The Beast in the Cave

The Beast in the Cave
by H.P. Lovecraft


April 21, 1905

The horrible conclusion which had been gradually obtruding itself upon my
confused and reluctant mind was now an awful certainty. I was lost, completely,
hopelessly lost in the vast and labyrinthine recess of the Mammoth Cave. Turn as
I might, In no direction could my straining vision seize on any object capable
of serving as a guidepost to set me on the outward path. That nevermore should I
behold the blessed light of day, or scan the pleasant bills and dales of the
beautiful world outside, my reason could no longer entertain the slightest
unbelief. Hope had departed. Yet, indoctrinated as I was by a life of
philosophical study, I derived no small measure of satisfaction from my
unimpassioned demeanour; for although I had frequently read of the wild frenzies
into which were thrown the victims of similar situation, I experienced none of
these, but stood quiet as soon as I clearly realised the loss of my bearings.
Nor did the thought that I had probably wandered beyond the utmost limits of
an ordinary search cause me to abandon my composure even for a moment. If I must
die, I reflected, then was this terrible yet majestic cavern as welcome a
sepulchre as that which any churchyard might afford, a conception which carried
with it more of tranquillity than of despair.
Starving would prove my ultimate fate; of this I was certain. Some, I knew,
had gone mad under circumstances such as these, but I felt that this end would
not be mine.  My disaster was the result of no fault save my own, since unknown
to the guide I had separated myself from the regular party of sightseers; and,
wandering for over an hour in forbidden avenues of the cave, had found myself
unable to retrace the devious windings which I had pursued since forsaking my
companions.
Already my torch had begun to expire; soon I would be enveloped by the total
and almost palpable blackness of the bowels of the earth. As I stood in the
waning, unsteady light, I idly wondered over the exact circumstances of my
coming end. I remembered the accounts which I had heard of the colony of
consumptives, who, taking their residence in this gigantic grotto to find health
from the apparently salubrious air of the underground world, with its steady,
uniform temperature, pure air, and peaceful quiet, had found, instead, death in
strange and ghastly form. I had seen the sad remains of their ill-made cottages
as I passed them by with the party, and had wondered what unnatural influence a
long sojourn in this immense and silent cavern would exert upon one as healthy
and vigorous as I. Now, I grimly told myself, my opportunity for settling this
point had arrived, provided that want of food should not bring me too speedy a
departure from this life.
As the last fitful rays of my torch faded into obscurity, I resolved to
leave no stone unturned, no possible means of escape neglected; so, summoning
all the powers possessed by my lungs, I set up a series of loud shoutings, in
the vain hope of attracting the attention of the guide by my clamour. Yet, as I
called, I believed in my heart that my cries were to no purpose, and that my
voice, magnified and reflected by the numberless ramparts of the black maze
about me, fell upon no ears save my own.
All at once, however, my attention was fixed with a start as I fancied that
I heard the sound of soft approaching steps on the rocky floor of the cavern.
Was my deliverance about to be accomplished so soon? Had, then, all my
horrible apprehensions been for naught, and was the guide, having marked my
unwarranted absence from the party, following my course and seeking me out in
this limestone labyrinth? Whilst these joyful queries arose in my brain, I was
on the point of renewing my cries, in order that my discovery might come the
sooner, when in an instant my delight was turned to horror as I listened; for my
ever acute ear, now sharpened in even greater degree by the complete silence of
the cave, bore to my benumbed understanding the unexpected and dreadful
knowledge that these footfalls were not like those of any mortal man. In the
unearthly stillness of this subterranean region, the tread of the booted guide
would have sounded like a series of sharp and incisive blows. These impacts were
soft, and stealthy, as of the paws of some feline. Besides, when I listened
carefully, I seemed to trace the falls of four instead of two feet.
