'
'Hear me,' he replied, menacing her with his hand. 'I, that in the form
of a man live the life of a hunted beast; that in the body am a spirit,
a ghost upon the earth, a thing from which all creatures shrink, save
those curst beings of another world, who will not leave me;--I am, in my
desperation of this night, past all fear but that of the hell in which I
exist from day to day. Give the alarm, cry out, refuse to shelter me. I
will not hurt you. But I will not be taken alive; and so surely as you
threaten me above your breath, I fall a dead man on this floor. The
blood with which I sprinkle it, be on you and yours, in the name of the
Evil Spirit that tempts men to their ruin!'
As he spoke, he took a pistol from his breast, and firmly clutched it in
his hand.
'Remove this man from me, good Heaven!' cried the widow. 'In thy grace
and mercy, give him one minute's penitence, and strike him dead!'
'It has no such purpose,' he said, confronting her. 'It is deaf. Give me
to eat and drink, lest I do that it cannot help my doing, and will not
do for you.'
'Will you leave me, if I do thus much? Will you leave me and return no
more?'
'I will promise nothing,' he rejoined, seating himself at the table,
'nothing but this--I will execute my threat if you betray me.
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