... And now — tonight — Ethelred — ha! ha! — the breaking of the door, and the death cry of the creature, and the crashing of the shield! — Say, instead, the forcing of the box, and her cries and ... in those halls of pleasure. The black clock struck once, and stopped. And the flames of the fires died out. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death ruled over all.The Barrel of AmontilladoI ... this I remembered the cold, and my misery and great fear.19Very suddenly a sense of movement and of sound came back to me — the racing of my heart, and the sound of its beating in my ears....