Latest / The H. G. Wells Library / The Island of Doctor Moreau Chapter 9 - The Thing in the Forest

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The Island of Doctor Moreau Chapter 9 - The Thing in the Forest · The H. G. Wells Library

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  Speaker 1: Section ten of the Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
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  Speaker 1: Tom Hare nine. The Thing in the Forest. I strode
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  Speaker 1: through the undergrowth that closed the ridge behind the house,
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  Speaker 1: scarcely heating. Whither I went passed on through the shadow
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  Speaker 1: of a thick cluster of straight stem trees beyond it,
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  Speaker 1: and so presently found myself some way on the other
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  Speaker 1: side of the ridge, and descending towards a streamlet that
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  Speaker 1: ran through a narrow valley. I paused and listened the
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  Speaker 1: distance I had come, or the intervening masses of thicket
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  Speaker 1: deadened any sound that might be coming from the enclosure.
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  Speaker 1: The air was still. Then, with a rustle, a rabbit
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  Speaker 1: emerged and went scampering up the slope before me. I
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  Speaker 1: hesitated and sat down in the edge of the shade.
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  Speaker 1: The place was a pleasant one. The rivulet was hidden
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  Speaker 1: by the luxuriant vegetation of the banks, save at one point,
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  Speaker 1: where I caught a triangular patch of its glittering water.
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  Speaker 1: On the farther side, I saw through a bluish haze
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  Speaker 1: a tangle of trees and creepers, and above these again
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  Speaker 1: the luminous blue of the sky. Here and there a
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  Speaker 1: splash of white or crimson marked the blooming of some
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  Speaker 1: trailing epiphyte. I let my eyes wander over this scene
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  Speaker 1: for a while, and then began to turn over in
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  Speaker 1: my mind again the strange peculiarities of Montgomery's man. But
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  Speaker 1: it was too hot to think elaborately, and presently I
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  Speaker 1: fell into a tranquil state midway between dozing and waking.
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  Speaker 1: From this, I was aroused, after I know not how long,
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  Speaker 1: by a rustling amidst the greenery on the other side
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  Speaker 1: of the stream. For a moment I could see nothing
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  Speaker 1: but the waving summits of the ferns and reeds. Then suddenly,
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  Speaker 1: upon the bank of the stream appeared something. At first
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  Speaker 1: I could not distinguish what it was. It bowed its
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  Speaker 1: round head to the water and began to drink. Then
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  Speaker 1: I saw it was a man, going on all fours
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  Speaker 1: like a beast. He was clothed in bluish cloth and
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  Speaker 1: was of a copper colored hue, with black hair. It
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  Speaker 1: seemed that grotesque ugliness was an invariable character of these islanders.
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  Speaker 1: I could hear the suck of the water at his lips,
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  Speaker 1: as he drank, I leant forward to see him better,
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  Speaker 1: and a piece of lava detached by my hand, went
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  Speaker 1: pattering down the slope. He looked up guiltily, and his
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  Speaker 1: eyes met mine. Forthwith he scrambled to his feet and stood,
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  Speaker 1: wiping his clumsy hand across his mouth and regarding me.
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  Speaker 1: His legs were scarcely half the length of his body.
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  Speaker 1: So staring one another out of countenance, we remained for
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  Speaker 1: perhaps the space of a minute, then stopping to look
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  Speaker 1: back once or twice. He slunk off among the bushes
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  Speaker 1: to the right of me, and I heard the swish
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  Speaker 1: of the frans grow faint in the distance and die away.
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  Speaker 1: Long after he had disappeared, I remained sitting up, staring
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  Speaker 1: in the direction of his retreat. My drowsy tranquility had gone.
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  Speaker 1: I was startled by a noise behind me, and turning,
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  Speaker 1: suddenly saw the flapping white tail of a rabbit vanishing
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  Speaker 1: up the slope. I jumped to my feet. The apparition
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  Speaker 1: of this grotesque, half bestial creature had suddenly populated the
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  Speaker 1: stillness of the afternoon for me. I looked round me
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  Speaker 1: rather nervously, and regretted that I was unarmed. Then I
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  Speaker 1: thought thought that the man I had just seen had
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  Speaker 1: been clothed in bluish cloth, had not been naked as
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  Speaker 1: a savage would have been. And I tried to persuade
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  Speaker 1: myself from that fact that he was, after all probably
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  Speaker 1: a peaceful character, that the dull ferocity of his countenance
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  Speaker 1: belied him. Yet I was greatly disturbed at the apparition.
