The twelve adventurers, and other storiesBrontë, Charlotte
Science
The twelve adventurers, and other stories
Brontë, Charlotte
English fiction -- 19th century; Short stories, English
We had sat about an hour, when supper was announced, and after supper
Mr. O’Callaghan asked me if I should like to retire for the night.
I answered in the affirmative, and a little boy was commissioned
to show me to my apartment. It was a snug, clean, and comfortable
little old-fashioned room at the top of the castle. As soon as we
had entered, the boy, who appeared to be a shrewd, good-tempered
little fellow, said with a shrug of the shoulder: ‘If it was going
to bed I was, it shouldn’t be here that you’d catch me.’
‘Why?’ said I.
‘Because,’ replied the boy, ‘they say that the ould masther’s ghost
has been seen sitting on that there chair.’
‘And have you seen him?’
‘No; but I’ve heard him washing his hands in that basin often and
often.’
‘What is your name, my little fellow?’
‘Dennis Mulready, please, your honour.’
‘Well, good night to you.’
‘Good night, masther; and may the saints keep you from all fairies
and brownies,’ said Dennis as he left the room.
As soon as I had laid down I began to think of what the boy had been
telling me, and I confess I felt a strange kind of fear, and once
or twice I even thought I could discern something white through the
darkness which surrounded me. At length, by the help of reason, I
succeeded in mastering these, what some would call idle fancies,
and fell asleep.
I had slept about an hour when a strange sound awoke me, and I saw
looking through my curtains a skeleton wrapped in a white sheet.
I was overcome with terror and tried to scream, but my tongue was
paralysed and my whole frame shook with fear. In a deep hollow voice
it said to me:
‘Arise, that I may show thee this world’s wonders,’ and in an instant
I found myself encompassed with clouds and darkness. But soon the
roar of mighty waters fell upon my ear, and I saw some clouds of
spray arising from high falls that rolled in awful majesty down tremendous
precipices, and then foamed and thundered in the gulf beneath as
if they had taken up their unquiet abode in some giant’s cauldron.
But soon the scene changed, and I found myself in the mines of Cracone.
There were high pillars and stately arches, whose glittering splendour
was never excelled by the brightest fairy palaces. There were not
many lamps; only those of a few poor miners, whose rough visages
formed a striking contrast to the dazzling figures and grandeur which
surrounded them. But in the midst of all this magnificence I felt
an indescribable sense of fear and terror; for the sea raged above
us, and by the awful and tumultuous noises of roaring winds and dashing
waves it seemed as if the storm was violent. And now the mossy pillars
groaned beneath the pressure of the ocean, and the glittering arches
seemed about to be overwhelmed. When I heard the rushing waters and
saw a mighty flood rolling towards me I gave a loud shriek of terror.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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