When Moore arrived home, Mrs Dempster had already left. But his supper was ready for him. The
lamp was burning brightly and there was a good fire in the fireplace. It was a cold, windy evening, but
the room was warm and inviting. For a few minutes after he came in, the rats were quiet. But, as before,
they soon became used to his presence in the room. Soon they started their noise again. He was glad to
hear them. He remembered how silent they had been when the great rat appeared. Moore soon forgot the
squeaking and scratching. He sat down to his dinner with a light heart. After dinner he opened his
books, determined to get some work done.
For an hour or two he worked very well. Then his concentration weakened, and he looked up. It
was a stormy night. The whole house seemed to shake, and the wind whistled down the chimneys with a
strange, unnatural sound. The force of the wind shook the alarm bell. The pliable rope rose and fell a
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little, and the bottom of it hit the oak floor with a hard and hollow sound.
As Moore watched it, he remembered the doctor's words: `It's the hangman's rope.' He went over to
the corner by the fireplace and took the rope in his hand. He looked at it very hard. He wondered how
many people had died on the end of that rope. As he held it, the movement of the bell on the roof still
lifted it now and again. Then he felt a new movement. The rope seemed to tremble, as if something was
moving along it. At the same time, the noise of the rats stopped.
Moore looked up, and saw the great rat coming down towards him. It was staring at him with hate.
Moore dropped the rope and jumped back with a cry. The rat turned, ran up the rope again and
disappeared. At the same moment Moore realized that the noise of the other rats had begun again.
`Very well, my friend,' thought Moore, `let's investigate your hiding place.'
He lit the other lamp. He remembered that the rat had disappeared inside the third picture on the
right. He picked up the lamp and carried it across to the picture.
He almost dropped the lamp. He stepped back at once, and the sweat of fear was upon his pale
face. His knees shook. His whole body trembled like a leaf. But he was young and brave, and he moved
forward again with his lamp. Mrs Dempster had dusted and washed the picture, and Moore could now
see it quite clearly.
It showed a judge. He had a cruel, clever, merciless face, with a big curved nose and very bright,
hard eyes. As Moore looked into those eyes, he realized that he had seen that look before. The great rat's
eyes were exactly the same. They held the same look of hate and cruelty. Then the noise of the rats
stopped again, and Moore became conscious of another pair of eyes looking at him. The great rat was
staring at him from the hole in the corner of the picture. But Moore took no notice of the creature and
continued to examine the picture.
The Judge was sitting in a great, high−backed oak chair, on the right−hand side of a great stone
fireplace. In the corner a rope hung down from the ceiling. With a feeling of horror, Moore recognized
the room where he now stood. He looked around him, as if he expected to see another presence there.
Then he looked across to the corner of the fireplace. He froze with fear and the lamp fell from his
trembling hand.
There, in the Judge's chair, sat the rat. The rope hung behind, exactly as it did in the picture. The
rat looked at Moore with the same merciless stare as the Judge in the picture. But there was a new,
triumphant look in the small red eyes. Everything was silent except for the storm outside.
`The lamp!' thought Moore desperately. Fortunately it was a metal one, and the oil had not caught
fire. However, he had to put it out. In doing so, he forgot his fears for a moment.
Then he stopped and thought. `I can't go on like this,' he said to himself. `The doctor is right. Late
hours and strong tea are no good for me. They just make me nervous. However, I'm all right now.' He
made himself a warm, milky drink and sat down to work.
Nearly an hour later a sudden silence disturbed him again. Outside, the storm was growling and
whistling as loudly as ever. The rain drummed on the windows. But inside the house everything was as
quiet as the grave. Moore listened carefully, and then he heard a strange squeaking noise. It came from
the corner of the room where the rope hung down. At first he thought the rope itself was making the
sound. Then he looked up and saw the great rat. It was chewing the rope with its ugly yellow teeth. It
had almost bitten through it, and, as Moore watched, part of the rope fell to the floor. Only a short piece
was still attached to the bell, and the rat was still hanging onto it. Now the rope began to swing
backwards and forwards. Moore felt a moment of terrible fear. `Now I can never ring the alarm bell,' he
thought. Then he was filled with anger. He picked up the book he was reading, and threw it violently at
the rat. He aimed it well. But before the book could hit the creature, it dropped off the rope and landed
on the floor. At once Moore rushed towards it, but the rat ran away and disappeared into the shadows.
`Let's have another rat hunt before bed!' said Moore to himself. He picked up the lamp − and
almost dropped it again.
The figure of the Judge had disappeared from the picture. The chair and the details of the room
were still there. But the man himself had gone. Frozen with horror, Moore moved slowly round. He
began to shake and tremble. His strength left him, and he was unable to move a muscle. He could only
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see and hear.
There, on the great high−backed oak chair sat the Judge. His merciless eyes stared at Moore. There
was a smile of triumph on his cruel mouth. Slowly he lifted up a black hat. Moore's heart was drumming
wildly. There was a strange singing noise in his ears. Outside, the wind was as wild as ever. Then, above
the screams of the wind, he heard the great clock striking in the market place. He stood and listened,
stiff and unmoving. The triumph on the Judge's face grew. As the clock struck twelve, the Judge placed
the black hat on his head. Slowly and deliberately, he rose from his chair and picked up the piece of
rope from the floor. He pulled it through his hands. Slowly and carefully he made the thick, pliable rope
into a noose. He tested the noose with his foot. He pulled hard at it until he was pleased with it. Then he
began to move slowly and carefully past the table, on the opposite side to Moore. Then with one quick
movement he stood in front of the door. Moore was trapped! All this time, the Judge's eyes never left
Moore's.