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  Speaker 1: I walked to the left along the slope, turning my
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  Speaker 1: head about and peering this way and that among the
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  Speaker 1: straight stems of the trees. Why should a man go
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  Speaker 1: on all fours and drink with his lips? Presently I
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  Speaker 1: heard an animal wailing again, and, taking it to be
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  Speaker 1: the puma, I turned about and walked in a direction
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  Speaker 1: diametrically opposite to the sound. This led me down to
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  Speaker 1: the stream, across which I stepped and pushed my way
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  Speaker 1: up through the undergrowth. Beyond. I was startled by a
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  Speaker 1: great patch of vivid scarlet on the ground, and going
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  Speaker 1: up to it, found it to be a peculiar fungus,
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  Speaker 1: branched and corrugated like a volacious lichen, but deliquescing into
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  Speaker 1: slime at the touch. And then in the shadow of
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  Speaker 1: some luxuriant ferns. I came upon an unpleasant thing, the
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  Speaker 1: dead body of a rabbit, covered with shining flies, but
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  Speaker 1: still warm, and with a head torn off. I stopped,
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  Speaker 1: aghast at the sight of the scattered blood. Here at
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  Speaker 1: least was one visitor to the island disposed of. There
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  Speaker 1: were no traces of other violence about it. It looked
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  Speaker 1: as though it had been suddenly snatched up and killed.
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  Speaker 1: And as I stared at the little furry body came
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  Speaker 1: the difficulty of how the thing had been done. The
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  Speaker 1: vague dread that had been in my mind since I
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  Speaker 1: had seen the inhuman face of the man at the
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  Speaker 1: stream grew distinct. As I stood there, I began to
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  Speaker 1: realize the hut bardihood of my expedition. Among these unknown people,
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  Speaker 1: the thicket about me became altered. To my imagination. Every
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  Speaker 1: shadow became something more than a shadow, became an ambush,
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  Speaker 1: every rustle became a threat. Invisible things seemed watching me.
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  Speaker 1: I resolved to go back to the enclosure on the beach.
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  Speaker 1: I suddenly turned away and thrust myself violently, possibly even frantically,
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  Speaker 1: through the bushes, anxious to get a clear space about
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  Speaker 1: me again. I stopped just in time. To prevent myself
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: emerging upon an open space. It was a kind of
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  Speaker 1: glade in the forest made by a fall. Seedlings were
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  Speaker 1: already starting up to struggle for the vacant space, and
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  Speaker 1: beyond the dense growth of stems and twining vines and
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  Speaker 1: splashes of fungus and flowers closed in again before me.
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  Speaker 1: Squatting together upon the fungoid ruins of a huge fallen tree,
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  Speaker 1: and still unaware of my approach, were three grotesque human figures.
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  Speaker 1: One was evidently a female, the other two were men.
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  Speaker 1: They were naked save for swathings of scarlet cloth about
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  Speaker 1: the middle, and their skins were of a dull, pinkish
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  Speaker 1: drab color, such as I had seen in nose savages before.
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  Speaker 1: They had fat, heavy, chinless faces, retreating foreheads, and a scant,
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  Speaker 1: bristly hair upon their heads. I never saw such bestial
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  Speaker 1: looking creatures. They were talking, or at least one of
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  Speaker 1: the men was talking to the other two, and all
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  Speaker 1: three had been too closely interested to heed the rustling
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  Speaker 1: of my approach. They swayed their heads and shoulders from
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  Speaker 1: side to side. The speaker's words came thick and sloppy,
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  Speaker 1: and though I could hear them distinctly. I could not
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  Speaker 1: distinguish what he said. He seemed to me to be
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  Speaker 1: reciting some complicated gibberish. Presently, his articulation became shriller, and
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  Speaker 1: spreading his hands, he rose to his feet. At that
