And that which chilled my heart was enhanced by the fact that before me, where Rhodes and the Dromans _must_ be; there was no agitation amongst the ferns, not the slightest movement amongst them. I was alone, alone in that place of dense, concealing vegetation, of silence and mystery. But no; they were there, my companions, right there before me. The ferns hid them, that was all. But why were they so still? Why utterly silent? What had happened? That exclamation, that scream, the silence that had followed--what did it mean? It has taken some space to set this down, but it must not be imagined that the space itself during which I stood there was a long one. It was, in fact, very brief; it was no more, I suppose, than fifteen or twenty seconds. Then I was moving forward through the crushed ferns, as swiftly as was consistent with caution, and, of course, with the revolver gripped ready for instant action. I had covered perhaps three yards, had reached the point where the way crushed through the fern-growth turned sharp to the left to pass between two great tree-trunks; then it was that I heard it--a low, rustling sound and close at hand. Something was moving there; it was moving toward me. Chapter 36 GORGONIC HORROR Almost that very instant I heard it, that low, rustling sound made by something moving through (as I thought) the fern-growth ceased. My companions! What had happened to them? I began moving forward, every second that passed enhancing that fear which chilled my heart. For each step took me nearer to, though not directly toward, that spot from which had come that mysterious sound. Just as I was passing between those great tree-trunks, came a sound that fetched me up in my tracks, came a sudden low voice: "Oh, Bill!" I gave a smothered exclamation and dashed forward. Rhodes was safe; at any rate, he was alive. A second or two, and I burst from the fern-growth. Surprise, amazement brought me up instanter, and the next instant an indescribable horror had me in its grip. The surprise, the amazement will be explained when I say that there before me stood my companions, every one of them, safe and sound. There they stood, motionless and silent as so many statues, gazing, as though held in a baleful charm, upon that thing before them. Rhodes was the only one that moved as I burst out into the scene. "I wondered, Bill, why you didn't come. I was just about to call out to you again." "And I wondered why you all were so silent, after that exclamation and that scream. I understand it now." Shuddering, I pointed with my alpenstock at that thing before us. "In the name of the Gorgons, what is that?" "I wish that I knew, Bill. What is your name for such a monstrosity as that?" A silence of some seconds followed, and then I remembered something, that rustling sound.