In the meantime the cat slowly recovered. The socket ofthe lost eye presented， it is true， a frightful appearance， buthe no longer appeared to suffer any pain. He went about thehouse as usual， but， as might be expected， fled in extremeterror at my approach. I had so much of my old heart left， asto be at first grieved by this evident dislike on the part of acreature which had once so loved me. But this feeling soongave place to irritation. And then came， as if to my final andirrevocable overthrow， the spirit of PERVERSENESS. Of thisspirit philosophy takes no account. Yet I am not more surethat my soul lives， than I am that perverseness is one of theprimitive impulses of the human heart—one of the indivisibleprimary faculties， or sentiments， which give direction tothe character of Man. Who has not， a hundred times， foundhimself committing a vile or a silly action， for no otherreason than because he knows he should not？ Have we nota perpetual inclination， in the teeth of our best judgment， toviolate that which is Law， merely because we understand it tobe such？ This spirit of perverseness， I say， came to my finaloverthrow. It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vexitself—to offer violence to its own nature—to do wrong forthe wrong’s sake only—that urged me to continue and finallyto consummate the injury I had inflicted upon the unoffendingbrute. One morning， in cool blood， I slipped a noose about itsneck and hung it to the limb of a tree；—hung it with the tearsstreaming from my eyes， and with the bitterest remorse atmy heart；—hung it because I knew that it had loved me， andbecause I felt it had given me no reason of offence；—hungit because I knew that in doing so I was committing a sin—adeadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as toplace it—if such a thing wore possible—even beyond the reachof the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most TerribleGod.
On the night of the day on which this cruel deed was done， Iwas aroused from sleep by the cry of fire. The curtains of mybed were in flames. The whole house was blazing. It was withgreat difficulty that my wife， a servant， and myself， made ourescape from the conflagration. The destruction was complete.
My entire worldly wealth was swallowed up， and I resignedmyself thenceforward to despair.
I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequenceof cause and effect， between the disaster and the atrocity. ButI am detailing a chain of facts—and wish not to leave evena possible link imperfect. On the day succeeding the fire， Ivisited the ruins. The walls， with one exception， had fallenin. This exception was found in a compartment wall， not verythick， which stood about the middle of the house， and againstwhich had rested the head of my bed. The plastering had here，in great measure， resisted the action of the fire—a fact whichI attributed to its having been recently spread. About this walla dense crowd were collected， and many persons seemed to beexamining a particular portion of it with very minute and eagerattention. The words “strange！” “singular！” and other similarexpressions， excited my curiosity. I approached and saw， asif graven in bas relief upon the white surface， the figure of agigantic cat. The impression was given with an accuracy trulymarvellous. There was a rope about the animal’s neck.
When I first beheld this apparition—for I could scarcelyregard it as less—my wonder and my terror were extreme. Butat length reflection came to my aid. The cat， I remembered， hadbeen hung in a garden adjacent to the house. Upon the alarm offire， this garden had been immediately filled by the crowd—bysome one of whom the animal must have been cut from thetree and thrown， through an open window， into my chamber.
This had probably been done with the view of arousing mefrom sleep. The falling of other walls had compressed thevictim of my cruelty into the substance of the freshly-spreadplaster； the lime of which， with the flames， and the ammoniafrom the carcass， had then accomplished the portraiture as Isaw it.
Although I thus readily accounted to my reason， if notaltogether to my conscience， for the startling fact just detailed，it did not the less fail to make a deep impression upon myfancy. For months I could not rid myself of the phantasm ofthe cat； and， during this period， there came back into my spirita half-sentiment that seemed， but was not， remorse. I went sofar as to regret the loss of the animal， and to look about me，among the vile haunts which I now habitually frequented，for another pet of the same species， and of somewhat similarappearance， with which to supply its place.
One night as I sat， half stupified， in a den of more thaninfamy， my attention was suddenly drawn to some blackobject， reposing upon the head of one of the immensehogsheads of Gin， or of Rum， which constituted the chieffurniture of the apartment. I had been looking steadily at thetop of this hogshead for some minutes， and what now causedme surprise was the fact that I had not sooner perceived theobject thereupon. I approached it， and touched it with my hand.
It was a black cat—a very large one—fully as large as Pluto，and closely resembling him in every respect but one. Pluto hadnot a white hair upon any portion of his body； but this cat hada large， although indefinite splotch of white， covering nearlythe whole region of the breast. Upon my touching him， heimmediately arose， purred loudly， rubbed against my hand， andappeared delighted with my notice. This， then， was the verycreature of which I was in search. I at once offered to purchaseit of the landlord； but this person made no claim to it—knewnothing of it—had never seen it before.
I continued my caresses， and， when I prepared to go home，the animal evinced a disposition to accompany me. I permittedit to do so； occasionally stooping and patting it as I proceeded.
When it reached the house it domesticated itself at once， andbecame immediately a great favorite with my wife.