Then I received a great surprise. Instead of the
paper-knife with which I had marked my place on the preceding, I
found an envelope, closed with five seals of red wax. I seized it
eagerly. It was addressed to me, and marked: "Urgent."
A letter! A letter addressed to me! Who could have put it in that
place? Nervously, I tore open the envelope, and read:
"From the moment you open this letter, whatever happens, whatever
you may hear, do not move, do not utter one cry. Otherwise you are
doomed."
I am not a coward, and, quite as well as another, I can face real
danger, or smile at the visionary perils of imagination. But, let
me repeat, I was in an anomalous condition of mind, with my nerves
set on edge by the events of the evening. Besides, was there not,
in my present situation, something startling and mysterious,
calculated to disturb the most courageous spirit?
My feverish fingers clutched the sheet of paper, and I read and re-
read those threatening words: "Do not move, do not utter one cry.
Otherwise, you are doomed."
"Nonsense!" I thought. "It is a joke; the work of some cheerful
idiot."
I was about to laugh--a good loud laugh.
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