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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of The dream snake, by Robert E. Howard

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and

-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions

-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms

-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at

-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you

-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before

-using this eBook.

-

-Title: The dream snake

-

-Author: Robert E. Howard

-

-Release Date: June 26, 2023 [eBook #71052]

-

-Language: English

-

-Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading

-         Team at http://www.pgdp.net

-

-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***

-

-

-

-

-

-                      _A Short, Shuddery Tale Is_

-

-                            The Dream Snake

-

-                          By ROBERT E. HOWARD

-

-           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

-                      Weird Tales February 1928.

-         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that

-         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

-

-

-The night was strangely still. As we sat upon the wide veranda, gazing

-out over the broad, shadowy lawns, the silence of the hour entered our

-spirits and for a long while no one spoke.

-

-Then far across the dim mountains that fringed the eastern skyline, a

-faint haze began to glow, and presently a great golden moon came up,

-making a ghostly radiance over the land and etching boldly the dark

-clumps of shadows that were trees. A light breeze came whispering out

-of the east, and the unmowed grass swayed before it in long, sinuous

-waves, dimly visible in the moonlight; and from among the group upon

-the veranda there came a swift gasp, a sharp intake of breath that

-caused us all to turn and gaze.

-

-Faming was leaning forward, clutching the arms of his chair, his face

-strange and pallid in the spectral light; a thin trickle of blood

-seeping from the lip in which he had set his teeth. Amazed, we looked

-at him, and suddenly he jerked about with a short, snarling laugh.

-

-"There's no need of gawking at me like a flock of sheep!" he said

-irritably and stopped short. We sat bewildered, scarcely knowing what

-sort of reply to make, and suddenly he burst out again.

-

-"Now I guess I'd better tell the whole thing or you'll be going off

-and putting me down as a lunatic. Don't interrupt me, any of you! I

-want to get this thing off my mind. You all know that I'm not a very

-imaginative man; but there's a thing, purely a figment of imagination,

-that has haunted me since babyhood. A dream!" He fairly cringed back in

-his chair as he muttered, "A dream! and God, what a dream! The first

-time--no, I can't remember the first time I ever dreamed it--I've been

-dreaming the hellish thing ever since I can remember. Now it's this

-way: there is a sort of bungalow, set upon a hill in the midst of

-wide grasslands--not unlike this estate; but this scene is in Africa.

-And I am living there with a sort of servant, a Hindoo. Just why I am

-there is never clear to my waking mind, though I am always aware of

-the reason in my dreams. As a man of a dream, I remember my past life

-(a life which in no way corresponds with my waking life), but when I

-am awake my subconscious mind fails to transmit these impressions.

-However, I think that I am a fugitive from justice and the Hindoo

-is also a fugitive. How the bungalow came to be there I can never

-remember, nor do I know in what part of Africa it is, though all these

-things are known to my dream self. But the bungalow is a small one

-of a very few rooms, and is situated upon the top of the hill, as I

-said. There are no other hills about and the grasslands stretch to the

-horizon in every direction; knee-high in some places, waist-high in

-others.

-

-"Now the dream always opens as I am coming up the hill, just as the sun

-is beginning to set. I am carrying a broken rifle and I have been on

-a hunting trip; how the rifle was broken, and the full details of the

-trip, I clearly remember--dreaming. But never upon waking. It is just

-as if a curtain were suddenly raised and a drama began; or just as if I

-were suddenly transferred to another man's body and life, remembering

-past years of that life, and not cognizant of any other existence. And

-that is the hellish part of it! As you know, most of us, dreaming, are,

-at the back of our consciousness, aware that we are dreaming. No matter

-how horrible the dream may become, we know that it is a dream, and thus

-insanity or possible death is staved off. But in this particular dream,

-there is no such knowledge. I tell you it is so vivid, so complete in

-every detail, that I wonder sometimes if that is not my real existence

-and this a dream! But no; for then I should have been dead years ago.

-

-"As I was saying, I come up the hill and the first thing I am cognizant

-of that is out of the ordinary is a sort of track leading up the hill

-in an irregular way; that is, the grass is mashed down as if something

-heavy had been dragged over it. But I pay no especial attention to it,

-for I am thinking, with some irritation, that the broken rifle I carry

-is my only arm and that now I must forego hunting until I can send for

-another.

-

-"You see, I remember thoughts and impressions of the dream itself, of

-the occurrences of the dream; it is the memories that the dream 'I'

-has, of that other dream existence that I can not remember. So. I come

-up the hill and enter the bungalow. The doors are open and the Hindoo

-is not there. But the main room is in confusion; chairs are broken,

-a table overturned. The Hindoo's dagger is lying upon the floor, but

-there is no blood anywhere.

-

-"Now, in my dreams, I never remember the other dreams, as sometimes

-one does. Always it is the first dream, the first time. I always

-experience the same sensations, in my dreams, with as vivid a force as

-the first time I ever dreamed. So. I am not able to understand this.

-The Hindoo is gone, but (thus I ruminate, standing in the center of the

-disordered room) what did away with him? Had it been a raiding party

-of negroes they would have looted the bungalow and probably burned

-it. Had it been a lion, the place would have been smeared with blood.

-Then suddenly I remember the track I saw going up the hill, and a cold

-hand touches my spine; for instantly the whole thing is clear: the

-thing that came up from the grasslands and wrought havoc in the little

-bungalow could be naught else except a giant serpent. And as I think

-of the size of the spoor, cold sweat beads my forehead and the broken

-rifle shakes in my hand.

-

-"Then I rush to the door in a wild panic, my only thought to make a

-dash for the coast. But the sun has set and dusk is stealing across the

-grasslands. And out there somewhere, lurking in the tall grass is that

-grisly thing--that horror. God!" The ejaculation broke from his lips

-with such feeling that all of us started, not realizing the tension we

-had reached. There was a second's silence, then he continued:

-

-"So I bolt the doors and windows, light the lamp I have and

-take my stand in the middle of the room. And I stand like a

-statue--waiting--listening. After a while the moon comes up and her

-haggard light drifts through the windows. And I stand still in the

-center of the room; the night is very still--something like this night;

-the breeze occasionally whispers through the grass, and each time I

-start and clench my hands until the nails bite into the flesh and the

-blood trickles down my wrists--and I stand there and wait and listen

-but it does not come that night!" The sentence came suddenly and

-explosively, and an involuntary sigh came from the rest; a relaxing of

-tension.

-

-"I am determined, if I live the night through, to start for the

-coast early the next morning, taking my chance out there in the grim

-grasslands--with it. But with morning, I dare not. I do not know in

-which direction the monster went; and I dare not risk coming upon

-him in the open, unarmed as I am. So, as in a maze, I remain at the

-bungalow, and ever my eyes turn toward the sun, lurching relentlessly

-down the sky toward the horizon. Ah, God! if I could but halt the sun

-in the sky!"