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  Speaker 1: the others began to gibber in unison, also rising to
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  Speaker 1: their feet, spreading their hands and swaying their bodies in
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  Speaker 1: rhythm with their chant. I noticed then the abnormal shortness
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  Speaker 1: of their legs and their lank, clumsy feet. All three
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  Speaker 1: began slowly to circle round, raising and stamping their feet
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  Speaker 1: and waving their arms. A kind of tune crept into
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  Speaker 1: their rhythmic recitation, and a refrain ah lu la or
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  Speaker 1: bah lu la. It sounded like their eyes began to sparkle,
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  Speaker 1: and their ugly faces to brighten with an expression of
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  Speaker 1: strange pleasure. Saliva tripped from their lipless mouths. Suddenly, as
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  Speaker 1: I watched their grotesque and unaccountable gestures, I perceived clearly
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  Speaker 1: for the first time what it was that had offended me,
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  Speaker 1: what had given me the two inconsistent and conflicting impressions
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  Speaker 1: of utter strangeness and yet of the strangest familiarity. The
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  Speaker 1: three creatures engaged in this mysterious right were human in shape,
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  Speaker 1: and yet human beings with the strangest air about them
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  Speaker 1: of some familiar animal. Each of these creatures, despite its
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  Speaker 1: human form, its rag of clothing, and the rough humanity
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  Speaker 1: of its bodily form, had woven into it, into its movements,
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  Speaker 1: into the expression of its countenance, into its whole presence,
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  Speaker 1: some now irresistible suggestion of a hog, a swinish taint,
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  Speaker 1: the unmistakable mark of the beast. I stood overcome by
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  Speaker 1: this amazing realization, and then the most horrible questionings came
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  Speaker 1: rushing into my mind. They began leaping in the air,
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  Speaker 1: first one and then the other, whooping and grunting. Then
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  Speaker 1: one slipped, and for a moment was on all fours
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  Speaker 1: to recover, indeed forthwith. But the transitory gleam of the
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  Speaker 1: true animalism of these monsters was enough. I turned as
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  Speaker 1: noiselessly as possible, and becoming every now and then rigid
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  Speaker 1: with the fear of being discovered as a branch cracked
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  Speaker 1: or a leaf rustled, I pushed back into the bushes.
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  Speaker 1: It was long before I grew bolder and dared to
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  Speaker 1: move freely. My only idea for the moment was to
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  Speaker 1: get away from these foul beings, and I scarcely noticed
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  Speaker 1: that I had emerged upon a faint pathway amidst the trees. Then,
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  Speaker 1: suddenly traversing a little glade, I saw with an un
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  Speaker 1: pleasant start, two clumsy legs among the trees, walking with
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  Speaker 1: noiseless footsteps, parallel with my course, and perhaps thirty yards
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  Speaker 1: away from me. The head and upper part of the
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  Speaker 1: body were hidden by a tangle of creeper I stopped abruptly,
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  Speaker 1: hoping the creature did not see me. The feet stopped
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  Speaker 1: as I did. So. Nervous was I that I controlled
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  Speaker 1: an impulse to headlong flight with the utmost difficulty. Then,
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  Speaker 1: looking hard, I distinguished through the interlacing network the head
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  Speaker 1: and body of the brute I had seen drinking. He
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  Speaker 1: moved his head. There was an emerald flash in his
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  Speaker 1: eyes as he glanced at me from the shadow of
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  Speaker 1: the trees, a half luminous color that vanished as he
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  Speaker 1: turned his head again. He was motionless for a moment,
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  Speaker 1: and then with a noiseless tread, began running through the
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  Speaker 1: green confusion. In another moment, he had vanished behind some bushes.
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  Speaker 1: I could not see him, but I felt that he
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  Speaker 1: had stopped and was watching me again. What on earth
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  Speaker 1: was he? Man or beast? What did he want with me?
