Dracula's Guest & Other Weird Tales - The Judge's House

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The judges House. This is the LibriVox recording. All libervox
recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Kate Mackenzie.
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker. When the time for
his examination drew near, Malcolm Malcolmson made up his mind
to go somewhere to read by himself. He feared the

(00:23):
attractions of the sea side, and also he feared completely
rural isolation, for of old he knew it charms, and
so he determined to find some unpretentious little town, but
there would be nothing to distract him. He refrained from
asking suggestions from any of his friends, for he argued
that each would recommend some place of which he had
knowledge and where he had already acquaintances. As Malcolmson wished

(00:46):
to avoid friends, he had no wish to encomber himself
with the attention of friends friends, and so he determined
to look out for a place for himself. He packed
a portmanteau, woods and clothes and all the books he required,
and then took ticket for the first name on the
local timetable, which he did not know. When at the
end of three hours journey, he alighted at ben Church.

(01:07):
He felt satisfied that he had so far obliterated his
tracks as to be sure of having a peaceful opportunity
of pursuing his studies. He went straight to the one
inn which the sleepy little pace contained, and put up
for the night. Benchurch was a market town, and once
in three weeks was crowded to excess, But for the
remainder of the twenty one days it was as attractive

(01:28):
as a desert Larkhamston looked around the day after his
arrival to try to find quarters more isolated than even
so quiet an inn. As the good traveler afforded, there
was only one place which took his fancy, and it
certainly satisfied his wildest ideas regarding quiet. In fact, quiet
was not the proper word to apply to it. Desolation

(01:49):
was the only term conveying any suitable idea of its isolation.
It was an old, rambling, heavy built house of the
Jacobean style, with heavy gables and windows unusually and set
higher than was customary in such houses, and was surrounded
with a high brick wall massively built. Indeed, on examination
it looked more like a fortified house than an ordinary dwelling.

(02:12):
But all these things pleased Malcolmson. Here, he thought, is
the very spot I have been looking for, and if
I can get opportunity of using it, I shall be happy.
His joy was increased when he realized beyond doubt that
it was not at present inhabited. From the post office
he got the name of the agent who was really

(02:32):
surprised at the application to rent a part of the
old house. Mister Carnford, the local lawyer and agent, was
a genial old gentleman, and frankly confessed his delight at
any one being willing to live in the house. To
tell you the truth, said he, I should be only
too happy on behalf of the owners to let any
one have the house rent free for a term of years,

(02:54):
if only to accustom the people here to see inhabited.
It has been so long empty that some kind of
absurd prejudice has grown up about it, and this can
be best put down by its occupation, if only, he added,
with a slight glance at Malcolmson, by a scholar like
yourself wants it quiet for a time. Malcolmson thought it
needless to ask the agent about the absurd prejudice. He

(03:18):
knew he would get more information if he should require
it on that subject from other quarters. He paid his
three months rent, got a receipt and the name of
an old woman who would probably undertaken to do for him,
and came away with the keys in his pocket. He
then went to the landlady of the inn, who was
a cheerful and most kindly person, and asked her advice
as to such stores and provisions as he would be

(03:39):
likely to require. She threw up her hands in amazement
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. He explained the locality of the house,
saying that he did not know its name. When he
had finished, she answered, aye, sure enough, sure enough, for

(04:01):
the very place it is the judges how sure 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 called locally because it had
been many years before. How long she could not say,
as she was herself from another part of the country,
but she thought it must have been a hundred years
or more. The abode of a judge who was held
in great terror on account of his harsh sentences and

(04:24):
his hostility to prisoners at assizes. As to what there
was against the house itself, she could not tell. She
had often asked, but no one could inform her. But
there was a general feeling that there was something, And
for her own part, she would not take all the
money and drinkwater's bank and stay in the house an
hour by herself. Then she apologized to Markhamson for her

(04:47):
disturbing talk. It is too bad of me, sir, and
you and a young gentleman too, if you will pardon
me saying it, going to live there all alone, if
you and my boy, and you'll excuse me for saying it,
you won't sleep there, and not if I had to
go there myself and pull the big arm bells on
the roof. The good creature was so manifestly in earnest

(05:07):
and was so kindly in her intentions that Malcolmson, although amused,
was touched. He told her kindly how much he appreciated
her interest in him, and added, but my dear missus,
witham indeed, you need not be concerned about me. A
man who is reading for the mathematical tripos, has too
much to think of to be disturbed by any of
these mysterious some things. And his work is of too

