Contents:

Page No 1

Page No 2

Page No 3

Page No 4

The Judge's House .............................................................................................................................................1

"When the time for his examination drew near Malcolm Malcolmson made up his mind to go somewhere to

read by himself. He feared the attractions of the seaside, and also he feared completely rural isolation, for of

old he knew its charms, and so he determined to find some unpretentious little town where there would be

nothing to distract him. He refrained from asking suggestions from any of his friends, for he argued that each

would recommend some place of which he had knowledge, and where he had already acquaintances. As

Malcolmson wished to avoid friends he had no wish to encumber himself with the attention or friends'

friends, and so he determined to look out for a place for himself. He packed a portmanteau with some clothes

and all the books he required, and then took ticket for the first name on the local timetable which he did not

"When at the end of three hours' journey he alighted at Benchurch, he felt satisfied that he had so far

obliterated his tracks as to be sure of having a peaceful opportunity of pursuing his studies. He went straight

to the one inn which the sleepy little place contained, and put up for the night. Benchurch was a market town,

and once in three weeks was crowded to excess, but for the remainder of the twentyone days it was as

attractive as a desert. Malcolmson looked around the day after his arrival to try to find quarters more isolated

than even so quiet an inn as "The Good Traveller" afforded. There was only one place which took his fancy,

and it certainly satisfied his wildest ideas regarding quiet; in fact, quiet was not the proper word to apply to

itdesolation was the only term conveying any suitable idea of its isolation. It was an old rambling,

heavybuilt house of the Jacobean style, with heavy gables and windows, unusually small, and set higher

than was customary in such houses, and was surrounded with a high brick wall massively built. Indeed, on

examination, it looked more like a fortified house than an ordinary dwelling. But all these things pleased

Malcolmson. "Here," he thought, "is the very spot I have been looking for, and if I can only get opportunity

of using it I shall be happy." His joy was increased when he realised beyond doubt that it was not at present

"From the postoffice he got the name of the agent, who was rarely surprised at the application to rent a part

of the old house. Mr. Carnford, the local lawyer and agent, was a genial old gentleman, and frankly confessed

""To tell you the truth," said he, "I should be only too happy, on behalf of the owners, to let anyone have the

howe rent free for a term of years if only to accustom the people here to see it inhabited. It has been so long

empty that some kind of absurd prejudice has grown up about it, and this can be best put down by its

occupationif only," he added with a sly glance at Malcomson, "by a scholar like yourself, who wants its

"Malcolmson thought it needless to ask the agent about the "absurd prejudice"; he knew he would get more

information, if he should require it, on that subject from other quarters. He paid his three months' rent, got a

receipt, and the name of an old woman who would probably undertake to "do" for him, and came away with

the keys in his pocket. He then went to the landlady of the inn, who was a cheerful and most kindly person,

and asked her advice as to such stores and provisions as he would be likely to require. She threw up her hands

"Not in the Judge's House!" she said, and grew pale as she spoke. He explained the locality of the house,

"Aye, sure enoughsure enough the very place! It is the Judge's House sure enough." He asked her to tell

him about the place, why so called, and what there was against it. She told him that it was so called locally

because it had been many years beforehow long she could not say, as she was herself from another part of

the country, but she thought it must have been a hundred years or morethe abode of a judge who was held

in great terror on account of his harsh sentences and his hostility to prisoners at Assizes. As to what there was

against the house itself she could not tell. She had often asked, but no one could inform her; but there was a

general feeling that there was something, and for her own part she would not take all the money in

Drinkwater's Bank and stay in the house an hour by herself. Then she apologised to Malcolmson for her

"It is too bad of me, sir, and youand a young gentleman, tooif you will pardon me saying it, going to

live there all alone. If you were my boyand you'll excuse me for saying ityou wouldn't sleep there a

night, not if I had to go there myself and pull the big alarm bell that's on the root!" The good creature was so

manifestly in earnest, and was so kindly in her intentions, that Malcolmson, although amused, was touched.