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  Speaker 1: I had no weapon, not even a stick. Flight would
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  Speaker 1: be madness at any rate. The thing, whatever it was,
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  Speaker 1: lacked the courage to attack me. Setting my teeth hard,
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  Speaker 1: I walked straight towards him. I was anxious not to
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  Speaker 1: show the fear that seemed chilling my backbone. I pushed
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  Speaker 1: through a tangle of tall, white flowered bushes and saw
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  Speaker 1: him twenty paces beyond, looking over his shoulder at me,
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  Speaker 1: and hesitating, I advanced a step or two, looking steadfastly
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  Speaker 1: into his eyes. Who are you, said I He tried
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  Speaker 1: to meet my gaze. No, he said suddenly, and turning,
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  Speaker 1: went bounding away from me through the undergrowth. Then he
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  Speaker 1: turned and stared at me again, his eyes shone brightly
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  Speaker 1: out of the dusk under the trees. My heart was
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  Speaker 1: in my mouth, but I felt my only chance was bluff,
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  Speaker 1: and walked steadily towards him. He turned again and vanished
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  Speaker 1: into the dusk. Once more, I thought, I caught the
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  Speaker 1: glint of his eyes, and that was all. For the
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  Speaker 1: first time, I realized how the lateness of the hour
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  Speaker 1: might affect me. The sun had set some minutes since
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  Speaker 1: the swift dusk of the tropics was already fading out
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  Speaker 1: of the eastern sky, and a pioneer mouth fluttered silently
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  Speaker 1: by my head. Unless I would spend the night among
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  Speaker 1: the unknown dangers of the mysterious forest, I must hasten
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  Speaker 1: back to the enclosure. The thought of a returned to
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  Speaker 1: that pain haunted refuge was extremely disagreeable, But still more
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  Speaker 1: so was the idea of being overtaken in the open
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  Speaker 1: by darkness and all that darkness might conceal. I gave
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  Speaker 1: one more look into the blue shadows that had swallowed
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  Speaker 1: up this odd creature, and then retraced my way down
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  Speaker 1: the slope towards the stream, going as I judged, in
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  Speaker 1: the direction from which I had come. I walked eagerly,
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  Speaker 1: my mind confused with many things, and presently found myself
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  Speaker 1: in a level place among scattered trees. The colorless clearness
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  Speaker 1: that comes after the sunset flush was darkling. The blue
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  Speaker 1: sky above grew momentarily deeper, and the little stars, one
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  Speaker 1: by one pierced the attenuated light, the interspaces of the trees,
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  Speaker 1: the gaps in the further vegetation that had been hazy
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  Speaker 1: blue in the daylight, grew black and mysterious. I pushed
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  Speaker 1: on the color vanished from the world. The tree tops
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  Speaker 1: rose against the luminous blue sky, an inky silhouette, and
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  Speaker 1: all below that outline melted into one formless blackness. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: the trees grew thinner and the shrubby undergrowth more abundant.
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  Speaker 1: Then there was a desolate space covered with a white sand,
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  Speaker 1: and then another expanse of tangled bushes. I did not
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  Speaker 1: remember crossing the sand opening before I began to be
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: tormented by a faint rustling upon my right hand. I
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  Speaker 1: thought at first it was fancy, for whenever I stopped
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  Speaker 1: there was silence save for the evening breeze in the
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  Speaker 1: tree tops. Then when I turned to hurry on again,
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  Speaker 1: there was an echo to my footsteps. I turned away
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  Speaker 1: from the thickets, keeping to the more open ground and
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  Speaker 1: endeavoring by sudden turns now, and then, to surprise, something
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  Speaker 1: in the act of creeping upon me. I saw nothing,
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  Speaker 1: and nevertheless, my sense of another presence grew steadily. I
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  Speaker 1: increased my pace, and after some time to a slight ridge,
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  Speaker 1: crossed it and turned sharply, regarding it steadfastly from the
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  Speaker 1: further side. It came out black in clear cut against
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  Speaker 1: the darkening sky, and presently a shapeless lump heaved up
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  Speaker 1: momentarily against the sky line and vanished again. I felt
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  Speaker 1: assured now that my tawny faced antagonist was stalking me
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  Speaker 1: once more, and coupled with that was another unpleasant realization
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  Speaker 1: that I had lost my way for a time. I
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  Speaker 1: heard on hopelessly, perplexed and pursued by that stealthy approach.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever it was, the thing either lacked the courage to
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  Speaker 1: attack me, or it was waiting to take me at
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  Speaker 1: some disadvantage. I kept studiously to the open. At times
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  Speaker 1: I would turn and listen, and presently I had half
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  Speaker 1: persuaded myself that my pursuer had abandoned the chase, or
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  Speaker 1: was a mere creation of my disordered imagination. Then I
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  Speaker 1: heard the sound of the sea. I quickened my footsteps
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  Speaker 1: almost into a run, and immediately there was a stumble
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  Speaker 1: in my rear. I turned suddenly and stared at the
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: uncertain trees behind me. One black shadow seemed to leap
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  Speaker 1: into another. I listened rigid and heard nothing but the
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  Speaker 1: creep of the blood in my ears. I thought that
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  Speaker 1: my nerves were unstrung, and that my imagination was tricking me,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: and turned resolutely towards the sounds of the sea again.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: In a minute or so, the trees grew thinner, and
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  Speaker 1: I emerged upon a bare, low headland running out into
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  Speaker 1: the somber water. The night was calm and clear, and
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  Speaker 1: the reflection of the growing multitude of the stars shivered
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  Speaker 1: in the tranquil heaving of the sea. Some Way out
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  Speaker 1: the wash, upon an irregular band of reef shone with
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  Speaker 1: the pallid light of its own. Westward, I saw the
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  Speaker 1: zodiacal light mingling with the yellow brilliance of the evening star.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: The coast fell away from me to the east and westward.