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exact and prosaic a kind to allow, as if having
any corner of his mind for mysteries of any kind.
Harmonical progression, permutations and combinations and elliptic functions have sufficient
mysteries for me. Missus whan kindly undertook to see after
his commissions, and he went himself to look for the
old woman who had been recommended to him. When he
returned to the judge's house with her, after an interval

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of a couple of hours, he found Missus witham herself
waiting with several men and boys carrying parcels, and an
upholsterous man with a bed and a car. For she said,
though tables and chairs might be all very well, a
bed that hadn't been aired for mayhaps fifty years was
not proper for young bones to lie on. She was
evidently curious to see the inside of the house, and

(06:13):
though manifestly so afraid of the some things, that at
the slightest sound she clutched on to Malcolmson, whom she
never left for a moment went over the whole place.
After his examination of the house, Malcolmson decided to take
up his abode in the great dining room, which was
big enough to serve for all his requirements, and Missus Witham,
with the aid of the charwoman, Missus Dempster, proceeded to

(06:35):
arrange matters. When the hampers were brought in and unpacked,
Malkinson saw that, with much kind forethought, she had sent
from her own kitchens official provisions to last for a
few days. Before going, she expressed all sorts of kind wishes.
Another door turned and said, and perhaps, sir, as the
room is big and drafty, it might be well to
have one of those big screens put round your bed

(06:56):
at night. Though truth to tell, I would die myself
if I were to be so shut in with all
kinds of things that put their heads round the sides
or over the top and look on me. The image
which she had called up was too much for her nerves,
and she fled incontinently. Missus Dempster sniffed in a superior
manner as the landlady disappeared, and remarked that for her

(07:17):
own part, she wasn't afraid of all the bogies in
the kingdom. I'll tell you what it is, sir, she said.
Bogies is all kinds and sorts of things except bogies,
rats and mice and beetles and creaky doors and loose
slates and broken panes and stiff drawer handles stay out
when you pull them and then fall down in the
middle of the night. Look at the wainskirt of the room.

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It is all hundreds of years old. Do you think
there's no rats and beetles there? And do you imagine, sir,
that you won't seen none of them? Rats is bogies
are telling you, and bogieses rats. And don't you get
to think anything else, missus dempster, said Malcolmson, gravely, making
her a polite bow. You know more than a senior wrangler.
And let me say that as a mark of esteem

(08:02):
for your indubitable soundness of head and heart, I shall,
when I go, give you possession of this house and
let you stay here by yourself for the last two
months of my tendency for four weeks will serve my purpose.
Thank you kindly, sir, she answered. But I can't sleep
away from home at night. I'm in Greenhouse's charity, and
if I slept a night away from my rooms, I

(08:23):
should lose all I have got to live on. The
rules is very stract, and there's too many watching for
a vacancy for me to run any risks in the matter.
And if for that, sir, i'd gladly come here on
a turns on your altogether during your stay, my good woman,
said Malcolmson hastily, I have come here on purpose to
obtain solitude. And believe me that I am grateful to

(08:44):
the late Greenhouse for having so organized his admirable charity.
Whatever it is that I am perforced denied the opportunity
of suffering from such a form of temptation. Saint Anthony
himself could not be more rigid on the point. The
old woman laughed harshly. Ah, young gentlemen, she said, you
don't fear for naught, And but I you'll get all

(09:04):
the solitude you want here, she said, to work with
her cleaning, And by nightfall when Malcolmson returned from his walk,
he always had one of his books to study. As
he walked. He found the room swept and tided, a
fire burning in the old hearth, The lamp lit and
the table spread for supper with missus Wam's excellent fare.
This is comfort, indeed, he said, as he rubbed his hands.

