 CHAPTER I From the manuscript discovered in 1877 by Messiers Tonneson and Berignog in the ruins that lie to the south of the village of Creighton in the west of Ireland, set out here with notes. To my father, whose feet tread the lost aeons. Open the door and listen, only the winds muffled war and the glisten of tears round the moon, and then fancy the tread of vanishing shun out in the night with the dead. Hush and hark to the sorrowful cry of the wind in the dark, hush and hark, without murmur or sigh to shun the tread the lost aeons, to the sound that bids you to die, hush and hark, hush and hark, shun of the dead. Authors introduction to the manuscript. Many are the hours in which I have pondered upon the story that is set forth in the following pages. I trust that my instincts are not awry when they prompt me to leave the account in simplicity as it was handed to me. And the manuscript itself you must picture me when first it was given into my care, turning it over curiously, and making a swift, jerky examination. A small book it is, but thick and all, save the very last pages, filled with the quaint but legible handwriting, and writ very close. I have the queer, faint, pitwater smell of it in my nostrils now as I write, and my fingers have subconscious memories of the soft, cloggy feel of the long, damp pages. I read, and in reading lift the curtains of the impossible that blind the mind and looked out into the unknown. Amidst stiff abrupt sentences I wandered, and presently I had no fault to charge against their abrupt tellings, for, better far than my own ambitious phrasings, is the mutilated story capable of bringing home all that the old recluse of the vanished house had striven to tell. Of the simple, stiffly given account of weird and extraordinary matters, I will say little. It lies before you. The inner story must be uncovered personally by each reader according to ability and desire. And even should any fail to see, as now I see, the shadowed picture and conception of that to which one may well give the accepted titles of heaven and hell, yet can I promise certain thrills merely taking the story as a story. William Hope Hodgson, December 17, 1907. Chapter 1 The Finding of the Manuscript Right away in the west of Ireland lies a tiny hamlet called Creighton. It is situated alone at the base of a low hill. Far around there spreads a waste of bleak and totally inhospitable country, where, here and there, at great intervals, one may come upon the ruins of some long desolate cottage, unthatched and stark. The whole land is bare and unpeopled, the very earth scarcely covering the rock that lies beneath it, and with which the country abounds, in places rising out of the soil in way-shaped ridges. Yet in spite of its desolation, my friend Tonneson and I had elected to spend our vacation there. He had stumbled on the place by mere chance the year previously, during the course of a long walking tour, and discovered the possibilities for the angler in a small and unnamed river that runs past the outskirts of the little village. I have said that the river is without name. I may add that no map that I have hitherto consulted has shown either village or stream. They seem to have entirely escaped observation. Indeed, they might never exist at all that the average guy tells one. Possibly, this can be partly accounted for by the fact that the nearest railway station, Ardrahan, is some 40 miles distant. It was early one warm evening when my friend and I arrived in Creighton. We had reached Ardrahan, previous night, sleeping there in rooms hired at the village post office, and leaving in good time on the following morning, clinging insecurely to one of the typical jaunting cars. It had taken us all day to accomplish our journey over some of the roughest tracks imaginable, with the result that we were thoroughly tired and somewhat bad tempered. However, the tent had to be erected and our goods stowed away before we could think of food or rest. And so we set to work with the aid of our driver and soon had the tent up upon a small patch of ground just outside the little village and quite near to the river. Then having stored all our belongings, we dismissed the driver as he had to make his way back as speedily as possible, and told him to come across to us at the end of a fortnight. We had brought sufficient provisions to last us for that space of time, and water we could get from the stream. We had a small stove we did not need, as we had included a small oil stove among our outfit, and the weather was fine and warm. It was Tonneson's idea to camp out instead of getting lodgings in one of the cottages. As he put it, there was no joke in sleeping in a room with a numerous family of healthy Irish in one corner and the pigsty in the other, while overhead a ragged colony of roosting fowls distributed their blessings impartially, and the whole place so full of peat smoke that it made a fellow sneeze his head off just to put it inside the doorway. Tonneson had got the stove lit now, and was busy cutting slices of bacon into the frying pan, so I took the kettle and walked down to the river for water. On the way, I had to pass close to a little group of the village people, who eyed me curiously, but not in any unfriendly manner, though none of them ventured a word. As I returned with my kettle filled, I went up to them and after a friendly nod to which they replied in like manner, I asked them casually about the fishing, but instead of answering, they just shook their heads silently and stared at me. I repeated the question, addressing more particularly a great gaunt fellow at my elbow, yet again I received no answer. Then the man turned to a comrade and said something rapidly in a language that I did not understand, and at once the whole crowd of them fell to jabbering in what, after a few moments, I guessed to be pure Irish. At the same time, they cast many glances in my direction. For a minute perhaps, they spoke among themselves thus. Then the man I had addressed faced round at me and said something. By the expression of his face, I guessed that he, in turn, was questioning me, but now I had to shake my head and indicate that I did not comprehend what it was they wanted to know, and so we stood looking at one another, until I heard Tonneson calling to me to hurry up with the kettle. Then with a smile and a nod, I left them, and all in the little crowd smiled and nodded in return, though their faces still betrayed their puzzlement. It was evident, I reflected as I went towards the tent, that the inhabitants of these few huts in the wilderness did not know a word of English, and when I told Tonneson, he remarked that he was aware of the fact, and more, that it was not at all uncommon in that part of the country where the people often lived and died in their isolated hamlets without ever coming in contact with the outside world. I wish we had got the driver to interpret before us before he left, I remarked, as we sat down to our meal. It seemed so strange for the people of this place not even to know what we've come for. Tonneson grunted in an ascent, and thereafter was silent for a while. Later, after having satisfied our appetite somewhat, we began to talk, laying our plans for the morrow, then, after a smoke, we closed the flap of the tent and prepared to turn in. I suppose there's no chance of those fellows outside taking anything, I asked, as we rolled ourselves in our blankets. Tonneson said that he did not think so, at least while we were about, and as he went on to explain, we could lock up everything except the tent in the big chest that we had brought to hold our provisions. I agreed to this, and soon we were both asleep. Next morning early, we rose and went for a swim in the river, after which we dressed and had breakfast. Then we roused out our fishing tackle and overhauled it, by which time, our breakfast, having settled somewhat, we made all secure within the tent and strode off in the direction my friend had explored on his previous visit. During the day, we fished happily, working steadily upstream, and by evening, we had one of the prettiest creals of fish that I had seen for a long while. Returning to the village, we made a good feed off our day's spoil, after which, having selected a few of the finer fish for our breakfast, we presented the remainder to the group of villagers who had assembled at a respectful distance to watch our doings. They seemed wonderfully grateful and heaped mountains of what I presumed to be Irish blessings upon our heads. Thus we spent several days, having splendid sport and first-rate appetites to do justice upon our prey. We were pleased to find how friendly the villagers were inclined to be, and that there was no evidence of their having ventured to metal with our belongings during our absences. It was on a Tuesday that we arrived in Creighton, and it would be on the Sunday following that we made a great discovery. Hitherto, we had always gone upstream. On that day, however, we laid aside our rods and, taking some provisions, set off for a long ramble in the opposite direction. The day was warm, and we trudged along leisurely enough, stopping about midday to eat our lunch upon a great flat rock near the riverbank. Afterward, we sat and smoked a while, resuming our walk only when we were tired of inaction. For perhaps another hour, we wandered onward, chatting quietly and comfortably on this and that matter, and on several occasions, stopping while my companion, who was something of an artist, made rough sketches of striking bits in the wild scenery. And then, without any warning whatsoever, the river we had followed so confidently came to an abrupt end, vanishing into the earth. Good Lord, I said, who would ever have thought of this? And I stared at amazement. Then I turned to Tonneson. He was looking, with a blank expression upon his face, at the place where the river disappeared. In a moment, he spoke, let us go on a bit. It may reappear again. Anyhow, it is worth investigating. I agreed, and we went forward once more, though rather aimlessly, for we were not at all certain in which direction to prosecute our search. For perhaps a mile, we moved onward, then Tonneson, who had been gazing about curiously, stopped and shaded his eyes. See, he said, after a moment, isn't that mist or something over there to the right, away in a line with that great piece of rock? And he indicated with his hand. I stared, and after a minute, seemed to see something, but could not be certain, and said so. Anyway, my friend replied, we'll just go across and have a glance. And he started off in the direction he had suggested, I following. Presently, we came among bushes, and, after a time, out upon the top of a high, bolder, strewn bank from which we looked down into a wilderness of bushes and trees. Seems as though we had come upon an oasis in this desert of stone, muttered Tonneson, as he gazed interestingly. Then he was silent, his eyes fixed, and I looked also. For up from somewhere about the center of the wooded lowland, there rose high into the quiet air a great column of haze-like spray upon which the sun shone, causing innumerable rainbows. How beautiful, I exclaimed. Yes, answered Tonneson, thoughtfully. There must be a waterfall or something over there. Perhaps it's our river come to light again. Let's go and see. Down the sloping bank we made our way, and entered among the trees and shrubberies. The bushes were matted, and the trees overhung us, so that the place was disagreeably gloomy. Though not dark enough to hide from me the fact that many of the trees were fruit trees, and that here and there one could trace indistinctly signs of a long departed cultivation. Thus it came to me that we were making our way through the riot of a great and ancient garden. I said as much to Tonneson, and he agreed that there certainly seemed reasonable grounds for my belief. What a wild place it was, so dismal and somber. Somehow as we went forward a sense of the silent loneliness and desertion of the old garden grew upon me, and I felt shivery. One could imagine things lurking among the tangled bushes, while in the very air of the place there seemed something uncanny. I think Tonneson was conscious of this also, though he said nothing. Suddenly we came to a halt. Through the trees there had grown upon our ears a distant sound. Tonneson bent forward listening. I could hear it more plainly now. It was continuous and harsh. A sort of droning roar seemed to come from far away. I experienced a queer indescribable little feeling of nervousness. What sort of place was it into which we had got? I looked at my companion to see what he thought of the matter, and noticed that there was only puzzlement in his face. And then, as I watched his features, an expression of comprehension crept over them, and he nodded his head. That's a waterfall, he