If his condition is believed to be true, what he hears at the end of the story may not be the old man's heart but deathwatch beetles.
One variety of deathwatch beetles raps its head against surfaces, presumably as part of a mating ritual, while others emit a ticking sound.
Less commonly, it can also be used to control rodents, powderpost beetles, deathwatch beetles, bark beetles, and bedbugs.
In addition to this, woodworm and dry and wet rot had set in, and the deathwatch beetle was rife.
We seem to be suffering from what one might call an infestation of atropus pulsatorius—the common deathwatch beetle.
Deathwatch beetle, woodworm, dry rot and sheer decay made restoration of the house a difficult and very expensive task.
Taxation is the deathwatch beetle which could eat away the framework of agriculture.
