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Speaker 1: The Damned Thing by Ambrose biers One. By the light

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of a tallow candle which had been placed on one

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end of a rough table, a man was reading something

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written in a book. It was an old account book,

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greatly worn, and the writing was not apparently very legible,

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for the man sometimes held the page close to the

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flame of the candle to get a stronger light upon it.

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The shadow of the book would then throw into obscurity

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a half of the room, darkening a number of faces

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and figures. For besides the reader, eight other men were present.

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Seven of them sat against the rough log walls, silent

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and motionless, and the room, being small, not very far

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from the table. By extending an arm, any one of

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them could have touched the eighth man, who lay on

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the table, face upward, partly covered by a sheet, his

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arms at his sides. He was dead. The man one

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of the book was not reading aloud, and no one spoke.

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All seemed to be waiting for something to occur. The

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dead man only was without expectation from the blank darkness

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outside came in through the aperture that served for a window,

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all the ever unfamiliar noises of night in the wilderness.

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The long, nameless note of a distant coyote, the stilly,

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pulsing thrill of tireless insects and trees, strange cries of

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night birds so different from those of the birds of day,

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the drone of great blundering beetles, and all that mysterious

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chorus of small sounds that seem always to have been

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but half heard when they have suddenly ceased, as if

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conscious of an indiscretion. But nothing of all this was

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noted in that company. Its members were not over much

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addicted to idle interest in matters of no practical importance.

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That was obvious in every line of their rugged faces,

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obvious even in the dim light of the single candle.

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They were evidently men of the vicinity, farmers and woodmen.

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The person reading was a trifle different. One would have

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said of him that he was of the world worldly,

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albeit there was that in his attire which attested a

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certain fellowship with the organisms of his environment. His coat

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would hardly have passed muster in San Francisco, his foot

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gear was not of urban origin, and the hat that

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lay by him on the floor he was the only

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one uncovered, was such that, if one had considered it

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as an article of mere personal adornment, he would have

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missed its meaning. In countenance, the man was rather prepossessing,

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with just a hint of sternness, though that he may

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have assumed or cultivated as appropriate to one in authority.

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For he was a coroner. It was by virtue of

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his office that he had possession of the book in

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which he was reading. It had been found among the

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dead man's effects in his cabin, where the inquest was

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now taking place. When the coroner had finished reading, he

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put the book into his breast pocket. At that moment,

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the door was pushed open and a young man entered.

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He clearly was not of mountain berth and breeding. He

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was clad as those who dwell in cities. His clothing

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was dusty, however, as from travel, he had in fact

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been riding hard to attend the inquest. The coroner nodded.

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No one else greeted him. We have waited for you,

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said the coroner. It is necessary to have done with

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this business tonight. The young man smiled. I am sorry

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to have kept you, he said. I went away not

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to evade your summons, but to post to my newspaper

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an account of what I suppose I am called back

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to relate. The coroner smiled. The account that you posted

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to your newspaper, he said, differs probably from that which

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you will give here under oath. That replied the other,

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rather hotly and with a visible flush, is as you choose.

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I used manifold paper and have a copy of what

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I sent. It was not written as news, for it

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is incredible, but as fiction it may go as part

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of my testimony under oath. But you say it is incredible,

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that is nothing to you, sir, if I also swear

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that it is true. The coroner was apparently not greatly

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affected by the young man's manifest resentment. He was silent

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for some moments, his eyes upon the floor. The men

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about the sides of the cabin talked in whispers, but

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seldom withdrew their gaze from the face of the corpse. Presently,

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the coroner lifted his eyes and said, we will resume

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the inquest. The men removed their hats. The witness was sworn.