"But, my dear Mrs. Witham, indeed you need not be concerned about me! A man who is reading for the

Mathematical Tripos has too much to think of to be disturbed by any of these mysterious 'somethings,' and

his work is of too exact and prosaic a kind to allow of his having any corner in his mind for mysteries of any

kind. Harmonical Progression, Permutations and Combinations, and Elliptic Functions have sufficient

mysteries for me!" Mrs. Witham kindly undertook to see after his commissions, and he went himself to look

for the old woman who had been recommended to him. When he returned to the Judge's House with her, after

an interval of a couple of hours, he found Mrs. Witham herself waiting with several men and boys carrying

parcels, and an upholsterer's man with a bed in a cart, for she said, though tables and chairs might be all very

well, a bed that hadn't been aired for mayhap fifty years was not proper for young bones to lie on. She was

evidently curious to see the inside of the house; and though manifestly so afraid of the 'somethings' that at the

slightest sound she clutched on to Malcolmson, whom she never left for a moment, went over the whole

After his examination of the house, Malcolmson decided to take up his abode in the great diningroom,

which was big enough to serve for all his requirements; and Mrs. Witham, with the aid of the charwoman,

Mrs. Dempster, proceeded to arrange matters. When the hampers were brought in and unpacked, Malcolmson

saw that with much kind forethought she had sent from her own kitchen sufficient provisions to last for a few

days. Before going she expressed all sorts of kind wishes; and at the door turned and said:

"And perhaps, sir, as the room is big and draughty it might be well to have one of those big screens put round

your bed at nightthough, truth to tell, I would die myself if I were to be so shut in with all kinds ofof

'things,' that put their heads round the sides, or over the top, and look on me!" The image which she had

Mrs. Dempster sniffed in a superior manner as the landlady disappeared, and remarked that for her own part

"I'll tell you what it is, sir," she said; "bogies is all kinds and sorts of thingsexcept bogies! Rats and mice,

and beetles; and creaky doors, and loose slates, and broken panes, and stiff drawer handles, that stay out

when you pull them and then fall down in the middle of the night. Look at the wainscot of the room! It is

oldhundreds of years old! Do you think there's no rats and beetles there! And do you imagine, sir, that you

won't see none of them! Rats is bogies, I tell you, and bogies is rats; and don't you get to think anything else!"

"Mrs. Dempster," said Malcolmson gravely, making her a polite bow, "you know more than a Senior

Wrangler! And let me say, that, as a mark of esteem for your indubitable soundness of head and heart, I shall,

when I go, give you possession of this house, and let you stay here by yourself for the last two months of my

"Thank you kindly, sir!" she answered, "but I couldn't sleep away from home a night. I am in Greenhow's

Charity, and if I slept a night away from my rooms I should lose all I have got to live on. The rules is very

strict; and there's too many watching for a vacancy for me to run any risks in the matter. Only for that, sir, I'd

"My good woman," said Malcolmson hastily, "I have come here on purpose to obtain solitude; and believe

me that I am grateful to the late Greenhow for having so organised his admirable charitywhatever it

isthat I am perforce denied the opportunity of suffering from such a form of temptation! Saint Anthony

The old woman laughed harshly. "Ah, you young gentlemen," she said, "you don't fear for naught; and belike

you'll get all the solitude you want here." She set to work with her cleaning; and by nightfall, when

Malcolmson returned from his walkhe always had one of his books to study as he walkedhe found the

room swept and tidied, a fire burning in the old hearth, the lamp lit, and the table spread for supper with Mrs.

Witham's excellent fare. "This is comfort, indeed," he said, as he rubbed his hands.

When he had finished his supper, and lifted the tray to the other end of the great oak diningtable, he got out

his books again, put fresh wood on the fire, trimmed his lamp, and set himself down to a spell of real hard

work. He went on without pause till about eleven o'clock, when he knocked off for a bit to fix his fire and

lamp, and to make himself a cup of tea. He had always been a teadrinker, and during his college life had sat

late at work and had taken tea late. The rest was a great luxury to him, and he enjoyed it with a sense of

delicious, voluptuous ease. The renewed fire leaped and sparkled, and threw quaint shadows through the

great old room; and as he sipped his hot tea he revelled in the sense of isolation from his kind. Then it was

"Surely," he thought, "they cannot have been at it all the time I was reading. Had they been. I must have

noticed it!" Presently, when the noise increased, he satisfied himself that it was really new. It was evident that

at first the rats had been frightened at the presence of a stranger, and the light of fire and lamp; but that as the

time went on they had grown bolder and were now disporting themselves as was their wont.

