FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173  
174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   198   >>   >|  
even more labour than the first, for I could not get at it so well; besides, I had to widen the aperture in the other, before I could reach the joining between two pieces. The widening was not so difficult, as the soft plank split off readily under the blade of my knife. I worked cheerlessly at this second box, as I worked without hope. I might have spared myself the pains; for during the operation the blade of my knife frequently came in contact with what was inside, and I knew from the soft dull object which resisted the steel with elastic silence, that I was coming upon _cloth_. I might have spared myself any further labour, but a kind of involuntary curiosity influenced me to go on--that curiosity which refuses to be satisfied until demonstration is complete and certain; and, thus impelled, I hewed away mechanically, till I had reached the completion of the task. The result was as I had expected--the contents were cloth! The knife dropped from my grasp; and, overcome, as much by fatigue as by the faintness produced by disappointment, I fell backward, and lay for some minutes in a state of partial insensibility. This lethargy of despair continued upon me for some time--I noted not how long; but I was at length aroused from it by an acute pain, which I felt in the tip of my middle finger. It was sudden as acute, and resembled the pricking of a needle, or a sharp cut with the blade of a knife. I started suddenly up, thinking I had caught hold of my knife--while half conscious of what I was doing--for I remembered that I had thrown it with open blade beside me. In a second or two, however, I was convinced that it was not that which had caused me the pain. It was not a wound made with cold steel, but with the venomous tooth of a living creature. I had been bitten by a rat! My lethargic indifference to my situation soon passed away, and was succeeded by a keen sense of fear. I was now convinced, more than ever, that my life was in danger from these hideous animals; for this was the first actual attempt they had made upon my person _without provocation_. Although my sudden movement, and the loud cries I involuntarily uttered, had once more driven them off, I felt satisfied they would become bolder anon, and take no heed of such idle demonstrations. I had threatened them too often, without making them feel my power to punish them. Clearly it would not do to go to sleep again, with my person expose
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173  
174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   198   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
person
 

convinced

 

spared

 
curiosity
 
satisfied
 
labour
 

sudden

 

worked

 

indifference

 

creature


living
 
venomous
 

lethargic

 

bitten

 

suddenly

 

thinking

 

caught

 

started

 

resembled

 

pricking


needle
 

thrown

 

remembered

 
conscious
 

situation

 
caused
 
provocation
 

demonstrations

 

threatened

 

bolder


expose

 

Clearly

 
punish
 
making
 

driven

 
danger
 

passed

 

succeeded

 

hideous

 

involuntarily


uttered

 

movement

 
Although
 

animals

 
actual
 
attempt
 

fatigue

 

object

 
resisted
 

inside