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09 - The Island of Dr Moreau - H G Wells · Science Fiction Books

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Speaker 1: Nine the thing in the forest. I strode through the
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Speaker 1: undergrowth that closed the ridge behind the house, scarcely heating.
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Speaker 1: Whither I went passed on through the shadow of a
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Speaker 1: thick cluster of straight stem trees beyond it, and so
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Speaker 1: presently found myself some way on the other side of
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Speaker 1: the ridge, and descending towards a streamlet that ran through
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Speaker 1: a narrow valley. I paused and listened the distance I
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Speaker 1: had come, or the intervening masses of thicket deadened any
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Speaker 1: sound that might be coming from the enclosure. The air
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Speaker 1: was still. Then, with a rustle, a rabbit emerged and
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Speaker 1: went scampering up the slope before me. I hesitated and
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Speaker 1: sat down in the edge of the shade. The place
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Speaker 1: was a pleasant one. The rivulet was hidden by the
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Speaker 1: luxuriant vegetation of the banks, save at one point, where
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Speaker 1: I caught a triangular patch of its glittering water. On
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Speaker 1: the farther side, I saw, through a bluish haze a
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Speaker 1: tangle of trees and creepers, and above these again the
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Speaker 1: luminous blue of the sky. Here and there a splash
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Speaker 1: of white or crimson marked the blooming of some trailing epiphyte.
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Speaker 1: I let my eyes wander over this scene for a while,
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Speaker 1: and then began to turn over in my mind again
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Speaker 1: the strange peculiarities of Montgomery's man. But it was too
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Speaker 1: hot to think elaborately, and presently I fell into a
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Speaker 1: tranquil state midway between dozing and waking. From this, I
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Speaker 1: was aroused, after I know not how long, by a
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Speaker 1: rustling amidst the greenery on the other side of the stream.
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Speaker 1: For a moment I could see nothing but the waving
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Speaker 1: summit of the ferns and reeds. Then suddenly, upon the
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Speaker 1: bank of the stream appeared something. At first I could
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Speaker 1: not distinguish what it was. It bowed its round head
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Speaker 1: to the water and began to drink. Then I saw
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Speaker 1: it was a man, going on all fours like a beast.
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Speaker 1: He was clothed in bluish cloth and was of a
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Speaker 1: copper colored hue, with black hair. It seemed that grotesque
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Speaker 1: ugliness was an invariable character of these islanders. I could
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Speaker 1: hear the suck of the water at his lips as
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Speaker 1: he drank. I leant forward to see him better, and
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Speaker 1: a piece of lava detached by my hand went pattering
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Speaker 1: down the slope. He looked up guiltily, and his eyes
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Speaker 1: 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 franz 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 that the man I had just seen had been
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Speaker 1: clothed in bluish cloth, had not been naked, as a
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Speaker 1: savage would have been. And I tried to persuade myself
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Speaker 1: from that fact that he was, after all properly a
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Speaker 1: peaceful character, that the dull ferocity of his countenance belied him.
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Speaker 1: Yet I was greatly disturbed at the apparition. I walked
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Speaker 1: to the left along the slope, turning my head about
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Speaker 1: and peering this way and that among the straight stems
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Speaker 1: of the trees. Why should a man go on all
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Speaker 1: fours and drink with his lips? Presently I heard an
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Speaker 1: animal wailing again, and, taking it to be the puma,
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Speaker 1: I turned about and walked in a direction diametrically opposite
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Speaker 1: to the sound. This led me down to the stream,
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Speaker 1: across which I stepped and pushed my way up through
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Speaker 1: the undergrowth. Beyond. I was startled by a great patch
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Speaker 1: of vivid scarlet on the ground, and going up to it,
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Speaker 1: found it to be a peculiar fungus, branched and corrugated
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Speaker 1: like a fallacious lichen, but deliquescing into slime at the touch.
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Speaker 1: And then, and in the shadow of some luxuriant ferns,
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Speaker 1: I came upon an unpleasant thing, the dead body of
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Speaker 1: a rabbit, covered with shining flies, but still warm, and
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Speaker 1: with a head torn off. I stopped, aghast at the
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Speaker 1: sight of the scattered blood. Here, at least was one
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Speaker 1: visitor to the island disposed of. There were no traces
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Speaker 1: of other violence about it. It looked as though it
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Speaker 1: had been suddenly snatched up and killed. And as I
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Speaker 1: stared at the little furry body came the difficulty of
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Speaker 1: how the thing had been done. The vague dread that
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Speaker 1: had been in my mind since I had seen the
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Speaker 1: inhuman face of the man at the stream grew distinct.
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Speaker 1: As I stood there, I began to realize the hardihood
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Speaker 1: of my expedition among these unknown people. The thicket about
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Speaker 1: me became altered. To my imagination, every shadow became something
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Speaker 1: more than shadow, became an ambush, Every rustle became a threat.