I was now convinced that I had by my own cries aroused and attracted some
wild beast, perhaps a mountain lion which had accidentally strayed within the
cave. Perhaps, I considered, the Almighty had chosen for me a swifter and more
merciful death than that of hunger; yet the instinct of self-preservation, never
wholly dormant, was stirred in my breast, and though escape from the on-coming
peril might but spare me for a sterner and more lingering end, I determined
nevertheless to part with my life at as high a price as I could command. Strange
as it may seem, my mind conceived of no intent on the part of the visitor save
that of hostility. Accordingly, I became very quiet, In the hope that the
unknown beast would, In the absence of a guiding sound, lose its direction as
had I, and thus pass me by. But this hope was not destined for realisation, for
the strange footfalls steadily advanced, the animal evidently having obtained my
scent, which in an atmosphere so absolutely free from all distracting influences
as is that of the cave, could doubtless be followed at great distance.
Seeing therefore that I must be armed for defense against an uncanny and
unseen attack in the dark, I groped about me the largest of the fragments of
rock which were strewn upon all parts of the floor of the cavern In the
vicinity, and grasping one in each hand for immediate use, awaited with
resignation the inevitable result. Meanwhile the hideous pattering of the paws
drew near. Certainly, the conduct of the creature was exceedingly strange. Most
of the time, the tread seemed to be that of a quadruped, walking with a singular
lack of unison betwixt hind and fore feet, yet at brief and infrequent intervals
I fancied that but two feet were engaged in the process of locomotion. I
wondered what species of animal was to confront me; it must, I thought, be some
unfortunate beast who had paid for its curiosity to investigate one of the
entrances of the fearful grotto with a life-long confinement in its interminable
recesses. It doubtless obtained as food the eyeless fish, bats and rats of the
cave, as well as some of the ordinary fish that are wafted in at every freshet
of Green River, which communicates in some occult manner with the waters of the
cave. I occupied my terrible vigil with grotesque conjectures of what alteration
cave life might have wrought In the physical structure of the beast, remembering
the awful appearances ascribed by local tradition to the consumptives who had
died after long residence in the cave. Then I remembered with a start that, even
should I succeed in felling my antagonist, I should never behold its form, as my
torch had long since been extinct, and I was entirely unprovided with matches.
The tension on my brain now became frightful. My disordered fancy conjured up
hideous and fearsome shapes from the sinister darkness that surrounded me, and
that actually seemed to press upon my body. Nearer, nearer, the dreadful
footfalls approached. It seemed that I must give vent to a piercing scream, yet
had I been sufficiently irresolute to attempt such a thing, my voice could
scarce have responded. I was petrified, rooted to the spot. I doubted if my
right arm would allow me to hurl its missile at the oncoming thing when the
crucial moment should arrive. Now the steady pat, pat, of the steps was close at
hand; now very close. I could hear the laboured breathing of the animal, and
terror-struck as I was, I realised that it must have come from a considerable
distance, and was correspondingly fatigued. Suddenly the spell broke. My right
hand, guided by my ever trustworthy sense of hearing, threw with full force the
sharp-angled bit of limestone which it contained, toward that point in the
darkness from which emanated the breathing and pattering, and, wonderful to
relate, it nearly reached its goal, for I heard the thing jump landing at a
distance away, where it seemed to pause.
Having readjusted my aim, I discharged my second missile, this time moat
effectively, for with a flood of joy I listened as the creature fell in what
sounded like a complete collapse and evidently remained prone and unmoving.
Almost overpowered by the great relief which rushed over me, I reeled back
against the wall. The breathing continued, in heavy, gasping inhalation. and
expirations, whence I realised that I had no more than wounded the creature. And
now all desire to examine the thing ceased. At last something allied to
groundless, superstitious fear had entered my brain, and I did not approach the
body, nor did I continue to cast stones at it in order to complete the
extinction of its life. Instead, I ran at full speed in what was, as nearly as I
could estimate in my frenzied condition, the direction from which I had come.
Suddenly I heard a sound or rather, a regular succession of sounds. In another
Instant they had resolved themselves into a series of sharp, metallic clicks.
