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Speaker 1: Here are a few short tails, and they're true to

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the best of my knowledge. You're welcome to use my name.

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The other names are from people long gone or they

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had nicknames, and I hope you can use these stories.

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Only one is about a booger sisquatch, and it's a

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second hand story. But I noticed that you sometimes like

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to tell stories about other things that go bump in

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the night, So here we go. The first story is

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titled coach Whips. My mother used to tell us about

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a cousin. And I can't recall the old gal's name,

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but let's call her Myrtle. Myrtle was walking out under

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some trees and a pair of coach whips snakes. Those

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are black racers, and they probably have other names. They

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drop from the tree and one encircled each of Myrtle's arms.

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The snakes bit her and constricted so strongly that a

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male relative, I think his name was Uncle Jim, had

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to sever the heads of the snakes to force them

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to relinquish their grips. From then on, each season, when

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coach whips shed their skin, Myrtle's skin would peel along

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her arms where the snakes had attached themselves. When I

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was in my teens, a pair of the same breed

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of shiny black reptiles took up residence under our house.

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My mother knew they were non venomous, but was having

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none of it. She was typically a very gentle person,

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especially toward elders, children, and animals. However, because of the

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old family tale, she was terrified of this particular breed

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of snake. As I was about to step out the door,

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one of them raced out in front under the house

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near the front porch, in hot pursuit of a toad.

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I ran back in to fetch my shotgun and I

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got back to the porch around the same time as

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a snake. It had missed its last meal, but paused

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to raise its head, likely at my noise. The shot

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severed the thing's head. The snake's mate got into a

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red oak tree in the backyard, and that one had

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startled my mother. I again took up my shotgun while

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she pointed out where the equally startled snake had fled

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to the branches. The shot killed that one, but its

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death grip and some handy branches left it high in

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the tree. Well. I didn't care. It was summer and

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I was prone to be sunburned, and I went inside.

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I was recovering from one of the second degree blisters

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on my chest and shoulders and back at the time

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when I fired the kick from the twelve gates slammed

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into the pocket of my right shoulder. It removed the

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top layer of flesh in the shape of the butt

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of the shotgun, and it hurt noticeably. But in the

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end I'd been peeling like Myrtle supposedly was. Unfortunately it

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did not become a seasonal event. I'd finally learned to

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avoid the son. Okay. The next one of his tales

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is called Faye Lights Faye is I think it's a

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Celtic word for fairy. My mother related this story as

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her grandmother Campbell and Pearl had told her. I heard

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it from my mother Eloise and Pearl. When my mother

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was about three years old, around nineteen thirty, she became

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deathly ill with diphtheria. Her mother, my Grandma Pearl, and

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her grandmother, great Grandma Sarah Campbell, stayed up with her

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when the fever reached a critical point. Grandma Campbell was

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an herbalist in a country doctor and at the time,

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all the other measures and available remedies exhausted, all they

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could do was bathe her in cool water and give

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her SIPs of water. They lived in a very small

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house or cabin, and there were only a few windows,

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and they had my mother and little Eloise on a

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bed near one of the windows, to do everything they

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could to cool her fierce temperature. They'd all be giving

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up hope in the wee hours of the morning when

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a light appeared in the window above Eloise. The light

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was a blue and white orb and it hovered for

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a moment and then traveled to each window, clearly orbiting

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the little home. After the third orbit, the light again

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paused at Eloise's window, and then neither winked out or

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sped away from the window so quickly as to appear

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like it did. Pearl described it as when you turn

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off the TV and the little light shrinks down to

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that one little point and then it's gone. Those were

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the days of TV sets with picture tubs. The light

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was the last visual bit as the tube cooled. When

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the light was gone, little Eloise's fever broke, and by

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dawn she was drinking cups of water and was able

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to eat. A little maul had a tough life of

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work in raising her children, her siblings first and then

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her own, and she managed to do it all with

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a grin and genuine love for all of her charges.