How busy they were! and hark to the strange noises! Up and down behind the old wainscot, over the ceiling

and under the floor they raced, and gnawed, and scratched! Malcolmson smiled to himself as he recalled to

mind the saying of Mrs. Dempster, "Bogies is rats, and rats is bogies!" The tea began to have its effect of

intellectual and nervous stimulus, he saw with joy another long spell of work to be done before the night was

past, and in the sense of security which it gave him, he allowed himself the luxury of a good look round the

room. He took his lamp in one hand, and went all around, wondering that so quaint and beautiful an old

house had been so long neglected. The carving of the oak on the panels of the wainscot was fine, and on and

round the doors and windows it was beautiful and of rare merit. There were some old pictures on the walls,

but they were coated so thick with dust and dirt that he could not distinguish any detail of them, though he

held his lamp as high as he could over his head. Here and there as he went round he saw some crack or hole

blocked for a moment by the face of a rat with its bright eyes glittering in the light, but in an instant it was

The thing that most struck him, however, was the rope of the great alarm bell on the roof, which hung down

in a corner of the room on the righthand side of the fireplace. He pulled up close to the hearth a great

highbacked carved oak chair, and sat down to his last cup of tea. When this was done he made up the fire,

and went back to his work, sitting at the corner of the table, having the fire to his left. For a while the rats

disturbed him somewhat with their perpetual scampering, but he got accustomed to the noise as one does to

the ticking of a clock or to the roar of moving water; and he became so immersed in his work that everything

in the world, except the problem which he was trying to solve, passed away from him.

He suddenly looked up, his problem was still unsolved, and there was in the air that sense of the hour before

the dawn, which is so dread to doubtful life. The noise of the rats had ceased. Indeed it seemed to him that it

must have ceased but lately and that it was the sudden cessation which had disturbed him. The fire had fallen

low, but still it threw out a deep red glow. As he looked he started in spite of his sang froid.

There on the great highbacked carved oak chair by the right side of the fireplace sat an enormous rat,

steadily glaring at him with baleful eyes. He made a motion to it as though to hunt it away, but it did not stir.

Then he made the motion of throwing something. Still it did not stir, but showed its great white teeth angrily,

Malcolmson felt amazed, and seizing the poker from the hearth ran at it to kill it. Before, however, he could

strike it, the rat, with a squeak that sounded like the concentration of hate, jumped upon the floor, and,

running up the rope of the alarm bell, disappeared in the darkness beyond the range of the greenshaded

lamp. Instantly, strange to say, the noisy scampering of the rats in the wainscot began again.

By this time Malcolmson's mind was quite off the problem; and as a shrill cockcrow outside told him of the

He slept so sound that he was not even waked by Mrs. Dempster coming in to make up his room. It was only

when she had tidied up the place and got his breakfast ready and tapped on the screen which closed in his bed

that he woke. He was a little tired still after his night's hard work, but a strong cup of tea soon freshened him

up, and, taking his book, he went out for his morning walk, bringing with him a few sandwiches lest he

should not care to return till dinner time. He found a quiet walk between high elms some way outside the

town, and here he spent the greater part of the day studying his Laplace. On his return he looked in to see

Mrs. Witham and to thank her for her kindness. When she saw him coming through the diamondpaned

baywindow of her sanctum she came out to meet him and asked him in. She looked at him searchingly and

"You must not overdo it, sir. You are paler this morning than you should be. Too late hours and too hard

work on the brain isn't good for any man! But tell me, sir, how did you pass the night? Well, I hope? But, my

heart! sir, I was glad when Mrs. Dempster told me this morning that you were all right and sleeping sound

"Oh, I was all right," he answered, smiling, "the 'somethings' didn't worry me, as yet. Only the rats; and they

had a circus, I tell you, all over the place. There was one wicked looking old devil that sat up on my own

chair by the fire, and wouldn't go till I took the poker to him, and then he ran up the rope of the alarm bell and

got to somewhere up the wall or the ceilingI couldn't see where, it was so dark."

