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Speaker 1: The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe. For the most

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wild yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen,

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I neither expect nor solicit belief, Mad, Indeed would I

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be to expect it in a case where my very

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senses reject their own evidence. Yet, Mad, I am not,

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and very surely do I not dream. But to morrow

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I die, and to day I would unburden my soul.

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My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly,

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and without comment, a series of mere household events. In

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their consequences. These events have terrified, have tortured, have destroyed me.

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Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me,

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they have presented little but whore to many. They will

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seem less bearable than baroques. Hereafter, perhaps some intellect may

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be found which will reduce my phantasm to the commonplace,

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some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable

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than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I

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detail with awe nothing more than an ordinary succession of

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very natural causes and effects. From my infancy. I was

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noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My

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tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make

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me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond

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of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a

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great variety of pets. With these I spent most of

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my time, and never was so happy as when feeding

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and caressing them. This peculiarity of character grew with my

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growth and in my manhood. I derived from one of

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my principal sources of pleasure. To those who have cherished

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an affection for a faithful and sagacious dog, I need

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hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature or

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the intensity of the gratification thus deliverable. There is something

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in the unselfish and self sacrificing love of a brute

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which goes directly to the heart of him who has

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had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer

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fidelity of mere man. I married early, and was happy

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to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with

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my own. Observing my partiality for domestic pets, she lost

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no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind.

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We had birds, goldfish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey,

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and a cat. This latter was a remarkable, large and

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beautiful animal, entirely black and sagacious to an astonishing degree.

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In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart

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was not a little tincture with superstition, made frequent allusions

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to the ancient popular notion which regarded all black cats

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as witches in disguise. Not that she was ever serious

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upon this point, And I mentioned the matter at all

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for no better reason than that it happens just now

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to be remembered. Pluto, this was the cat's name, was

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my favorite pet and playmate. I alone fed him, and

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he attended me wherever I went about the house. It

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was even with difficulty that I could prevent him from

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following me through the streets. Our friendship lasted in this

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manner for several years, during which my general temperament and character,

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through the instrumentality of the fiend in temperance, had I

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blushed to confess, it, experienced a radical alteration. For the worse.

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I grew day by day more moody, more irritable, more

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regardless of the feelings of others, I suffered myself to

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use intemperate languish to my wife. At length, I even

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offered her personal violence. My pets, of course, were made

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to feel the change in my disposition. I not only

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neglected them, but ill used them. For Pluto, however, I

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still retained sufficient regard to restrain me from maltreating him,

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as I made no scruple of maltreating the rabbits, the monkey,

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or even the dog, when by accident or through affection,

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they came in my way. But my disease grew upon me,

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for what disease is like alcohol, And at length even Tuto,

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who was now becoming old and consequently somewhat peevish. Even

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Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper.

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One night, returning home, much intoxicated from one of my

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haunts about town, I fancied that the cat avoided my presence.

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I seized him, when, in his fright at my violence,

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he inflicted a slight wound upon my hand with his teeth.

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The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew

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myself no longer. My original soul seemed at once to

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take its flight from my body, and a more than

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fiendish malevolence gin nurtured thrilled every fiber of my frame.

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I took from my waistcoat pocket a penknife. Opened it,

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grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut

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one of his eyes from the socket. I blush, I burn,

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I shudder while I pen the damnable atrocity. When reason

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returned with the morning, when I had slept off the

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fumes of the night's debauch, I experienced a sentiment half

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of horror, half of remorse for the crime of which

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I had been guilty. But it was at best a

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feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched. I

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again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all

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memory of the deed. In the meantime, the cat slowly

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recovered the socket of the lost eye presented, is true

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a frightful appearance, but he no longer appeared to suffer

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any pain. He went about the house as usual, but

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as might be expected, fled in extreme tear at my approach.

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I had so much of my old heart left as

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to be at first grieved by this evident dislike on

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the part of a creature which had once so loved me.