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She had her own light about her and could calm

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the most stressful situation and see with absolute clarity. Though

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she typically withheld advice and allowed us to make our

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own stumbles. Maybe it's in my mind, but when I

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look back at our regular conversation, I recall the times

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that she bit back her instinctive comments. Perhaps she didn't

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feel worthy of giving advice. She was brilliant, but other

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folks had convinced her otherwise. Or maybe she feared that

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knowing the outcome would be like cheating. This short tale

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is called the Original Golden Globes. Dad used to tell

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us about a neighbor in Carmona, Texas who had a

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talent for finding gold nuggets and old coins. Dad was

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born in nineteen twenty four, and I never asked whether

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this was a story from one of his folks or

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what he'd heard directly, But either way, it's had time

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to grow some moss. It may have come from his grandparents,

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who lived in Stryker, Texas. The man who was the

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subject of the tales would go off into the woods,

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particularly the piney creek bottoms, and he would emerge with gold,

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usually a small nugget, sometimes a small coin, invariably worn

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and of no clear providence. When asked where he'd gotten

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the gold, the man would say that he followed the

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lights and where they paused and then winked out, he'd

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dig and immediately find the treasure. The man was never wealthy.

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He didn't produce the gold often enough to do more

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than live comfortably. He did not have to work more

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than rural living required at the time, and spent most

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of his time hunting and fishing and cracking out stories.

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Dad said that many people tried unsuccessfully to track the

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man when he'd slip off into the woods to look

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for the lights. No one else saw the lights, and

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speculation was that the man had either discovered or stolen

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a small hoarde and visited it from time to time

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to withdraw what was needed. This next tale is called

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Man's Stories. My buddy Man told me this story in

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the fall of twenty twenty two. He was ninety two

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then and a Korean War veteran. He's ninety three and

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he's still going better than me at the age of

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fifty nine. He got the nickname Man when he was

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sixteen and a fellow had hired Man and a buddy

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to remove some armadillos from near his home. Man took

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hold of the creature's tailed and pulled while his buddy

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held the toastsac Man eventually yanked up the critter and

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tucked it away in the sack, and the temporary employer

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proclaimed that only a real man could do that without

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getting a scratch. Man is a wealth of information, and

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he shared several tales of my mother's family who lived

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in Groveton, Texas. He used to deliver groceries to my

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grandma Pearl back in the nineteen forties. And his favorite

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tale other than the ones about the Moon Mullikan, also

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a contemporary of my dad, is about Bud and Carol

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and the coon Dog. Bud had an exceptional blue hound.

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An acquaintance from Houston moved from the area for work

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and offered Bud a trade he take the dog for

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his girlfriend, Carol. Bud readily agreed, and he and Carol

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hit it off immediately. It was the start of a

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long term marriage founded on love at first sight. About

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a month after the trade, the acquaintance had to move

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back to the city, and he offered to return the

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hound to Bud, and Bud told him, I'll take the dog,

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but you ain't getting my gal. The city dude was

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happy to get back to town and hire pay and

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Bud and Carol and Blue settled down in their own

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Blue Heaven. Now, Carol was from Wisconsin or Illinois or

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one of those Yankee states, and Man would say, signs

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vitriol simply his information. All she wanted was an old

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Texas cowboy, and that's what Bud was. She was exotic

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as far as Bud was concerned, and they were both

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small stature like a matched pair. Okay, the next story

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is called one Other Story because he earned it. Like

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most combat veterans, Man doesn't speak much about the gory

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parts of war, though his definition of trauma is different

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than the current one. He spoke about an incident at

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the end of the fighting. Everyone was frozen in place,

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looking at the enemy, ready for the battles to start again,

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but they didn't. The armistice held, and after a few

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days he saw a soldier approaching from the enemy lines.

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He got the man halted and turned out the man

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was an officer who had been educated in California, and

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he spoke English. The man offered a bottle of wine

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and spoke with man in some of the other troops.

