Our own party of nearly twenty had returned to Montreal that very day, and I was left in solitary6 possession for a week or two longer, in order to accomplish some important "reading" for the law which I had foolishly neglected during the summer.
It was late in September, and the big trout7 and maskinonge were stirring themselves in the depths of the lake, and beginning slowly to move up to the surface waters as the north winds and early frosts lowered their temperature. Already the maples8 were crimson9 and gold, and the wild laughter of the loons echoed in sheltered bays that never knew their strange cry in the summer.
With a whole island to oneself, a two-storey cottage, a canoe, and only the chipmunks10, and the farmer's weekly visit with eggs and bread, to disturb one, the opportunities for hard reading might be very great. It all depends!
The rest of the party had gone off with many warnings to beware of Indians, and not to stay late enough to be the victim of a frost that thinks nothing of forty below zero. After they had gone, the loneliness of the situation made itself unpleasantly felt. There were no other islands within six or seven miles, and though the mainland forests lay a couple of miles behind me, they stretched for a very great distance unbroken by any signs of human habitation. But, though the island was completely deserted11 and silent, the rocks and trees that had echoed human laughter and voices almost every hour of the day for two months could not fail to retain some memories of it all; and I was not surprised to fancy I heard a shout or a cry as I passed from rock to rock, and more than once to imagine that I heard my own name called aloud.
In the cottage there were six tiny little bedrooms divided from one another by plain unvarnished partitions of pine. A wooden bedstead, a mattress12, and a chair, stood in each room, but I only found two mirrors, and one of these was broken.
The boards creaked a good deal as I moved about, and the signs of occupation were so recent that I could hardly believe I was alone. I half expected to find someone left behind, still trying to crowd into a box more than it would hold. The door of one room was stiff, and refused for a moment to open, and it required very little persuasion13 to imagine someone was holding the handle on the inside, and that when it opened I should meet a pair of human eyes.
A thorough search of the floor led me to select as my own sleeping quarters a little room with a diminutive14 balcony over the verandah roof. The room was very small, but the bed was large, and had the best mattress of them all. It was situated15 directly over the sitting-room16 where I should live and do my "reading," and the miniature window looked out to the rising sun. With the exception of a narrow path which led from the front door and verandah through the trees to the boat-landing, the island was densely17 covered with maples, hemlocks18, and cedars20. The trees gathered in round the cottage so closely that the slightest wind made the branches scrape the roof and tap the wooden walls. A few moments after sunset the darkness became impenetrable, and ten yards beyond the glare of the lamps that shone through the sitting-room windows—of which there were four—you could not see an inch before your nose, nor move a step without running up against a tree.
The rest of that day I spent moving my belongings21 from my tent to the sitting-room, taking stock of the contents of the larder22, and chopping enough wood for the stove to last me for a week. After that, just before sunset, I went round the island a couple of times in my canoe for precaution's sake. I had never dreamed of doing this before, but when a man is alone he does things that never occur to him when he is one of a large party.
How lonely the island seemed when I landed again! The sun was down, and twilight23 is unknown in these northern regions. The darkness comes up at once. The canoe safely pulled up and turned over on her face, I groped my way up the little narrow pathway to the verandah. The six lamps were soon burning merrily in the front room; but in the kitchen, where I "dined," the shadows were so gloomy, and the lamplight was so inadequate24, that the stars could be seen peeping through the cracks between the rafters.
I turned in early that night. Though it was calm and there was no wind, the creaking of my bedstead and the musical gurgle of the water over the rocks below were not the only sounds that reached my ears. As I lay awake, the appalling25 emptiness of the house grew upon me. The corridors and vacant rooms seemed to echo innumerable footsteps, shufflings, the rustle27 of skirts, and a constant undertone of whispering. When sleep at length overtook me, the breathings and noises, however, passed gently to mingle28 with the voices of my dreams.
A week passed by, and the "reading" progressed favourably29. On the tenth day of my solitude30, a strange thing happened. I awoke after a good night's sleep to find myself possessed31 with a marked repugnance32 for my room. The air seemed to stifle33 me. The more I tried to define the cause of this dislike, the more unreasonable34 it appeared. There was something about the room that made me afraid. Absurd as it seems, this feeling clung to me obstinately35 while dressing36, and more than once I caught myself shivering, and conscious of an inclination37 to get out of the room as quickly as possible. The more I tried to laugh it away, the more real it became; and when at last I was dressed, and went out into the passage, and downstairs into the kitchen, it was with feelings of relief, such as I might imagine would accompany one's escape from the presence of a dangerous contagious38 disease.
