The Damned Thing

The Damned Thing

by Ambrose Bierce

1898

I

BY the light of a tallow candle, which had been placed on one end of a rough

table, a man was reading something written in a book. It was an old account

book, greatly worn; and the writing was not, apparently, very legible, for the

man sometimes held the page close to the flame of the candle to get a stronger

light upon it. The shadow of the book would then throw into obscurity a half of

the room, darkening a number of faces and figures; for besides the reader, eight

other men were present. Seven of them sat against the rough log walls, silent

and motionless, and, the room being small, not very far from the table. By

extending an arm any one of them could have touched the eighth man, who lay on

the table, face upward, partly covered by a sheet, his arms at his sides. He was

dead.

The man with the book was not reading aloud, and no one spoke; all seemed to be

waiting for something to occur; the dead man only was without expectation. From

the blank darkness outside came in, through the aperture that served for a

window, all the ever unfamiliar noises of night in the wilderness— the long,

nameless note of a distant coyote; the stilly pulsing thrill of tireless insects

in trees; strange cries of night birds, so different from those of the birds of

day; the drone of great blundering beetles, and all that mysterious chorus of

small sounds that seem always to have been but half heard when they have

suddenly ceased, as if conscious of an indiscretion. But nothing of all this was

noted in that company; its members were not overmuch addicted to idle interest

in matters of no practical importance; that was obvious in every line of their

rugged faces— obvious even in the dim light of the single candle. They were

evidently men of the vicinity— farmers and woodmen.

The person reading was a trifle different; one would have said of him that he

was of the world, worldly, albeit there was that in his attire which attested a

certain fellowship with the organisms of his environment. His coat would hardly

have passed muster in San Francisco: his footgear was not of urban origin, and

the hat that lay by him on the floor (he was the only one uncovered) was such

that if one had considered it as an article of mere personal adornment he would

have missed its meaning. In countenance the man was rather prepossessing, with

just a hint of sternness; though that he may have assumed or cultivated, as

appropriate to one in authority. For he was a coroner. It was by virtue of his

once that he had possession of the book in which he was reading; it had been

found among the dead man's effects— in his cabin, where the inquest was now

taking place.

When the coroner had finished reading he put the book into his breast pocket. At

that moment the door was pushed open and a young man entered. He, clearly, was

not of mountain birth and breeding: he was clad as those who dwell in cities.

His clothing was dusty, however, as from travel. He had, in fact, been riding

hard to attend the inquest.

The coroner nodded; no one else greeted him.

"We have waited for you," said the coroner. "It is necessary to have done with

this business to-night.,"

The young man smiled. "I am sorry to have kept you," he said. "I went away, not

to evade your summons, but to post to my newspaper an account of what I suppose

I am called back to relate."

The coroner smiled.

"The account that you posted to your newspaper," he said, "differs probably from

that which you will give here under oath."

"That," replied the other, rather hotly and with a visible flush, "is as you

choose. I used manifold paper and have a copy of what I sent. It was not written

as news, for it is incredible, but as fiction. It may go as a part of my

testimony under oath."

"But you say it is incredible."

"That is nothing to you, sir, if I also swear that it is true."

The coroner was apparently not greatly affected by the young man's manifest

resentment. He was silent for some moments, his eyes upon the floor. The men

about the sides of the cabin talked in whispers, but seldom withdrew their gaze

from the face of the corpse. Presently the coroner lifted his eyes and said: "We

will resume the inquest."

The men removed their hats. The witness was sworn.

"What is your name?" the coroner asked.

"William Harker."

"Age?"

"Twenty-seven."

"You knew the deceased, Hugh Morgan?"

"Yes."

"You were with him when he died?"

"Near him."

"How did that happen— your presence, I mean?"

"I was visiting him at this place to shoot and fish. A part of my purpose,

however, was to study him, and his odd, solitary way of life. He seemed a good

model for a character in fiction. I sometimes write stories."

"I sometimes read them."

"Thank you."

"Stories in general— not yours."

Some of the jurors laughed. Against a sombre background humor shows high lights.

Soldiers in the intervals of battle laugh easily, and a jest in the death

chamber conquers by surprise.

"Relate the circumstances of this man's death," said the coroner. "You may use

any notes or memoranda that you please."

The witness understood. Pulling a manuscript from his breast pocket he held it

near the candle, and turning the leaves until he found the passage that he

wanted, began to read.

II

"...The sun had hardly risen when we left the house. We were looking for quail,

each with a shotgun, but we had only one dog. Morgan said that our best ground

was beyond a certain ridge that he pointed out, and we crossed it by a trail

through the chaparral. On the other side was comparatively level ground, thickly

covered with wild oats. As we emerged from the chaparral, Morgan was but a few

yards in advance. Suddenly, we heard, at a little distance to our right, and

partly in front, a noise as of some animal thrashing about in the bushes, which

we could see were violently agitated.

"'We've started a deer,' I said. 'I wish we had brought a rifle.'

