John Filmore Sherry

“ Some time after this event, the white female commenced to importune me in a most unpleasant manner to live with her.
I could see no way of escape—the crisis had come.
Was I to give up every idea of refinement—degenerate into a brute like these half bestial creatures—have children, and die, with monsters calling me father.
Or should I refuse to accede to her demands and without a doubt be killed? For I was certain she would kill me if I disappointed her.
If only she had a more human face, no matter how ugly, I might have overcome my repugnance. ”

“ I sat down on a coffin to rest myself.
Scenes and incidents, long forgotten, paraded before me in the darkness.
Scenes that I should not have known were connected with myself but for the strange incidents that led up to them in the exact manner in which they had occurred, and explained them with such distinctness, that my mind was forced to grasp and to recognise them instantaneously.
Surely there could be no greater hell to a bad man than his conscience ”

“ You shall not; I will take him; he shall be mine, and our young shall rule over you, and each generation shall be more beautiful than the one before." These, as near as I can remember them, were the words uttered by this strange creature.
For a moment after she ceased, they were silent, then they burst into applause.
She took me by the hand and led me through the crowd who stepped aside and let us pass back to the large cave and from there to the small one.
When we were inside she let go my hand, and throwing herself on a bed of hair, cried bitterly. ”

“ I pulled myself together with an effort, and controlled my emotion.
"Edith Garren! Major Garren!"
"I am staying with Mrs. Mavis now, as my father has gone to America."
O Heavens; to think it should come to this. I, David Morton, to be in love with, to have in my arms, to have sworn in my soul to win the daughter of the man who had ruined my father. ”

“ Then again, how horrible to die; probably be thrown into the crater, and in boiling lava be roasted, scalded, burned to nothingness.
Suddenly a thought struck me. If this creature were dead, they might not put me to death. Why should I not kill her? But how do so without being found out? A thousand ideas at once presented themselves, but all seemed attended with too much risk.
At last one occurred to me that seemed feasible.
Why not let a snake bite her?
I could manage to catch one the next time I went to the fungi cave, bring it back, and put it in her hair bed before she went to sleep. ”

“ When you cried you looked prettier than another woman when she smiles. When you smiled I seemed to be nearer God—my brain whirled with excess of joy.
How I blessed that picnic party! The wood for attracting her from her friends, the nuts for causing her to desire them, and most of all, the stick for spraining her ankle! ”

“ A large stream of lava coming from the direction of the crater flowed between me and the large cave. In the cave I could see hundreds of the creatures running hither and thither in the most aimless manner, their crying and shrieking being heartrending. ”

“ Huge bluish white birds, with enormous eyes and crooked beaks a foot long, sat on the rocks projecting from the sides, or with hoarse cries flapped from crag to crag.
Every now and then, uttering a shrill note, one of them would leave its perch, swoop to the ground, pick up a serpent and fly with it, hissing and writhing in its beak into the darkness above me.
All round me were beds of phosphorescent fungi, and by their weird light I was able to perceive these horrible sights. ”

“ The cave, like the floor of the passage, was covered with fine, white sand, and on it lay or played about amongst the rocks at the side, numbers of these wonderful monstrosities.
Amongst them I noticed several who looked even more human than the leader of the ones I was with. ”

“ They paused—and I saw the white female rushing through the crowd, who opened a passage for her. "Hold!" she cried, "Who told you to kill him? I want him—he must live." As she spoke she pushed aside the two who had hold of me and placed her hand on my arm.
The leader stepped up to her and said, "He has killed one of the sacred birds, the penalty is death."
The crowd greeted his words with yells of applause.
The white female never moved, but when they had stopped, replied,
"The penalty for one of us is death, but he is not one of us, therefore I say he shall live." ”

“ The stone struck the bird on the wing; it fell, shrieking in the most horrible manner, and beating the ground with its unwounded wing, caused the snakes near to scatter in all directions, and woke the cave with a thousand echoes. ”

“ The one in which they most differed from monkeys, was that they stood perfectly erect, and walked like human beings.
Their legs were perfectly white, with no hair.
Their heads were small, out of proportion to their bodies, and set in level with their shoulders, apparently without any neck.
Their eyes were large and almond-shaped.
Their foreheads retreating like a baboon's, their under jaws very prominent, with mobile lips which they moved about in the strangest manner as they talked to each other.
As they opened their mouths to bite the fungi, I saw rows of strong white teeth. ”

“ Directly I opened my eyes she said, "They are waiting for you." I jumped up, and went outside the cave; she followed me.
There stood all the creatures holding the nets for carrying the fungi.
The white female wanted to come with me, but I said, "You will be tired; it is too far."
She looked pleased, poor thing, at the consideration my words implied, and said she would stay behind. So we set out without her, much to my satisfaction.
When we arrived at the snake cave, I left the others and wandered about under the pretence of looking for larger fungi. ”

“ There had been a great earthquake, only one house in the whole town of Casamicciola had been left standing.
Thousands of lives had been lost, how many was not yet known.
The doctor asked me how I came to have on my pyjamas. And when I told him how I had been buried alive, he smiled and left the room. ”

“ The creatures seemed to have no feeling concerning a death, and took no notice of it.
I asked the white female, who was walking near me, why they seemed to care so little, she answered:—
"It occurs so often that they are used to it."
As we were following the wall of the cave, before we came to the passage, we heard a great noise above us. We rushed from the side just in time to escape an enormous piece of rock that had become loosened and had fallen. I arrived at the passage and cave without any more accidents. ”

