Schalken the Painter

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information and to find out
how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Schalk
In the Painter by J. Sheridan l'afanu. For he is

(00:23):
not a man as I am, that we should come together,
neither is there any that might lay his hand upon us. Both.
Let him, therefore take his rod away from me, and
let not his fear terrify me. There exists, at this moment,
in good preservation a remarkable work of Schalkins. The curious

(00:47):
management of its lights constitutes, as usual in his pieces,
the chief apparent merit of the picture I say apparent,
for in its subject and not in its handling. However,
exquisite consists its real value. The picture represents the interior
of what might be a chamber in some antique religious building,

(01:08):
and its foreground is occupied by a female figure in
a species of white robe, part of which is a raining,
so as the form of ail. The dress, however, is
not that of any religious order. In her hand the
figure bears a lamb by which alone her figure and
face are illuminated, and her features wear such an arch
smile as well becomes a pretty woman when practicing some

(01:31):
prankish roguery. In the background, and excepting where the dim
red light of an expiring fire serves to define the form,
in total shadow, stands the figure of a man dressed
in the old Flemish fashion, in an attitude of alarm,
his hand being placed upon the held of his sword,
which he appears to be in the act of drawing.

(01:53):
There are some pictures which impress one. I know not
how with a conviction, that they represent not the mere
ideal shapes and combinations which have floated through the imagination
of the artists, but scenes, faces and situations which have
actually existed. There is in that strange picture something that

(02:13):
stamps it as the representation of a reality, and such
in truth it is, for it faithfully records a remarkable
and mysterious occurrence and perpetuates in the face of the
female figure, which occupies the most prominent place in the design.
An accurate portrait of Rose Velderkaust, the niece of Gerard
d'au the first, and I believe, the only love of

(02:36):
Godfrey Schalkan. My great grandfather, knew the painter well and
from Schalkin himself, he learned the fearful story of the painting,
and from him too he ultimately received the picture itself
as a bequest. Story and the picture have become heirlooms
in my family. And having described the latter, I shall,
if you please, attempt to relate the tradition which has

(02:58):
descended with the canvas. There are few forms on which
the manner of romance hangs more ungracefully than upon that
of the uncouth Schalkin, the boorish but most cunning worker
in oils, whose pieces delight the critics of our day
almost as much as his manners disgusted the refined of

(03:18):
his own. And yet this man, so rude, so dogged,
so slovenly, in the midst of his celebrity, had, in
his obscure but happier days, played the hero in a
wild romance of mystery and passion. When Shalkin studied under
the immortal Gerrard daw he was a very young man,

(03:39):
and in spite of his phlegmatic temperament, he at once
fell over head and ears in love with the beautiful
niece of his wealthy master. Rose Velderkous was still younger
than he having not yet attained her seventeenth year, and
if tradition speaks truth, possessed all the soft and dimpling
charms of the fair, light haired Flemish maids. The young

(04:01):
painter loved honestly and fervently. His frank adoration was rewarded.
He declared his love and extracted a faltering confession in return.
He was the happiest and proudest painter in all Christendom.
But there was somewhat to dash his elation. He was
poor and undistinguished. He dared not ask Old Gerard for

(04:22):
the hand of his sweet ward. He must first win
a reputation and a competence. There were therefore many dread
uncertainties and cold days before him. He had to fight
his way against sore odds. But he had won the
heart of dear Rose Felderkaust, and that was half the battle.
It is needless to say his exertions were redoubled, and

(04:45):
his lasting celebrity proves that his industry was not unrewarded
by success. These ardent labors, and worse still, the hopes
that elevated and beguiled them, were, however, destined to experience
a sudden interruption. Of a characters so strange and mysterious
as to baffle all inquiry, and to throw over the
events themselves a shadow of preternatural horror. Chalkin had one

(05:11):
evening outstayed all his fellow pupils, and still pursued his
work in the deserted room. As the daylight was fast falling,
he laid aside his colors and applied himself to the
completion of a sketch on which he had expressed extraordinary pains.
It was a religious composition and represented the temptations of

(05:31):
a pot bullied Saint Anthony. The young artist, however, destitute
of elevation, had nevertheless discernment enough to be dissatisfied with
his own work. And many were the patient erasures and
improvements which Saint and devil underwent, Yet all in vain.
The large old fashioned room was silent, and, with the

(05:53):
exception of himself, quite emptied of its usual inmates. An
hour had thus passed away nearly two without any improved result.
Daylight had already declined, and twilight was deepening into the
darkness of night. The patience of the young painter was exhausted,
and he stood before his unfinished production angry and mortified,

(06:17):
one hand buried in the folds of his long hair,
and the other holding the piece of charcoal which had
so ill performed its office, and which he now rubbed
without much regard to the sable streaks it produced with
irritable pressure upon his ample Flemish inexpressibles. Curse the subjects,
said the young man aloud, cursed the picture, the devils

(06:38):
the saint. At this moment, a short, sudden sniff uttered
close behind him, made the artist turn sharply round, and
he now for the first time became aware that his
labors had been overlooked by a stranger. Within about a
yard and half and rather behind him, there stood the
figure of an elderly man in a cloak and broad

