"Deeply did I ruminate on the occurrences that had just passed. Nothing
excited my wonder so much as the means by which you discovered my being
in the closet. This discovery appeared to be made at the moment when you
attempted to open it. How could you have otherwise remained so long in
the chamber apparently fearless and tranquil? And yet, having made
this discovery, how could you persist in dragging me forth: persist in
defiance of an interdiction so emphatical and solemn?
"But your sister's death was an event detestable and ominous. She had
been the victim of the most dreadful species of assassination. How, in a
state like yours, the murderous intention could be generated, was wholly
inconceivable.
"I did not relinquish my design of confessing to you the part which I
had sustained in your family, but I was willing to defer it till the
task which I had set myself was finished. That being done, I resumed the
resolution. The motives to incite me to this continually acquired
force. The more I revolved the events happening at Mettingen, the more
insupportable and ominous my terrors became. My waking hours and my
sleep were vexed by dismal presages and frightful intimations.
"Catharine was dead by violence. Surely my malignant stars had not made
me the cause of her death; yet had I not rashly set in motion a machine,
over whose progress I had no controul, and which experience had shewn me
was infinite in power? Every day might add to the catalogue of horrors
of which this was the source, and a seasonable disclosure of the truth
might prevent numberless ills.
"Fraught with this conception, I have turned my steps hither. I find
your brother's house desolate: the furniture removed, and the walls
stained with damps. Your own is in the same situation. Your chamber is
dismantled and dark, and you exhibit an image of incurable grief, and of
rapid decay.
"I have uttered the truth. This is the extent of my offences. You tell
me an horrid tale of Wieland being led to the destruction of his wife
and children, by some mysterious agent. You charge me with the guilt
of this agency; but I repeat that the amount of my guilt has been truly
stated. The perpetrator of Catharine's death was unknown to me till now;
nay, it is still unknown to me."
At that moment, the closing of a door in the kitchen was distinctly
heard by us. Carwin started and paused. "There is some one coming. I
must not be found here by my enemies, and need not, since my purpose is
answered."
I had drunk in, with the most vehement attention, every word that he
had uttered. I had no breath to interrupt his tale by interrogations
or comments. The power that he spoke of was hitherto unknown to me: its
existence was incredible; it was susceptible of no direct proof.
He owns that his were the voice and face which I heard and saw. He
attempts to give an human explanation of these phantasms; but it is
enough that he owns himself to be the agent; his tale is a lie, and his
nature devilish. As he deceived me, he likewise deceived my brother, and
now do I behold the author of all our calamities!
Such were my thoughts when his pause allowed me to think. I should have
bad him begone if the silence had not been interrupted; but now I feared
no more for myself; and the milkiness of my nature was curdled into
hatred and rancour. Some one was near, and this enemy of God and
man might possibly be brought to justice. I reflected not that the
preternatural power which he had hitherto exerted, would avail to rescue
him from any toils in which his feet might be entangled. Meanwhile,
looks, and not words of menace and abhorrence, were all that I could
bestow.
He did not depart. He seemed dubious, whether, by passing out of the
house, or by remaining somewhat longer where he was, he should most
endanger his safety. His confusion increased when steps of one barefoot
were heard upon the stairs. He threw anxious glances sometimes at the
closet, sometimes at the window, and sometimes at the chamber door, yet
he was detained by some inexplicable fascination. He stood as if rooted
to the spot.
As to me, my soul was bursting with detestation and revenge. I had
no room for surmises and fears respecting him that approached. It was
doubtless a human being, and would befriend me so far as to aid me in
arresting this offender.
The stranger quickly entered the room. My eyes and the eyes of Carwin
were, at the same moment, darted upon him. A second glance was not
needed to inform us who he was. His locks were tangled, and fell
confusedly over his forehead and ears. His shirt was of coarse stuff,
and open at the neck and breast. His coat was once of bright and fine
texture, but now torn and tarnished with dust. His feet, his legs, and
his arms were bare. His features were the seat of a wild and tranquil
solemnity, but his eyes bespoke inquietude and curiosity.
He advanced with firm step, and looking as in search of some one. He saw
me and stopped. He bent his sight on the floor, and clenching his hands,
appeared suddenly absorbed in meditation. Such were the figure and
deportment of Wieland! Such, in his fallen state, were the aspect and
guise of my brother!
Carwin did not fail to recognize the visitant. Care for his own safety
was apparently swallowed up in the amazement which this spectacle
produced. His station was conspicuous, and he could not have escaped the
roving glances of Wieland; yet the latter seemed totally unconscious of
his presence.
Grief at this scene of ruin and blast was at first the only sentiment
of which I was conscious. A fearful stillness ensued. At length Wieland,
lifting his hands, which were locked in each other, to his breast,
exclaimed, "Father! I thank thee. This is thy guidance. Hither thou hast
led me, that I might perform thy will: yet let me not err: let me hear
again thy messenger!"
