by Bram Stoker
The Judge's House
When the time for his examination drew near Malcolm Malcolmson made uphis mind to go somewhere to read by himself. He feared the attractionsof the seaside, and also he feared completely rural isolation, for ofold he knew it charms, and so he determined to find some unpretentiouslittle town where there would be nothing to distract him. He refrainedfrom asking suggestions from any of his friends, for he argued thateach would recommend some place of which he had knowledge, and wherehe had already acquaintances. As Malcolmson wished to avoid friends hehad no wish to encumber himself with the attention of friends'friends, and so he determined to look out for a place for himself. Hepacked a portmanteau with some clothes and all the books he required,and then took ticket for the first name on the local time-table whichhe did not know.
When at the end of three hours' journey he alighted at Benchurch, hefelt satisfied that he had so far obliterated his tracks as to be sureof having a peaceful opportunity of pursuing his studies. He wentstraight to the one inn which the sleepy little place contained, andput up for the night. Benchurch was a market town, and once in threeweeks was crowded to excess, but for the remainder of the twenty-onedays it was as attractive as a desert. Malcolmson looked around theday after his arrival to try to find quarters more isolated than evenso quiet an inn as 'The Good Traveller' afforded. There was only oneplace which took his fancy, and it certainly satisfied his wildestideas regarding quiet; in fact, quiet was not the proper word to applyto it--desolation was the only term conveying any suitable idea of itsisolation. It was an old rambling, heavy-built house of the Jacobeanstyle, with heavy gables and windows, unusually small, and set higherthan was customary in such houses, and was surrounded with a highbrick wall massively built. Indeed, on examination, it looked morelike a fortified house than an ordinary dwelling. But all these thingspleased Malcolmson. 'Here,' he thought, 'is the very spot I have beenlooking for, and if I can get opportunity of using it I shall behappy.' His joy was increased when he realised beyond doubt that itwas not at present inhabited.
From the post-office he got the name of the agent, who was rarelysurprised at the application to rent a part of the old house. Mr.Carnford, the local lawyer and agent, was a genial old gentleman, andfrankly confessed his delight at anyone being willing to live in thehouse.
'To tell you the truth,' said he, 'I should be only too happy, onbehalf of the owners, to let anyone have the house rent free for aterm of years if only to accustom the people here to see it inhabited.It has been so long empty that some kind of absurd prejudice has grownup about it, and this can be best put down by its occupation--ifonly,' he added with a sly glance at Malcolmson, 'by a scholar likeyourself, who wants its quiet for a time.'
Malcolmson thought it needless to ask the agent about the 'absurdprejudice'; he knew he would get more information, if he shouldrequire it, on that subject from other quarters. He paid his threemonths' rent, got a receipt, and the name of an old woman who wouldprobably undertake to 'do' for him, and came away with the keys in hispocket. He then went to the landlady of the inn, who was a cheerfuland most kindly person, and asked her advice as to such stores andprovisions as he would be likely to require. She threw up her hands inamazement when he told her where he was going to settle himself.
'Not in the Judge's House!' she said, and grew pale as she spoke. Heexplained the locality of the house, saying that he did not know itsname. When he had finished she answered:
'Aye, sure enough--sure enough the very place! It is the Judge's Housesure enough.' He asked her to tell him about the place, why so called,and what there was against it. She told him that it was so calledlocally because it had been many years before--how long she could notsay, as she was herself from another part of the country, but shethought it must have been a hundred years or more--the abode of ajudge who was held in great terror on account of his harsh sentencesand his hostility to prisoners at Assizes. As to what there wasagainst the house itself she could not tell. She had often asked, butno one could inform her; but there was a general feeling that therewas _something_, and for her own part she would not take all the moneyin Drinkwater's Bank and stay in the house an hour by herself. Thenshe apologised to Malcolmson for her disturbing talk.