(07:00):
rimmed conical hat. In his hand, which was protected with
a heavy gauntlet shaped glove, he carried a long ebony
walking stick surmounted with what appeared, as it glittered dimly
in the twilight, to be a massive head of gold.
And upon his breast, through the folds of the cloak
there shone the links of a rich chain of the

(07:20):
same metal. The room was so obscure that nothing further
of the appearance of the figure could be ascertained, and
his hat, through his features into profound shadow. It would
not have been easy to conjecture the age of the intruder,
but a quantity of dark hair escaping from beneath his
somber hat, as well as his firm and upright carriage,

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served to indicate that his years could not yet exceed
three score or thereabouts. There was an air of gravity
and importance about the garb of the person, and something
indescribably odd, I might say awful in the perfect stonelike
stillness of the figure that effectually checked the t jesty
comment which had at once risen to the lips of

(08:02):
the irritated artist. He therefore, as soon as he had
sufficiently recovered his surprise, asked the stranger civilly to be seated,
and desired to know if he had any message to
leave for his master. Tell gerardal said the unknown, without
altering his attitude in the smallest degree, that Mynheer van

(08:23):
Derhausen of Rotterdam desires to speak with him on tomorrow
evening at this hour, and if he please in this
room upon matters of weight, that is all. The stranger,
having finished this message, turned abruptly, and with a quick
but silent step, quitted the room before Shalkin had time

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to say a word in reply. The young man felt
a curiosity to see in what direction the burgher of
Rotterdam would turn on quitting the studio, and for that
purpose he went directly to the window which commanded the door.
A lobby of considerable extent intervened between the inner door
of the painter's room and the street entrance, so that

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Schalkin occupied the post of observation before the old man
could possibly have reached the street. He watched in vain. However,
there was no other mode of exit, had the queer
old man vanished, or was he lurking about the recesses
of the lobby for some sinister purpose. This last suggestion
filled the mind of Schalking with a vague uneasiness which

(09:25):
was so unaccountably intense as to make him alike afraid
to remain in the room alone and reluctant to pass
through the lobby. However, with an effort which appeared very
disproportioned to the occasion, he summoned resolution to leave the room, and,
having locked the door and thrust the key in his pocket,
without looking to the right or left, he traversed the

(09:47):
passage which had so recently perhaps still contained the person
of his mysterious visitant, scarcely venturing to breathe till he
had arrived in the open street. Mineheer Vanderhausen, said Gerard
Dau within himself, as the appointed hour approached. Mineheer Vanderhausen

(10:10):
of Rotterdam. I never heard of the man till yesterday.
What can he want of me? A portrait perhaps to
be painted, or a poor relation to be apprenticed, or
a collection to be valued or pshah, There's no one
in Rotterdam to leave me a legacy. Well, whatever the
business may be, we shall soon know it all. It

(10:32):
was now the close of day, and again every easel
except that of Schalkin was deserted. Gerard Daou was pacing
the apartment with the restless step of impatient expectation, sometimes
pausing to glance over the work of one of his
absent pupils, but more frequently placing himself at the window,
from whence he might observe the passengers who threadned the

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obscure by street in which his studio was placed. Said
you not, Godfrey exclaimed Dal, after a long and fruitful
gaze from his post of observation, and turning to Schalkin,
that the hour he appointed was about seven. By the
clock of the stad House it had just told seven
when I first saw him, Sir, answered the student. The

(11:16):
hour is close at hand, then said the master, consulting
a horror loge as large and as round as an
orange mine, hear Vanderhausen from Rotterdam. Is it not? So?
Such was the name? And an elderly man, richly clad,
pursued Tao, musingly, as well as I might see, replied

(11:37):
his pupil. He could not be young, nor yet very
old neither, and his dress was rich and grave as
might become a citizen of wealth and consideration. At this moment,
the sonorous boom of the Stad House clock told, stroke
after stroke the hour of seven. The eyes of both
master and student were directed to the door, and it

(11:59):
was not until the last peal of the bell had
ceased to vibrate that Tao exclaimed, So so we shall
have his worship presently, that is, if he means to
keep his hour. If not, you may wait for him, Godfrey,
if you court his acquaintance. But what after all, if
it should prove but a mummery got up by Van

(12:19):
Carp or some such wag. I wish you had run
all risks and cudgeled the old burgomaster soundly. I'd wager
a dozen rhenish his worship would have unmasked and pleaded
old acquaintance in a trice. Here he comes, sir, said
Chalkin in a low monitory tone, And instantly, upon turning

(12:41):
towards the door, Gerard Daou observed the same figure which
had on the day before so unexpectedly greeted his pupil Schalkin.
There was something in the air of the figure which
at once satisfied the painter that there was no masquerading
in the case, and that he really stood in the
presence of a man of worship. And so, without hesitation,