exclaimed with conviction. I know the sound now. And he began to push vigorously through the bushes in the direction of the noise. As we went forward, the sound became plainer continually, showing that we were heading straight toward it. Steadily, the roaring grew louder and nearer until it appeared, as I remarked to Tonneson, almost to come from under our feet. And still we were surrounded by the trees and shrubs. Take care, Tonneson called to me. Look where you're going. And then suddenly we came out from among the trees onto a great open space, where not six paces in front of us yawned the mouth of a tremendous chasm, from the depths of which the noise appeared to rise, along with a continuous, mist-like spray that we had witnessed from the top of the distant bank. For quite a minute we stood in silence, staring in bewilderment at the sight. Then my friend went forward cautiously to the edge of the abyss. I followed and together we looked down through a boil of spray at a monster cataract of frothing water that burst spouting from the side of the chasm nearly a hundred feet below. Good Lord, said Tonneson. I was silent and rather awed. The sight was so unexpectedly grand and eerie, though this latter quality came more upon me later. Presently I looked up and across to the further side of the chasm. There I saw something towering up among the spray. It looked like a fragment of a great ruin and I touched Tonneson on the shoulder. He glanced round with a start and I pointed towards the thing. His gaze followed my finger and his eyes lighted up with a sudden flash of excitement as the object came within his field of view. Come along, he shouted above the uproar. We'll have a look at it. There's something queer about this place. I feel it in my bones. And he started off round the edge of the crater like abyss. As we neared this new thing, I saw that I had not been mistaken in my first impression. It was undoubtedly a portion of some ruined building. Yet now I made out that it was not built upon the edge of the chasm itself as I had first opposed but perched almost at the extreme end of a huge spur of rock that jutted out some 50 or 60 feet over the abyss. In fact, the jagged mass of ruin was literally suspended in midair. Arriving opposite it, we walked out onto the projecting arm of rock and I must confess to having felt an intolerable sense of terror as I looked down from that dizzy perch into the unknown depths below us, into the deeps from which there rose ever the thunder of the falling water and the shroud of rising spray. Reaching a ruin, we clambered round it cautiously and on the further side came upon a mass of fallen stones and rubble. The ruin itself seemed to me as I proceeded now to examine it minutely to be a portion of the outer wall of some prodigious structure. It was so thick and substantially built, yet what was it doing in such a position I could by no means conjecture? Where was the rest of the house or castle or whatever there had been? I went back to the outer side of the wall and thence to the edge of the chasm, leaving Tonneson rooting systematically among the heaps of stones and rubbish on the outer side. Then I commenced to examine the surface of the ground near the edge of the abyss to see whether there were not left other remnants of the building to which the fragment of ruin evidently belonged. But though I scrutinized the earth with the greatest care, I could see no signs of anything to show that there had ever been a building erected on the spot and I grew more puzzled than ever. Then I heard a cry from Tonneson. He was shouting my name excitedly and without delay I hurried along the rocky promontory to the ruin. I wondered whether he had hurt himself and then the thought came that perhaps he had found something. I reached the crumbled wall and climbed round. There I found Tonneson standing within a small excavation that he had made among the debris. He was brushing the dirt from something that looked like a book, much crumpled and dilapidated and opening his mouth every second or two to bellow my name. As soon as he saw that I had come, he handed his prize to me, telling me to put it into my satchel so as to protect it from the damp while he continued his explorations. This I did, first however, running the pages through my fingers and noting that they were closely filled with neat, old-fashioned writing which was quite legible, save in one portion where many of the pages were almost destroyed, being muddied and crumpled as though the book had been doubled back at that part. This, I found out from Tonneson, was actually as he had discovered it and the damage was due probably to the fall of masonry upon the opened part. Curiously enough, the book was fairly dry, which I attributed to its having been so securely buried among the ruins. Having put the volume away safely, I turned to and gave Tonneson a hand with his self-imposed task of excavating. Yet, though we put in over an hour's hard work, turning over the whole of the upheaped stones and rubbish, we came upon nothing more than some fragments of broken wood that might have been parts of a desk or table, and so we gave up searching and went back along the rock once more to the safety of the land. The next thing we did was to make a complete tour of the tremendous chasm, which we were able to observe was in the form of an almost perfect circle, save for where the ruined crown spur of rock jetted out spoiling its symmetry. The abyss was, as Tonneson put it, like nothing so much as a gigantic well or pit going sheer down into the bowels of the earth. For some time longer, we continued to stare about us, and then, noticing that there was a clear space away to the north of the chasm, we bent our steps in that direction. Here, distant from the mouth of the mighty pit by some hundreds of yards, we came upon a great lake of silent water, silent, that is, save in one place where there was a continuous bubbling and gurgling. Now, being away from the noise of the spouting cataract, we were able to hear one another speak without having to shout at the tops of our voices, and I asked Tonneson what he thought of the place. I told him that I didn't like it, and the sooner we were out of it, the better I should be pleased. He nodded in reply and glanced at the woods behind furtively. I asked him if he had seen or heard anything. He made no answer, but stood silent as though listening, and I kept quiet also. Suddenly he spoke. Hark, he said sharply. I looked at him, and then away among the trees and bushes, holding my breath involuntarily. A minute came and went in strained silence, yet I could hear nothing, and I turned to Tonneson to say as much, and then, even as I opened my lips to speak, there came a strange wailing noise out of the wood on our left. It appeared to float through the trees, and there was a rustle of stirring leaves, and then silence. All at once, Tonneson spoke and put his hand on my shoulder. Let us get out of here, he said, and began to move slowly toward where the surrounding trees and bushes seemed thinnest. As I followed him, it came to me suddenly that the sun was low and that there was a raw sense of chilliness in the air. Tonneson said nothing further, but kept on steadily. We were among the trees now, and I glanced around nervously, but saw nothing, saved the quiet branches and trunks and the tangled bushes. Onward we went and now sound broke the silence, except the occasional snapping of a twig under our feet as we moved forward. Yet in spite of the quietness, I had a horrible feeling that we were not alone, and I kept so close to Tonneson that twice I kicked his heels clumsily, though he said nothing. A minute and then another, and we reached the confines of the woods coming out at last upon the bare rockiness of the countryside. Only then was I able to shake off the haunting dread that had followed me among the trees. Once, as we moved away, there seemed to come again a distant sound of wailing, and I said to myself that it was the wind, yet the evening was breathless. Presently Tonneson began to talk. Look you, he said with a decision. I would not spend the night in that place for all the wealth the world holds. There is something unholy, diabolical about it. It came to me all in a moment just after you spoke. It seemed to me that the woods were full of vile things, you know. Yes, I answered, and looked back towards the place, but it was hidden from us by a rise in the ground. There's the book I said, and I put my hand into the satchel. You've got it safely, he questioned, with a sudden access of anxiety. Yes, I replied. Perhaps, he continued, we shall learn something from it when we get back to the tent. We had better hurry, too. We're a long way off still, and I don't fancy now being caught out here in the dark. It was two hours later when we reached the tent, and without delay we set to work to prepare a meal, for we had eaten nothing since our lunch at midday. Supper over, we cleared the things out of the way and lit our pipes. Then Tonneson asked me to get the manuscript out of my satchel. This I did, and then, as we could not both read from it at the same time, he suggested that I should read the thing loud. And mind, he cautioned, knowing my propensities, don't go skipping half the book. Yet, had he but known what it contained, he would have realized how needless such advice was, for once at least. And there, seated in the opening of our little tent, I began the strange tale of the house on the borderland. For such was the title of the manuscript. This is told in the following pages. End of chapter one. Recording by Alan Winteroud. Boomcoach.blogspot.com. Chapter two of The House on the Borderland. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Alan Winteroud. The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. Chapter two, The Plane of Silence. I am an old man. I live here in this ancient house surrounded by huge unkempt gardens. The peasantry, who inhabit the wilderness beyond, say that I am mad. That is because I will have nothing to do with them. I live here alone with my old sister, who is also my housekeeper. We keep no servants. I hate them. I have one friend, a dog. Yes, I would sooner have old pepper than the rest of creation together. He at least understands me and has sense enough to leave me alone when I am in my dark moods. I have decided to start a kind of diary. It may enable me to record some of the thoughts and feelings that I cannot express to anyone. But beyond this, I am anxious to make some record of the strange things that I have heard and seen during many years of loneliness in this weird old building. For a couple of centuries, this house has had a reputation, a bad one. And until I bought it for more than 80 years, no one had lived here. Consequently, I got the old place at a ridiculously low figure. I am not superstitious, but I have ceased to deny that things happen in this old house, things that I cannot explain, and therefore I must needs ease my mind by writing down an account of them to the best of my ability. Though should this my diary ever be read when I am gone, the readers will but shake their heads and be the more convinced that I was mad. This house, how ancient it is. Though its ages strike one less perhaps than the quaintness of the structure, which is curious and fantastic to the last degree. Little curved towers and pinnacles with outlines suggestive of leaping flames predominate. All the body of the building is in the form of a circle. I have heard that there is an old story told amongst the country people to the effect that the devil built the place. However, that is as it may be. True or not, I neither know nor care, save as it may have helped to cheapen it ere I came. I must have been here some 10 years before I saw sufficient to warrant any belief in the stories current in the neighborhood about this house. It is true that I had, on at least a dozen occasions, seen vaguely things that puzzled me and perhaps had felt more than I had seen. Then as the years passed, bringing age upon me, I became often aware of something unseen, yet unmistakably present in the empty rooms and corridors. Still, it was as I have said many years before I saw any real manifestations of the so-called supernatural. It was not Halloween. If I were telling a story for amusement's sake, I should probably place it on that night of nights, but this is a true record of my own experiences and I would not put pen to paper to amuse anyone. No, it was after midnight on the morning of the 21st day of January. I was sitting reading as is often my custom in my study, pepper lay sleeping near my chair. Without warning, the flames of the two candles went low and then shone with a ghastly green effulgence. I looked up quickly and as I did so, I saw the light sink into a dull, ruddy tint so that the rooms glowed with a