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What is your name, the coroner asked, William Harker, age

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twenty seven. You knew the deceased Hugh Morgan, Yes, you

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are with him when he died near him. How did

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that happen your presence. I mean, I was visiting him

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at this place to shoot and fish. A part of

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my purpose, however, was to study him and his odd

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solitaire way of life. He seemed a good model for

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a character in fiction. I sometimes write stories. I sometimes

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read them. Thank you stories in general, not yours. Some

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of the jurors laughed. Against a somber background. Humor shows

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high lights soldiers in the intervals of battle, laugh easily

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and adjust in the death chamber, it conquers by surprise.

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Relate the circumstances of this man's death, said the coroner.

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You may use any notes or memoranda that you please.

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The witness understood, Pulling a manuscript from his breast pocket,

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he held it near the candle and turning the leaves

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until he found the passage that he wanted. Began to read. Two.

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The sun had hardly risen when we left the house.

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We were looking for quail, each with a shotgun, but

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we had only one dog. Morgan said that our best

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ground was beyond a certain ridge that he pointed out,

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and we crossed it by a trail through the chapparal

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on the other side was comparatively level ground thickly covered

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with wild oats. As we emerged from the chaparral, Morgan

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was but a few yards in advance. Suddenly we heard,

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at a little distance to our right and partly in front,

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a noise as of some animal thrashing about in the bushes,

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which we could see were violently agitated. We started a deer.

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I said, I wish we had brought a rifle. Morgan,

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who had stopped and was intently watching the agitated chapparral,

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said nothing, but he had cocked both barrels of his

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gun and was holding it in readiness to aim. I

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thought him a trifle excited, which surprised me, for he

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had a reputation for exceptional coolness, even in moments of

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sudden and eminent peril. Oh come, I said, you are

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not going to fill up a deer with quail shot,

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are you still? He did not reply, but catching a

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sight of his face as he turned it slightly toward me,

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I was struck by the pallor of it. Then I

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understood that we had serious business on hand, and my

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first conjecture was that we had jumped grisly. I advanced

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to Morgan's side, cocking my piece as I moved. The

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bushes were now quiet and the sounds had ceased, But

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Morgan was as attentive to the place as before. What

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is it? What the devil is it? I asked, that

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damned thing, he replied, without turning his head. His voice

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was husky and unnatural. He trembled visibly. I was about

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to speak further when I observed the wild oats near

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the place of the disturbance moving in the most inexplicable

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way I could hardly describe it. It seemed as if

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stirred by a streak of wind which not only bent it,

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but pressed it down, crushed it so that it did

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not rise. And this movement was slowly prolonging itself directly

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toward us. Nothing that I had ever seen had affected

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me so strangely as his unfamiliar and unaccountable phenomenon. Yet

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I am unable to recall any sense of fear. I

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remember and til it here, because singularly enough I recollected it.

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Then that once, in looking carelessly out of an open window,

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I momentarily mistook a small tree close at hand for

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one of a group of larger trees at a little

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distance away. It looked the same size as the others,

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but being more distinctly and sharply defined in mass in detail,

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seemed out of harmony with them. It was a mere

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falsification of the law of aerial perspective. But it startled,

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almost terrified me. We so rely upon the orderly operation

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of familiar natural laws that any seeming suspension of them

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is noted as a menace to our safety, a warning

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of unthinkable calamity. So now the apparently causeless movement of

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the herbage and the slow, undeviating approach of the line

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of disturbance were distinctly disquieting. My companion appeared actually frightened,

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and I could hardly credit my senses when I saw

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him suddenly throw his gun to his shoulders and fire

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both barrels at the agitated grass. Before the smoke of

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the discharge had cleared away. I heard a loud, savage cry,

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a scream like that of a wild animal, and flinging

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his gun upon the ground, Morgan sprang away and ran

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swiftly from the spot. At the same instant, I was

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thrown violently to the ground by the impact of something

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unseen in the smoke, some soft, heavy substance that seemed

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thrown against me with great force. Before I could get

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upon my feet and recover my gun, which seemed to

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have been struck from my hands, I heard Morgan crying

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out as if in mortal agony, and mingling with his

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cries were such hoarse, savage sounds as one hears from

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fighting dogs. Inexpressibly terrified, I struggled to my feet and

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looked in the direction of Morgan's retreat, and may Heaven

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and Mercy spare me from another sight like that. At

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a distance of less than thirty yards, was my friend

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down upon one knee, his head thrown back at a

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frightful angle, hatless, his long hair and disorder and its

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whole body, and violent movement from side to side, backward

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and forward. His right arm was lifted and seemed to

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lack the hand. At least I could see z none.

