My Library

before our eyes, began to condense and change its shape, until at the end of four minutes, it had assumed a human semblance—but, Heavens! what a caricature! “At first it was a mere vapory outline, but it rapidly condensed and consolidated, until what looked like a hideous, half-naked, bow-legged, splay-footed monster stood before us. Its height was less than three feet; its chest and body were nearly that in width; its legs were not over eight inches long; its arms were longer than its entire body; its head was gigantic; and it had no neck whatever, while from its horrible head there hung to the very ground the appearance of a tangled mass of wire-like worms. Its mouth was a fearful-looking red gash, extending to where ears should have been, but were not. Eyes, nose, cheeks, chin, lips or forehead, there were none whatever. Do not imagine that this creature was merely an appearance; it was not, for although born of vapor, in five minutes it became solid as iron, demonstrating the fact by stalking heavily across the floor right into the centre of the open space between us—the chains being dropped as it approached—where it stood, slowly swaying to and fro, as if its heart was heavy. “ ‘Show your quality,’ said Mai to the thing. ‘I will,’ it hissed, and straightway proceeding toward a table, it stood by it a few minutes, and it became apparent that it was charging the wood with something from itself, for soon the