While cooking my breakfast, I carefully recalled every night spent in the room, in the hope that I might in some way connect the dislike I now felt with some disagreeable incident that had occurred in it. But the only thing I could recall was one stormy night when I suddenly awoke and heard the boards creaking so loudly in the corridor that I was convinced there were people in the house. So certain was I of this, that I had descended40 the stairs, gun in hand, only to find the doors and windows securely fastened, and the mice and black-beetles in sole possession of the floor. This was certainly not sufficient to account for the strength of my feelings.
The morning hours I spent in steady reading; and when I broke off in the middle of the day for a swim and luncheon42, I was very much surprised, if not a little alarmed, to find that my dislike for the room had, if anything, grown stronger. Going upstairs to get a book, I experienced the most marked aversion to entering the room, and while within I was conscious all the time of an uncomfortable feeling that was half uneasiness and half apprehension43. The result of it was that, instead of reading, I spent the afternoon on the water paddling and fishing, and when I got home about sundown, brought with me half a dozen delicious black bass44 for the supper-table and the larder.
As sleep was an important matter to me at this time, I had decided45 that if my aversion to the room was so strongly marked on my return as it had been before, I would move my bed down into the sitting-room, and sleep there. This was, I argued, in no sense a concession46 to an absurd and fanciful fear, but simply a precaution to ensure a good night's sleep. A bad night involved the loss of the next day's reading,—a loss I was not prepared to incur47.
I accordingly moved my bed downstairs into a corner of the sitting-room facing the door, and was moreover uncommonly48 glad when the operation was completed, and the door of the bedroom closed finally upon the shadows, the silence, and the strange fear that shared the room with them.
The croaking49 stroke of the kitchen clock sounded the hour of eight as I finished washing up my few dishes, and closing the kitchen door behind me, passed into the front room. All the lamps were lit, and their reflectors, which I had polished up during the day, threw a blaze of light into the room.
Outside the night was still and warm. Not a breath of air was stirring; the waves were silent, the trees motionless, and heavy clouds hung like an oppressive curtain over the heavens. The darkness seemed to have rolled up with unusual swiftness, and not the faintest glow of colour remained to show where the sun had set. There was present in the atmosphere that ominous50 and overwhelming silence which so often precedes the most violent storms.
I sat down to my books with my brain unusually clear, and in my heart the pleasant satisfaction of knowing that five black bass were lying in the ice-house, and that to-morrow morning the old farmer would arrive with fresh bread and eggs. I was soon absorbed in my books.
As the night wore on the silence deepened. Even the chipmunks were still; and the boards of the floors and walls ceased creaking. I read on steadily51 till, from the gloomy shadows of the kitchen, came the hoarse52 sound of the clock striking nine. How loud the strokes sounded! They were like blows of a big hammer. I closed one book and opened another, feeling that I was just warming up to my work.
This, however, did not last long. I presently found that I was reading the same paragraphs over twice, simple paragraphs that did not require such effort. Then I noticed that my mind began to wander to other things, and the effort to recall my thoughts became harder with each digression. Concentration was growing momentarily more difficult. Presently I discovered that I had turned over two pages instead of one, and had not noticed my mistake until I was well down the page. This was becoming serious. What was the disturbing influence? It could not be physical fatigue53. On the contrary, my mind was unusually alert, and in a more receptive condition than usual. I made a new and determined54 effort to read, and for a short time succeeded in giving my whole attention to my subject. But in a very few moments again I found myself leaning back in my chair, staring vacantly into space.
Something was evidently at work in my sub-consciousness. There was something I had neglected to do. Perhaps the kitchen door and windows were not fastened. I accordingly went to see, and found that they were! The fire perhaps needed attention. I went in to see, and found that it was all right! I looked at the lamps, went upstairs into every bedroom in turn, and then went round the house, and even into the ice-house. Nothing was wrong; everything was in its place. Yet something was wrong! The conviction grew stronger and stronger within me.