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They shared the bottle. Of course, man made the officer

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take the first drink. The officer told them that he'd

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heard that the piece was true, and he hoped that

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it was. He wasn't sure if the man was a

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Korean or a Chinese national, but he concluded with I

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sure hope the man got back over here. I think

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that was what he meant by visiting us and offering

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us wine. I think he said he's hoping he came

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back to the United States. But anyway, let's move on

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to the next story. This is called Bartholomew's Bigfoot. Back

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in the summer of nineteen ninety, I worked for the

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sheriff in the People's Republic of Northern Virginia Soviet of Arlington.

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It was a jail gig from seven pm to seven am,

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so we had time to visit with our coworkers between

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rounds and other duties, especially after lights out. I was

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working the fifth floor Bartholomew. We'd hired on around the

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same time, so we'd known each other for a few months.

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He and I were what the inmates and many of

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our local coworkers called country asses. He was from central

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Alabama and I was from East Texas. Bartholomele had a

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great sense of humor and was always joking with the

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other members of the shift. He was serious about the job,

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he'd just liked to have fun, and I wholeheartedly agreed

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it was the best way to approach life. One night

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I returned from around during of which all our charges

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had been asleep or close enough, and we sat and

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talked about our lives and our experiences. Because a person

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may be known as a comedian by his fellows does

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not mean that he is frivolous of mind or foolish.

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Bartholomele was certainly no exception. On that night, we'd been

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talking about monsters, UFOs, and ghosts and hats. I told

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him about my collection of books on the origins of

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montsagys and myths. Always found that knowing the origins of

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vampires and werewolves and Bigfoot and some boggers and lake

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monsters and aliens made them more interesting rather than the reverse. Eventually,

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he looked at me in the eye, and he said,

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I want to tell you something. Everybody thinks I'm joking

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when I tell this story, but I'm not, and I'm

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trusting for you not to laugh at me. I assured

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him that I understood that he was serious and I

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would take him at his word as always. He said

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that there wasn't much to it, but he'd seen a

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bigfoot when he was in his teen years. We were

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both in our early to mid twenties at the time

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of this telling. He had been out in the woods

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hunting and he hadn't seen anything all morning. He was

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perched on a log at the foot of a large tree,

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and he explained that his family was poor and had

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to hunt where they could, mostly on the land where

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they had the owner's permission. He said it got quiet

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and he started to feel uneasy. He started to look around,

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and then he saw it. It was peering from around

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another large tree, pretty close to him, and it was

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screened by some of the brush. He said it just

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watched him, and it didn't move, and it didn't make

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a sound. I noted that his eyes grew distant as

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he spun this yarn, and he said it was big.

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Mikey like nothing else in the woods. He said that

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he got scared, and he shook some and even considered

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shooting it. Yet even though it scared him, he just

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didn't feel like that was the right thing to do.

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He brought his gaze back to the present. I didn't

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know it was some kind of animal or some kind

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of person, but it felt more like a person, like

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it was intelligent. He said that he watched for a moment,

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but when he glanced down at the shotgun and then

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looked up again, the creature was gone. He said that

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he too, was soon gone from those woods. We talked

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a little more about it, and I had no reason

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to doubt him. Rended him a little, and then I

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asked him if that was why he moved to the city.

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It was an attempt to lighten the mood. But he

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looked at me with a neutral expression, and he said, yeah,

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I missed my family, but I can't live out there anymore.

240
00:14:14,039 --> 00:14:16,440
I had to hunt until I left home, and food

241
00:14:16,519 --> 00:14:20,080
his food, but I stayed out of them woods. Then

242
00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,080
he lightened up a little and smiled. Now, white people

243
00:14:23,159 --> 00:14:26,159
catch enough crap when they tell these stories, And can

244
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,480
you imagine what a brother goes through? I couldn't tell nobody,

245
00:14:30,559 --> 00:14:35,360
he said, I knew that. When his accent returned, we

246
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,399
were back to a lighter conversation, and it was his

247
00:14:38,559 --> 00:14:45,679
turn to make the next round. The Beast in the

248
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:52,840
Cave by H. P. Lovecraft, The horrible conclusion which had

249
00:14:52,879 --> 00:14:57,360
been gradually obtruding itself upon my confused and reluctant mind,

250
00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:04,080
was now an awful certainty. I was lost, completely, hopelessly

251
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:09,039
lost in the vast and labyrinthine recesses of the mammoth cave.

