'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.