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The other arm was invisible. At times, as my memory

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now reports this extraordinary scene, I could discern but a

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part of his body. It was as if he had

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been partly blotted out. I couldnot otherwise express it. Then

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a shifting of his position would bring it all into

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view again. All this must have occurred within a few seconds,

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Yet in that time Morgan assuemed all the postures of

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a determined wrestler, vanquished by superior weight and strength. I

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saw nothing but him, and him, not always distinctly. During

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the entire incident. His shouts and curses were heard, as

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if through an enveloping uproar of such sounds of rage

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and fury as I had never heard from the throat

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of a man or brute. For a moment only I

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stood irresolute. Then, throwing down my gun, I ran forward

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to my friend's assistance. I had a vague belief that

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he was suffering from a fit or some form of convulsion.

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Before I could reach his side, he was down and quiet.

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All sounds had ceased, But with a feeling of such

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terror as even these awful events had not inspired. I

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now saw the same mysterious movement of the wild oats

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prolonging itself from the trampled area about the prostrate man,

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toward the edge of a wood. It was only when

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it had reached the wood that I was able to

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withdraw my eyes and look at my companion. He was dead.

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Three The coroner rose from his seat and stood beside

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the dead man. Lifting an edge of the sheet, he

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pulled it away, exposing the entire body altogether naked and

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showing in the candle light a clay like yellow. It had, however,

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broad maculations of bluish black, obviously caused by extravasated blood

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from contusions. The chest and sides looked as if they

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had been beaten with a bludgeon. There were dreadful lacerations.

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The skin was torn in strips and shreds. The coroner

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moved round to the end of the table and undid

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a silk handkerchief which had been passed under the chin

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and knotted on the top of the head. When the

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handkerchief was drawn away, it exposed what had been the throat.

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Some of the jurors, who had risen to get a

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better view, repented their curiosity and turned away their faces.

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Witness Harker went to the open window and leaned out

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across the sill, faint and sick, dropping the handkerchief upon

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the dead man's neck. The coroner stepped to an angle

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of the room, and from a pile of clothing produced

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one garment after another, each of which he held up

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a moment for inspection. All were torn and stiff with blood.

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The jurors did not make a closer inspection. They seemed

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rather uninterrusted. They had, in truth, seen all this before,

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the only thing that was new to them being Harker's testimony. Gentlemen,

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the coroner said, we have no more evidence. I think

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your duty has been already explained to you. If there

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is nothing you wish to ask, you may go outside

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and consider your verdict. The foreman rose, a tall, bearded

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man of sixty coarsely clad. I should like to ask

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one question, mister coroner. He said, what asylum did this

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your last witness escape from? Mister Harker, said the coroner,

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gravely and tranquility from What asylum did you last escape?

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Harker flushed Crimson again, but said nothing, and the seven

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jurors rose and solemnly filed out of the cabin. If

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you have done insulting me, sir, said Harker, as soon

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as he and the officer were left alone with a

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dead man, I suppose I am at liberty to go. Yes.

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Harker started to leave, but paused, with his hand on

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the door latch. The habit of his profession was strong

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in him, stronger than his sense of personal dignity. He

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turned about and said the book that you have there.

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I recognize it as Morgan's diary. He seemed greatly interested

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in it. You read in it while I was testifying.

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May I see it? The public would like the book?