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But this feeling soon gave place to irritation, and then came,

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as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow. The spirit

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of perverseness of this spirit, philosophy takes no account. Yet

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I am not more sure that my soul lives than

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I am that perverseness is one of the primitive impulses

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of the human heart, one of the indivisible primary faculties

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or sentiments, which give direction to the character of man,

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who has not hundreds of times found himself committing a

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vile or silly action for no other reason than because

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he knows he should not. Have We not a perpetual

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inclination in the teeth of our best judgment to violate

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that which is law, merely because we understand it to

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be such. This spirit of perverseness, I say, came to

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my final overthrow. It was this unfathomable longing of the

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soul to vex itself, to offer violence to its own nature,

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to do wrong for wrong's sake, only that urged me

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to continue, and finally, to consummate the injury I had

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inflicted upon the unoffending brute. One morning, in cold blood,

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I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it

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to the limb of a tree. Hung it with the

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tears streaming from my eyes and the bitterest remorse at

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my heart. Hung it because I knew that it had

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loved me, and because I felt it had given me

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no offense. Hung it because I knew that in so

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doing I was committing a sin, a deadly sin that

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would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place it

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if such a thing were possible, even beyond the reach

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of the infinite mercy of the most merciful and most

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terrible God. On the night of the day on which

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this cruel deed was done, I was aroused from sleep

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by the cry of fire. The curtains of my bed

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were in flames. The whole house was blazing. It was

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with great difficulty that my wife, a servant, and myself

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made our escape from the conflagration. The destruction was complete,

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My entire worldly wealth was swallowed up, and I resigned

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myself thenceforward to despair. I am above the weakness of

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seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect between

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the disaster and the atrocity. But I am telling a

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chain of facts, and wished not to leave even a

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possible link imperfect. On the days succeeding the fire, I

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visited the ruins the walls, with one exception had fallen in.

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This exception was found in a compartment wall not very thick,

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which stood about the middle of the house, and against

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which had rested the head of my bed. The plastering

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had here in great measure resisted the action of the fire,

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a fact which I attribute to its having been recently

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spread about this wall. A dense crowd were collected, and

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many persons seemed to be examining a particular portion of

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it with very minute and eager attention. The words strange, singular,

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and other similar expressions excited my curiosity. I approached and saw,

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as if graven in base relief, upon the white surface,

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the figure of a gigantic cat. The impression was given

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with an accuracy truly marvelous. There was a rope about

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the animal's neck. When I first beheld this apparition, for

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I could scarcely regard it as less. My wonder and

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my terror were extreme, But at length reflection came to

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my aid. The cat I remembered had been hung in

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a garden adjacent to the house. Upon the alarm of fire.

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This garden had been immediately filled by the crowd, by

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some one of whom the animal must have been cut

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from the tree and thrown through an open window in

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my chamber. This had probably been done with a view

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of arousing me from sleep. The falling of other walls

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had compressed the victim of my cruelty into the substance

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of the freshly spread plaster, the lime of which, with

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the flames and the ammonia from the carcass, had then

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accomplished the portraiture as I saw it. Although I thus

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readily accounted to my reason, if not altogether to my conscience,

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for the startling fact just detailed, it did not the

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less fail to make a deep impression upon my fancy.

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For months I could not rid myself of the phantasm

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of the cat, And during this period there came back

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into my spirit a half sentiment that seemed but was

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not remorse. I went so far as to regret the

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loss of the animal, and to look about me among

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the vile haunts which I now habitually frequented, for another

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pet of the same species, and of somewhat similar appearance,

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with which to supply its place. One night, as I

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sat half stupefied in a den of more than infamy.

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My attention was suddenly drawn to some black object reposing

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upon the head of one of the immense hogheads of

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gin or of Rum, which constituted the chief furniture of

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the apartment. I had been looking steadily at the top

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of this hogshead for some minutes, and what now caused

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me surprise was the fact that I had not sooner

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perceived the object. Thereupon I approached it and touched it

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with my hand. It was a black cat, a very

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large one, fully as large as Pluto, and closely resembling

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him in every respect, But only Pluto had not a

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white hair upon any portion of his body. But this

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cat had a large, although indefinite, splotch of white covering

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nearly the whole region of the breast. Upon touching him,

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he immediately arose, purred, loudly, rubbed against my hand, and

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appeared delighted with my notice. This, then, was the very

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creature of which I was in search. I at once

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offered to purchase it of the landlord, but this person

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made no claim to it, knew nothing of it, had

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never seen it before. I continued my caresses, and when

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I prepared to go home, the animal evinced a disposition

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to accompany me. I permitted it to do so, occasionally

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stooping and patting it as I proceeded. When it reached

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the house, it domesticated itself at once and became immediately

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a great favorite with my wife. For my own part,

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I soon found a dislike to it arising within me.

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This was just the reverse of what I had anticipate,

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But I know not how or why it was. Its

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evident fondness for myself rather disgusted and annoyed me. By

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slow degrees, these feelings of disgust and annoyance rose into

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the bitterness of hatred. I avoided the creature, a certain

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sense of shame, and the remembrance of my former deed

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of cruelty preventing me from physically abusing it. I did

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not for some week strike or otherwise violently ill use it.