(09:25):
When he had finished his supper and lifted the tray
to the other end of the great oak dining table,
he got out his books again, put fresh wood on
the fire, trimmed his lamp, and set himself down to
a spell of real 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
make himself a cup of tea. He had always been
a tea drinker, and during his college life had sat

(09:47):
later a work and had taken tea late. The rest
was a great luxury to him, and he enjoyed it
with a sense of delicious, voluptuous ease. The renewed fire
leaped and sparkled and threw quaint shadow those through the
great old room, and as he sipped his hot tea,
he reveled and the sense of isolation from his kind.
Then it was that he began to notice for the

(10:08):
first time what a noise the rats were making. Surely,
he thought they cannot have been at it all the time.
I was reading. Had they been, I must have noticed
it presently. When the noise increased, he satisfied himself that
it was really new. It was evident that at first
the rats had been frightened at the presence of a
stranger and the light of fire and lump, but that

(10:31):
as the time went on they had grown bolder and
were now disporting themselves as was their wont how busy
they were, and harked the strange noises up and down
behind the old wainskirt, over the ceiling, and under the floor.
They raised a nod and scratched. Malcolmson smiled to himself
as I recalled to mind a saying of Missus Dempster's
burgers his rats, and rats his bogies. The tea began

(10:54):
to have its effect of intellectual and nervous stimulus. He
saw with joy another long spell of work to be
done before the night was past, And in the sense
of security which he gave him, he allowed himself the
luxury of a good look around the room. He took
his lamp in one hand and went all around, wondering
that so quaint and beautiful an old house had been
so long neglected. The carving of the oak on the

(11:15):
panels of the wainscot was fine, and on and round
the doors and windows, it was beautiful and of rare merit.
There were some old pictures on the walls, but they
were coated so thick with dust and dirt that he
could not distinguish any detail of them, though he held
his lamp as high as he could over his head.
Here and there, as he went round he saw some
crack or hole blocked for a moment by the face

(11:37):
of a rat, with its bright eyes glittering in the light.
But in an instant it was gone, and a squeak
and a scamper followed. The thing that most struck 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 the fireplace. He pulled up
close to the hearth a great, high backed, carved oak chair,

(11:57):
and sat down to his last cup of tea. When
this was done, he made up the fire and went
back to his work, sitting at the corner of the table,
having the fire to his left. For a little while,
the rats disturbed him somewhat with their perpetual scampering, but
He got accustomed to the noise, as one does to
the ticking of a clock or to the roar of
moving water, and he became so immersed in his work

(12:17):
that everything in the world except the problem which he
was trying to solve, passed away from him. He suddenly
looked up. His problem was still unsolved, and there was
in the air that sense of the hour before the dawn,
which is so dread to doubtful life. The noise of
the rats had ceased. Indeed, it seemed to him that
it must have ceased but lately, and that it was

(12:39):
the sudden cessation which had disturbed him. The fire had
fallen low, but still it threw out a deep red glow.
As he looked, he started in spite of his Saint Foix.
There on the great, high backed, carved oak chair by
the right side of the fireplace sat an enormous rat,
steadily glaring at him with baleful eyes. He made a

(13:02):
motion to it, as though to hunt it away, but
it did not stir. Then he made the motion of
throwing something. Still it did not stir, but showed its
great white teeth angrily, and its cruel eyes shone in
the lamp light. With an added vindictiveness. Macolmson felt amazed, and,
seizing the poker from the hearth, ran at it to
kill it. Before, however, he could strike it, the rat,

(13:25):
with a squeak that sounded like the concentration of hate,
jumped upon the floor, and, running up the rope of
the alarm bell, disappeared in the darkness beyond the range
of the green shaded lamp. Instantly strange to say, the
noisy scampering of the rats in the windscot began again.
By this time, Malcolmson's mind was quite off the problem,
and as a shrill cock crow outside told him of

(13:47):
the approach of morning, he went to bed and to sleep.
He slept so sound that he was not even awaked
by Missus Dempster coming in to make up his room.
It was only when she had tidied up the place
and got his breakfast ready and tapped on the screen
which closed in his bed, that he woke. He was
a little tired still after his night's hard work, but
a strong c above tea soon freshened him up, and

(14:08):
taking his book, he went out for his morning walk,
bringing with him a few sandwiches lest he should not
care to return till dinner time. He found a quiet
walk between high elms some way outside the town, and
here he spent the greater part of the day studying
his la place. On his return, he looked in to
see Missus witham and to thank her for her kindness.
When she saw him coming through the diamond paned bay

(14:30):
window of her sanctum, she came out to meet him
and asked him in. She looked at him searchingly and
shook her head as she said, you must not overdo it, sir.
You are paler this morning than you should be. Two
late hours and too hard work on the brain isn't
good for any man. But tell me, sir, how did
you pass the night? Well? I hope, but my heart said.

