登陆注册
15398600000015

第15章 THE HAUNTED WINDOW(5)

A day or two later, I was summoned to Boston. Returning thence by the stage-coach, we drove from Tiverton, the whole length of the island, under one of those wild and wonderful skies which give, better than anything in nature, the effect of a field of battle.

The heavens were filled with ten thousand separate masses of cloud, varying in shade from palest gray to iron-black, borne rapidly to and fro by upper and lower currents of opposing wind.

They seemed to be charging, retreating, breaking, recombining, with puffs of what seemed smoke, and a few wan sunbeams sometimes striking through for fire. Wherever the eye turned, there appeared some flying fragment not seen before; and yet in an hour this noiseless Antietam grew still, and a settled leaden film overspread the sky, yielding only to some level lines of light where the sun went down. Perhaps our driver was looking toward the sky more than to his own affairs, for, just as all this ended a wheel gave out, and we had to stop in Portsmouth for repairs.

By the time we were again in motion, the changing wind had brought up a final thunder-storm, which broke upon us ere we reached our homes. It was rather an uncommon thing, so late in the season; for the lightning, like other brilliant visitors, usually appears in Oldport during only a month or two of every year.

The coach set me down at my own door, so soaked that I might have floated in. I peeped into Severance's room, however, on the way to my own. Strange to say, no one was there; yet some one had evidently been lying on the bed, and on the pillow lay the old book on the Second Sight, open at the very page which had so bewitched him and vexed me. I glanced at it mechanically, and when I came to the meaningless jumble, "In thunder two," a flash flooded the chamber, and a sudden fear struck into my mind. Who knew what insane experiment might have come into that boy's head?

With sudden impulse, I went downstairs, and found the whole house empty, until a stupid old woman, coming in from the wood-house with her apron full of turnips, told me that Severance had been missing since nightfall, after being for a week in bed, dangerously ill, and sometimes slightly delirious. The family had become alarmed,and were out with lanterns, in search of him.

It was safe to say that none of them had more reason to be alarmed than I. It was something, however, to know where to seek him. Meeting two neighboring fishermen, I took them with me. As we approached the well-known wall, the blast blew out our lights, and we could scarcely speak. The lightning had grown less frequent, yet sheets of flame seemed occasionally to break over the dark, square sides of the house, and to send a flickering flame along the ridge-pole and eaves, like a surf of light. Asurf of water broke also behind us on the Blue Rocks, sounding as if it pursued our very footsteps; and one of the men whispered hoarsely to me, that a Nantucket brig had parted her cable, and was drifting in shore.

As we entered the garden, lights gleamed in the shrubbery. To my surprise, it was Paul and his wife, with their two oldest children,--these last being quite delighted with the stir, and showing so much illumination, in the lee of the house, that it was quite a Feast of Lanterns. They seemed a little surprised at meeting us, too; but we might as well have talked from Point Judith to Beaver Tail as to have attempted conversation there. Iwalked round the building; but a flash of lightning showed nothing on the western piazza save a birch-tree, which lay across, blown down by the storm. I therefore went inside, with Paul's household, leaving the fishermen without.

Never shall I forget that search. As we went from empty room to room, the thunder seemed rolling on the very roof, and the sharp flashes of lightning appeared to put out our lamps and then kindle them again. We traversed the upper regions, mounting by a ladder to the attic; then descended into the cellar and the wine-vault. The thorough bareness of the house, the fact that no bright-eyed mice peeped at us from their holes, no uncouth insects glided on the walls, no flies buzzed in the unwonted lamplight, scarcely a spider slid down his damp and trailing web,--all this seemed to enhance the mystery. The vacancy was more dreary than desertion: it was something old which had never been young. We found ourselves speaking in whispers; the children kept close to their parents; we seemed to be chasing some awful Silence from room to room; and the last apartment, the great drawing-room, we really seemed loath to enter. The less the rest of the house had to show, the more, it seemed, must be concentrated there. Even as we entered, a blast of air from a broken pane extinguished our last light, and it seemed to take many minutes to rekindle it.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 浅醉,且听风吟

    浅醉,且听风吟

    一个从小就不完整的家庭,一个离奇迷人的故事,一段千古绝恋的爱情,千金难买情难却,浅醉都市红尘苦。。。自醉金迷之中。
  • 逝水三十年

    逝水三十年

    经建议内容已做修改望通过参赛审核。1978年开始的改革开放春风从食物、服装、语言、音乐、个人习惯等方方面面改变了我们的生活、情感,以及梦想。本书以80年代北京,90年代初上海,90年代后深圳,2000年成都,2000年后湖南等不同视角记述三十年来人民由贫变富,国家从弱变强的变迁故事,里面有创业的奋斗,有梦想的实现,更有大时代下最平凡普通的人生。本书共八章,附大纲与内容简介。第一章启蒙与开放第二章旧潮与新潮第三章窘迫与激荡第四章健壮与虚胖第五章青青与蓝蓝第六章恶梦与童话
  • 逍遥天下:王妃不二嫁

    逍遥天下:王妃不二嫁

    未来特工一朝穿越,成为了一个寡妇,而且是后娘!虽有刁儿123456789只,幸得身有异能。不怕不怕。丞相月下吟诗,将军夜半爬墙。管家抄起棍子:夫人说了,哪儿个敢把腿迈进战王府,打断他的第三条腿!
  • 快捷粥品

    快捷粥品

    本书精选粥品的10种技法及100种营养功效知识,附以做粥品的100种小贴士,读者既能学到做粥品的基本技法,又能了解相关的营养知识。照本习读,新手亦能做出郁香味美的各式粥品来。
  • 信念左右你的一生

    信念左右你的一生

    本书重点讲了信念的重要性。信念是人生的太阳,是通往成功的天桥;信念让人充满激情,让人脚踏实地地实现梦想;信念是挑战逆境的力量,使人不断超越自我。
  • 冷山十三玉

    冷山十三玉

    一群江湖客,误入江湖圈
  • 青春都疯狂

    青春都疯狂

    我是个开学六年级的学生,我很叛逆,青春,我疯狂,自由,我向往,我叛逆,我自由!我喜欢青春!
  • 相思谋:妃常难娶

    相思谋:妃常难娶

    某日某王府张灯结彩,婚礼进行时,突然不知从哪冒出来一个小孩,对着新郎道:“爹爹,今天您的大婚之喜,娘亲让我来还一样东西。”说完提着手中的玉佩在新郎面前晃悠。此话一出,一府宾客哗然,然当大家看清这小孩与新郎如一个模子刻出来的面容时,顿时石化。此时某屋顶,一个绝色女子不耐烦的声音响起:“儿子,事情办完了我们走,别在那磨矶,耽误时间。”新郎一看屋顶上的女子,当下怒火攻心,扔下新娘就往女子所在的方向扑去,吼道:“女人,你给本王站住。”一场爱与被爱的追逐正式开始、、、、、、、
  • 遇见小镇上的你

    遇见小镇上的你

    一个关于小镇,邂逅,摄影的小故事。两个人逃离都市,来到一个古镇,邂逅彼此发生的浪漫、凄美的故事。很短,一会儿就看完了。
  • 青春悔歌——明天你好

    青春悔歌——明天你好

    《明天,你好》(节选)长大以后我只能奔跑我多害怕黑暗中跌倒明天你好含着泪微笑越美好越害怕得到每一次哭又笑着奔跑一边失去一边在寻找明天你好声音多渺小却提醒我勇敢是什么————————————————分割线——————————————如果时光可以倒回,我想再见你最后一面