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Will cut no figure in this matter, replied the official,

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slipping it into his coat pocket. All the entries in

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it were made before the writer's death. As Harker passed

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out of the house, the jury re entered and stood

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about the table on which the now covered corpse showed

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under the sheet with sharp definition. The four men seated

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himself near the candle, produced from his breast pocket as

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pencil and scrap of paper, and wrote rather laboriously the

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following verdict, which, with various degrees of effort, all signed.

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We the jury, do find that the remains come to

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their death at the hands of a mountain lion. But

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some of us thinks all the same they had fits

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four In the diary of the late Hugh Morgan are

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certain interesting entries, having possibly a scientific value, as suggestions

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at the inquest upon his body. The book was not

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put in evidence, Possibly the coroner thought it not worthwhile

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to confuse the jury. The date of the first of

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the entries mentioned cannot be ascertained. The upper part of

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the leaf is torn away. The part of the entry

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remaining is as follows. Would run in a half circle,

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keeping its head turned always toward the center, and again

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he would stand still, barking furiously. At last he ran

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away into the brush as fast as he could go.

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I thought at first that he had gone mad, but

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on returning to the house, found no other alteration in

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his manner than what was obviously due to fear of punishment.

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Can a dog see with his nose do odors impress

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some olfactory center with images of the thing emitting them?

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September two, Looking at the stars last night, as they

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rose above the crest of the ridge east of the house,

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I observed them successively disappear from left to right. Each

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was eclipsed but an instant, and only a few at

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the same time. But along the entire length of the ridge,

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all that were within a degree or two of the

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crest were blotted out. It was as if something had

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passed along between me and them, but I could not

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see it, and the stars were not thick enough to

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define its outline. I don't like this. Several weeks as

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entries are missing, three leaves being torn from the book.

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September twenty seven. It has been about here again. I

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find evidences of its presence every day. I watched again

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all of last night in the same cover, gun in hand,

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double charged with a buckshot. In the morning, the fresh

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footprints were there as before. Yet I would have sworn

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that I did not sleep. Indeed, I hardly sleep at all.

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It is terrible, insupportable. If these amazing experiences are real,

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I shall go mad. If they are fanciful, I am

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mad already. October three. I shall not go. It shall

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not drive me away. No, this is my house, my land.

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God hates a coward. October five. I can stand it

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no longer. I have invited Harker to pass a few

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weeks with me. He has a level head. I can

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judge from his manner if he thinks me mad. October seven.

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I have the solution of the problem. It came to

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me last night suddenly, as by revelation. How simple, how

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terribly simple. There are sounds that we cannot hear. At

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either end of the scale are notes that stir no

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cord of that imperfect instrument, the human ear. They are

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too high or too grave. I have observed a flock

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of blackbirds occupying an entire tree top, the tops of

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several trees, and all in full song. Suddenly, in a

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moment that absolutely the same instant, all spring into the

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air and fly away. How they could not all see

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one another, whole tree tops intervened. At no point could

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a leader have been visible to all. There must have

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been a signal of warning or command, high and shrill

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above the din. But by me unheard, I have observed

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too the same simultaneous flight when all were silent, among

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not only blackbirds, but other birds, quail, for example, widely

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separated by bushes, even on opposite sides of a hill.

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It is known to seamen that a school of whales

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basking or sporting on the surface of the ocean, miles apart,

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with the convexity of the earth between them, will sometimes

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dive at the same instant, all gone out of sight

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in a moment. The signal has been sounded too grave

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for the ear of the sailor at the mast head

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and his comrades on the deck, who nevertheless feel its

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vibrations in the ship. As the stones of a cathedral

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are stirred by the base of the organ. As with sounds,

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so with colors. At each end of the solar spectrum.

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The chemists can detect the presence of what are known

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as actinic rays. They represent colors integral colors in the

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composition of light which we are unable to discern. The

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human eye is an imperfect instrument. Its range is but

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a few octaves of the real chromatic scale. I am

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not mad. There are colors that we cannot see, and

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God help me, the damned things of such a color,

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end of the damned thing