Page:Hoffmann's Strange Stories - Hoffman - 1855.djvu/358

 stood day and night before me, adorned with my jewels, and a voice sounded ever and anon in my ears:—'Take it,—it is thine!—What business have the dead with these diamonds?' At last the passion was irresistible—I betook myself regularly to the arts of thieving, and, having free access into the houses of the great, I profited by every opportunity. Of course, no look resisted my ingenuity as a mechanic, and, in a short time, many of the ornaments that I had made were again in my own hands. But, afterwards, this was not sufficient to soothe the disquietude, or disperse the illusions by which I was tormented. That mysterious voice, of which I have already told you, was again audible, and cried to me many times, as if in scorn and mockery—'Ho—ho!—a dead man now wears your fine diamonds!' It remained even to myself inexplicable, that against every one for whom I had provided brilliant zones, necklaces, and earrings, I entertained the most implacable hatred, till at last there arose in my mind a thirst after assassination, at which I myself, in the beginning, trembled and recoiled with horror,

'About that time I purchased the house in which we now live. I had concluded the bargain, and the landlord was seated with me in this very room, where we were making merry over a bottle of wine. It was late in the night, and I wished to retire, when my entertainer said, 'Listen, Monsieur Rene; before you go, I must make you acquainted with a secret contrivance in this house, which is now yours. Look here!'—With these words, my landlord threw open a press in the wall, pushed aside the back pannels, which left an opening, through which we stepped into a small chamber, where he stepped down and lifted up a trap-door. We then descended a steep narrow staircase, and came to a small gateway, which he unlocked, and passed by it into the open square court. Here my landlord stepped up to the wall, pressed his fingers on a knob of iron, that was scarcely perceptible, and immediately a large stone began to move, so that one could enter by the opening which it had left, and pass through the