-

-The man was in the clutch of some terrific power; his words fairly

-leaped at us.

-

-"Then the sun rocks down the sky and the long gray shadows come

-stalking across the grasslands. Dizzy with fear, I have bolted the

-doors and windows and lighted the lamp long before the last faint glow

-of twilight fades. The light from the windows may attract the monster,

-but I dare not stay in the dark. And again I take my stand in the

-center of the room--waiting."

-

-There was a shuddersome halt. Then he continued, barely above a

-whisper, moistening his lips: "There is no knowing how long I stand

-there; Time has ceased to be and each second is an eon; each minute is

-an eternity stretching into endless eternities. Then, God! but what is

-that?" he leaned forward, the moonlight etching his face into such a

-mask of horrified listening that each of us shivered and flung a hasty

-glance over our shoulders.

-

-"Not the night breeze this time," he whispered. "Something makes the

-grasses swish-swish--as if a great, long, pliant weight were being

-dragged through them. Above the bungalow it swishes and then ceases--in

-front of the door; then the hinges creak--creak! the door begins to

-bulge inward--a small bit--then some more!" The man's arms were held

-in front of him, as if braced strongly against something, and his

-breath came in quick gasps. "And I know I should lean against the door

-and hold it shut, but I do not, I can not move. I stand there, like a

-sheep waiting to be slaughtered--but the door holds!" Again that sigh

-expressive of pent-up feeling.

-

-He drew a shaky hand across his brow. "And all night I stand in the

-center of that room, as motionless as an image, except to turn slowly,

-as the swish-swish of the grass marks the fiend's course about the

-house. Ever I keep my eyes in the direction of that soft, sinister

-sound. Sometimes it ceases for an instant, or for several minutes,

-and then I stand scarcely breathing, for a horrible obsession has it

-that the serpent has in some way made entrance into the bungalow, and

-I start and whirl this way and that, frightfully fearful of making a

-noise, though I know not why, but ever with the feeling that the thing

-is at my back. Then the sounds commence again and I freeze motionless.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-"Now here is the only time that my consciousness, which guides my

-waking hours, ever in any way pierces the veil of dreams. I am, in

-the dream, in no way conscious that it is a dream, but, in a detached

-sort of way, my other mind recognizes certain facts and passes them

-on to my sleeping--shall I say 'ego'? That is to say, my personality

-is for an instant truly dual and separate to an extent, as the right

-and left arms are separate, while making up parts in the same entity.

-My dreaming mind has no cognizance of my higher mind; for the time

-being the other mind is subordinated and the subconscious mind is

-in full control, to such an extent that it does not even recognize

-the existence of the other. But the conscious mind, now sleeping,

-is cognizant of dim thought-waves emanating from the dream mind. I

-know that I have not made this entirely clear, but the fact remains

-that I know that my mind, conscious and subconscious, is near to

-ruin. My obsession of fear, as I stand there in my dream, is that

-the serpent will raise itself and peer into the window at me. And I

-know, in my dream, that if this occurs I shall go insane. And so vivid

-is the impression imparted to my conscious, now sleeping mind that

-the thought-waves stir the dim seas of sleep, and somehow I can feel

-my sanity rocking as my sanity rocks in my dream. Back and forth it

-totters and sways until the motion takes on a physical aspect and I in

-my dream am swaying from side to side. Not always is the sensation the

-same, but I tell you, if that horror ever raises its terrible shape

-and leers at me, if I ever see the fearful thing in my dream, I shall

-become stark, wild insane." There was a restless movement among the

-rest.

-

-"God! but what a prospect!" he muttered. "To be insane and forever

-dreaming that same dream, night and day! But there I stand, and

-centuries go by, but at last a dim gray light begins to steal through

-the windows, the swishing dies away in the distance and presently a

-red, haggard sun climbs the eastern sky. Then I turn about and gaze

-into a mirror--and my hair has become perfectly white. I stagger to

-the door and fling it wide. There is nothing in sight but a wide track

-leading away down the hill through the grasslands--in the opposite

-direction from that which I would take toward the coast. And with a

-shriek of maniacal laughter, I dash down the hill and race across the

-grasslands. I race until I drop from exhaustion, then I lie until I can

-stagger up and go on.

-

-"All day I keep this up, with superhuman effort, spurred on by the

-horror behind me. And ever as I hurl myself forward on weakening legs,

-ever as I lie gasping for breath, I watch the sun with a terrible

-eagerness. How swiftly the sun travels when a man races it for life! A

-losing race it is, as I know when I watch the sun sinking toward the

-skyline, and the hills which I had hoped to gain ere sundown seemingly

-as far away as ever."

-

-His voice was lowered and instinctively we leaned toward him; he was

-gripping the chair arms and the blood was seeping from his lip.

-

-"Then the sun sets and the shadows come and I stagger on and fall and

-rise and reel on again. And I laugh, laugh, laugh! Then I cease, for

-the moon comes up and throws the grasslands in ghostly and silvery

-relief. The light is white across the land, though the moon itself is

-like blood. And I look back the way I have come--and far--back"--all

-of us leaned farther toward him, our hair a-prickle; his voice came

-like a ghostly whisper--"far back--I--see--the--grass--waving. There is

-no breeze, but the tall grass parts and sways in the moonlight, in a

-narrow, sinuous line--far away, but nearing every instant." His voice

-died away.

-

-Somebody broke the ensuing stillness: "And then----?"

-

-"Then I awake. Never yet have I seen the foul monster. But that is the

-dream that haunts me, and from which I have wakened, in my childhood

-screaming, in my manhood in cold sweat. At irregular intervals I dream

-it, and each time, lately"--he hesitated and then went on--"each time

-lately, the thing has been getting closer--closer--the waving of the

-grass marks his progress and he nears me with each dream; and when he

-reaches me, then----"

-

-He stopped short, then without a word rose abruptly and entered the

-house. The rest of us sat silent for awhile, then followed him, for it

-was late.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-How long I slept I do not know, but I woke suddenly with the impression

-that somewhere in the house someone had laughed, long, loud and

-hideously, as a maniac laughs. Starting up, wondering if I had been

-dreaming, I rushed from my room, just as a truly horrible shriek

-echoed through the house. The place was now alive with other people

-who had been awakened, and all of us rushed to Faming's room, whence

-the sounds had seemed to come.

-

-Faming lay dead upon the floor, where it seemed he had fallen in

-some terrific struggle. There was no mark upon him, but his face was

-terribly distorted; as the face of a man who had been crushed by some

-superhuman force--such as some gigantic snake.