'It is too bad of me, sir, and you--and a young gentlemen, too--if youwill pardon me saying it, going to live there all alone. If you weremy boy--and you'll excuse me for saying it--you wouldn't sleep there anight, not if I had to go there myself and pull the big alarm bellthat's on the roof!' The good creature was so manifestly in earnest,and was so kindly in her intentions, that Malcolmson, although amused,was touched. He told her kindly how much he appreciated her interestin him, and added:
'But, my dear Mrs. Witham, indeed you need not be concerned about me!A man who is reading for the Mathematical Tripos has too much to thinkof to be disturbed by any of these mysterious "somethings", and hiswork is of too exact and prosaic a kind to allow of his having anycorner in his mind for mysteries of any kind. Harmonical Progression,Permutations and Combinations, and Elliptic Functions have sufficientmysteries for me!' Mrs. Witham kindly undertook to see after hiscommissions, and he went himself to look for the old woman who hadbeen recommended to him. When he returned to the Judge's House withher, after an interval of a couple of hours, he found Mrs. Withamherself waiting with several men and boys carrying parcels, and anupholsterer's man with a bed in a car, for she said, though tables andchairs might be all very well, a bed that hadn't been aired for mayhapfifty years was not proper for young bones to lie on. She wasevidently curious to see the inside of the house; and thoughmanifestly so afraid of the 'somethings' that at the slightest soundshe clutched on to Malcolmson, whom she never left for a moment, wentover the whole place.
After his examination of the house, Malcolmson decided to take up hisabode in the great dining-room, which was big enough to serve for allhis requirements; and Mrs. Witham, with the aid of the charwoman,Mrs. Dempster, proceeded to arrange matters. When the hampers werebrought in and unpacked, Malcolmson saw that with much kindforethought she had sent from her own kitchen sufficient provisions tolast for a few days. Before going she expressed all sorts of kindwishes; and at the door turned and said:
'And perhaps, sir, as the room is big and draughty it might be well tohave one of those big screens put round your bed at night--though,truth to tell, I would die myself if I were to be so shut in with allkinds of--of "things", that put their heads round the sides, or overthe top, and look on me!' The image which she had called up was toomuch for her nerves, and she fled incontinently.
Mrs. Dempster sniffed in a superior manner as the landladydisappeared, and remarked that for her own part she wasn't afraid ofall the bogies in the kingdom.
'I'll tell you what it is, sir,' she said; 'bogies is all kinds andsorts of things--except bogies! Rats and mice, and beetles; and creakydoors, and loose slates, and broken panes, and stiff drawer handles,that stay out when you pull them and then fall down in the middle ofthe night. Look at the wainscot of the room! It is old--hundreds ofyears old! Do you think there's no rats and beetles there! And do youimagine, sir, that you won't see none of them? Rats is bogies, I tellyou, and bogies is rats; and don't you get to think anything else!'
'Mrs. Dempster,' said Malcolmson gravely, making her a polite bow,'you know more than a Senior Wrangler! And let me say, that, as a markof esteem for your indubitable soundness of head and heart, I shall,when I go, give you possession of this house, and let you stay here byyourself for the last two months of my tenancy, for four weeks willserve my purpose.'
'Thank you kindly, sir!' she answered, 'but I couldn't sleep awayfrom home a night. I am in Greenhow's Charity, and if I slept a nightaway from my rooms I should lose all I have got to live on. The rulesis very strict; and there's too many watching for a vacancy for me torun any risks in the matter. Only for that, sir, I'd gladly come hereand attend on you altogether during your stay.'
'My good woman,' said Malcolmson hastily, 'I have come here on purposeto o
btain solitude; and believe me that I am grateful to the lateGreenhow for having so organised his admirable charity--whatever itis--that I am perforce denied the opportunity of suffering from such aform of temptation! Saint Anthony himself could not be more rigid onthe point!'
The old woman laughed harshly. 'Ah, you young gentlemen,' she said,'you don't fear for naught; and belike you'll get all the solitude youwant here.' She set to work with her cleaning; and by nightfall, whenMalcolmson returned from his walk--he always had one of his books tostudy as he walked--he found the room swept and tidied, a fire burningin the old hearth, the lamp lit, and the table spread for supper withMrs. Witham's excellent fare. 'This is comfort, indeed,' he said, ashe rubbed his hands.
When he had finished his supper, and lifted the tray to the other endof the great oak dining-table, he got out his books again, put freshwood on the fire, trimmed his lamp, and set himself down to a spell ofreal hard work. He went on without pause till about eleven o'clock,when he knocked off for a bit to fix his fire and lamp, and to makehimself a cup of tea. He had always been a tea-drinker, and during hiscollege life had sat late at work and had taken tea late. The restwas a great luxury to him, and he enjoyed it with a sense ofdelicious, voluptuous ease. The renewed fire leaped and sparkled, andthrew quaint shadows through the great old room; and as he sipped hishot tea he revelled in the sense of isolation from his kind. Then itwas that he began to notice for the first time what a noise the ratswere making.
