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- Артур Конан Дойл
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- Tales of Terror and Mystery
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- Стр. 47/137
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And
it
was
coming
beyond
all
question
in
my
direction
.
My
skin
grew
cold
,
and
my
hair
stood
on
end
as
I
listened
to
that
steady
and
ponderous
footfall
.
There
was
some
creature
there
,
and
surely
by
the
speed
of
its
advance
,
it
was
one
which
could
see
in
the
dark
.
I
crouched
low
on
my
rock
and
tried
to
blend
myself
into
it
.
The
steps
grew
nearer
still
,
then
stopped
,
and
presently
I
was
aware
of
a
loud
lapping
and
gurgling
.
The
creature
was
drinking
at
the
stream
.
Then
again
there
was
silence
,
broken
by
a
succession
of
long
sniffs
and
snorts
of
tremendous
volume
and
energy
.
Had
it
caught
the
scent
of
me
?
My
own
nostrils
were
filled
by
a
low
fetid
odour
,
mephitic
and
abominable
.
Then
I
heard
the
steps
again
.
They
were
on
my
side
of
the
stream
now
.
The
stones
rattled
within
a
few
yards
of
where
I
lay
.
Hardly
daring
to
breathe
,
I
crouched
upon
my
rock
.
Then
the
steps
drew
away
.
I
heard
the
splash
as
it
returned
across
the
river
,
and
the
sound
died
away
into
the
distance
in
the
direction
from
which
it
had
come
.
For
a
long
time
I
lay
upon
the
rock
,
too
much
horrified
to
move
.
I
thought
of
the
sound
which
I
had
heard
coming
from
the
depths
of
the
cave
,
of
Armitage
’
s
fears
,
of
the
strange
impression
in
the
mud
,
and
now
came
this
final
and
absolute
proof
that
there
was
indeed
some
inconceivable
monster
,
something
utterly
unearthly
and
dreadful
,
which
lurked
in
the
hollow
of
the
mountain
.
Of
its
nature
or
form
I
could
frame
no
conception
,
save
that
it
was
both
light
-
footed
and
gigantic
.
The
combat
between
my
reason
,
which
told
me
that
such
things
could
not
be
,
and
my
senses
,
which
told
me
that
they
were
,
raged
within
me
as
I
lay
.
Finally
,
I
was
almost
ready
to
persuade
myself
that
this
experience
had
been
part
of
some
evil
dream
,
and
that
my
abnormal
condition
might
have
conjured
up
an
hallucination
.
But
there
remained
one
final
experience
which
removed
the
last
possibility
of
doubt
from
my
mind
.
I
had
taken
my
matches
from
my
armpit
and
felt
them
.
They
seemed
perfectly
hard
and
dry
.
Stooping
down
into
a
crevice
of
the
rocks
,
I
tried
one
of
them
.
To
my
delight
it
took
fire
at
once
.
I
lit
the
candle
,
and
,
with
a
terrified
backward
glance
into
the
obscure
depths
of
the
cavern
,
I
hurried
in
the
direction
of
the
Roman
passage
.
As
I
did
so
I
passed
the
patch
of
mud
on
which
I
had
seen
the
huge
imprint
.
Now
I
stood
astonished
before
it
,
for
there
were
three
similar
imprints
upon
its
surface
,
enormous
in
size
,
irregular
in
outline
,
of
a
depth
which
indicated
the
ponderous
weight
which
had
left
them
.
Then
a
great
terror
surged
over
me
.
Stooping
and
shading
my
candle
with
my
hand
,
I
ran
in
a
frenzy
of
fear
to
the
rocky
archway
,
hastened
up
it
,
and
never
stopped
until
,
with
weary
feet
and
panting
lungs
,
I
rushed
up
the
final
slope
of
stones
,
broke
through
the
tangle
of
briars
,
and
flung
myself
exhausted
upon
the
soft
grass
under
the
peaceful
light
of
the
stars
.
It
was
three
in
the
morning
when
I
reached
the
farm
-
house
,
and
today
I
am
all
unstrung
and
quivering
after
my
terrific
adventure
.
As
yet
I
have
told
no
one
.
I
must
move
warily
in
the
matter
.
What
would
the
poor
lonely
women
,
or
the
uneducated
yokels
here
think
of
it
if
I
were
to
tell
them
my
experience
?
Let
me
go
to
someone
who
can
understand
and
advise
.
April
25
.
—
I
was
laid
up
in
bed
for
two
days
after
my
incredible
adventure
in
the
cavern
.
I
use
the
adjective
with
a
very
definite
meaning
,
for
I
have
had
an
experience
since
which
has
shocked
me
almost
as
much
as
the
other
.
I
have
said
that
I
was
looking
round
for
someone
who
could
advise
me
.
