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His
confinement
,
however
,
although
it
contributed
not
a
little
to
the
peace
of
the
town
,
operated
unfavorably
upon
Roderick
himself
.
In
solitude
his
melancholy
grew
more
black
and
sullen
.
He
spent
whole
days
—
indeed
,
it
was
his
sole
occupation
—
in
communing
with
the
serpent
.
A
conversation
was
sustained
,
in
which
,
as
it
seemed
,
the
hidden
monster
bore
a
part
,
though
unintelligibly
to
the
listeners
,
and
inaudible
except
in
a
hiss
.
Singular
as
it
may
appear
,
the
sufferer
had
now
contracted
a
sort
of
affection
for
his
tormentor
,
mingled
,
however
,
with
the
intensest
loathing
and
horror
.
Nor
were
such
discordant
emotions
incompatible
.
Each
,
on
the
contrary
,
imparted
strength
and
poignancy
to
its
opposite
.
Horrible
love
—
horrible
antipathy
—
embracing
one
another
in
his
bosom
,
and
both
concentrating
themselves
upon
a
being
that
had
crept
into
his
vitals
or
been
engendered
there
,
and
which
was
nourished
with
his
food
,
and
lived
upon
his
life
,
and
was
as
intimate
with
him
as
his
own
heart
,
and
yet
was
the
foulest
of
all
created
things
!
But
not
the
less
was
it
the
true
type
of
a
morbid
nature
.
Sometimes
,
in
his
moments
of
rage
and
bitter
hatred
against
the
snake
and
himself
,
Roderick
determined
to
be
the
death
of
him
,
even
at
the
expense
of
his
own
life
.
Once
he
attempted
it
by
starvation
;
but
,
while
the
wretched
man
was
on
the
point
of
famishing
,
the
monster
seemed
to
feed
upon
his
heart
,
and
to
thrive
and
wax
gamesome
,
as
if
it
were
his
sweetest
and
most
congenial
diet
.
Then
he
privily
took
a
dose
of
active
poison
,
imagining
that
it
would
not
fail
to
kill
either
himself
or
the
devil
that
possessed
him
,
or
both
together
.
Another
mistake
;
for
if
Roderick
had
not
yet
been
destroyed
by
his
own
poisoned
heart
nor
the
snake
by
gnawing
it
,
they
had
little
to
fear
from
arsenic
or
corrosive
sublimate
.
Indeed
,
the
venomous
pest
appeared
to
operate
as
an
antidote
against
all
other
poisons
.
The
physicians
tried
to
suffocate
the
fiend
with
tobacco
smoke
.
He
breathed
it
as
freely
as
if
it
were
his
native
atmosphere
.
Again
,
they
drugged
their
patient
with
opium
and
drenched
him
with
intoxicating
liquors
,
hoping
that
the
snake
might
thus
be
reduced
to
stupor
and
perhaps
be
ejected
from
the
stomach
.
They
succeeded
in
rendering
Roderick
insensible
;
but
,
placing
their
hands
upon
his
breast
,
they
were
inexpressibly
horror
stricken
to
feel
the
monster
wriggling
,
twining
,
and
darting
to
and
fro
within
his
narrow
limits
,
evidently
enlivened
by
the
opium
or
alcohol
,
and
incited
to
unusual
feats
of
activity
.
Thenceforth
they
gave
up
all
attempts
at
cure
or
palliation
.
The
doomed
sufferer
submitted
to
his
fate
,
resumed
his
former
loathsome
affection
for
the
bosom
fiend
,
and
spent
whole
miserable
days
before
a
looking
-
glass
,
with
his
mouth
wide
open
,
watching
,
in
hope
and
horror
,
to
catch
a
glimpse
of
the
snake
’
s
head
far
down
within
his
throat
.
It
is
supposed
that
he
succeeded
;
for
the
attendants
once
heard
a
frenzied
shout
,
and
,
rushing
into
the
room
,
found
Roderick
lifeless
upon
the
floor
.
He
was
kept
but
little
longer
under
restraint
.
After
minute
investigation
,
the
medical
directors
of
the
asylum
decided
that
his
mental
disease
did
not
amount
to
insanity
,
nor
would
warrant
his
confinement
,
especially
as
its
influence
upon
his
spirits
was
unfavorable
,
and
might
produce
the
evil
which
it
was
meant
to
remedy
.
His
eccentricities
were
doubtless
great
;
he
had
habitually
violated
many
of
the
customs
and
prejudices
of
society
;
but
the
world
was
not
,
without
surer
ground
,
entitled
to
treat
him
as
a
madman
.
On
this
decision
of
such
competent
authority
Roderick
was
released
,
and
had
returned
to
his
native
city
the
very
day
before
his
encounter
with
George
Herkimer
.
As
soon
as
possible
after
learning
these
particulars
the
sculptor
,
together
with
a
sad
and
tremulous
companion
,
sought
Elliston
at
his
own
house
.
It
was
a
large
,
sombre
edifice
of
wood
,
with
pilasters
and
a
balcony
,
and
was
divided
from
one
of
the
principal
streets
by
a
terrace
of
three
elevations
,
which
was
ascended
by
successive
flights
of
stone
steps
.
Some
immense
old
elms
almost
concealed
the
front
of
the
mansion
.
This
spacious
and
once
magnificent
family
residence
was
built
by
a
grandee
of
the
race
early
in
the
past
century
,
at
which
epoch
,
land
being
of
small
comparative
value
,
the
garden
and
other
grounds
had
formed
quite
an
extensive
domain
.
Although
a
portion
of
the
ancestral
heritage
had
been
alienated
,
there
was
still
a
shadowy
enclosure
in
the
rear
of
the
mansion
where
a
student
,
or
a
dreamer
,
or
a
man
of
stricken
heart
might
lie
all
day
upon
the
grass
,
amid
the
solitude
of
murmuring
boughs
,
and
forget
that
a
city
had
grown
up
around
him
.
Into
this
retirement
the
sculptor
and
his
companion
were
ushered
by
Scipio
,
the
old
black
servant
,
whose
wrinkled
visage
grew
almost
sunny
with
intelligence
and
joy
as
he
paid
his
humble
greetings
to
one
of
the
two
visitors
.
"
Remain
in
the
arbor
,
"
whispered
the
sculptor
to
the
figure
that
leaned
upon
his
arm
.
"
You
will
know
whether
,
and
when
,
to
make
your
appearance
.
"
"
God
will
teach
me
,
"
was
the
reply
.
