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The Island of Doctor Moreau Chapter 13 - The Parley · The H. G. Wells Library

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  Speaker 1: Section fourteen 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 thirteen a parley. I turned again and went
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  Speaker 1: on down towards the sea. I found the hot stream
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  Speaker 1: broadened out to a shallow, weedy sand, in which an
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  Speaker 1: abundance of crabs and long bodied, many legged creatures started
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  Speaker 1: from my footfall. I walked to the very edge of
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  Speaker 1: the salt water, and then I felt I was safe.
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  Speaker 1: I turned and stared arms akimbo at the thick green
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  Speaker 1: behind me, into which the steamy ravine cut like a
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  Speaker 1: smoking gash. But as I say, I was too full
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  Speaker 1: of excitement and a true saying, though those who have
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  Speaker 1: never known danger may doubt it, too desperate to die.
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  Speaker 1: Then it came into my head that there was one
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  Speaker 1: chance before me. Yet, while Moreau and Montgomery and their
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  Speaker 1: bestial rabble chased me through the island, might I not
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  Speaker 1: go round the beach until I came to their enclosure,
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  Speaker 1: make a flank, march upon them, in fact, and then,
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  Speaker 1: with a rock lugged out of their loosely built wall,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps smash it in the lock of a smaller door,
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  Speaker 1: and see what I could find, knife, pistol, or what
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  Speaker 1: not to fight them with when they returned. It was,
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  Speaker 1: at any rate something to try, So I turned to
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  Speaker 1: the westward and walked along by the water's edge. The
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  Speaker 1: setting sun flashed his blinding heat into my eyes. The
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  Speaker 1: slight pacific tide was running in with a gentle ripple. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: the shore fell away southward, and the sun came round
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  Speaker 1: upon my right hand. Then suddenly, far in front of me,
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  Speaker 1: I saw first one and then several figures emerging from
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  Speaker 1: the bushes, Moreau with his gray staghound, then Montgomery and
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  Speaker 1: two others. At that I stopped. They saw me and
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  Speaker 1: began gesticulating and advancing. I stood watching them approach. The
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  Speaker 1: two beast men came running forward to cut me off
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  Speaker 1: from the undergrowth inland. Montgomery came running also, but straight
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  Speaker 1: towards me. Moreau followed slower with the dog. At last,
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  Speaker 1: I roused myself from my inaction, and, turning seaward, walked
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  Speaker 1: straight into the water. The water was very shallow at first,
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  Speaker 1: I was thirty yards out before the waves reached to
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  Speaker 1: my waist. Dimly I could see the intertidal creatures darting
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  Speaker 1: away from my feet. What are you doing, man, cried Montgomery.
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  Speaker 1: I turned, standing waist deep and stared at them. Montgomery
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  Speaker 1: stood panting at the margin of the water. His face
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  Speaker 1: was bright red with exertion, his long flaxen hair blow
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  Speaker 1: about his head, and his dropping nether lip showed his
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  Speaker 1: irregular teeth. Moreau was just coming up, his face pale
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  Speaker 1: and firm, and the dog at his hand barked at me.
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  Speaker 1: Both men had heavy whips Farther up the beach, stared
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  Speaker 1: the beast men. What am I doing? I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: drown myself, said I. Montgomery and Moreau looked at each other. Why,
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  Speaker 1: asked Moreau. Because that is better than being tortured by you.
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  Speaker 1: I told you, though, said Montgomery, and Moreau said something
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  Speaker 1: in a low tone. What makes you think I shall
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  Speaker 1: torture you? Asked Moreau. What I saw, I said, and
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  Speaker 1: those yonder hush, said Moreau, and held up his hand.
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  Speaker 1: I will not, said I. They were men, What are
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  Speaker 1: they now? I at least will not be like them.
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  Speaker 1: I looked past my interlocutors. Up the beach were imling
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  Speaker 1: Montgomery's attendant and one of the white swathed brutes from
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  Speaker 1: the boat. Farther up in the shadow of the trees,
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  Speaker 1: I saw my little ape man, and behind him some
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  Speaker 1: other dim figures. Who are these creatures, said I, pointing
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  Speaker 1: to them and raising my voice more and more that
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  Speaker 1: it might reach them. They were men, men like yourselves,
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  Speaker 1: whom you have infected with some best you'll taint, Men
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  Speaker 1: whom you have enslaved in, whom you still fear. You
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  Speaker 1: who listen, I cried, pointing now to Moreau and shouting
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  Speaker 1: past him to the beastmen, You who listen, do you
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  Speaker 1: not see these men still fear you go and dread
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  Speaker 1: of you? Why then do you fear them? You are many?
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  Speaker 1: For God's sake, cried Montcalm Stop that prendick prindic, cried Moreau.
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  Speaker 1: They both shouted together as if to drown my voice,
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  Speaker 1: and behind them lowered the staring faces of the beast men,
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  Speaker 1: wondering the deformed hands hanging down, their shoulders hunched up.