'Surely,' he thought, 'they cannot have been at it all the time I wasreading. Had they been, I must have noticed it!' Presently, when thenoise increased, he satisfied himself that it was really new. It wasevident that at first the rats had been frightened at the presence ofa stranger, and the light of fire and lamp; but that as the time wenton they had grown bolder and were now disporting themselves as wastheir wont.
How busy they were! and hark to the strange noises! Up and down behindthe old wainscot, over the ceiling and under the floor they raced, andgnawed, and scratched! Malcolmson smiled to himself as he recalled tomind the saying of Mrs. Dempster, 'Bogies is rats, and rats isbogies!' The tea began to have its effect of intellectual and nervousstimulus, he saw with joy another long spell of work to be done beforethe night was past, and in the sense of security which it gave him, heallowed himself the luxury of a good look round the room. He took hislamp in one hand, and went all around, wondering that so quaint andbeautiful an old house had been so long neglected. The carving of theoak on the panels of the wainscot was fine, and on and round the doorsand windows it was beautiful and of rare merit. There were some oldpictures on the walls, but they were coated so thick with dust anddirt that he could not distinguish any detail of them, though he heldhis lamp as high as he could over his head. Here and there as he wentround he saw some crack or hole blocked for a moment by the face of arat with its bright eyes glittering in the light, but in an instant itwas gone, and a squeak and a scamper followed. The thing that moststruck him, however, was the rope of the great alarm bell on the roof,which hung down in a corner of the room on the right-hand side of thefireplace. He pulled up close to the hearth a great high-backed carvedoak chair, and sat down to his last cup of tea. When this was done hemade up the fire, and went back to his work, sitting at the corner ofthe table, having the fire to his left. For a little while the ratsdisturbed him somewhat with their perpetual scampering, but he gotaccustomed to the noise as one does to the ticking of a clock or tothe roar of moving water; and he became so immersed in his work thateverything in the world, except the problem which he was trying tosolve, passed away from him.
He suddenly looked up, his problem was still unsolved, and there wasin the air that sense of the hour before the dawn, which is so dreadto doubtful life. The noise of the rats had ceased. Indeed it seemedto him that it must have ceased but lately and that it was the suddencessation which had disturbed him. The fire had fallen low, but stillit threw out a deep red glow. As he looked he started in spite of his_sang froid_.
There on the great high-backed carved oak chair by the right side ofthe fireplace sat an enormous rat, steadily glaring at him withbaleful eyes. He made a motion to it as though to hunt it away, but itdid not stir. Then he made the motion of throwing something. Still itdid not stir, but showed its great white teeth angrily, and its crueleyes shone in the lamplight with an added vindictiveness.
Malcolmson felt amazed, and seizing the poker from the hearth ran atit to kill it. Before, however, he could strike it, the rat, with asqueak that sounded like the concentration of hate, jumped upon thefloor, and, running up the rope of the alarm bell, disappeared in thedarkness beyond the range of the green-shaded lamp. Instantly, strangeto say, the noisy scampering of the rats in the wainscot began again.
By this time Malcolmson's mind was quite off the problem; and as ashrill cock-crow outside told him of the approach of morning, he wentto bed and to sleep.
He slept so sound that he was not even waked by Mrs. Dempster comingin to make up his room. It was only when she had tidied up the placeand got his breakfast ready and tapped on the screen which closed inhis bed that he woke. He was a little tired still after his night'shard work, but a strong cup of tea soon freshened him up and, takinghis book, he went out for his morning walk, bringing with him a fewsandwiches lest he should not care to return till dinner time. Hefound a quiet walk between high elms some way outside the town, andhere he spent the greater part of the day studying his Laplace. On hisreturn he looked in to see Mrs. Witham and to thank her for herkindness. When she saw him coming through the diamond-paned bay windowof her sanctum she came out to meet him and asked him in. She lookedat him searchingly and shook her head as she said:
'You must not overdo it, sir. You are paler this morning than youshould be. Too late hours and too hard work on the brain isn't goodfor any man! But tell me, sir, how did you pass the night? Well, Ihope? But my heart! sir, I was glad when Mrs. Dempster told me thismorning that you were all right and sleeping sound when she went in.'