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  Speaker 1: It was hidden by the shoulder of the cape. Then
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I recalled the fact that Moreau's beach lay to the west.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: A twig snapped behind me, and there was a rustle.
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  Speaker 1: I turned and stood facing the dark trees. I could
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: see nothing, or else I could see too much. Every
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: dark form in the dimness had its ominous quality, its
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: peculiar suggestion of alert watchfulness. So I stood for perhaps
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  Speaker 1: a minute, and then, with an eye to the trees,
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  Speaker 1: still turned westward to cross the headland, and as I moved,
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  Speaker 1: one among the lurking shadows moved to follow me. My
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  Speaker 1: heart beat quickly. Presently the broad sweep of a bay
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  Speaker 1: to the westward became visible, and I halted again. The
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  Speaker 1: noiseless shadow halted a dozen yards from me. A little
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: point of light shone on the further bind of the curve,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: and the gray sweep of the sandy beach lay faint
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: under the starlight. Perhaps two miles away was that little
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: point of light. To get to the beach, I should
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: have to go through the trees where the shadows lurked,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: and down a bushy slope. I could see the thing
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  Speaker 1: rather more distinctly. Now it was no animal, for it
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: stood erect at that. I opened my mouth to speak
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: and found a hoarse phlegm choked my voice. I tried
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: again and shouted, who is there? There was no answer.
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  Speaker 1: I advanced a step. The thing did not move, only
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: gathered itself together. My foot struck a stone that gave
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: me an idea. Without taking my eyes off the black
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: form before me, I stooped and picked up this lump
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: of rock. But at my motion the thing turned abruptly,
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  Speaker 1: as a dog might have done, and slunk obliquely into
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: the further darkness. Then I recalled a schoolboy expedient against
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: big dogs, and twisted the rock into my handkerchief and
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: gave this a turn round my wrist. I heard a
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: movement further off among the shadows, as if the thing
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: was in retreat. Then suddenly my tense excitement gave way.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I broke into a profuse perspiration and fell a trembling
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: with my adversary routed and this weapon in my hand.
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  Speaker 1: And it was some time before I could summon resolution
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  Speaker 1: to go down through the trees and bushes upon the
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  Speaker 1: flank of the headland to the beach. At last I
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  Speaker 1: did it at a run, And as I emerged from
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the thicket upon the sand, I heard some other body
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  Speaker 1: come crashing after me. At that I completely lost my
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: head with fear, and began running along the sand. Forthwith
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: there came the swift patter of soft feet in pursuit.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I gave a wild cry and redoubled my pace. Some
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: dim black things about three or four times the size
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: of rabbits, went running or harping up from the beach
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: towards the bushes. As I passed. So long as I live,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I shall remember the terror of that chase. I ran
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: near the water's edge and heard every now and then
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the splash of the feet that gained upon me. Far away,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: hopelessly far was the yellow light. All the night about
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: us was black, and still splash, splash came the pursuing feet,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: nearer and nearer. I felt my breath going, for I
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: was quite out of training. It whooped as I drew it,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and I felt a pain like a knife at my side.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: I perceived the thing would come up with me long
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: before I reached the enclosure, and desperate and sobbing for
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: my breath, I wheeled round upon it and struck at
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: it as it came up to me. Struck with all
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: my strength, the stone came out of the sling of
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: the handkerchief as I did so. As I turned, the thing,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: which had been running on all fours, rose to its feet,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: and the missile fell fair on its left temple. The
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: skull rang loud, and the animal man blundered into me,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: thrust me back with its hands, and went staggering past
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: me to fall headlong upon the sand, with its face
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: in the water. And there it lay still. I could
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: not bring myself to approach that black heap. I left
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: it there, with the water rippling round it, under the
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: still stars, and giving it a wide berth. Pursued my
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: way towards the yellow glow of the house, and presently,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: with a positive effect of relief, came the pitiful moaning
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: of the puma, the sound that had originally driven me
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: out to explore this mysterious island, and that that though
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: I was faint and horribly fatigued, I gathered together all
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: my strength and began running again towards the light. I
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: thought I heard a voice calling me. End of Section ten.