I will definitely recommend this book to horror, short stories lovers. Your Rating:. Your Comment:. Jacobs Free Download 34 pages Author W. Jacobs Submitted by: Jane Kivik. Read Online Download.
Jacobs by A. White said, "Tut, tut! The sergeant-major shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got out whiskey and tumblers and stood a small copper kettle on the fire.
At the third glass his eyes got brighter, and he began to talk, the little family circle regarding with eager interest this visitor from distant parts, as he squared his broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of wild scenes and doughty deeds; of wars and plagues and strange peoples. White, nodding at his wife and son. Now look at him. White, politely. He put down the empty glass, and sighing softly, shook it again. White, curiously. His three listeners leaned forward eagerly.
The visitor absent-mindedly put his empty glass to his lips and then set it down again. His host filled it for him. White drew back with a grimace, but her son, taking it, examined it curiously.
White as he took it from his son, and having examined it, placed it upon the table. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.
He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it. The soldier regarded him in the way that middle age is wont to regard presumptuous youth. Yes," was the reply; "I don't know what the first two were, but the third was for death. That's how I got the paw.
It has caused enough mischief already. Besides, people won't buy. They think it's a fairy tale; some of them, and those who do think anything of it want to try it first and pay me afterward. White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off. If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire again like a sensible man. White, as she rose and began to set the supper.
White dropped it back in his pocket, and placing chairs, motioned his friend to the table. In the business of supper the talisman was partly forgotten, and afterward the three sat listening in an enthralled fashion to a second instalment of the soldier's adventures in India.
White, regarding her husband closely. And he pressed me again to throw it away. Wish to be an emperor, father, to begin with; then you can't be henpecked.
White armed with an antimacassar. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man. His wife and son ran toward him. He shook his head. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.
The last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. His hand grasped the monkey's paw, and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to bed. In the brightness of the wintry sun next morning as it streamed over the breakfast table he laughed at his fears.
There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about the room which it had lacked on the previous night, and the dirty, shrivelled little paw was pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no great belief in its virtues.
How could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father? All of which did not prevent her from scurrying to the door at the postman's knock, nor prevent her from referring somewhat shortly to retired sergeant-majors of bibulous habits when she found that the post brought a tailor's bill.
White, pouring himself out some beer; "but for all that, the thing moved in my hand; that I'll swear to. She was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside, who, peering in an undecided fashion at the house, appeared to be trying to make up his mind to enter. In mental connection with the two hundred pounds, she noticed that the stranger was well dressed, and wore a silk hat of glossy newness.
Three times he paused at the gate, and then walked on again. The fourth time he stood with his hand upon it, and then with sudden resolution flung it open and walked up the path. White at the same moment placed her hands behind her, and hurriedly unfastening the strings of her apron, put that useful article of apparel beneath the cushion of her chair.
She brought the stranger, who seemed ill at ease, into the room. He gazed at her furtively, and listened in a preoccupied fashion as the old lady apologized for the appearance of the room, and her husband's coat, a garment which he usually reserved for the garden.
She then waited as patiently as her sex would permit, for him to broach his business, but he was at first strangely silent. What is it? You've not brought bad news, I'm sure, sir;" and he eyed the other wistfully. The visitor bowed in assent. Thank--" She broke off suddenly as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned upon her and she saw the awful confirmation of her fears in the other's perverted face. She caught her breath, and turning to her slower-witted husband, laid her trembling old hand upon his.
There was a long silence. Why didn't you think of it? Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive again. The man sat in bed and flung the bedclothes from his quaking limbs. Her husband struck a match and lit the candle. The old man turned and regarded her, and his voice shook. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now? He went down in the darkness, and felt his way to the parlour, and then to the mantlepiece.
The talisman was in its place, and a horrible fear that the unspoken wish might bring his mutilated son before him ere he could escape from the room seized up on him, and he caught his breath as he found that he had lost the direction of the door. His brow cold with sweat, he felt his way round the table, and groped along the wall until he found himself in the small passage with the unwholesome thing in his hand. Even his wife's face seemed changed as he entered the room.
It was white and expectant, and to his fears seemed to have an unnatural look upon it. He was afraid of her. The talisman fell to the floor, and he regarded it fearfully. Then he sank trembling into a chair as the old woman, with burning eyes, walked to the window and raised the blind. He sat until he was chilled with the cold, glancing occasionally at the figure of the old woman peering through the window.
The candle-end, which had burned below the rim of the china candlestick, was throwing pulsating shadows on the ceiling and walls, until with a flicker larger than the rest, it expired. The old man, with an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure of the talisman, crept back back to his bed, and a minute afterward the old woman came silently and apathetically beside him. Neither spoke, but sat silently listening to the ticking of the clock. A stair creaked, and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through the wall.
The darkness was oppressive, and after lying for some time screwing up his courage, he took the box of matches, and striking one, went downstairs for a candle. At the foot of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another; and at the same moment a knock came so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door.
The matches fell from his hand and spilled in the passage. He stood motionless, his breath suspended until the knock was repeated. Then he turned and fled swiftly back to his room, and closed the door behind him. A third knock sounded through the house. She ran to the door, but her husband was before her, and catching her by the arm, held her tightly.
What are you holding me for? Let go. I must open the door. I'm coming, Herbert; I'm coming. There was another knock, and another. The old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and ran from the room. Her husband followed to the landing, and called after her appealingly as she hurried downstairs.
He heard the chain rattle back and the bolt drawn slowly and stiffly from the socket. But her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw. If only he could find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house, and he heard the scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the door. He heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back, and at the same moment he found the monkey's paw, and frantically breathed his third and last wish.
The knocking ceased suddenly, although the echoes of it were still in the house. He heard the chair drawn back, and the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the staircase, and a long loud wail of disappointment and misery from his wife gave him the courage to run down to her side, and then to the gate beyond. The street lamp flickering opposite shone on a quiet and deserted road. The Monkey's Paw Study Guide is designed for students and teachers.
Return to the W. Jacobs Home Page, or. Read the next short story; The Nest Egg. Henry H. The Monkey's Paw by W. Jacobs The Monkey's Paw is a classic "three wishes" story that doubles as a horror story and a cautionary tale; reminding us that unintended consequences often accompany the best intentions.
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