介绍:
Chapter Twenty-one
It was evening when we arrived at the hotel. A strong wind blew from the west. Clouds raced across the moon. It began to rain. I had been calm during the day, but now I was afraid. I kept my hand on the gun in my pocket. Every sound frightened me.
'What is the matter, Victor?' asked Elizabeth.
'Do not ask, my love,' I replied.' After tonight, we will be safe, but tonight is terrible.'
Suddenly I thought of how frightened she would be if she saw the fight between the monster and myself. I asked her to go to bed. I would not go to her until I had discovered where my enemy was hiding.
She left me, and I walked through the house, searching everywhere. I did not find him. Suddenly I heard a dreadful scream. It came from Elizabeth's room. As I heard it, I realized the truth. She screamed again, and I ran into the room. Great God! Why did I not die? Why am I here to tell you this terrible tale? There she was, dead, lying across the bed, her head hanging down, and her face covered by her hair. I fainted.
When I recovered, I was surrounded by the people of the hotel. They had moved Elizabeth to another room. I escaped from them to that room, ran to the bed where Elizabeth lay, and embraced her. The marks of the devil's fingers were on her neck.
Looking up, I saw the monster standing outside the open window in the yellow moonlight. He grinned at me and pointed at the body of my wife. I ran to the window, taking the gun from my pocket, but he ran away at great speed and jumped into the lake.
The sound of the gun brought people running into the room. We searched for him for hours, but we did not find him. I returned to the hotel, feeling sick with horror. Suddenly I thought of my father. The monster might be going to him now. He might murder my father. I decided to return to Geneva as soon as possible.
On the journey back I wept. A devil had robbed me of every hope of future happiness. No creature has ever been as miserable as I was.
When I arrived at Geneva, I found my father alive, but he became ill when I told him the terrible news. He could not live with the horrors that surrounded him. In a few days he died in my arms.
What happened to me? I do not know. Sometimes I dreamt I was walking in flowery fields to the people I loved, but I awoke to find myself in prison. Slowly I recovered, and they released me. They had called me mad, and I had spent many months in a cell alone.
I thought I had no use for liberty, but slowly, as I recovered, I began to want revenge. I was filled with a maddening anger when I thought of the monster. I began to think of how I could get him. I went to a magistrate and told him that I knew who had destroyed my family. I told my story calmly, giving the dates and the places. I did not want him to think I was mad. He listened to me, then he said, 'If the monster is as you have described him, I will not be able to catch him. He can live in caves of ice. He can run faster than any man. I will try my best to arrest him, but I am afraid I will fail.'
'You do not care about my revenge,' I said. 'If you cannot help me, I must pursue him alone.'
He must have thought I was mad. He tried to calm me as a nurse tries to calm a child. I left the house in anger.
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