"Mercy on us," said Mrs. Witham, "an old devil, and sitting on a chair by the fireside! Take care, sir! take

"An old devil! The old devil, perhaps. There! sir, you needn't laugh," for Malcolmson had broken into a

hearty peal. "You young folks thinks it easy to laugh at things that makes older ones shudder. Never mind,

sir! never mind! Please God, you'll laugh all the time. It's what I wish you myself!" and the good lady beamed

"Oh, forgive me!" said Malcolmson presently. "Don't think me rude; but the idea was too much for methat

the old devil himself was on the chair last night!" And at the thought he laughed again. Then he went home to

This evening the scampering of the rats began earlier; indeed it had been going on before his arrival, and only

ceased whilst his presence by its freshness disturbed them. After dinner he sat by the fire for a while and had

a smoke; and then, having cleared his table, began to work as before. Tonight the rats disturbed him more

than they had done on the previous night. How they scampered up and down and under and over! How they

squeaked, and scratched, and gnawed! How they, getting bolder by degrees, came to the mouths of their holes

and to the chinks and cracks and crannies in the wainscoting till their eyes shone like tiny lamps as the

firelight rose and fell. But to him, now doubtless accustomed to them, their eyes were not wicked; only their

playfulness touched him. Sometimes the boldest of them made sallies out on the floor or along the mouldings

of the wainscot. Now and again as they disturbed him Malcolmson made a sound to frighten them, smiting

the table with his hand or giving a fierce "Hsh, hsh," so that they fled straightway to their holes.

And so the early part of the night wore on; and despite the noise Malcolmson got more and more immersed in

All at once he stopped, as on the previous night, being overcome by a sudden sense of silence. There was not

the faintest sound of gnaw, or scratch, or squeak. The silence was as of the grave. He remembered the odd

occurrence of the previous night, and instinctively he looked at the chair standing close by the fireside. And

There, on the great old highbacked carved oak chair beside the fireplace sat the same enormous rat, steadily

Instinctively he took the nearest thing to his hand, a book of logarithms, and flung it at it. The book was badly

aimed and the rat did not stir, so again the poker performance of the previous night was repeated; and again

the rat, being closely pursued, fled up the rope of the alarm bell. Strangely too, the departure of this rat was

instantly followed by the renewal of the noise made by the general rat community. On this occasion, as on the

previous one, Malcolmson could not see at what part of the room the rat disappeared, for the green shade of

his lamp left the upper part of the room in darkness, and the fire had burned low.

On looking at his watch he found it was close on midnight; and, not sorry for the divertissement, he made up

his fire and made himself his nightly pot of tea. He had got through a good spell of work, and thought himself

entitled to a cigarette; and so he sat on the great carved oak chair before the fire and enjoyed it. Whilst

smoking he began to think that he would like to know where the rat disappeared to, for he had certain ideas

for the morrow not entirely disconnected with a rattrap. Accordingly he lit another lamp and placed it so

that it would shine well into the righthand corner of the wall by the fireplace. Then he got all the books he

had with him, and placed them handy to throw at the vermin. Finally he lifted the rope of the alarm bell and

placed the end of it on the table, fixing the extreme end under the lamp. As he handled it he could not help

noticing how pliable it was, especially for so strong a rope, and one not in use. "You could hang a man with

it," he thought to himself. When his preparations were made he looked around, and said complacently:

"There now, my friend, I think we shall learn something of you this time!" He began his work again, and

though as before somewhat disturbed at first by the noise of the rats, soon lost himself in his propositions and

