The Tell-Tale Heart Page #4

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And fill your head up

with entirely new memories.

The old man isn't any

smarter than you or I.

We don't need him watching

over us to get better.

The sky below

Above ooh oh yeah

Sean, are you in there, Sean?

Do you remember now'?

What's in the bag, Sean'?

I feel so safe in your arms.

Clarity had returned.

The old man no longer

had a hold on me.

The old man no longer

had a hold on us.

Oh, I see you found my surprise.

Yes, and it's brilliant.

You found your skill.

Now we can move on

to another project.

Well, how about a game first'?

I believe after all

your hard work,

you deserve to make

the first move.

So, what's next'?

Well, you finished carving

all the pieces, Sean,

but they still need

to be stained.

Have you ever

stained wood before?

Yes, I've treated a deck before.

Sometimes you have to make

sacrifices in order to win.

Well, that's it for me.

I guess checkers

is really my game.

Oh, you threw in the

towel too soon I think.

You still had

a play or two left.

I'll remember that

for the next game.

Another?

Of course.

Sean May I have a

bit more water?

Sure, Sean.

There you go.

What madman could've

waited so patiently?

So long...

in that house.

With the old man...

and the eye.

I waited.

Watched.

Presently,

I heard a slight groan,

and I knew it was the

groan of mortal terror.

It was not a groan of

pain or of grief, oh, no.

It was the low,

stifled sound that arises

from the bottom of the soul

when overcharged with awe.

I knew the sound well.

Many a night, just at midnight,

when all the world slept,

it has welled up

from my own bosom,

deepening with its dreadful echo

of the terrors that distract me.

I say I knew it well.

I knew what the old man

felt and pitied him,

although I chuckled at heart.

I know that

he had been lying awake

ever since

the first slight noise,

when he had turned in the bed.

His fears had been ever

since growing upon him.

He'd been trying

to fancy them cause,

but could not.

He'd been saying to himself,

It is nothing but the wind

in the chimney.

It is only a mouse

crossing the floor."

Or It is merely a cricket,

which has made a single chirp."

Yes, he'd been trying

to comfort himself

with these suspicions,

but he had found it

in vain, all in vain.

Because death,

in approaching him,

had stalked with his

black shadow before him,

and enveloped the victim.

Upon the eighth night, I was

more than usually cautious

in opening the door.

A watches' minute hand moves

more quickly than did mine.

Never before

that night had I felt

the extent of my own powers,

of my capacity.

I could scarcely contain

my feeling of triumph.

To think that there I was opening

the door little by little

and he hide even to dream of my

secret deeds or thoughts.

And it was the mournful influence

of the unperceived shadow

that caused him to feel,

although he neither

saw nor heard,

to feel the presence

of my head within the room.

And I resolved to open a little,

a very little crevice

in the lantern.

So I opened it.

You cannot imagine

how stealthily,

until at length a single dim ray

like the thread of a spider

shot out

from the crevice and fell

upon the vulture eye.

It was open.

Wide, wide open.

And I grew furious

as I gazed upon it.

I saw it with perfect

dist/atness, all a dull blue,

with a hideous veil over it.

But what you mistake for madness

is but over acuteness

of the sense.

There came to my ears

a little dull, quick sound,

such as a watch makes

when enveloped in cotton.

I know that sound well, too.

It was the beating

of the old man's heart.

It increased my fury,

as the beating of the drum

stimulates the soldier

info courage.

But the beating

grew louder and louder.

I thought the heart must burst.

And now a new anxiety seized me.

The sound would be heard

by a neighbor.

The old man's hour had come.

He shrieked once, once only.

In an instant, I dragged

him to the floor

and pulled the heavy

bed over him.

I then smiled gaily to

find the deed so far done.

But for many minutes,

the heart beat on

with a muffled sound.

This, however, did not vex me.

It would not be heard

through the wall.

At length, it ceased.

The old man was dead.

I removed the bed

and examined the corpse.

Yes, he was stone, stone dead.

I placed my hand upon the heart!

And held it there many minutes.

There was no pulsation.

I knew then it was over.

The eye was dead.

There was still work to be done.

It you still think me mad,

you will think so no longer,

when I describe

the wise precautions

I took for the concealment

of the body.

The night waned and I worked

hastily, but in silence.

First of all, I

dismembered the corpse.

I cut off the head

and the arms and the legs.

I then took up three planks

from the flooring of the chamber

and deposited all

between the scandlings.

I then replaced the boards

so cleverly, so cunningly

that no human eye,

not even his,

could have detected

anything wrong.

There was nothing to wash out.

No stain of any kind.

No blood spot whatever.

I had been to wary for that.

A tub had caught it all.

When I had made

an end of these labors,

it was 4:
00.

Still dark as midnight.

As the bell sounded the hour,

there came a knocking

at the street door.

Open up, police.

I went down to open

it with a light heart.

For what had I now to fear?

There entered three men

who introduced themselves

with perfect suavity,

as officers of the police.

Neighbors reported a scream.

We're here to investigate.

A scream?

It was my own, gentlemen.

I had a childish dream.

But it, would you like

to look around?

Please come in.

Please.

We're sorry to disturb you

so late, but it's our duty.

Where is the old man'?

He's gone into the city.

You're up late this evening.

Oh, the dream I spoke of.

It woke me, I was trying

to distract myself

by tending to some things

around the house.

When did he leave?

The old man, yesterday.

How long will he be gone?

Not long.

A week, maybe two.

Seems all right here.

There's nothing

out of place here.

His room's just down the hall.

Everything should be in order. He didn't

pack much. Would you like to see'?

Please, follow me.

There's no need.

You understand

that when a complaints made,

we have no choice

but to investigate.

Of course, gentlemen, of course.

Well, it's a wretched night. I

was just about to have some tea.

Why don't you stay

and have some with me'?

I hate the idea of sending

you out into the cold.

No, thanks. I think we need

to get back to the precinct.

No, please. Please stay.

I insist, stay.

The officers were satisfied.

My manner convinced them.

I was singularly at ease.

They sat,

and while I answered, cheerily,

they chatted of familiar things.

But here long, I felt

myself getting pale

and wished them gone.

My head ached, and I fancied

a ringing in my ears.

But still they sat

and still chatted.

The ringing

became more distinct.

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