The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

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One of my favorite memories of scaring
myself as a child was getting a compilation

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book of Edgar Allan Poe stories from
my elementary school library. It brought me

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so much fear and so much excitement. I remember running home from school with

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that book in my backpack as the
sky was dark and a storm was coming.

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I was in my childhood living room, but I wasn't alone. I

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had a pizza and the books of
Poe. Every so often I'll bring you

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a tale of Poe, and I
hope it gives you that scary fun sense,

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just the same as it does for
me. So listen to these words

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from our sponsors, and when the
clock strikes midnight, the story will begin.

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The Casque of a Manteado by Edgar
Allan Poe. The thousands of injuries

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of Fortunato had borne as I best
could, But when he ventured upon insult,

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I vowed revenge. You who so
well know the nature of my soul,

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will not suppose, however, that
I gave utterance to a threat at

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length I would be avenged. This
was a point definitively settled, but the

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very definitiveness with which it was resolved
precluded the idea of risk. I must

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not only punish, but punish with
impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution

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overtakes its redresser. It is equally
unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself

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felt as such to him who has
done the wrong. It must be understood

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that neither by word nor deed had
I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good

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will. I continued, as was
my wont to smile in his face,

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and he did not perceive that my
smile now was at the thought of his

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immolation. He had a weak point, this Fortunato. Although in other regards

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he was a man to be respected
and even feared, he prided himself on

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his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians
have the true virtuoso spirit. For the

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most part, their enthusiasm is adopted
to suit the time and opportunity to practice

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imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires
in painting and gemmery. Fortunato, like

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his countrymen, was a quack,
but in the matter of old wines he

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was sincere. In this respect I
did not differ from him materially. I

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was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

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It was about dusk one evening,
during the supreme madness of the carnival season,

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that I encountered my friend. He
accosted me with excessive warmth, for

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he had been drinking much. The
man wore motley, he had on tight

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fitting party striped dress, and his
head was surmounted by the conical cap and

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bells. I was so pleased to
see him that I thought I should never

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have done wringing his hand, I
said to him, my dear Fortunato,

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you are luckily met, how remarkably
well you are looking today. But I

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have received a pipe of what passes
for a mantiado, and I have my

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doubts, how said he, A
montiado a pipe possible, and in the

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middle of the carnival. I have
my doubts, I replied, And I

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was silly enough to pay the full
of mantiado price without consulting you in the

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matter. You were not to be
found, and I was fearful of losing

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a bargain. Montiado. I have
my doubts, Amontiado, and I must

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satisfy them. Amontiado, as you
are engaged I am on my way to

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Luchesi. If anyone has a critical
turn, it is he. He will

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tell me Luchesi cannot tell Amontiado from
sherry. Yet some fools will have it

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that his taste is a match for
yours. Come, let's go whither to

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your vaults, my friend. No, I will not impose upon your good

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nature. I perceive you have an
engagement. Luchesi, I have no engagement.

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Come, my friend, No,
it is not the engagement but the

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severe cold with which I perceive you
are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp,

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they are encrusted with niter. Let
us go. Nevertheless, the cold

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is merely nothing. Amontiado you have
been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi,

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he cannot distinguish sherry from Amontiado.
Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of

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my arm, putting on a mask
of black silk, drawing a rocculareosle upon

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my person. I suffered him to
hurry me to my palazzo. There were

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no attendants at home. They had
absconded to make merry in honor of the

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time. I had told them that
I should not return until the morning,

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and had given them explicit orders not
to stir from the house. These orders

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were sufficient, I well knew to
ensure their immediate disappearance one and all.

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As soon as my back was turned, I took from their sconces two flambeaux,

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and, giving one to Fortunado,
bowed him through several suites of rooms

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to the archway that led into the
vaults. I passed down a long and

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winding staircase, requesting him to be
cautious as he followed. We came at

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length to the foot of the descent, and stood together on the damp ground

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of the catacombs montressors. The gait
of my friend was unsteady, and the

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bells upon his cap jingled as he
strode the pipe, said he. It

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is farther on, said I,
but observe the white web work which gleams

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from these cavern walls. He turned
towards me and looked into my eyes with

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two filmy orbs that distilled the room
of intoxication. Niter, he asked at

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length, Niter, I replied,
how long have you had that cough?

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H u h? My poor friend
found it impossible to reply for many minutes.

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It is nothing he said. At
last, come, I said,

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with decision, we will go back. Your health is precious. You are

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rich, respected, admired, beloved. You are happy as once I was.

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You are a man to be missed
for me. It is no matter

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we will go back. You will
be ill, and I cannot be responsible.

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Besides, there is LUCHESI enough,
he said. The cough is a

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mere nothing. It will not kill
me. I shall not die of a

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cough. True, true, I
replied, And indeed I had no intention

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of alarming you unnecessarily, but you
should use all proper caution. A draft

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of this medic will defend us from
the damps. Ere. I knocked off

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the neck of a bottle, which
I drew from a long row of its

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fellows that lay upon the mold.
Drink, I said, presenting him the

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wine. He raised it to his
lips with a leer. He paused and

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nodded to me familiarly, while his
bell jingled. I drink, He said,

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the buried that repose around us,
and I to your long life.

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He again took my arm and we
proceeded. These vaults, he said,

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are extensive. The Montressors, I
replied, were a great and numerous family

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I forget your arms, a huge
human foot door field azure, the foot

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crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are
embedded in the heel, and the motto

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Imo me impune la sette good.
He said. The wine sparkled in his

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eyes, and the bells jingled.
My own fancy grew warm. With the

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medoc We had passed through the walls
of piled bones, with casks and puncheons

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intermingling, to the inmost recesses of
the catacombs. I paused again, and

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this time I made bold to seize
Fortunado by an arm above the elbow the

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nier, I said, see it
increases. It hangs like moss upon the

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vaults. We are below the river's
bed. The drops of moisture trickle among

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the bones. Come. We will
go back ere. It is too late,

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your cough, it is nothing,
he said. Let us go on.