252
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,840
Turn as I might, in no direction could my straining

253
00:15:14,039 --> 00:15:17,519
vision seize on any object capable of serving as my

254
00:15:17,639 --> 00:15:21,679
guide post to set me on the outward path. That

255
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,440
never more should I behold the blessing of the light

256
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,840
of day, or scan the pleasant hills and dales of

257
00:15:27,879 --> 00:15:32,840
the beautiful world outside. My reason could no longer entertain

258
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:39,639
the slightest unbelief hope had departed. Yet, indoctrinated as I

259
00:15:39,879 --> 00:15:43,559
was by a life of philosophical study, I derived no

260
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:49,399
small measure of satisfaction from my unimpassioned demeanor. For although

261
00:15:49,559 --> 00:15:52,759
I had frequently read of the wild frenzies into which

262
00:15:52,799 --> 00:15:57,639
were thrown victims of similar situations, I experienced none of these,

263
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,320
but stood quiet as soon as I I clearly realize

264
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,440
the loss of my bearings. Nor did the thought that

265
00:16:05,559 --> 00:16:08,559
I had probably wandered beyond the utmost limits of an

266
00:16:08,679 --> 00:16:12,840
ordinary search cause me to abandon my composure even for

267
00:16:12,919 --> 00:16:17,480
a moment. If I must die, I reflected, then, was

268
00:16:17,559 --> 00:16:21,919
this terrible yet majestic cavern as welcome a sepulcher as

269
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:26,840
that which any churchyard might afford, a conception which carried

270
00:16:26,879 --> 00:16:32,480
with it more of tranquility than of despair. Starving would

271
00:16:32,519 --> 00:16:37,399
prove my ultimate fate. Of this, I was certain some

272
00:16:37,879 --> 00:16:41,519
I knew had gone mad under circumstances such as these,

273
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,600
But I felt that the sin would not be mine.

274
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,919
My disaster was the result of no fault save my own, since,

275
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,320
unbeknown to the guide, I had separated myself from the

276
00:16:54,399 --> 00:16:59,200
regular party of sightseers, and, wondering for over an hour

277
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:03,320
in forbidding avenues of the cave, had found myself unable

278
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,279
to retrace the devious windings which I had pursued since

279
00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:13,640
forsaking my companions. Already my torch had begun to expire,

280
00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,920
and soon I would be enveloped by the total and

281
00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:22,000
almost palpable blackness of the bowels of the earth. As

282
00:17:22,039 --> 00:17:26,200
I stood in the waning, unsteady light, I idly wandered

283
00:17:26,279 --> 00:17:30,799
over to the exact circumstances of my coming end. I

284
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,720
remembered the accounts which I had heard of the colony

285
00:17:33,759 --> 00:17:38,119
of consumptives, who, taking their residence in this gigantic grotto

286
00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,640
to find health from the apparently salubrious air of the

287
00:17:41,759 --> 00:17:46,480
underground world, with its steady, uniform temperature, pure air, and

288
00:17:46,519 --> 00:17:53,440
peaceful quiet, had found instead death in strange and ghastly form.