strange, heavy crimson twilight that gave the shadows behind the chairs and tables a double depth of blackness. And wherever the light struck, it was as though luminous blood had been splashed over the room. Down on the floor, I heard a faint, frightened whimper and something pressed itself in between my two feet. It was pepper cowering under my dressing gown, pepper usually as brave as a lion. It was this movement of the dogs, I think, they gave me the first twinge of real fear. I had been considerably startled when the lights burnt first green and then red, but had been momentarily under the impression that the change was due to some influx of noxious gas into the room. Now, however, I saw that it was not so for the candles burned with a steady flame and showed no signs of going out as would have been the case had the change been due to fumes in the atmosphere. I did not move. I felt distinctly frightened but could think of nothing better to do than wait. For perhaps a minute, I kept my glance about the room nervously. Then I noticed that the lights had commenced to sink very slowly until presently they showed minute specks of red fire like the gleamings of rubies in the darkness. Still I sat watching while a sort of dreamy indifference seemed to steal over me, banishing altogether the fear that had begun to grip me. Away in the far end of the old fashioned room, I became conscious of a faint glow. Steadily it grew, filling the room with gleams of quivering green light. Then they sank quickly and changed even as the candle flames had done into a deep somber crimson that strengthened and lit up the room with a flood of awful glory. The light came from the end wall and grew ever brighter until its intolerable glare caused my eyes acute pain and involuntarily I closed them. It may have been a few seconds before I was able to open them. The first thing I noticed was that the light had decreased greatly so that it no longer tried my eyes. Then as it grew still duller, I was aware all at once that instead of looking at the redness, I was staring through it and through the wall beyond. Gradually, as I became more accustomed to the idea, I realized that I was looking out onto a vast plain lit with the same gloomy twilight that pervaded the room. The immensity of this plain scarcely can be conceived. In no part could I perceive its confines. It seemed to broaden and spread out so that the eye failed to perceive any limitations. Slowly the details of the nearer portions began to grow clear. Then in a moment almost, the light died away and the vision, the vision it were, faded and was gone. Suddenly, I became conscious that I was no longer in the chair. Instead, I seemed to be hovering above it and looking down at a dim something huddled in silent. In a little while, a cold blast struck me and I was outside in the night floating, like a bubble up through the darkness. As I moved, an icy coldness seemed to enfold me so that I shivered. After a time, I looked to right and left and saw the intolerable blackness of the night pierced by remote gleams of fire. Onward, outward I drove. Once I glanced behind and saw the earth, a small crescent of blue light receding away to my left. Further off, the sun, a splash of white flame burned vividly against the dark. An indefinite period passed. Then for the last time I saw the earth, an enduring globule of radiant blue swimming in an eternity of ether. And there I, a fragile flake of sole dust flickered silently across the void from the distant blue into the expanse of the unknown. A great while seemed to pass over me and now I could nowhere see anything. I had passed beyond the fixed stars and plunged into the huge blackness that waits beyond. All this time I had experienced little, save a sense of lightness and cold discomfort. Now, however, the atrocious darkness seemed to creep into my soul and I became filled with fear and despair. What was going to become of me? Where was I going? Even as the thoughts were formed, there grew against the impalpable blackness that wrapped me a faint tinge of blood. It seemed extraordinarily remote and mislike, yet at once the feeling of oppression was lightened and I no longer despaired. Slowly, the distant redness became plainer and larger until, as I drew nearer, it spread out into a great somber glare, dull and tremendous. Still I fled onward and presently I had come so close that it seemed to stretch beneath me, like a great ocean of somber red. I could see little, save that it appeared to spread out interminably in all directions. In a further space, I found that I was descending upon it and soon I sank into a great sea of sullen, red-hued clouds. Slowly I emerged from these and there below me I saw the stupendous plain that I had seen from my room in this house that stands upon the borders of the silences. Presently I landed and stood, surrounded by a great waste of loneliness. The place was lit with a gloomy twilight that gave an impression of indescribable desolation. A far to my right, within the sky, there burnt a gigantic ring of dull red fire from the outer edge of which were projected huge writhing flames darted and jagged. The interior of this ring was black, black as the gloom of the outer night. I comprehended at once that it was from this extraordinary sun that the place derived its dullful light. From that strange source of light I glanced down again to my surroundings. Everywhere I looked, I saw nothing but the same flat weariness of interminable plain. Nowhere could I describe any signs of life, not even the ruins of some ancient habitation. Gradually I found that I was being born forward floating across the flat waste, for what seemed an eternity I moved onward. I was unaware of any great sense of impatience, though some curiosity and a vast wonder were with me continually. Always I saw around me the breadth of that enormous plain, and always I searched for some new thing to break its monotony, but there was no change, only loneliness, silence, and desert. Presently, in a half-conscious manner, I noticed that there was a faint mistiness, ruddy and hue, lying over its surface. Still, when I looked more intently, I was unable to say that it was really mist, for it appeared to blend with the plain, giving it a peculiar unrealness, and conveying to the senses the idea of unsubstantiality. Gradually, I began to weary with the sameness of the thing, yet it was a great time before I perceived any signs of the place towards which I was being conveyed. At first, I saw it far ahead, like a long hillot on the surface of the plain, then as I drew nearer, I perceived that I had been mistaken, for instead of a low hill, I made out now a chain of great mountains whose distant peaks towered up into the red gloom until they were almost lost to sight. Still, after a time, I came to the mountains. Then, the course of my journey was altered, and I began to move along their bases until, all at once, I saw that I had come opposite to a vast rift opening into the mountains. Through this, I was born, moving at no great speed. On either side of me, huge, scarped walls of rock-like substance rose sheer. Far overhead, I discerned a thin ribbon of red and the mouth of the chasm opened among inaccessible peaks. Within was gloom, deep and somber and chilly silence. For a while, I went onward steadily, and then at last I saw ahead a deep red glow that told me I was near upon the further opening of the gorge. A minute came and went, and I was at the exit of the chasm, staring out upon an enormous amphitheater of mountains. Yet, of the mountains a terrible grandeur of the place I wrecked nothing, for I was confounded with amazement to behold at a distance of several miles and occupying the center of the arena a stupendous structure built apparently of green jade. Yet, in itself, it was not the discovery of the building that had so astonished me. But the fact, which became every moment more apparent that in no particular saving color and its enormous size did the lonely structure vary from this house in which I live. For a while, I continued to stare fixedly. Even then, I could scarcely believe that I saw a right. In my mind, a question formed reiterating incessantly, what does it mean? And I was unable to make answer, even out of the depths of my imagination. I seemed capable only of wonder and fear. No longer, I gazed, noting continually some fresh point of resemblance that attracted me. At last, wearied and sorely puzzled, I turned from it to view the rest of the strange place onto which I had intruded. Hitherto, I had been so engrossed in my scrutiny of the house that I had given only a cursory glance round. Now as I looked, I began to realize upon what sort of place I had come. The arena, for so I have termed it, appeared a perfect circle of about 10 to 12 miles in diameter, the house, as I have mentioned before standing in the center. The surface of the place, like to that of the plain, had a peculiar misty appearance that was yet not missed. From a rapid survey, my glance passed quickly upward along the slopes of the circling mountains, how silent they were. I think that the same abominable stillness was more trying to me than anything that I had so far seen or imagined. I was looking up now at the great crags towering so loftily. Up there, the impalpable redness gave a blurred appearance to everything. And then, as I peered curiously, a new terror came to me. For a way up among the dim peaks to my right, I had described a vast shape of blackness, giant like. It grew upon my sight. It had an enormous equine head with gigantic ears and seemed to peer steadfastly down into the arena. There was that about the pose that gave me the impression of an eternal watchfulness, of having warded that dismal place through unknown eternities. Slowly, the monster became plainer to me and then suddenly, my gaze sprang from it to something further off in my eyes. For a long minute, I gazed fearfully. I was strangely conscious of something not altogether unfamiliar, as though something stirred in the back of my mind. The thing was black and had four grotesque arms. The features showed indistinctly. Round the neck, I made out several light colored objects. Slowly, the details came to me and I realized coldly that they were skulls. Then, I looked down the body, was another circling belt showing less dark against the black trunk. Then, even as I puzzled to know what the thing was, a memory slid into my mind and straightway, I knew that I was looking at a monstrous representation of Kali, the Hindu goddess of death. Other remembrances of my old student days drifted into my thoughts. My glance fell back simultaneously, I recognized it for the ancient Egyptian god Set, or Seth, the destroyer of souls. With the knowledge, there came a great sweep of questioning. Two of the... I stopped and endeavored to think. Things beyond my imagination peered into my frightened mind. I saw obscurely the old gods of mythology. I tried to comprehend to what it was all pointing. My gaze dwelt flickeringly between the two. If... An idea came swiftly and I turned and glanced rapidly upward, searching the gloomy crags away to my left. Something loomed out under a great peak, a shape of greyness. I wondered I had not seen it earlier and then remembered I had not yet viewed that portion. I saw it more plainly now. It was, as I have said, gray. It had but no eyes. That part of its face was blank. Now I saw that there were other things up among the mountains. Further off, reclining on a lofty ledge, I made out a livid mass, irregular and ghoulish. It seemed without form, say, for an unclean half-animal face that looked out vilely from somewhere about its middle. And then I saw others. There were hundreds of them. I saw them grow out of the shadows. Several I recognized almost immediately as mythological deities. Others were strange to me, utterly strange, beyond the power of a human mind to conceive. On each side I looked and saw more continually. The mountains were full of strange things, beast-gods, and horrors so atrocious and bestial that possibility and decency deny any further attempt to describe them. And I, I was filled with a terrible sense of overwhelming horror and fear and repugnance, yet in spite of these I wondered exceedingly. Was there then, after all, something in the hold heathen worship, something more than the mere deifying of men and animals and elements? The thought gripped me. Was there? Later a question repeated itself. What were they, those beast-gods and the others? At first they had appeared to me just sculptured monsters placed indiscriminately among the inaccessible peaks and precipices of the surrounding mountains. Now, as I scrutinized them with greater intentness, my mind began to reach out to fresh conclusions. There was something about them, an indescribable sort of silent vitality that suggested to