light slumber. At first a slight expression of pleasure played upon her
lips, but ere long the fatigue of her journey overcame her, and she slept
heavily.

"Then," said he, his countenance assuming a convulsive and ghastly
aspect, "I arose on tiptoe, and collecting the heavy comforters and large
downy pillows of the bed, I deliberately piled them on her one upon the
other, and pressing them down with all my gathered force, I stifled her
in her sleep!

"No cry, no groan from my victim betrayed the unhallowed deed, and before
the first dawn of day I was driving furiously over the road to the
river's bank, from which into the watery depth below I threw this
millstone of my life.

"When I drove back the morning had dawned. The daylight seemed to pry
into the secrets of the past night. I would fain shun it--the garish
light disturbed me. The morning sun, which had ever been my delight,
seemed now a mocking imp of curiosity; the house and grounds looked bare
and desolate; a blight had fallen upon their former comeliness.

"A strange fascination again drew me into the chamber which had been the
scene of my crime. When there I re-enacted the last night's work. The bed
and furniture seemed to come toward me and taunt me with the fell crime I
had committed. 'I was justified in the act,' said I to these dumb
accusers, as though they had been, living witnesses. 'She was the bane of
my existence.' And with cunning precision I arranged the disordered room,
smoothed the pillows, and levelled the coverlet. 'The dead cannot speak,'
said I. 'This thing is hidden.'