'Oh, I was all right,' he answered smiling, 'the "somethings" didn'tworry me, as yet. Only the rats; and they had a circus, I tell you,all over the place. There was one wicked looking old devil that sat upon my own chair by the fire, and wouldn't go till I took the poker tohim, and then he ran up the rope of the alarm bell and got tosomewhere up the wall or the ceiling--I couldn't see where, it was sodark.'
'Mercy on us,' said Mrs. Witham, 'an old devil, and sitting on a chairby the fireside! Take care, sir! take care! There's many a true wordspoken in jest.'
'How do you mean? Pon my word I don't understand.'
'An old devil! The old devil, perhaps. There! sir, you needn't laugh,'for Malcolmson had broken into a hearty peal. 'You young folks thinksit easy to laugh at things that makes older ones shudder. Never mind,sir! never mind! Please God, you'll laugh all the time. It's what Iwish you myself!' and the good lady beamed all over in sympathy withhis enjoyment, her fears gone for a moment.
'Oh, forgive me!' said Malcolmson presently. 'Don't think me rude; butthe idea was too much for me--that the old devil himself was on thechair last night!' And at the thought he laughed again. Then he wenthome to dinner.
This evening the scampering of the rats began earlier; indeed it hadbeen going on before his arrival, and only ceased whilst his presenceby its freshness disturbed them. After dinner he sat by the fire for awhile and had a smoke; and then, having cleared his table, began towork as before. Tonight the rats disturbed him more than they had doneon the previous night. How they scampered up and down and under andover! How they squeaked, and scratched, and gnawed! How they, gettingbolder by degrees, came to the mouths of their holes and to the chinksand cracks and crannies in the wainscoting till their eyes shone liketiny lamps as the firelight rose and fell. But to him, now doubtlessaccustomed to them, their eyes were not wicked; only their playfulnesstouched him. Sometimes the boldest of them made sallies out on thefloor or along the mouldings of the wainscot. Now and again as theydisturbed him Malcolmson made a
sound to frighten them, smiting thetable with his hand or giving a fierce 'Hsh, hsh,' so that they fledstraightway to their holes.
And so the early part of the night wore on; and despite the noiseMalcolmson got more and more immersed in his work.
All at once he stopped, as on the previous night, being overcome by asudden sense of silence. There was not the faintest sound of gnaw, orscratch, or squeak. The silence was as of the grave. He remembered theodd occurrence of the previous night, and instinctively he looked atthe chair standing close by the fireside. And then a very oddsensation thrilled through him.
There, on the great old high-backed carved oak chair beside thefireplace sat the same enormous rat, steadily glaring at him withbaleful eyes.
Instinctively he took the nearest thing to his hand, a book oflogarithms, and flung it at it. The book was badly aimed and the ratdid not stir, so again the poker performance of the previous night wasrepeated; and again the rat, being closely pursued, fled up the ropeof the alarm bell. Strangely too, the departure of this rat wasinstantly followed by the renewal of the noise made by the general ratcommunity. On this occasion, as on the previous one, Malcolmson couldnot see at what part of the room the rat disappeared, for the greenshade of his lamp left the upper part of the room in darkness, and thefire had burned low.
On looking at his watch he found it was close on midnight; and, notsorry for the _divertissement_, he made up his fire and made himselfhis nightly pot of tea. He had got through a good spell of work, andthought himself entitled to a cigarette; and so he sat on the greatoak chair before the fire and enjoyed it. Whilst smoking he began tothink that he would like to know where the rat disappeared to, for hehad certain ideas for the morrow not entirely disconnected with arat-trap. Accordingly he lit another lamp and placed it so that itwould shine well into the right-hand corner of the wall by thefireplace. Then he got all the books he had with him, and placed themhandy to throw at the vermin. Finally he lifted the rope of the alarmbell and placed the end of it on the table, fixing the extreme endunder the lamp. As he handled it he could not help noticing howpliable it was, especially for so strong a rope, and one not in use.'You could hang a man with it,' he thought to himself. When hispreparations were made he looked around, and said complacently:
'There now, my friend, I think we shall learn something of you thistime!' He began his work again, and though as before somewhatdisturbed at first by the noise of the rats, soon lost himself in hispropositions and problems.