Again he was called to his immediate surroundings suddenly. This time it might not have been the sudden

silence only which took his attention; there was a slight movement of the rope, and the lamp moved. Without

stirring, he looked to see if his pile of books was within range, and then cast his eye along the rope. As he

looked he saw the great rat drop from the rope on the oak armchair and sit there glaring at him. He raised a

book in his right hand, and taking careful aim, flung it at the rat. The latter, with a quick movement, sprang

aside and dodged the missile. He then took another book, and a third, and flung them one after another at the

rat, but each time unsuccessfully. At last, as he stood with a book poised in his hand to throw, the rat

squeaked and seemed afraid. This made Malcolmson more than ever eager to strike, and the book flew and

struck the rat a resounding blow. It gave a terrified squeak, and turning on its pursuer a look of terrible

malevolence, ran up the chairback and made a great jump to the rope of the alarm bell and ran up it like

lightning. The lamp rocked under the sudden strain, but it was a heavy one and did not topple over.

Malcolmson kept his eyes on the rat, and saw it by the light of the second lamp leap to a moulding of the

wainscot and disappear through a hole in one of the great pictures which hung on the wall, obscured and

"I shall look up my friend's habitation in the morning," said the student, as he went over to collect his books.

"The third picture from the fireplace; I shall not forget." He picked up the books one by one, commenting on

them as he lifted them. "Conic Sections he does not mind, nor Cycloidal Oscillations, nor the Principia, nor

Quaternions, nor Thermodynamics. Now for the book that fetched him!" Malcolmson took it up and looked at

it. As he did so he started, and a sudden pallor overspread his face. He looked round uneasily and shivered

"The Bible my mother gave me! What an odd coincidence." He sat down to work again, and the rats in the

wainscot renewed their gambols. They did not disturb him, however; somehow their presence gave him a

sense of companionship. But he could not attend to his work, and after striving to master the subject on which

he was engaged gave it up in despair, and went to bed as the first streak of dawn stole in through the eastern

He slept heavily but uneasily, and dreamed much; and when Mrs. Dempster woke him late in the morning he

seemed ill at ease, and for a few minutes did not seem to realise exactly where he was. His first request rather

"Mrs. Dempster, when I am out today I wish you would get the steps and dust or wash those

picturesspecially that one the third from the fireplaceI want to see what they are." Late in the afternoon

Malcolmson worked at his books in the shaded walk, and the cheerfulness of the previous day came back to

him as the day wore on, and he found that his reading was progressing well. He had worked out to a

satisfactory conclusion all the problems which had as yet baffled him, and it was in a state of jubilation that

he paid a visit to Mrs. Witham at "The Good Traveller." He found a stranger in the cosy sittingroom with

the landlady, who was introduced to him as Dr. Thornhill. She was not quite at ease, and this, combined with

the Doctor's plunging at once into a series of questions, made Malcolmson come to the conclusion that his

"Dr. Thornhill, I shall with pleasure answer you any question you may choose to ask me if you will answer

The Doctor seemed surprised, but he smiled and answered at once. "Done! What is it?"

Dr. Thornhill for a moment was taken aback, and Mrs. Witham got fiery red and turned away; but the doctor

"She did: but she didn't intend you to know it. I suppose it was my clumsy haste that made you suspect. She

told me that she did not like the idea of your being in that house all by yourself, and that she thought you took

too much strong tea. In fact, she wants me to advise you if possible to give up the tea and the very late hours.

I was a keen student in my time, so I suppose I may take the liberty of a college man, and without offence,

Malcolmson with a bright smile held out his hand. "Shake! as they say in America," he said. "I must thank

you for your kindness and Mrs. Witham too, and your kindness deserves a return on my part. I promise to

take no more strong teano tea at all till you let meand I shall go to bed tonight at one o'clock at latest.

