THE JUDGE'S HOUSE by Bram Stoker

[Roby]

Slowly and deliberately the Judge rose from his chair and picked up the
piece of 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 of 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 approach
-- still keeping between him and the door -- and 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 rat-holes 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
round 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 their weight the bell was beginning to sway.

[Roby]

Hark! it had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell. The sound was but
a tiny one, but the bell was only beginning to sway, and it would increase.

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 paralyzing 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 tightened -- tightened. 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 bell-rope, and then descending pulled away
the chair.

                                 * * * * *

[Roby]

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
dining-room, the doctor at the head.

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 in the picture was a malignant smile.
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