Again he was called to his immediate surroundings suddenly. This timeit might not have been the sudden silence only which took hisattention; there was a slight movement of the rope, and the lampmoved. Without stirring, he looked to see if his pile of books waswithin range, and then cast his eye along the rope. As he looked hesaw the great rat drop from the rope on the oak arm-chair and sitthere glaring at him. He raised a book in his right hand, and takingcareful aim, flung it at the rat. The latter, with a quick movement,sprang aside and dodged the missile. He then took another book, and athird, and flung them one after another at the rat, but each timeunsuccessfully. At last, as he stood with a book poised in his hand tothrow, the rat squeaked and seemed afraid. This made Malcolmson morethan ever eager to strike, and the book flew and struck the rat aresounding blow. It gave a terrified squeak, and turning on hispursuer a look of terrible malevolence, ran up the chair-back and madea great jump to the rope of the alarm bell and ran up it likelightning. The lamp rocked under the sudden strain, but it was a heavyone and did not topple over. Malcolmson kept his eyes on the rat, andsaw it by the light of the second lamp leap to a moulding of thewainscot and disappear through a hole in one of the great pictureswhich hung on the wall, obscured and invisible through its coating ofdirt and dust.
'I shall look up my friend's habitation in the morning,' said thestudent, as he went over to collect his books. 'The third picture fromthe fireplace; I shall not forget.' He picked up the books one by one,commenting on them as he lifted them. '_Conic Sections_ he does notmind, nor _Cycloidal Oscillations_, nor the _Principia_, nor_Quaternions_, nor _Thermodynamics_. Now for the book that fetchedhim!' Malcolmson took it up and looked at it. As he did so he started,and a sudden pallor overspread his face. He looked round uneasily andshivered slightly, as he murmured to himself:
'The Bible my mother gave me! What an odd coincidence.' He sat down towork again, and the rats in the wainscot renewed their gambols. Theydid not disturb him, however; somehow their presence gave him a senseof companionship. But he could not attend to his work, and afterstriving to master the subject on which he was engaged gave it up indespair, and went to bed as the first streak of dawn stole in throughthe eastern window.
He slept heavily but uneasily, and dreamed much; and when Mrs.Dempster woke him late in the morning he seemed ill at ease, and for afew minutes did not seem to realise exactly where he was. His firstrequest rather surprised the servant.
'Mrs. Dempster, when I am out to-day I wish you would get the stepsand dust or wash those pictures--specially that one the third from thefireplace--I want to see what they are.'
Late in the afternoon Malcolmson worked at his books in the shadedwalk, and the cheerfulness of the previous day came back to him as theday wore on, and he found that his reading was progressing well. Hehad worked out to a satisfactory conclusion all the problems which hadas yet baffled him, and it was in a state of jubilation that he paid avisit to Mrs. Witham at 'The Good Traveller'. He found a stranger inthe cosy sitting-room with the landlady, who was introduced to him asDr. Thornhill. She was not quite at ease, and this, combined with thedoctor's plunging at once into a series of questions, made Malcolmsoncome to the conclusion that his presence was not an accident, sowithout preliminary he said:
'Dr. Thornhill, I shall with pleasure answer you any question you maychoose to ask me if you will answer me one question first.'
The doctor seemed surprised, but he smiled and answered at once,'Done! What is it?'
'Did Mrs. Witham ask you to come here and see me and advise me?'
Dr. Thornhill for a moment was taken aback, and Mrs. Witham got fieryred and turned away; but the doctor was a frank and ready man, and heanswered at once and openly.
'She did: but she didn't intend you to know it. I suppose it was myclumsy haste that made you suspect. She told me that she did not likethe idea of your being in that house all by yourself, and that shethought you took too much strong tea. In fact, she wants me to adviseyou if possible to give up the tea and the very late hours. I was akeen student in my time, so I suppose I may take the liberty of acollege man, and without offence, advise you not quite as a stranger.'
Malcolmson with a bright smile held out his hand. 'Shake! as they sayin America,' he said. 'I must thank you for your kindness and Mrs.Witham too, and your kindness deserves a return on my part. I promiseto take no more strong tea--no tea at all till you let me--and I shallgo to bed tonight at one o'clock at latest. Will that do?'
'Capital,' said the doctor. 'Now tell us all that you noticed in theold house,' and so Malcolmson then and there told in minute detail allthat had happened in the last two nights. He was interrupted every nowand then by some exclamation from Mrs. Witham, till finally when hetold of the episode of the Bible the landlady's pent-up emotions foundvent in a shriek; and it was not till a stiff glass of brandy andwater had been administered that she grew composed again. Dr.Thornhill listened with a face of growing gravity, and when thenarrative was complete and Mrs. Witham had been restored he asked:
'The rat always went up the rope of the alarm bell?'
