The Beetle | Page 7

gained my loins. It was moving towards the
pit of my stomach. The helplessness with which I suffered its invasion
was not the least part of my agony,--it was that helplessness which we
know in dreadful dreams. I understood, quite well, that if I did but give
myself a hearty shake, the creature would fall off; but I had not a
muscle at my command.
As the creature mounted its eyes began to play the part of two small
lamps; they positively emitted rays of light. By their rays I began to
perceive faint outlines of its body. It seemed larger than I had supposed.
Either the body itself was slightly phosphorescent, or it was of a
peculiar yellow hue. It gleamed in the darkness. What it was there was
still nothing to positively show, but the impression grew upon me that
it was some member of the spider family, some monstrous member, of
the like of which I had never heard or read. It was heavy, so heavy
indeed, that I wondered how, with so slight a pressure, it managed to
retain its hold,--that it did so by the aid of some adhesive substance at
the end of its legs I was sure,--I could feel it stick. Its weight increased
as it ascended,--and it smelt! I had been for some time aware that it
emitted an unpleasant, foetid odour; as it neared my face it became so
intense as to be unbearable.
It was at my chest. I became more and more conscious of an
uncomfortable wobbling motion, as if each time it breathed its body
heaved. Its forelegs touched the bare skin about the base of my neck;
they stuck to it,--shall I ever forget the feeling? I have it often in my

dreams. While it hung on with those in front it seemed to draw its other
legs up after it. It crawled up my neck, with hideous slowness, a quarter
of an inch at a time, its weight compelling me to brace the muscles of
my back. It reached my chin, it touched my lips,--and I stood still and
bore it all, while it enveloped my face with its huge, slimy,
evil-smelling body, and embraced me with its myriad legs. The horror
of it made me mad. I shook myself like one stricken by the shaking
ague. I shook the creature off. It squashed upon the floor. Shrieking like
some lost spirit, turning, I dashed towards the window. As I went, my
foot, catching in some obstacle, I fell headlong to the floor.
Picking myself up as quickly as I could I resumed my flight,--rain or no
rain, oh to get out of that room! I already had my hand upon the sill, in
another instant I should have been over it,--then, despite my hunger,
my fatigues, let anyone have stopped me if they could!--when someone
behind me struck a light.
CHAPTER III
THE MAN IN THE BED
The illumination which instantly followed was unexpected. It startled
me, causing a moment's check, from which I was just recovering when
a voice said,
'Keep still!'
There was a quality in the voice which I cannot describe. Not only an
accent of command, but a something malicious, a something saturnine.
It was a little guttural, though whether it was a man speaking I could
not have positively said; but I had no doubt it was a foreigner. It was
the most disagreeable voice I had ever heard, and it had on me the most
disagreeable effect; for when it said, 'Keep still!' I kept still. It was as
though there was nothing else for me to do.
'Turn round!'
I turned round, mechanically, like an automaton. Such passivity was

worse than undignified, it was galling; I knew that well. I resented it
with secret rage. But in that room, in that presence, I was invertebrate.
When I turned I found myself confronting someone who was lying in
bed. At the head of the bed was a shelf. On the shelf was a small lamp
which gave the most brilliant light I had ever seen. It caught me full in
the eyes, having on me such a blinding effect that for some seconds I
could see nothing. Throughout the whole of that strange interview I
cannot affirm that I saw clearly; the dazzling glare caused dancing
specks to obscure my vision. Yet, after an interval of time, I did see
something; and what I did see I had rather have left unseen.
I saw someone in front of me lying in a bed. I could not at once decide
if it was a man or a woman. Indeed at first I doubted if it was anything
human. But, afterwards, I knew it to be a man,--for this reason, if for no