The storm slowly abated, and finally died down altogether, succeeded by a
dead calm.
An hour passed without incident, to my inestimable relief. I believed
that the phenomena had passed with the storm. The thought soothed me. I
became drowsy, and was soon asleep.
Fitful dreams disturbed my slumber. It seemed that I was walking in a
great primeval forest. The trees and vegetation about me were new and
strange. Huge ferns, some of them fifty feet in height, grew all about
in rank profusion. Under foot was a soft carpet of moss. Giant fungi,
colossal toadstools, and mushrooms of varying shades and forms were
everywhere.
In my hand I carried a huge knotted club, and my sole article of
clothing seemed to be a tiger skin, girded about my waist and falling
half way to my knees.
A queer-looking creature, half rhinoceros, half horse, ran across
my pathway. Following closely behind it, in hot pursuit, was a huge
reptilian monster, in outline something like a kangaroo, in size larger
than the largest elephant. Its monstrous, serpentlike head towered more
than twenty-five feet in the air as it suddenly stopped and stood erect
on its hind feet and tail, apparently giving up the chase.
Then it espied me. Quick as a flash, I turned and ran, dodging hither and
thither, floundering in the soft moss, stumbling over tangled vines and
occasionally overturning a mammoth toadstool. I could hear the horrible
beast crashing through the fern brakes, only a short distance behind me.
At last I came to a rocky hillside, and saw an opening about two feet
in diameter. Into this I plunged headlong, barely in time to escape the
frightful jaws which closed behind me with a terrifying _snap_. I lay on
the ground, panting for breath, in the far corner of the cave and just
out of reach of the ferocious monster. It appeared to be trying to widen
the opening with its huge front feet....
Someone had laid a hand on my arm and was gently trying to awaken me. The
cave and the horrible reptile disappeared, and I was again in my uncle’s
living-room. I turned, expecting to see Mrs. Rhodes, but saw no one.
There was, however, a hand on my arm. It ended at the wrist in a sort of
indescribable, filmy mass. I was now fully awake, and somewhat startled,
as may be imagined. The hand withdrew and seemed to float through the air
to the other side of the room.
I now observed in the room a sort of white vapor, from which other hands
were forming. Soon there were hands of all descriptions and sizes. They
were constantly in motion, some of them flexing the fingers as if to try
the newly-formed muscles, others beckoning, and still others clasped in
pairs, as if in greeting.
There were large, horny masculine hands, daintily-formed womanly hands,
and active, chubby little hands like those of children. Some of them were
perfectly modeled. Others, apparently in the process of formation, looked
like floating bits of chiffon, while still others had the appearance of
flat, empty gloves.
Two well-developed hands now emerged from the mass and moved a few feet
toward me. They waved as if attempting to attract my attention, and then
I could see they were forming letters of the deaf and dumb alphabet. They
spelled my name:
“B-I-L-L-Y.”
Then:
“S-A-V-E M-E B-I-L-L-Y.”