There
is
a
Dr
.
Mark
Johnson
who
practices
some
few
miles
away
,
to
whom
I
had
a
note
of
recommendation
from
Professor
Saunderson
.
To
him
I
drove
,
when
I
was
strong
enough
to
get
about
,
and
I
recounted
to
him
my
whole
strange
experience
.
He
listened
intently
,
and
then
carefully
examined
me
,
paying
special
attention
to
my
reflexes
and
to
the
pupils
of
my
eyes
.
When
he
had
finished
,
he
refused
to
discuss
my
adventure
,
saying
that
it
was
entirely
beyond
him
,
but
he
gave
me
the
card
of
a
Mr
.
Picton
at
Castleton
,
with
the
advice
that
I
should
instantly
go
to
him
and
tell
him
the
story
exactly
as
I
had
done
to
himself
.
He
was
,
according
to
my
adviser
,
the
very
man
who
was
pre
-
eminently
suited
to
help
me
.
I
went
on
to
the
station
,
therefore
,
and
made
my
way
to
the
little
town
,
which
is
some
ten
miles
away
.
Mr
.
Picton
appeared
to
be
a
man
of
importance
,
as
his
brass
plate
was
displayed
upon
the
door
of
a
considerable
building
on
the
outskirts
of
the
town
.
I
was
about
to
ring
his
bell
,
when
some
misgiving
came
into
my
mind
,
and
,
crossing
to
a
neighbouring
shop
,
I
asked
the
man
behind
the
counter
if
he
could
tell
me
anything
of
Mr
.
Picton
.
"
Why
,
"
said
he
,
"
he
is
the
best
mad
doctor
in
Derbyshire
,
and
yonder
is
his
asylum
.
"
You
can
imagine
that
it
was
not
long
before
I
had
shaken
the
dust
of
Castleton
from
my
feet
and
returned
to
the
farm
,
cursing
all
unimaginative
pedants
who
cannot
conceive
that
there
may
be
things
in
creation
which
have
never
yet
chanced
to
come
across
their
mole
’
s
vision
.
After
all
,
now
that
I
am
cooler
,
I
can
afford
to
admit
that
I
have
been
no
more
sympathetic
to
Armitage
than
Dr
.
Johnson
has
been
to
me
.
April
27
.
When
I
was
a
student
I
had
the
reputation
of
being
a
man
of
courage
and
enterprise
.
I
remember
that
when
there
was
a
ghost
-
hunt
at
Coltbridge
it
was
I
who
sat
up
in
the
haunted
house
.
Is
it
advancing
years
(
after
all
,
I
am
only
thirty
-
five
)
,
or
is
it
this
physical
malady
which
has
caused
degeneration
?
Certainly
my
heart
quails
when
I
think
of
that
horrible
cavern
in
the
hill
,
and
the
certainty
that
it
has
some
monstrous
occupant
.
What
shall
I
do
?
There
is
not
an
hour
in
the
day
that
I
do
not
debate
the
question
.
If
I
say
nothing
,
then
the
mystery
remains
unsolved
.
If
I
do
say
anything
,
then
I
have
the
alternative
of
mad
alarm
over
the
whole
countryside
,
or
of
absolute
incredulity
which
may
end
in
consigning
me
to
an
asylum
.
On
the
whole
,
I
think
that
my
best
course
is
to
wait
,
and
to
prepare
for
some
expedition
which
shall
be
more
deliberate
and
better
thought
out
than
the
last
.
As
a
first
step
I
have
been
to
Castleton
and
obtained
a
few
essentials
—
a
large
acetylene
lantern
for
one
thing
,
and
a
good
double
-
barrelled
sporting
rifle
for
another
.
The
latter
I
have
hired
,
but
I
have
bought
a
dozen
heavy
game
cartridges
,
which
would
bring
down
a
rhinoceros
.
Now
I
am
ready
for
my
troglodyte
friend
.
Give
me
better
health
and
a
little
spate
of
energy
,
and
I
shall
try
conclusions
with
him
yet
.
But
who
and
what
is
he
?
Ah
!
there
is
the
question
which
stands
between
me
and
my
sleep
.
How
many
theories
do
I
form
,
only
to
discard
each
in
turn
!
It
is
all
so
utterly
unthinkable
.
And
yet
the
cry
,
the
footmark
,
the
tread
in
the
cavern
—
no
reasoning
can
get
past
these
I
think
of
the
old
-
world
legends
of
dragons
and
of
other
monsters
.
Were
they
,
perhaps
,
not
such
fairy
-
tales
as
we
have
thought
?
Can
it
be
that
there
is
some
fact
which
underlies
them
,
and
am
I
,
of
all
mortals
,
the
one
who
is
chosen
to
expose
it
?
