{"product_id":"2940013741126","title":"A Night in Monk-Hall","description":"Six years ago, in 1836, on a foggy night in spring, at the hour of one\u003cbr\u003eo'clock, I found myself reposing in one of the chambers of this\u003cbr\u003emansion, on an old-fashioned bed, side by side with a girl, who,\u003cbr\u003ebefore her seduction, had resided in my native village. It was one\u003cbr\u003eo'clock when I was aroused by a hushed sound, like the noise of a\u003cbr\u003edistant struggle. I awoke, started up in bed, and looked round. The\u003cbr\u003eroom was entirely without light, save from the fire-place, where a few\u003cbr\u003epieces of half-burned wood, emitted a dim and uncertain flame. Now it\u003cbr\u003eflashed up brightly, giving a strange lustre to the old furniture of\u003cbr\u003ethe room, the high-backed mahogany chairs, the antiquated bureau, and\u003cbr\u003ethe low ceiling, with heavy cornices around the walls. Again the flame\u003cbr\u003edied away and all was darkness. I listened intently. I could hear no\u003cbr\u003esound, save the breathing of the girl who slept by my side. And as I\u003cbr\u003elistened, a sudden awe came over me. True, I heard no noise, but that\u003cbr\u003emy sleep had been broken by a most appalling sound, I could not doubt.\u003cbr\u003eAnd the stories I had heard of Monk-hall came over me. Years before,\u003cbr\u003ein my native village, a wild rollicking fellow, Paul Western, Cashier\u003cbr\u003eof the County Bank, had indulged my fancy with strange stories of a\u003cbr\u003ebrothel, situated in the outskirts of Philadelphia. Paul was a wild\u003cbr\u003efellow, rather good looking, and went often to the city on business.\u003cbr\u003eHe spoke of Monk-hall as a place hard to find, abounding in mysteries,\u003cbr\u003eand darkened by hideous crimes committed within its walls. It had\u003cbr\u003ethree stories of chambers beneath the earth, as well as above. Each of\u003cbr\u003ethese chambers was supplied with trap doors, through the which the\u003cbr\u003eunsuspecting man might be flung by his murderer, without a moment's\u003cbr\u003ewarning. There was but one range of rooms above the ground, where\u003cbr\u003ethese trap-doors existed. From the garret to the first story, all in\u003cbr\u003ethe same line, like the hatchways in a storehouse, sank this range of\u003cbr\u003etrap-doors, all carefully concealed by the manner in which the carpets\u003cbr\u003ewere fixed. A secret spring in the wall of any one of these chambers,\u003cbr\u003ecommunicated with the spring hidden beneath the carpet. The spring in\u003cbr\u003ethe wall might be so arranged, that a single footstep pressed on the\u003cbr\u003espring, under the carpet, would open the trap-door, and plunge the\u003cbr\u003evictim headlong through the aperture. In such cases no man could\u003cbr\u003estride across the floor without peril of his life. Beneath the ground\u003cbr\u003eanother range of trap-doors were placed in the same manner, in the\u003cbr\u003efloors of three stories of the subterranean chambers. They plunged the\u003cbr\u003evictim--God knows where! With such arrangements for murder above and\u003cbr\u003ebeneath the earth, might there not exist hideous pits or deep wells,\u003cbr\u003efar below the third story under ground, where the body of the victim\u003cbr\u003ewould rot in darkness forever?","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152728342768,"sku":"2940013741126","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013741126_p0.jpg?v=1763589626","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013741126","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}