Poe, Edgar Allen - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe

by Volume 01-05 (lit)

  should not Augustus have visited me and informed me of the

  circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the difficulties of my

  solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to wait yet another

  twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained, I would make my

  way to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a parley with my

  friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the opening, and a

  further supply of water from the stateroom. While occupied with this

  thought, however, I fell in spite of every exertion to the contrary,

  into a state of profound sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams were of

  the most terrific description. Every species of calamity and horror

  befell me. Among other miseries I was smothered to death between huge

  pillows, by demons of the most ghastly and ferocious aspect. Immense

  serpents held me in their embrace, and looked earnestly in my face

  with their fearfully shining eyes. Then deserts, limitless, and of

  the most forlorn and awe-inspiring character, spread themselves out

  before me. Immensely tall trunks of trees, gray and leafless, rose up

  in endless succession as far as the eye could reach. Their roots were

  concealed in wide-spreading morasses, whose dreary water lay

  intensely black, still, and altogether terrible, beneath. And the

  strange trees seemed endowed with a human vitality, and waving to and

  fro their skeleton arms, were crying to the silent waters for mercy,

  in the shrill and piercing accents of the most acute agony and

  despair. The scene changed; and I stood, naked and alone, amidst the

  burning sand-plains of Sahara. At my feet lay crouched a fierce lion

  of the tropics. Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon me. With

  a conculsive bound he sprang to his feet, and laid bare his horrible

  teeth. In another instant there burst from his red throat a roar like

  the thunder of the firmament, and I fell impetuously to the earth.

  Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I at last found myself partially

  awake. My dream, then, was not all a dream. Now, at least, I was in

  possession of my senses. The paws of some huge and real monster were

  pressing heavily upon my bosom -- his hot breath was in my ear- and

  his white and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me through the gloom.

  Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the

  utterance of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken. The

  beast, whatever it was, retained his position without attempting any

  immediate violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I

  fancied, a dying condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of body

  and mind were fast leaving me- in a word, that I was perishing, and

  perishing of sheer fright. My brain swam -- I grew deadly sick -- my

  vision failed -- even the glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making

  a last strong effort, I at length breathed a faint ejaculation to

  God, and resigned myself to die. The sound of my voice seemed to

  arouse all the latent fury of the animal. He precipitated himself at

  full length upon my body; but what was my astonishment, when, with a

  long and low whine, he commenced licking my face and hands with the

  greatest eagerness, and with the most extravagant demonstration of

  affection and joy! I was bewildered, utterly lost in amazement- but I

  could not forget the peculiar whine of my Newfoundland dog Tiger, and

  the odd manner of his caresses I well knew. It was he. I experienced

  a sudden rush of blood to my temples- a giddy and overpowering sense

  of deliverance and reanimation. I rose hurriedly from the mattress

  upon which I had been lying, and, throwing myself upon the neck of my

  faithful follower and friend, relieved the long oppression of my

  bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears.

  As upon a former occasion my conceptions were in a state of the

  greatest indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress. For

  a long time I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas; but,

  by very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again

  called to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the

  presence of Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying

  myself with a thousand different conjectures respecting him, was

  forced to content myself with rejoicing that he was with me to share

  my dreary solitude, and render me comfort by his caresses. Most

  people love their dogs -- but for Tiger I had an affection far more

  ardent than common; and never, certainly, did any creature more truly

  deserve it. For seven years he had been my inseparable companion, and

  in a multitude of instances had given evidence of all the noble

  qualities for which we value the animal. I had rescued him, when a

  puppy, from the clutches of a malignant little villain in Nantucket

  who was leading him, with a rope around his neck, to the water; and

  the grown dog repaid the obligation, about three years afterward, by

  saving me from the bludgeon of a street robber.

  Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my

  ear, that it had again run down; but at this I was not at all

  surprised, being convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings,

  that I had slept, as before, for a very long period of time, how

  long, it was of course impossible to say. I was burning up with

  fever, and my thirst was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for

  my little remaining supply of water, for I had no light, the taper

  having burnt to the socket of the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not

  coming readily to hand. Upon finding the jug, however, I discovered

  it to be empty -- Tiger, no doubt, having been tempted to drink it,

  as well as to devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of which lay,

  well picked, by the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could well

  spare, but my heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in

  the extreme -- so much so that I shook all over, as with an ague, at

  the slightest movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig

  was pitching and rolling with great violence, and the oil-casks which

  lay upon my box were in momentary danger of falling down, so as to

  block up the only way of ingress or egress. I felt, also, terrible

  sufferings from sea-sickness. These considerations determined me to

  make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate

  relief, before I should be incapacitated from doing so altogether.

  Having come to this resolve, I again felt about for the

  phosphorus-box and tapers. The former I found after some little

  trouble; but, not discovering the tapers as soon as I had expected

  (for I remembered very nearly the spot in which I had placed them), I

  gave up the search for the present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet,

  began at once my journey toward the trap.

  In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever

  apparent. It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at

  all, and very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me;

  when, falling prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes

  in a state bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by

 
slow degrees, dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the

  narrow and intricate windings of the lumber, in which event I had

  nothing but death to expect as the result. At length, upon making a

  push forward with all the energy I could command, I struck my

  forehead violently against the sharp corner of an iron-bound crate.