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  Speaker 1: They seemed, as I fancied, to be trying to understand me,
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  Speaker 1: to remember I thought something of their human past, I
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  Speaker 1: went on shouting. I scarcely remember what that Moreau and
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  Speaker 1: Montgomery could be killed, that they were not to be feared.
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  Speaker 1: That was the burden of what I put into the
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  Speaker 1: heads of the beast people. I saw the green eyed
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  Speaker 1: man in the dark rags, who had met me on
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  Speaker 1: the evening of my arrival, come out from among the trees,
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  Speaker 1: and others followed him to hear me better. At last,
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  Speaker 1: for want of breath, I paused. Listen to me for
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  Speaker 1: a moment, said the steady voice of Moreau, and then
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  Speaker 1: say what you will, well, said I. He coughed, thought,
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  Speaker 1: then shouted Latin prindic bad Latin schoolboy, Latin. But try
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  Speaker 1: and understand hinn sunt homonez sont anamelia quinos abimis vivisected
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  Speaker 1: a humanizing process. I will explain. Come ashore, I laughed.
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  Speaker 1: A pretty story, said I. They talk build houses, they
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  Speaker 1: were men. It's likely I'll come ashore. The water just
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  Speaker 1: beyond you where you stand is deep and full of sharks.
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  Speaker 1: That's my way, said I, short and sharp. Presently, wait
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  Speaker 1: a minute. He took something out of his pocket that
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  Speaker 1: flashed back the sun and dropped the object at his feet.
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  Speaker 1: That's a loaded revolver, said he. Montgomery here will do
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  Speaker 1: the same. Now we are going up the beach until
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  Speaker 1: you are satisfied the distance is safe. Then come and
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  Speaker 1: take the revolvers, not I. You have a third one
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  Speaker 1: between you. I want you to think over things predic
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  Speaker 1: In the first place, I never asked you to come
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  Speaker 1: upon this island. If we vivisected men, we should import men,
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  Speaker 1: not beasts. In the next we had you drugged last night,
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  Speaker 1: had we wanted to work you any mischief? And in
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  Speaker 1: the next Now your first panic is over and you
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  Speaker 1: can think a little. Is Montgomery here quite up to
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  Speaker 1: the character you give him. We have chased you for
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  Speaker 1: your good because this island is full of inimical phenomena. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: why should we want to shoot you when you have
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  Speaker 1: just offered to drown yourself? Why did you set your
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  Speaker 1: people unto me? When I was in the hut, we
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  Speaker 1: felt sure of catching you and bringing you out of danger. Afterwards,
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  Speaker 1: we drew away from the sint for your own good.
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  Speaker 1: I' mused it seemed possible. Then I remembered something again.
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  Speaker 1: But I saw, said I in the enclosure, that was
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  Speaker 1: the puma. Look here, Prindick, said Montgomery, your thilly ath
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  Speaker 1: come out of the water and take thee throvolverth and talk.
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  Speaker 1: We can't do anything more than we could do now.
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  Speaker 1: I will confess that then, and indeed always a distrusted
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  Speaker 1: and dreaded Moreau. But Montgomery was a man. I felt,
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  Speaker 1: I understood. Go up the beach, said I, after thinking,
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  Speaker 1: and added holding up your hands. Can't do that, said Montgomery,
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  Speaker 1: with an explanatory nod over his shoulder, undignified. Go up
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  Speaker 1: the trees, then, said I, as you please. It's a
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  Speaker 1: damn thilly ceremony, said Montgomery. Both turned and faced the
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  Speaker 1: six or seven grotesque creatures who stood there in the sunlight,
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  Speaker 1: solid casting shadows, moving and yet so incredibly unreal. Montgomery
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  Speaker 1: cracked his whip at them and forthwith. They all turned
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  Speaker 1: and fled helter skelter into the trees. And when Montgomery
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  Speaker 1: and Moreau were at a distance, I judged sufficient. I
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  Speaker 1: waded ashore and picked up and examined the revolvers. To
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  Speaker 1: satisfy myself against the subtlest trickery, I discharged one at
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  Speaker 1: a round lump of lava, and had the satisfaction of
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  Speaker 1: seeing the stone pulverized and the beach splashed with lead.
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  Speaker 1: Still I hesitated for a moment. I'll take the risk,
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  Speaker 1: said I at last, and with a revolver in each hand,
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  Speaker 1: I walked up the each towards them. That's better, said Moreau,
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  Speaker 1: without affection. As it is, you have wasted the better
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  Speaker 1: part of my day with your confounded imagination, and with
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  Speaker 1: a touch of contempt which humiliated me. He and Montgomery
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  Speaker 1: turned and went on in silence. Before me, the knot
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  Speaker 1: of the beast men, still wandering, stood back among the trees.
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  Speaker 1: I passed them as serenely as possible. One started to
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  Speaker 1: follow me, but retreated again when Montgomery cracked his whip.
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  Speaker 1: The rest stood silent, watching. They may once have been animals,
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  Speaker 1: but I never before saw an animal trying to think.
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  Speaker 1: End of Section fourteen.