"Morgan, who had stopped and was intently watching the agitated chaparral, said

nothing, but had cocked both barrels of his gun, and was holding it in readiness

to aim. I thought him a trifle excited, which surprised me, for he had a

reputation for exceptional coolness, even in moments of sudden and imminent

peril.

"'O, come!' I said. 'You are not going to fill up a deer with quail-shot, are

you?'

"Still he did not reply; but, catching a sight of his face as he turned it

slightly toward me, I was struck by the pallor of it. Then I understood that we

had serious business on hand, and my first conjecture was that we had 'jumped' a

grizzly. I advanced to Morgan's side, cocking my piece as I moved.

"The bushes were now quiet, and the sounds had ceased, but Morgan was as

attentive to the place as before.

"'What is it? What the devil is it?' I asked.

"'That Damned Thing!' he replied, without turning his head. His voice was husky

and unnatural. He trembled visibly.

"I was about to speak further, when I observed the wild oats near the place of

the disturbance moving in the most inexplicable way. I can hardly describe it.

It seemed as if stirred by a streak of wind, which not only bent it, but pressed

it down— crushed it so that it did not rise, and this movement was slowly

prolonging itself directly toward us, "Nothing that I had ever seen had affected

me so strangely as this unfamiliar and unaccountable phenomenon, yet I am unable

to recall any sense of fear. I remember— and tell it here because, singularly

enough, I recollected it then— that once, in looking carelessly out of an open

window, I momentarily mistook a small tree close at hand for one of a group of

larger trees at a little distance away. It looked the same size as the others,

but, being more distinctly and sharply defined in mass and detail, seemed out of

harmony with them. It was a mere falsification of the law of aerial perspective,

but it startled, almost terrified me. We so rely upon the orderly operation of

familiar natural laws that any seeming suspension of them is noted as a menace

to our safety, a warning of unthinkable calamity. So now the apparently

causeless movement of the herbage, and the slow, undeviating approach of the

line of disturbance were distinctly disquieting. My companion appeared actually

frightened, and I could hardly credit my senses when I saw him suddenly throw

his gun to his shoulders and fire both barrels at the agitated grass! Before the

smoke of the discharge had cleared away I heard a loud savage cry— a scream like

that of a wild animal— and, flinging his gun upon the ground, Morgan sprang away

and ran swiftly from the spot. At the same instant I was thrown violently to the

ground by the impact of something unseen in the smoke— some soft, heavy

substance that seemed thrown against me with great force.

"Before I could get upon my feet and recover my gun, which seemed to have been

struck from my hands, I heard Morgan crying out as if in mortal agony, and

mingling with his cries were such hoarse, savage sounds as one hears from

fighting dogs. Inexpressibly terrified, I struggled to my feet and looked in the

direction of Morgan's retreat; and may heaven in mercy spare me from another

sight like that! At a distance of less than thirty yards was my friend, down

upon one knee, his head thrown back at a frightful angle, hatless, his long hair

in disorder and his whole body in violent movement from side to side, backward

and forward. His right arm was lifted and seemed to lack the hand— at least, I

could see none. The other arm was invisible. At times, as my memory now reports

this extraordinary scene, I could discern but a part of his body; it was as if

he had been partly blotted out— I can not otherwise express it— then a shifting

of his position would bring it all into view again.

"All this must have occurred within a few seconds, yet in that time Morgan

assumed all the postures of a determined wrestler vanquished by superior weight

and strength. I saw nothing but him, and him not always distinctly. During the

entire incident his shouts and curses were heard, as if through an enveloping

uproar of such sounds of rage and fury as I had never heard from the throat of

man or brute!

"For a moment only I stood irresolute, then, throwing down my gun, I ran forward

to my friend's assistance. I had a vague belief that he was suffering from a fit

or some form of convulsion. Before I could reach his side he was down and quiet.

All sounds had ceased, but, with a feeling of such terror as even these awful

events had not inspired, I now saw the same mysterious movement of the wild oats

prolonging itself from the trampled area about the prostrate man toward the edge

of a wood. It was only when it had reached the wood that I was able to withdraw

my eyes and look at my companion. He was dead."

III

The coroner rose from his seat and stood beside the dead man. Lifting an edge of

the sheet he pulled it away, exposing the entire body, altogether naked and

showing in the candle light a clay-like yellow. It had, however, broad

maculations of bluish- black, obviously caused by extravasated blood from

contusions. The chest and sides looked as if they had been beaten with a

bludgeon. There were dreadful lacerations; the skin was torn in strips and

shreds.

The coroner moved round to the end of the table and undid a silk handkerchief,

which had been passed under the chin and knotted on the top of the head. When

the handkerchief was drawn away it exposed what had been the throat. Some of the

jurors who had risen to get a better view repented their curiosity, and turned

away their faces. Witness Harker went to the open window and leaned out across

the sill, faint and sick. Dropping the handkerchief upon the dead man's neck,

the coroner stepped to an angle of the room, and from a pile of clothing

produced one garment after another, each of which he held up a moment for

inspection. All were torn, and stiff with blood. The jurors did not make a

closer inspection. They seemed rather uninterested. They had, in truth, seen all

this before; the only thing that was new to them being Harker's testimony.

