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shriek so horrid and harsh, and withal so piercing, that Ethelred had fain to close his ears with his hands against the dreadful noise of it, the like whereof was never before heard."

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Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild amazement, for there could be no doubt whatever that, in this instance, I did actually hear (although from what direction it proceeded I found it impossible to say) a low and apparently distant, but harsh, protracted, and most unusual screaming or grating sound, -the exact counterpart of what my fancy had already conjured up as the sound of the dragon's unnatural shriek, as described by the

romancer.

Oppressed as I certainly was upon the occurrence of this second and most extraordinary coincidence, by a thousand conflicting sensations, in which wonder and extreme terror were predominant, I still retained sufficient presence of mind to avoid exciting by any observation the sensitive nervousness of my companion. I was by no means certain that he had noticed the sounds in question; although, assuredly, a strange alteration had during the last few minutes taken place in his demeanour. From a position fronting my own, he had gradually brought round his chair, so as to sit with his face to the door of the chamber, and thus I could but partially perceive his features, although I saw that his lips trembled as if he were murmuring inaudibly. His head had dropped upon his breast; yet I knew that he was not asleep, from the wide and rigid opening of the eye as I caught a glance of it in profile. The motion of his body, too, was at variance with this idea; for he rocked from side to side with a gentle yet constant and uniform sway. Having rapidly taken notice of all this, I resumed the narrative of Sir Launcelot, which thus proceeded:

"And now the champion, having escaped from the terrible fury of the dragon, bethinking himself of the brazen shield, and of the breaking up of the enchantment which was upon it, removed the carcass from out of the way before him, and approached valorously over the silver pavement of the castle to where the shield was upon the wall; which in sooth tarried not for his full coming, but fell down at his feet upon the silver floor with a mighty great and terrible ringing sound."

No sooner had these syllables passed my lips than, as if a shield of brass had indeed at the moment fallen heavily upon a floor of silver, I became aware of a distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled, reverberation. Completely unnerved, I started convulsively to my feet; but the measured rocking movement of Usher was undisturbed. I rushed to the chair in which he sat. His eyes were bent fixedly before him, and throughout his whole countenance there reigned a more than stony rigidity. But, as I laid my hand upon his shoulder, there came a strong shudder over his frame, a sickly smile quivered about his lips, and I saw that he spoke in a low, hurried, and gibbering murmur, as if unconscious of my presence. Bending closely over his person, I at length drank in the hideous import of his words.

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Not hear it? Yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long-longlong-many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it yet I dared not-oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!-I dared not -I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb! Said I

VOL. VIII.

N

not my senses were acute? I now tell you that I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them-many, many days ago-yet I dared not—I dared not speak! And now-to-night -Ethelred-ha! ha!-the breaking of the hermit's door, and the death-cry of the dragon, and the clangour of the shield,-say rather the rending of the coffin, and the grating of the iron hinges, and her struggles within the coppered archway of the vault! Oh! whither shall I fly? Will she not be here anon? Is she not hurrying to upbraid me for my haste? Have I not heard her footsteps on the stair? Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart? Madman!"-here he sprung violently to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul-" Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door!" As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell, the huge antique panels to which the speaker pointed, threw slowly back upon the instant their ponderous and ebony jaws. It was the work of the rushing gust; but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the Lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold, then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her horrible, and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had dreaded.

The

From that chamber, and from that mansion, I fled aghast. The storm was still abroad in all its wrath, as I found myself crossing the old causeway. Suddenly there shot along the path a wild light, and I turned to see whence a gleam so unusual could have issued, for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me. radiance was that of the full, setting, and blood-red moon, which now shone vividly through that once barely-discernible fissure, of which I have before spoken, as extending from the roof of the building in a zigzag direction to the base. While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened,—there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind,-the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight,-my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder, there was a long tumultuous shouting sound, like the voice of a thousand waters, — and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the "House of Usher."

A PROPOS TO THE DOCTOR'S LAMENTED DEATH.

WHAT'S the news?-Why, they say, Death has kill'd Doctor Morrison.The Pill-maker?-Yes.-Then Death will be sorry soon.

[From the French :

Quoi de nouveau? La Mort vient d'enlever Bois rude.
Ce fameux médecin ?-Oui.-Quelle ingratitude!]

J. A. J.

171

COUNTY LEGENDS.

BY THOMAS INGOLDSBY, ESQ.

No. I.

Bloudie Jacke of Shrewsberrie,

THE SHROPSHIRE BLUEBEARD.

A LEGEND OF "THE PROUD SALOPIANS."

Hisce ferè temporibus, in agro Salopiensi, Quidam, cui nomen Johannes, Le Sanglaunt deinde nuncupatus, uxores quamplurimas ducit, enecat et (ita referunt) manducat; ossa solùm cani miræ magnitudinis relinquens. Tùm demùm in flagrante delicto, vel “manu rubrâ," ut dicunt Jurisconsulti, deprensus, carnifice vix opprimitur.-RADULPHUS DE DICETO.

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""Tis done

She is won!

Nothing under the sun

Can loose the charm'd ring, though it's slight!

It fits so remarkably tight!"

Ho! ho!

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"Ho! ho!-We shall see-we shall see !"—

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