[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
splendid as that ebony to which has been likened the style
of Tertullian.
The wild effects of the light enchained me to an
examination of individual faces; and although the rapidity
with which the world of light flitted before the window,
prevented me from casting more than a glance upon each
visage, still it seemed that, in my then peculiar mental state,
I could frequently read, even in that brief interval of a glance,
the history of long years.
With my brow to the glass, I was thus occupied in
scrutinizing the mob, when suddenly there came into view a
countenance (that of a decrepid old man, some sixty-five or
seventy years of age,) a countenance which at once arrested
and absorbed my whole attention, on account of the absolute
idiosyncrasy of its expression. Any thing even remotely
resembling that expression I had never seen before. I well
remember that my first thought, upon beholding it, was that
Retzch, had he viewed it, would have greatly preferred it to
his own pictural incarnations of the fiend. As I endeavored,
during the brief minute of my original survey, to form some
analysis of the meaning conveyed, there arose confusedly and
paradoxically within my mind, the ideas of vast mental power,
of caution, of penuriousness, of avarice, of coolness, of
malice, of blood thirstiness, of triumph, of merriment, of
excessive terror, of intense of supreme despair. I felt
singularly aroused, startled, fascinated. How wild a history,
I said to myself, is written within that bosom! Then came a
craving desire to keep the man in view to know more of him.
Hurriedly putting on an overcoat, and seizing my hat and
48
The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe [Volume 5]
by Edgar Allan Poe
cane, I made my way into the street, and pushed through the
crowd in the direction which I had seen him take; for he had
already disappeared. With some little difficulty I at length
came within sight of him, approached, and followed him
closely, yet cautiously, so as not to attract his attention.
I had now a good opportunity of examining his person. He
was short in stature, very thin, and apparently very feeble.
His clothes, generally, were filthy and ragged; but as he
came, now and then, within the strong glare of a lamp, I
perceived that his linen, although dirty, was of beautiful
texture; and my vision deceived me, or, through a rent in a
closely-buttoned and evidently second-handed roquelaire
which enveloped him, I caught a glimpse both of a diamond
and of a dagger. These observations heightened my curiosity,
and I resolved to follow the stranger whithersoever he should
go.
It was now fully night-fall, and a thick humid fog hung
over the city, soon ending in a settled and heavy rain. This
change of weather had an odd effect upon the crowd, the
whole of which was at once put into new commotion, and
overshadowed by a world of umbrellas. The waver, the jostle,
and the hum increased in a tenfold degree. For my own part I
did not much regard the rain the lurking of an old fever in
my system rendering the moisture somewhat too dangerously
pleasant. Tying a handkerchief about my mouth, I kept on.
For half an hour the old man held his way with difficulty along
the great thoroughfare; and I here walked close at his elbow
through fear of losing sight of him. Never once turning his
head to look back, he did not observe me. By and bye he
49
The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe [Volume 5]
by Edgar Allan Poe
passed into a cross street, which, although densely filled with
people, was not quite so much thronged as the main one he
had quitted. Here a change in his demeanor became evident.
He walked more slowly and with less object than before
more hesitatingly. He crossed and re-crossed the way
repeatedly without apparent aim; and the press was still so
thick that, at every such movement, I was obliged to follow
him closely. The street was a narrow and long one, and his
course lay within it for nearly an hour, during which the
passengers had gradually diminished to about that number
which is ordinarily seen at noon in Broadway near the Park
so vast a difference is there between a London populace and
that of the most frequented American city. A second turn
brought us into a square, brilliantly lighted, and overflowing
with life. The old manner of the stranger re-appeared. His
chin fell upon his breast, while his eyes rolled wildly from
under his knit brows, in every direction, upon those who
hemmed him in. He urged his way steadily and perseveringly.
I was surprised, however, to find, upon his having made the
circuit of the square, that he turned and retraced his steps.
Still more was I astonished to see him repeat the same walk
several times once nearly detecting me as he came round
with a sudden movement.
In this exercise he spent another hour, at the end of which
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]