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'

Oh

,

oh

,

great

Gawd

...

that

...

that

...

'

There

was

a

pandemonium

of

questioning

,

and

only

Henry

Wheeler

thought

to

rescue

the

fallen

telescope

and

wipe

it

clean

of

mud

.

Curtis

was

past

all

coherence

,

and

even

isolated

replies

were

almost

too

much

for

him

.

'

Bigger

'n

a

barn

...

all

made

o

'

squirmin

'

ropes

...

hull

thing

sort

o

'

shaped

like

a

hen

's

egg

bigger

'n

anything

with

dozens

o

'

legs

like

hogs-heads

that

haff

shut

up

when

they

step

...

nothin

'

solid

abaout

it

--

all

like

jelly

,

an

'

made

o

'

sep

'

rit

wrigglin

'

ropes

pushed

clost

together

...

great

bulgin

'

eyes

all

over

it

...

ten

or

twenty

maouths

or

trunks

a-stickin

'

aout

all

along

the

sides

,

big

as

stove-pipes

an

all

a-tossin

'

an

openin

'

an

'

shuttin

'

...

all

grey

,

with

kinder

blue

or

purple

rings

...

an

'

Gawd

it

Heaven

--

that

haff

face

on

top

...

'

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This

final

memory

,

whatever

it

was

,

proved

too

much

for

poor

Curtis

;

and

he

collapsed

completely

before

he

could

say

more

.

Fred

Farr

and

Will

Hutchins

carried

him

to

the

roadside

and

laid

him

on

the

damp

grass

.

Henry

Wheeler

,

trembling

,

turned

the

rescued

telescope

on

the

mountain

to

see

what

he

might

.

Through

the

lenses

were

discernible

three

tiny

figures

,

apparently

running

towards

the

summit

as

fast

as

the

steep

incline

allowed

.

Only

these

--

nothing

more

.

Then

everyone

noticed

a

strangely

unseasonable

noise

in

the

deep

valley

behind

,

and

even

in

the

underbrush

of

Sentinel

Hill

itself

.

It

was

the

piping

of

unnumbered

whippoorwills

,

and

in

their

shrill

chorus

there

seemed

to

lurk

a

note

of

tense

and

evil

expectancy

.

Earl

Sawyer

now

took

the

telescope

and

reported

the

three

figures

as

standing

on

the

topmost

ridge

,

virtually

level

with

the

altar-stone

but

at

a

considerable

distance

from

it

.

One

figure

,

he

said

,

seemed

to

be

raising

its

hands

above

its

head

at

rhythmic

intervals

;

and

as

Sawyer

mentioned

the

circumstance

the

crowd

seemed

to

hear

a

faint

,

half-musical

sound

from

the

distance

,

as

if

a

loud

chant

were

accompanying

the

gestures

.

The

weird

silhouette

on

that

remote

peak

must

have

been

a

spectacle

of

infinite

grotesqueness

and

impressiveness

,

but

no

observer

was

in

a

mood

for

aesthetic

appreciation

.

'

I

guess

he

's

sayin

'

the

spell

,

'

whispered

Wheeler

as

he

snatched

back

the

telescope

.

The

whippoorwills

were

piping

wildly

,

and

in

a

singularly

curious

irregular

rhythm

quite

unlike

that

of

the

visible

ritual

.

Suddenly

the

sunshine

seemed

to

lessen

without

the

intervention

of

any

discernible

cloud

.

It

was

a

very

peculiar

phenomenon

,

and

was

plainly

marked

by

all

.

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A

rumbling

sound

seemed

brewing

beneath

the

hills

,

mixed

strangely

with

a

concordant

rumbling

which

clearly

came

from

the

sky

.

Lightning

flashed

aloft

,

and

the

wondering

crowd

looked

in

vain

for

the

portents

of

storm

.

The

chanting

of

the

men

from

Arkham

now

became

unmistakable

,

and

Wheeler

saw

through

the

glass

that

they

were

all

raising

their

arms

in

the

rhythmic

incantation

.

From

some

farmhouse

far

away

came

the

frantic

barking

of

dogs

.

The

change

in

the

quality

of

the

daylight

increased

,

and

the

crowd

gazed

about

the

horizon

in

wonder

.

A

purplish

darkness

,

born

of

nothing

more

than

a

spectral

deepening

of

the

sky

's

blue

,

pressed

down

upon

the

rumbling

hills

.

Then

the

lightning

flashed

again

,

somewhat

brighter

than

before

,

and

the

crowd

fancied

that

it

had

showed

a

certain

mistiness

around

the

altar-stone

on

the

distant

height

.

No

one

,

however

,

had

been

using

the

telescope

at

that

instant

.

The

whippoorwills

continued

their

irregular

pulsation

,

and

the

men

of

Dunwich

braced

themselves

tensely

against

some

imponderable

menace

with

which

the

atmosphere

seemed

surcharged

.

Without

warning

came

those

deep

,

cracked

,

raucous

vocal

sounds

which

will

never

leave

the

memory

of

the

stricken

group

who

heard

them

.

Not

from

any

human

throat

were

they

born

,

for

the

organs

of

man

can

yield

no

such

acoustic

perversions

.

Rather

would

one

have

said

they

came

from

the

pit

itself

,

had

not

their

source

been

so

unmistakably

the

altar-stone

on

the

peak

.

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