(13:03):
he doffed his cap, and, courteously, saluting the stranger, requested
him to be seated. The visitor waved his hands lightly,
as if in acknowledgment of the courtesy, but remained standing.
I have the honor to see Mynheer Vanderhausen of Rotterdam,
said Gerard dal The same was the laconic reply of

(13:23):
his visitor. I understand your worship desires to speak with me,
continued Dal, and I am here by appointment to wait
your commands. Is that a man of trust? Said vandr Hausen,
turning towards Schalkin, who stood at a little distance behind
his master, certainly replied Gerard. Then let him take this

(13:45):
box and get the nearest jeweler or goldsmith to value
its contents, and let him return hither with a certificate
of the valuation. At the same time, he placed a
small case about nine inches square in the hands of
Gerard Dal, who was as much amazed at its weight
as at the strange abruptness with which it was handed
to him. In accordance with the wishes of the stranger,

(14:08):
he delivered it into the hands of Schalkin, and, repeating
his direction, despatched him. Upon the mission, Schalkin disposed his
precious charge securely beneath the folds of his cloak, and rapidly,
traversing two or three narrow streets, he stopped at a
corner house, the lower part of which was then occupied
by the shop of a Jewish goldsmith. He entered the shop, and,

(14:32):
calling the little Hebrew into the obscurity of its back recesses.
He proceeded to lay before him vandr Hausen's casket. On
being examined by the light of a lamp, it appeared
entirely cased with lead, the outer surface of which was
much scraped and soiled and nearly white with age. This
having been partially removed, they appeared beneath a box of

(14:53):
some hard wood, which also they forced open, and after
the removal of two or three folds of linen, they
discovered its contents to be a mass of golden ingots,
closely packed. And as the Jew declared of the most
perfect quality, every ingot underwent the scrutiny of the little Jew,
who seemed to feel an epicuring delight in touching and

(15:14):
testing these morsels of the glorious metal, and each one
of them was replaced in its berth with the exclamation,
mind got, how very perfect, not one grain of alloy, beautiful, beautiful.
The task was at length finished, and the Jew certified
under his hand the value of the ingots submitted to
his examination to amount to many thousand Rix dollars. With

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the desired document in his pocket and the rich box
of gold carefully pressed under his arm, and concealed by
his cloak. He retraced his way, and, entering the studio,
found his master and the stranger in close conference. Dalkan
had no sooner left the room in order to execute
the commission he had taken in charge. Then Vanderhausen addressed

(16:01):
Gerardau in the following terms. I cannot tarry with you
to night more than a few minutes, and so I
shall shortly tell you the matter upon which I come.
You visited the town of Rotterdam some four months ago,
and then I saw in the church of Saint Lawrence
your niece rose Velderkhouse. I desire to marry her, and

(16:24):
if I satisfy you that I am wealthier than any
husband you can dream of for her, I expect that
you will forward my suit with your authority. If you
approve my proposal, you must close with it here and now,
for I cannot wait for calculations and delays. Gerardau was
hugely astonished by the nature of mineheer Vanderhausen's communication, but

(16:48):
he did not venture to express surprise, for besides the
motives supplied by prudence and politeness, the painter experienced a
kind of chill and oppression like that which is said
to intervene when one is placed in unconscious proximity with
the object of a natural antipathy, an undefined but overpowering sensation,

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while standing in the presence of the eccentric stranger, which
made him very unwilling to say anything which might reasonably
offend him. I have no doubt, said Gerard, after two
or three prefatory hems, that the alliance which you repose
would prove alike advantageous and honorable to my niece. But
you must be aware that she has a will of

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her own and may not acquiesce in what we may
design for her advantage. Do not seek to deceive me,
sir Painter, said van der Hausen. You are her guardian,
she is your ward. She is mine if you like
to make her so. The man of Rotterdam moved forward
a little as he spoke, and Gerard dal he scarcely

(17:53):
knew why, inwardly prayed for the speedy return of Schalkin.
I desire, said the mysterious Genero, to place in your
hands at once an evidence of my wealth and a
security for my liberal dealing with your niece. The lad
will return in a minute or two with a sum
in value five times the fortune which she has a

(18:13):
right to expect from her husband. This shall lie in
your hands, together with her dowry, and you may apply
the united sum as suits her interests best. It shall
be all exclusively hers while she lives. Is that liberal?
Dow assented and inwardly acknowledged that fortune had been extraordinarily

(18:34):
kind to his niece. The stranger, he thought, must be
both wealthy and generous, and such an offer was not
to be despised. Though made by a humorist and one
of no very prepossessing presents, Rose had not very high pretensions,
for she had but a modest dowry, which she owed
entirely to the generosity of her uncle. Neither had she

(18:57):
had any right to raise exceptions on the score of birth,
for her own origin was far from splendid. And as
the other objections, Gerard resolved, and indeed, by the usages
of the time, was warranted in resolving not to listen
to them for a moment, Sir said he, addressing the stranger,

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Your offer is liberal, and whatever hesitation I may feel
in closing with it immediately arises solely from my not
having the honor of knowing anything of your family or station.
Upon these points, you can, of course satisfy me without difficulty.
As to my respectability, said the stranger dryly. You must