my broadening consciousness a state of life in depth. A something that was by no means life as we understand it, but rather an inhuman form of existence that well might be likened to a deathless trance, a condition in which it was possible to imagine their continuing eternally. Immortal. The word rose in my thoughts unbidden and straightway I grew to wondering whether this might be the immortality of the gods. And then, in the midst of my wondering and musing something happened, until then I had been staying just within the shadow of the exit of the Great Rift. Now, without volition on my part, I drifted out of the semi-darkness and began to move slowly across the arena toward the house. At this, I gave up all thoughts of those prodigious shapes above me and could only stare frighteningly at the tremendous structure towards which I was being conveyed so remorselessly. Yet though I searched earnestly, I could discover nothing that I had not already seen and so became gradually calmer. Presently, I had reached a point more than half way between the house and the gorge. All around was spread the stark loneliness of the place and the unbroken silence. Steadily, I neared the Great Building. Then all at once something caught my vision, something that came round one of the huge buttresses of the house and so into full view. It was a gigantic thing and moved with a curious lope going almost upright after the manner of a man. It was quite unclothed and had a remarkable luminous appearance. Yet it was the face that attracted and frightened me the most. It was the face of a swine. Silently, intently I watched this horrible creature and forgot my fear momentarily in my interest in its movements. It was making its way cumbersly round the building, stopping to gain to each window to peer in and shake at the bars with which, as in this house, they were protected. And whenever it came to a door it would push at it fingering the fastening stealthily. Evidently, it was searching for an ingress into the house. I had now come to within less than a quarter of a mile of the Great Structure, and still I was compelled forward. Abruptly, the thing turned engaged hideously in my direction. It opened its mouth, and for the first time the stillness of that abominable place was broken by a deep booming note that sent an added thrill of apprehension through me. Then immediately I became aware that it was coming toward me swiftly and silently. In an instant it had covered half the distance that lay between and still I was born helplessly to meet it. Only a hundred yards and the brutish ferocity of the giant face numb me with a feeling of unmitigated horror. I could have screamed in the supremeness of my fear and then in the very moment of my extremity and despair I became conscious that I was looking down upon the arena from a rapidly increasing height. I was rising, rising. In an inconceivably short while I had reached an altitude of many hundred feet. Beneath me the spot that I had just left was occupied by the foul swine creature. It had gone down on all fours and was snuffling and rooting like a veritable hog at the surface of the arena. A moment and it rose to its feet clutching upward with an expression of desire upon its face such as I have never seen in this world. Continually I mounted higher. A few minutes it seemed and I had risen above the great mountains floating alone afar in the redness. At a tremendous distance below the arena showed dimly with the mighty house looking no larger than a tiny spot of green. The swine thing was no longer visible. Presently I passed over the mountains out above the huge breadth of the plane far away on its surface in the direction of the ring shaped sun there showed a confused blur. I looked toward it indifferently. It reminded me somewhat of the first glimpse I had caught of the mountain amphitheater with a sense of weariness I glanced upward at the immense ring of fire what a strange thing it was. Then as I stared out from the dark center there spurred a sudden flare of extraordinary vivid fire compared with the size of the black center it was as not yet in itself stupendous with awakened interest I watched it carefully noting its strange boiling and glowing. Then in a moment the whole thing grew dim and unreal and so passed out of sight much amazed I glanced down to the plane from which I was still rising thus I received a fresh surprise the plane everything had vanished and only a sea of red mist was spread far below me gradually as I stared this grew to moat and died away into a dim far mystery of red against an unfathomable night. A while and even this had gone and I was wrapped in an impalpable lightless gloom. End of Chapter 3 Recording by Alan Winteroud boomcoach.blogspot.com Chapter 4 of The House on the Borderland This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Alan Winteroud The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson Chapter 4 The Earth Thus I was and only the memory that I had lived through the dark once before served to sustain my thoughts a great time passed ages and then a single star broke its way through the darkness it was the first of one of the outlying clusters of this universe Presently it was far behind and all about me shown the splendor of the countless stars that I had seen I saw the sun a clot of flame around it I made out presently several remote specks of light the planets of the solar system and so I saw the earth again blue and unbelievably minute it grew larger and became defined A long space of time came and went and then at last I entered into the shadow of the world into the dim and holy earth night overhead were the old constellations and there was a crescent moon then as I neared the earth's surface a dimness swept over me and I appeared to sink into a black mist for a while I knew nothing I was unconscious gradually I became aware of a faint distant whining it became plainer a desperate feeling of agony possessed me I struggled madly for breath and tried to shout a moment and I got my breath more easily I was conscious that something was licking my hand something damp swept across my face I heard a panting and then again the whining it seemed to come to my ears now with a sense of familiarity and I opened my eyes all was dark but the feeling of oppression had left me I was seated and something was whining piteously and licking me I felt strangely confused and instinctively tried to ward off the thing that licked my head was curiously vacant and for the moment I seemed incapable of action or thought then things came back to me and I called pepper faintly I was answered by a joyful bark and renewed and frantic caresses in a little while I felt stronger I held my hand for the matches I groped about for a few moments blindly then my hands lit upon them and I struck a light and looked confusedly around all about me I saw the old familiar things and there I sat full of dazed wonders until the flame of the match burnt my finger and I dropped it while I hasty expression of pain and anger escaped my lips surprising me with the sound of my own voice after a moment I struck another match and stumbling across the room lit the candles as I did so I observed that they had not burned away but had been put out as the flame shot up I turned and stared about to study yet there was nothing unusual to see and suddenly a gust of irritation took me what had happened I held my head with both hands and tried to remember the great silent plane and the ring-shaped sun of red fire where were they where had I seen them how long ago I felt dazed and muddled once or twice I walked up and down the room unsteadily my memory seemed dulled and already the thing I had witnessed came back to me with an effort I have a remembrance of cursing peevishly in my bewilderment suddenly I turned faint and giddy and had to grasp at the table for support during a few moments I held on weakly and then managed to totter sideways into a chair after a little time I felt somewhat better and succeeded in reaching the cupboard where usually I keep brandy in biscuits I poured myself out a little of the stimulant and drank it off then taking a handful of biscuits I returned to my chair and began to devour them ravenously I was vaguely surprised at my hunger I felt as though I had eaten nothing for an uncountably long while as I ate my glance roved about the room taking in its various details and still searching though almost unconsciously for something tangible on which to take hold amongst the invisible mysteries that encompassed me surely I thought there must be something and in the same instant I gazed dwelt upon the face of the clock in the opposite corner therewith I stopped eating and just stared for though it's ticking indicated most certainly that it was still going the hands were pointing to a little before the hour of midnight whereas it was as well I knew considerably after that time when I had witnessed the first of the strange happenings I have just described for perhaps a moment I was astounded puzzled had the hour been the same as when I had last seen the clock I should have concluded that the hands had stuck in one place while the internal mechanism went on as usual but that would in no way account for the hands having traveled backward then even as I turned the matter over in my weary brain the thought flashed upon me that it was now close upon the morning of the 22nd and that I had been unconscious to the visible world through the greater portion of the last 24 hours the thought occupied my attention for a full minute then I commenced to eat again I was still very hungry during breakfast next morning I inquired casually of my sister regarding the date and found my surmise correct I had indeed been absent at least in spirit for nearly a day and a night my sister asked me no questions for it is not by any means the first time that I have kept to my study for a whole day and sometimes a couple of days at a time when I have been particularly engrossed in my books or work and so the days pass on and I am still filled with a wonder to know the meaning of all that I saw on that memorable night yet well I know that my curiosity is little likely to be satisfied End of Chapter 4 Recording by Alan Winteroud boomcoach.com blogspot.com Chapter 5 of The House on the Borderland This LibriVox Recording is in the public domain Recording by Alan Winteroud The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson Chapter 5 The Thing in the Pit This house is, as I have said before, surrounded by a huge estate and wild and uncultivated gardens Away at the back distant some 300 yards is a dark deep ravine spoken of as the pit by the peasantry. At the bottom runs a sluggish stream so overhung by trees as scarcely to be seen from above. In passing I must explain that this river has a subterranean origin emerging suddenly at the east end of the ravine and disappearing as abruptly beneath the cliffs to form its western extremity. It was some months after my vision if vision it were of the great plain that my attention was particularly attracted to the pit. I happened one day to be walking along at southern edge when suddenly several pieces of rock and shale were dislodged from the face of the cliff immediately beneath me and fell with a sullen crash through the trees. I heard them splash in the river at the bottom in silence. I should not have given this incident more than a passing thought had not Pepper at once begun to bark savagely nor would he be silent when I bade him which is most unusual behavior on his part. Feeling that there must be some one or something in the pit I went back to the house quickly for a stick. When I returned Pepper had ceased his barks and was growling and smelling uneasily along the top. Whistling to him to follow me I started to descend cautiously. The depth to the bottom of the pit must be about 150 feet and some time as well as considerable care was expended before we reached the bottom in safety. Once down Pepper and I started to explore among the banks of the river. It was very dark there due to the overhanging trees and I moved warily keeping my glance about me and my stick ready. Pepper was quiet now and kept close to me all the time. Thus we searched right up one side of the river without hearing or seeing anything. Then we crossed over by the simple method of jumping and commenced to beat our way back through the underbrush. We had accomplished perhaps half the distance when I heard again the sound of falling stones on the other side the side from which we had just come. One large rock came thundering down through the tree tops struck the opposite bank and bounded him to the river driving a great jet of water right over us. At this Pepper gave out a deep growl then stopped and pricked up his ears. I listened also. A second later a loud half human half pig-like squeal sounded from among