ry slowly, the life came
back into my numbed leg, and, after a little, I essayed to stand up.
This, I managed, at the second attempt; but I was very tottery, and
peculiarly weak. It seemed to me, that I was going to be ill, and I made
shift to stumble my way toward the house. My steps were erratic, and my
head confused. At each step that I took, sharp pains shot through
my limbs.

I had gone, perhaps, some thirty paces, when a cry from Pepper, drew
my attention, and I turned, stiffly, toward him. The old dog was trying
to follow me; but could come no further, owing to the rope, with which I
had hauled him up, being still tied 'round his body, the other end not
having been unfastened from the tree. For a moment, I fumbled with the
knots, weakly; but they were wet and hard, and I could do nothing. Then,
I remembered my knife, and, in a minute, the rope was cut.

How I reached the house, I scarcely know, and, of the days that
followed, I remember still less. Of one thing, I am certain, that, had
it not been for my sister's untiring love and nursing, I had not been
writing at this moment.

When I recovered my senses, it was to find that I had been in bed for
nearly two weeks. Yet another week passed, before I was strong enough to
totter out into the gardens. Even then, I was not able to walk so far as
the Pit. I would have liked to ask my sister, how high the water had
risen; but felt it was wiser not to mention the subject to her. Indeed,
since then, I have made a rule never to speak to her about the strange
things, that happen in this great, old house.

It was not until a couple of days later, that I managed to get across
to the Pit. There, I found that, in my few weeks' absence, there had
been wrought a wondrous change. Instead of the three-parts filled
ravine, I looked out upon a great lake, whose placid surface, reflected
the light, coldly. The water had risen to within half a dozen feet of
the Pit edge. Only in one part was the lake disturbed, and that was
above the place where, far down under the silent waters, yawned the
entrance to the vast, underground Pit. Here, there was a continuous
bubbling; and, occasionally, a curious sort of sobbing gurgle would find
its way up from the depth. Beyond these, there was nothing to tell of
the things that were hidden beneath. As I stood there, it came to me
how wonderfully things had worked out. The entrance to the place whence
the Swine-creatures had come, was sealed up, b