Legrand's Third Dream

After attempting to stay awake for a few nights, William Legrand fell asleep and had a third, vivid dream.

Legrand was aware that he had committed a heinous crime but had concealed it so well that no human agency could hope to find his guilt. He sat down to confer with the police officers investigating the crime in the very chamber it had occurred. He could tell that not only did they not suspect him but they even had doubts that the crime had happened.

At first Legrand was charming and witty, and showed no signs of guilt. Then he began to feel a slight pain in his mouth, the type a tooth would make. It began to grow until it reached Brobdingnagian proportions. Initially Legrand showed no outward sign to the officers but slowly he became nervous, then agitated, then distrait. Finally, the pain became so great that he was compelled to cry out or perish. He called out "I admit the deed! Tear out the tooth!" and pointed to his bicuspid.

At this point Legrand awoke in his quiet and serene house except for his heart audibly thudding.

Literary Comment
This dream is based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Tell-Tale Heart with the throbbing pain of the tooth replacing that of the murdered man's heartbeat.