When I at length settled down to my books again and tried to read, I became aware, for the first time, that the room seemed growing cold. Yet the day had been oppressively warm, and evening had brought no relief. The six big lamps, moreover, gave out heat enough to warm the room pleasantly. But a chilliness55, that perhaps crept up from the lake, made itself felt in the room, and caused me to get up to close the glass door opening on to the verandah.
For a brief moment I stood looking out at the shaft56 of light that fell from the windows and shone some little distance down the pathway, and out for a few feet into the lake.
As I looked, I saw a canoe glide57 into the pathway of light, and immediately crossing it, pass out of sight again into the darkness. It was perhaps a hundred feet from the shore, and it moved swiftly.
I was surprised that a canoe should pass the island at that time of night, for all the summer visitors from the other side of the lake had gone home weeks before, and the island was a long way out of any line of water traffic.
My reading from this moment did not make very good progress, for somehow the picture of that canoe, gliding59 so dimly and swiftly across the narrow track of light on the black waters, silhouetted60 itself against the background of my mind with singular vividness. It kept coming between my eyes and the printed page. The more I thought about it the more surprised I became. It was of larger build than any I had seen during the past summer months, and was more like the old Indian war canoes with the high curving bows and stern and wide beam. The more I tried to read, the less success attended my efforts; and finally I closed my books and went out on the verandah to walk up and down a bit, and shake the chilliness out of my bones.
The night was perfectly61 still, and as dark as imaginable. I stumbled down the path to the little landing wharf62, where the water made the very faintest of gurgling under the timbers. The sound of a big tree falling in the mainland forest, far across the lake, stirred echoes in the heavy air, like the first guns of a distant night attack. No other sound disturbed the stillness that reigned63 supreme64.
As I stood upon the wharf in the broad splash of light that followed me from the sitting-room windows, I saw another canoe cross the pathway of uncertain light upon the water, and disappear at once into the impenetrable gloom that lay beyond. This time I saw more distinctly than before. It was like the former canoe, a big birch-bark, with high-crested bows and stern and broad beam. It was paddled by two Indians, of whom the one in the stern—the steerer—appeared to be a very large man. I could see this very plainly; and though the second canoe was much nearer the island than the first, I judged that they were both on their way home to the Government Reservation, which was situated some fifteen miles away upon the mainland.
I was wondering in my mind what could possibly bring any Indians down to this part of the lake at such an hour of the night, when a third canoe, of precisely65 similar build, and also occupied by two Indians, passed silently round the end of the wharf. This time the canoe was very much nearer shore, and it suddenly flashed into my mind that the three canoes were in reality one and the same, and that only one canoe was circling the island!
This was by no means a pleasant reflection, because, if it were the correct solution of the unusual appearance of the three canoes in this lonely part of the lake at so late an hour, the purpose of the two men could only reasonably be considered to be in some way connected with myself. I had never known of the Indians attempting any violence upon the settlers who shared the wild, inhospitable country with them; at the same time, it was not beyond the region of possibility to suppose. . . . But then I did not care even to think of such hideous66 possibilities, and my imagination immediately sought relief in all manner of other solutions to the problem, which indeed came readily enough to my mind, but did not succeed in recommending themselves to my reason.
Meanwhile, by a sort of instinct, I stepped back out of the bright light in which I had hitherto been standing67, and waited in the deep shadow of a rock to see if the canoe would again make its appearance. Here I could see, without being seen, and the precaution seemed a wise one.
After less than five minutes the canoe, as I had anticipated, made its fourth appearance. This time it was not twenty yards from the wharf, and I saw that the Indians meant to land. I recognised the two men as those who had passed before, and the steerer was certainly an immense fellow. It was unquestionably the same canoe. There could be no longer any doubt that for some purpose of their own the men had been going round and round the island for some time, waiting for an opportunity to land. I strained my eyes to follow them in the darkness, but the night had completely swallowed them up, and not even the faintest swish of the paddles reached my ears as the Indians plied68 their long and powerful strokes. The canoe would be round again in a few moments, and this time it was possible that the men might land. It was well to be prepared. I knew nothing of their intentions, and two to one (when the two are big Indians!) late at night on a lonely island was not exactly my idea of pleasant intercourse69.
