no sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence , than i was answered by a voice from within the tomb ! -- by a cry , at first muffled and broken , like the sobbing of a child , and then quickly welling into one long , loud , and continuous scream , utterly anomalous and inhumana howl -- a wailing shriek , half of horror and half of triumph , such as might have arisen only out of hell , conjointly from the throats of the dammed in their agony and of the demons that exult in the damnation .