The Curse Upon Mitre Square — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

36 THE CURSE UPON MITRE SQUARE. apparent. The monk held out the light at arm’s length and peered into the church, and the woman was terrified at the ghastly figure. The face looked like that of a fiend, not a man; the eyes gleamed with a fierce and unnatural Jight, and seemed burst- ing from their sockets; the sleeves had fallen from the bony arm, which looked like that of a skeleton. What was that tiny bright speck just appearing under the folds of his habit? She could not approach the ghost, and crept behind a pillar of the nave. ‘The figure in the choir turned round and knelt down as if in attitude of prayer, and a gust of wind extinguished the taper, which the monk let drop with a thud. The church was in total darkness, save for the little altar lamp, which but intensified the gloom. One, two, perhaps three, minutes passed, when a curious pale and silvery ray lit up a portion of the choir; the moon had risen to witness the fell and dreadful deed. ‘The woman trembled, but felt that now she must perform her task. Her eyes seemed to swim ; she could scarcely guide aright her steps ; but slowly and silently she approached the kneeling figure, and touched with her right hand the habit of the monk. The man in the nave leant forward and watched the scene with terrible earnestness. How suddenly the monk had turned round! What was that bright object which he held aloft twice, thrice? Good God, was murder being done? The man rushed forward, but, alas! too late. The monk had seized GEomichbooks.co