My candle went out, and I found myself
floundering about in utter and absolute darkness. I staggered to my feet again, more amused than alarmed by my adventure. The candle had fallen from my hand, and was lost in the stream, but I
had two others in my pocket, so that it was of no importance. I got
one of them ready, and drew out my box of matches to light it. Only
then did I realize my position. The box had been soaked in my fall
into the river. It was impossible to strike the matches. A cold hand seemed to close round my heart as I realized my position. The darkness was opaque and horrible. It was so utter one put one's
hand up to one's face as if to press off something solid. I stood
still, and by an effort I steadied myself. I tried to reconstruct in
my mind a map of the floor of the cavern as I had last seen it. Alas! the bearings which had impressed themselves upon my mind were high on
the wall, and not to be found by touch. Still, I remembered in a
general way how the sides were situated, and I hoped that by groping my
way along them I should at last come to the opening of the Roman
tunnel. Moving very slowly, and continually striking against the
rocks, I set out on this desperate quest. But I very soon realized how impossible it was. In that black, velvety
darkness one lost all one's bearings in an instant. Before I had made
a dozen paces, I was utterly bewildered as to my whereabouts. The
rippling of the stream, which was the one sound audible, showed me
where it lay, but the moment that I left its bank I was utterly lost. The idea of finding my way back in absolute darkness through that
limestone labyrinth was clearly an impossible one. I sat down upon a boulder and reflected upon my unfortunate plight. I
had not told anyone that I proposed to come to the Blue John mine, and
it was unlikely that a search party would come after me. Therefore I
must trust to my own resources to get clear of the danger. There was
only one hope, and that was that the matches might dry. When I fell
into the river, only half of me had got thoroughly wet. My left
shoulder had remained above the water. I took the box of matches,
therefore, and put it into my left armpit. The moist air of the cavern
might possibly be counteracted by the heat of my body, but even so, I
knew that I could not hope to get a light for many hours. Meanwhile
there was nothing for it but to wait. By good luck I had slipped several biscuits into my pocket before I
left the farm-house. These I now devoured, and washed them down with a
draught from that wretched stream which had been the cause of all my
misfortunes. Then I felt about for a comfortable seat among the rocks,
and, having discovered a place where I could get a support for my back,
I stretched out my legs and settled myself down to wait. I was
wretchedly damp and cold, but I tried to cheer myself with the
reflection that modern science prescribed open windows and walks in all
weather for my disease. Gradually, lulled by the monotonous gurgle of
the stream, and by the absolute darkness, I sank into an uneasy slumber. How long this lasted I cannot say. It may have been for an hour, it
may have been for several. Suddenly I sat up on my rock couch, with
every nerve thrilling and every sense acutely on the alert. Beyond all
doubt I had heard a sound--some sound very distinct from the gurgling
of the waters. It had passed, but the reverberation of it still
lingered in my ear. Was it a search party? They would most certainly
have shouted, and vague as this sound was which had wakened me, it was
very distinct from the human voice. I sat palpitating and hardly
daring to breathe. There it was again! And again! Now it had become
continuous. It was a tread--yes, surely it was the tread of some
living creature. But what a tread it was! It gave one the impression
of enormous weight carried upon sponge-like feet, which gave forth a
muffled but ear-filling sound. The darkness was as complete as ever,
but the tread was regular and decisive. And it was coming beyond all
question in my direction. My skin grew cold, and my hair stood on end as I listened to that
steady and ponderous footfall. There was some creature there, and
surely by the speed of its advance, it was one which could see in the
dark. I crouched low on my rock and tried to blend myself into it. The steps grew nearer still, then stopped, and presently I was aware of
a loud lapping and gurgling. The creature was drinking at the stream. Then again there was silence, broken by a succession of long sniffs and
snorts of tremendous volume and energy. Had it caught the scent of me? My own nostrils were filled by a low fetid odour, mephitic and
abominable. Then I heard the steps again. They were on my side of the
stream now. The stones rattled within a few yards of where I lay. Hardly daring to breathe, I crouched upon my rock. Then the steps drew
away. I heard the splash as it returned across the river, and the
sound died away into the distance in the direction from which it had
come. For a long time I lay upon the rock, too much horrified to move. I
thought of the sound which I had heard coming from the depths of the
cave, of Armitage's fears, of the strange impression in the mud, and
now came this final and absolute proof that there was indeed some
inconceivable monster, something utterly unearthly and dreadful, which
lurked in the hollow of the mountain. Of its nature or form I could
frame no conception, save that it was both light-footed and gigantic. The combat between my reason, which told me that such things could not
be, and my senses, which told me that they were, raged within me as I
lay. Finally, I was almost ready to persuade myself that this
experience had been part of some evil dream, and that my abnormal
condition might have conjured up an hallucination. But there remained
one final experience which removed the last possibility of doubt from
my mind. I had taken my matches from my armpit and felt them. They seemed
perfectly hard and dry. Stooping down into a crevice of the rocks, I
tried one of them. To my delight it took fire at once. I lit the
candle, and, with a terrified backward glance into the obscure depths
of the cavern, I hurried in the direction of the Roman passage. As I
did so I passed the patch of mud on which I had seen the huge imprint. Now I stood astonished before it, for there were three similar imprints
upon its surface, enormous in size, irregular in outline, of a depth
which indicated the ponderous weight which had left them. Then a great
terror surged over me. Stooping and shading my candle with my hand, I
ran in a frenzy of fear to the rocky archway, hastened up it, and never
stopped until, with weary feet and panting lungs, I rushed up the final
slope of stones, broke through the tangle of briars, and flung myself
exhausted upon the soft grass under the peaceful light of the stars.