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Speaker 1: Invisible things seemed watching me. I resolved to go back
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Speaker 1: to the enclosure on the beach. I suddenly turned away
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Speaker 1: and thrust myself violently, possibly even frantically, through the bushes,
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Speaker 1: anxious to get a clear space about me again. I
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Speaker 1: stopped just in time to prevent myself emerging upon an
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Speaker 1: open space. It was a kind of glade in the
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Speaker 1: forest made by a fall. Seedlings were already starting up
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Speaker 1: to struggle for the vacant space, and beyond the dense
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Speaker 1: growth of stems and twining vines and splashes of fungus
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Speaker 1: and flowers closed in again before me, squatting together upon
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Speaker 1: the fungoid ruins of a huge fallen tree, and still
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Speaker 1: unaware of my approach, with three grotesque human figures. One
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Speaker 1: was evidently a female, the other two were men. They
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Speaker 1: were naked save for swathings of scarlet cloth about the middle,
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Speaker 1: and their skins were of a dull, pinkish drab color,
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Speaker 1: such as I had seen in nose savages before. They
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Speaker 1: 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 her little glade, I saw with an unpleasant start,
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Speaker 1: two clumsy legs among the trees, walking with noiseless footsteps,
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Speaker 1: parallel with my course, and perhaps thirty yards away from me.
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Speaker 1: The head and upper part of the body were hidden
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Speaker 1: by a tangle of creeper. I stopped abruptly, hoping the
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Speaker 1: creature did not see me. The feet stopped as I did.
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Speaker 1: So nervous was I that I controlled an impulse to
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Speaker 1: headlong flight with the utmost difficulty. Then, looking hard, I
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Speaker 1: distinguished through the interlacing net work the head and body
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Speaker 1: of the brute I had seen drinking. He moved his head.
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Speaker 1: There was an emerald flash in his eyes as he
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Speaker 1: glanced at me from the shadow of the trees, a
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Speaker 1: half luminous color that vanished as he turned his head again.
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Speaker 1: He was motionless for a moment, and then with a
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Speaker 1: noiseless tread, began running through the green confusion. In another moment,
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Speaker 1: he had vanished behind some bushes. I could not see him,
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Speaker 1: but I felt that he had stopped and was watching
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Speaker 1: me again. What on earth was he? Man or beast?
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Speaker 1: What did he want with me? I had no weapon,
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Speaker 1: not even a stick flight would be madness. At any rate,
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Speaker 1: the thing, whatever it was, lacked the courage to attack me.
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Speaker 1: Setting my teeth hard, I walked straight towards him. I
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Speaker 1: was anxious not to show the fear that seemed chilling
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Speaker 1: my backbone. I pushed through a tangle of tall, white
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Speaker 1: flowered bushes and saw him twenty paces beyond, looking over
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Speaker 1: his shoulder at me, and hesitating, I advanced a step
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Speaker 1: or two, looking steadfastly into his eyes. Who are you,
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Speaker 1: said I He tried to meet my gaze. No, he
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Speaker 1: said suddenly, and turning, went bounding away from me through
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Speaker 1: the undergrowth. Then he turned and stared at me again,
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Speaker 1: his eyes shone brightly out of the dusk under the trees.
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Speaker 1: My heart was in my mouth, but I felt my
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Speaker 1: only chance was bluff and walked steadily towards him. He
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Speaker 1: turned again and vanished into the dusk. Once more, I thought,
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Speaker 1: I caught the glint of his eyes, and that was all.
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Speaker 1: For the first time, I realized how the lateness of
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Speaker 1: the hour might affect me. The sun had set some
13:31
Speaker 1: minutes since the swift dusk of the tropics was already
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Speaker 1: fading out of the eastern sky, and a pioneer mouth
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Speaker 1: fluttered silently by my head. Unless I would spend the
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Speaker 1: night among the unknown dangers of the mysterious forest, I
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Speaker 1: must hasten back to the enclosure. The thought of a
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Speaker 1: returned to that pain haunted refuge was extremely disagreeable, But
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Speaker 1: still more so was the idea of being overtaken in
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Speaker 1: the open by darkness and all that darkness might conceal.
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Speaker 1: I gave one more look into the blue shadows that
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Speaker 1: had swallowed up this odd creature, and then retraced my
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Speaker 1: way down the slope towards the stream, going as I
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Speaker 1: judged in the direction from which I had come. I
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Speaker 1: walked eagerly, my mind confused with many things, and presently
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Speaker 1: found myself in a level place among scattered trees. The
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Speaker 1: colorless clearness that comes after the sunset flush was darkling.
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Speaker 1: The blue sky above grew momentarily deeper, and the little stars,
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Speaker 1: one by one pierced the attenuated light the interspaces of
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Speaker 1: the trees, The gaps in the further vegetation that had
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Speaker 1: been hazy blue in the daylight grew black and mysterious.