289
00:17:54,279 --> 00:17:56,759
I had seen the sad remains of their ill made

290
00:17:56,799 --> 00:17:59,720
cottages as I passed by them with the party, and

291
00:17:59,759 --> 00:18:03,960
had I wondered what unnatural influence along sojourn in this

292
00:18:04,039 --> 00:18:08,359
immense and silent cavern would exert upon one as healthy

293
00:18:08,559 --> 00:18:13,599
and as vigorous as I now. I grimly told myself

294
00:18:14,039 --> 00:18:18,440
my opportunity for settling this point had arrived, provided that

295
00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,079
one of food should not bring me to speedy a

296
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:26,319
departure from this life. As the last fitful rays of

297
00:18:26,319 --> 00:18:29,920
my torch faded into obscurity, I resolved to leave no

298
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:35,400
stone unturned, no possible means of escape neglected, So summoning

299
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,480
all the powers possessed in my lungs. I set up

300
00:18:38,519 --> 00:18:41,680
a series of loud shoutings in the vain hope of

301
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,200
attracting the attention of the Guide by my clamor. Yet

302
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,000
as I called, I believed in my heart that my

303
00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:52,759
cries were to no purpose, and that my voice, magnified

304
00:18:52,799 --> 00:18:56,079
and reflected by the numberless rampart of the black maids

305
00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:01,279
about me, fell upon no ears save my own. All

306
00:19:01,319 --> 00:19:05,240
At once, however, my attention was fixed with a start,

307
00:19:05,599 --> 00:19:08,279
as I fancied that I heard the sound of soft

308
00:19:08,279 --> 00:19:12,400
approaching steps on the rocky floor of the cavern. Was

309
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,759
my deliverance about to be accomplished? So soon? Had then

310
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,480
all my horrible apprehensions been for naught? And was the

311
00:19:20,519 --> 00:19:25,160
Guide having marked my unwarranted absence from the party following

312
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,960
my course and seeking me out in this limestone labyrinth.

313
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,319
While these joyful queries arose in my brain, I was

314
00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,079
on the point of renewing my cries in order that

315
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,960
my discovery might come the sooner, when in an instant

316
00:19:41,079 --> 00:19:44,359
my delight was turned to horror as I listened for

317
00:19:44,519 --> 00:19:48,640
my ever acute ear, now sharpened in even greater degree

318
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,880
by the complete silence of the cave bore to my

319
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:57,440
benumbed understanding the unexpected and dreadful knowledge that these footfalls

320
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:01,519
were not like those of any mortal man. In the

321
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:06,359
unearthly stillness of the subterranean region, the tread of the

322
00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,279
booted god would have sounded like a series of sharp

323
00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:14,920
and incisive blows. These impacts were soft and stealthy, as

324
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,680
of the padded paws of some feline. Besides, at times,

325
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,759
when I listened carefully, I seemed to trace the falls

326
00:20:22,759 --> 00:20:28,359
of four instead of two feet. I was now convinced

327
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,640
that I had, by my cries, aroused and attracted some

328
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:36,240
wild beast, perhaps a mountain lion, which had accidentally strayed

329
00:20:36,279 --> 00:20:40,640
within the cave. And perhaps I considered the Almighty had

330
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,400
chosen me a swifter and more merciful death than that

331
00:20:44,559 --> 00:20:50,519
of hunger. Yet the instinct of self preservation, never wholly dormant,

332
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,039
was stirred in my breast, And though escaped from the

333
00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,200
oncoming peril, might but spare me for a sterner and

334
00:20:57,319 --> 00:21:00,880
more lingering in, I determined never the less to part

335
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,519
with my life at as high a price as I

336
00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:09,119
could command. Strange as it may seem, my mind conceived

337
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,200
of no intent on the part of the vista save

338
00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:18,440
that of hostility. Accordingly, I became very quiet in the

339
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,519
hope that the unknown beast wood, in the absence of

340
00:21:21,559 --> 00:21:25,160
a guiding sound, lose its direction as had I, and

341
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,279
thus passed by me. But this hope was not destined

342
00:21:29,279 --> 00:21:34,319
for realization, for the strange footfall steadily advanced, and the animal,

343
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,440
evidently having obtained my scent, which, in an atmosphere so

344
00:21:38,599 --> 00:21:42,720
absolutely free from all distracting influence as that of a cave,

345
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:48,640
could doubtless be followed at great distance. Seeing therefore that

346
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,839
I must be armed for defense against an uncanny and

347
00:21:52,039 --> 00:21:55,200
unseen attack. In the dark, I groped about me the