-

-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***

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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The dream snake, by Robert E. Howard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The dream snake
+
+Author: Robert E. Howard
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2023 [eBook #71052]
+
+Language: English
+
+Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+         Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***
+
+
+
+
+
+                      _A Short, Shuddery Tale Is_
+
+                            The Dream Snake
+
+                          By ROBERT E. HOWARD
+
+           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+                      Weird Tales February 1928.
+         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
+
+
+The night was strangely still. As we sat upon the wide veranda, gazing
+out over the broad, shadowy lawns, the silence of the hour entered our
+spirits and for a long while no one spoke.
+
+Then far across the dim mountains that fringed the eastern skyline, a
+faint haze began to glow, and presently a great golden moon came up,
+making a ghostly radiance over the land and etching boldly the dark
+clumps of shadows that were trees. A light breeze came whispering out
+of the east, and the unmowed grass swayed before it in long, sinuous
+waves, dimly visible in the moonlight; and from among the group upon
+the veranda there came a swift gasp, a sharp intake of breath that
+caused us all to turn and gaze.
+
+Faming was leaning forward, clutching the arms of his chair, his face
+strange and pallid in the spectral light; a thin trickle of blood
+seeping from the lip in which he had set his teeth. Amazed, we looked
+at him, and suddenly he jerked about with a short, snarling laugh.
+
+"There's no need of gawking at me like a flock of sheep!" he said
+irritably and stopped short. We sat bewildered, scarcely knowing what
+sort of reply to make, and suddenly he burst out again.
+
+"Now I guess I'd better tell the whole thing or you'll be going off
+and putting me down as a lunatic. Don't interrupt me, any of you! I
+want to get this thing off my mind. You all know that I'm not a very
+imaginative man; but there's a thing, purely a figment of imagination,
+that has haunted me since babyhood. A dream!" He fairly cringed back in
+his chair as he muttered, "A dream! and God, what a dream! The first
+time--no, I can't remember the first time I ever dreamed it--I've been
+dreaming the hellish thing ever since I can remember. Now it's this
+way: there is a sort of bungalow, set upon a hill in the midst of
+wide grasslands--not unlike this estate; but this scene is in Africa.
+And I am living there with a sort of servant, a Hindoo. Just why I am
+there is never clear to my waking mind, though I am always aware of
+the reason in my dreams. As a man of a dream, I remember my past life
+(a life which in no way corresponds with my waking life), but when I
+am awake my subconscious mind fails to transmit these impressions.
+However, I think that I am a fugitive from justice and the Hindoo
+is also a fugitive. How the bungalow came to be there I can never
+remember, nor do I know in what part of Africa it is, though all these
+things are known to my dream self. But the bungalow is a small one
+of a very few rooms, and is situated upon the top of the hill, as I
+said. There are no other hills about and the grasslands stretch to the
+horizon in every direction; knee-high in some places, waist-high in
+others.
+
+"Now the dream always opens as I am coming up the hill, just as the sun
+is beginning to set. I am carrying a broken rifle and I have been on
+a hunting trip; how the rifle was broken, and the full details of the
+trip, I clearly remember--dreaming. But never upon waking. It is just
+as if a curtain were suddenly raised and a drama began; or just as if I
+were suddenly transferred to another man's body and life, remembering
+past years of that life, and not cognizant of any other existence. And
+that is the hellish part of it! As you know, most of us, dreaming, are,
+at the back of our consciousness, aware that we are dreaming. No matter
+how horrible the dream may become, we know that it is a dream, and thus
+insanity or possible death is staved off. But in this particular dream,
+there is no such knowledge. I tell you it is so vivid, so complete in
+every detail, that I wonder sometimes if that is not my real existence
+and this a dream! But no; for then I should have been dead years ago.
+
+"As I was saying, I come up the hill and the first thing I am cognizant
+of that is out of the ordinary is a sort of track leading up the hill
+in an irregular way; that is, the grass is mashed down as if something
+heavy had been dragged over it. But I pay no especial attention to it,
+for I am thinking, with some irritation, that the broken rifle I carry
+is my only arm and that now I must forego hunting until I can send for
+another.
+
+"You see, I remember thoughts and impressions of the dream itself, of
+the occurrences of the dream; it is the memories that the dream 'I'
+has, of that other dream existence that I can not remember. So. I come
+up the hill and enter the bungalow. The doors are open and the Hindoo
+is not there. But the main room is in confusion; chairs are broken,
+a table overturned. The Hindoo's dagger is lying upon the floor, but
+there is no blood anywhere.
+
+"Now, in my dreams, I never remember the other dreams, as sometimes
+one does. Always it is the first dream, the first time. I always
+experience the same sensations, in my dreams, with as vivid a force as
+the first time I ever dreamed. So. I am not able to understand this.
+The Hindoo is gone, but (thus I ruminate, standing in the center of the
+disordered room) what did away with him? Had it been a raiding party
+of negroes they would have looted the bungalow and probably burned
+it. Had it been a lion, the place would have been smeared with blood.
+Then suddenly I remember the track I saw going up the hill, and a cold
+hand touches my spine; for instantly the whole thing is clear: the
+thing that came up from the grasslands and wrought havoc in the little
+bungalow could be naught else except a giant serpent. And as I think
+of the size of the spoor, cold sweat beads my forehead and the broken
+rifle shakes in my hand.
+
+"Then I rush to the door in a wild panic, my only thought to make a
+dash for the coast. But the sun has set and dusk is stealing across the
+grasslands. And out there somewhere, lurking in the tall grass is that
+grisly thing--that horror. God!" The ejaculation broke from his lips
+with such feeling that all of us started, not realizing the tension we
+had reached. There was a second's silence, then he continued:
+
+"So I bolt the doors and windows, light the lamp I have and
+take my stand in the middle of the room. And I stand like a
+statue--waiting--listening. After a while the moon comes up and her
+haggard light drifts through the windows. And I stand still in the
+center of the room; the night is very still--something like this night;
+the breeze occasionally whispers through the grass, and each time I
+start and clench my hands until the nails bite into the flesh and the
+blood trickles down my wrists--and I stand there and wait and listen
+but it does not come that night!" The sentence came suddenly and
+explosively, and an involuntary sigh came from the rest; a relaxing of
+tension.
+
+"I am determined, if I live the night through, to start for the
+coast early the next morning, taking my chance out there in the grim
+grasslands--with it. But with morning, I dare not. I do not know in
+which direction the monster went; and I dare not risk coming upon
+him in the open, unarmed as I am. So, as in a maze, I remain at the