In a corner of the sitting-room, leaning up against the back wall, stood my Marlin rifle, with ten cartridges70 in the magazine and one lying snugly71 in the greased breech. There was just time to get up to the house and take up a position of defence in that corner. Without an instant's hesitation72 I ran up to the verandah, carefully picking my way among the trees, so as to avoid being seen in the light. Entering the room, I shut the door leading to the verandah, and as quickly as possible turned out every one of the six lamps. To be in a room so brilliantly lighted, where my every movement could be observed from outside, while I could see nothing but impenetrable darkness at every window, was by all laws of warfare73 an unnecessary concession to the enemy. And this enemy, if enemy it was to be, was far too wily and dangerous to be granted any such advantages.
I stood in the corner of the room with my back against the wall, and my hand on the cold rifle-barrel. The table, covered with my books, lay between me and the door, but for the first few minutes after the lights were out the darkness was so intense that nothing could be discerned at all. Then, very gradually, the outline of the room became visible, and the framework of the windows began to shape itself dimly before my eyes.
After a few minutes the door (its upper half of glass), and the two windows that looked out upon the front verandah, became specially74 distinct; and I was glad that this was so, because if the Indians came up to the house I should be able to see their approach, and gather something of their plans. Nor was I mistaken, for there presently came to my ears the peculiar hollow sound of a canoe landing and being carefully dragged up over the rocks. The paddles I distinctly heard being placed underneath75, and the silence that ensued thereupon I rightly interpreted to mean that the Indians were stealthily approaching the house. . . .
While it would be absurd to claim that I was not alarmed—even frightened—at the gravity of the situation and its possible outcome, I speak the whole truth when I say that I was not overwhelmingly afraid for myself. I was conscious that even at this stage of the night I was passing into a psychical condition in which my sensations seemed no longer normal. Physical fear at no time entered into the nature of my feelings; and though I kept my hand upon my rifle the greater part of the night, I was all the time conscious that its assistance could be of little avail against the terrors that I had to face. More than once I seemed to feel most curiously76 that I was in no real sense a part of the proceedings77, nor actually involved in them, but that I was playing the part of a spectator—a spectator, moreover, on a psychic3 rather than on a material plane. Many of my sensations that night were too vague for definite description and analysis, but the main feeling that will stay with me to the end of my days is the awful horror of it all, and the miserable78 sensation that if the strain had lasted a little longer than was actually the case my mind must inevitably79 have given way.
Meanwhile I stood still in my corner, and waited patiently for what was to come. The house was as still as the grave, but the inarticulate voices of the night sang in my ears, and I seemed to hear the blood running in my veins80 and dancing in my pulses.
If the Indians came to the back of the house, they would find the kitchen door and window securely fastened. They could not get in there without making considerable noise, which I was bound to hear. The only mode of getting in was by means of the door that faced me, and I kept my eyes glued on that door without taking them off for the smallest fraction of a second.
My sight adapted itself every minute better to the darkness. I saw the table that nearly filled the room, and left only a narrow passage on each side. I could also make out the straight backs of the wooden chairs pressed up against it, and could even distinguish my papers and inkstand lying on the white oilcloth covering. I thought of the gay faces that had gathered round that table during the summer, and I longed for the sunlight as I had never longed for it before.
Less than three feet to my left the passage-way led to the kitchen, and the stairs leading to the bedrooms above commenced in this passage-way, but almost in the sitting-room itself. Through the windows I could see the dim motionless outlines of the trees: not a leaf stirred, not a branch moved.
A few moments of this awful silence, and then I was aware of a soft tread on the boards of the verandah, so stealthy that it seemed an impression directly on my brain rather than upon the nerves of hearing. Immediately afterwards a black figure darkened the glass door, and I perceived that a face was pressed against the upper panes82. A shiver ran down my back, and my hair was conscious of a tendency to rise and stand at right angles to my head.
It was the figure of an Indian, broad-shouldered and immense; indeed, the largest figure of a man I have ever seen outside of a circus hall. By some power of light that seemed to generate itself in the brain, I saw the strong dark face with the aquiline83 nose and high cheek-bones flattened84 against the glass. The direction of the gaze I could not determine; but faint gleams of light as the big eyes rolled round and showed their whites, told me plainly that no corner of the room escaped their searching.