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I was glad when Missus Dempster told me this morning
that you are right in sleeping sound when she went in. Oh,
I was all right, he answered, smiling. The some things
didn't worry as yet, only the rats, and they had
a circus. I'd tell you, all over the place there
was one wicked looking old devil that sat up on
my own chair by the fire. I wouldn't go till

(15:11):
I took the poker to him and then he ran
up the rope of the alarm bell and got to
somewhere up the wall or the ceiling. I couldn't see where,
it was so dark. Mercy your nose, said missus, witham
an old devil and sitting on a chair by the fireside.
Take care, sir, take care. There's many a true word
spoken in jest. How do you mean upon my word?
I don't understand an old devil? The old devil? Perhaps there, sir,

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you needed a laugh, for Malcolmson had broken into a
hearty peal. You young folks thinks it's easy to laugh
at things that makes old the one shudder. Never mind, sir,
never mind, Please God, you'll laugh all the time. That's
what I wish you myself. And the good lady beamed
all over in sympathy with his enjoyment. Have fears gone
for a moment? Oh, forgive me, said Markinson, presently, don't

(15:58):
think me rude, But the idea was too much for me.
That the old devil himself was on the chair last night.
And at the thought he laughed again. Then he went
home to dinner this evening. The scampering of the rats
began earlier. Indeed, it had been going on before his arrival,
and only ceased whilst his presence, by its freshness, disturbed them.

(16:19):
After dinner, he sat by the fire for a while
and had a smoke, and then, having cleared his table,
began to work as before to night. The rats disturbed
him more than they had done on the previous night.
How they scampered up and down, and under and over,
how they squeaked and scratched and gnawed, How they, getting
bolder by degrees, came to the mouths of their holes,
and to the chinks and cracks and crannies in the wainscotting,

(16:40):
till their eyes shone like tiny lamps as the firelight
rose and fell. But to him, now doubtless accustomed to them,
eyes were not wicked. Only their playfulness touched him. Sometimes
the boldest of them made sallies out on the floor
or along the moldings of the wainscots. Now and again,
as they disturbed him, Markinson made a sound of frighten them,
smiting the table with his hand, or giving a fierce shh,

(17:04):
so that they fled straightway to their holes. And so
the early part of the night were on, and despite
the noise, Malcolmson got more and more immersed in his work.
All at once he stopped, as on the previous night,
being overcome by a sudden sense of silence. There was
not the faintest sound of gnaw or scratch or squeak.

(17:26):
The silence was as of the grave. He remembered the
odd occurrence of the previous night, and instinctively he looked
at the chest unenclosed by the fireside, and then a
very odd sensation thrilled through him. There on the great, old,
high backed carved oak chair beside the fireplace, sapt the
same enormous rat, steadily glaring at him with baleful eyes. Instinctively,

(17:52):
he took the nearest thing to his hand, a book
of logarithms, and flung it at it. The book was
badly aimed, and the rat did not stir. So again
the poker performance of the previous night was repeated, and
again the rat, being closely pursued, fled up the rope
of the alarm bell. Strangely, too, the departure of this
rat was instantly followed by the renewal of the noise
made by the general rat community. On this occasion, as

(18:15):
on the previous one, Malcolmson could not see at what
part of the room the rat disappeared, for the green
shade of his lamp left the upper part of the
room in darkness, and the fire had burned low. On
looking at his watch, he found it was close on midnight,
and not sorry for the de vatismo, he made up
his fire and made himself his nightly pot of tea.
He had got through a good spell of work and

(18:35):
thought himself entitled to a cigarette, and so he sat
on the great oak chair before the fire and enjoyed it.
Whilst smoking, he began to think that he would like
to know where the rat disappeared to, for he had
certain ideas for the morrow, not entirely disconnected with a
rat trap. Accordingly, he lit another lamp and placed it
so that it would shine well into the right hand
corner of the wall by the fireplace. Then he got

(18:58):
all the books he had with him and placed them
handy to throw at the vermin. Finally, he lifted the
rope of the alarm bell and placed the end of
it on the table, fixing the extreme end under the lamp.
As he handled it, he could not help noticing how
pliable it was, especially for so strong a rope, and
one not in use. You could hang a man with it,

(19:20):
he thought to himself. When his preparations were made, he
looked around and said complacently, there now, my friend, I
think we shall learn something of you. This time he
began his work again, and, though as before, somewhat disturbed
at first by the noise of the rats, soon lost
himself in his propositions and problems. Again he was called
to his immediate surroundings suddenly. This time it might not