"Capital," said the Doctor. "Now tell us all that you noticed in the old house," and so Malcolmson then and

there told in minute detail all that had happened in the last two nights. He was interrupted every now and then

by some exclamation from Mrs. Witham, till finally when he told of the episode of the Bible the landlady's

pentup emotions found vent in a shriek; and it was not till a stiff glass of brandy and water had been

administered that she grew composed again. Dr. Thornhill listened with a face of growing gravity, and when

"It is," said the Doctor slowly, "the very rope which the hangman used for all the victims of the Judge's

judicial rancour!" Here he was interrupted by another scream from Mrs. Witham, and steps had to be taken

for her recovery. Malcolmson having looked at his watch, and found that it was close to his dinner hour, had

When Mrs. Witham was herself again she almost assailed the Doctor with angry questions as to what he

meant by putting such horrible ideas into the poor young man's mind. "He has quite enough there already to

"My dear madam, I had a distinct purpose in it! I wanted to draw his attention to the bell rope, and to fix it

there. It may be that he is in a highly overwrought state, and has been studying too much, although I am

bound to say that he seems as sound and healthy a young man, mentally and bodily, as ever I sawbut then

the ratsand that suggestion of the devil." The doctor shook his head and went on. "I would have offered to

go and stay the first night with him but that I felt sure it would have been a cause of offence. He may get in

the night some strange fright or hallucination; and if he does I want him to pull that rope. All alone as he is it

will give us warning, and we may reach him in time to be of service. I shall be sitting up pretty late tonight

and shall keep my ears open. Do not be alarmed if Benchurch gets a surprise before morning."

"I mean this; that possiblynay, more probablywe shall hear the great alarm bell from the Judge's House

tonight," and the Doctor made about as effective an exit as could be thought of.

When Malcolmson arrived home he found that it was a little after his usual time, and Mrs. Dempster had

gone awaythe rules of Greenhow's Charity were not to be neglected. He was glad to see that the place was

bright and tidy with a cheerful fire and a welltrimmed lamp. The evening was colder than might have been

expected in April, and a heavy wind was blowing with such rapidlyincreasing strength that there was every

promise of a storm during the night. For a few minutes after his entrance the noise of the rats ceased; but so

soon as they became accustomed to his presence they began again. He was glad to hear them, for he felt once

more the feeling of companionship in their noise, and his mind ran back to the strange fact that they only

ceased to manifest themselves when that otherthe great rat with the baleful eyescame upon the scene.

The readinglamp only was lit and its green shade kept the ceiling and the upper part of the room in

darkness, so that the cheerful light from the hearth spreading over the floor and shining on the white cloth

laid over the end of the table was warm and cheery. Malcolmson sat down to his dinner with a good appetite

and a buoyant spirit. After his dinner and a cigarette he sat steadily down to work, determined not to let

anything disturb him, for he remembered his promise to the doctor, and made up his mind to make the best of

For an hour or so he worked all right, and then his thoughts began to wander from his books. The actual

circumstances around him, the calls on his physical attention, and his nervous susceptibility were not to be

denied. By this time the wind had become a gale, and the gale a storm. The old house, solid though it was,

seemed to shake to its foundations, and the storm roared and raged through its many chimneys and its queer

old gables, producing strange, unearthly sounds in the empty rooms and corridors. Even the great alarm bell

on the roof must have felt the force of the wind, for the rope rose and fell slightly, as though the bell were

moved a little from time to time, and the limber rope fell on the oak floor with a hard and hollow sound.

As Malcolmson listened to it he bethought himself of the doctor's words, "It is the rope which the hangman

used for the victims of the Judge's judicial rancour," and he went over to the corner of the fireplace and took

it in his hand to look at it. There seemed a sort of deadly interest in it, and as he stood there he lost himself

for a moment in speculation as to who these victims were, and the grim wish of the Judge to have such a

ghastly relic ever under his eyes. As he stood there the swaying of the bell on the roof still lifted the rope now

and again; but presently there came a new sensationa sort of tremor in the rope, as though something was

Looking up instinctively Malcolmson saw the great rat coming slowly down towards him, glaring at him

steadily. He dropped the rope and started back with a muttered curse, and the rat turning ran up the rope again

and disappeared, and at the same instant Malcolmson became conscious that the noise of the rats, which had

All this set him thinking, and it occurred to him that he had not investigated the lair of the rat or looked at the

pictures, as he had intended. He lit the other lamp without the shade, and, holding it up, went and stood

opposite the third picture from the fireplace on the righthand side where he had seen the rat disappear on the