For what seemed fully39 five minutes the dark figure stood there, with the huge shoulders bent85 forward so as to bring the head down to the level of the glass; while behind him, though not nearly so large, the shadowy form of the other Indian swayed to and fro like a bent tree. While I waited in an agony of suspense86 and agitation87 for their next movement little currents of icy sensation ran up and down my spine88 and my heart seemed alternately to stop beating and then start off again with terrifying rapidity. They must have heard its thumping89 and the singing of the blood in my head! Moreover, I was conscious, as I felt a cold stream of perspiration90 trickle91 down my face, of a desire to scream, to shout, to bang the walls like a child, to make a noise, or do anything that would relieve the suspense and bring things to a speedy climax92.
It was probably this inclination that led me to another discovery, for when I tried to bring my rifle from behind my back to raise it and have it pointed93 at the door ready to fire, I found that I was powerless to move. The muscles, paralysed by this strange fear, refused to obey the will. Here indeed was a terrifying complication!
There was a faint sound of rattling94 at the brass95 knob, and the door was pushed open a couple of inches. A pause of a few seconds, and it was pushed open still further. Without a sound of footsteps that was appreciable96 to my ears, the two figures glided97 into the room, and the man behind gently closed the door after him.
They were alone with me between the four walls. Could they see me standing there, so still and straight in my corner? Had they, perhaps, already seen me? My blood surged and sang like the roll of drums in an orchestra; and though I did my best to suppress my breathing, it sounded like the rushing of wind through a pneumatic tube.
My suspense as to the next move was soon at an end—only, however, to give place to a new and keener alarm. The men had hitherto exchanged no words and no signs, but there were general indications of a movement across the room, and whichever way they went they would have to pass round the table. If they came my way they would have to pass within six inches of my person. While I was considering this very disagreeable possibility, I perceived that the smaller Indian (smaller by comparison) suddenly raised his arm and pointed to the ceiling. The other fellow raised his head and followed the direction of his companion's arm. I began to understand at last. They were going upstairs, and the room directly overhead to which they pointed had been until this night my bedroom. It was the room in which I had experienced that very morning so strange a sensation of fear, and but for which I should then have been lying asleep in the narrow bed against the window.
The Indians then began to move silently around the room; they were going upstairs, and they were coming round my side of the table. So stealthy were their movements that, but for the abnormally sensitive state of the nerves, I should never have heard them. As it was, their cat-like tread was distinctly audible. Like two monstrous98 black cats they came round the table toward me, and for the first time I perceived that the smaller of the two dragged something along the floor behind him. As it trailed along over the floor with a soft, sweeping99 sound, I somehow got the impression that it was a large dead thing with outstretched wings, or a large, spreading cedar19 branch. Whatever it was, I was unable to see it even in outline, and I was too terrified, even had I possessed the power over my muscles, to move my neck forward in the effort to determine its nature.
Nearer and nearer they came. The leader rested a giant hand upon the table as he moved. My lips were glued together, and the air seemed to burn in my nostrils100. I tried to close my eyes, so that I might not see as they passed me; but my eyelids101 had stiffened102, and refused to obey. Would they never get by me? Sensation seemed also to have left my legs, and it was as if I were standing on mere103 supports of wood or stone. Worse still, I was conscious that I was losing the power of balance, the power to stand upright, or even to lean backwards104 against the wall. Some force was drawing me forward, and a dizzy terror seized me that I should lose my balance, and topple forward against the Indians just as they were in the act of passing me.
Even moments drawn105 out into hours must come to an end some time, and almost before I knew it the figures had passed me and had their feet upon the lower step of the stairs leading to the upper bedrooms. There could not have been six inches between us, and yet I was conscious only of a current of cold air that followed them. They had not touched me, and I was convinced that they had not seen me. Even the trailing thing on the floor behind them had not touched my feet, as I had dreaded107 it would, and on such an occasion as this I was grateful even for the smallest mercies.
The absence of the Indians from my immediate58 neighbourhood brought little sense of relief. I stood shivering and shuddering108 in my corner, and, beyond being able to breathe more freely, I felt no whit81 less uncomfortable. Also, I was aware that a certain light, which, without apparent source or rays, had enabled me to follow their every gesture and movement, had gone out of the room with their departure. An unnatural109 darkness now filled the room, and pervaded110 its every corner so that I could barely make out the positions of the windows and the glass doors.