He stood for a minute as if listening; but recovering from his attitude,
he continued--"It is not needed. Dastardly wretch! thus eternally
questioning the behests of thy Maker! weak in resolution! wayward in
faith!"
He advanced to me, and, after another pause, resumed: "Poor girl!
a dismal fate has set its mark upon thee. Thy life is demanded as
a sacrifice. Prepare thee to die. Make not my office difficult by
fruitless opposition. Thy prayers might subdue stones; but none but he
who enjoined my purpose can shake it."
These words were a sufficient explication of the scene. The nature of
his phrenzy, as described by my uncle, was remembered. I who had sought
death, was now thrilled with horror because it was near. Death in
this form, death from the hand of a brother, was thought upon with
undescribable repugnance.
In a state thus verging upon madness, my eye glanced upon Carwin. His
astonishment appeared to have struck him motionless and dumb. My life
was in danger, and my brother's hand was about to be embrued in my
blood. I firmly believed that Carwin's was the instigation. I could
rescue me from this abhorred fate; I could dissipate this tremendous
illusion; I could save my brother from the perpetration of new horrors,
by pointing out the devil who seduced him; to hesitate a moment was
to perish. These thoughts gave strength to my limbs, and energy to my
accents: I started on my feet. "O brother! spare me, spare thyself:
There is thy betrayer. He counterfeited the voice and face of an angel,
for the purpose of destroying thee and me. He has this moment confessed
it. He is able to speak where he is not. He is leagued with hell, but
will not avow it; yet he confesses that the agency was his."
My brother turned slowly his eyes, and fixed them upon Carwin. Every
joint in the frame of the latter trembled. His complexion was paler than
a ghost's. His eye dared not meet that of Wieland, but wandered with an
air of distraction from one space to another.
"Man," said my brother, in a voice totally unlike that which he had
used to me, "what art thou? The charge has been made. Answer it.
The visage--the voice--at the bottom of these stairs--at the hour of
eleven--To whom did they belong? To thee?"
Twice did Carwin attempt to speak, but his words died away upon his
lips. My brother resumed in a tone of greater vehemence--
"Thou falterest; faltering is ominous; say yes or no: one word will
suffice; but beware of falsehood. Was it a stratagem of hell to
overthrow my family? Wast thou the agent?"
I now saw that the wrath which had been prepared for me was to be
heaped upon another. The tale that I heard from him, and his present
trepidations, were abundant testimonies of his guilt. But what if
Wieland should be undeceived! What if he shall find his acts to have
proceeded not from an heavenly prompter, but from human treachery! Will
not his rage mount into whirlwind? Will not he tare limb from limb this
devoted wretch?
Instinctively I recoiled from this image, but it gave place to another.
Carwin may be innocent, but the impetuosity of his judge may misconstrue
his answers into a confession of guilt. Wieland knows not that
mysterious voices and appearances were likewise witnessed by me. Carwin
may be ignorant of those which misled my brother. Thus may his answers
unwarily betray himself to ruin.
Such might be the consequences of my frantic precipitation, and these,
it was necessary, if possible, to prevent. I attempted to speak, but
Wieland, turning suddenly upon me, commanded silence, in a tone furious
and terrible. My lips closed, and my tongue refused its office.
"What art thou?" he resumed, addressing himself to Carwin. "Answer me;
whose form--whose voice--was it thy contrivance? Answer me."
The answer was now given, but confusedly and scarcely articulated. "I
meant nothing--I intended no ill--if I understand--if I do not mistake
you--it is too true--I did appear--in the entry--did speak. The
contrivance was mine, but--"
These words were no sooner uttered, than my brother ceased to wear the
same aspect. His eyes were downcast: he was motionless: his respiration
became hoarse, like that of a man in the agonies of death. Carwin seemed
unable to say more. He might have easily escaped, but the thought which
occupied him related to what was horrid and unintelligible in this
scene, and not to his own danger.
Presently the faculties of Wieland, which, for a time, were chained
up, were seized with restlessness and trembling. He broke silence. The
stoutest heart would have been appalled by the tone in which he spoke.
He addressed himself to Carwin.
"Why art thou here? Who detains thee? Go and learn better. I will meet
thee, but it must be at the bar of thy Maker. There shall I bear witness
against thee."
Perceiving that Carwin did not obey, he continued; "Dost thou wish me
to complete the catalogue by thy death? Thy life is a worthless thing.
Tempt me no more. I am but a man, and thy presence may awaken a fury
which may spurn my controul. Begone!"
Carwin, irresolute, striving in vain for utterance, his complexion
pallid as death, his knees beating one against another, slowly obeyed
the mandate and withdrew.