At the first glance he started back so suddenly that he almost dropped the lamp, and a deadly pallor

overspread his face. His knees shook, and heavy drops of sweat came on his forehead, and he trembled like

an aspen. But he was young and plucky, and pulled himself together, and after the pause of a few seconds

stepped forward again, raised the lamp, and examined the picture which had been dusted and washed, and

It was of a judge dressed in his robes of scarlet and ermine. His face was strong and merciless, evil, crafty,

and vindictive, with a sensual mouth, hooked nose of ruddy colour, and shaped like the beak of a bird of prey.

The rest of the face was of a cadaverous colour. The eyes were of peculiar brilliance and with a terribly

malignant expression. As he looked at them, Malcolmson grew cold, for he saw there the very counterpart of

the eyes of the great rat. The lamp almost fell from his hand, he saw the rat with its baleful eyes peering out

through the hole in the corner of the picture, and noted the sudden cessation of the noise of the other rats.

However, he pulled himself together, and went on with his examination of the picture.

The Judge was seated in a great highbacked carved oak chair, on the righthand side of a great stone

fireplace where, in the corner, a rope hung down from the ceiling, its end lying coiled on the floor. With a

feeling of something like horror, Malcolmson recognised the scene of the room as it stood, and gazed around

him in an awestruck manner as though he expected to find some strange presence behind him. Then he

looked over to the corner of the fireplaceand with a loud cry he let the lamp fall from his hand.

There, in the Judge's armchair, with the rope hanging behind, sat the rat with the Judge's baleful eyes, now

intensified and with a fiendish leer. Save for the howling of the storm without there was silence.

The fallen lamp recalled Malcolmson to himself. Fortunately it was of metal, and so the oil was not spilt.

However, the practical need of attending to it settled at once his nervous apprehensions. When he had turned

"This will not do," he said to himself. "If I go on like this I shall become a crazy fool. This must stop! I

promised the Doctor I would not take tea. Faith, he was pretty right! My nerves must have been getting into a

queer state. Funny I did not notice it. I never felt better in my life. However, it is all right now, and I shall not

Then he mixed himself a good stiff glass of brandy and water and resolutely sat down to his work.

It was nearly an hour when he looked up from his book, disturbed by the sudden stillness. Without, the wind

howled and roared louder than ever, and the rain drove in sheets against the windows, beating like hail on the

glass; but within there was no sound whatever save the echo of the wind as it roared in the great chimney, and

now and then a hiss as a few raindrops found their way down the chimney in a lull of the storm. The fire had

fallen low and had ceased to flame, though it threw out a red glow. Malcolmson listened attentively, and

presently heard a thin, squeaking noise, very faint. It came from the corner of the room where the rope hung

down, and he thought it was the creaking of the rope on the floor as the swaying of the bell raised and

lowered it. Looking up, however, he saw in the dim light the great rat clinging to the rope and gnawing it.

The rope was already nearly gnawed throughhe could see the lighter colour where the strands were laid

bare. As he looked the job was completed, and the severed end of the rope fell clattering on the oaken floor,

whilst for an instant the great rat remained like a knob or tassel at the end of the rope, which now began to

sway to and fro. Malcolmson felt for a moment another pang of terror as he thought that now the possibility

of calling the outer world to his assistance was cut off, but an intense anger took its place, and seizing the

book he was reading he hurled it at the rat. The blow was well aimed, but before the missile could reach it the

rat dropped off and struck the floor with a soft thud. Malcolmson instantly rushed over towards it, but it

darted away and disappeared in the darkness of the shadows of the room. Malcolmson felt that his work was

over for the night, and determined then and there to vary the monotony of the proceedings by a hunt for the

rat, and took off the green shade of the lamp so as to insure a wider spreading light. As he did so the gloom of

the upper part of the room was relieved, and in the new flood of light, great by comparison with the previous

darkness, the pictures on the wall stood out boldly. From where he stood, Malcolmson saw right opposite to

him the third picture on the wall from the right of the fireplace. He rubbed his eyes in surprise, and then a

