The Boats of the Glen-Carrig | Page 3

down the creek, and from inland and the land between us and
the sea. It filled the evening air with its doleful wailing, and I remarked
that there was in it a curious sobbing, most human in its despairful
crying. And so awesome was the thing that no man of us spoke; for it
seemed that we harked to the weeping of lost souls. And then, as we
waited fearfully, the sun sank below the edge of the world, and the dusk
was upon us.
And now a more extraordinary thing happened; for, as the night fell
with swift gloom, the strange wailing and crying was hushed, and
another sound stole out upon the land--a far, sullen growling. At the
first, like the crying, it came from far inland; but was caught up
speedily on all sides of us, and presently the dark was full of it. And it
increased in volume, and strange trumpetings fled across it. Then,
though with slowness, it fell away to a low, continuous growling, and
in it there was that which I can only describe as an insistent, hungry
snarl. Aye! no other word of which I have knowledge so well describes
it as that--a note of hunger, most awesome to the ear. And this, more
than all the rest of those incredible voicings, brought terror into my
heart.
Now as I sat listening, George gripped me suddenly by the arm,
declaring in a shrill whisper that something had come among the clump
of trees upon the left-hand bank. Of the truth of this, I had immediately
a proof; for I caught the sound of a continuous rustling among them,
and then a nearer note of growling, as though a wild beast purred at my
elbow. Immediately upon this, I caught the bo'sun's voice, calling in a
low tone to Josh, the eldest 'prentice, who had the charge of our boat, to
come alongside of him; for he would have the boats together. Then got
we out the oars and laid the boats together in the midst of the creek;
and so we watched through the night, being full of fear, so that we kept
our speech low; that is, so low as would carry our thoughts one to the
other through the noise of the growling.
And so the hours passed, and naught happened more than I have told,
save that once, a little after midnight, the trees opposite to us seemed to
be stirred again, as though some creature, or creatures, lurked among
them; and there came, a little after that, a sound as of something stirring
the water up against the bank; but it ceased in a while and the silence
fell once more.

Thus, after a weariful time, away Eastwards the sky began to tell of the
coming of the day; and, as the light grew and strengthened, so did that
insatiable growling pass hence with the dark and the shadows. And so
at last came the day, and once more there was borne to us the sad
wailing that had preceded the night. For a certain while it lasted, rising
and falling most mournfully over the vastness of the surrounding
wastes, until the sun was risen some degrees above the horizon; after
which it began to fail, dying away in lingering echoes, most solemn to
our ears. And so it passed, and there came again the silence that had
been with us in all the daylight hours.
Now, it being day, the bo'sun bade us make such sparse breakfast as
our provender allowed; after which, having first scanned the banks to
discern if any fearful thing were visible, we took again to our oars, and
proceeded on our upward journey; for we hoped presently to come
upon a country where life had not become extinct, and where we could
put foot to honest earth. Yet, as I have made mention earlier, the
vegetation, where it grew, did flourish most luxuriantly; so that I am
scarce correct when I speak of life as being extinct in that land. For,
indeed, now I think of it, I can remember that the very mud from which
it sprang seemed veritably to have a fat, sluggish life of its own, so rich
and viscid was it.
Presently it was midday; yet was there but little change in the nature of
the surrounding wastes; though it may be that the vegetation was
something thicker, and more continuous along the banks. But the banks
were still of the same thick, clinging mud; so that nowhere could we
effect a landing; though, had we, the rest of the country beyond the
banks seemed no better.
And all the while, as we pulled, we glanced continuously from bank to
bank; and those who worked not at the oars