Tales of Terror and Mystery eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 272 pages of information about Tales of Terror and Mystery.

Tales of Terror and Mystery eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 272 pages of information about Tales of Terror and Mystery.

But I very soon realized how impossible it was.  In that black, velvety darkness one lost all one’s bearings in an instant.  Before I had made a dozen paces, I was utterly bewildered as to my whereabouts.  The rippling of the stream, which was the one sound audible, showed me where it lay, but the moment that I left its bank I was utterly lost.  The idea of finding my way back in absolute darkness through that limestone labyrinth was clearly an impossible one.

I sat down upon a boulder and reflected upon my unfortunate plight.  I had not told anyone that I proposed to come to the Blue John mine, and it was unlikely that a search party would come after me.  Therefore I must trust to my own resources to get clear of the danger.  There was only one hope, and that was that the matches might dry.  When I fell into the river, only half of me had got thoroughly wet.  My left shoulder had remained above the water.  I took the box of matches, therefore, and put it into my left armpit.  The moist air of the cavern might possibly be counteracted by the heat of my body, but even so, I knew that I could not hope to get a light for many hours.  Meanwhile there was nothing for it but to wait.

By good luck I had slipped several biscuits into my pocket before I left the farm-house.  These I now devoured, and washed them down with a draught from that wretched stream which had been the cause of all my misfortunes.  Then I felt about for a comfortable seat among the rocks, and, having discovered a place where I could get a support for my back, I stretched out my legs and settled myself down to wait.  I was wretchedly damp and cold, but I tried to cheer myself with the reflection that modern science prescribed open windows and walks in all weather for my disease.  Gradually, lulled by the monotonous gurgle of the stream, and by the absolute darkness, I sank into an uneasy slumber.

How long this lasted I cannot say.  It may have been for an hour, it may have been for several.  Suddenly I sat up on my rock couch, with every nerve thrilling and every sense acutely on the alert.  Beyond all doubt I had heard a sound—­some sound very distinct from the gurgling of the waters.  It had passed, but the reverberation of it still lingered in my ear.  Was it a search party?  They would most certainly have shouted, and vague as this sound was which had wakened me, it was very distinct from the human voice.  I sat palpitating and hardly daring to breathe.  There it was again!  And again!  Now it had become continuous.  It was a tread—­yes, surely it was the tread of some living creature.  But what a tread it was!  It gave one the impression of enormous weight carried upon sponge-like feet, which gave forth a muffled but ear-filling sound.  The darkness was as complete as ever, but the tread was regular and decisive.  And it was coming beyond all question in my direction.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
Tales of Terror and Mystery from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.