This time there was no doubt. It was the guide. And then I shouted, yelled,
screamed, even shrieked with joy as I beheld in the vaulted arches above the
faint and glimmering effulgence which I knew to be the reflected light of an
approaching torch. I ran to meet the flare, and before I could completely
understand what had occurred, was lying upon the ground at the feet of the
guide, embracing his boots and gibbering. despite my boasted reserve, in a most
meaningless and idiotic manner, pouring out my terrible story, and at the same
time overwhelming my auditor with protestations of gratitude. At length, I awoke
to something like my normal consciousness. The guide had noted my absence upon
the arrival of the party at the entrance of the cave, and had, from his own
intuitive sense of direction, proceeded to make a thorough canvass of
by-passages just ahead of where he had last spoken to me, locating my
whereabouts after a quest of about four hours.
By the time he had related this to me, I, emboldened by his torch and his
company, began to reflect upon the strange beast which I had wounded but a short
distance back in the darkness, and suggested that we ascertain, by the
flashlight's aid, what manner of creature was my victim. Accordingly I retraced
my steps, this time with a courage born of companionship, to the scene of my
terrible experience. Soon we descried a white object upon the floor, an object
whiter even than the gleaming limestone itself. Cautiously advancing, we gave
vent to a simultaneous ejaculation of wonderment, for of all the unnatural
monsters either of us had in our lifetimes beheld, this was in surpassing degree
the strangest. It appeared to be an anthropoid ape of large proportions,
escaped, perhaps, from some itinerant menagerie. Its hair was snow-white, a
thing due no doubt to the bleaching action of a long existence within the inky
confines of the cave, but it was also surprisingly thin, being indeed largely
absent save on the head, where it was of such length and abundance that it fell
over the shoulders in considerable profusion. The face was turned away from us,
as the creature lay almost directly upon it. The inclination of the limbs was
very singular, explaining, however, the alternation in their use which I bad
before noted, whereby the beast used sometimes all four, and on other occasions
but two for its progress. From the tips of the fingers or toes, long rat-like
claws extended. The hands or feet were not prehensile, a fact that I ascribed to
that long residence in the cave which, as I before mentioned, seemed evident
from the all-pervading and almost unearthly whiteness so characteristic of the
whole anatomy. No tail seemed to be present.
The respiration had now grown very feeble, and the guide had drawn his
pistol with the evident intent of despatching the creature, when a sudden sound
emitted by the latter caused the weapon to fall unused. The sound was of a
nature difficult to describe. It was not like the normal note of any known
species of simian, and I wonder if this unnatural quality were not the result of
a long continued and complete silence, broken by the sensations produced by the
advent of the light, a thing which the beast could not have seen since its first
entrance into the cave. The sound, which I might feebly attempt to classify as a
kind of deep-tone chattering, was faintly continued.
All at once a fleeting spasm of energy seemed to pass through the frame of
the beast. The paws went through a convulsive motion, and the limbs contracted.
With a jerk, the white body rolled over so that its face was turned in our
direction. For a moment I was so struck with horror at the eyes thus revealed
that I noted nothing else. They were black, those eyes, deep jetty black, in
hideous contrast to the snow-white hair and flesh. Like those of other cave
denizens, they were deeply sunken in their orbits, and were entirely destitute
of iris. As I looked more closely, I saw that they were set in a face less
prognathous than that of the average ape, and infinitely less hairy. The nose
was quite distinct. As we gazed upon the uncanny sight presented to our vision,
the thick lips opened, and several sounds issued from them, after which the
thing relaxed in death.
The guide clutched my coatsleeve and trembled so violently that the light
shook fitfully, casting weird moving shadows on the walls.
I made no motion, but stood rigidly still, my horrified eyes fixed upon the
floor ahead.
The fear left, and wonder, awe, compassion, and reverence succeeded in its
place, for the sounds uttered by the stricken figure that lay stretched out on
the limestone had told us the awesome truth. The creature I had killed, the
strange beast of the unfathomed cave, was, or had at one time been a MAN!!!