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But gradually, very gradually, I came to look upon it

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with unutterable loathing, and to flee silently from its odious presence,

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as from the breath of a pestilence. What added no

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doubt to my hatred of the beast was the discovery,

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on the morning after I brought it home that, like Pluto,

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it all so had been deprived of one of its eyes.

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This circumstance, however, only endeared it to my wife, who,

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as I have already said, possessed in a high degree

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that humanity of feeling, which had once been my distinguishing

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trait and the source of many of my simplest and

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purest pleasures. With my aversion to this cat, however, its

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partiality for myself seemed to increase. It followed my footsteps

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with a pernacity which it would be difficult to make

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the reader comprehend. Whenever I sat, it would crouch beneath

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my chair, or spring upon my knees, covering me with

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its loathsome caresses. If I arose to walk, it would

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get between my feet and thus nearly throw me down,

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or fastening its long and sharp claws in my dress,

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clamber in its manner to my breast. At such times,

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although I longed to destroy it with a blow, I

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was yet withheld from doing so, partly by a memory

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of my former crime, but chiefly, let me confess it

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at once, by absolute dread of the beast. This dread

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was not exactly a dread of physical evil. And yet

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I should be at a loss how otherwise to define it.

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I am almost ashamed to own. Yes, even in this

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felon cell I am almost ashamed to own that the

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terror and horror with which the animal inspired me had

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been heightened by one of the merest chimeras it would

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have been possible to conceive. My wife had called my

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attention more than once to the character of the mark

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of white hair of which I have spoken, and which

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constituted the sole visible difference between the strange beast and

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the one I had destroyed. The reader will remember that

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this mark, although large, had been originally very indefinite, but

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by slow degrees degrees nearly imperceptible, and which for a

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long time my reasons struggled to reject as fanciful, it

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had at length assumed a rigorous distinctness of outline. It

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was now the representation of an object that I shudder

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to name, And for this above all I loathed and dreaded,

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and would have rid myself of the monster had I dared.

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It was now, I say, the image of a hideous,

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of a ghastly thing, of the gallows, oh mournful and

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terrible engine of horror, and of cras time of agony

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and of death. And now was I indeed wretched beyond

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the wretchedness of mere humanity, and a brute beast whose

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fellow I had contemptuously destroyed, A brute beast to work

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out for me, for me, a man fashioned in the

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image of the High God, so much of insufferable woe,

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alas neither by day nor night knew I the blessing

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of rest anymore. During the former, the creature left me

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no moment alone, And in the latter I started, hourly

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from dreams of unutterable fear to find the hot breath

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of a thing upon my face, and its vast weight,

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an incarnate nightmare that I had no power to shake off,

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incumbent eternally upon my heart. Beneath the pressure of torments

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such as these, the feeble remnants of the good within

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me succumbed. Evil thoughts became my sole inmates, the darkest

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of most evil thoughts. The moodiness of my usual temper

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increased to hatred of all things and of all mankind,

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while from the sudden, frequent, and ungovernable outbursts of fury

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to which I now blindly abandoned myself, my uncomplaining wife

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alas was the most usual and the most patient of sufferers.

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One day she accompanied me upon some household errand into

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the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled

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us to inhabit. The cat followed me down the steep stairs,

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and nearly throwing me headlong, exasperated me to madness. Lifting

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an axe and forgetting in my wrath the childish dread

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which had hitherto stayed my hand. I aimed a blow

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at the animal, which of course would have proved instantly

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fatal had it descended as I wished. But this blow

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was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded by

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the interference into a rage more than demoniacal, I withdrew

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my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in

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her brain. She fell dead upon the spot without a groan.

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This hideous murder accomplished. I set myself forthwith and with

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entire deliberation, to the task of concealing the body. I

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knew that I could not remove it from the house,

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either by day or by night, without the risk of

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being observed by the neighbors. Many projects entered my mind.