'Always.'
'I suppose you know,' said the Doctor after a pause, 'what the ropeis?'
'No!'
'It is,' said the Doctor slowly, 'the very rope which the hangman usedfor all the victims of the Judge's judicial rancour!' Here he wasinterrupted by another scream from Mrs. Witham, and steps had to betaken for her recovery. Malcolmson having looked at his watch, andfound that it was close to his dinner hour, had gone home be
fore hercomplete recovery.
When Mrs. Witham was herself again she almost assailed the Doctor withangry questions as to what he meant by putting such horrible ideasinto the poor young man's mind. 'He has quite enough there already toupset him,' she added. Dr. Thornhill replied:
'My dear madam, I had a distinct purpose in it! I wanted to draw hisattention to the bell rope, and to fix it there. It may be that he isin a highly overwrought state, and has been studying too much,although I am bound to say that he seems as sound and healthy a youngman, mentally and bodily, as ever I saw--but then the rats--and thatsuggestion of the devil.' The doctor shook his head and went on. 'Iwould have offered to go and stay the first night with him but that Ifelt sure it would have been a cause of offence. He may get in thenight some strange fright or hallucination; and if he does I want himto pull that rope. All alone as he is it will give us warning, and wemay reach him in time to be of service. I shall be sitting up prettylate tonight and shall keep my ears open. Do not be alarmed ifBenchurch gets a surprise before morning.'
'Oh, Doctor, what do you mean? What do you mean?'
'I mean this; that possibly--nay, more probably--we shall hear thegreat alarm bell from the Judge's House tonight,' and the Doctor madeabout as effective an exit as could be thought of.
When Malcolmson arrived home he found that it was a little after hisusual time, and Mrs. Dempster had gone away--the rules of Greenhow'sCharity were not to be neglected. He was glad to see that the placewas bright and tidy with a cheerful fire and a well-trimmed lamp. Theevening was colder than might have been expected in April, and a heavywind was blowing with such rapidly-increasing strength that there wasevery promise of a storm during the night. For a few minutes after hisentrance the noise of the rats ceased; but so soon as they becameaccustomed to his presence they began again. He was glad to hear them,for he felt once more the feeling of companionship in their noise, andhis mind ran back to the strange fact that they only ceased tomanifest themselves when that other--the great rat with the balefuleyes--came upon the scene. The reading-lamp only was lit and its greenshade kept the ceiling and the upper part of the room in darkness, sothat the cheerful light from the hearth spreading over the floor andshining on the white cloth laid over the end of the table was warm andcheery. Malcolmson sat down to his dinner with a good appetite and abuoyant spirit. After his dinner and a cigarette he sat steadily downto work, determined not to let anything disturb him, for he rememberedhis promise to the doctor, and made up his mind to make the best ofthe time at his disposal.
For an hour or so he worked all right, and then his thoughts began towander from his books. The actual circumstances around him, the callson his physical attention, and his nervous susceptibility were not tobe denied. By this time the wind had become a gale, and the gale astorm. The old house, solid though it was, seemed to shake to itsfoundations, and the storm roared and raged through its many chimneysand its queer old gables, producing strange, unearthly sounds in theempty rooms and corridors. Even the great alarm bell on the roof musthave felt the force of the wind, for the rope rose and fell slightly,as though the bell were moved a little from time to time and thelimber rope fell on the oak floor with a hard and hollow sound.
As Malcolmson listened to it he bethought himself of the doctor'swords, 'It is the rope which the hangman used for the victims of theJudge's judicial rancour,' and he went over to the corner of thefireplace and took it in his hand to look at it. There seemed a sortof deadly interest in it, and as he stood there he lost himself for amoment in speculation as to who these victims were, and the grim wishof the Judge to have such a ghastly relic ever under his eyes. As hestood there the swaying of the bell on the roof still lifted the ropenow and again; but presently there came a new sensation--a sort oftremor in the rope, as though something was moving along it.
Looking up instinctively Malcolmson saw the great rat coming slowlydown towards him, glaring at him steadily. He dropped the rope andstarted back with a muttered curse, and the rat turning ran up therope again and disappeared, and at the same instant Malcolmson becameconscious that the noise of the rats, which had ceased for a while,began again.