In the centre of the picture was a great irregular patch of brown canvas, as fresh as when it was stretched on

the frame. The background was as before, with chair and chimneycorner and rope, but the figure of the

Malcolmson, almost in a chill of horror, turned slowly round, and then he began to shake and tremble like a

man in a palsy. His strength seemed to have left him, and he was incapable of action or movement, hardly

There, on the great highbacked carved oak chair sat the Judge in his robes of scarlet and ermine, with his

baleful eyes glaring vindictively, and a smile of triumph on the resolute, cruel mouth, as he lifted with his

hands a black cap. Malcolmson felt as if the blood was running from his heart, as one does in moments of

prolonged suspense. There was a singing in his ears. Without, he could hear the roar and howl of the tempest,

and through it, swept on the storm, came the striking of midnight by the great chimes in the market place. He

stood for a space of time that seemed to him endless, still as a statue and with wideopen, horrorstruck eyes,

breathless. As the clock struck, so the smile of triumph on the Judge's face intensified, and at the last stroke

Slowly and deliberately the Judge rose from his chair and picked up the piece of the rope of the alarm bell

which lay on the floor, drew it through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch, and then deliberately began to

knot one end of it, fashioning it into a noose. This he tightened and tested with his foot, pulling hard at it till

he was satisfied and then making a running noose of it, which he held in his hand. Then he began to move

along the table on the opposite side to Malcolmson, keeping his eyes on him until he had passed him, when

with a quick movement he stood in front of the door. Malcolmson then began to feel that he was trapped, and

tried to think of what he should do. There was some fascination in the Judge's eyes, which he never took off

him, and he had, perforce, to look. He saw the Judge approachstill keeping between him and the

doorand raise the noose and throw it towards him as if to entangle him. With a great effort he made a quick

movement to one side, and saw the rope fall beside him, and heard it strike the oaken floor. Again the Judge

raised the noose and tried to ensnare him, ever keeping his baleful eyes fixed on him, and each time by a

mighty effort the student just managed to evade it. So this went on for many times, the Judge seeming never

discouraged nor discomposed at failure, but playing as a cat does with a mouse. At last in despair, which had

reached its climax, Malcolmson cast a quick glance round him. The lamp seemed to have blazed up, and there

was a fairly good light in the room. At the many ratholes and in the chinks and crannies of the wainscot he

saw the rats' eyes; and this aspect, that was purely physical, gave him a gleam of comfort. He looked around

and saw that the rope of the great alarm bell was laden with rats. Every inch of it was covered with them, and

more and more were pouring through the small circular hole in the ceiling whence it emerged, so that with

Hark! it had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell. The sound was but a tiny one, but the bell was only

At the sound the Judge, who had been keeping his eyes fixed on Malcolmson, looked up, and a scowl of

diabolical anger overspread his face. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals, and he stamped his foot with a

sound that seemed to make the house shake. A dreadful peal of thunder broke overhead as he raised the rope

again, whilst the rats kept running up and down the rope as though working against time. This time, instead

of throwing it, he drew close to his victim, and held open the noose as he approached. As he came closer

there seemed something paralysing in his very presence, and Malcolmson stood rigid as a corpse. He felt the

Judge's icy fingers touch his throat as he adjusted the rope. The noose tightenedtightened. Then the Judge,

taking the rigid form of the student in his arms, carried him over and placed him standing in the oak chair,

and stepping up beside him, put his hand up and caught the end of the swaying rope of the alarm bell. As he

raised his hand the rats fled squeaking, and disappeared through the hole in the ceiling. Taking the end of the

noose which was round Malcolmson's neck he tied it to the hanging bellrope, and then descending pulled

When the alarm bell of the Judge's House began to sound a crowd soon assembled. Lights and torches of

various kinds appeared, and soon a silent crowd was hurrying to the spot. They knocked loudly at the door,

but there was no reply. Then they burst in the door, and poured into the great diningroom, the doctor at the

There at the end of the rope of the great alarm bell hung the body of the student, and on the face of the Judge