+bungalow, and ever my eyes turn toward the sun, lurching relentlessly
+down the sky toward the horizon. Ah, God! if I could but halt the sun
+in the sky!"
+
+The man was in the clutch of some terrific power; his words fairly
+leaped at us.
+
+"Then the sun rocks down the sky and the long gray shadows come
+stalking across the grasslands. Dizzy with fear, I have bolted the
+doors and windows and lighted the lamp long before the last faint glow
+of twilight fades. The light from the windows may attract the monster,
+but I dare not stay in the dark. And again I take my stand in the
+center of the room--waiting."
+
+There was a shuddersome halt. Then he continued, barely above a
+whisper, moistening his lips: "There is no knowing how long I stand
+there; Time has ceased to be and each second is an eon; each minute is
+an eternity stretching into endless eternities. Then, God! but what is
+that?" he leaned forward, the moonlight etching his face into such a
+mask of horrified listening that each of us shivered and flung a hasty
+glance over our shoulders.
+
+"Not the night breeze this time," he whispered. "Something makes the
+grasses swish-swish--as if a great, long, pliant weight were being
+dragged through them. Above the bungalow it swishes and then ceases--in
+front of the door; then the hinges creak--creak! the door begins to
+bulge inward--a small bit--then some more!" The man's arms were held
+in front of him, as if braced strongly against something, and his
+breath came in quick gasps. "And I know I should lean against the door
+and hold it shut, but I do not, I can not move. I stand there, like a
+sheep waiting to be slaughtered--but the door holds!" Again that sigh
+expressive of pent-up feeling.
+
+He drew a shaky hand across his brow. "And all night I stand in the
+center of that room, as motionless as an image, except to turn slowly,
+as the swish-swish of the grass marks the fiend's course about the
+house. Ever I keep my eyes in the direction of that soft, sinister
+sound. Sometimes it ceases for an instant, or for several minutes,
+and then I stand scarcely breathing, for a horrible obsession has it
+that the serpent has in some way made entrance into the bungalow, and
+I start and whirl this way and that, frightfully fearful of making a
+noise, though I know not why, but ever with the feeling that the thing
+is at my back. Then the sounds commence again and I freeze motionless.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Now here is the only time that my consciousness, which guides my
+waking hours, ever in any way pierces the veil of dreams. I am, in
+the dream, in no way conscious that it is a dream, but, in a detached
+sort of way, my other mind recognizes certain facts and passes them
+on to my sleeping--shall I say 'ego'? That is to say, my personality
+is for an instant truly dual and separate to an extent, as the right
+and left arms are separate, while making up parts in the same entity.
+My dreaming mind has no cognizance of my higher mind; for the time
+being the other mind is subordinated and the subconscious mind is
+in full control, to such an extent that it does not even recognize
+the existence of the other. But the conscious mind, now sleeping,
+is cognizant of dim thought-waves emanating from the dream mind. I
+know that I have not made this entirely clear, but the fact remains
+that I know that my mind, conscious and subconscious, is near to
+ruin. My obsession of fear, as I stand there in my dream, is that
+the serpent will raise itself and peer into the window at me. And I
+know, in my dream, that if this occurs I shall go insane. And so vivid
+is the impression imparted to my conscious, now sleeping mind that
+the thought-waves stir the dim seas of sleep, and somehow I can feel
+my sanity rocking as my sanity rocks in my dream. Back and forth it
+totters and sways until the motion takes on a physical aspect and I in
+my dream am swaying from side to side. Not always is the sensation the
+same, but I tell you, if that horror ever raises its terrible shape
+and leers at me, if I ever see the fearful thing in my dream, I shall
+become stark, wild insane." There was a restless movement among the
+rest.
+
+"God! but what a prospect!" he muttered. "To be insane and forever
+dreaming that same dream, night and day! But there I stand, and
+centuries go by, but at last a dim gray light begins to steal through
+the windows, the swishing dies away in the distance and presently a
+red, haggard sun climbs the eastern sky. Then I turn about and gaze
+into a mirror--and my hair has become perfectly white. I stagger to
+the door and fling it wide. There is nothing in sight but a wide track
+leading away down the hill through the grasslands--in the opposite
+direction from that which I would take toward the coast. And with a
+shriek of maniacal laughter, I dash down the hill and race across the
+grasslands. I race until I drop from exhaustion, then I lie until I can
+stagger up and go on.
+
+"All day I keep this up, with superhuman effort, spurred on by the
+horror behind me. And ever as I hurl myself forward on weakening legs,
+ever as I lie gasping for breath, I watch the sun with a terrible
+eagerness. How swiftly the sun travels when a man races it for life! A
+losing race it is, as I know when I watch the sun sinking toward the
+skyline, and the hills which I had hoped to gain ere sundown seemingly
+as far away as ever."
+
+His voice was lowered and instinctively we leaned toward him; he was
+gripping the chair arms and the blood was seeping from his lip.
+
+"Then the sun sets and the shadows come and I stagger on and fall and
+rise and reel on again. And I laugh, laugh, laugh! Then I cease, for
+the moon comes up and throws the grasslands in ghostly and silvery
+relief. The light is white across the land, though the moon itself is
+like blood. And I look back the way I have come--and far--back"--all
+of us leaned farther toward him, our hair a-prickle; his voice came
+like a ghostly whisper--"far back--I--see--the--grass--waving. There is
+no breeze, but the tall grass parts and sways in the moonlight, in a
+narrow, sinuous line--far away, but nearing every instant." His voice
+died away.
+
+Somebody broke the ensuing stillness: "And then----?"
+
+"Then I awake. Never yet have I seen the foul monster. But that is the
+dream that haunts me, and from which I have wakened, in my childhood
+screaming, in my manhood in cold sweat. At irregular intervals I dream
+it, and each time, lately"--he hesitated and then went on--"each time
+lately, the thing has been getting closer--closer--the waving of the
+grass marks his progress and he nears me with each dream; and when he
+reaches me, then----"
+
+He stopped short, then without a word rose abruptly and entered the
+house. The rest of us sat silent for awhile, then followed him, for it
+was late.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How long I slept I do not know, but I woke suddenly with the impression
+that somewhere in the house someone had laughed, long, loud and
+hideously, as a maniac laughs. Starting up, wondering if I had been
+dreaming, I rushed from my room, just as a truly horrible shriek
+echoed through the house. The place was now alive with other people
+who had been awakened, and all of us rushed to Faming's room, whence
+the sounds had seemed to come.
+
+Faming lay dead upon the floor, where it seemed he had fallen in
+some terrific struggle. There was no mark upon him, but his face was
+terribly distorted; as the face of a man who had been crushed by some
+superhuman force--such as some gigantic snake.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***
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-<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The dream snake, by Robert E. Howard</p>