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Speaker 1: I pushed on the color vanished from the world. The
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Speaker 1: tree tops rose against the luminous blue sky and gui silhouette,
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Speaker 1: and 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
15:23
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
16:46
Speaker 1: some disadvantage. I kept studiously to the open. At times
16:52
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
16:59
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
17:09
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
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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,
17:35
Speaker 1: and turned resolutely towards the sounds of the sea again
17:40
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.
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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
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Speaker 1: I recalled the fact that Moreau's beach lay to the west.
18:24
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
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Speaker 1: see nothing, or else I could see too much. Every
18:37
Speaker 1: dark form in the dimness had its ominous quality, its
18:41
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 tree,
18:49
Speaker 1: still turned westward to cross the headland, And as I moved,
18:55
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
19:14
Speaker 1: point of light shone on the further bend of the curve,
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Speaker 1: and the gray sweep of the sandy beach lay faint
19:20
Speaker 1: under the starlight. Perhaps two miles away was that little
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Speaker 1: point of light. To get to the beach, I should
19:28
Speaker 1: have to go through the trees where the shadows lurked,
19:31
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
19:40
Speaker 1: stood erect. At that. I opened my mouth to speak
19:44
Speaker 1: and found a hoarse phlam choked my voice. I tried
19:48
Speaker 1: again and shouted, who is there? There was no answer.
19:55
Speaker 1: I advanced a step. The thing did not move, only
19:59
Speaker 1: gathered its together. My foot struck a stone that gave
20:04
Speaker 1: me an idea. Without taking my eyes off the black
20:08
Speaker 1: form before me, I stooped and picked up this lump
20:11
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
20:18
Speaker 1: the further darkness. Then I recalled a schoolboy expedient against
20:24
Speaker 1: big dogs, and twisted the rock into my handkerchief and
20:28
Speaker 1: gave this a turn round my wrist. I heard a
20:32
Speaker 1: movement further off among the shadows, as if the thing
20:36
Speaker 1: was in retreat. Then suddenly my tense excitement gave way.
20:41
Speaker 1: I broke into a profuse perspiration and fell a trembling,
20:45
Speaker 1: with my adversary routed and this weapon in my hand.
20:51
Speaker 1: It was some time before I could summon resolution to
20:54
Speaker 1: go down through the trees and bushes upon the flank
20:57
Speaker 1: of the headland to the beach. I did it at
21:00
Speaker 1: a run, and as I emerged from the thicket upon
21:03
Speaker 1: the sand, I heard some other body come crashing after me.
21:09
Speaker 1: At that I completely lost my head with fear, and
21:12
Speaker 1: again running along the sand forthwith there came the swift
21:16
Speaker 1: patter of soft feet in pursuit. I gave a wild
21:20
Speaker 1: cry and redoubled my pace. Some dim black things, about
21:27
Speaker 1: three or four times the size of rabbits, went running
21:30
Speaker 1: or harping up from the beach towards the bushes as
21:34
Speaker 1: I passed. So long as I live, I shall remember
21:38
Speaker 1: the terror of that chase. I ran near the water's edge,
21:43
Speaker 1: and heard every now and then the splash of the
21:45
Speaker 1: feet that gained upon me far away hopelessly far was
21:50
Speaker 1: the yellow light. All the night about us was black
21:54
Speaker 1: and still. Splash, splash came the pursuing feet, nearer and nearer.
22:02
Speaker 1: I felt my breath going, for I was quite out
22:05
Speaker 1: of training. It whooped as I drew it, and I
22:09
Speaker 1: felt a pain like a knife at my side. I
22:13
Speaker 1: perceived the thing would come up with me long before
22:16
Speaker 1: I reached the enclosure, and desperate and sobbing for my breath,
22:21
Speaker 1: I wheeled round upon it and struck at it as
22:24
Speaker 1: it came up to me. Struck with all my strength,
22:30
Speaker 1: The stone came out of the sling of the handkerchief
22:33
Speaker 1: as I did so. As I turned, the thing, which
22:37
Speaker 1: had been running on all fours, rose to its feet,
22:41
Speaker 1: and the missile fell fair on its left temple. The
22:45
Speaker 1: skull rang loud, and the animal man blundered into me,
22:49
Speaker 1: thrust me back with its hands, and went staggering past
22:52
Speaker 1: me to fall headlong upon the sand, with its face
22:55
Speaker 1: in the water. And there it lay still. I could
23:01
Speaker 1: not bring myself to approach that black heap. I left
23:05
Speaker 1: it there, with the water rippling round it, under the
23:09
Speaker 1: still stars, and giving it a wide berth, pursued my
23:13
Speaker 1: way towards the yellow glow of the house, and presently,
23:17
Speaker 1: with a positive effect of relief, came the pitiful moaning
23:21
Speaker 1: of the puma, the sound that had originally driven me
23:25
Speaker 1: out to explore this mysterious island, and that that though
23:31
Speaker 1: I was faint and horribly fatigued, I gathered together all
23:34
Speaker 1: my strength and began running again towards the light. I
23:39
Speaker 1: thought I heard a voice calling me