Most dangerous game (by Richard Connell) Part 3

[Red02102002]

 
   Some wounded thing, by the evidence a large animal, had thrashed about in the underbrush; the jungle weeds were crushed down and one patch of weeds were stained crimson. A small, glittering object not far way caught Rainsford's eye and he picked it up. It was an empty cartridge.
   "A twenty-two," he remarked. "That's odd. It must have been a fairly large animal too. The hunter had his nerve to tackle it with a light gun. It's clear that the brute put up a fight. I suppose the first three shots I heard was when the hunter wounded it. The last shot was when he trailed it here and finished it."
   He examined the ground closely and found what he had hoped to find-the print of hunting boots. They pointed along the cliff in the direction he had been going. Eagerly he hurried along, now slipping on a rotten log or a loose stone, but making headway; night was beginning to settle down on the island.
   Bleak darkness was blacking out the sea and jungle when Rainsford sighted the lights. He came upon them as he turned a crook in the coastline, and his first thought was that he come upon a village, for there were many lights. But as he forged along he saw, to his great astonishment, that all the lights were in one enormous building-a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging upward into gloom. His eyes made out the shadowy outlines of a palatial chateau; it was set on a high bluff, and on three sides of it cliffs dived down to where the sea licked greedy lips in the shadows.
   "Mirage," thought Rainsford. But it was no mirage, he found, when he opened the tall spiked iron gate. The stone steps were real enough; the massive door was realenough; yet about it all hung an air of unreality.
   He lifted the knocker, and it creaked up stiffly, as if it had never before been used. He let it fall, and it startled him with its booming loundness. He thought he heard steps within; the door remained closed. Again Rainsford lifted the knoker, and let it fall. The door opened then, opned as suddenly as if it were on a spring, and Rainsford stood blinking in the river of glaring gold light that poured out. The first thing Rainsford's eyes discerned was the largest man Rainsford had ever seen-a gigantic creature, solidly made and blackbearded to the waist. In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was poiting it straight at Rainsford's heart.
   Out of the snarl of beard two small eyes regarded Rainsford.
   "Don't be alarmed," said Rainsford, with a smile which he hoped was disarming. "I'm no robber. I fell of a yacht. Myname is Sanger Rainsford of Newyork City."
   The menacing look in the eyes did not change. The revolver pointed as rigidly as if the giant were statue. He gave no sigh that he understood Rainsford's words, or that he had even heard them. He was dressed in uniform, a black uniform trimmed with gray.
   "I'm Sanger Rainsford of New York," Rainsford began again. "I fell of a yacht. I am hungry."