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-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The dream snake</p>

-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Robert E. Howard</p>

-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 26, 2023 [eBook #71052]</p>

-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>

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-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***</div>

-

-<div class="titlepage">

-

-<p class="ph2"><i>A Short, Shuddery Tale Is</i></p>

-

-<h1>The Dream Snake</h1>

-

-<p class="ph1">By ROBERT E. HOWARD</p>

-

-<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br>

-Weird Tales February 1928.<br>

-Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br>

-the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p>

-

-</div>

-

-<hr class="chap">

-

-<p>The night was strangely still. As we sat upon the wide veranda, gazing

-out over the broad, shadowy lawns, the silence of the hour entered our

-spirits and for a long while no one spoke.</p>

-

-<p>Then far across the dim mountains that fringed the eastern skyline, a

-faint haze began to glow, and presently a great golden moon came up,

-making a ghostly radiance over the land and etching boldly the dark

-clumps of shadows that were trees. A light breeze came whispering out

-of the east, and the unmowed grass swayed before it in long, sinuous

-waves, dimly visible in the moonlight; and from among the group upon

-the veranda there came a swift gasp, a sharp intake of breath that

-caused us all to turn and gaze.</p>

-

-<p>Faming was leaning forward, clutching the arms of his chair, his face

-strange and pallid in the spectral light; a thin trickle of blood

-seeping from the lip in which he had set his teeth. Amazed, we looked

-at him, and suddenly he jerked about with a short, snarling laugh.</p>

-

-<p>"There's no need of gawking at me like a flock of sheep!" he said

-irritably and stopped short. We sat bewildered, scarcely knowing what

-sort of reply to make, and suddenly he burst out again.</p>

-

-<p>"Now I guess I'd better tell the whole thing or you'll be going off

-and putting me down as a lunatic. Don't interrupt me, any of you! I

-want to get this thing off my mind. You all know that I'm not a very

-imaginative man; but there's a thing, purely a figment of imagination,

-that has haunted me since babyhood. A dream!" He fairly cringed back in

-his chair as he muttered, "A dream! and God, what a dream! The first

-time—no, I can't remember the first time I ever dreamed it—I've been

-dreaming the hellish thing ever since I can remember. Now it's this

-way: there is a sort of bungalow, set upon a hill in the midst of

-wide grasslands—not unlike this estate; but this scene is in Africa.

-And I am living there with a sort of servant, a Hindoo. Just why I am

-there is never clear to my waking mind, though I am always aware of

-the reason in my dreams. As a man of a dream, I remember my past life

-(a life which in no way corresponds with my waking life), but when I

-am awake my subconscious mind fails to transmit these impressions.

-However, I think that I am a fugitive from justice and the Hindoo

-is also a fugitive. How the bungalow came to be there I can never

-remember, nor do I know in what part of Africa it is, though all these

-things are known to my dream self. But the bungalow is a small one

-of a very few rooms, and is situated upon the top of the hill, as I

-said. There are no other hills about and the grasslands stretch to the

-horizon in every direction; knee-high in some places, waist-high in

-others.</p>

-

-<p>"Now the dream always opens as I am coming up the hill, just as the sun

-is beginning to set. I am carrying a broken rifle and I have been on

-a hunting trip; how the rifle was broken, and the full details of the

-trip, I clearly remember—dreaming. But never upon waking. It is just

-as if a curtain were suddenly raised and a drama began; or just as if I

-were suddenly transferred to another man's body and life, remembering

-past years of that life, and not cognizant of any other existence. And

-that is the hellish part of it! As you know, most of us, dreaming, are,

-at the back of our consciousness, aware that we are dreaming. No matter

-how horrible the dream may become, we know that it is a dream, and thus

-insanity or possible death is staved off. But in this particular dream,

-there is no such knowledge. I tell you it is so vivid, so complete in

-every detail, that I wonder sometimes if that is not my real existence

-and this a dream! But no; for then I should have been dead years ago.</p>

-

-<p>"As I was saying, I come up the hill and the first thing I am cognizant

-of that is out of the ordinary is a sort of track leading up the hill

-in an irregular way; that is, the grass is mashed down as if something

-heavy had been dragged over it. But I pay no especial attention to it,

-for I am thinking, with some irritation, that the broken rifle I carry

-is my only arm and that now I must forego hunting until I can send for

-another.</p>

-

-<p>"You see, I remember thoughts and impressions of the dream itself, of

-the occurrences of the dream; it is the memories that the dream 'I'

-has, of that other dream existence that I can not remember. So. I come

-up the hill and enter the bungalow. The doors are open and the Hindoo

-is not there. But the main room is in confusion; chairs are broken,

-a table overturned. The Hindoo's dagger is lying upon the floor, but

-there is no blood anywhere.</p>

-

-<p>"Now, in my dreams, I never remember the other dreams, as sometimes

-one does. Always it is the first dream, the first time. I always

-experience the same sensations, in my dreams, with as vivid a force as

-the first time I ever dreamed. So. I am not able to understand this.

-The Hindoo is gone, but (thus I ruminate, standing in the center of the

-disordered room) what did away with him? Had it been a raiding party

-of negroes they would have looted the bungalow and probably burned

-it. Had it been a lion, the place would have been smeared with blood.

-Then suddenly I remember the track I saw going up the hill, and a cold

-hand touches my spine; for instantly the whole thing is clear: the

-thing that came up from the grasslands and wrought havoc in the little

-bungalow could be naught else except a giant serpent. And as I think

-of the size of the spoor, cold sweat beads my forehead and the broken

-rifle shakes in my hand.</p>

-

-<p>"Then I rush to the door in a wild panic, my only thought to make a

-dash for the coast. But the sun has set and dusk is stealing across the

-grasslands. And out there somewhere, lurking in the tall grass is that

-grisly thing—that horror. God!" The ejaculation broke from his lips

-with such feeling that all of us started, not realizing the tension we

-had reached. There was a second's silence, then he continued:</p>

-

-<p>"So I bolt the doors and windows, light the lamp I have and

-take my stand in the middle of the room. And I stand like a

-statue—waiting—listening. After a while the moon comes up and her

-haggard light drifts through the windows. And I stand still in the

-center of the room; the night is very still—something like this night;

