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The Beast in the Cave By H. P. Lovecraft  |
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The horrible conclusion which had been gradually obtruding itself upon my confused and reluctant
mind was now an awful certainty. I was lost, completely, hopelessly lost in the vast and labyrinthine
recesses of the Mammoth Cave. Turn as I might, in no direction could my straining vision seize
on any object capable of serving as a guidepost to set me on the outward path. That nevermore
should I behold the blessed light of day, or scan the pleasant hills and dales of the beautiful
world outside, my reason could no longer entertain the slightest unbelief. Hope had departed.
Yet, indoctrinated as I was by a life of philosophical study, I derived no small measure of
satisfaction from my unimpassioned demeanour; for although I had frequently read of the wild
frenzies into which were thrown the victims of similar situations, I experienced none of these,
but stood quiet as soon as I clearly realised the loss of my bearings.  Nor did the thought that I had probably wandered beyond the utmost limits of
an ordinary search cause me to abandon my composure even for a moment. If I must die, I reflected,
then was this terrible yet majestic cavern as welcome a sepulchre as that which any churchyard
might afford; a conception which carried with it more of tranquility than of despair.Starving would prove my ultimate fate; of this I was certain. Some, I knew,
had gone mad under circumstances such as these, but I felt that this end would not be mine.
My disaster was the result of no fault save my own, since unbeknown to the guide I had separated
myself from the regular party of sightseers; and, wandering for over an hour in forbidden avenues
of the cave, had found myself unable to retrace the devious windings which I had pursued since
forsaking my companions.Already my torch had begun to expire; soon I would be enveloped by the total
and almost palpable blackness of the bowels of the earth. As I stood in the waning, unsteady
light, I idly wondered over the exact circumstances of my coming end. I remembered the accounts
which I had heard of the colony of consumptives, who, taking their residence in this gigantic
grotto to find health from the apparently salubrious air of the underground world, with its
steady, uniform temperature, pure air, and peaceful quiet, had found, instead, death in strange
and ghastly form. I had seen the sad remains of their ill-made cottages as I passed them by
with the party, and had wondered what unnatural influence a long sojourn in this immense and
silent cavern would exert upon one as healthy and as vigorous as I. Now, I grimly told myself,
my opportunity for settling this point had arrived, provided that want of food should not bring
me too speedy a departure from this life.As the last fitful rays of my torch faded into obscurity, I resolved to leave
no stone unturned, no possible means of escape neglected; so summoning all the powers possessed
by my lungs, I set up a series of loud shoutings, in the vain hope of attracting the attention
of the guide by my clamour. Yet, as I called, I believed in my heart that my cries were to no
purpose, and that my voice, magnified and reflected by the numberless ramparts of the black
maze about me, fell upon no ears save my own. All at once, however, my attention was fixed with
a start as I fancied that I heard the sound of soft approaching steps on the rocky floor of
the cavern. Was my deliverance about to be accomplished so soon? Had, then, all my horrible
apprehensions been for naught, and was the guide, having marked my unwarranted absence from
the party, following my course and seeking me out in this limestone labyrinth? Whilst these
joyful queries arose in my brain, I was on the point of renewing my cries, in order that my
discovery might come the sooner, when in an instant my delight was turned to horror as I listened;
for my ever acute ear, now sharpened in even greater degree by the complete silence of the cave,
bore to my benumbed understanding the unexpected and dreadful knowledge that these footfalls
were not like those of any mortal man. In the unearthly stillness of this subterranean
region, the tread of the booted guide would have sounded like a series of sharp and incisive
blows. These impacts were soft, and stealthy, as of the padded paws of some feline. Besides,
at times, when I listened carefully, I seemed to trace the falls of four instead
of two feet.I was now convinced that I had by my cries aroused and attracted some wild
beast, perhaps a mountain lion which had accidentally strayed within the cave. Perhaps, I considered,
the Almighty had chosen for me a swifter and more merciful death than that of hunger. Yet the