"Gentlemen," the coroner said, "we have no more evidence, I think. Your duty has

been already explained to you; if there is nothing you wish to ask you may go

outside and consider your verdict."

The foreman rose— a tall, bearded man of sixty, coarsely clad.

"I should like to ask one question, Mr. Coroner," he said. "What asylum did this

yer last witness escape from?"

"Mr. Harker," said the coroner, gravely and tranquilly, "from what asylum did

you last escape?"

Harker flushed crimson again, but said nothing, and the seven jurors rose and

solemnly filed out of the cabin.

"If you have done insulting me, sir," said Harker, as soon as he and the officer

were left alone with the dead man, "I suppose I am at liberty to go?"

"Yes,"

Harker started to leave, but paused, with his hand on the door latch. The habit

of his profession was strong in him— stronger than his sense of personal

dignity. He turned about and said:

"The book that you have there— I recognize it as Morgan's diary. You seemed

greatly interested in it; you read in it while I was testifying. May I see it?

The public would like—"

"The book will cut no figure in this matter," replied the official, slipping it

into his coat pocket; "all the entries in it were made before the writer's

death."

As Harker passed out of the house the jury reentered and stood about the table,

on which the now covered corpse showed under the sheet with sharp definition.

The foreman seated himself near the candle, produced from his breast pocket a

pencil and scrap of paper, and wrote rather laboriously the following verdict,

which with various degrees of effort all signed:

"We, the jury, do find that the remains come to their death at the hands of a

mountain lion, but some of us thinks, all the same, they had fits."

IV

In the diary of the late Hugh Morgan are certain interesting entries having,

possibly, a scientific value as suggestions. At the inquest upon his body the

book was not put in evidence; possibly the coroner thought it not worth while to

confuse the jury. The date of the first of the entries mentioned can not be

ascertained; the upper part of the leaf is torn away; the part of the entry

remaining is as follows:

"...would run in a half circle, keeping his head turned always toward the centre

and again he would stand still, barking furiously. At last he ran away into the

brush as fast as he could go. I thought at first that he had gone mad, but on

returning to the house found no other alteration in his manner than what was

obviously due to fear of punishment.

"Can a dog see with his nose? Do odors impress some olfactory centre with images

of the thing emitting them?...

"Sept. 2.— Looking at the stars last night as they rose above the crest of the

ridge east of the house, I observed them successively disappear— from left to

right. Each was eclipsed but an instant, and only a few at the same time, but

along the entire length of the ridge all that were within a degree or two of the

crest were blotted out. It was as if something had passed along between me and

them; but I could not see it, and the stars were not thick enough to define its

outline. Ugh! I don't like this...."

Several weeks' entries are missing, three leaves being torn from the book.

"Sept. 27.— It has been about here again— I find evidences of its presence every

day. I watched again all of last night in the same cover, gun in hand,

double-charged with buckshot. In the morning the fresh footprints were there, as

before. Yet I would have sworn that I did not sleep— indeed, I hardly sleep at

all. It is terrible, insupportable! If these amazing experiences are real I

shall go mad; if they are fanciful I am mad already.

"Oct. 3.— I shall not go— it shall not drive me away. No, this is my house, my

land. God hates a coward....

"Oct. 5.— I can stand it no longer; I have invited Harker to pass a few weeks

with me— he has a level head. I can judge from his manner if he thinks me mad.

"Oct. 7.— I have the solution of the problem; it came to me last night—

suddenly, as by revelation. How simple— how terribly simple!

"There are sounds that we can not hear. At either end of the scale are notes

that stir no chord of that imperfect instrument, the human ear. They are too

high or too grave. I have observed a flock of blackbirds occupying an entire

treetop— the tops of several trees— and all in full song. Suddenly— in a moment—

at absolutely the same instant— all spring into the air and fly away. How? They

could not all see one another— whole treetops intervened. At no point could a

leader have been visible to all. There must have been a signal of warning or

command, high and shrill above the din, but by me unheard. I have observed, too,

the same simultaneous flight when all were silent, among not only blackbirds,

but other birds— quail, for example, widely separated by bushes— even on

opposite sides of a hill.

"It is known to seamen that a school of whales basking or sporting on the

surface of the ocean, miles apart, with the convexity of the earth between them,

will sometimes dive at the same instant— all gone out of sight in a moment. The

signal has been sounded— too grave for the ear of the sailor at the masthead and

his comrades on the deck— who nevertheless feel its vibrations in the ship as

the stones of a cathedral are stirred by the bass of the organ.

"As with sounds, so with colors. At each end of the solar spectrum the chemist

can detect the presence of what are known as 'actinic' rays. They represent

colors— integral colors in the composition of light— which we are unable to

discern. The human eye is an imperfect instrument; its range is but a few

octaves of the real 'chromatic scale.' I am not mad; there are colors that we

can not see.

"And, God help me! the Damned Thing is of such a color!"