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The Terrible Old Man by H.
P. Lovecraft. It was the design

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of Angelo Ricchie and Joe Zanick and
Manuel Silva to call on the Terrible Old

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Man. This old man dwells all
alone in a very ancient house on Water

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Street near the sea, and is
reputed to be both exceedingly rich and exceedingly

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feeble, which forms a situation very
attractive to man. Of the professions of

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Messrs Ricchie, Zanich and Silva,
for that profession was nothing less dignified than

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a robbery. The inhabitants of Kingsport
say and think many things about the Terrible

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Old Man, which generally keep him
safe from the attention of gentlemen like mister

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Ricchie and his colleagues, despite the
almost certain fact that he hides a fortune

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of indefinite magnitude somewhere about his musty
and venerable abode. He is, in

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truth a very strange person, believed
to have been a captain of East India

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clipper ships in his day, so
old that no one can remember when he

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was young, and so taciturn that
few know his real name. Among the

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gnarled trees in the front yard of
his aged and neglected place, he maintains

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a strange collection of large stones,
oddly grouped and painted so that they resemble

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the idols in some obscure Eastern temple. This collection frightens away most of the

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small boys, who love to taunt
the terrible old man about his long white

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hair and beard, or to break
the small paned windows of his dwelling with

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wicked missiles. But there are other
things which frighten the older and more curious

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folk, who sometimes steal upon the
house to peer in through the dusty panes.

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These folks say that on a table
in a bare room on the ground

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floor are many peculiar bottles, in
each a small piece of lead suspended pendulum

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wise from a string. And they
say that the terrible old Man talks to

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these bottles, addressing them by such
names as Jack, Scarface, Long Tom,

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Spanish, Joe Peters, and Mate
Ellis, and that whenever he speaks

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to a bottle, the little lead
pendulum within makes certain definite vibrations, as

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if in answer. Those who have
watched the tall, lean, terrible old

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man in these peculiar conversations do not
watch him again. But Angelo Ricci and

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Joe Zanik and Manuel Silva were not
of Kingsport blood. They were of that

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new and heterogeneous alien stock which lies
outside the charmed circle of New England life

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and traditions. And they saw in
the terrible old man, merely at tottering,

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almost helpless gray beard, who could
not walk without the aid of his

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knotted cane, and whose thin,
weak hands shook pitifully. They were really

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quite sorry in their way for the
lonely, unpopular old fellow whom everybody shunned,

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and at whom all the dogs barked
singularly. But business is business.

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Into a robber whose soul is in
his profession, there is a lure and

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a challenge about a very old and
very feeble man who has no account at

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the bank, and who pays for
his few necessities at the village store with

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Spanish gold and silver minted two centuries
ago. Messrs Ricchi, Zanech and Silva

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selected the night of April eleventh for
their call. Mister Ricchie and mister Silva

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were to interview the poor old gentleman, whilst mister Zanich waited for them and

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their presumable metallic burden with a covered
outer car in Ship Street by the gate

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in the tall rear wall of their
hosts. Grounds desire to avoid needless explanations

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in case of unexpected police intrusions prompted
these plans for a quiet and unostentatious departure.

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As prearranged, the three adventurers started
out separately in order to prevent any

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evil minded suspicions. Afterward, Messrs
Richey and Silva met in Water Street by

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the old Man's front gate, and
although they did not like the way the

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moon shone down upon the painted stones
through the budding branches of the gnarled trees,

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they had more important things to think
about than mere idle superstition. They

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feared it might be unpleasant work making
the terrible old man loquacious concerning his hoarded

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gold and silver. For aged sea
captains are notably stubborn and perverse. Still,

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he was very old and very feeble, and there were two visitors.

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Messrs Ritchey and Silva were experienced in
the art of making unwilling persons voluble,

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and the screams of a weak and
exceptionally venerable man can be easily muffled.

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So they moved up to the one
lighted window and heard the terrible old man

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talking childishly to his bottles with pendulums. Then they donned masks and knocked politely

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at the weather stained oaken door.
Waiting seemed very long to mister Zanick as

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he fidgeted restlessly in the covered motor
car by the terrible old man's back gate

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in Ship Street. He was more
than ordinarily tender hearted, and he did

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not like the hideous screams he had
heard in the ancient house just after the

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hour appointed for the deed. Had
he not told his colleagues to be as

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gentle as possible with the pathetic old
captain. Very nervously he watched that narrow

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oaken gate in the high and ivy
clad stone wall frequently. He consulted his

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watch and wondered at the delay.
Had the old man died before revealing where

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his treasure was hidden and a thorough
search become necessary. Mister Zanik did not

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like to wait so long in the
dark in such a place. Then he

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sensed a soft tread or tapping on
the walk inside the gate, heard a

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gentle fumbling at the rusty latch,
and saw the narrow, heavy door swing

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inward, and in the pallid glow
of the single dim street lamp, he

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strained his eyes to see what his
colleagues had brought out of that sinister house

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which loomed so close behind. But
when he looked, he did not see

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what he had expected, for his
colleagues were not there at all, but

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only the terrible old man, leaning
quietly on his knotted cane and smiling hideously.

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Mister Zanick had never before noticed the
color of that man's eyes. Now

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he saw that they were yellow.
Little things make considerable excitement in little towns,

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which is the reason that Kingsport people
talked all that spring and summer about

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the three unidentifiable bodies, horribly slashed
as with many cutlasses, and horribly mangled,

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as by the tread of many cruel
boot heels which the tide washed in.

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And some people even spoke of things
as trivial as the deserted motor car

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found in Ship Street, or certain
especially in human cries probably of astray animal

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or migratory bird, heard in the
night by wakeful citizens. But in this

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idle village gossip, the terrible old
man took no interest at all. He

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was, by nature reserved, and
when one is aged and feeble, one's

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reserve is doubly strong. Besides,
so ancient a sea captain must have witnessed

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scores of things much more stirring in
the far off days of his unremembered youth,

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end of the terrible old Man.