instinct of self-preservation, never wholly dormant, was stirred in my breast, and though escape
from the oncoming peril might but spare me for a sterner and more lingering end, I determined
nevertheless to part with my life at as high a price as I could command. Strange as it may seem,
my mind conceived of no intent on the part of the visitor save that of hostility. Accordingly,
I became very quiet, in the hope that the unknown beast would, in the absence of a guiding sound,
lose its direction as had I, and thus pass me by. But this hope was not destined for realisation,
for the strange footfalls steadily advanced, the animal evidently having obtained my scent,
which in an atmosphere so absolutely free from all distracting influences as is that of the
cave, could doubtless be followed at great distance.Seeing therefore that I must be armed for defence against an uncanny and unseen
attack in the dark, I grouped about me the largest of the fragments of rock which were strown
upon all parts of the floor of the cavern in the vicinity, and, grasping one in each hand for
immediate use, awaited with resignation the inevitable result. Meanwhile the hideous pattering
of the paws drew near. Certainly, the conduct of the creature was exceedingly strange. Most
of the time, the tread seemed to be that of a quadruped, walking with a singular lack of
unison betwixt hind and fore feet, yet at brief and infrequent intervals I fancied that
but two feet were engaged in the process of locomotion. I wondered what species of animal was
to confront me; it must, I thought, be some unfortunate beast who had paid for its curiosity
to investigate one of the entrances of the fearful grotto with a lifelong confinement in its
interminable recesses. It doubtless obtained as food the eyeless fish, bats, and rats of the
cave, as well as some of the ordinary fish that are wafted in at every freshet of Green River,
which communicates in some occult manner with the waters of the cave. I occupied my terrible
vigil with grotesque conjectures of what alterations cave life might have wrought in the physical
structure of the beast, remembering the awful appearances ascribed by local tradition to the
consumptives who had died after long residence in the cavern. Then I remembered with a start
that, even should I succeed in killing my antagonist, I should never behold its form,
as my torch had long since been extinct, and I was entirely unprovided with matches. The tension
on my brain now became frightful. My disordered fancy conjured up hideous and fearsome shapes
from the sinister darkness that surrounded me, and that actually seemed to press upon
my body. Nearer, nearer, the dreadful footfalls approached. It seemed that I must give vent
to a piercing scream, yet had I been sufficiently irresolute to attempt such a thing, my voice
could scarce have responded. I was petrified, rooted to the spot. I doubted if my right arm
would allow me to hurl its missile at the oncoming thing when the crucial moment should arrive.
Now the steady pat, pat, of the steps was close at hand; now, very close. I could
hear the laboured breathing of the animal, and terror-struck as I was, I realised that it must
have come from a considerable distance, and was correspondingly fatigued. Suddenly the spell
broke. My right hand, guided by my ever trustworthy sense of hearing, threw with full force
the sharp-angled bit of limestone which it contained, toward that point in the darkness from
which emanated the breathing and pattering, and, wonderful to relate, it nearly reached its
goal, for I heard the thing jump, landing at a distance away, where it seemed to pause.Having readjusted my aim, I discharged my second missile, this time most effectively,
for with a flood of joy I listened as the creature fell in what sounded like a complete collapse,
and evidently remained prone and unmoving. Almost overpowered by the great relief which rushed
over me, I reeled back against the wall. The breathing continued, in heavy, gasping inhalations
and expirations, whence I realised that I had no more than wounded the creature. And now all
desire to examine the thing ceased. At last something allied to groundless, superstitious,
fear had entered my brain, and I did not approach the body, nor did I continue to cast stones
at it in order to complete the extinction of its life. Instead, I ran at full speed in what
was, as nearly as I could estimate in my frenzied condition, the direction from which I had
come. Suddenly I heard a sound, or rather, a regular succession of sounds. In another instant
they had resolved themselves into a series of sharp, metallic clicks. This time there was no
doubt. It was the guide. And then I shouted, yelled, screamed, even shrieked with joy
