It came from the corner of the room where
the rope hung down, and he thought it was the creaking of the rope on
the floor as the swaying of the bell raised and lowered it. Looking up,
however, he saw in the dim light the great rat clinging to the rope and
gnawing it. The rope was already nearly gnawed through—he could see the
lighter colour where the strands were laid bare. As he looked the job
was completed, and the severed end of the rope fell clattering on the
oaken floor, whilst for an instant the great rat remained like a knob
or tassel at the end of the rope, which now began to sway to and fro. Malcolmson felt for a moment another pang of terror as he thought that
now the possibility of calling the outer world to his assistance was
cut off, but an intense anger took its place, and seizing the book he
was reading he hurled it at the rat. The blow was well aimed, but
before the missile could reach him the rat dropped off and struck the
floor with a soft thud. Malcolmson instantly rushed over towards him,
but it darted away and disappeared in the darkness of the shadows of
the room. Malcolmson felt that his work was over for the night, and
determined then and there to vary the monotony of the proceedings by a
hunt for the rat, and took off the green shade of the lamp so as to
insure a wider spreading light. As he did so the gloom of the upper
part of the room was relieved, and in the new flood of light, great by
comparison with the previous darkness, the pictures on the wall stood
out boldly. From where he stood, Malcolmson saw right opposite to him
the third picture on the wall from the right of the fireplace. He
rubbed his eyes in surprise, and then a great fear began to come upon
him. In the centre of the picture was a great irregular patch of brown
canvas, as fresh as when it was stretched on the frame. The background
was as before, with chair and chimney-corner and rope, but the figure
of the Judge had disappeared. Malcolmson, almost in a chill of horror, turned slowly round, and then
he began to shake and tremble like a man in a palsy. His strength
seemed to have left him, and he was incapable of action or movement,
hardly even of thought. He could only see and hear. There, on the great high-backed carved oak chair sat the Judge in his
robes of scarlet and ermine, with his baleful eyes glaring
vindictively, and a smile of triumph on the resolute, cruel mouth, as
he lifted with his hands a _black cap_. Malcolmson felt as if the blood
was running from his heart, as one does in moments of prolonged
suspense. There was a singing in his ears. Without, he could hear the
roar and howl of the tempest, and through it, swept on the storm, came
the striking of midnight by the great chimes in the market place. He
stood for a space of time that seemed to him endless still as a statue,
and with wide-open, horror-struck eyes, breathless. As the clock
struck, so the smile of triumph on the Judge’s face intensified, and at
the last stroke of midnight he placed the black cap on his head. Slowly and deliberately the Judge rose from his chair and picked up the
piece of the rope of the alarm bell which lay on the floor, drew it
through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch, and then deliberately
began to knot one end of it, fashioning it into a noose. This he
tightened and tested with his foot, pulling hard at it till he was
satisfied and then making a running noose of it, which he held in his
hand. Then he began to move along the table on the opposite side to
Malcolmson keeping his eyes on him until he had passed him, when with a
quick movement he stood in front of the door. Malcolmson then began to
feel that he was trapped, and tried to think of what he should do. There was some fascination in the Judge’s eyes, which he never took off
him, and he had, perforce, to look. He saw the Judge approach—still
keeping between him and the door—and raise the noose and throw it
towards him as if to entangle him. With a great effort he made a quick
movement to one side, and saw the rope fall beside him, and heard it
strike the oaken floor. Again the Judge raised the noose and tried to
ensnare him, ever keeping his baleful eyes fixed on him, and each time
by a mighty effort the student just managed to evade it. So this went
on for many times, the Judge seeming never discouraged nor discomposed
at failure, but playing as a cat does with a mouse. At last in despair,
which had reached its climax, Malcolmson cast a quick glance round him. The lamp seemed to have blazed up, and there was a fairly good light in
the room. At the many rat-holes and in the chinks and crannies of the
wainscot he saw the rats’ eyes; and this aspect, that was purely
physical, gave him a gleam of comfort. He looked around and saw that
the rope of the great alarm bell was laden with rats. Every inch of it
was covered with them, and more and more were pouring through the small
circular hole in the ceiling whence it emerged, so that with their
weight the bell was beginning to sway. Hark! it had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell. The sound
was but a tiny one, but the bell was only beginning to sway, and it
would increase. At the sound the Judge, who had been keeping his eyes fixed on
Malcolmson, looked up, and a scowl of diabolical anger overspread his
face. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals, and he stamped his foot
with a sound that seemed to make the house shake. A dreadful peal of
thunder broke overhead as he raised the rope again, whilst the rats
kept running up and down the rope as though working against time. This
time, instead of throwing it, he drew close to his victim, and held
open the noose as he approached. As he came closer there seemed
something paralysing in his very presence, and Malcolmson stood rigid
as a corpse. He felt the Judge’s icy fingers touch his throat as he
adjusted the rope. The noose tightened—tightened. Then the Judge,
taking the rigid form of the student in his arms, carried him over and
placed him standing in the oak chair, and stepping up beside him, put
his hand up and caught the end of the swaying rope of the alarm bell. As he raised his hand the rats fled squeaking, and disappeared through
the hole in the ceiling. Taking the end of the noose which was round
Malcolmson’s neck he tied it to the hanging-bell rope, and then
descending pulled away the chair. When the alarm bell of the Judge’s House began to sound a crowd soon
assembled. Lights and torches of various kinds appeared, and soon a
silent crowd was hurrying to the spot. They knocked loudly at the door,
but there was no reply. Then they burst in the door, and poured into
the great dining-room, the doctor at the head. There at the end of the rope of the great alarm bell hung the body of
the student, and on the face of the Judge in the picture was a
malignant smile. The Squaw


Nurnberg at the time was not so much exploited as it has been since
then.