The Boats of the Glen Carrig (15 page)

For perhaps something over an hour we stood there very silent and
listening; but there came to us no sound beyond the continuous noise of
the wind, and so, by that time, having grown somewhat impatient of
waiting, and the moon being well risen, the bo'sun beckoned to me to make
the round of the camp with him. Now, just as I turned away, chancing to
look downward at the clear water directly below, I was amazed to see that
an innumerable multitude of great fish, like unto those which I had seen
on the previous night, were swimming from the weed-continent towards the
island. At that, I stepped nearer the edge; for they came so directly
towards the island that I expected to see them close inshore; yet I could
not perceive one; for they seemed all of them to vanish at a point some
thirty yards distant from the beach, and at that, being amazed both by
the numbers of the fish and their strangeness, and the way in which they
came on continually, yet never reached the shore, I called to the bo'sun
to come and see; for he had gone on a few paces. Upon hearing my call, he
came running back; whereat I pointed into the sea below. At that, he
stooped forward and peered very intently, and I with him; yet neither one
of us could discover the meaning of so curious an exhibition, and so for
a while we watched, the bo'sun being quite so much interested as I.

Presently, however, he turned away, saying that we did foolishly to stand
here peering at every curious sight, when we should be looking to the
welfare of the camp, and so we began to go the round of the hill-top.
Now, whilst we had been watching and listening, we had suffered the fire
to die down to a most unwise lowness, and consequently, though the moon
was rising, there was by no means the same brightness that should have
made the camp light. On perceiving this, I went forward to throw some
fuel on to the fire, and then, even as I moved, it seemed to me that I
saw something stir in the shadow of the tent. And at that, I ran towards
the place, uttering a shout, and waving my cut-and-thrust; yet I found
nothing, and so, feeling somewhat foolish, I turned to make up the fire,
as had been my intention, and whilst I was thus busied, the bo'sun came
running over to me to know what I had seen, and in the same instant there
ran three of the men out of the tent, all of them waked by my sudden cry.
But I had naught to tell them, save that my fancy had played me a trick,
and had shown me something where my eyes could find nothing, and at that,
two of the men went back to resume their sleep; but the third, the big
fellow to whom the bo'sun had given the other cutlass, came with us,
bringing his weapon; and, though he kept silent, it seemed to me that he
had gathered something of our uneasiness; and for my part I was not sorry
to have his company.

Presently, we came to that portion of the hill which overhung the
valley, and I went to the edge of the cliff, intending to peer over; for
the valley had a very unholy fascination for me. Yet, no sooner had I
glanced down than I started, and ran back to the bo'sun and plucked him
by the sleeve, and at that, perceiving my agitation, he came with me in
silence to see what matter had caused me so much quiet excitement. Now,
when he looked over, he also was astounded, and drew back instantly;
then, using great caution, he bent forward once more, and stared down,
and, at that, the big seaman came up behind, walking upon his toes, and
stooped to see what manner of thing we had discovered. Thus we each of us
stared down upon a most unearthly sight; for the valley all beneath us
was a-swarm with moving creatures, white and unwholesome in the
moonlight, and their movements were somewhat like the movements of
monstrous slugs, though the things themselves had no resemblance to such
in their contours; but minded me of naked humans, very fleshy and
crawling upon their stomachs; yet their movements lacked not a surprising
rapidity. And now, looking a little over the bo'sun's shoulder, I
discovered that these hideous things were coming up out from the pit-like
pool in the bottom of the valley, and, suddenly, I was minded of the
multitudes of strange fish which we had seen swimming towards the island;
but which had all disappeared before reaching the shore, and I had no
doubt but that they entered the pit through some natural passage known to
them beneath the water. And now I was made to understand my thought of
the previous night, that I had seen the flicker of tentacles; for these
things below us had each two short and stumpy arms; but the ends appeared
divided into hateful and wriggling masses of small tentacles, which slid
hither and thither as the creatures moved about the bottom of the valley,
and at their hinder ends, where they should have grown feet, there seemed
other flickering bunches; but it must not be supposed that we saw these
things clearly.

