Suddenly I sat up on my rock
couch, with every nerve thrilling and every
sense acutely on the alert. Beyond all doubt
I had heard a sound—some sound very dis-
tinct from the gurgling of the waters. It had
passed, but the reverberation of it still lingered
in my ear. Was it a search party? They would
—  —
—  —
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Created for Lit2Go on the web at fcit.usf.edu
Tales of Terror and Mystery The Terror of Blue John Gap
most certainly have shouted, and vague as this
sound was which had wakened me, it was very
distinct from the human voice. I sat palpitat-
ing and hardly daring to breathe. There it was
again! And again! Now it had become con-
tinuous. It was a tread—yes, surely it was the
tread of some living creature. But what a tread
it was! It gave one the impression of enormous
weight carried upon sponge-like feet, which
gave forth a muffled but ear-filling sound.

Chapter 3