(19:38):
take that for granted at present. Pester me with no inquiries.
You can discover nothing more about me than I choose
to make known. You shall have sufficient security for my
respectability my word. If you are honorable, if you are sordid,
my gold, A testy old gentleman thought dal he must

(19:59):
have his own way. But all things considered, I am
not justified to declining his offer. I will not pledge
myself unnecessarily. However, you will not pledge yourself unnecessarily, said
Van der Hausen, strangely, uttering the very words which had
just floated through the mind of his companion. But you
will do so if it is necessary, I presume, and

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I will show you that I consider it indispensable. If
the gold I mean to leave in your hands satisfy you,
and if you don't wish my proposal to be at
once withdrawn, you must, before I leave this room, write
your name to this engagement. Having thus spoken, he placed
a paper in the hands of the master, the contents

(20:43):
of which expressed an engagement entered into by Gerard Dale
to give to Wilkin Vanderhausen of Rotterdam in marriage rose Velderkhoust,
and so forth within one week of the date thereof.
While the painter was employed in reading this covenant by
the light of a twinkling oil lamp in the far
wall of the room, Shalkin, as we have stated, entered

(21:05):
the studio, and, having delivered the box and the valuation
of the jew into the hands of the stranger, he
was about to retire when vander Hausen called to him
to wait, and presenting the case and the certificate to
Gerard do he paused in silence until he had satisfied
himself by an inspection of both, respecting the value of

(21:26):
the pledge left in his hands. At length, he said,
are you content? Payner said he would fain have another
day to consider. Not an hour, said the suitor apathetically. Well,
then said Dal, with a sore effort, I am content.
It is a bargain. Then sign at once, said vander Hausen,

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for I am weary. At the same time he produced
a small case of writing materials and Gerard signed the
important document. Let this youth witness the covenant said the
old man, and Godfrey Schalkin unconsciously attested the instrument which
forever bereft him of his dear rose Velderkous. The compact

(22:12):
being thus completed, the strange visitor folded up the paper
and stowed it safely in an inner pocket. I will
visit you tomorrow night at nine o'clock at your own house,
Gerard dow and will see the object of our contract.
And so saying Wilkin Vanderhausen moved stiffly but rapidly out
of the room. Chalkin, eager to resolve his doubts, had

(22:35):
placed himself by the window in order to watch the
street entrance. But the experiment served only to support his suspicions,
for the old man did not issue from the door.
This was very strange, odd, nay fearful. He and his
mastery turned together and talked, but little on the way,

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for each had his own subjects of reflection, of ansaynxiety
and of hope. Chalkin, however, did not know the ruin
which menaced his dearest projects. Gerard dou knew nothing of
the attachment which had sprung up between his pupil and
his niece, And even if he had, it is doubtful
whether he would have regarded its existence as any serious

(23:18):
obstruction to the wishes of menher Vanderhausen marriages were then
and there matters of traffic and calculation, and it would
have appeared as absurd in the eyes of the guardian
to make a mutual attachment and essential element in a
contract of the sort as it would have been to
drop his bonds and receipts in the language of romance.

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The painter, however, did not communicate to his niece the
important step which he had taken in her behalf, a forbearance,
caused not by any anticipated opposition on her part, but
solely by a ludicrous consciousness that if she were to
ask him for a description of her destined bridegroom, he
would be forced to confess that he had not once

(23:59):
seen his face, and, if called upon, would find it
absolutely impossible to identify him. On the next day, Gerard
dal after dinner, called his niece to him, and, having
scanned her person with an air of satisfaction, he took
her hand, and, looking upon her pretty innocent face, with
a smile of kindness, he said, rose, my girl, that

(24:21):
face of yours will make your fortune. Rose blushed and smiled.
Such faces and such tempers seldom go together, and when
they do, the compound is a love charm few heads
or hearts can resist. Trust me, you will soon be
a bride girl. But this is trifling, and I am
pressed for time. So make ready the large room by

(24:42):
eight o'clock to night, and give directions for supper at nine.
I expect a friend and observe me. Child, Do you
trick yourself out handsomely? I will not have him think
us poor or sluttish. With these words, he left her
and took his way to the room in which his
pupils worked. When the evening closed in Gerard called Schalkin,

(25:05):
who was about to take his departure to his own
obscure and comfortless lodgings, and asked him to come home
and sup with Rose and Vanderhausen. The inventation was of
course accepted, and Gerard, dou and his pupil soon found
themselves in the handsome and even then antique chamber, which
had been prepared for the reception of the stranger. A

(25:26):
cheerful wood fire blazed in the hearth, a little at
one side of which an old fashioned table, which shone
in the firelight like burnished gold, was awaiting the supper,
for which preparations were going forward and ranged with exact regularity,
stood the tall backed chairs, whose ungracefulness was more than
compensated by their comfort. The little party, consisting of Rose,

(25:50):
her uncle and the artist, awaited the arrival of the
expected visitor with considerable impatience. Nine o'clock at length came,
and with it a summons at the street door, which,
being speedily answered, was followed by a slow and emphatic
tread upon the staircase steps moved heavily across the lobby.

