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1The report of the pistol brought a crowd into the room. I pointed to the spot where he had disappeared, and we followed
2the track with boats; nets were cast, but in vain. After passing several hours, we returned hopeless, most of my
3companions believing it to have been a form conjured up by my fancy. After having landed, they proceeded to search the
4country, parties going in different directions among the woods and vines. I attempted to accompany them and proceeded a
5short distance from the house, but my head whirled round, my steps were like those of a drunken man, I fell at last in a
6state of utter exhaustion; a film covered my eyes, and my skin was parched with the heat of fever. In this state I was
7carried back and placed on a bed, hardly conscious of what had happened; my eyes wandered round the room as if to seek
8something that I had lost. After an interval I arose, and as if by instinct, crawled into the room where the corpse of
9my beloved lay. There were women weeping around; I hung over it and joined my sad tears to theirs; all this time no
10distinct idea presented itself to my mind, but my thoughts rambled to various subjects, reflecting confusedly on my
11misfortunes and their cause. I was bewildered, in a cloud of wonder and horror. The death of William, the execution of
12Justine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife; even at that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends
13were safe from the malignity of the fiend; my father even now might be writhing under his grasp, and Ernest might be
14dead at his feet. This idea made me shudder and recalled me to action. I started up and resolved to return to Geneva
15with all possible speed. There were no horses to be procured, and I must return by the lake; but the wind was
16unfavourable, and the rain fell in torrents. However, it was hardly morning, and I might reasonably hope to arrive by
17night. I hired men to row and took an oar myself, for I had always experienced relief from mental torment in bodily
18exercise. But the overflowing misery I now felt, and the excess of agitation that I endured rendered me incapable of any
19exertion. I threw down the oar, and leaning my head upon my hands, gave way to every gloomy idea that arose. If I looked
20up, I saw scenes which were familiar to me in my happier time and which I had contemplated but the day before in the
21company of her who was now but a shadow and a recollection. Tears streamed from my eyes. The rain had ceased for a
22moment, and I saw the fish play in the waters as they had done a few hours before; they had then been observed by
23Elizabeth. Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change. The sun might shine or the clouds might
24lower, but nothing could appear to me as it had done the day before. A fiend had snatched from me every hope of future
25happiness; no creature had ever been so miserable as I was; so frightful an event is single in the history of man. But
26why should I dwell upon the incidents that followed this last overwhelming event? Mine has been a tale of horrors; I
27have reached their acme, and what I must now relate can but be tedious to you. Know that, one by one, my friends were
28snatched away; I was left desolate. My own strength is exhausted, and I must tell, in a few words, what remains of my
29hideous narration. I arrived at Geneva. My father and Ernest yet lived, but the former sunk under the tidings that I
30bore. I see him now, excellent and venerable old man! His eyes wandered in vacancy, for they had lost their charm and
31their delight--his Elizabeth, his more than daughter, whom he doted on with all that affection which a man feels, who in
32the decline of life, having few affections, clings more earnestly to those that remain. Cursed, cursed be the fiend that
33brought misery on his grey hairs and doomed him to waste in wretchedness! He could not live under the horrors that were
34accumulated around him; the springs of existence suddenly gave way; he was unable to rise from his bed, and in a few
35days he died in my arms. What then became of me? I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only
36objects that pressed upon me. Sometimes, indeed, I dreamt that I wandered in flowery meadows and pleasant vales with the
37friends of my youth, but I awoke and found myself in a dungeon. Melancholy followed, but by degrees I gained a clear
38conception of my miseries and situation and was then released from my prison. For they had called me mad, and during
39many months, as I understood, a solitary cell had been my habitation. Liberty, however, had been a useless gift to me,
40had I not, as I awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge. As the memory of past misfortunes pressed upon
41me, I began to reflect on their cause--the monster whom I had created, the miserable dæmon whom I had sent abroad into
42the world for my destruction. I was possessed by a maddening rage when I thought of him, and desired and ardently prayed
43that I might have him within my grasp to wreak a great and signal revenge on his cursed head. Nor did my hate long
44confine itself to useless wishes; I began to reflect on the best means of securing him; and for this purpose, about a
45month after my release, I repaired to a criminal judge in the town and told him that I had an accusation to make, that I
46knew the destroyer of my family, and that I required him to exert his whole authority for the apprehension of the
47murderer. The magistrate listened to me with attention and kindness. "Be assured, sir," said he, "no pains or exertions
48on my part shall be spared to discover the villain." "I thank you," replied I; "listen, therefore, to the deposition
49that I have to make. It is indeed a tale so strange that I should fear you would not credit it were there not something
50in truth which, however wonderful, forces conviction. The story is too connected to be mistaken for a dream, and I have
51no motive for falsehood." My manner as I thus addressed him was impressive but calm; I had formed in my own heart a
52resolution to pursue my destroyer to death, and this purpose quieted my agony and for an interval reconciled me to life.
53I now related my history briefly but with firmness and precision, marking the dates with accuracy and never deviating
54into invective or exclamation. The magistrate appeared at first perfectly incredulous, but as I continued he became more
55attentive and interested; I saw him sometimes shudder with horror; at others a lively surprise, unmingled with
56disbelief, was painted on his countenance. When I had concluded my narration, I said, "This is the being whom I accuse
57and for whose seizure and punishment I call upon you to exert your whole power. It is your duty as a magistrate, and I
58believe and hope that your feelings as a man will not revolt from the execution of those functions on this occasion."
59This address caused a considerable change in the physiognomy of my own auditor. He had heard my story with that half
60kind of belief that is given to a tale of spirits and supernatural events; but when he was called upon to act officially
61in consequence, the whole tide of his incredulity returned. He, however, answered mildly, "I would willingly afford you
62every aid in your pursuit, but the creature of whom you speak appears to have powers which would put all my exertions to
63defiance. Who can follow an animal which can traverse the sea of ice and inhabit caves and dens where no man would
64venture to intrude? Besides, some months have elapsed since the commission of his crimes, and no one can conjecture to
65what place he has wandered or what region he may now inhabit." "I do not doubt that he hovers near the spot which I
66inhabit, and if he has indeed taken refuge in the Alps, he may be hunted like the chamois and destroyed as a beast of
67prey. But I perceive your thoughts; you do not credit my narrative and do not intend to pursue my enemy with the
68punishment which is his desert."
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