Хребты безумия
IV
Death,sofaraswecouldjudge,hadineachcasecomefromstrangulationorlaceration. Thedogshadevidentlystartedthetrouble,forthestateoftheirill-builtcorralborewitnesstoitsforciblebreakagefromwithin. IthadbeensetsomedistancefromthecampbecauseofthehatredoftheanimalsforthosehellishArchaeanorganisms,buttheprecautionseemedtohavebeentakeninvain. Whenleftaloneinthatmonstrouswind,behindflimsywallsofinsufficientheight,theymusthavestampeded—whetherfromthewinditself,orfromsomesubtle,increasingodoremittedbythenightmarespecimens,onecouldnotsay.
Butwhateverhadhappened,itwashideousandrevoltingenough. PerhapsIhadbetterputsqueamishnessasideandtelltheworstatlast—thoughwithacategoricalstatementofopinion,basedonthefirst-handobservationsandmostrigiddeductionsofbothDanforthandmyself,thatthethenmissingGedneywasinnowayresponsiblefortheloathsomehorrorswefound. Ihavesaidthatthebodieswerefrightfullymangled. NowImustaddthatsomewereincisedandsubtractedfrominthemostcurious,cold-blooded,andinhumanfashion. Itwasthesamewithdogsandmen. Allthehealthier,fatterbodies,quadrupedalorbipedal,hadhadtheirmostsolidmassesoftissuecutoutandremoved,asbyacarefulbutcher;andaroundthemwasastrangesprinklingofsalt—takenfromtheravagedprovisionchestsontheplanes—whichconjuredupthemosthorribleassociations. Thethinghadoccurredinoneofthecrudeaeroplanesheltersfromwhichtheplanehadbeendraggedout,andsubsequentwindshadeffacedalltrackswhichcouldhavesuppliedanyplausibletheory. Scatteredbitsofclothing,roughlyslashedfromthehumanincisionsubjects,hintednoclues.
