The Last Tenant

no allusion to Bob Millet, and I, well acquainted with her moods, was aware that her silence was no indication that she was not thinking

g retired as I was, with no business to attend to, it was out of my power to offer him a better situation than the one he occupied in Mr. Gasco

set you against the house in Lamb's Terrace, but only to give us some information which he considered it his duty not to withhold

e proved whether it is true; we should not be to

have a moment's peace in her life; she used to wake up in the middle of the night, and fancy all sorts of things. I remember her spending an evening with us at home, and starting at the least sound; her nerves were shattered, and my poor dear mother said she couldn't live l

n after?" asked

ral of the story being absolutely destructive of the theory I wishe

s not an unreasonable or an unjust woman, and I gathered from her manner that she intended to hold over her final verdi

nly reference I could find to Lamb's Terrace wa

, and the presumption is that there are other houses in the terrace, wit

ges, but could find no fur

r," she said, and han

med by Mr. Gascoigne on the previous day that a North Star 'b

re we going to loo

d if that doesn't suit us I real

we first commenced these wearisome journeys, to remove from our old home, I felt n

nishing recklessness, for they were totally ignorant of the subject upon which they were offering an opinion. But they gave instructions and advice, which we followed, for the reason that we did not know what else we could do. Some said they thought Lamb's Terrace must lie in this direction; we went in this direction, and did not find it. Others said it must lie in that direction; and we went in that direction, with the same result.

eveled; roads had been marked out, but not formed; buildings had been commenced, but not proceeded with. Rubbish had been shot there freely. Empty cans, battered out of shape, broken bottles, dead branches, musty rags, useless pieces of iron and wood, and the worst refuse of the dustbin, lay all around. If there had

here i

for two vehicles to pass each other, with the words "La

e go on?

ife. "What did we come out for? And aft

very much out of repair. I searched for the number of the gloomy untenanted house, but could not see one, and my wife suggested that the house we wanted was lower down. We went lower down, and passed the gloomy house a distan

ce no traces of disappointment. Her spi

by a front garden choked up with weeds and rank grass, and inclosed by rusty and broken railings; at the end of this garden was a flight of stone steps. The gate creaked on its hinges as I pushed it open, and a prolonged wheez

" she said, tiptoeing. "Yes, he

round the corner, if there is any round the corner in t

prejudiced. Here is the house; what we ha

are to go into i

with praiseworthy candor; "b

hould have been able to turn the key in the lock. After a deal of trouble this was accomplished, and the mysterious tenement was open to us; as the door creaked upon its hinges, the sound that tortured my ears was

" she said.

and it was useless to argue with her. I closed

right, and another on the left; in the center was a wide staircase, leading to the

ownstairs firs

s," my wif

larder and all necessary offices, cobwebbed and musty; also two rooms which could be used as living rooms. The glass-paneled doors of both these rooms opened out into the back garden, which was in worse condition and more choked up with weeds,

l go over the garden just now. It look

e seen are not mu

I never saw a place in

so melancholy as I did on this occasion. I made no inquiry into my wife's feelings; I considered it best that she should work out th

e that we had forgotten to examine the stabling and th

day," she said, and despite my

grown faint during our wanderings, and a sup of brandy now and then had kept up my strength. I saw that my wife was lower spirited than usual, and I mixed some sp

ather faint to look over a house which has been empty a long tim

if we were in a g

ings!" she retorted. "If I were a

eled off the walls, and was hanging in tattered strips to the ground; quantities of plaster had dropped from the ceilings, and

ed, "would not go far toward

e half enough,

oom I inquired whether she

said stoutly, "a

or, where we found the rooms in a

e. "No wonder the landlord was

ascribed to the wind blowing through some broken panes. By this time I perceived plainly that my wife's spirits were down to zero, and I was comforted by the reflection that looking over a house so wretched, so forlorn, so woe-begone,

ell-pull, and gave it a jerk. It is not easy to describe what followed. Bells jangled and tolled and clanged as though I had set in motion a host in of infernal and discordant tongues of metal, and had raised the dead from their graves to take part in the harsh concert, for indeed there seemed to be something horribly fiendish, in the discord,

!" whisper

s had died away, and now there came another sound, so st

ied; "someone is