as I beheld in the vaulted arches above the faint and glimmering effulgence which I knew to
be the reflected light of an approaching torch. I ran to meet the flare, and before I could
completely understand what had occurred, was lying upon the ground at the feet of the guide,
embracing his boots, and gibbering, despite my boasted reserve, in a most meaningless and idiotic
manner, pouring out my terrible story, and at the same time overwhelming my auditor with protestations
of gratitude. At length I awoke to something like my normal consciousness. The guide had noted
my absence upon the arrival of the party at the entrance of the cave, and had, from his own
intuitive sense of direction, proceeded to make a thorough canvass of the by-passages just ahead
of where he had last spoken to me, locating my whereabouts after a quest of about four hours.By the time he had related this to me, I, emboldened by his torch and his company,
began to reflect upon the strange beast which I had wounded but a short distance back in the
darkness, and suggested that we ascertain, by the rushlight’s aid, what manner of creature
was my victim. Accordingly I retraced my steps, this time with a courage born of companionship,
to the scene of my terrible experience. Soon we descried a white object upon the floor, an object
whiter even than the gleaming limestone itself. Cautiously advancing, we gave vent to a simultaneous
ejaculation of wonderment, for of all the unnatural monsters either of us had in our lifetimes
beheld, this was in surpassing degree the strangest. It appeared to be an anthropoid ape of
large proportions, escaped, perhaps, from some itinerant menagerie. Its hair was snow-white,
a thing due no doubt to the bleaching action of a long existence within the inky confines of
the cave, but it was also surprisingly thin, being indeed largely absent save on the head, where
it was of such length and abundance that it fell over the shoulders in considerable profusion.
The face was turned away from us, as the creature lay almost directly upon it. The inclination
of the limbs was very singular, explaining, however, the alternation in their use which I had
before noted, whereby the beast used sometimes all four, and on other occasions but two for
its progress. From the tips of the fingers or toes long nail-like claws extended. The hands
or feet were not prehensile, a fact that I ascribed to that long residence in the cave which,
as I before mentioned, seemed evident from the all-pervading and almost unearthly whiteness
so characteristic of the whole anatomy. No tail seemed to be present.The respiration had now grown very feeble, and the guide had drawn his pistol
with the evident intent of despatching the creature, when a sudden sound emitted by the
latter caused the weapon to fall unused. The sound was of a nature difficult to describe. It
was not like the normal note of any known species of simian, and I wondered if this unnatural
quality were not the result of a long-continued and complete silence, broken by the sensations
produced by the advent of the light, a thing which the beast could not have seen since its first
entrance into the cave. The sound, which I might feebly attempt to classify as a kind of deep-toned
chattering, was faintly continued. All at once a fleeting spasm of energy seemed to pass through
the frame of the beast. The paws went through a convulsive motion, and the limbs contracted.
With a jerk, the white body rolled over so that its face was turned in our direction. For a
moment I was so struck with horror at the eyes thus revealed that I noted nothing else. They
were black, those eyes, deep, jetty black, in hideous contrast to the snow-white hair and flesh.
Like those of other cave denizens, they were deeply sunken in their orbits, and were entirely
destitute of iris. As I looked more closely, I saw that they were set in a face less prognathous
than that of the average ape, and infinitely more hairy. The nose was quite distinct.As we gazed upon the uncanny sight presented to our vision, the thick lips
opened, and several sounds issued from them, after which the thing relaxed in
death.The guide clutched my coat-sleeve and trembled so violently that the light
shook fitfully, casting weird, moving shadows on the walls about us.I made no motion, but stood rigidly still, my horrified eyes fixed upon the
floor ahead.Then fear left, and wonder, awe, compassion, and reverence succeeded in its
place, for the sounds uttered by the stricken figure that lay stretched out on the limestone
had told us the awesome truth. The creature I had killed, the strange beast of the unfathomed
cave was, or had at one time been, a MAN!!! | |||||||||||||
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