348
00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,839
largest of the fragments of rock, which were strewn upon

349
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,599
all parts of the floor of the cavern in the vicinity,

350
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,720
and grasping one in each hand for immediate use, I

351
00:22:05,799 --> 00:22:12,200
awaited the resignation of the inevitable result. Meanwhile, the hideous

352
00:22:12,319 --> 00:22:16,480
pattering of the palls drew near. Certainly, the conduct of

353
00:22:16,519 --> 00:22:20,839
the creature was exceedingly strange. Most of the time, the

354
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,359
tread seemed to be that of a quadruped walking with

355
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,200
a singular lack of unison betwixt hind and four feet,

356
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,519
Yet at brief and infrequent intervals, I fancied that but

357
00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:38,240
two feet were engaged in the process of locomotion. I

358
00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:42,480
wondered what species of animal was to confront me. It must,

359
00:22:42,519 --> 00:22:45,920
I thought, be some unfortunate beast who had paid for

360
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,359
its curiosity to investigate one of the entrances of the

361
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:54,920
fearful grotto. With a lifelong confinement. In its interminable recesses,

362
00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:01,240
it doubtless obtained as food the eyeless fishsh and bats

363
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:03,680
and rats of the cave, as well as some of

364
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,880
the ordinary fish that were wafted in at every fish

365
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,599
net of the green River, which communicates in some occult

366
00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:15,400
manner with the waters of the cave. I occupied my

367
00:23:15,599 --> 00:23:20,960
terrible vigil with grotesque conjectures of what altercations cave life

368
00:23:21,279 --> 00:23:24,160
might have wrought in the physical structure of the beast,

369
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,720
remembering the awful appearances ascribed by local tradition to the

370
00:23:28,799 --> 00:23:32,559
consumptives who had died after long residence in the cavern.

371
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,680
And then I remembered with a start, that even should

372
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,759
I succeed in killing my antagonist, I should never behold

373
00:23:41,799 --> 00:23:45,519
its form, as my torch had long since been extinct

374
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:50,559
and I was entirely unprovided with matches. The tension on

375
00:23:50,759 --> 00:23:57,079
my brain now became frightful. My disordered fancy conjured up

376
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:02,200
hideous and fearsome shapes from the sinister darkness that surrounded me,

377
00:24:02,799 --> 00:24:07,240
and that actually seemed to press upon my body. Nearer

378
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:12,359
and nearer the dreadful footfalls approached. It seemed that I

379
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,039
must give vent to a piercing scream. Yet, had I

380
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:20,359
been sufficiently irresolute to attempt such a thing, my voice

381
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:25,319
could scarce have responded. I was petrified and rooted to

382
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,880
the spot. I doubted if my right arm would allow

383
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,920
me to hurl its missile at the oncoming thing when

384
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,079
the crucial moment should arrive. And now the steady pat

385
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:40,359
pat of the steps was close at hand. Now they

386
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:44,680
were very close. I could hear the labored breathing of

387
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,759
the animal, and terror struck as I was, I realized

388
00:24:48,799 --> 00:24:51,880
that it must have come from a considerable distance. It

389
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:57,839
was correspondingly fatigued. Suddenly the spell broke My right hand,

390
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,680
guided by my ever trustworthy sin of hearing through with

391
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,039
full force the sharp angled bit of limestone which it contained,

392
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,359
toward that point in the darkness from which emanated the

393
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:14,440
breathing and pattering and wonderful to relate it nearly reached

394
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,319
its goal, for I heard the thing jump, landing at

395
00:25:18,319 --> 00:25:23,960
a distance away where it seemed to pause. Having readjusted

396
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,359
my aim, I discharged my second missile, this time most effectively,

397
00:25:28,759 --> 00:25:30,759
for with a flood of joy, I listened as the

398
00:25:30,799 --> 00:25:34,319
creature fell in what sounded like a complete collapse, and

399
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:40,400
evidently remained prone and unmoving. Almost overpowered by the great

400
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,240
relief which rushed over me, I reeled back against the wall.

