Хребты безумия
IV
Itisuselesstobringupthehalfimpressionofcertainfaintsnowprintsinoneshieldedcorneroftheruinedinclosure—becausethatimpressiondidnotconcernhumanprintsatall,butwasclearlymixedupwithallthetalkoffossilprintswhichpoorLakehadbeengivingthroughouttheprecedingweeks. Onehadtobecarefulofone’simaginationintheleeofthoseovershadowingmountainsofmadness.
AsIhaveindicated,Gedneyandonedogturnedouttobemissingintheend. Whenwecameonthatterribleshelterwehadmissedtwodogsandtwomen;butthefairlyunharmeddissectingtent,whichweenteredafterinvestigatingthemonstrousgraves,hadsomethingtoreveal. ItwasnotasLakehadleftit,forthecoveredpartsoftheprimalmonstrosityhadbeenremovedfromtheimprovisedtable. Indeed,wehadalreadyrealizedthatoneofthesiximperfectandinsanelyburiedthingswehadfound—theonewiththetraceofapeculiarlyhatefulodor—mustrepresentthecollectedsectionsoftheentitywhichLakehadtriedtoanalyze. Onandaroundthatlaboratorytablewerestrewnotherthings,anditdidnottakelongforustoguessthatthosethingswerethecarefullythoughoddlyandinexpertlydissectedpartsofonemanandonedog. Ishallsparethefeelingsofsurvivorsbyomittingmentionoftheman’sidentity. Lake’sanatomicalinstrumentsweremissing,buttherewereevidencesoftheircarefulcleansing. Thegasolinestovewasalsogone,thougharounditwefoundacuriouslitterofmatches. Weburiedthehumanpartsbesidetheothertenmen;andthecaninepartswiththeotherthirty-fivedogs. Concerningthebizarresmudgesonthelaboratorytable,andonthejumbleofroughlyhandledillustratedbooksscatterednearit,weweremuchtoobewilderedtospeculate.