the trees abruptly about halfway up the south cliff. It was answered by a similar note from the bottom of the pit. At this Pepper gave a short sharp bark and springing across the little river disappeared into the bushes. Immediately afterward I heard his barks increase in depth and number and in between there sounded a noise of confused jabbering. This ceased and in the succeeding silence there rose a semi human yell of agony. Almost immediately Pepper gave a long drawn howl of pain and then the shrubs were violently agitated and he came running out with his tail down and glancing as he ran over his shoulder. As he reached me I saw that he was bleeding from what appeared to be a great claw wound in the side that had almost laid bare his ribs. Seeing Pepper thus mutilated a furious feeling of anger seized me and whirling my staff I sprang across and into the bushes from which Pepper had emerged. As I forced my way through I thought I heard a sound of breathing. Next instant I had burst into a little clear space just in time to see something livid white in color disappear among the bushes on the opposite side. With a shout I ran toward it but though I struck and probed among the bushes with my stick on or heard anything further and so returned to Pepper. There after bathing his wound in the river I bound my wedded handkerchief around his body having done which we retreated up the ravine and into the daylight again. On reaching the house my sister inquired what had happened to Pepper and I told her he had been fighting with a wildcat of which I had heard there were several about. I knew it would be better not to tell her how it had really happened though to be sure I scarcely knew myself but this I did know that the thing I had seen run into the bushes was no wildcat. It was much too big and had so far as I had observed a skin like a hogs only of a dead unhealthy white color and then it had run upright or nearly so upon its hind feet with a motion somewhat resembling that of a human being. This much I had noticed in my brief glimpse and truth to tell I felt a good deal of uneasiness besides curiosity as I turned the matter over in my mind. It was in the morning that the above incident had occurred. Then it would be after dinner as I sat reading that happening to look up suddenly I saw something peering in over the window ledge the eyes and ears alone showing. A pig by Jove I said and rose to my feet. Thus I saw the thing more completely but it was no pig God alone knows what it was. It reminded me vaguely of the hideous thing that it haunted the great arena. It had a grotesquely human mouth and jaw but with no chin of which to speak. The nose was prolonged into a snout thus it was that with the little eyes and queer ears it was such an extraordinarily swine like appearance. A forehead there was little and the whole face was of an unwholesome white color. For perhaps a minute I stood looking at the thing with an ever growing feeling of disgust and some fear. The mouth kept jabbering innately and once emitted a half swinish grunt. I think it was the eyes that attracted me the most. They seemed to glow at times with a horribly human intelligence and kept flickering away from my face over the details of the room as though my stare disturbed it. It appeared to be supporting itself by two claw-like hands upon the windowsill. These claws, unlike the face were of a clay-y brown hue and bore an indistinct resemblance to human hands in that they had four fingers and a thumb though these were webbed up to the first joint much as our ducks. Nails it had also but so long and powerful that they were more like the talons of an eagle than odd else. As I have said before I felt some fear though almost of an impersonal kind. I may explain my feeling better by saying there was more a sensation of abhorrence such as one might expect to feel if brought into contact with something superhumanly foul something unholy belonging to some hitherto undrimped of state of existence. I cannot say that I grasped these various details of the brood at the time. I think they seem to come back to me afterward as though imprinted upon my brain. I imagined more than I saw as I looked at the thing and the material details grew upon me later. For perhaps a minute I stared at the creature then as my nerves steadied a little I shook off the vague alarm that held me and took a step toward the window. Even as I did so the thing ducked and vanished. I rushed to the door and looked round hurriedly but only the tangled bushes and shrubs met my gaze. I ran back into the house and getting my gun sallied out to search through the gardens. As I went I asked myself whether the thing I had just seen was likely to be the same of which I had caught a glimpse in the morning. I inclined to think it was. I would have taken pepper with me but judged it better to give his wound a chance to heal. Besides if the creature I had just seen was as I imagined his antagonist of the morning it was not likely that he would be of much use. I began my search systematically. I was determined if it were possible to find and put an end to that swine thing. This was at least a material horror. At first I searched cautiously with the thought of pepper's wound in my mind but as the hours passed and not a sign of anything living showed in the great lonely gardens I became less apprehensive. I felt almost as though I would welcome the sight of it. Anything seemed better than this silence with the ever present feeling that the creature might be lurking in every bush I passed. Later I grew careless of danger to the extent of plunging right through the bushes probing with my gun barrel as I went. At times I shouted but only the echoes answered back. I thought thus perhaps to frighten or stir the creature to showing itself but only succeeded in bringing my sister Mary out to know what was the matter. I told her that I had seen the wild cat that had wounded pepper and that I was trying to hunt it out of the bushes. She seemed only half satisfied and went back into the house with an expression of doubt upon her face. I wondered whether she had seen or guessed anything. For the rest of the afternoon I prosecuted the search anxiously. I felt that I should be unable to sleep with that bestial thing haunting the shrubberies and yet when evening fell I had seen nothing. Then as I turned homeward I heard a short unintelligible noise among the bushes to my right. Finally I turned and aiming quickly fired in the direction of the sound. Immediately afterward I heard something scuttling away among the bushes. It moved rapidly and in a minute had gone out of hearing. After a few steps I ceased my pursuit realizing how futile it must be in the fast gathering gloom and so with a curious feeling of depression I entered the house. That night after my sister had gone to bed I went round to all the windows and doors on the ground floor and saw to it that they were securely fastened. This precaution was scarcely necessary as regards the windows as all of those on the lower story are strongly barred but with the doors of which there were five it was wisely thought as not one was locked. Having secured these I went to my study yet somehow for once the place jarred upon me seemed so huge and echoey. For some time I tried to read but at last finding it impossible I carried my book down to the kitchen where a large fire was burning and sat there. I daresay I had read for a couple of hours when suddenly I heard a sound that made me lower my book and listen intently. It was a noise of something rubbing and fumbling against the back door. Once the door creaked loudly as though force was being applied to it. During those few short moments I experienced an indescribable feeling of terror such as I should have believed impossible. My hand shook. A cold sweat broke out on me and I shivered violently. Gradually I calmed. The stealthy movement outside had ceased. Then for an hour I sat silent and watchful. All at once the feeling of fear took me again. I felt imagine an animal must under the eye of a snake. Yet now I could hear nothing. Still there was no doubting that some unexplained influence was at work. Gradually imperceptibly almost something stole on my ear. A sound that resolved itself into a faint murmur. Quickly it developed and grew into a muffled but hideous chorus of bestial shrieks. It appeared to rise in the bowels of the earth. I heard a thud and realized in a dull half-comprehending way that I had dropped my book. After that I just sat and thus the daylight found me when it crept wanly in through the barred high windows of the great kitchen. With the dawning light the feeling of stupor and fear left me and I came more into possession of my senses. Thereupon I picked up my book and crept through the door to listen. Not a sound broke the chilly silence. For some minutes I stood there. Then very gradually and cautiously I drew back the bolt and opening the door peeped out. My caution was unneeded. Nothing was to be seen, save the gray vista of dreary tangled bushes and trees extending to the distant plantation. With a shiver I closed the door and made my way quietly up to bed. End of Chapter 5 Recording by Alan Winteroud BoomCoach.blogspot.com Chapter 6 Of The House on the Borderland This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Alan Winteroud The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson Chapter 6 The Swine Things It was evening, a week later. My sister sat in the garden knitting. I was walking up and down reading. My gun leaned up against the wall of the house. For since the advent of that strange thing in the gardens, I had deemed it wise to take precautions. Yet through the whole week there had been nothing to alarm me either by sight or sound so that I was able to look back calmly to the incident, though still with a sense of unmitigated wonder and curiosity. I was, as I have just said, walking up and down and somewhat engrossed in my book. Suddenly, I heard a crash away in the direction of the pit. With a quick movement, I turned and saw a tremendous column of dust rising high in the evening air. My sister had risen to her feet with a sharp exclamation of surprise and fright. Telling her to stay where she was, I snatched up my gun and ran toward the pit. As I neared it, I heard a dull rumbling sound that grew quickly into a roar, split with deeper crashes, and up from the pit drove a fresh volume of dust. The noise ceased, though the dust still rose tumultuously. I reached the edge and looked down, but could see nothing save a boil of dust clouds swirling hither and thither. The air was so full of the small particles that they blinded and choked me, and finally I had to run out from the smother pit. Gradually the suspended matter sank and hung in a panoply over the mouth of the pit. I could only guess at what had happened. That there had been a landslip of some kind, I had little doubt. But the cause was beyond my knowledge, and yet even then I had half imaginings, for already the thought had come to me of those falling rocks and that thing in the bottom of the pit. But in the first minutes of confusion I failed to reach the natural conclusion to which the catastrophe pointed. Slowly the dust subsided until presently I was able to approach the edge and look down. For a while I appeared impotently trying to see through the reek. At first it was impossible to make out anything. Then as I stared I saw something below to my left that moved. I looked intently toward it and presently made out another and then another three dim shapes that appear to be climbing up the side of the pit. I could see them only indistinctly. Even as I stared and wondered I heard a rattle of stones somewhere to my right. I glanced across but could see nothing. I lent forward and peered over and down into the pit just beneath where I stood and saw no further than a hideous white swine face that had risen to within a couple of yards of my feet. Below it I could make out several others. As the thing saw me it gave a sudden uncouth squeal which was answered from all parts of the pit. At that a gust of horror and fear shook me and bending down I discharged my gun right into its face. Straight way the creature disappeared with a clatter of loose earth and stones. There was a momentary silence to which probably I owe my life. For during it I heard a quick patter of many feet and turning sharply saw a troop of the creatures coming towards me at a run. Instantly I raised my gun and fired at the foremost who plunged headlong with a hideous howling. Then I turned to run. More than half way from the house to the pit I saw my sister. She was coming toward me. I could not see her face distinctly as the dust had fallen but there was fear in her voice as she called to know why I was shooting. Run! I shouted in reply. Without more ado she turned and fled picking