Chapter 9 Chapter Eight: The Cry of the Mountain Leopard

The presence of Montgomery interrupted my mystical, suspicious thoughts about the man.His monstrous squire followed, carrying a tray with some bread, mint, and other provisions, a bottle of whiskey, a pitcher of water, three glasses, and a knife.I squinted at the strange fellow, who was staring at me suspiciously.Montgomery said he would have lunch with me, but Morrow couldn't come because he was busy with some work. "Moreau!" I said, "I know the name." "Oh, crap!" he said. "What a fool I was to bring that name up to you. I should have thought about it. Anyway, it'll make you a little bit more aware of our—secret. Whiskey?"

"No, I never drink." "I wish I was a sobriety, too. But what's the use of locking the door when the horse has been stolen. It was this dreadful thing that brought me here. That night, that night of fog. When I thought I was lucky when Moreau offered to get me out. Is that weird?" "Montgomery," I said suddenly, when the outer door was closed, "why does that squire of yours have so many spots on his ears?" "Fuck!" he said after swallowing his first mouthful.He stared at me for a while, then repeated, "There are so many spots on the ears?"

"Lots of little spots," I said, choking, as calmly as possible, "and there's a tuft of fine black hair around the ear." Thoughtfully, he poured himself a whiskey and water. "My impression is that?? It's his hair covering his ears." "I could see him bending over me and putting the coffee you gave me on the table. And his eyes were shining in the dark." By this time Montgomery had recovered from the consternation caused by my question. "I've always thought," he said emphatically, deliberately unhurriedly, with the flavor of his big tongue, "that his ears are kind of that. From the way he covers them?? What do his ears look like?" From his In his expression, I firmly believe that he is completely pretending not to know about it.But it was still hard for me to tell him that I thought he was a liar.

"There are lots of spots," I said, "very small and fur-like--clearly fur-like. This man is, from top to bottom, the strangest man I've ever seen." A hoarse scream of animal pain came from the paddock behind us.From the depth and volume of the cry, it can be confirmed that this is the mountain leopard screaming.I saw Montgomery shudder. "What!" he said. "Where did you get this guy?" "Well, San Francisco?? He's an ugly, beast-looking man, I admit. Very dull, you know. Can't remember where he's from. But I'm used to him, you know. We have each other I'm used to it. Doesn't he scare you enough?"

"He's so weird," I said, "that there's always something wrong with him?? Don't think I'm dreaming, he always gives me a repulsive vibe when he approaches me, which makes my hair stand on end. Actually , It does have a little bit?? It feels like a demon." Montgomery had stopped chewing when I said this to him. "It's amazing," he said, "but I can't see that." He ate again. "I don't feel that way at all," he said as he chewed. "The sailors on the 'Tucan'?? Must have felt the same way as I did. A joint violent attack on the poor unfortunate man.?? Did you see the captain?" Suddenly, The mountain leopard howled again, and this time it was more painful.Montgomery cursed under his breath.I kind of wanted to chide him about those guys on the beach.

Just then the poor beast inside let out a series of short, piercing screams. "Those people on your beach," I said, "what race are they?" "Excellent help, isn't it?" he said absently, frowning at the beast's screams. I didn't say anything more.There was another scream, even more horrific than the previous ones.He looked at me with sullen gray eyes, and poured some more whiskey.He tried to draw me into a discussion about alcohol, which he claimed saved my life.It seemed he was eager to emphasize the fact that I was thanks to him for saving my life, and asked me to be grateful to him, I said distraughtly.

After a while, we finished our meal, and the ugly, deformed monster with spots on the flower cleared the table.Montgomery left me, and I was alone in the house again.During this period of time, he has been in a state of unconcealed irritation at the shriek of the mountain leopard being vivisected.He once said very strangely that he lacked courage, but he left me here alone, where courage was obviously needed. I just thought it was too exciting.One o'clock in the afternoon, one o'clock passed, and the screams became deeper and deeper, and more and more intense.At first these screams were distressing, but by their incessant repetition they at last almost made me restless and out of my mind.Throwing aside one of Horace's commentaries which I had been reading, I walked up and down the room clenching my fists and biting my lip.

Later, I had to plug my ears with my fingers. The irritating howls of pleading pleas gradually became more and more irritating to me, until at last the wailing appeared to be so painful that I could no longer bear it in this narrow room. down.I stepped out of the house, bathed in the drowsy heat of the evening, passed the gate of the paddock—it was locked again, I noticed—and rounded the corner. Outside the door, the screams became louder and harsher, as if all the pain in the world was concentrated in these screams.If I had known that there was going to be such an agony in the next room, or if it had been a silent animal, I believe—I have been thinking this—maybe I would have survived it.A pity disturbs us, when the cry of torment makes every nerve tremble in us.In spite of the sunshine, and the fan-like green leaves fluttering and fluttering in the gentle sea breeze, the world was a mess, smudged and blurred by some floating phantom phantoms, black and red.Thinking like this, I gradually walked away until I could no longer hear the miserable screams from the stone-walled house.