-the breeze occasionally whispers through the grass, and each time I

-start and clench my hands until the nails bite into the flesh and the

-blood trickles down my wrists—and I stand there and wait and listen

-but it does not come that night!" The sentence came suddenly and

-explosively, and an involuntary sigh came from the rest; a relaxing of

-tension.</p>

-

-<p>"I am determined, if I live the night through, to start for the

-coast early the next morning, taking my chance out there in the grim

-grasslands—with it. But with morning, I dare not. I do not know in

-which direction the monster went; and I dare not risk coming upon

-him in the open, unarmed as I am. So, as in a maze, I remain at the

-bungalow, and ever my eyes turn toward the sun, lurching relentlessly

-down the sky toward the horizon. Ah, God! if I could but halt the sun

-in the sky!"</p>

-

-<p>The man was in the clutch of some terrific power; his words fairly

-leaped at us.</p>

-

-<p>"Then the sun rocks down the sky and the long gray shadows come

-stalking across the grasslands. Dizzy with fear, I have bolted the

-doors and windows and lighted the lamp long before the last faint glow

-of twilight fades. The light from the windows may attract the monster,

-but I dare not stay in the dark. And again I take my stand in the

-center of the room—waiting."</p>

-

-<p>There was a shuddersome halt. Then he continued, barely above a

-whisper, moistening his lips: "There is no knowing how long I stand

-there; Time has ceased to be and each second is an eon; each minute is

-an eternity stretching into endless eternities. Then, God! but what is

-that?" he leaned forward, the moonlight etching his face into such a

-mask of horrified listening that each of us shivered and flung a hasty

-glance over our shoulders.</p>

-

-<p>"Not the night breeze this time," he whispered. "Something makes the

-grasses swish-swish—as if a great, long, pliant weight were being

-dragged through them. Above the bungalow it swishes and then ceases—in

-front of the door; then the hinges creak—creak! the door begins to

-bulge inward—a small bit—then some more!" The man's arms were held

-in front of him, as if braced strongly against something, and his

-breath came in quick gasps. "And I know I should lean against the door

-and hold it shut, but I do not, I can not move. I stand there, like a

-sheep waiting to be slaughtered—but the door holds!" Again that sigh

-expressive of pent-up feeling.</p>

-

-<p>He drew a shaky hand across his brow. "And all night I stand in the

-center of that room, as motionless as an image, except to turn slowly,

-as the swish-swish of the grass marks the fiend's course about the

-house. Ever I keep my eyes in the direction of that soft, sinister

-sound. Sometimes it ceases for an instant, or for several minutes,

-and then I stand scarcely breathing, for a horrible obsession has it

-that the serpent has in some way made entrance into the bungalow, and

-I start and whirl this way and that, frightfully fearful of making a

-noise, though I know not why, but ever with the feeling that the thing

-is at my back. Then the sounds commence again and I freeze motionless.</p>

-

-<hr class="tb">

-

-<p>"Now here is the only time that my consciousness, which guides my

-waking hours, ever in any way pierces the veil of dreams. I am, in

-the dream, in no way conscious that it is a dream, but, in a detached

-sort of way, my other mind recognizes certain facts and passes them

-on to my sleeping—shall I say 'ego'? That is to say, my personality

-is for an instant truly dual and separate to an extent, as the right

-and left arms are separate, while making up parts in the same entity.

-My dreaming mind has no cognizance of my higher mind; for the time

-being the other mind is subordinated and the subconscious mind is

-in full control, to such an extent that it does not even recognize

-the existence of the other. But the conscious mind, now sleeping,

-is cognizant of dim thought-waves emanating from the dream mind. I

-know that I have not made this entirely clear, but the fact remains

-that I know that my mind, conscious and subconscious, is near to

-ruin. My obsession of fear, as I stand there in my dream, is that

-the serpent will raise itself and peer into the window at me. And I

-know, in my dream, that if this occurs I shall go insane. And so vivid

-is the impression imparted to my conscious, now sleeping mind that

-the thought-waves stir the dim seas of sleep, and somehow I can feel

-my sanity rocking as my sanity rocks in my dream. Back and forth it

-totters and sways until the motion takes on a physical aspect and I in

-my dream am swaying from side to side. Not always is the sensation the

-same, but I tell you, if that horror ever raises its terrible shape

-and leers at me, if I ever see the fearful thing in my dream, I shall

-become stark, wild insane." There was a restless movement among the

-rest.</p>

-

-<p>"God! but what a prospect!" he muttered. "To be insane and forever

-dreaming that same dream, night and day! But there I stand, and

-centuries go by, but at last a dim gray light begins to steal through

-the windows, the swishing dies away in the distance and presently a

-red, haggard sun climbs the eastern sky. Then I turn about and gaze

-into a mirror—and my hair has become perfectly white. I stagger to

-the door and fling it wide. There is nothing in sight but a wide track

-leading away down the hill through the grasslands—in the opposite

-direction from that which I would take toward the coast. And with a

-shriek of maniacal laughter, I dash down the hill and race across the

-grasslands. I race until I drop from exhaustion, then I lie until I can

-stagger up and go on.</p>

-

-<p>"All day I keep this up, with superhuman effort, spurred on by the

-horror behind me. And ever as I hurl myself forward on weakening legs,

-ever as I lie gasping for breath, I watch the sun with a terrible

-eagerness. How swiftly the sun travels when a man races it for life! A

-losing race it is, as I know when I watch the sun sinking toward the

-skyline, and the hills which I had hoped to gain ere sundown seemingly

-as far away as ever."</p>

-

-<p>His voice was lowered and instinctively we leaned toward him; he was

-gripping the chair arms and the blood was seeping from his lip.</p>

-

-<p>"Then the sun sets and the shadows come and I stagger on and fall and

-rise and reel on again. And I laugh, laugh, laugh! Then I cease, for

-the moon comes up and throws the grasslands in ghostly and silvery

-relief. The light is white across the land, though the moon itself is

-like blood. And I look back the way I have come—and far—back"—all

-of us leaned farther toward him, our hair a-prickle; his voice came

-like a ghostly whisper—"far back—I—see—the—grass—waving. There is

-no breeze, but the tall grass parts and sways in the moonlight, in a

-narrow, sinuous line—far away, but nearing every instant." His voice

-died away.</p>

-

-<p>Somebody broke the ensuing stillness: "And then——?"</p>

-

-<p>"Then I awake. Never yet have I seen the foul monster. But that is the

-dream that haunts me, and from which I have wakened, in my childhood

-screaming, in my manhood in cold sweat. At irregular intervals I dream

-it, and each time, lately"—he hesitated and then went on—"each time

-lately, the thing has been getting closer—closer—the waving of the

-grass marks his progress and he nears me with each dream; and when he

-reaches me, then——"</p>

-

-<p>He stopped short, then without a word rose abruptly and entered the

-house. The rest of us sat silent for awhile, then followed him, for it

-was late.</p>

-

-<hr class="tb">

-

-<p>How long I slept I do not know, but I woke suddenly with the impression

-that somewhere in the house someone had laughed, long, loud and

-hideously, as a maniac laughs. Starting up, wondering if I had been

-dreaming, I rushed from my room, just as a truly horrible shriek

-echoed through the house. The place was now alive with other people

-who had been awakened, and all of us rushed to Faming's room, whence

-the sounds had seemed to come.</p>

-

-<p>Faming lay dead upon the floor, where it seemed he had fallen in

-some terrific struggle. There was no mark upon him, but his face was

-terribly distorted; as the face of a man who had been crushed by some

-superhuman force—such as some gigantic snake.

