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operations--again--and again. Notwithstanding terrifically wide sweep
some thirty feet or more) and the its hissing vigor of its descent,
(
sufficient to sunder these very walls of iron, still the fraying of my
robe would be all that, for several minutes, it would accomplish. And
at this thought I paused. I dared not go farther than this reflection. I
dwelt upon it with a pertinacity of attention--as if, in so dwelling,
I could arrest here the descent of the steel. I forced myself to
ponder upon the sound of the crescent as it should pass across the
garment--upon the peculiar thrilling sensation which the friction of
cloth produces on the nerves. I pondered upon all this frivolity until
my teeth were on edge.
Down--steadily down it crept. I took a frenzied pleasure in contrasting
its downward with its lateral velocity. To the right--to the left--far
and wide--with the shriek of a damned spirit; to my heart with the
stealthy pace of the tiger! I alternately laughed and howled as the one
or the other idea grew predominant.
Down--certainly, relentlessly down! It vibrated within three inches of
my bosom! I struggled violently, furiously, to free my left arm. This
was free only from the elbow to the hand. I could reach the latter, from
the platter beside me, to my mouth, with great effort, but no farther.
Could I have broken the fastenings above the elbow, I would have seized
and attempted to arrest the pendulum. I might as well have attempted to
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