As I said before, my condition was evidently an abnormal one. The capacity for feeling surprise seemed, as in dreams, to be wholly absent. My senses recorded with unusual accuracy every smallest occurrence, but I was able to draw only the simplest deductions111.
The Indians soon reached the top of the stairs, and there they halted for a moment. I had not the faintest clue as to their next movement. They appeared to hesitate. They were listening attentively112. Then I heard one of them, who by the weight of his soft tread must have been the giant, cross the narrow corridor and enter the room directly overhead—my own little bedroom. But for the insistence113 of that unaccountable dread106 I had experienced there in the morning, I should at that very moment have been lying in the bed with the big Indian in the room standing beside me.
For the space of a hundred seconds there was silence, such as might have existed before the birth of sound. It was followed by a long quivering shriek114 of terror, which rang out into the night, and ended in a short gulp115 before it had run its full course. At the same moment the other Indian left his place at the head of the stairs, and joined his companion in the bedroom. I heard the "thing" trailing behind him along the floor. A thud followed, as of something heavy falling, and then all became as still and silent as before.
It was at this point that the atmosphere, surcharged all day with the electricity of a fierce storm, found relief in a dancing flash of brilliant lightning simultaneously116 with a crash of loudest thunder. For five seconds every article in the room was visible to me with amazing distinctness, and through the windows I saw the tree trunks standing in solemn rows. The thunder pealed117 and echoed across the lake and among the distant islands, and the flood-gates of heaven then opened and let out their rain in streaming torrents118.
The drops fell with a swift rushing sound upon the still waters of the lake, which leaped up to meet them, and pattered with the rattle119 of shot on the leaves of the maples and the roof of the cottage. A moment later, and another flash, even more brilliant and of longer duration than the first, lit up the sky from zenith to horizon, and bathed the room momentarily in dazzling whiteness. I could see the rain glistening120 on the leaves and branches outside. The wind rose suddenly, and in less than a minute the storm that had been gathering121 all day burst forth122 in its full fury.
Above all the noisy voices of the elements, the slightest sounds in the room overhead made themselves heard, and in the few seconds of deep silence that followed the shriek of terror and pain I was aware that the movements had commenced again. The men were leaving the room and approaching the top of the stairs. A short pause, and they began to descend41. Behind them, tumbling from step to step, I could hear that trailing "thing" being dragged along. It had become ponderous123!
I awaited their approach with a degree of calmness, almost of apathy124, which was only explicable on the ground that after a certain point Nature applies her own an?sthetic, and a merciful condition of numbness125 supervenes. On they came, step by step, nearer and nearer, with the shuffling26 sound of the burden behind growing louder as they approached.
They were already half-way down the stairs when I was galvanised afresh into a condition of terror by the consideration of a new and horrible possibility. It was the reflection that if another vivid flash of lightning were to come when the shadowy procession was in the room, perhaps when it was actually passing in front of me, I should see everything in detail, and worse, be seen myself! I could only hold my breath and wait—wait while the minutes lengthened126 into hours, and the procession made its slow progress round the room.
The Indians had reached the foot of the staircase. The form of the huge leader loomed127 in the doorway128 of the passage, and the burden with an ominous thud had dropped from the last step to the floor. There was a moment's pause while I saw the Indian turn and stoop to assist his companion. Then the procession moved forward again, entered the room close on my left, and began to move slowly round my side of the table. The leader was already beyond me, and his companion, dragging on the floor behind him the burden, whose confused outline I could dimly make out, was exactly in front of me, when the cavalcade129 came to a dead halt. At the same moment, with the strange suddenness of thunderstorms, the splash of the rain ceased altogether, and the wind died away into utter silence.
For the space of five seconds my heart seemed to stop beating, and then the worst came. A double flash of lightning lit up the room and its contents with merciless vividness.
The huge Indian leader stood a few feet past me on my right. One leg was stretched forward in the act of taking a step. His immense shoulders were turned toward his companion, and in all their magnificent fierceness I saw the outline of his features. His gaze was directed upon the burden his companion was dragging along the floor; but his profile, with the big aquiline nose, high cheek-bone, straight black hair and bold chin, burnt itself in that brief instant into my brain, never again to fade.
