England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Families -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction
The young man waited awhile, watching his great-grandfather of
ninety-four. There is very little resemblance between a man of that age
and himself at twenty-six. Yet there may be some. And no one could look
upon that old man without becoming conscious that in early manhood he
must have been of singular and wonderful comeliness--full of strength
and vigour, of fine proportions, of noble stature, and of remarkable
face and head. All these things the descendant possessed as well, but in
less marked degree, with more refinement, perhaps the refinement of
scholarship and culture, but with less strength. He had done what he
came to do; he had delivered his message; it was a failure; he expected
nothing less. He might as well go; there was nothing more to do, or to
be obtained, by staying.
But then a very remarkable event happened. He heard for the first time
the voice of his great-grandfather. He was to hear it once more, and
only once more. No one, except himself on this occasion, had heard it
for nearly seventy years.
The patriarch moved in his sleep, his fingers twitched, his legs jerked,
he rolled his head. Then he sat up and clutched the arms of his chair;
his face became twisted and distorted, as if under the possession of
some evil spirit. He half rose to his feet, still holding to the arms of
the chair, and he spoke. His voice was rough and harsh, as if rusted
with long disuse. His eyes remained fixed, yet his attitude was that of
someone whom he saw--with whom he was conversing. What he said was this:
“That will end it.”
Then he sank back. The distortion went out of him. He laid his head upon
the chair; calm and peace, as of a child, returned to his face; he was
again asleep--if he had been awake.
“A dream,” said the looker on. But he remembered the words, which came
back to him, and remained with him--why, he could not tell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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