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31
It
passed
in
many
convolutions
about
my
limbs
and
body
,
leaving
at
liberty
only
my
head
,
and
my
left
arm
to
such
extent
that
I
could
,
by
dint
of
much
exertion
,
supply
myself
with
food
from
an
earthen
dish
which
lay
by
my
side
on
the
floor
.
I
saw
,
to
my
horror
,
that
the
pitcher
had
been
removed
.
I
say
to
my
horror
;
for
I
was
consumed
with
intolerable
thirst
.
This
thirst
it
appeared
to
be
the
design
of
my
persecutors
to
stimulate
:
for
the
food
in
the
dish
was
meat
pungently
seasoned
.
32
Looking
upward
,
I
surveyed
the
ceiling
of
my
prison
.
It
was
some
thirty
or
forty
feet
overhead
,
and
constructed
much
as
the
side
walls
.
In
one
of
its
panels
a
very
singular
figure
riveted
my
whole
attention
.
It
was
the
painted
figure
of
Time
as
he
is
commonly
represented
,
save
that
,
in
lieu
of
a
scythe
,
he
held
what
,
at
a
casual
glance
,
I
supposed
to
be
the
pictured
image
of
a
huge
pendulum
such
as
we
see
on
antique
clocks
.
There
was
something
,
however
,
in
the
appearance
of
this
machine
which
caused
me
to
regard
it
more
attentively
.
While
I
gazed
directly
upward
at
it
(
for
its
position
was
immediately
over
my
own
)
I
fancied
that
I
saw
it
in
motion
.
In
an
instant
afterward
the
fancy
was
confirmed
.
Its
sweep
was
brief
,
and
of
course
slow
.
I
watched
it
for
some
minutes
,
somewhat
in
fear
,
but
more
in
wonder
.
Wearied
at
length
with
observing
its
dull
movement
,
I
turned
my
eyes
upon
the
other
objects
in
the
cell
.
33
A
slight
noise
attracted
my
notice
,
and
,
looking
to
the
floor
,
I
saw
several
enormous
rats
traversing
it
.
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34
They
had
issued
from
the
well
,
which
lay
just
within
view
to
my
right
.
Even
then
,
while
I
gazed
,
they
came
up
in
troops
,
hurriedly
,
with
ravenous
eyes
,
allured
by
the
scent
of
the
meat
.
From
this
it
required
much
effort
and
attention
to
scare
them
away
.
35
It
might
have
been
half
an
hour
,
perhaps
even
an
hour
,
(
for
in
cast
my
I
could
take
but
imperfect
note
of
time
)
before
I
again
cast
my
eyes
upward
.
What
I
then
saw
confounded
and
amazed
me
.
The
sweep
of
the
pendulum
had
increased
in
extent
by
nearly
a
yard
.
As
a
natural
consequence
,
its
velocity
was
also
much
greater
.
But
what
mainly
disturbed
me
was
the
idea
that
had
perceptibly
descended
.
I
now
observed
--
with
what
horror
it
is
needless
to
say
--
that
its
nether
extremity
was
formed
of
a
crescent
of
glittering
steel
,
about
a
foot
in
length
from
horn
to
horn
;
the
horns
upward
,
and
the
under
edge
evidently
as
keen
as
that
of
a
razor
.
Like
a
razor
also
,
it
seemed
massy
and
heavy
,
tapering
from
the
edge
into
a
solid
and
broad
structure
above
.
It
was
appended
to
a
weighty
rod
of
brass
,
and
the
whole
hissed
as
it
swung
through
the
air
.
36
I
could
no
longer
doubt
the
doom
prepared
for
me
by
monkish
ingenuity
in
torture
.
My
cognizance
of
the
pit
had
become
known
to
the
inquisitorial
agents
--
the
pit
whose
horrors
had
been
destined
for
so
bold
a
recusant
as
myself
--
the
pit
,
typical
of
hell
,
and
regarded
by
rumor
as
the
Ultima
Thule
of
all
their
punishments
.
37
The
plunge
into
this
pit
I
had
avoided
by
the
merest
of
accidents
,
I
knew
that
surprise
,
or
entrapment
into
torment
,
formed
an
important
portion
of
all
the
grotesquerie
of
these
dungeon
deaths
.
Having
failed
to
fall
,
it
was
no
part
of
the
demon
plan
to
hurl
me
into
the
abyss
;
and
thus
(
there
being
no
alternative
)
a
different
and
a
milder
destruction
awaited
me
.
Milder
!
I
half
smiled
in
my
agony
as
I
thought
of
such
application
of
such
a
term
.
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38
What
boots
it
to
tell
of
the
long
,
long
hours
of
horror
more
than
mortal
,
during
which
I
counted
the
rushing
vibrations
of
the
steel
!
Inch
by
inch
--
line
by
line
--
with
a
descent
only
appreciable
at
intervals
that
seemed
ages
--
down
and
still
down
it
came
!
Days
passed
--
it
might
have
been
that
many
days
passed
--
ere
it
swept
so
closely
over
me
as
to
fan
me
with
its
acrid
breath
.
The
odor
of
the
sharp
steel
forced
itself
into
my
nostrils
.
I
prayed
--
I
wearied
heaven
with
my
prayer
for
its
more
speedy
descent
.
I
grew
frantically
mad
,
and
struggled
to
force
myself
upward
against
the
sweep
of
the
fearful
scimitar
.
And
then
I
fell
suddenly
calm
,
and
lay
smiling
at
the
glittering
death
,
as
a
child
at
some
rare
bauble
.
39
There
was
another
interval
of
utter
insensibility
;
it
was
brief
;
for
,
upon
again
lapsing
into
life
there
had
been
no
perceptible
descent
in
the
pendulum
.
But
it
might
have
been
long
;
for
I
knew
there
were
demons
who
took
note
of
my
swoon
,
and
who
could
have
arrested
the
vibration
at
pleasure
.
40
Upon
my
recovery
,
too
,
I
felt
very
--
oh
,
inexpressibly
sick
and
weak
,
as
if
through
long
inanition
.
Even
amid
the
agonies
of
that
period
,
the
human
nature
craved
food
.
With
painful
effort
I
outstretched
my
left
arm
as
far
as
my
bonds
permitted
,
and
took
possession
of
the
small
remnant
which
had
been
spared
me
by
the
rats
.
As
I
put
a
portion
of
it
within
my
lips
,
there
rushed
to
my
mind
a
half
formed
thought
of
joy
--
of
hope
.
Yet
what
business
had
I
with
hope
?
It
was
,
as
I
say
,
a
half
formed
thought
--
man
has
many
such
which
are
never
completed
.
I
felt
that
it
was
of
joy
--
of
hope
;
but
felt
also
that
it
had
perished
in
its
formation
.
In
vain
I
struggled
to
perfect
--
to
regain
it
.
Long
suffering
had
nearly
annihilated
all
my
ordinary
powers
of
mind
.
I
was
an
imbecile
--
an
idiot
.