I understood him. Danger could not have stayed him nor fear, but
the horror of the thing which roamed about the cavern, dark as
darkness itself and possessed of some strange power that could
not be withstood, was enough to make him pause. For myself it was
impossible; I was barely able to stand. So Harry went off alone
in search of water and I stayed with Desiree.
It was perhaps half an hour before he returned, and we were
shaken with fear for him long before he appeared. When he did so
it was with a white face and trembling limbs, in spite of his
evident effort at steadiness.
"There is water over there," said he, pointing across the cavern.
"A stream runs across the corner and disappears beneath the wall.
There is nothing to carry it in. You must come with me."
"What has happened?" I asked, for even his voice was unsteady.
"I saw it," he replied simply, but expressing enough in those
three words to cause a shudder to run through me.
Then, speaking in a low tone that Desiree might not hear, he told
me that the thing had confronted him suddenly as he was following
the opposite wall, and that he, too, had been drawn forward, as
it were, by a spell impossible to shake off.
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