up her skirts with both hands. As I followed I gave a glance behind. The brutes were running on their hind legs at times dropping on all fours. I think it must have been the terror in my voice that spurred Mary to run so for I feel convinced that she had not as yet seen those hell creatures that pursued. On we went my sister leading. Each moment the nearing sounds of the footsteps told me that the brutes were gaining on us rapidly. Fortunately I am accustomed to live in some ways an active life. As it was the strain of the race was beginning to tell severely upon me. Ahead I could see the back door. Luckily it was open. I was some half dozen yards behind Mary now and my breath was sobbing in my throat. Then something touched my shoulder. I wrenched my head round quickly and saw one of those monstrous faces close to mine. One of the creatures having outrun its companions had almost overtaken me. Even as I turned it made a fresh grab. With a sudden effort I sprang to one side and swinging my gun by the barrel brought it crashing down upon the foul creature's head. The thing dropped with an almost human groan. Even this short delay had been nearly sufficient to bring the rest of the brutes down upon me so that without time I turned and ran for the door. Reaching it I burst into the passage then turning quickly slammed and bolted the door just as the first of the creatures rushed against it with a sudden shock. My sister sat gasping in a chair. She seemed in a fainting condition but I had no time then to spend on her. I had to make sure that all the doors were fastened. Fortunately they were. The one leading from my study into the which I went. I had just had time to note that it was secured when I thought I heard a noise outside. I stood perfectly silent and listened. Yes. Now I could distinctly hear a sound of whispering and something slithered over the panels with a rasping scratchy noise. Evidently some of the brutes were feeling with their claw hands about the door to discover whether there were any means of ingress. That the creature should so soon have the door was, to me, a proof of their reasoning capabilities. It assured me that they must not be regarded by any means as mere animals. I had felt something of this before when that first thing peered in through my window. Then I had applied the term superhuman to it with an almost instinctive knowledge that the creature was something different from the brute beast. Something beyond human yet in no good sense but rather as something foul and hostile to the great and good in humanity. In a word as something intelligent and yet in human. The very thought of the creatures filled me with revulsion. Now I be thought of me of my sister and going to the cupboard I got out a flask of brandy and a wine glass. Taking these I went down to the kitchen carrying a lighted candle with me. She was not sitting in the chair but had fallen out and was lying upon the floor face downward. Very gently I turned her over and raised her head somewhat. Then I poured a little of the brandy between her lips. After a while she shivered slightly. A little later she gave several gasps and opened her eyes. In a dreamy, unrealizing way she looked at me. Then her eyes closed slowly and I gave her a little more of the brandy. For perhaps a minute longer she lay silent breathing quickly. All at once her eyes opened again and it seemed to me as I looked that the pupils were dilated as though fear had come with returning consciousness. Then with a movement so unexpected that I started backward she sat up. Noticing that she seemed giddy I put out my hand to steady her. At that she gave a loud scream and scrambling to her feet ran from the room. For a moment I stayed there kneeling and holding the brandy flask. I was utterly puzzled and astonished. Could she be afraid of me? But no, why should she? I could only conclude that her nerves were badly shaken and that she was temporarily unhinged. Upstairs I heard a door bang loudly and I knew that she had taken refuge in her room. I put the flask down on the table. My attention was distracted by a noise in the direction of the back door. I went toward it and listened. It appeared to be shaken as though some of the creatures struggled with it silently, but it was far too strongly constructed and hung to be easily moved. Out in the gardens rose a continuous sound. It might have been mistaken by a casual listener for the grunting and squealing of a herd of pigs. But as I stood there it came to me that there was a sense and meaning to all those swinish noises. Gradually I seemed able to trace a semblance in it through human speech, glutinous and sticky as though each articulation were made with difficulty. Yet nevertheless I was becoming convinced that it was no mere medley of sounds but a rapid interchange of ideas. By this time it had grown quite dark in the passages and from these there came all the varied cries and groans of which an old house is so full after nightfall. It is no doubt because things are then quieter and one has more leisure to hear. There may be something in the theory that the sudden change of temperature at sundown affects the structure of the house somewhat, causing it to contract and settle as it were for the night. However this is as may be but on that night in particular I would gladly have been quit of so many eerie noises. It seemed to me that each crack and creak was the coming of one of those things along the dark corridors though I knew in my heart this could be myself that all the doors were secure. Gradually however these sounds grew on my nerves to such an extent that were it only to punish my cowardice I felt I must make the round of my basement again and if anything were there face it. And then I would go up to my study for I knew sleep was out of the question with the house surrounded by creatures half beasts half something else and entirely unholy. Taking the kitchen lamp down from its hook I made my way from cellar to cellar and room to room through pantry and coal hole along passages and into the 101 little blind alleys and hidden nooks that form the basement of the old house. Then when I knew I had been in every corner and cranny large enough to conceal ought of any size I made my way to the stairs. With my foot on the first step I paused. It seemed to me I heard a movement apparently from the buttery which is to the left of the staircase. It had been one of the first places I searched and yet I felt certain my ears had not deceived me. My nerves were strung now and with hardly any hesitation I stepped up to the door holding a lamp above my head. In a glance I saw that the place was empty safe for the heavy stone slabs supported by brick pillars and I was about to leave it convinced that I had been mistaken for turning my light was flashed back from two bright spots outside the window and high up. For a few moments I stood there staring then they moved revolving slowly and throwing out alternate scintillations of green and red at least so it appeared to me. I knew then that they were eyes. Slowly I traced the shadowy outline of one of the things it appeared to be holding on to the bars of the window and its attitude suggested climbing. I went near to the window and held the light higher. There was no need to be afraid of the creature the bars were strong and there was little danger of it being able to move them and then suddenly in spite of the knowledge that the brute could not reach to harm me I had returned the horrible sensation of fear that it assailed me on that night a week previously. It was the same feeling of helpless shuttering fright I realized dimly that the creature's eyes were looking into mine with a steady compelling stare I tried to turn away but could not I seemed now to see this window through a mist then I thought other eyes came and peered and yet others until a whole galaxy of malignant staring orbs seemed to hold me in thrall. My head began to swim and throb violently. Then I was aware of a feeling of acute physical pain in my left hand it grew more severe and forced literally forced my attention with a tremendous effort I glanced down and with that the spell that had held me was broken I realized then that I had in my agitation unconsciously caught hold of the hot lamp glass and burnt my hand badly. I looked up to the window again the misty appearance had gone and now I saw that it was crowded with dozens of bestial faces with a sudden access of rage I raised the lamp and hurled it full at the window it struck the glass smashing a pain and passed between two of the bars out into the garden scattering burning oil as it went. I heard several loud cries of pain and as my sight became accustomed to the dark I discovered that the creatures had left the window pulling myself together I groped for the door and having found it made my way upstairs stumbling at step. I felt dazed as though I had received a blow on the head at the same time my hand smarted badly and I was full of a nervous dull rage against those things reaching my study I lit the candles as they burnt up their rays were reflected from the rack of firearms on the sidewall at the sight I remember that I had there a power which as I had proved earlier seemed as fatal to those monsters as to more ordinary animals and I determined I would take the offensive first of all I bound up my hand for the pain was fast becoming intolerable after that it seemed easier and I crossed the room to the rifle stand there I selected a heavy rifle an old and tried weapon and having procured ammunition I made my way up into one of the small towers with which the house is crowned from there I found that I could see nothing the gardens presented a dim blur of shadows a little blacker perhaps where the trees stood that was all and I knew that it was useless to shoot down into all that darkness the only thing to be done was to wait for the moon to rise then I might be able to do a little execution in the meantime I sat still and kept my ears open the gardens were comparatively quiet now and only an occasional grunt or squeal came up to me I did not like this silence it made me wonder on what devilry the creatures were bent twice I left the tower and took a walk through the house but everything was silent once I heard a noise from the direction of the pit as though more earth had fallen following this and lasting for some 15 minutes there was a commotion among the denizens of the gardens this died away and after that all was again quiet about an hour later the moon's light showed above the distant horizon from where I sat I could see it over the trees but it was not until it rose clear of them that I could make out any of the details in the gardens below even then I could see none of the brutes until happening to crane forward I saw several of them lying prone up against the wall of the house what they were doing I could not make out it was however a chance too good to be ignored and taking aim I fired at the one directly beneath there was a shrill scream and as a smoke cleared away I saw that it had turned on its back and was writhing feebly then it was quiet the others had disappeared immediately after this I heard a loud squeal in the direction of the pit it was answered 100 times from every part of the garden this gave me some notion of the number of the creatures and I began to feel that the whole affair was becoming even more serious than I had imagined as I sat there silent and watchful the thought came to me why was all this what were these things what did it mean did my thoughts flew back to that vision though even now I doubt whether it was a vision of the plane of silence what did that mean I wondered and that thing in the arena lastly I thought of the house I had seen in that far away place that house so like this in every detail of external structure that it might have been modeled from it or this from that I had never thought of that at this moment there came another long squeal from the pit followed a second later by a couple of shorter ones at once the garden was filled with answering cries I stood up quickly and looked over the parapet in the moonlight it seemed as though the shrubberies were alive they tossed hither and thither as though shaken by a strong irregular wind while a continuous rustling and a noise of scampering feet rose up to me several times I saw the moonlight gleam on running white figures among the bushes and twice I fired the second time my shout was answered by a short squeal of pain a minute later the gardens lay silent from the pit came a deep horse babble of swine talk at times angry cries smote the air and they would be answered by multitudinous gruntings it occurred to me that they were holding some kind of a council perhaps to discuss the problem of entering the house also I thought that they seemed much enraged probably by my successful shots it