deed! You have been cheated"
Fortunate took my arm, and put
| ting on my mask, l let him lead me
TO my palazzo. The servants were
gone to the carnival. L took from
their sconces two flaming torches.
and giving one to Fortunate bowed
him through suites of rooms to the
archway into the valuts. / pointed
out the dampness of the walls, and
my friend went into fit Of cough
ing.
"Come," I said, "weH go back.
Your health You are rich, adj
mired, beloved; you will be missed.
AS for me"
1T is nothing" he said. "It will
not kill me-not this cough"
True, true" 1 replied.
He again took my arm and we
proceeded. We each took drink
| Of Medoc. The wine sparkled in
Fortunato's eyes; my own fancy grew
warm with the drink. We passed on
and the dampness grew worse.
protested-but he insisted on pro-
ceeding. He drank some de Grave at
a gulp and tossed the bottle in the
air.
I offered him my arm, and nd
leaned upon it heavily. We conL
tnued our route in search of the
Amontillado. We passed through ia
range of low arches, descended,
passed on, and descending again, ar
rived at a deep crypt, in which the
Iouiness OF the air caused our torches
rather to glow than flame.
AT the most remote end of the crvpt
there appeared another less spacious
Its walls had been lined with human
remains piled to the vault, overhead
IN the fashion of the great catacombs
OF Paris. Three sides of this interior
crypt We're still ornamented in this
manner. From the fourth the bones
| had been thrown down, and Law con-
| splcuously upon the earth, forming at
one point mound of some size.
Wi~hin the wall thus exposed by the
ulspiaeing of the bones, we perceived
still interior recess, in depth about
TOUR feet. in width, three, in height.
constructed for no special use in it.
self, but formed the interval between
two of the colossal supports of the
roof, and was backed by a wall of solid
granite.
Herein" said !. ais the Amontil-
lado," as Fortunate tried to peer
into the crypt.
My friend stepped in, I at his
heels. He came abruptly against
the wall, bewildered. In a moment
had fettered him to the granite.
In its surface were two iron
staples; from one of these hung.
small chain, from the other a pad
lock. Throwing the links about his
waist, quickly secured him. He
was too astonished to resist.
Pass your hand over the wall"
said. rs it not very damp? May
stu entreat you to go back? But
mol must first render you all the
little attentions in my power"
THE Amontillado," he mumbled.
True" l replied, "the AmontiI-
lado."
| uncovered the pile of bones, dis
closing quantity of building stone
and mortar. l took out my trowel
and began vigorously to wall up the
entrance of the niche. | had scarcely
nj n1 hn Gr1
when | saw that Fortunatos intoxi-
cation had begun to wear off. A low
moaning cry came from the depths of
the recess. 1t was not a drunken cry.
There was then a long and obstinate
silence. l laid the second tier, and
the third, and the fourth; then |
heard the chain rafting. When the
clanking subsided, went on. finishing
without interruption the fifth, sixth
and seventh tiers. The wall was now
up to my breast
[ took up my torch and held it
over the wall. A succession of loud
and shrill screams burst suddenly
from Fortunato's throat. For a brief
moment / hesitated-had he broken
loose? No, the walls We're solid. /
replied to his yells-I re-echoed-I
aided-I surpassed them in volume
and strength, and he grew still.
1t was now midnight and my task
was nearly done. The eighth, ninth
and tenth tiers were done; l had
finished a portion of the eleventh and
last A single stone remained to be
put in place and 1 lifted it up. Now
there came from the niche a low
laugh that made. the hairs stand up
on my head. Came sad voice, which
but little resembled the noble For
tunato@.
"Hai hal ha! A good joke-an