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But first another draft of the medic
I broke and reached him a fleisson

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of de grave. He emptied it
at a breath. His eyes flashed with

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a fierce light. He laughed and
threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation.

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I did not understand. I looked
at him in surprise, he repeated the

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movement a grotesque one. You do
not comprehend, he said, not,

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I, I replied, Then you
are not of the brotherhood. How you

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are not of the Masons. Yes, yes, I said, yes,

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yes, you impossible a Mason.
A Mason, I replied, A sign,

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he said, it is this,
I answered, producing a trowel from

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beneath the folds of my lair.
You jest, he exclaimed, recoiling a

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few paces. Let us proceed to
the Amantiado. Be it, so,

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I said, replacing the tool beneath
the cloak, and again offering him my

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arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our route in search of

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the Amantiado. We passed through a
range of low arches, descended, passed

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on, and descending again. Arrived
at a deep crypt, in which the

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foulness of the air caused our flambeaux
rather to glow than flame. At the

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most remote end of the crypt there
appeared another, less spacious. Its walls

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had been lined with human remains piled
to the vault overhead, in the fashion

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of the Great Catacombs of Paris.
Three sides of this interior crypt were still

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ornamented in this manner. From the
fourth. The bones had been thrown down

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and lay promiscuously upon the earth,
forming at one point a mound of some

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size. Within the wall. Thus
exposed by the displacing of the bones,

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we perceived a still interior recess in
depth about four feet with three in height

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six or seven seemed to have been
constructed for no especial use within itself,

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but formed merely the interval between two
of the colossal supports of the roof of

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the catacombs, and was backed by
one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.

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It was in vain that Fortunado uplifting
his dull torch in ever to pry

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into the depths of the recess its
termination. The feeble light did not enable

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us to see proceed. I said, herein is the Amantiado, as for

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LUCHESI he is an Ignoramus, interrupted
my friend, as he stepped unsteadily forward,

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while I followed immediately at his heels. In an instant he had reached

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the extremity of the niche, and, finding his progress arrested by the rock,

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stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more, and I had fettered him to

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the granite. In its surface were
two iron staples, and from each other

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about two feet horizontally. From one
of these depended a short chain, from

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the other a padlock. Throwing the
lynx about his waist, It was but

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the work of a few seconds to
secure it. He was too much astounded

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to resist withdrawing the key. I
stepped back from the recess. Pass your

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hand, I said over the wall. You cannot help feeling the nighter.

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Indeed, it is very damp.
Once more, let me implore you to

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return. No, then I will
positively leave. You must first render you

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all little attentions in my power.
The Amantiado ejaculated, my friend, not

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yet recovered from his astonishment. True, I replied the Amantiado. As I

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said these words, I busied myself
among the pile of bones of which I

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have before spoken, throwing them aside. I soon uncovered a quantity of building

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stone and mortar. With these materials, and with the aid of my trowel,

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I began vigorously to wall up the
entrance of the niche. I had

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scarcely laid the first tear of my
masonry when I discovered that the intoxication of

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Fortunado had in great measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this

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was a low, moaning cry from
the depth of the recess. It was

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not the cry of a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate

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silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth,

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and then I heard the furious vibrations
of the chain. The noise lasted

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for several minutes, during which that
I might hearken to it with the more

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satisfaction, I ceased my labors and
sat down upon the bones. When at

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last the clanking subsided, I resumed
the trowel and finished without interruption the fifth,

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the sixth, and the seventh tier. The wall was now nearly upon

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a level with my breast. I
again paused in holding the flambeaux over the

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mason work, threw a few feeble
rays upon the figure. Within a succession

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of loud and shrill screams, bursting
suddenly from the throat of the chain,

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form seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment, I hesitated,

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I trembled. Sheathing my rapier,
I began to grope with it about

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the recess. The thought of an
instant reassured me. I placed my hand

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upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the

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wall. I replied to the yells
of him who clamored. I re echoed,

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I aided. I surpassed them in
volume and in strength. I did

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this, and the clamorer grew still. It was now midnight, and my

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task was drawing to a close.
I had completed the eighth, the ninth,

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and the tenth tier. I had
finished a portion of the last and

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the eleventh. There remained but a
single stone to be fitted and plastered in.

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I struggled with its weight. I
placed it partially in its destined position.

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But now there came from out of
the niche a low laugh that erected

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the hairs upon my head. It
was succeeded by a sad voice, which

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I had difficulty in recognizing as that
of the noble Fortunado. The voice said,

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ha ha ha he he he,
a very good joke, indeed an

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excellent jest. We will have many
a rich laugh about it at the palazzo.

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He he he, over our wine, he he he the Amantiado.

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I said, yes, the Amantiado. But is it not getting late?

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Will they not be awaiting us at
the Palazzo eighty Fortunato and the rest.

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Let us be gone, Yes,
I said, let us be gone for

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the love of God montresor. Yes, I said, for the love of

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God. But to these words I
hearkened in vain for a reply. I

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grew impatient. I called aloud Fortunato. No answer. I called again,

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Fortunato. No answer. Still I
thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and

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let it fall within. There came
forth in return only a jingling of the

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bells. My heart grew sick.
On account of the dampness of the catacombs.

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I hastened to make an end of
my labor. I forced the last

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stone into its position. I plastered
it up against the new masonry. I

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re erected the old rampart of bones. Half of a century, no mortal

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has disturbed them. In patch requiescat