occurred to me that now would be a good time to make a final survey of our defenses this I proceeded to do it once visiting the whole of the basement again and examining each of the doors luckily they are all like the back one built of solid iron studded oak then I went upstairs to the study I was more anxious about this door it is palpably of a more modern make than the others and though a stout piece of work it has little of their ponderous strength I must explain here that there is a small raised lawn on this side of the house upon which this door opens the windows of the study being barred on this account all the other entrances accepting the great gateway which is never opened are in the lower story End of Chapter 6 Recording by Alan Winteroud boomcoach.blogspot.com Chapter 7 of The House on the Borderland this LiberVox recording is in the public domain recording by Alan Winteroud The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson Chapter 7 The Attack I spent some time puzzling how to strengthen the study door finally I went down to the kitchen and with some trouble brought up several heavy pieces of timber these I wedged up slant wise against it from the floor nailing them top and bottom for half an hour I worked hard and at last got it short to my mind then feeling easier I resumed my coat which I had laid aside and proceeded to attend to one or two matters before returning to the tower it was whilst thus employed that I heard a fumbling at the door and the latch was tried keeping silence I waited soon I heard several of the creatures outside they were grunting to one another softly then for a moment there was quietness suddenly there sounded a quick low grunt and the door creaked under a tremendous pressure it would have burst inward but for the supports I had placed the strain ceased as quickly as it had begun and there was more talk presently one of the things squealed softly and I heard the sound of others approaching there was a short confabulation then again silence and I realized that they had called several more to assist feeling that now was the supreme moment I stood ready with my rifle presented if the door gave I would at least slay as many as possible again came the low signal and once more the door creaked under a huge force for a minute perhaps the pressure was kept up and I waited nervously expecting each moment to see the door come down with a crash but no the struts held unabortive then followed more of their horrible grunting talk and whilst it lasted I thought I distinguished the noise of fresh arrivals after a long discussion during which the door was several times shaken they became quiet once more and I knew that they were going to make a third attempt to break it down I was almost in despair the props had been severely tried in the two previous attacks and I was sorely afraid to ask for them at that moment like an inspiration a thought flashed into my troubled brain instantly for it was no time to hesitate I ran from the room and up stair after stair this time it was not to one of the towers that I went but out onto the flat leaded roof itself once there I raced across to the parapet that walls it round and looked down as I did so I heard the short grunted signal the door caught the crying of the door under the assault there was not a moment to lose and leaning over I aimed quickly and fired the report rang sharply and almost blending with it came a loud splut of the bullet striking its mark from below rose a shrill wail and the door ceased its groaning then as I took my weight from off the parapet a huge piece of the stone coping slid from under me and fell with a crash among the disorganized throng beneath several horrible shrieks quavered through the night air and then I heard a sound of scampering feet cautiously I looked over in the moonlight I could see the great coping stone lying right across the threshold of the door I thought I saw something under it several things white but I could not be sure and so a few minutes passed as I stared I saw something come round out of the shadow of the house it was one of the things it went up to the stone silently and bent down I was unable to see what it did in a minute it stood up it had something in its talons which it put to its mouth and tore at for the moment I did not realize then slowly I comprehended the thing was stooping again it was horrible I started to load my rifle when I looked again the monster was tugging at the stone moving it to one side I leaned the rifle on the coping and pulled the trigger the brute collapsed on its face and kicked slightly simultaneously almost with the report I heard another sound that of breaking glass waiting only to recharge my weapon I ran from the roof and down the first two flights of stairs here I paused to listen as I did so there came another tinkle of falling glass it appeared to come from the floor below excitedly I sprang down the steps and guided by the rattle of the window sash reached the door of one of the empty bedrooms at the back of the house I thrust it open the room was but dimly illuminated by the moonlight most of the light being blotted out by moving figures at the window even as I stood one crawled through into the room leveling my weapon I fired point blank at it filling the room with a deafening bang when the smoke cleared I saw that the room was empty and the window free the room was much lighter the night air blew in coldly through the shattered pains down below in the night I could hear a soft moaning and a confused murmur of swine voices stepping to one side of the window I reloaded and then stood there waiting presently I heard a scuffling noise from where I stood in the shadow I could see without being seen nearer came the sounds and then I saw something come up above the sill and clutch at the broken window frame it caught a piece of the woodwork and now I could make out that it was a hand and arm a moment later the face of one of the swine creatures rose into view then before I could use my rifle or do anything there came a sharp crack crack and the window frame gave way under the weight of the thing next instant a squashing thud and a loud outcry told me that it had fallen to the ground with a savage hope that it had been killed I went to the window the moon had gone behind a cloud so that I could see nothing though a steady hum of jabbering just beneath where I stood indicated that there were several more of the brutes close at hand as I stood there looking down I marveled how it had been possible for the creatures to climb so far for the wall is comparatively smooth while the distance to the ground would be at least 80 feet all at once as I bent peering I saw something indistinctly that cut the grey shadow of the house side with a black line it passed the window to the left at a distance of about 2 feet then I remember that it was a gutter pipe that had been put there some years ago to carry off the rain water I had forgotten about it I could see now how the creatures had managed to reach the window something came to me I heard a faint slithering scratching noise and knew that another of the brutes was coming I waited some odd moments then leaned out of the window and felt the pipe to my delight I found that it was quite loose and I managed using a rifle barrel as a crowbar to lever it out from the wall I worked quickly then taking hold with both hands I wrenched the whole concern away and hurled it down into the garden for a few minutes longer I waited there listening but after the first general outcry I heard nothing I knew now there was no more reason to fear an attack from this quarter I had removed the only means of reaching the window and as none of the other windows had any adjacent water pipes to temp the climbing powers of the monsters I began to feel more confident of escaping their clutches leaving the room I made my way down to the study to see how the door had withstood the test of that last assault entering I lit two of the candles and then turned to the door one of the large props had been displaced and on that side the door had enforced inward some six inches he was providential that I had managed to drive the brutes away just when I did and that coping stone I wondered vaguely how I had managed to dislodge it I had not noticed it loose as I took my shot and then as I stood up it had slipped away from beneath me I felt that I owed the dismissal of the attacking force more to its timely fall than to my rifle then the thought came that I had better seized this chance to shore up the door again it was evident that the creatures had not returned since the fall of the coping stone but who was to say how long they would keep away there and then I set to repairing the door working hard and anxiously first I went down to the basement and rummaging round found several pieces of heavy oak planking with these I returned to the study and having removed the props placed the planks up against the door then I nailed the heads of the struts to these and driving them well home at the bottoms nailed them again there thus I made the door stronger than ever for now it was solid with the backing of boards and wood I felt convinced stand to heavier pressure than hitherto without giving away after that I lit the lamp which I had brought from the kitchen and went down to have a look at the lower windows now that I had seen an instance of the strength the creatures possessed I felt considerable anxiety about the windows on the ground floor in spite of the fact that they were so strongly barred I went first to the buttery having a vivid remembrance of my last adventure there the place was chilly and the wind sighing in through the broken glass produced an eerie note apart from the general air of dismalness the place was as I had left it on the night before going up to the window I examined the bars closely noting as I did so their comfortable thickness still as I looked more intently it seemed to me that the middle bar was bent slightly from the straight yet it was but trifling and it might have been so for years I had never before noticed them particularly I put my hand through the broken window and shook the bar it was as firm as a rock perhaps the creatures had tried to start it and finding it beyond their power ceased from the effort after that I went round to each of the windows in turn examining them with careful attention but nowhere else could I trace anything to show that there had been any tampering having finished my survey I went back to the study and poured myself out a little brandy then to the tower to watch end of Chapter 7 Recording by Alan Winteroud boomcoach.blogspot.com Chapter 8 of The House on the Borderland This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Alan Winteroud The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson Chapter 8 After the Attack It was now about 3 a.m. and presently the east side began to pale with the coming of dawn gradually the day came and by its light I scanned the gardens earnestly but nowhere could I see any signs of the brutes I leaned over and glanced down at the foot of the wall to see whether the body of the thing I had shot the night before was still there it was gone I supposed that the others of the monsters had removed it during the night and moved and crossed over to the gap from which the coping stone had fallen reaching it I looked over yes, there was the stone as I had seen it last but there was no appearance of anything beneath it nor could I see the creatures I had killed after its fall evidently they had also been taken away I turned and went down to my study there I sat down wearily I was thoroughly tired it was quite light now the trees were not as yet perceptibly hot a clock chimed the hour of four I awoke with a start and looked round hurriedly the clock in the corner indicated that it was 3 o'clock it was already afternoon I must have slept for nearly 11 hours with a jerky movement I sat forward in the chair and listened the house was perfectly silent slowly I stood up and yawned I felt desperately tired still again, wondering what it was that had awaked me it must have been the clock striking I concluded presently and was commencing to doze off when a sudden noise brought me back once more to life it was the sound of a step as of a person moving cautiously down the corridor toward my study in an instant I was on my feet and grasping my rifle noiselessly I waited had the creatures broken in whilst I slept the steps reached my door halted momentarily and then continued down the passage silently I tiptoed to the door and peeped out then I experienced such a feeling of relief as must have reprieved criminal it was my sister she was going toward the stairs I stepped into the hall and was about to call her when it occurred to me that it was very queer she should have crept past my door in that stealthy manner I was