-</p>

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+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The dream snake</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Robert E. Howard</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 26, 2023 [eBook #71052]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***</div>
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>A Short, Shuddery Tale Is</i></p>
+
+<h1>The Dream Snake</h1>
+
+<p class="ph1">By ROBERT E. HOWARD</p>
+
+<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br>
+Weird Tales February 1928.<br>
+Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br>
+the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+<p>The night was strangely still. As we sat upon the wide veranda, gazing
+out over the broad, shadowy lawns, the silence of the hour entered our
+spirits and for a long while no one spoke.</p>
+
+<p>Then far across the dim mountains that fringed the eastern skyline, a
+faint haze began to glow, and presently a great golden moon came up,
+making a ghostly radiance over the land and etching boldly the dark
+clumps of shadows that were trees. A light breeze came whispering out
+of the east, and the unmowed grass swayed before it in long, sinuous
+waves, dimly visible in the moonlight; and from among the group upon
+the veranda there came a swift gasp, a sharp intake of breath that
+caused us all to turn and gaze.</p>
+
+<p>Faming was leaning forward, clutching the arms of his chair, his face
+strange and pallid in the spectral light; a thin trickle of blood
+seeping from the lip in which he had set his teeth. Amazed, we looked
+at him, and suddenly he jerked about with a short, snarling laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no need of gawking at me like a flock of sheep!" he said
+irritably and stopped short. We sat bewildered, scarcely knowing what
+sort of reply to make, and suddenly he burst out again.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I guess I'd better tell the whole thing or you'll be going off
+and putting me down as a lunatic. Don't interrupt me, any of you! I
+want to get this thing off my mind. You all know that I'm not a very
+imaginative man; but there's a thing, purely a figment of imagination,
+that has haunted me since babyhood. A dream!" He fairly cringed back in
+his chair as he muttered, "A dream! and God, what a dream! The first
+time—no, I can't remember the first time I ever dreamed it—I've been
+dreaming the hellish thing ever since I can remember. Now it's this
+way: there is a sort of bungalow, set upon a hill in the midst of
+wide grasslands—not unlike this estate; but this scene is in Africa.
+And I am living there with a sort of servant, a Hindoo. Just why I am
+there is never clear to my waking mind, though I am always aware of
+the reason in my dreams. As a man of a dream, I remember my past life
+(a life which in no way corresponds with my waking life), but when I
+am awake my subconscious mind fails to transmit these impressions.
+However, I think that I am a fugitive from justice and the Hindoo
+is also a fugitive. How the bungalow came to be there I can never
+remember, nor do I know in what part of Africa it is, though all these
+things are known to my dream self. But the bungalow is a small one
+of a very few rooms, and is situated upon the top of the hill, as I
+said. There are no other hills about and the grasslands stretch to the
+horizon in every direction; knee-high in some places, waist-high in
+others.</p>
+
+<p>"Now the dream always opens as I am coming up the hill, just as the sun
+is beginning to set. I am carrying a broken rifle and I have been on
+a hunting trip; how the rifle was broken, and the full details of the
+trip, I clearly remember—dreaming. But never upon waking. It is just
+as if a curtain were suddenly raised and a drama began; or just as if I
+were suddenly transferred to another man's body and life, remembering
+past years of that life, and not cognizant of any other existence. And
+that is the hellish part of it! As you know, most of us, dreaming, are,
+at the back of our consciousness, aware that we are dreaming. No matter
+how horrible the dream may become, we know that it is a dream, and thus
+insanity or possible death is staved off. But in this particular dream,
+there is no such knowledge. I tell you it is so vivid, so complete in
+every detail, that I wonder sometimes if that is not my real existence
+and this a dream! But no; for then I should have been dead years ago.</p>
+
+<p>"As I was saying, I come up the hill and the first thing I am cognizant
+of that is out of the ordinary is a sort of track leading up the hill
+in an irregular way; that is, the grass is mashed down as if something
+heavy had been dragged over it. But I pay no especial attention to it,
+for I am thinking, with some irritation, that the broken rifle I carry
+is my only arm and that now I must forego hunting until I can send for
+another.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, I remember thoughts and impressions of the dream itself, of
+the occurrences of the dream; it is the memories that the dream 'I'
+has, of that other dream existence that I can not remember. So. I come
+up the hill and enter the bungalow. The doors are open and the Hindoo
+is not there. But the main room is in confusion; chairs are broken,
+a table overturned. The Hindoo's dagger is lying upon the floor, but
+there is no blood anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, in my dreams, I never remember the other dreams, as sometimes
+one does. Always it is the first dream, the first time. I always
+experience the same sensations, in my dreams, with as vivid a force as
+the first time I ever dreamed. So. I am not able to understand this.
+The Hindoo is gone, but (thus I ruminate, standing in the center of the
+disordered room) what did away with him? Had it been a raiding party
+of negroes they would have looted the bungalow and probably burned
+it. Had it been a lion, the place would have been smeared with blood.
+Then suddenly I remember the track I saw going up the hill, and a cold
+hand touches my spine; for instantly the whole thing is clear: the
+thing that came up from the grasslands and wrought havoc in the little
+bungalow could be naught else except a giant serpent. And as I think
+of the size of the spoor, cold sweat beads my forehead and the broken
+rifle shakes in my hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I rush to the door in a wild panic, my only thought to make a
+dash for the coast. But the sun has set and dusk is stealing across the
+grasslands. And out there somewhere, lurking in the tall grass is that
+grisly thing—that horror. God!" The ejaculation broke from his lips
+with such feeling that all of us started, not realizing the tension we
+had reached. There was a second's silence, then he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"So I bolt the doors and windows, light the lamp I have and
+take my stand in the middle of the room. And I stand like a
+statue—waiting—listening. After a while the moon comes up and her
+haggard light drifts through the windows. And I stand still in the
+center of the room; the night is very still—something like this night;
+the breeze occasionally whispers through the grass, and each time I
+start and clench my hands until the nails bite into the flesh and the
+blood trickles down my wrists—and I stand there and wait and listen
+but it does not come that night!" The sentence came suddenly and
+explosively, and an involuntary sigh came from the rest; a relaxing of
+tension.</p>
+
+<p>"I am determined, if I live the night through, to start for the
+coast early the next morning, taking my chance out there in the grim
+grasslands—with it. But with morning, I dare not. I do not know in
+which direction the monster went; and I dare not risk coming upon
+him in the open, unarmed as I am. So, as in a maze, I remain at the