(19:42):
have been the sudden silence only which took his attention.
There was a slight movement of the rope, and the
lamp moved without stirring. He looked to see if his
pile of books was within range, and then cast his
eye along the rope. As he looked, he saw the
great rat drop from the rope on the oak arm
chair and sit there glaring at him. He raised a
book in his right hand, and, taking careful aim, flung

(20:04):
it at the rat. The latter, with a quick movement,
sprang aside and dodged the missile. He then took another
book and a third and flung them one after another
at the rat, but each time unsuccessfully. At last, as
he stood with a book poised in his hand to throw.
The rat squeaked and seemed afraid. This made Malcolmson more
than ever eager to strike, and the book flew and
struck the rat a resounding blow. It gave a terrified squeak, and,

(20:28):
turning on his pursuer a look of terrible malevolence, ran
up the chair back and made a great jump to
the rope of the alarm bell, and ran up it
like lightning. The lamp rocked under the sudden strain, but
it was a heavy one and did not topple over.
Malcolmson kept his eyes on the rat, and saw it
by the light of the second lamp, leaped to a
molding of the wainscirt and disappeared through a hole in
one of the great pictures which hung on the wall,

(20:50):
obscured and invisible through its coating of dirt and dust.
I shall look up my friend's habitation in the morning,
said the student, as he went over to collect his
books the third picture from the fireplace, I shall not forget.
He picked up the books one by one, commenting on
them as he lifted them. Conic sections he does not mind,
nor cycloidal oscillations, nor the Princeship here, nor Quaturnyon's nor Thermodynamics.

(21:17):
Now for the book that fetched him, 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 and shivered slightly as he murmured to himself, the Bible,
my mother gave me. What an odd coincidence. He sat
down to work again, and the rats in the wainskirt

(21:39):
renewed their gambols. They did not disturb him, however, somehow
their presence gave him the sense of companionship. But he
could not attend to his work, and, after striving to
matter the subject on which he was engaged, gave it
up in despair and went to bed as the first
streak of dawn stolen through the eastern window. He slept
heavily but uneasily, and dreamed much, And when Missus Dempster

(21:59):
woke him late in the morning, he seemed ill at ease,
and for a few minutes did not seem to realize
exactly where he was. His first request rather surprised the
servant Missus Dempster. When I'm out to day, I wish
you would get the steps and dust or wash those pictures,
especially that one the third from the fireplace. I want
to see what they are. Late in the afternoon, Malcolmson

(22:21):
worked at his books in the shady walk, and the
cheerfulness of the previous day came back to him as
the day wore on, and he found that his reading
was progressing well. He had worked out to a satisfactory
conclusion all the problems which it had as yet baffled him,
and it was in a state of jubilation that he
paid a visit to Missus witham At the Good Traveler.
He found a stranger in the cozy sitting room with
the landlady, who was introduced to him as Dr Thornhill.

(22:44):
She was not quite at ease, and this, combined with
the doctor's plunging at once into a series of questions,
made Malcolmson come to the conclusion that his presence was
not an accident. So without preliminary he said, Dr Thornhill,
I shall with pleasure answer you any question, and you
may choose to ask me if you will answer me
one question first. The doctor seemed surprised, but he smiled

(23:06):
and answered at once done, what is it? Did Missus
witham ask you to come here and see me and
advise me. Doctor Thornhill, for a moment was taken aback,
and Missus with them got fiery red and turned away.
But the doctor was a frank and ready man, and
he answered at once and openly. She did, but she
didn't intend you to know it. I suppose it was

(23:29):
my clumsy haste that made you suspect. She told me
that she did not like the idea of your being
in that house all by yourself, and that she thought
you took too much strong tea. In fact, she wants
me to advise you, if possible, to give up the
tea in the very late hours. I was a keen
student in my time, so I suppose I might take
the liberty of a college man and without offense advise you,

(23:52):
not quite as a stranger. Malkinson, with a bright smile,
held out his hand shake as they say in America.
He said, I must thank you for your kindness, and
Missus witherm too, and your kindness deserves a return on
my part. I promised to take no more strong tea,
no to you at all till you let me, and
I shall go to bed to night at one o'clock

(24:13):
at latest, will that do capital, said the doctor. Now
tell us all that you noticed in the old house.
And so Mackinson then and there told him minute detail
all that had happened in the last two nights. He
was interrupted every now and then by some exclamation from
Missus Witham, till finally, when he told of the episode
of the Bible, that a landlady's pentive emotions found vent