  The accident only stunned me for a few moments; but I found, to my

  inexpressible grief, that the quick and violent roll of the vessel

  had thrown the crate entirely across my path, so as effectually to

  block up the passage. With my utmost exertions I could not move it a

  single inch from its position, it being closely wedged in among the

  surrounding boxes and ship-furniture. It became necessary, therefore,

  enfeebled as I was, either to leave the guidance of the whipcord and

  seek out a new passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and resume the

  path on the other side. The former alternative presented too many

  difficulties and dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In my

  present weak state of both mind and body, I should infallibly lose my

  way if I attempted it, and perish miserably amid the dismal and

  disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded, therefore, without

  hesitation, to summon up all my remaining strength and fortitude, and

  endeavour, as I best might, to clamber over the crate.

  Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the

  undertaking even a more serious task than my fears had led me to

  imagine. On each side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of

  various heavy lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be the

  means of bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did not

  occur, the path might be effectually blocked up against my return by

  the descending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle there. The

  crate itself was a long and unwieldy box, upon which no foothold

  could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means in my power,

  to reach the top, with the hope of being thus enabled to draw myself

  up. Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that my strength

  would have proved utterly inadequate to the task of getting over, and

  it was better in every respect that I failed. At length, in a

  desperate effort to force the crate from its ground, I felt a strong

  vibration in the side next me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the edge

  of the planks, and found that a very large one was loose. With my

  pocket-knife, which, luckily, I had with me, I succeeded, after great

  labour, in prying it entirely off; and getting it through the

  aperture, discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there were no boards

  on the opposite side -- in other words, that the top was wanting, it

  being the bottom through which I had forced my way. I now met with no

  important difficulty in proceeding along the line until I finally

  reached the nail. With a beating heart I stood erect, and with a

  gentle touch pressed against the cover of the trap. It did not rise

  as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with somewhat more

  determination, still dreading lest some other person than Augustus

  might be in his state-room. The door, however, to my astonishment,

  remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for I knew that it had

  formerly required but little or no effort to remove it. I pushed it

  strongly -- it was nevertheless firm: with all my strength -- it

  still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with despair -- it set

  at defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident, from the

  unyielding nature of the resistance, that the hole had either been

  discovered and effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight had

  been placed upon it, which it was useless to think of removing.

  My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I

  attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed.

  I could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on

  the floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in

  which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and

  premature interment crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be

  encountered. At length there returned to me some portion of presence

  of mind. I arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks of

  the aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to ascertain

  if they emitted any light from the state-room; but none was visible.

  I then forced the blade of my pen-knife through them, until I met

  with some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to be a

  solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed

  the blade along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only course

  now left me was to retrace my way to the box, and there either yield

  to my sad fate, or try so to tranquilize my mind as to admit of my

  arranging some plan of escape. I immediately set about the attempt,

  and succeeded, after innumerable difficulties, in getting back. As I

  sank, utterly exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw himself at

  full length by my side, and seemed as if desirous, by his caresses,

  of consoling me in my troubles, and urging me to bear them with

  fortitude.

  The singularity of his behavior at length forcibly arrested my

  attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he would

  suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching out my

  hand toward him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, with

  his paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared

  strange, and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed

  distressed, I concluded that he had received some injury; and, taking

  his paws in my hands, I examined them one by one, but found no sign

  of any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and gave him a large piece

  of ham, which he devoured with avidity -- afterward, however,

  resuming his extraordinary manoeuvres. I now imagined that he was

  suffering, like myself, the torments of thirst, and was about

  adopting this conclusion as the true one, when the idea occurred to

  me that I had as yet only examined his paws, and that there might

  possibly be a wound upon some portion of his body or head. The latter

  I felt carefully over, but found nothing. On passing my hand,

  however, along his back, I perceived a slight erection of the hair

  extending completely across it. Probing this with my finger, I

  discovered a string, and tracing it up, found that it encircled the

  whole body. Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across a small slip of

  what had the feeling of letter paper, through which the string had

  been fastened in such a manner as to bring it immediately beneath the

  left shoulder of the animal.

  ~~~ End of Text of Chapter 2 ~~~

  CHAPTER 3

  THE thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note

  from Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened

  to prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this

  method of acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling

  with eagerness, I now commenced another search for my phosphorus


  matches and tapers. I had a confused recollection of having put them

  carefully away just before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to

  my last journey to the trap, I had been able to remember the exact

  spot where I had deposited them. But now I endeavored in vain to call

  it to mind, and busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and

  vexatious search for the missing articles; never, surely, was there a

  more tantalizing state of anxiety and suspense. At length, while

  groping about, with my head close to the ballast, near the opening of

  the box, and outside of it, I perceived a faint glimmering of light

  in the direction of the steerage. Greatly surprised, I endeavored to

  make my way toward it, as it appeared to be but a few feet from my

  position. Scarcely had I moved with this intention, when I lost sight

  of the glimmer entirely, and, before I could bring it into view

  again, was obliged to feel along by the box until I had exactly

  resumed my original situation. Now, moving my head with caution to

  and fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly, with great care, in an

  opposite direction to that in which I had at first started, I was

  enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it in view. Presently I

  came directly upon it (having squeezed my way through innumerable

  narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from some fragments of

  my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its side. I was

  wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell upon two

  or three pieces of taper wax, which had been evidently mumbled by the

  dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my supply

  of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the note

  of Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among

  other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service

  from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of which there

  was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and

  returned with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger had

  all the while remained.

  What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark

  that I could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my