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tomb, a menial entered upon tiptoe. His looks were wild with terror,
and he spoke to me in a voice tremulous, husky, and very low. What said
he?--some broken sentences I heard. He told of a wild cry disturbing the
silence of the night--of the gathering together of the household--of
a search in the direction of the sound; and then his tones grew
thrillingly distinct as he whispered me of a violated grave--of
a disfigured body enshrouded, yet still breathing--still
palpitating--still alive!
He pointed to garments;--they were muddy and clotted with gore. I spoke
not, and he took me gently by the hand: it was indented with the impress
of human nails. He directed my attention to some object against the
wall. I looked at it for some minutes: it was a spade. With a shriek I
bounded to the table, and grasped the box that lay upon it. But I could
not force it open; and in my tremor, it slipped from my hands, and fell
heavily, and burst into pieces; and from it, with a rattling sound,
there rolled out some instruments of dental surgery, intermingled with
thirty-two small, white and ivory-looking substances that were scattered
to and fro about the floor.
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