The boarded window is a potent symbol, and by beginning the story with a description of it, Bierce creates a subtle tension in the reader, who wishes to know why it was broken. At the very least, the idea that he spent the night next to a corpse that proved to be both animate and powerful enough to drive away a panther is unsettling. It is not entirely clear if Murlock's wife faithfully saved his life from a dreadful beast, or if she was some sort of vampiric predator that the panther saved him from. But to his great horror, he found clenched between her teeth a fragment of the animal's ear.
There was blood flowing from her throat that had not yet coagulated, and the ribbon that he used to bind her hands was snapped. When he woke, he found his wife's body in disarray. In the brief flash, he saw a panther attempting to drag his wife's body into the darkness outside. When he put his hand on the table again, he was horrified to find that his wife's body was gone! He grabbed his rifle and fired into the darkness. Suddenly, something pushed hard against the table, and he heard a loud thump and a scuffle in the dark. He woke later in the night, and heard sounds like bare feet on the floor. At that moment, a loud cry came in through the window, but Murlock did not stir. He sat in a chair and put his face in his hands. He adjusted her hair and decided he would make the coffin and bury her tomorrow. He was rather surprised at the way he fumbled in his grief. Though stunned by grief, Murlock knew enough to bury her. However, one day he returned to the cabin to find her wracked by a fever, and after three days, she died.
Before this tragedy, Murlock was a strong young man who loved his wife deeply. One day Murlock died, and was buried near the cabin next to his wife, who died many years earlier. The narrator's grandfather told him about Murlock's tragic background. The man's name is Murlock, and he looks much older than his true age.
This is certainly not because the resident of the house dislikes light, because he is often seen sunning himself in the front yard. The peculiar thing about this cabin is that it has a single window that has been boarded up. One of these men lives alone in a log cabin, subsisting on profits generated by the sale of animal pelts. This area is settled by the most rugged and restless souls, who totally reject all civilization. The story opens in the remote countryside near Cincinnati during the 19th century.
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