And now their ears were assailed by soft patterings and shufflings
that seemed to increase in number as they progressed. Their eyes
caught certain red points that flared like sparks and then
vanished, only to reappear. It was as though a host of eerie
things were keeping tab on their movements, and after a while this
silent mustering of unseen watchers got on their nerves.
Billy, who came last, was passing one of the passages that
branched off to the left when he thought he caught a glimpse of
light. He went into this side passage for a few steps to make
sure, and verified his first impression. There, sure enough, was
an electric bulb, on the opposite side of which he could see the
outline of a door.
He was hurrying back to tell his comrades what he had seen when he
heard an exclamation from Bart that quickened his steps still
more. Bart's right hand was holding on to his left, and in the
light that Frank had directed on it he saw that the hand was
bleeding.
"It was a rat," Bart exclaimed wrathfully, as he nursed his
wounded hand. "The beggar jumped straight at it. It feels as
though he'd made his teeth meet through it"
Billy whipped out his handkerchief and was binding it around his
comrade's hand, when a gray form sprang from the darkness and
fastened its teeth in his trousers leg just grazing the skin.
Pages:
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174