Now it is scarcely possible to convey the extraordinary disgust which the
sight of these human slugs bred in me; nor, could I, do I think I would;
for were I successful, then would others be like to retch even as I did,
the spasm coming on without premonition, and born of very horror. And
then, suddenly, even as I stared, sick with loathing and apprehension,
there came into view, not a fathom below my feet, a face like to the face
which had peered up into my own on that night, as we drifted beside the
weed-continent. At that, I could have screamed, had I been in less
terror; for the great eyes, so big as crown pieces, the bill like to an
inverted parrot's, and the slug-like undulating of its white and slimy
body, bred in me the dumbness of one mortally stricken. And, even as I
stayed there, my helpless body bent and rigid, the bo'sun spat a mighty
curse into my ear, and, leaning forward, smote at the thing with his
cutlass; for in the instant that I had seen it, it had advanced upward by
so much as a yard. Now, at this action of the bo'sun's, I came suddenly
into possession of myself, and thrust downward with so much vigor that I
was like to have followed the brute's carcass; for I overbalanced, and
danced giddily for a moment upon the edge of eternity; and then the
bo'sun had me by the waistband, and I was back in safety; but in that
instant through which I had struggled for my balance, I had discovered
that the face of the cliff was near hid with the number of the things
which were making up to us, and I turned to the bo'sun, crying out to him
that there were thousands of them swarming up to us. Yet, he was gone
already from me, running towards the fire, and shouting to the men in the
tent to haste to our help for their very lives, and then he came racing
back with a great armful of the weed, and after him came the big seaman,
carrying a burning tuft from the camp fire, and so in a few moments we
had a blaze, and the men were bringing more weed; for we had a very good
stock upon the hill-top; for which the Almighty be thanked.

Now, scarce had we lit one fire, when the bo'sun cried out to the big
seaman to make another, further along the edge of the cliff, and, in the
same instant, I shouted, and ran over to that part of the hill which lay
towards the open sea; for I had seen a number of moving things about the
edge of the seaward cliff. Now here there was a deal of shadow; for there
were scattered certain large masses of rock about this part of the hill,
and these held off both the light of the moon, and that from the fires.
Here, I came abruptly upon three great shapes moving with stealthiness
towards the camp, and, behind these, I saw dimly that there were others.
Then, with a loud cry for help, I made at the three, and, as I charged,
they rose up on end at me, and I found that they overtopped me, and their
vile tentacles were reached out at me. Then I was smiting, and gasping,
sick with a sudden stench, the stench of the creatures which I had come
already to know. And then something clutched at me, something slimy and
vile, and great mandibles champed in my face; but I stabbed upward, and
the thing fell from me, leaving me dazed and sick, and smiting weakly.
Then there came a rush of feet behind, and a sudden blaze, and the bo'sun
crying out encouragement, and, directly, he and the big seaman thrust
themselves in front of me, hurling from them great masses of burning
weed, which they had borne, each of them, up a long reed. And immediately
the things were gone, slithering hastily down over the cliff edge.

And so, presently, I was more my own man, and made to wipe from my throat
the slime left by the clutch of the monster: and afterwards I ran from
fire to fire with weed, feeding them, and so a space passed, during
which we had safety; for by that time we had fires all about the top of
the hill, and the monsters were in mortal dread of fire, else had we been
dead, all of us, that night.