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At one period I thought of cutting the corpse into

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minute fragments and destroying them by fire. At another I

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resolved to dig a grave for it in the floor

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of the cellar. Again, I deliberated about casting it into

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the well in the yard, about packing it in a

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box as if merchandise, with the usual arrangements, and so

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getting a porter to take it from the house. Finally

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I hit upon what I considered a far better expedient

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than either of these. I determined to wall it up

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in the cellar, as the monks of the Middle Ages

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I recorded to have walled up their victims for a

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purpose such as this. The cellar was well adapted. Its

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walls were loosely constructed, and had lately been plastered throughout

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with a rough plaster, which the dampness of the atmosphere

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had prevented from hardening. Moreover, in one of the walls

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was a projection caused by a false chimney or fireplace

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that had been filled up and made to resemble the

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rest of the cellar. I made no doubt that I

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could readily displace the bricks at this point, insert the corpse,

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and wall the whole up as before, so that no

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eye could detect anything suspicious. And in this calculation. I

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was not deceived by means of a crowbar. I easily

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dislodged the bricks, and having carefully deposited the body against

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the inner wall, I propped it in that position, while

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with little trouble, I relayed the whole structure as it

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originally stood, Having procured murder, sand and hair with every

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possible precaution, I prepared a plaster which could not be

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distinguished from the old, and with this I very carefully

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went over the new brickwork. When I had finished, I

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felt satisfied that all was right. The wall did not

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present the slightest appearance of having been disturbed. The rubbish

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on the floor was picked up with the minutest care.

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I looked around triumphantly and said to myself, here at last,

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then my labor has not been in vain. My next

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step was to look for the beast which had been

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the cause of so much wretchedness, for I had at

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length firmly resolved to put it to death. Had I

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been able to meet with it at the moment, there

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could have been no doubt of its fate. But it

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appeared that the crafty animal had been alarmed at the

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violence of my previous anger, and forbore to present itself

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in my present mood. It is impossible to describe or

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imagine the deep, the blissful sense of relief which the

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absence of the detested creature occasioned in my bosom. It

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did not make its appearance during the night, and thus

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for one night at least, since its introduction into the house,

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I soundly and tranquility slept. I slept, even with the

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burden of murder upon my soul. The second and third

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day passed, and still my tormentor came not once again.

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I breathed as a free man. The monster in terror

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had fled the premises, forever I should behold it no more.

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My happiness was supreme. The guilt of my dark deed

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disturbed me but a little. Some few inquiries had been made,

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but these had been readily answered. Even a search had

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been instituted, but of course nothing was to be discovered.

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I looked upon my future felicity as secured. Upon the

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fourth day of the assassination, a party of the police

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came very unexpectedly into the house and proceeded again to

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make a rigorous investigation of the premises. Secure. However, in

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the inscrutability of my place of concealment. I felt no

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embarrassment whatever. The officers bade me to accompany them in

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their search. They left no nook or corner unexplored. At length.

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For the third or fourth time they descended into the cellar,

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I quivered not in a muscle. My heart beat as

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calmly as that of one whose slumbers in innocence. I

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walked the cellar from end to end. I folded my

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arms upon my bosom, and roamed easily to and fro.

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The police were thoroughly satisfied and prepared to depart. The

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glee at my heart was too strong to be restrained.

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I burned to say but one word by way of triumph,

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and to render doubly sure their assurance of my guiltlessness. Gentlemen,

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I said at last, as the party ascended the steps,

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I delight to have allayed your suspicions. I wish you

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all health and a little more courtesy. By the bye, gentlemen,

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this this is a very well constructed house. In the

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rabbit desire to say something easily, I scarcely knew what

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I uttered it all, I may say, an excellently well

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constructed house these walls. Are you going, gentlemen? These walls

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are solidly put together. And here, through the mere frenzy

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of bravado, I rapped heavily with a cane, which I

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held in my hand, upon that very portion of the brick,

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behind which stood the corpse of the wife of my bosom.

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But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs

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of the arch fiend. No sooner had the reverberation of

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my blows sunk into the silence, than I was answered

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by a voice from within the tomb, by a cry,

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at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child,

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and then quickly swelling into one long, loud and continuous scream,

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utterly anomalous and inhuman, a howl, a wailing shriek, half

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of horror and half of triumph, such as might have

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arisen only out of hell, conjointly from the throats of

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the damned in their agony, and of the demons that

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exalted in the damnation of my own thoughts. It's folly

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to speak swooning, I staggered to the opposite wall. For

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an instant. The party upon the stairs remained motionless through

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extremity of terror, and of awe, and the next a

382
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dozen stout arms were toiling at the wall. It fell bodily.

383
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The corpse, already getting decayed and clotted with gore, stood

384
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erect before the eyes of the spectators. Upon its head,

385
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with red extended mouth and solitary terry eye of fire

386
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set the hideous beast, whose craft had seduced me into murder,

387
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and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman.

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I had walled the monster up within the tomb end

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of the Black Cat