puzzled and for one brief moment the thought occupied my mind that it was not she but some fresh mystery of the house then as I caught a glimpse of her old petticoat the thought passed as quickly as it had come and I half laughed there could be no mistaking that ancient garment yet I wondered what she was doing and remembering her condition of mind on the previous day I felt it might be best to follow quietly taking care not to alarm her what she was going to do if she behaved rationally well and good if not I should have to take steps to restrain her I could run no unnecessary risks under the danger that threatened us quickly I reached the head of the stairs and paused a moment then I heard a sound that sent me leaping down at a mad rate it was a rattle of bolts being unshot that foolish sister of mine was actually unbarring the back door just as her hand was on the last bolt I reached her she had not seen me and the first thing she knew I had a hold of her arm she glanced up quickly like a frightened animal and screamed aloud come Mary I said sternly what is the meaning of this nonsense do you mean to tell me you don't understand the nature that you try to throw our two lives away in this fashion to this she replied nothing only trembled violently gasping and sobbing as though the last extremity of fear through some minutes I reasoned with her pointed out the need for caution and asking her to be brave there was little to be afraid of now I explained and I tried to believe that I spoke the truth but she must be sensible and not attempt to leave the house for a few days at last I ceased in despair it was no use talking to her she was obviously not quite herself for the time being finally I told her she had better go to her room if she could not behave rationally still she took not any notice so without any more ado I picked her up in my arms and carried her there at first she screamed wildly but it relapsed into silent trembling by the time I reached the stairs arriving at her room I laid her upon the bed she lay there quietly enough neither speaking nor sobbing just shaking in a very ague of fear I took a rug from a chair nearby and spread it over her I could do nothing more for her and so crossed to where pepper lay in a big basket my sister had taken charge of him since his wound to nurse him for it improved more severe than I had thought and I was pleased to note that in spite of her state of mind she had looked after the old dog carefully stooping I spoke to him and reply he licked my hand feebly he was too ill to do more then going to the bed I bent over my sister and asked her how she felt but she only shook the more and much as it pained me I had to admit that my presence seemed to make her worse and so I left her locking the door and pocketing the key it seemed to be the only course to take the rest of the day I spent between the tower and my study for food I brought up a loaf from the pantry and on this and some claret I lived for that day what a long weary day it was if only I could have gone out into the gardens as is my want I should have been content enough but to be cooped in this silent house with no companion save a mad woman and a sick dog was enough to prey upon the nerves of the heartiest and out in the tangled shrubberies that surrounded the house lurked for all I could tell those infernal swine creatures waiting their chance was ever a man in such straits once in the afternoon and again later I went to visit my sister the second time I found her tending pepper but I approached she slid over unobtrusively to the far corner with a gesture that saddened me beyond belief poor girl her fear cut me intolerably and I would not intrude on her unnecessarily she would be better I trusted in a few days meanwhile I could do nothing and I judged it still needful as hard as it seemed to keep her confined to her room one thing there was that I took for encouragement she had eaten some of the food I had taken to her on my first visit and so the day passed as the evening drew on the air grew chilly and I began to make preparations for passing a second night in the tower taking up two additional rifles and a heavy ulster the rifles I loaded and laid us alongside my other things warm for any of the creatures who might show during the night I had plenty of ammunition and I thought to give the brutes such a lesson as should show them the uselessness of attempting to force an entrance after that I made the round of the house again paying particular attention to the props that supported the study door then feeling that I had done all that lay in my power to ensure our safety I returned to the tower calling in on my sister and pepper a final visit on the way pepper was asleep but woke as I entered and wagged his tail in recognition I thought he seemed slightly better my sister was lying on the bed the weather asleep or not I was unable to tell and thus I left them reaching the tower I made myself as comfortable as circumstances would permit and settled down to watch through the night gradually darkness fell and soon the details of the gardens were merged into shadows during the first few hours I sat alert listening for any sound that might help to tell me if anything were stirring down below it was far too dark for my eyes to be of much use slowly the hours passed without anything unusual happening and the moon rose showing the gardens apparently empty and silent and so through the night without disturbance or sound toward morning I began to grow stiff and cold with a long vigil also I was getting very uneasy concerning the continued quietness on the part of the creatures I mistrusted it and would soon or far have had them attack the house openly then at least I should have known my danger and been able to meet it but to wait like this through a whole night picturing all kinds of unknown devilment was a jeopardized one's sanity once or twice the thought came to me that perhaps they had gone in my heart I found it impossible to believe that it was so End of Chapter 8 Recording by Alan Winteroud boomcoach.blogspot.com Chapter 9 of The House on the Borderland This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Alan Winteroud The House in the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson Chapter 9 In the Cellars At last while being tired and cold and the uneasiness that possessed me I resolved to take a walk through the house first calling in at the study for a glass of brandy to warm me this I did and while there I examined the door carefully but found all as I had left it the night before the day was just breaking as I left the tower though it was still too dark in the house to be able to see without a light and I took one of the study candles with me on my round by the time I had finished the ground floor the daylight was creeping in wandily through the barred windows my search had shown me nothing fresh everything appeared to be in order and I was on the point of extinguishing my candle when the thought suggested itself to me to have another glance round the cellars I had not, if I remembered rightly been into them since my hasty search on the evening of the attack for perhaps the half of a minute I hesitated I would have been very willing to forego the task as indeed I am inclined to think any man well might for of all the great awe-inspiring rooms in this house the cellars are the hugest and weirdest great gloomy caverns of places unlit by any ray of daylight yet I would not shrink the work I felt that to do so with smack of sheer cowardice besides as I reassured myself the cellars were really the most unlikely places in which to come across anything dangerous considering that they can be entered only through a heavy oaken door the key of which I carry always on my person it is in the smallest of these places that I keep my wine a gloomy hole close to the foot of the cellar stairs and beyond which I have seldom proceeded indeed save for the rummage round already mentioned not whether I had ever before been right through the cellars as I unlocked the great door at the top of the steps I paused nervously a moment at the strange desolate smell that assailed my nostrils then throwing the barrel of my weapon forward I descended slowly into the darkness of the underground regions reaching the bottom of the stairs I stood for a moment and listened all was silent safe for a faint drip drip of water falling drop by drop somewhere to my left as I stood I noticed how quietly the candle burnt never a flicker nor flare so utterly windless was the place quietly I moved from cellar to cellar I had but a very dim memory of their arrangement the impressions left by my first search were blurred I had recollections of a succession of great cellars one greater than the rest the roof of which was upheld by pillars beyond that my mind was hazy and predominated by a sense of cold and darkness and shadows now however it was different for although nervous I was sufficiently collected to be able to look about me and note the structure and size of the different vaults I entered of course with the amount of light given by my candle it was not possible to examine each place minutely but I was unable to notice as I went along that the walls appeared to be built with wonderful precision and finish while here and there an occasional massive pillar shot up to support the vaulted roof thus I came at last to the great cellar that I remembered it is reached through a huge arched entrance on which I observed strange fantastic carvings which threw queer shadows under the light of my candle as I stood and examined these thoughtfully it occurred to me how strange it was that I should be so little acquainted with my own house yet this may be easily understood when one realizes the size of this ancient pile and the fact that only my sister and I live in it occupying a few of the rooms such as our once decide holding the light high I passed on into the cellar and keeping to the right paced slowly up until I reached the further end I walked quietly and looked cautiously about as I went but so far as the light showed I saw nothing unusual at the top I turned to the left still keeping to the wall and so continued until I had traversed the whole of the vast chamber as I moved along I noticed that the floor was composed of solid rock in places covered with a damp mold in others bare or almost so save for a thin coating of light grey dust I had halted at the doorway now however I turned and made my way up the center of the place passing among the pillars and glancing to right and left as I moved about halfway up the cellar I stubbed my foot against something that gave out a metallic sound stooping quickly I held my candle and saw the object I had kicked was a large metal ring bending lower I cleared the dust around it and presently discovered that it was attached to a ponderous trapped door black with age feeling excited and wondering to where it could lead I laid my gun on the floor and sticking the candle in the trigger guard took the ring in both hands and pulled the trap creaked loudly the sound echoing vaguely through the huge place and opened heavily propping the edge on my knee I reached for the candle and held it in the opening moving it right and left but I could see nothing I was puzzled and surprised there were no signs of steps nor even the appearance of there ever having been any nothing save an empty blackness I might have been looking down into a bottomless sideless well then even as I stared full of perplexity I seemed to hear far down as though from untold depths a faint whisper of sound I bent my head quickly more into the opening and listened intently it may have been fancy but I could have sworn to hear a soft titter that grew into a hideous chuckling faint and distant startled I leapt backward letting the trap fall with a hollow clang that filled the place with echoes even then I seemed to hear that mocking suggestive laughter but this I knew must be my imagination the sound I had heard was far too slight to penetrate through the cumbers trap for a full minute I stood there quivering glancing nervously behind and before but the great seller was silent as a grave and gradually I shook off the frightened sensation with a calmer mind I became again curious to know into what the trap opened but could not then summon sufficient courage to make a further investigation one thing I felt however was that the trap ought to be secured this I accomplished by placing upon it several large pieces of dressed stone which I had noticed in my tour along the east wall then after a final scrutiny of the rest of the place I retraced my way through the cellars to the stairs and so reached the daylight with an infinite feeling of relief that the uncomfortable task was accomplished End of Chapter 9 Recording by Alan Winteroud 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