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The door of the room in which the party we
have described were assembled slowly opened, and there entered a
figure which startled, almost appalled the phlegmatic Dutchman, and nearly
made Rose scream with terror. It was the form and
arrayed in the garb of Mynher Vanderhausen. The air, the gate,
the height were the same, but the features had never

(26:33):
been seen by any of the party before. The stranger
stopped at the door of the room and displayed his
form and face completely. He wore a dark colored cloth
cloak which was short and full, not falling quite to
his knees. His legs were cased in dark purple silk stockings,
and his shoes were adorned with roses of the same color.

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The opening of the cloak in front showed the under
suit to consist of some very dark, perhaps sable material,
and his hands were enclosed in a pair of heavy
leather gloves which ran up considerably above the wrist in
the manner of a gauntlet. In one hand he carried
his walking stick and his hat, which he had removed,
and the other hung heavily by his side. A quantity

(27:16):
of grizzled hair descended in long tresses from his head
and rested upon the plates of a stiff rough, which
effectually concealed his neck. So far all was well but
the face. All The flesh of the face was colored
with the bluish leaden hue which is sometimes produced by
metallic medicines administered in excessive quantities. The eyes showed an

(27:38):
undue proportion of muddy white and had a certain indefinable
character of insanity. The hue of the lips, bearing the
usual relation to that of the face, was consequently nearly black,
and the entire character of the face was sensual, malignant,
and even satanic. It was remarkable that the worshipful Stranger

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suffered as little as possible of his flesh to appear,
and that during his visit he did not once remove
his gloves. Having stood for some moments at the door,
drardaw at length found breath and collectedness to bid him welcome,
and with a mute inclination of the head, the stranger
stepped forward into the room. There was something indescribably odd,

(28:20):
even horrible, about all his motions, something undefinable that was unnatural, unhuman.
It was as if the limbs were guided and directed
by a spirit unused to the management of bodily machinery.
The stranger spoke hardly at all during his visit, which
did not exceed half an hour, and the host himself

(28:41):
could scarcely muster courage enough to utter the few necessary
salutations and courtesies. And indeed, such was the nervous terror
which the presence of Vanderhausen inspired, that very little would
have made all his entertainers fly in downright panic from
the room. They had not so far lost all self possession, however,
as to fail to observe two strange peculiarities of their visitor.

(29:04):
During his stay, his eyelids did not once close, or
indeed move in the slightest degree, and farther there was
a deathlike stillness in his whole person, owing to the
absence of the heaving motion of the chest caused by
the process of respiration. These two peculiarities, though when told
they may appear trifling, produce a very striking and unpleasant

(29:26):
effect when seen and observed. Vanderhausen at length relieved the
painter of Leiden of his inauspicious presence, and with no
trifling sense of relief, the little party heard the street
door close after him. Dear uncle, said Rose, what a
frightful man. I would not see him again for the
wealth of the states. Hush, foolish girl, said Dow, whose

(29:50):
sensations were anything but comfortable. A man may be as
ugly as the devil, and yet if his heart and
actions are good, he is worth all the pretty faced
perfume puppies that walk them all. Rose, my girl is
very true. He has not thy pretty face, but I
know him to be wealthy and liberal, and were he
ten times more ugly, these two virtues would be enough

(30:13):
to counterbalance all his deformity. And if not sufficient actually
to alter the shape and hue of his features, at
least enough to prevent one thinking them so much amiss?
Do you know, uncle, said Rose, when I saw him
standing at the door, I could not get it out
of my head that I saw the old painted wooden
figure that used to frighten me so much in the

(30:34):
Church of Saint Lawrence at Rotterdam. Gerard laughed, though he
could not help inwardly acknowledging the justness of the comparison.
He was resolved, however, as far as he could, to
check his niece's disposition to dilate upon the ugliness of
her intended bridegroom. Although he was not a little pleased,
as well as puzzled, to observe that she appeared totally

(30:57):
exempt from that mysterious dread of the stranger, with he
could not disguise it from himself, considerably affected him, as
also his pupil, Godfrey Schalkin. Early on the next day
there arrived from various quarters of the town rich presents
of silks, velvets, jewelry and so forth for Rose, and

(31:18):
also a packet directed to Gerard Dao, which, on being opened,
was found to contain a contract of marriage formerly drawn
up between Wilkin Vanderhausen of the boom Quay in Rotterdam
and rose Velderkhoust of Leiden, niece to Gerard Dau, master
in the art of painting, also of this same city,
and containing engagements on the part of Vanderhausen to make

(31:41):
settlements upon his bride far more splendid than he had
before led her guardian to believe likely, and which were
to be secured to her use in the most unexceptionable
manner possible, the money being placed in the hand of
Gerard Dau himself. I have no sentimental scenes to describe,
no cruelty of guardians, no magnanimity of wards, no agonies