+bungalow, and ever my eyes turn toward the sun, lurching relentlessly
+down the sky toward the horizon. Ah, God! if I could but halt the sun
+in the sky!"</p>
+
+<p>The man was in the clutch of some terrific power; his words fairly
+leaped at us.</p>
+
+<p>"Then the sun rocks down the sky and the long gray shadows come
+stalking across the grasslands. Dizzy with fear, I have bolted the
+doors and windows and lighted the lamp long before the last faint glow
+of twilight fades. The light from the windows may attract the monster,
+but I dare not stay in the dark. And again I take my stand in the
+center of the room—waiting."</p>
+
+<p>There was a shuddersome halt. Then he continued, barely above a
+whisper, moistening his lips: "There is no knowing how long I stand
+there; Time has ceased to be and each second is an eon; each minute is
+an eternity stretching into endless eternities. Then, God! but what is
+that?" he leaned forward, the moonlight etching his face into such a
+mask of horrified listening that each of us shivered and flung a hasty
+glance over our shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"Not the night breeze this time," he whispered. "Something makes the
+grasses swish-swish—as if a great, long, pliant weight were being
+dragged through them. Above the bungalow it swishes and then ceases—in
+front of the door; then the hinges creak—creak! the door begins to
+bulge inward—a small bit—then some more!" The man's arms were held
+in front of him, as if braced strongly against something, and his
+breath came in quick gasps. "And I know I should lean against the door
+and hold it shut, but I do not, I can not move. I stand there, like a
+sheep waiting to be slaughtered—but the door holds!" Again that sigh
+expressive of pent-up feeling.</p>
+
+<p>He drew a shaky hand across his brow. "And all night I stand in the
+center of that room, as motionless as an image, except to turn slowly,
+as the swish-swish of the grass marks the fiend's course about the
+house. Ever I keep my eyes in the direction of that soft, sinister
+sound. Sometimes it ceases for an instant, or for several minutes,
+and then I stand scarcely breathing, for a horrible obsession has it
+that the serpent has in some way made entrance into the bungalow, and
+I start and whirl this way and that, frightfully fearful of making a
+noise, though I know not why, but ever with the feeling that the thing
+is at my back. Then the sounds commence again and I freeze motionless.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>"Now here is the only time that my consciousness, which guides my
+waking hours, ever in any way pierces the veil of dreams. I am, in
+the dream, in no way conscious that it is a dream, but, in a detached
+sort of way, my other mind recognizes certain facts and passes them
+on to my sleeping—shall I say 'ego'? That is to say, my personality
+is for an instant truly dual and separate to an extent, as the right
+and left arms are separate, while making up parts in the same entity.
+My dreaming mind has no cognizance of my higher mind; for the time
+being the other mind is subordinated and the subconscious mind is
+in full control, to such an extent that it does not even recognize
+the existence of the other. But the conscious mind, now sleeping,
+is cognizant of dim thought-waves emanating from the dream mind. I
+know that I have not made this entirely clear, but the fact remains
+that I know that my mind, conscious and subconscious, is near to
+ruin. My obsession of fear, as I stand there in my dream, is that
+the serpent will raise itself and peer into the window at me. And I
+know, in my dream, that if this occurs I shall go insane. And so vivid
+is the impression imparted to my conscious, now sleeping mind that
+the thought-waves stir the dim seas of sleep, and somehow I can feel
+my sanity rocking as my sanity rocks in my dream. Back and forth it
+totters and sways until the motion takes on a physical aspect and I in
+my dream am swaying from side to side. Not always is the sensation the
+same, but I tell you, if that horror ever raises its terrible shape
+and leers at me, if I ever see the fearful thing in my dream, I shall
+become stark, wild insane." There was a restless movement among the
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>"God! but what a prospect!" he muttered. "To be insane and forever
+dreaming that same dream, night and day! But there I stand, and
+centuries go by, but at last a dim gray light begins to steal through
+the windows, the swishing dies away in the distance and presently a
+red, haggard sun climbs the eastern sky. Then I turn about and gaze
+into a mirror—and my hair has become perfectly white. I stagger to
+the door and fling it wide. There is nothing in sight but a wide track
+leading away down the hill through the grasslands—in the opposite
+direction from that which I would take toward the coast. And with a
+shriek of maniacal laughter, I dash down the hill and race across the
+grasslands. I race until I drop from exhaustion, then I lie until I can
+stagger up and go on.</p>
+
+<p>"All day I keep this up, with superhuman effort, spurred on by the
+horror behind me. And ever as I hurl myself forward on weakening legs,
+ever as I lie gasping for breath, I watch the sun with a terrible
+eagerness. How swiftly the sun travels when a man races it for life! A
+losing race it is, as I know when I watch the sun sinking toward the
+skyline, and the hills which I had hoped to gain ere sundown seemingly
+as far away as ever."</p>
+
+<p>His voice was lowered and instinctively we leaned toward him; he was
+gripping the chair arms and the blood was seeping from his lip.</p>
+
+<p>"Then the sun sets and the shadows come and I stagger on and fall and
+rise and reel on again. And I laugh, laugh, laugh! Then I cease, for
+the moon comes up and throws the grasslands in ghostly and silvery
+relief. The light is white across the land, though the moon itself is
+like blood. And I look back the way I have come—and far—back"—all
+of us leaned farther toward him, our hair a-prickle; his voice came
+like a ghostly whisper—"far back—I—see—the—grass—waving. There is
+no breeze, but the tall grass parts and sways in the moonlight, in a
+narrow, sinuous line—far away, but nearing every instant." His voice
+died away.</p>
+
+<p>Somebody broke the ensuing stillness: "And then——?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I awake. Never yet have I seen the foul monster. But that is the
+dream that haunts me, and from which I have wakened, in my childhood
+screaming, in my manhood in cold sweat. At irregular intervals I dream
+it, and each time, lately"—he hesitated and then went on—"each time
+lately, the thing has been getting closer—closer—the waving of the
+grass marks his progress and he nears me with each dream; and when he
+reaches me, then——"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped short, then without a word rose abruptly and entered the
+house. The rest of us sat silent for awhile, then followed him, for it
+was late.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>How long I slept I do not know, but I woke suddenly with the impression
+that somewhere in the house someone had laughed, long, loud and
+hideously, as a maniac laughs. Starting up, wondering if I had been
+dreaming, I rushed from my room, just as a truly horrible shriek
+echoed through the house. The place was now alive with other people
+who had been awakened, and all of us rushed to Faming's room, whence
+the sounds had seemed to come.</p>
+
+<p>Faming lay dead upon the floor, where it seemed he had fallen in
+some terrific struggle. There was no mark upon him, but his face was
+terribly distorted; as the face of a man who had been crushed by some
+superhuman force—such as some gigantic snake.
+</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DREAM SNAKE ***</div>
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