The
thought of such a contingency, was, alone, sufficient to make me
circumspect. So it was, that the fourth, fifth and sixth days went by, quietly,
without my making any attempt to leave the house. On the sixth day, I had the pleasure of seeing Pepper, once more, upon
his feet; and, though still very weak, he managed to keep me company
during the whole of that day. _XI_

THE SEARCHING OF THE GARDENS

How slowly the time went; and never a thing to indicate that any of the
brutes still infested the gardens. It was on the ninth day that, finally, I decided to run the risk, if
any there were, and sally out. With this purpose in view, I loaded one
of the shotguns, carefully--choosing it, as being more deadly than a
rifle, at close quarters; and then, after a final scrutiny of the
grounds, from the tower, I called Pepper to follow me, and made my way
down to the basement. At the door, I must confess to hesitating a moment. The thought of what
might be awaiting me among the dark shrubberies, was by no means
calculated to encourage my resolution. It was but a second, though, and
then I had drawn the bolts, and was standing on the path outside
the door. Pepper followed, stopping at the doorstep to sniff, suspiciously; and
carrying his nose up and down the jambs, as though following a scent. Then, suddenly, he turned, sharply, and started to run here and there,
in semicircles and circles, all around the door; finally returning to
the threshold. Here, he began again to nose about. Hitherto, I had stood, watching the dog; yet, all the time, with half
my gaze on the wild tangle of gardens, stretching 'round me. Now, I went
toward him, and, bending down, examined the surface of the door, where
he was smelling. I found that the wood was covered with a network of
scratches, crossing and recrossing one another, in inextricable
confusion. In addition to this, I noticed that the doorposts,
themselves, were gnawed in places. Beyond these, I could find nothing;
and so, standing up, I began to make the tour of the house wall. Pepper, as soon as I walked away, left the door, and ran ahead, still
nosing and sniffing as he went along. At times, he stopped to
investigate. Here, it would be a bullet-hole in the pathway, or,
perhaps, a powder stained wad. Anon, it might be a piece of torn sod, or
a disturbed patch of weedy path; but, save for such trifles, he found
nothing. I observed him, critically, as he went along, and could
discover nothing of uneasiness, in his demeanor, to indicate that he
felt the nearness of any of the creatures. By this, I was assured that
the gardens were empty, at least for the present, of those hateful
Things. Pepper could not be easily deceived, and it was a relief to feel
that he would know, and give me timely warning, if there were
any danger. Reaching the place where I had shot that first creature, I stopped, and
made a careful scrutiny; but could see nothing. From there, I went on to
where the great copingstone had fallen. It lay on its side, apparently
just as it had been left when I shot the brute that was moving it. A
couple of feet to the right of the nearer end, was a great dent in the
ground; showing where it had struck. The other end was still within the
indentation--half in, and half out. Going nearer, I looked at the stone,
more closely. What a huge piece of masonry it was! And that creature had
moved it, single-handed, in its attempt to reach what lay below. I went 'round to the further end of the stone. Here, I found that it
was possible to see under it, for a distance of nearly a couple of feet. Still, I could see nothing of the stricken creatures, and I felt much
surprised. I had, as I have before said, guessed that the remains had
been removed; yet, I could not conceive that it had been done so
thoroughly as not to leave some certain sign, beneath the stone,
indicative of their fate. I had seen several of the brutes struck down
beneath it, with such force that they must have been literally driven
into the earth; and now, not a vestige of them was to be seen--not even
a bloodstain. I felt more puzzled, than ever, as I turned the matter over in my mind;
but could think of no plausible explanation; and so, finally, gave it
up, as one of the many things that were unexplainable. From there, I transferred my attention to the study door. I could see,
now, even more plainly, the effects of the tremendous strain, to which
it had been subjected; and I marveled how, even with the support
afforded by the props, it had withstood the attacks, so well. There were
no marks of blows--indeed, none had been given--but the door had been
literally riven from its hinges, by the application of enormous, silent
force. One thing that I observed affected me profoundly--the head of one
of the props had been driven right through a panel. This was, of itself,
sufficient to show how huge an effort the creatures had made to break
down the door, and how nearly they had succeeded. Leaving, I continued my tour 'round the house, finding little else of
interest; save at the back, where I came across the piece of piping I
had torn from the wall, lying among the long grass underneath the
broken window. Then, I returned to the house, and, having re-bolted the back door,
went up to the tower. Here, I spent the afternoon, reading, and
occasionally glancing down into the gardens. I had determined, if the
night passed quietly, to go as far as the Pit, on the morrow. Perhaps, I
should be able to learn, then, something of what had happened. The day
slipped away, and the night came, and went much as the last few
nights had gone. When I rose the morning had broken, fine and clear; and I determined to
put my project into action. During breakfast, I considered the matter,
carefully; after which, I went to the study for my shotgun. In addition,
I loaded, and slipped into my pocket, a small, but heavy, pistol. I
quite understood that, if there were any danger, it lay in the direction
of the Pit and I intended to be prepared. Leaving the study, I went down to the back door, followed by Pepper. Once outside, I took a quick survey of the surrounding gardens, and then
set off toward the Pit. On the way, I kept a sharp outlook, holding my
gun, handily. Pepper was running ahead, I noticed, without any apparent
hesitation. From this, I augured that there was no imminent danger to be
apprehended, and I stepped out more quickly in his wake. He had reached
the top of the Pit, now, and was nosing his way along the edge. A minute later, I was beside him, looking down into the Pit. For a
moment, I could scarcely believe that it was the same place, so greatly
was it changed. The dark, wooded ravine of a fortnight ago, with a
foliage-hidden stream, running sluggishly, at the bottom, existed no
longer. Instead, my eyes showed me a ragged chasm, partly filled with a
gloomy lake of turbid water. All one side of the ravine was stripped of
underwood, showing the bare rock.