(24:36):
in a shriek, and it was not till a stiff
glass of brandy and water had been administered that she
grew composed again. Doctor Thornhill listened with a face of
growing gravity. When the narrative was complete and Missus 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 rope is? No,

(25:01):
it is, said the doctor slowly, the very rope which
the hangman used for all the victims of the judge's
a judicial ora ancor. Here he was interrupted by another
scream from Missus Withham in steps had to be taken
for her recovery. Malcolmson, having looked at his watch and
found that it was close to his dinner hour, had
gone home before her complete recovery. When Missus Witheran was

(25:25):
herself against, she almost assailed the doctor with angry questions
as to what he meant by putting such horrible ideas
into the poor young man's mind. He has quite enough
there already to upset him, she added. Doctor Thornhill replied,
my dear Madam, I had a distinct purpose in it.
I wanted to draw his attention to the bell rope

(25:45):
and to fix it there. It may be that he
is in a highly overwrought state and has been studying
too much, although I am bound to say that he
seems a sound and healthier young man mentally and bodily
as ever I saw. But then the rats suggestion of
the devil. The doctor shook his head and went on,
I would have offered to go and stay the first

(26:06):
night with him, but that I felt sure it would
have been a cause of offense. He may get in
the night some strange fright or hallucination, and if he does,
I want him to pull that rope all alone as
he is. It will give us warning and we may
reach him in time to be of service. I shall
be sitting up pretty late tonight and should keep my
ears open. Do not be alarmed if benchurch gets a

(26:28):
surprise before morning. A doctor, what do you mean? What
do you mean? I mean this that possibly, nay more probably,
we shall hear the great alarm bell from the Judge's
house tonight, And the doctor made about as effective an
exit as could be thought of. When Malcolmson arrived home,
he found that he was a little after his usual time,

(26:49):
and Missus Dempster had gone away. The rules of Greenhow's
charity were not to be neglected. He was glad to
see that the place was bright and tidy, with a
cheerful fire and a well trimmed lamp. The evening was
colder than might have been expected in April, and a
heavy wind was blown with such rapidly increasing strength that
there was every promise of a storm during the night.
For a few minutes after his entrance, the noise of

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the rats ceased, but so soon as they became accustomed
to his presence they began again. He was glad to
hear them, for he felt once more the feeling of
companionship in their noise, and his mind ran back to
the strange fact that they only ceased to manifest themselves.
When that other, the great rat with the baleful eyes,
came upon the scene. The reading lamp only was lit,

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and its green shade kept the ceiling the upper part
of the room in darkness, so that the cheerful light
from the hearth, spreading over the floor and shining on
the white cloth laid over the end of the table,
was warm and cheery. Malcolmson sat down to his dinner
with a good appetite and a buoyant spirit. After his
dinner and a cigarette, he sat steadily down to work,
determined not to let anything disturb him, for he remembered

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his promise to the doctor and made up his mind
to make the best of the time at his disposal.
For an hour or so he worked right, and then
his thoughts began to wander from his books the actual
circumstances around him. The calls on his physical attention and
his nervous susceptibility were not to be denied. By this time,
the wind had become a gale, and the gale a storm.

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The old house solid though it was, seemed to shake
to its foundations, and the storm roared and raged through
its many chimneys and its queer old gables, producing strange,
unearthly sounds, and the empty rooms and corridors. Even the
great alarm bell on the roof must have felt the
force of the wind, for the rope rose and fell
slightly as other bell were moved a little from time
to time, and the limber rope fell on the oak

(28:36):
floor with a hard and hollow sound. As Malcolmson listened
to it, he bethought himself of the doctor's words, it
is the rope which the hangman used for the victims
of the judge's judicial rancor. And he went over to
the corner of the fireplace and took it in his
hand to look at it. There seemed a sort of
deadly interest in it, and as he stood there, he
lost himself for a moment in speculation as to who

(28:58):
these victims were, and the grim wish of the Dodge
to have such a ghastly relic ever under his eyes,
as he stood there, the swaying of the bell on
the roof still lifted the rope now and again, but
presently there came a new sensation, a sort of tremor
in the rope, as though something was moving along it.
Looking up instinctively, Malcolmson saw the great rat coming slowly

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down towards him, glaring at him steadily. He dropped the
rope and started back with a muttered curse, and the rat, turning,
ran up the rope again and disappeared. And at the
same instant Malcolmson became consciousness 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 not investigated the lair of the rat or looked