“ Lucky for us poor mortals that we cannot foretell what the future has in store for us—but I am anticipating.
I made Casamicciola my headquarters, and renting a comfortable cottage, installed myself in it with my valet, and one servant to do my cooking.
I fitted myself up a laboratory, and in it amused myself, when tired of making excursions in or around the island. ”

“ The white female wept. "This is what they will all be like soon," she said.
"You must live with me, and we will rear a new generation more like yourself. Our young ones shall breed with those amongst us who are most like me, and we will be saved from the awful fate of having young ones like that," she added, pointing to the little baboon, whose mother was feeding it.
She called to one of the two servants who always attended me, and told him to take the young one and throw it into the crater. ”

“ You, I feel convinced, were sent here to help me.
"Therefore, I have saved your life that you may live with me. Our young ones will again be white. You shall be the head of us—and will save us from again becoming such as we were long ago." ”

“ I was perfectly powerless against so many, in fact one could have managed me in my weak state.
So, knowing resistance was hopeless, I remained perfectly quiet, consoling myself with the reflection that if I was to die I could not help it. ”

“ But if it did, that death would be preferable to being burned, or to living as her husband. Cruel, cowardly, wicked as it may seem, I had no compunction in deciding to kill this creature who had saved my life, but was feverish with desire to accomplish the murder, and only longed to know that she was dead.
Having decided on my mode of action, I rose from the hair I had been sitting on. Just as I did so, the white female entered the cave, carrying water and some fungi. ”

“ Hardly had I done so than the earth shook, then swayed to and fro—small stones and dust, accompanied with a crashing noise like thunder, seemed to be forced through the opening.
The passage had collapsed. I staggered to my feet—tried to walk—everything turned round and round; the earth seemed to rise up ”

“ Numbers had managed to gain rocks above it, and escaped for the time being.
The trembling of the earth detached some of the rocks they were on; they would fall, clutching wildly at the sides until they were engulfed in the seething mass.
Standing where I was, the heat became unbearable, so I returned to the opening of the small cave, and climbing up the rocks, seated myself on a ledge as far as possible above the ground.
Here I had a view of those on the other side.
Occasionally one, overcome with the heat, with a feeble cry, would let go his hold and fall fainting into the molten lava. ”

“ When the world has a chance (and it usually has) of saying anything good or bad about a man or woman it will generally choose the latter, and I do not blame it; for taking the general run of men and women (I cannot leave them out) there is far more bad (luckily never seen or shown) , than there is of good which is paraded on the surface for the world to see, and each individual knowing how much he or she conceals, at once judges others by himself or herself.
However, for what the world will say I care nothing ”

“ That will not matter, as there is not a single soul now living for whom I feel the slightest love or interest. I shall not use my real name, as I have no desire for notoriety, nor do I wish people to gaze askance at me as a natural curiosity while walking about the streets. ”

“ The caves would all be dark if the inhabitants were not there, and even if I could find my way back to the one where they had found me, the vault was the only outlet I knew of, and that with its stench and blackness was worse than death. ”

“ I carefully calculated the strength of the human powers of resisting poisons, and compared it to that possessed by animals, and found that from the curious nature of the antidote it might take longer to work its effect on a man than an animal. ”

“ The crystals shining from the walls and strewn on the ground, reflected the phosphorescent light given out by the fungi, and showed to my horrified gaze numbers of enormous reptiles, gliding, wriggling, and struggling in repulsive masses on the ground. ”

“ The undertaker came and measured me for my coffin.
I heard my valet giving my instructions to him respecting the make of it, and purchase of the vault.
He undertook to make the coffin as directed.
My valet went to my bureau. I could hear the chink of money as he removed it from the drawers.
The cook came in and together they ransacked my trunks and boxes, coolly appropriating my jewels and other articles they took a fancy to.
Imagine my feelings? Within a few feet, yet unable to prevent them. ”

“ They could all understand each other as we now do.
"After they had been a long time in the caves in the dark—feeding on the things that gave light—they also lighted up things around them, very little at first, but afterwards the light became stronger.
"A long time elapsed, and then the earth again shook.
"All the original creatures were dead, and there remained only those who had been born since the white female came. These were of many shapes.
"Some of them were like I am; others had tails, some long ones, others short; some could walk erect, others used their hands as well as their legs. ”

“ The cave was now perfectly dark, the light from the body of the white female having gradually faded when she died.
It was too late now to think of the consequences of my act. I felt that directly any of the creatures came to the cave and saw that her body no longer emitted light, they would know she was dead. ”

“ Overhead I now and then saw flashes of light shooting like rockets across the darkness, caused by the birds flying from one part of the cave to another.
Soon the beds of fungi disappeared, and, but for the wonderful phosphorescent light emanating from the bodies of the creatures who were with me, and lighting up everything for some distance around us, we would have been in total darkness.
My companions seemed to be very much afraid of snakes, and after seeing their fellow's death I was not surprised. ”

“ For some time I amused myself making excursions to all the places of interest; but growing tired, deeded to cross to Ischia, and spend the summer on the island.
Boats leave twice a day for Procida and Ischia, and though they only take two and a half hours doing the trip, in fine weather it is delightful. ”

“ By my mother's death, I came into five hundred a year, irrespective of my practice.
I could not bear to live amongst the scenes of my great happiness and greater losses, so I determined to travel, and try if fresh places and new faces could not assuage a little of my misery. ”

“ Men consider me morose; for women I feel no interest, so their opinion troubles me even less than that of men. None of my acquaintances know anything concerning my past life, therefore, I shall have no hesitation in giving an accurate account of a few needful particulars in reference to my family and early history.
My mother was English, but had been brought up in Italy (that land of a thousand memories) and had lived in Naples the greater part of her life before she met my father ”