ARTHUR
40

I went up, but quickly found an insurmountable obstacle. The door at the head of the stairs was closed and blocked. My greatest strength was deployed in vain, to break the key or hinge. Thus my deepest worries were met. Welbeck has left me to defend murder charges; to negate the most egregious and plausible suspicion that the course of human events is capable of producing.

Here I must stay until tomorrow; until someone can be made to hear my call and come to my release. What effect will my performance have on the audience? Scared by ghosts and covered in blood, shouldn't I show signs of a maniac as well as a murderer?

Watson's body will be found soon. If, before this disclosure, I should change my bloodied clothes and withdraw to the country, would I not be pursued by the most intense suspicion, and, perhaps, perhaps, hounded to my most obscure retreat by the justice ministers? I am innocent; but my story, however indirect or true, will hardly be enough for my justification. My escape will be interpreted as irrefutable proof of wrongdoing.

While plagued by these thoughts, my attention was attracted by the faint glow of light at the bottom of the stairs. It grew stronger, floated momentarily before my eyes, and then disappeared. That it came from a lamp or candle, which was borne by someone along the passageway, was not an untenable opinion, but was far less likely than that the light was skyrocketing . I believed the latter assumption, and fortified myself again against the fear of supernatural dangers. My thoughts returned to the contemplation of the dangers and suspicions that flowed from my continuation in this place.

Amidst my agitated contemplation, my attention was again distracted by illumination like before. Instead of drifting and disappearing, it is permanent. There was no weaker beam; but the apparent obscurity that managed to make it flashy was like a flash of electricity. For a while I watched him without moving from my place, and in the hope that a moment would disappear.

Declaring its stability, the expediency to examine it more closely, and ascertaining the source from which it flows, is strongly advised. Hope, as well as curiosity, was the parent of my behavior. While completely confused to determine the cause of this emergence, I am willing to believe some connection between that cause and the manner of my release.

I had just decided to go down the stairs, when my hope was quenched by the memory that the basement had narrow, latticed windows, through which the light from the street might be able to find access. The second memory replaces this belief, because on my way to this ladder my attention will be asked, and my steps, in some ways, guided, by the light that comes through these streets.

After returning to the bottom of the stairs, I felt every part of the long drawn hallway illuminated. I cast my gaze forward to the quarters where the beam seemed to continue, and saw, at a considerable distance, Welbeck in the cell I had left, turning the earth in a shovel.

This discovery flooded me with regret and shame, though it freed me from the terror of imprisonment and accusation. Returning to the cell I had left behind, and where Welbeck was employed in his doom-wreaking office, was the recommended way for my own safety.

Welbeck paused, on my approach, and showed momentary worry at the sight of my face being covered. Blood, by an inexplicable natural process, perhaps by the influence of resisting fear, quickly ceases to flow. Whether the cause of my avoidance, and my blood flow, is predictable, or whether his attention is drawn, by a more important object, from my condition, he continues his duty in silence.

A shallow bed and a little layer of clay were reserved for poor Watson. Welbeck's movements were hasty and trembling. His face showed a mind engrossed with one goal, in some degree unfamiliar with the scene in front of him. The intensity and firmness of its features are striking, which makes me suspect a subversion of the reason.

After completing the task, he threw away his tools. He then put in my hand a pocket book, said it belonged to Watson, and probably contained something useful to the living. I might use what I think is right. He then climbed back up the stairs, and, putting a candle on the table in the hall, opened the main door and left. I was driven, by some sort of mechanical impulse, following in his footsteps. I followed him because it was fun for him and because I didn't know where else to direct my steps.

The streets are quiet and quiet. The call of the guard, remotely and vaguely heard, adds to the general solemnity. I followed my colleague in an inexplicable state of mind. I had no spirit to even ask where he was going. Only after we arrived at the water's edge did I persuade myself to break the silence. I then began to ponder the extent to which his current scheme could harm Welbeck or myself. I have acted long enough as a slave and mechanical part; and have been guided by blind and foreign impulses. It was time to let go of my shackles, and demanded to know which way I should go.

Meanwhile I found myself entangled between a boat and a cruise. I cannot describe the place with an undeniable token. I just knew that it was a stoppage of one of the main roads. Here Welbeck chose a boat and prepared to enter it. For a moment I hesitated to follow his invitation. I uttered the interrogation with a stutter :— "Why is this? Why do we have to cross the river? What service can I do for you? I must know the purpose of my trip before I enter it."

He examined himself and watched me for a minute in silence. "What are you afraid of?" said. "Don't I explain my wish? Just cross the river with me, because I can't navigate the boat alone. Is there anything difficult or mysterious in this endeavor? we split up on Jersey Beach, and I'll hand you over to your destiny." . All I'm going to ask of you is silence, and to hide from man what you know of me."