Dwarfish130, compared with this gigantic figure, appeared the proportions of the other Indian, who, within twelve inches of my face, was stooping over the thing he was dragging in a position that lent to his person the additional horror of deformity. And the burden, lying upon a sweeping cedar branch which he held and dragged by a long stem, was the body of a white man. The scalp had been neatly131 lifted, and blood lay in a broad smear132 upon the cheeks and forehead.
Then, for the first time that night, the terror that had paralysed my muscles and my will lifted its unholy spell from my soul. With a loud cry I stretched out my arms to seize the big Indian by the throat, and, grasping only air, tumbled forward unconscious upon the ground.
I had recognised the body, and the face was my own!. . . .
It was bright daylight when a man's voice recalled me to consciousness. I was lying where I had fallen, and the farmer was standing in the room with the loaves of bread in his hands. The horror of the night was still in my heart, and as the bluff133 settler helped me to my feet and picked up the rifle which had fallen with me, with many questions and expressions of condolence, I imagine my brief replies were neither self-explanatory nor even intelligible134.
That day, after a thorough and fruitless search of the house, I left the island, and went over to spend my last ten days with the farmer; and when the time came for me to leave, the necessary reading had been accomplished135, and my nerves had completely recovered their balance.
On the day of my departure the farmer started early in his big boat with my belongings to row to the point, twelve miles distant, where a little steamer ran twice a week for the accommodation of hunters. Late in the afternoon I went off in another direction in my canoe, wishing to see the island once again, where I had been the victim of so strange an experience.
In due course I arrived there, and made a tour of the island. I also made a search of the little house, and it was not without a curious sensation in my heart that I entered the little upstairs bedroom. There seemed nothing unusual.
Just after I re-embarked, I saw a canoe gliding ahead of me around the curve of the island. A canoe was an unusual sight at this time of the year, and this one seemed to have sprung from nowhere. Altering my course a little, I watched it disappear around the next projecting point of rock. It had high curving bows, and there were two Indians in it. I lingered with some excitement, to see if it would appear again round the other side of the island; and in less than five minutes it came into view. There were less than two hundred yards between us, and the Indians, sitting on their haunches, were paddling swiftly in my direction.
I never paddled faster in my life than I did in those next few minutes. When I turned to look again, the Indians had altered their course, and were again circling the island.
The sun was sinking behind the forests on the mainland, and the crimson-coloured clouds of sunset were reflected in the waters of the lake, when I looked round for the last time, and saw the big bark canoe and its two dusky occupants still going round the island. Then the shadows deepened rapidly; the lake grew black, and the night wind blew its first breath in my face as I turned a corner, and a projecting bluff of rock hid from my view both island and canoe.
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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4
psychical
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| adj.有关特异功能现象的；有关特异功能官能的；灵魂的；心灵的 | |
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5
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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6
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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chipmunks
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| n.金花鼠( chipmunk的名词复数 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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13
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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14
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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15
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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16
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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17
densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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18
hemlocks
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| 由毒芹提取的毒药( hemlock的名词复数 ) | |
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19
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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20
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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21
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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22
larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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23
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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24
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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25
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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26
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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27
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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28
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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29
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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30
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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31
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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32
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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33
stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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34
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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35
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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36
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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37
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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38
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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39
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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40
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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41
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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42
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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43
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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44
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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45
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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46
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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47
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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48
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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49
croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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50
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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51
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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52
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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53
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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54
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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55
chilliness
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| n.寒冷，寒意，严寒 | |
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56
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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57
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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58
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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59
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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60
silhouetted
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| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
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61
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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62
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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63
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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64
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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65
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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66
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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67
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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68
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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69
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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70
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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71
snugly
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| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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72
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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73
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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74
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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75
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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76
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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77
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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78
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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79
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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80
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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81
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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82
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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83
aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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84
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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85
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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86
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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87
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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88
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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89
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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90
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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91
trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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92
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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93
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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94
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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95
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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96
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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97
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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98
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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99
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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100
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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101
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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102
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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103
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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104
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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105
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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106
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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107
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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108
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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109
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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110
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
deductions
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| 扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演 | |
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112
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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113
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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114
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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115
gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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116
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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117
pealed
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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119
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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120
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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121
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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122
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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123
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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124
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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125
numbness
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| n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆 | |
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126
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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128
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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129
cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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130
dwarfish
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| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
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131
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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132
smear
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| v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑 | |
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133
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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134
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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135
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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