(32:05):
or transport of lovers. The record I have to make
is one of sordidness, levity and heartlessness. In less than
a week after the first interview which we have just described,
the contract of marriage was fulfilled, and shall consoled. The
prize which he would have risked existence to secure, carried
off in solemn pomp by his repulsive rival. For two

(32:27):
or three days he absented himself from the school. He
then returned and worked, if with less cheerfulness, with far
more dogged resolution than before. The stimulus of love had
given place to that of ambition. Months passed away, and
contrary to his expectation, and indeed to the direct promise

(32:48):
of the parties, Dardau heard nothing of his niece or
her worshipful spouse. The interest of the money which was
to have been demanded in quarterly sums lay unclaimed in
his hands. He began to grow extremely uneasy minheer Vanderhausen's
direction in Rotterdam he was fully possessed of. After some irresolution,

(33:11):
he finally determined to journey thither, a trifling undertaking and
easily accomplished, and thus to satisfy himself of the safety
and comfort of his ward, for whom he entertained an
honest and strong affection. His search was in vain, however,
no one in Rotterdam had ever heard of menher Vanderhausen.
Gerard Dow left not a house in the boomquet untried,

(33:33):
but all in vain. No one could give him any
information whatever regarding the object of his inquiry, and he
was obliged to return to light in nothing wiser and
far more anxious than when he had left it. On
his arrival, he hastened to the establishment from which Van
der Hausen had hired the lumbering, though considering the times

(33:55):
most luxurious vehicle which the bridal party had employed to
convey them to Rotterdam. From the driver of this machine,
he learned that, having preceded by slow stages, they had
late in the evening approached Rotterdam, but that before they
entered the city, and while yet nearly a mile from it,
a small party of men, soberly clad and after the

(34:15):
old fashion, with peaked beards and mustaches, standing in the
center of the road, obstructed the further progress of the carriage.
The driver reined in his horses, much fearing from the
obscurity of the hour and the loneliness of the road
that some mischief was intended. His fears were, however, somewhat
allayed by his observing that these strange men carried a

(34:37):
large litter of an antique shape, and which they immediately
set down upon the pavement, whereupon the bridegroom, having opened
the coach door from within, descended, and having assisted his
bride to do likewise, led her, weeping bitterly and wringing
her hands to the litter, which they both entered. It
was then raised by the men, who surrounded it and

(34:57):
speedily carried towards the city. And for it had proceeded
very far, the darkness concealed it from the view of
the Dutch coachman. In the insight of the vehicle he
found a purse whose contents more than thrice paid the
hire of the carriage. And man he saw and could
tell nothing more of mynher Vanderhausen and his beautiful lady.

(35:19):
This mystery was a source of profound anxiety and even
grief to Gerard dal There was evidently fraud in the
dealing of Vanderhausen with him, though for what purpose committed
he could not imagine. He greatly doubted how far it
was possible for a man possessing such a countenance to
be anything but a villain. And every day that passed

(35:39):
without his hearing from or of his niece, instead of
inducing him to forget his fears, on the contrary, tended
more and more to aggravate them. The loss of her
cheerful society tended also to depress his spirits, and, in
order to dispel the gloom which often crept upon his
mind after his daily occupations were over, he was wont

(36:00):
frequently to ask Schalkin to accompany him home and share
his otherwise solitary supper. One evening, the painter and his
pupil were sitting by the fire, having accomplished a comfortable
meal and had yielded to the silent and delicious melancholy
of digestion, when their ruminations were disturbed by a loud
sound at the street door, as if occasioned by some

(36:22):
person rushing and scrambling vehemently against it. A domestic had
run without delay to ascertain the cause of the disturbance,
and they heard him twice or thrice interrogate the applicant
for admission, but without eliciting any other answer but a
sustained reiteration of sounds. They heard him then open the
hall door, and immediately there followed a light and rapid

(36:43):
tread on the staircase. Schalkin advanced towards the door. It opened,
for he reached it and rose rushed into the room.
She looked wild, fierce, and haggard with terror and exhaustion.
But her dress surprised them as much as even her
unexpected appearance. It consisted of a kind of white woolen wrapper,
made close about the neck and descending to the very ground.

(37:06):
It was much deranged and travel soiled. The poor creature
had hardly entered the chamber when she fell senseless on
the floor. With some difficulty, they succeeded in reviving her,
and on recovering her senses, she instantly exclaimed in a
tone of terror, rather than mere impatience, wine wine quickly,

(37:27):
or I am lost. Astonished and almost scared at the
strange agitation in which the call was made. They at
once administered to her wishes, and she drank some wine
with a haste and eagerness, which surprised them. She had
hardly swallowed it when she exclaimed with the same urgency,
food for God's sake, food at once, or I perish.

