And seeing that the observation seemed to meet with approval, he enlarged upon his idea: "There are other points of resemblance that struck me at once, such as the very graceful curve of the neck and the delicacy of the hands ... and also something about the figure, about the general attitude...." "What you say is so true," said the colonel, "that I confess that it was this likeness that decided me to buy the hangings. And there was another reason, which was that, by a really curious chance, my wife's name happens to be Edith. I have called her Edith Swan-neck ever since." And the colonel added, with a laugh, "I hope that the coincidence will stop at this and that my dear Edith will never have to go in search of her true-love's body, like her prototype." He laughed as he uttered these words, but his laugh met with no echo; and we find the same impression of awkward silence in all the accounts of the evening that appeared during the next few days. The people standing near him did not know what to say. One of them tried to jest: "Your name isn't Harold, Colonel?" "No, thank you," he declared, with continued merriment. "No, that's not my name; nor am I in the least like the Saxon king." All have since agreed in stating that, at that moment, as the colonel finished speaking, the first alarm rang from the windows--the right or the middle window: opinions differ on this point--rang short and shrill on a single note. The peal of the alarm-bell was followed by an exclamation of terror uttered by Mme. Sparmiento, who caught hold of her husband's arm. He cried: "What's the matter? What does this mean?" The guests stood motionless, with their eyes staring at the windows. The colonel repeated: "What does it mean? I don't understand. No one but myself knows where that bell is fixed...." And, at that moment--here again the evidence is unanimous--at that moment came sudden, absolute darkness, followed immediately by the maddening din of all the bells and all the gongs, from top to bottom of the house, in every room and at every window. For a few seconds, a stupid disorder, an insane terror, reigned. The women screamed. The men banged with their fists on the closed doors. They hustled and fought. People fell to the floor and were trampled under foot. It was like a panic-stricken crowd, scared by threatening flames or by a bursting shell. And, above the uproar, rose the colonel's voice, shouting: "Silence!... Don't move!... It's all right!... The switch is over there, in the corner.... Wait a bit.... Here!" He had pushed his way through his guests and reached a corner of the gallery; and, all at once, the electric light blazed up again, while the pandemonium of bells stopped.