All this set him thinking, and it occurred to him that he had notinvestigated the lair of the rat or looked at the pictures, as he hadintended. He lit the other lamp without the shade, and, holding it upwent and stood opposite the third picture from the fireplace on theright-hand side where he had seen the rat disappear on the previousnight.
At the first glance he started back so suddenly that he almost droppedthe lamp, and a deadly pallor overspread his face. His knees shook,and heavy drops of sweat came on his forehead, and he trembled like anaspen. But he was young and plucky, and pulled himself together, andafter the pause of a few seconds stepped forward again, raised thelamp, and examined the picture which had been dusted and washed, andnow stood out clearly.
It was of a judge dressed in his robes of scarlet and ermine. His facewas strong and merciless, evil, crafty, and vindictive, with a sensualmouth, hooked nose of ruddy colour, and shaped like the beak of a birdof prey. The rest of the face was of a cadaverous colour. The eyeswere of peculiar brilliance and with a terribly malignant expression.As he looked at them, Malcolmson grew cold, for he saw there the verycounterpart of the eyes of the great rat. The lamp almost fell fromhis hand, he saw the rat with its baleful eyes peering out through thehole in the corner of the picture, and noted the sudden cessation ofthe noise of the other rats. However, he pulled himself together, andwent on with his examination of the picture.
The Judge was seated in a great high-backed carved oak chair, on theright-hand side of a great stone fireplace where, in the corner, arope hung down from the ceiling, its end lying coiled on the floor.With a feeling of something like horror, Malcolmson recognised thescene of the room as it stood, and gazed around him in an awestruckmanner as though he expected to find some strange presence behind him.Then he looked over to the corner of the fireplace--and with a loudcry he let the lamp fall from his hand.
There, in the Judge's arm-chair, with the rope hanging behind, sat therat with the Judge's baleful eyes, now intensified and with a fiendishleer. Save for the howling of the storm without there was silence.
The fallen lamp recalled Malcolmson to himself. Fortunately it was ofmetal, and so the oil was not spilt. However, the practical need ofattending to it settled at once his nervous apprehensions. When he hadturned it out, he wiped his brow and thought for a moment.
'This will not do,' he said to himself. 'If I go on like this I shallbecome a crazy fool. This must stop! I promised the doctor I would nottake tea. Faith, he was pretty right! My nerves must have been gettinginto a queer state. Funny I did not notice it. I never felt better inmy life. However, it is all right now, and I shall not be such a foolagain.'
Then he mixed himself a good stiff glass of brandy and water andresolutely sat down to his work.
It was nearly an hour when he looked up from his book, disturbed bythe sudden stillness. Without, the wind howled and roared louder thanever, and the rain drove in sheets against the windows, beating likehail on the glass; but within there was no sound whatever save theecho of the wind as it roared in the great chimney, and now and then ahiss as a few raindrops found their way down the chimney in a lull ofthe storm. The fire had fallen low and had ceased to flame, though itthrew out a red glow. Malcolmson listened attentively, and presentlyheard a thin, squeaking noise, very faint. It came from the corner ofthe room where the rope hung down, and he thought it was the creakingof the rope on the floor as the swaying of the bell raised and loweredit. Looking up, however, he saw in the dim light the great ratclinging to the rope and gnawing it. The rope was already nearlygnawed through--he could see the lighter colour where the strands werelaid bare. As he looked the job was completed, and the severed end ofthe rope fell clattering on the oaken floor, whilst for an instant thegreat rat remained like a knob or tassel at the end of the rope, whichnow began to sway to and fro. Malcolmson felt for a moment anot
herpang of terror as he thought that now the possibility of calling theouter world to his assistance was cut off, but an intense anger tookits place, and seizing the book he was reading he hurled it at therat. The blow was well aimed, but before the missile could reach himthe rat dropped off and struck the floor with a soft thud. Malcolmsoninstantly rushed over towards him, but it darted away and disappearedin the darkness of the shadows of the room. Malcolmson felt that hiswork was over for the night, and determined then and there to vary themonotony of the proceedings by a hunt for the rat, and took off thegreen shade of the lamp so as to insure a wider spreading light. As hedid so the gloom of the upper part of the room was relieved, and inthe new flood of light, great by comparison with the previousdarkness, the pictures on the wall stood out boldly. From where hestood, Malcolmson saw right opposite to him the third picture on thewall from the right of the fireplace. He rubbed his eyes in surprise,and then a great fear began to come upon him.
