cunning. A great red-eyed murder was among the foremost of those
furry things from whom I feebly strove to defend my throat.
Suddenly it seemed to me good that I should kill my brother. It
seemed important to me that I should not risk being punished. I
knew where a revolver was kept; after I had shot him, I would dress
the body up and put flour on the face like a man that had been
acting as a ghost. It would be very simple. I would say that he had
frightened me--and the servants had heard us talking about ghosts.
There were one or two trivialities that would have to be arranged,
but nothing escaped my mind. Yes, it seemed to me very good that I
should kill my brother as I looked into the red depths of this
creature's eyes. But one last effort as they dragged me down--'If
two straight lines cut one another,' I said, 'the opposite angles
are equal. Let AB, CD, cut one another at E, then the angles CEA,
CEB equal two right angles (prop. xiii.). Also CEA, AED equal two
right angles.'

I moved towards the door to get the revolver; a hideous exultation
arose among the beasts. 'But the angle CEA is common, therefore AED
equals CEB. In the same way CEA equals DEB. _QED_.' It was
proved. Logic and reason re-established themselves in my mind, there
were no dark hounds of sin, the tapestried chairs were empty. It
seemed to me an inconceivable thought that a man should murder his
brother.




The Whirlpool