Now, a while before the dawn, we discovered, for the second time since we
had been upon the island, that our fuel could not last us the night at
the rate at which we were compelled to burn it, and so the bo'sun told
the men to let out every second fire, and thus we staved off for a while
the time when we should have to face a spell of darkness, and the things
which, at present, the fires held off from us. And so at last, we came to
the end of the weed and the reeds, and the bo'sun called out to us to
watch the cliff edges very carefully, and smite on the instant that any
thing showed; but that, should he call, all were to gather by the central
fire for a last stand. And, after that, he blasted the moon which had
passed behind a great bank of cloud. And thus matters were, and the gloom
deepened as the fires sank lower and lower. Then I heard a man curse, on
that part of the hill which lay towards the weed-continent, his cry
coming up to me against the wind, and the bo'sun shouted to us to all
have a care, and directly afterwards I smote at something that rose
silently above the edge of the cliff opposite to where I watched.

Perhaps a minute passed, and then there came shouts from all parts of the
hilltop, and I knew that the weed men were upon us, and in the same
instant there came two above the edge near me, rising with a ghostly
quietness, yet moving lithely. Now the first, I pierced somewhere in the
throat, and it fell backward; but the second, though I thrust it through,
caught my blade with a bunch of its tentacles, and was like to have
snatched it from me; but that I kicked it in the face, and at that,
being, I believe, more astonished than hurt, it loosed my sword, and
immediately fell away out of sight. Now this had taken, in all, no more
than some ten seconds; yet already I perceived so many as four others
coming into view a little to my right, and at that it seemed to me that
our deaths must be very near, for I knew not how we were to cope with the
creatures, coming as they were so boldly and with such rapidity. Yet, I
hesitated not, but ran at them, and now I thrust not; but cut at their
faces, and found this to be very effectual; for in this wise disposed I
of three in as many strokes; but the fourth had come right over the cliff
edge, and rose up at me upon its hinder parts, as had done those others
when the bo'sun had succored me. At that, I gave way, having a very
lively dread; but, hearing all about me the cries of conflict, and
knowing that I could expect no help, I made at the brute: then as it
stooped and reached out one of its bunches of tentacles, I sprang back,
and slashed at them, and immediately I followed this up by a thrust in
the stomach, and at that it collapsed into a writhing white ball, that
rolled this way and that, and so, in its agony, coming to the edge of the
cliff, it fell over, and I was left, sick and near helpless with the
hateful stench of the brutes.

Now by this time all the fires about the edges of the hill were sunken
into dull glowing mounds of embers; though that which burnt near to the
entrance of the tent was still of a good brightness; yet this helped us
but little, for we fought too far beyond the immediate circle of its
beams to have benefit of it. And still the moon, at which now I threw a
despairing glance, was no more than a ghostly shape behind the great bank
of cloud which was passing over it. Then, even as I looked upward,
glancing as it might be over my left shoulder, I saw, with a sudden
horror, that something had come anigh me, and upon the instant, I caught
the reek of the thing, and leapt fearfully to one side, turning as I
sprang. Thus was I saved in the very moment of my destruction; for the
creature's tentacles smeared the back of my neck as I leapt, and then I
had smitten, once and again, and conquered.

Immediately after this, I discovered something to be crossing the dark
space that lay between the dull mound of the nearest fire, and that which
lay further along the hill-top, and so, wasting no moment of time, I ran
towards the thing, and cut it twice across the head before ever it could
get upon its hind parts, in which position I had learned greatly to dread
them. Yet, no sooner had I slain this one, than there came a rush of
maybe a dozen upon me; these having climbed silently over the cliff edge
in the meanwhile. At this, I dodged, and ran madly towards the glowing
mound of the nearest fire, the brutes following me almost so quick as I
could run; but I came to the fire the first, and then, a sudden thought
coming to me, I thrust the point of my cut-and-thrust among the embers
and switched a great shower of them at the creatures, and at that I had a
momentary clear vision of many white, hideous faces stretched out towards
me, and brown, champing mandibles which had the upper beak shutting into
the lower; and the clumped, wriggling tentacles were all a-flutter. Then
the gloom came again; but immediately, I switched another and yet another
shower of the burning embers towards them, and so, directly, I saw them
give back, and then they were gone. At this, all about the edges of the
hilltop, I saw the fires being scattered in like manner; for others had
adopted this device to help them in their sore straits.