Tales of Terror and Mystery/Tales of Terror and Mystery (Артур Конан Дойл). Страница 59 из 137

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"

All

right

!

Don

’

t

make

a

row

!

"

said

my

host

from

the

passage

.

"

You

’

ve

got

the

light

all

right

.

"

"

Yes

,

but

I

don

’

t

care

about

being

locked

in

alone

like

this

.

"

"

Don

’

t

you

?

"

I

heard

his

hearty

,

chuckling

laugh

.

"

You

won

’

t

be

alone

long

.

"

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"

Let

me

out

,

sir

!

"

I

repeated

angrily

.

"

I

tell

you

I

don

’

t

allow

practical

jokes

of

this

sort

.

"

"

Practical

is

the

word

,

"

said

he

,

with

another

hateful

chuckle

.

And

then

suddenly

I

heard

,

amidst

the

roar

of

the

storm

,

the

creak

and

whine

of

the

winch

-

handle

turning

and

the

rattle

of

the

grating

as

it

passed

through

the

slot

.

Great

God

,

he

was

letting

loose

the

Brazilian

cat

!

In

the

light

of

the

lantern

I

saw

the

bars

sliding

slowly

before

me

.

Already

there

was

an

opening

a

foot

wide

at

the

farther

end

.

With

a

scream

I

seized

the

last

bar

with

my

hands

and

pulled

with

the

strength

of

a

madman

.

I

WAS

a

madman

with

rage

and

horror

.

For

a

minute

or

more

I

held

the

thing

motionless

.

I

knew

that

he

was

straining

with

all

his

force

upon

the

handle

,

and

that

the

leverage

was

sure

to

overcome

me

.

I

gave

inch

by

inch

,

my

feet

sliding

along

the

stones

,

and

all

the

time

I

begged

and

prayed

this

inhuman

monster

to

save

me

from

this

horrible

death

.

I

conjured

him

by

his

kinship

.

I

reminded

him

that

I

was

his

guest

;

I

begged

to

know

what

harm

I

had

ever

done

him

.

His

only

answers

were

the

tugs

and

jerks

upon

the

handle

,

each

of

which

,

in

spite

of

all

my

struggles

,

pulled

another

bar

through

the

opening

.

Clinging

and

clutching

,

I

was

dragged

across

the

whole

front

of

the

cage

,

until

at

last

,

with

aching

wrists

and

lacerated

fingers

,

I

gave

up

the

hopeless

struggle

.

The

grating

clanged

back

as

I

released

it

,

and

an

instant

later

I

heard

the

shuffle

of

the

Turkish

slippers

in

the

passage

,

and

the

slam

of

the

distant

door

.

Then

everything

was

silent

.

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The

creature

had

never

moved

during

this

time

.

He

lay

still

in

the

corner

,

and

his

tail

had

ceased

switching

.

This

apparition

of

a

man

adhering

to

his

bars

and

dragged

screaming

across

him

had

apparently

filled

him

with

amazement

.

I

saw

his

great

eyes

staring

steadily

at

me

.

I

had

dropped

the

lantern

when

I

seized

the

bars

,

but

it

still

burned

upon

the

floor

,

and

I

made

a

movement

to

grasp

it

,

with

some

idea

that

its

light

might

protect

me

.

But

the

instant

I

moved

,

the

beast

gave

a

deep

and

menacing

growl

.

I

stopped

and

stood

still

,

quivering

with

fear

in

every

limb

.

The

cat

(

if

one

may

call

so

fearful

a

creature

by

so

homely

a

name

)

was

not

more

than

ten

feet

from

me

.

The

eyes

glimmered

like

two

disks

of

phosphorus

in

the

darkness

.

They

appalled

and

yet

fascinated

me

.

I

could

not

take

my

own

eyes

from

them

.

Nature

plays

strange

tricks

with

us

at

such

moments

of

intensity

,

and

those

glimmering

lights

waxed

and

waned

with

a

steady

rise

and

fall

.

Sometimes

they

seemed

to

be

tiny

points

of

extreme

brilliancy

—

little

electric

sparks

in

the

black

obscurity

—

then

they

would

widen

and

widen

until

all

that

corner

of

the

room

was

filled

with

their

shifting

and

sinister

light

.

And

then

suddenly

they

went

out

altogether

.

The

beast

had

closed

its

eyes

.

I

do

not

know

whether

there

may

be

any

truth

in

the

old

idea

of

the

dominance

of

the

human

gaze

,

or

whether

the

huge

cat

was

simply

drowsy

,

but

the

fact

remains

that

,

far

from

showing

any

symptom

of

attacking

me

,

it

simply

rested

its

sleek

,

black

head

upon

its

huge

forepaws

and

seemed

to

sleep

.

I

stood

,

fearing

to

move

lest

I

should

rouse

it

into

malignant

life

once

more

.

But

at

least

I

was

able

to

think

clearly

now

that

the

baleful

eyes

were

off

me

.

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