the depths; I could hear it in a dense wood at my right, the murmur
of it rising and falling in ceaseless volumes of sound, riven at
intervals by a horrid scream or a thunderous roar which shook the
earth; and always I was haunted by that inexplicable sensation that
unseen eyes were watching me, that soundless feet dogged my trail.
I am neither nervous nor highstrung; but the burden of responsibility
upon me weighed heavily, so that I was more cautious than is my
wont. I turned often to right and left and rear lest I be surprised,
and I carried my rifle at the ready in my hand. Once I could have
sworn that among the many creatures dimly perceived amidst the
shadows of the wood I saw a human figure dart from one cover to
another, but I could not be sure.

For the most part I skirted the wood, making occasional detours
rather than enter those forbidding depths of gloom, though many
times I was forced to pass through arms of the forest which extended
to the very shore of the inland sea. There was so sinister a
suggestion in the uncouth sounds and the vague glimpses of moving
things within the forest, of the menace of strange beasts and possibly
still stranger men, that I always breathed more freely when I had
passed once more into open country.

I had traveled northward for perhaps an hour, still haunted by the
conviction that I was being stalked by some creature which kept
always hidden among the trees and shrubbery to my right and a
little to my rear, when for the hundredth time I was attracted by
a sound from that direction, and turning, saw some animal running
rapidly through the forest toward me. There was no longer any
effort on its part at concealment; it came on through the underbrush
swiftly, and I was confident that whatever it was, it had finally