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Rank

amateur

that

I

was

,

I

thought

at

that

moment

that

I

might

be

a

better

navigator

than

he

in

effecting

the

dangerous

crossing

between

pinnacles

;

and

when

I

made

motions

to

change

seats

and

take

over

his

duties

he

did

not

protest

.

I

tried

to

keep

all

my

skill

and

self-possession

about

me

,

and

stared

at

the

sector

of

reddish

farther

sky

betwixt

the

walls

of

the

pass

--

resolutely

refusing

to

pay

attention

to

the

puffs

of

mountain-top

vapor

,

and

wishing

that

I

had

wax-stopped

ears

like

Ulysses

'

men

off

the

Siren

's

coast

to

keep

that

disturbing

windpiping

from

my

consciousness

.

But

Danforth

,

released

from

his

piloting

and

keyed

up

to

a

dangerous

nervous

pitch

,

could

not

keep

quiet

.

I

felt

him

turning

and

wriggling

about

as

he

looked

back

at

the

terrible

receding

city

,

ahead

at

the

cave-riddled

,

cube-barnacled

peaks

,

sidewise

at

the

bleak

sea

of

snowy

,

rampart-strewn

foothills

,

and

upward

at

the

seething

,

grotesquely

clouded

sky

.

It

was

then

,

just

as

I

was

trying

to

steer

safely

through

the

pass

,

that

his

mad

shrieking

brought

us

so

close

to

disaster

by

shattering

my

tight

hold

on

myself

and

causing

me

to

fumble

helplessly

with

the

controls

for

a

moment

.

A

second

afterward

my

resolution

triumphed

and

we

made

the

crossing

safely

--

yet

I

am

afraid

that

Danforth

will

never

be

the

same

again

.

I

have

said

that

Danforth

refused

to

tell

me

what

final

horror

made

him

scream

out

so

insanely

--

a

horror

which

,

I

feel

sadly

sure

,

is

mainly

responsible

for

his

present

breakdown

.

We

had

snatches

of

shouted

conversation

above

the

wind

's

piping

and

the

engine

's

buzzing

as

we

reached

the

safe

side

of

the

range

and

swooped

slowly

down

toward

the

camp

,

but

that

had

mostly

to

do

with

the

pledges

of

secrecy

we

had

made

as

we

prepared

to

leave

the

nightmare

city

.

Отключить рекламу

Certain

things

,

we

had

agreed

,

were

not

for

people

to

know

and

discuss

lightly

--

and

I

would

not

speak

of

them

now

but

for

the

need

of

heading

off

that

Starkweather

--

Moore

Expedition

,

and

others

,

at

any

cost

.

It

is

absolutely

necessary

,

for

the

peace

and

safety

of

mankind

,

that

some

of

earth

's

dark

,

dead

corners

and

unplumbed

depths

be

let

alone

;

lest

sleeping

abnormalities

wake

to

resurgent

life

,

and

blasphemously

surviving

nightmares

squirm

and

splash

out

of

their

black

lairs

to

newer

and

wider

conquests

.

All

that

Danforth

has

ever

hinted

is

that

the

final

horror

was

a

mirage

.

It

was

not

,

he

declares

,

anything

connected

with

the

cubes

and

caves

of

those

echoing

,

vaporous

,

wormily-honeycombed

mountains

of

madness

which

we

crossed

;

but

a

single

fantastic

,

demoniac

glimpse

,

among

the

churning

zenith

clouds

,

of

what

lay

back

of

those

other

violet

westward

mountains

which

the

Old

Ones

had

shunned

and

feared

.

It

is

very

probable

that

the

thing

was

a

sheer

delusion

born

of

the

previous

stresses

we

had

passed

through

,

and

of

the

actual

though

unrecognized

mirage

of

the

dead

transmontane

city

experienced

near

Lake

's

camp

the

day

before

;

but

it

was

so

real

to

Danforth

that

he

suffers

from

it

still

.

He

has

on

rare

occasions

whispered

disjointed

and

irresponsible

things

about

"

The

black

pit

,

"

"

the

carven

rim

,

"

"

the

protoShoggoths

,

"

"

the

windowless

solids

with

five

dimensions

,

"

"

the

nameless

cylinder

,

"

"

the

elder

Pharos

,

"

"

Yog

--

Sothoth

,

"

"

the

primal

white

jelly

,

"

"

the

color

out

of

space

,

"

"

the

wings

,

"

"

the

eyes

in

darkness

,

"

"

the

moon-ladder

,

"

"

the

original

,

the

eternal

,

the

undying

,

"

and

other

bizarre

conceptions

;

but

when

he

is

fully

himself

he

repudiates

all

this

and

attributes

it

to

his

curious

and

macabre

reading

of

earlier

years

.

Danforth

,

indeed

,

is

known

to

be

among

the

few

who

have

ever

dared

go

completely

through

that

worm-riddled

copy

of

the

Necronomicon

kept

under

lock

and

key

in

the

college

library

.

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The

higher

sky

,

as

we

crossed

the

range

,

was

surely

vaporous

and

disturbed

enough

;

and

although

I

did

not

see

the

zenith

,

I

can

well

imagine

that

its

swirls

of

ice

dust

may

have

taken

strange

forms

.

Imagination

,

knowing

how

vividly

distant

scenes

can

sometimes

be

reflected

,

refracted

,

and

magnified

by

such

layers

of

restless

cloud

,

might

easily

have

supplied

the

rest

--

and

,

of

course

,

Danforth

did

not

hint

any

of

these

specific

horrors

till

after

his

memory

had

had

a

chance

to

draw

on

his

bygone

reading

.

He

could

never

have

seen

so

much

in

one

instantaneous

glance

.

At

the

time

,

his

shrieks

were

confined

to

the

repetition

of

a

single

,

mad

word

of

all

too

obvious

source

:

"

Tekeli-li

!

Tekeli-li

!

"

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