he spot another minute, but
hurried home to the castle. As I rapidly walked on I felt the dog beside
me, and, putting my hand upon him, I felt that he was panting terribly.
For three days I did not leave the house.

"About the end of this time I was sitting in an upper room of the
castle, reflecting upon the recent dreadful event, when the thought
struck me that the invisible dog, who was by my side, apparently asleep,
must be of an unusually powerful build to overcome so easily such a
strong man as Kaldhein. I felt a desire to know how large the creature
really was, and, as I had never touched any portion of his body back of
his shoulders, I now passed my hand along his back. I was amazed at his
length, and when I had moved my hand at least seven feet from his head
it still rested upon his body. And then the form of that body began to
change in a manner which terrified me; but impelled by a horrible but
irresistible curiosity, my hand moved on.

"But I no longer touched the body of a dog; the form beneath my hand was
cylindrical, apparently about a foot in diameter. As my hand moved on
the diameter diminished, and the skin of the creature became cold and
clammy. I was feeling the body of a snake!

"I now had reached the open door of the room. The body of the snake
extended through it. It went on to the top of the stairs; these I began
to descend, my heart beating fast with terror, my face blanched, I am
sure, but my hand still moving along the body of the awful creature. I
had studied zoology, giving a good deal of attention to reptiles, and I
knew that, judged by the ordinary ratio of diminution of the bodies of
serpents, this one must extend a long distance down the stairs.

"But I had not descended more than a dozen steps before I felt a shiver
beneath my hand, and then a jerk, and the next moment the snake's body
was violently drawn upward. I withdrew my hand and started to one side,
and then, how, I know not, I became aware that the dog part of the
creature was coming downstairs.

"I now became possessed by a wild terror. The creature must be furious
that I had discovered his real form. He had always been careful to keep
his head toward me. I should be torn to pieces as Kaldhein had been!
Down the stairs I dashed, across the courtyard, and toward a lofty old
tower, which stood in one corner of the castle. I ran up the winding
stairs of this with a speed which belongs only to a frantically
terrified creature,