401
00:25:45,799 --> 00:25:51,160
The breathing continued in heavy gasping inhalations and expirations. Whence

402
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,599
I realized that I had no more than wounded the creature,

403
00:25:55,759 --> 00:26:02,039
and now all desire to examine the thing ceased. At last,

404
00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:06,480
something allied to groundless superstitious fear had entered my brain,

405
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,480
and I did not approach the body, nor did I

406
00:26:09,559 --> 00:26:12,279
continue to cast stones at it in order to complete

407
00:26:12,279 --> 00:26:16,359
the extinction of its life. Instead, I ran at full

408
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,839
speed in what was as nearly as I could determine

409
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,680
in my frenzied condition the direction from which I had come.

410
00:26:25,319 --> 00:26:29,039
Suddenly I heard a sound, or rather a regular succession

411
00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:33,720
of sounds. In another instant they had resolved themselves into

412
00:26:33,759 --> 00:26:37,759
a series of sharp metallic clicks. This time there was

413
00:26:37,799 --> 00:26:42,559
no doubt it was the Guide. And then I shouted

414
00:26:42,759 --> 00:26:46,200
and yelled and screamed. I even shrieked with joy as

415
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,720
I beheld the vaulted arches above the faint light, which

416
00:26:49,759 --> 00:26:52,960
I knew to be the reflected light of an approaching torch.

417
00:26:54,279 --> 00:26:57,160
I ran to meet the flare, and before I could

418
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:01,079
completely understand what it occurred, I was lying upon the

419
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,799
ground at the feet of the Guide, embracing his boots

420
00:27:04,839 --> 00:27:09,200
and gibbering despite my boasted reserve, in a most meaningless

421
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:14,000
and idiotic manner, pouring out my terrible story, and at

422
00:27:14,039 --> 00:27:20,359
the same time overwhelming my auditor with protestations of gratitude.

423
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:25,039
After a while, I awoke to something like my normal consciousness.

424
00:27:25,559 --> 00:27:28,359
The God had noted my absence upon the arrival of

425
00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,200
the party at the entrance of the cave, and had,

426
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,599
from his own intuitive sense of direction, proceeded to make

427
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,000
a thorough canvas of the bypassage just just ahead of

428
00:27:38,039 --> 00:27:41,559
where he had last spoken to me, locating my whereabouts

429
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:46,359
after a quest of about four hours. By the time

430
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,440
he had related this to me, I emboldened by his torch,

431
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,119
and his company began to reflect upon the strange beast

432
00:27:54,279 --> 00:27:56,960
which I had wounded, but a short distance back in

433
00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,160
the darkness, and suggested that we ascertained by the light's

434
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:06,680
aid what manner of creature was my victim. Accordingly I

435
00:28:06,839 --> 00:28:11,640
retraced my steps, this time with the courage born of companionship,

436
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:17,000
to the scene of my terrible experience. Soon we described

437
00:28:17,039 --> 00:28:21,240
a white object upon the floor, an object whiter even

438
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:27,960
than the gleaming limestone itself. Cautiously advancing, we gave vent

439
00:28:28,079 --> 00:28:32,400
to a simultaneous projection of wonderment, for of all the

440
00:28:32,519 --> 00:28:36,680
unnatural monsters either of us had in our lifetimes beheld,

441
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:42,279
this was in surpassing degree the strangest. It appeared to

442
00:28:42,319 --> 00:28:47,319
be an anthropoid ape of large proportions, escape perhaps from

443
00:28:47,359 --> 00:28:52,480
some internment menagerie. Its hair was snow white, a thing

444
00:28:52,599 --> 00:28:56,160
due no doubt to bleaching action of a long existence

445
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,480
within the inky confines of the cave. But it was

446
00:28:59,519 --> 00:29:04,920
also surprisingly thin, being indeed largely absence save on the head,

447
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,759
where it was of such a length and abundance that