(37:50):
A considerable fragment of a roast joint was upon the table,
and Chalkin immediately began to cut some, but he was anticipated,
for no sooner did she see that she caught it
a more than mortal image of famine. And with her
hands and even with her teeth, she tore off the
flesh and swallowed it. When the paroxysm of hunger had

(38:10):
been a little appeased, she appeared on a sudden overcome
with shame, or it may have been that other more
agitating thoughts were powered and scared her, for she began
to weep bitterly and to wring her hands. Oh, send
for a minister of God, said she, I am not
safe till he comes. Send for him speedily. Gerard Dao

(38:32):
despatched a messenger instantly and prevailed on his niece to
allow him to surrender his bed chamber to her use.
He also persuaded her to retire to at once to rest.
Her consent was extorted upon the condition that they would
not leave her for a moment. Oh, that the Holy
Man were here, she said, he can deliver me. The

(38:53):
dead and the living can never be won. God has
forbidden it. With these mysterious words, she surrendered herself to
their guidance, and they proceeded to the chamber, which Gerardao
had a signed to her use. Do not do not
leave me for a moment, said she, I am lost
forever if you do. Gerard Dal's chamber was approached through

(39:14):
a spacious apartment which they were now about to enter.
He and Shalkin each carried a candle, so that a
sufficiency of light was cast upon all surrounding objects. They
were now entering the large chamber, which, as I have said,
communicated with Do's apartment, when Rose suddenly stopped, and, in
a whisper which thrilled them both with horror, she said,

(39:36):
Oh God, he is here, he is here. See see
there he goes. She pointed towards the door of the
inner room, and Schalcan thought he saw a shadowy and
ill defined form gliding into that apartment. He drew his sword,
and raising the candle so as to throw its light
with increased distinctness upon the objects in the room. He

(39:58):
entered the chamber into which which the shadow had glided.
No figure was there, nothing but the furniture which belonged
to the room. And yet he could not be deceived
as to the fact that something had moved before them
into the chamber. A sickening dread came upon him, and
the cold perspiration broke out in the heavy drops upon
his forehead. Nor was he more composed when he heard

(40:20):
the increased urgency and agony of entreaty with which Rose
implored them not to leave her for a moment. I
saw him, said she he's here. I cannot be deceived.
I know him. He's by me, he is with me,
he's in the room. Then, for God's sake, as you
would save me, do not stir from beside me. They

(40:43):
at length prevailed upon her to lie down upon the bed,
where she continued to urge them to stay by her.
She frequently uttered incoherent sentences, repeating again and again the
dead in the living cannot be won. God has forbidden it.
And then again rest to the wakeful sleep, to the
sleep walkers. These and such mysterious and broken sentences she

(41:05):
continued to utter until the clergyman arrived. Gerardau began to
fear naturally enough that terror or ill treatment had unsettled
the poor girl's intellect, and he half suspected, by the
suddenness of her appearance, the unseasonableness of the hour, and
above all, from the wildness and terror of her manner,
that she had made her escape from some place of

(41:27):
confinement for lunatics, and was an imminent fear of pursuit.
He resolved to summon medical advice as soon as the
mind of his niece had been in some measure set
at rest by the offices of the clergyman. Whose attendance
she had so earnestly desired, and until this object had
been attained, he did not venture to put any questions
to her which might, possibly, by reviving painful or horrible recollections,

(41:52):
increase her agitation. The clergyman soon arrived, a man of
ascetic countenance and venerable age, one whom Gerard dal respected
very much, forasmuch as he was a veteran polemic, though
one perhaps more dreaded as a combatant than beloved as
a Christian of pure morality, subtle brain, and frozen heart.

(42:12):
He entered the chamber which communicated with that in which
Rose reclined, and immediately on his arrival, she requested him
to pray for her, as for one who lay in
the hands of Satan, and who could hope for deliverance
only from Heaven. That you may distinctly understand all the
circumstances of the event which I am going to describe,
it is necessary to state the relative position of the

(42:34):
parties who were engaged in it. The old Clergyman an
Chalkin were in the ante room of which I have
already spoken. Rose lay in the inner chamber, the door
of which was opened, and by the side of the bed.
At her urgent desire stood her guardian. A candle burned
in the bed chamber, and three were lighted in the
outer apartment. The old man cleared his voice as if

(42:57):
about to commence, but before he had time to begin,
a sudden gust of air blew out the candle, which
served to illuminate the room in which the poor girl lay,
and she, with hurried alarm, exclaimed, Godfrey, bring in another candle.
The darkness is unsafe, Gerard du forgetting for the moment
her repeated injunctions in the immediate impulse, stepped from the

(43:19):
bed chamber into the other in order to supply what
she desired. Oh God, do not go, dear uncle, shrieked
the unhappy girl, and at the same time she sprung
from the bed and darted after him, in order, by
her grasp to detain him. But the warning came too late,
for scarcely had he passed the threshold, and hardly had

(43:40):
his niece had time to utter the startling exclamation when
the door which divided the two rooms closed violently after him,
as if swung by a strong blast of wind. Shalkin
and he both rushed to the door, but their united
and desperate efforts could not avail so much as to
shake it. Shriek after shriek burst from the inner chamber
with all the piercing loudness of despairing terror. Shalkin and