In the centre of the picture was a great irregular patch of browncanvas, as fresh as when it was stretched on the frame. The backgroundwas as before, with chair and chimney-corner and rope, but the figureof the Judge had disappeared.
Malcolmson, almost in a chill of horror, turned slowly round, and thenhe began to shake and tremble like a man in a palsy. His strengthseemed to have left him, and he was incapable of action or movement,hardly even of thought. He could only see and hear.
There, on the great high-backed carved oak chair sat the Judge in hisrobes of scarlet and ermine, with his baleful eyes glaringvindictively, and a smile of triumph on the resolute, cruel mouth, ashe lifted with his hands a _black cap_. Malcolmson felt as if theblood was running from his heart, as one does in moments of prolongedsuspense. There was a singing in his ears. Without, he could hear theroar and howl of the tempest, and through it, swept on the storm, camethe striking of midnight by the great chimes in the market place. Hestood for a space of time that seemed to him endless still as astatue, and with wide-open, horror-struck eyes, breathless. As theclock struck, so the smile of triumph on the Judge's face intensified,and at the last stroke of midnight he placed the black cap on hishead.
Slowly and deliberately the Judge rose from his chair and picked upthe piece of the rope of the alarm bell which lay on the floor, drewit through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch, and then deliberatelybegan to knot one end of it, fashioning it into a noose. This hetightened and tested with his foot, pulling hard at it till he wassatisfied and then making a running noose of it, which he held in hishand. Then he began to move along the table on the opposite side toMalcolmson keeping his eyes on him until he had passed him, when witha quick movement he stood in front of the door. Malcolmson then beganto feel that he was trapped, and tried to think of what he should do.There was some fascination in the Judge's eyes, which he never tookoff him, and he had, perforce, to look. He saw the Judgeapproach--still keeping between him and the door--and raise the nooseand throw it towards him as if to entangle him. With a great effort hemade a quick movement to one side, and saw the rope fall beside him,and heard it strike the oaken floor. Again the Judge raised the nooseand tried to ensnare him, ever keeping his baleful eyes fixed on him,and each time by a mighty effort the student just managed to evade it.So this went on for many times, the Judge seeming never discouragednor discomposed at failure, but playing as a cat does with a mouse. Atlast in despair, which had reached its climax, Malcolmson cast a quickglance round him. The lamp seemed to have blazed up, and there was afairly good light in the room. At the many rat-holes and in the chinksand crannies of the wainscot he saw the rats' eyes; and this aspect,that was purely physical, gave him a gleam of comfort. He lookedaround and saw that the rope of the great alarm bell was laden withrats. Every inch of it was covered with them, and more and more werepouring through the small circular hole in the ceiling whence itemerged, so that with their weight the bell was beginning to sway.
Hark! it had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell. The soundwas but a tiny one, but the bell was only beginning to sway, and itwould increase.
At the sound the Judge, who had been keeping his eyes fixed onMalcolmson, looked up, and a scowl of diabolical anger overspread hisface. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals, and he stamped his footwith a sound that seemed to make the house shake. A dreadful peal ofthunder broke overhead as he raised the rope again, whilst the ratskept running up and down the rope as though working against time. Thistime, instead of throwing it, he drew close to his victim, and heldopen the noose as he approached. As he came closer there seemedsomething paralysing in his very presence, and Malcolmson stood rigidas a corpse. He felt the Judge's icy fingers touch his throat as headjusted the rope. The noose tightened--tightened. Then the Judge,taking the rigid form of the student in his arms, carried him over andplaced him standing in the oak chair, and stepping up beside him, puthis hand up and caught the end of the swaying rope of the alarm bell.As he raised his hand the rats fled squeaking, and disappeared throughthe hole in the ceiling. Taking the end of the noose which was roundMalcolmson's neck he tied it to the hanging-bell rope, and thendescending pulled away the chair.
* * * * *
When the alarm bell of the Judge's House began to sound a crowd soonassembled. Lights and torches of various kinds appeared, and soon asilent crowd was hurrying to the spot. They knocked loudly at thedoor, but there was no reply. Then they burst in the door, and pouredinto the great dining-room, the doctor at the head.
There at the end of the rope of the great alarm bell hung the body ofthe student, and on the face of the Judge in the picture was amalignant smile.