Free The Boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgson Page B

something which repulsed my
whole being had come quietly behind me. At that I tried mightily to turn
and look into the shadows among the great fungi that stood all about me;
but I had no power to turn. And the thing was coming nearer, though never
a sound came to me, and I gave out a scream, or tried to; but my voice
made no stir in the rounding quiet; and then something wet and cold
touched my face, and slithered down and covered my mouth, and paused
there for a vile, breathless moment. It passed onward and fell to my
throat—and stayed there ...
    Some one stumbled and felt over my feet, and at that, I was suddenly
awake. It was the man on watch making a walk round the back of the tent,
and he had not known of my presence till he fell over my boots. He was
somewhat shaken and startled, as might be supposed; but steadied himself
on learning that it was no wild creature crouched there in the shadow;
and all the time, as I answered his inquiries, I was full of a strange,
horrid feeling that something had left me at the moment of my awakening.
There was a slight, hateful odor in my nostrils that was not altogether
unfamiliar, and then, suddenly, I was aware that my face was damp and
that there was a curious sense of tingling at my throat. I put up my hand
and felt my face, and the hand when I brought it away was slippery with
slime, and at that, I put up my other hand, and touched my throat, and
there it was the same, only, in addition, there was a slight swelled
place a little to one side of the wind-pipe, the sort of place that the
bite of a mosquito will make; but I had no thought to blame any mosquito.
    Now the stumbling of the man over me, my awakening, and the discovery
that my face and throat were be-slimed, were but the happenings of some
few, short instants; and then I was upon my feet, and following him round
to the fire; for I had a sense of chilliness and a great desire not to be
alone. Now, having come to the fire, I took some of the water that had
been left in the boiler, and washed my face and neck, after which I felt
more my own man. Then I asked the man to look at my throat, so that he
might give me some idea of what manner of place the swelling seemed, and
he, lighting a piece of the dry seaweed to act as a torch, made
examination of my neck; but could see little, save a number of small
ring-like marks, red inwardly, and white at the edges, and one of them
was bleeding slightly. After that, I asked him whether he had seen
anything moving round the tent; but he had seen nothing during all the
time that he had been on watch; though it was true that he had heard odd
noises; but nothing very near at hand. Of the places on my throat he
seemed to think but little, suggesting that I had been bitten by some
sort of sand-fly; but at that, I shook my head, and told him of my dream,
and after that, he was as anxious to keep near me as I to him. And so the
night passed onward, until my turn came to watch.
    For a little while, the man whom I had relieved sat beside me; having,
I conceived, the kindly intent of keeping me company; but so soon as I
perceived this, I entreated him to go and get his sleep, assuring him
that I had no longer any feelings of fear—such as had been mine upon
awakening and discovering the state of my face and throat—and, upon
this, he consented to leave me, and so, in a little, I sat alone
beside the fire.
    For a certain space, I kept very quiet, listening; but no sound came to
me out of the surrounding darkness, and so, as though it were a fresh
thing, it was borne in upon me how that we were in a very abominable
place of lonesomeness and desolation. And I grew very solemn.
    Thus as I sat, the fire, which had not been replenished for a while,
dwindled steadily until it gave but a dullish glow around. And then, in
the direction of the valley, I heard suddenly the sound of a dull thud,
the noise coming to me through the stillness with a very startling
clearness. At that, I perceived that I was not