(44:03):
Dout plied every nerve to force upon the door, but
all in vain. There was no sound of struggling from within,
but the scream seemed to increase in loudness, and at
the same time they heard the bolts of the latticed
window withdrawn, and the window itself grated upon the sill,
as if thrown open. One last shriek, so long and

(44:23):
piercing and agonized as to be scarcely human, swelled from
the room, and suddenly there followed a deathlike silence. A
light step was heard crossing the floor, as if from
the bed to the window, and almost at the same instant,
the door gave way, and, yielding to the pressure of
the external applicants, nearly precipitated them into the room. It

(44:45):
was empty. The window was open, and Schalkin sprung to
a chair and gazed out upon the street and canal below.
He saw no form, but he saw, or thought he
saw the waters of the broad canal beneath settling ring
after ring and heavy circles, as if a moment before
disturbed by the submission of some ponderous body. No trace

(45:07):
of Rose was ever after found, nor was anything certain
respecting her mysterious wooer discovered or even suspected. No clue
whereby to trace the intricacies of the labyrinth and to
arrive at its solution presented itself. But an incident occurred, which,
though it will not be received by our rational readers

(45:27):
in lieu of evidence, produced nevertheless a strong and a
lasting impression upon the mind of Chalcan. Many years after
the events which we have detailed, Chalcan, then residing far away,
received an intimation of his father's death and of his
intended burial upon a fixed day in the church of Rotterdam.
It was necessary that a very considerable journey should be

(45:49):
performed by the funeral procession, which, as it will be
readily believed, was not very numerously attended. Chalcin, with difficulty,
arrived in Rotterdam late in the day on which the
funeral was appointed to take place. It had not then
arrived evening closed in, and still it did not appear
Chalkin strolled down to the church. He found it open.

(46:14):
Notice of the arrival of the funeral had been given,
and the vault in which the body was to be
laid had been opened. The sexton, on seeing a well
dressed gentleman whose object was to attend the expected obsequies,
pacing the aisle of the church, hospitably invited him to
share with him the comforts of a blazing fire, which,
as was his custom and winter time, upon such occasions,

(46:36):
he had kindled in the hearth of a chamber in
which he was accustomed to await the rival of such
grisly guests, and which communicated by a flight of steps
with the vault below. In this chamber, Schalcin and his
entertainer seated themselves, and the sexton, after some fruitless attempts
to engage his guests and conversation, was obliged to apply

(46:57):
himself to his tobacco pipe and can to solace his
solitude in spite of his grief and cares. The fatigues
of a rapid journey of nearly forty hours gradually overcame
the mind and body of Godfrey Schalkin, and he sank
into a deep sleep. From which he awakened by someone's
shaking him gently by the shoulder. He first thought that

(47:19):
the old sexton had called him, but he was no
longer in the room. He roused himself, and as soon
as he could clearly see what was around him, he
received a female form clothed in a kind of light
robe of white, part of which was so disposed as
to form a veil, and in her hand she carried
a lamp. She was moving rather away from him, in

(47:41):
the direction of the flight of steps which conducted towards
the vaults. Chalcan felt a vague a larm at the
sight of this figure, and at the same time an
irresistible impulse to follow its guidance. He followed it towards
the vaults, but when it reached the head of the stairs,
he paused. The figure paused also, and turning gently round,

(48:01):
displayed by the light of the lamp, it carried the
face and features of his first love, Rose Velderkaust. There
was nothing horrible or even sad in the countenance. On
the contrary, it wore the same arch smile which used
to enchant the artists long before. In his happy days,
a feeling of awe and interest too intense to be resisted,

(48:24):
prompted him to follow the specter, if specter it were.
She descended the stairs, he followed, and turning to the
left through a narrow passage, she led him, to his
infinite surprise, into what appeared to be an old fashioned
Dutch apartment, such as the pictures of Doerrard Dao have
served to immortalize. Abundance of costly antique furniture was disposed

(48:46):
about the room, and in one corner stood a four
post bed with heavy black cloth curtains. Around him, the
figure frequently turned towards him with the same arch smile,
and when she came to the side of the bed,
she drew the curtains, and by the light of the
lamp which she held towards its contents, she disclosed to
the horror stricken painter, sitting bol upright in the bed,

(49:08):
the livid and demonaic form of Van Derhausen. Chalcan had
hardly seen him when he fell senseless upon the floor,
where he lay until discovered on the next morning by
persons employed in closing the passages into the vaults. He
was lying in a cell of considerable size which had
not been disturbed for a long time, and he had

(49:29):
fallen beside a large coffin, which was supported upon small pillars,
a security against the tax of ermine. To his dying day,
Schalkin was satisfied of the reality of the vision which
he had witnessed, and he has left behind him a
curious evidence of the impression which it wrought upon his fancy,
and a painting executed shortly after the event I have narrated,

(49:51):
and which is valuable as exhibiting not only the peculiarities
which have made Chalkin's pictures sought after, but even more
so as presenting a portrait of his early love, rose Velderkaust,
whose mysterious fate must always remain matter of speculation and

(50:12):
of Shockin the Painter by j Chard and Lafaunu,