(29:39):
at the pictures as he had intended. He lit the
other lamp without the shade, and holding it up, went
and stood opposite the third picture from the fireplace on
the right hand side, where he had seen the rat
disappear on the previous night. At the first glance, he
started back so suddenly that he almost dropped the lamp,
and a deadly pallor overspread his face his knees, and

(30:00):
heavy drops of sweat came on his forehead, and he
trembled like an aspen. But he was young and plucky
and pulled himself together, and after the pause of a
few seconds, stepped forward again, raised the lamp and examined
the picture which had been dusted and washed, and now
stood out clearly. It was of a judge, dressed in
his robes of scarlet and ermine. His face was strong

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and merciless, evil, crafty, and vindictive, with a sensual mouth,
hooked nose of ruddy color, and shaped like the beak
of a bird of prey. The rest of the face
was of a cadaverous color. The eyes were of peculiar brilliance,
and with a terribly malignant expression. As he looked at them,
Malcolmson grew cold, for he saw there the very counterpart

(30:47):
of the eyes of the great rat. The lamp almost
fell from his hand. He saw the rat with its
baleful eyes, peering out through the hole in the corner
of the picture, and noted the sudden cessation of the
noise of the other rats. However, he pulled himself together
and went on with his examination of the picture. The
judge was seated in a great, high backed, carved oak

(31:08):
chair on the right hand side of a great stone fireplace,
where in the corner a rope hung down from the ceiling,
its end lying coiled on the floor. With a feeling
of something like horror, Malcolmson recognized the scene of the
room as it stood, and gazed around him in an
awe struck manner, as though he expected to find some
strange presence behind him. Then he looked over to the

(31:29):
corner of the fireplace, and with a loud cry, he
let the lamp fall from his hand. There in the
judge's arm chair, with a rope hanging behind, sat the rat,
with the judge's baleful eyes now intensified him with a
fiendish leer. Save for the howling of the storm, without
there was silence. The fallen lane, re called Malcolmson to himself.

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Fortunately it was of metal, and so the oil was
not spilt. However, the practical need of attending to it
settled at once his nervous apprehensions. When he had turned
it out, he wiped his and thought for a moment.
This will not do, he said to himself. If I
go on like this, I shall become a crazy fool.
This must stop, I promised the doctor I would not

(32:11):
take tea faith. He was pretty right. My nerves must
have been getting into a queer state. Funny, I did
not notice it. I never felt better in my life. However,
it is all right now, and I shall not be
such a fool again. Then he mixed himself a good
stiff glass of brandy and water, and resolutely sat down
to his work. It was nearly an hour when he

(32:33):
looked up from his book, disturbed by the sudden stillness without.
The wind howled and roared louder than ever, and the
rain drove in sheets against the windows, beating like hail
on the glass. But within there was no sound whatever
save the echo of the wind as it roared in
the great chimney, And now and then a hiss as

(32:53):
a few rain drops found their way down the chimney
in a lull of the storm. The fire had fallen
low and seen flame, though it threw out a red glow.
Markhamson listened attentively and presently hid. A thin squeaking noise,
very faint. It came from the corner of the room,
where the rope hung down, and he thought it was
the creaking of the rope on the floor, as the

(33:15):
swaying of the bell raised and lowered it. Looking up, however,
he saw in the dim light the great rat clinging
to the rope and gnawing it. The rope was already
nearly gnawed through. He could see the lighter color where
the strands were laid bare as he looked. The job
was completed, and the severed end of the rope fell

(33:35):
clattering on the oaken floor, whilst for an instant the
great rat remained like a noble tassel at the end
of the rope, which now began to sway to and fro.
Makamsen felt for a moment another pang of terror, as
he thought that now the possibility of calling the out
well to his assistance was cut off, But an intense
anger took its place, and, seizing the book he was reading,

(33:56):
he held it at the rat. The blow was well aimed,
but before the missile could reach him, the rat dropped
off and struck the floor with a soft thud. Malkinson
instantly rushed over towards him, but it darted away and
disappeared in the darkness of the shadows of the room.
Malcolmson felt that his work was over for the night,
and determined then and there to vary the monotony of

(34:16):
the proceedings by a hunt for the rat, and took
off the green shade of the lamp so as to
ensure a wider spreading light. As he did so the
gloom of the upper part of the room was relieved,
and in the new flood of light great by comparison
with the previous darkness, the pictures on the wall stood
out boldly. From where he stood, Malcolmson saw right opposite
to him the third picture on the wall, from the