448
00:29:07,799 --> 00:29:13,200
it fell over the shoulders in considerable profusion. The face

449
00:29:13,319 --> 00:29:16,559
was turned away from us as the creature lay almost

450
00:29:16,599 --> 00:29:23,079
directly upon it. The inclination of the limbs was very singular, explaining, however,

451
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,880
the alternation in their use which I before noted, whereby

452
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,920
the beast use sometimes all four, and on other occasions

453
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:36,000
but two for its progress from the tips of the

454
00:29:36,079 --> 00:29:41,599
fingers or toes, long nail like claws extended the hands

455
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,000
or feet were not prehensile. In fact, I ascribed that

456
00:29:45,079 --> 00:29:48,599
to long residence in the cave, which, as I before mentioned,

457
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:53,319
seemed evident from the all pervailing, almost unearthly whiteness so

458
00:29:53,519 --> 00:29:58,319
characteristic of the whole anatomy. No tails seemed to be present.

459
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,319
The respiration had now grown feeble, and the God had

460
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,599
drawn his pistol with the evident intent of dispatching the creature,

461
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:11,119
when a sudden sound emitted by the latter caused the

462
00:30:11,119 --> 00:30:15,880
weapon to fall unused. The sound was of a nature

463
00:30:16,039 --> 00:30:19,759
difficult to describe. It was not like the normal note

464
00:30:19,799 --> 00:30:23,279
of any known species of simion, and I wondered if

465
00:30:23,319 --> 00:30:26,359
this unnatural quality were not the result of a long,

466
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:31,720
continued and complete silence broken by the sensations produced by

467
00:30:31,799 --> 00:30:34,960
the advent of the light, a thing which the beast

468
00:30:35,039 --> 00:30:38,440
could not have seen since its first entrance into the cave.

469
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,119
The sound, which I might feebly attempt to classify as

470
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:48,240
a kind of deep toned chattering, was faintly continued. All

471
00:30:48,359 --> 00:30:51,720
at once. Fleeting spasms of energy seemed to pass through

472
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,480
the frame of the beast, and the poles went through

473
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:59,079
a convulsive motion, and the limbs contracted, and with a jerk,

474
00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,359
the white body so that its face was turned in

475
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,240
our direction. And for a moment I was so struck

476
00:31:06,279 --> 00:31:10,079
with horror at the eyes thus revealed that I noted

477
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:15,720
nothing else. They were black, Those eyes, deep jetty black,

478
00:31:16,119 --> 00:31:20,480
in hideous contrast to the snow white hair and flesh.

479
00:31:21,119 --> 00:31:24,640
Like those of other cave denizens. They were deeply sunken

480
00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:29,960
in their orbits and were entirely destitute of iris. As

481
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,799
I looked more closely, I saw that they were set

482
00:31:32,839 --> 00:31:36,160
in a face less than that of the average ape,

483
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:42,240
and infinitely more hairy. The nose was quite distinct. As

484
00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,559
we gazed upon the uncanny sight presented to our vision,

485
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:50,079
the thick lips opened and several sounds issued from them,

486
00:31:50,359 --> 00:31:55,279
after which the thing relaxed in death. The god clutched

487
00:31:55,279 --> 00:31:58,680
my coat sleeve and trembled so violently that the light

488
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,400
shook fitfully. Cash seeing weird moving shadows on the walls

489
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:07,200
about us, I made no motion, but stood rigidly still,

490
00:32:07,759 --> 00:32:12,880
my horrified eyes fixed upon the floor ahead. And then

491
00:32:13,079 --> 00:32:17,640
fear left, and wonder and awe, and compassion and reverence

492
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,319
succeeded in its place, for the sounds uttered by the

493
00:32:21,359 --> 00:32:25,039
stricken figure that lay stretched out on the limestone had

494
00:32:25,079 --> 00:32:30,079
told us the awesome truth. The creature I had killed,

495
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,759
the strange beast of the unfathomed cave, was, or had

496
00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:36,799
at one time been, a man,