Chapter 13: The Trap In The Great Cellar

I Suppose I Must Have Swooned; For, The Next Thing I Remember, I Opened My Eyes, And All Was Dusk. I Was Lying On My Back, With One Leg Doubled Under The Other, And Pepper Was Licking My Ears. I Felt Horribly Stiff, And My Leg Was Numb, From The Knee, Downward. For A Few Minutes, I Lay Thus, In A Dazed Condition; Then, Slowly, I Struggled To A Sitting Position, And Looked About Me.

It Had Stopped Raining, But The Trees Still Dripped, Dismally. From The Pit, Came A Continuous Murmur Of Running Water. I Felt Cold And Shivery. My Clothes Were Sodden, And I Ached All Over. Very Slowly, The Life Came Back Into My Numbed Leg, And, After A Little, I Essayed To Stand Up. This, I Managed, At The Second Attempt; But I Was Very Tottery, And Peculiarly Weak. It Seemed To Me, That I Was Going To Be Ill, And I Made Shift To Stumble My Way Toward The House. My Steps Were Erratic, And My Head Confused. At Each Step That I Took, Sharp Pains Shot Through My Limbs.

I Had Gone, Perhaps, Some Thirty Paces, When A Cry From Pepper, Drew My Attention, And I Turned, Stiffly, Toward Him. The Old Dog Was Trying To Follow Me; But Could Come No Further, Owing To The Rope, With Which I Had Hauled Him Up, Being Still Tied ‘Round His Body, The Other End Not Having Been Unfastened From The Tree. For A Moment, I Fumbled With The Knots, Weakly; But They Were Wet And Hard, And I Could Do Nothing. Then, I Remembered My Knife, And, In A Minute, The Rope Was Cut.

How I Reached The House, I Scarcely Know, And, Of The Days That Followed, I Remember Still Less. Of One Thing, I Am Certain, That, Had It Not Been For My Sister’s Untiring Love And Nursing, I Had Not Been Writing At This Moment.

When I Recovered My Senses, It Was To Find That I Had Been In Bed For Nearly Two Weeks. Yet Another Week Passed, Before I Was Strong Enough To Totter Out Into The Gardens. Even Then, I Was Not Able To Walk So Far As The Pit. I Would Have Liked To Ask My Sister, How High The Water Had Risen; But Felt It Was Wiser Not To Mention The Subject To Her. Indeed, Since Then, I Have Made A Rule Never To Speak To Her About The Strange Things, That Happen In This Great, Old House.

It Was Not Until A Couple Of Days Later, That I Managed To Get Across To The Pit. There, I Found That, In My Few Weeks’ Absence, There Had Been Wrought A Wondrous Change. Instead Of The Three-Parts Filled Ravine, I Looked Out Upon A Great Lake, Whose Placid Surface, Reflected The Light, Coldly. The Water Had Risen To Within Half A Dozen Feet Of The Pit Edge. Only In One Part Was The Lake Disturbed, And That Was Above The Place Where, Far Down Under The Silent Waters, Yawned The Entrance To The Vast, Underground Pit. Here, There Was A Continuous Bubbling; And, Occasionally, A Curious Sort Of Sobbing Gurgle Would Find Its Way Up From The Depth. Beyond These, There Was Nothing To Tell Of The Things That Were Hidden Beneath. As I Stood There, It Came To Me How Wonderfully Things Had Worked Out. The Entrance To The Place Whence The Swine-Creatures Had Come, Was Sealed Up, By A Power That Made Me Feel There Was Nothing More To Fear From Them. And Yet, With The Feeling, There Was A Sensation That, Now, I Should Never Learn Anything Further, Of The Place From Which Those Dreadful Things Had Come. It Was Completely Shut Off And Concealed From Human Curiosity Forever.

Strange--In The Knowledge Of That Underground Hell-Hole--How Apposite Has Been The Naming Of The Pit. One Wonders How It Originated, And When. Naturally, One Concludes That The Shape And Depth Of The Ravine Would Suggest The Name ‘Pit.’ Yet, Is It Not Possible That It Has, All Along, Held A Deeper Significance, A Hint--Could One But Have Guessed--Of The Greater, More Stupendous Pit That Lies Far Down In The Earth, Beneath This Old House? Under This House! Even Now, The Idea Is Strange And Terrible To Me. For I Have Proved, Beyond Doubt, That The Pit Yawns Right Below The House, Which Is Evidently Supported, Somewhere Above The Center Of It, Upon A Tremendous, Arched Roof, Of Solid Rock.

It Happened In This Wise, That, Having Occasion To Go Down To The Cellars, The Thought Occurred To Me To Pay A Visit To The Great Vault, Where The Trap Is Situated; And See Whether Everything Was As I Had Left It.