(34:37):
right of the fireplace. He rubbed his eyes in surprise,
and then a great fear began to come upon him.
In the center of the picture was a great irregular
patch of brown canvas, as fresh as when it was
stretched on the frame. The background was as before, with
chair and chimney, corner and rope, but the figure of
the Judge had disappeared. Macmson, almost in a chill of horror,

(35:01):
turned slowly round, and then he began to shake and tremble,
like a man in a palsy. His strength seemed 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 his robes of scarlet and ermine, with

(35:24):
his baleful eyes glaring vindictively, and a smile of triumph
on the resolute, cruel mouth as he lifted with his
hands a black cap, Malcolmson felt as if the blood
was running from his heart, as one does in moments
of prolonged suspense. There was a singing in his ears.
Without he could hear the roar and howl of the tempest,

(35:45):
and through it swept on the storm. Came the striking
of midnight by the great chimes in the market place.
He stood for a space of time that seemed to
him endless, still as a statue, and with wide open
horror struck eyes breathless. As the clock struck, so the
smile of triumph on the judge's face intensified, and at

(36:06):
the last stroke of midnight he placed the black cap
on his head. Slowly and deliberately, the judge rose from
his chair and picked up the piece of the rope
of the alarm bell which lay on the floor, drew
it through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch,
and then deliberately began to knock one end of it,
fashioning it into a noose. This he tightened and tested
with his foot, pulling hard at it till he was satisfied,

(36:28):
and then making a running noose of it, which he
held in his hand. Then he began to move along
the table on the opposite side to Malcolmson, keeping his
eyes on him until he passed him, when, with a
quick movement, he stood in front of the door. Malcolmson
then began to feel that he was trapped and try
to think of what he should do. There was some

(36:49):
fascination in the judge's eyes, which he never took off him,
and he had perforced to look. He saw the judge approach,
still keeping between him and the door, and raise the
noose and throw it to towards him, as if to
entangle him with a great effort. He made 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 news and tried to ensnare him, ever

(37:11):
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 discouraged nor discomposed at failure, but playing as a
cat does with a mouse. At last, in despair which
had reached its climax, Malcolmson cast a quick glance around him.
The lamp seemed to have blazed up, and there was

(37:33):
a fairly good light in the room. At the many
rat holes and in the chinks and crannies of the wainscut,
he saw the rat's eyes, and this aspect that was
purely physical, gave him a gleam of comfort. He looked
around and saw that the rope of the great alarm
bell was laden with rats. Every inch of it was
covered with them, and more and more were pouring through
the small circular hole in the ceiling whence it emerged,

(37:56):
so that with their weight, the bell was beginning to sway.
It had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell.
The sound was but a tiny one, but the bell
was only beginning to sway, and it would increase. At
the sound, the judge, who had been keeping his eyes
fixed on Markhamson, looked up and a scowl of diabolical
anger overspread his face. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals,

(38:20):
and he stamped his foot with a sound that seemed
to make the house shake. A dreadful peal of thunder
broke overhead as he raised the rope again, whilst the
rats kept running up and down the rope as they
were working against time. This time, instead of throwing it,
he drew close to his victim and held open the
noses he approached. As he came closer, they seemed something

(38:43):
paralyzing in his very presence, and Malcolmson stood rigid as
a corpse. He felt the judge's icy fingers touch his
throat as he adjusted the rope. The noose tightened, tightened.
Then the judge, taking the rigid form of the student
in his arms, carried him over and placed him standing
in the oak chair, and stepping up beside him, put

(39:05):
his hand up and caught the end of the swaying
rope of the alarm bell. As he raised his hands,
the rats fled, squeaking and disappeared through the hole in
the ceiling. Taking the end of the noose which was
round Malcolmson's neck, he tied it to the hanging bell rope,
and then, descending, pulled away the chair. When the alarm

(39:27):
bell of the judge's house began to sound, a crowd
soon assembled. Lights and torches of various kinds appeared, and
soon a silent crowd was hurrying to the spot. They
knocked loudly at the door, but there was no reply.
Then They burst in at the door and poured into
the great dining room, the doctor at the head. There,
at the end of the rope of the great alarm bell,

(39:49):
hung the body of the student, and on the face
of the judge in the picture was a malignant smile.
End of the judge's house