Short Story: The Most Dangerous Game

concern Rainsford just then. All he knewwas that he was safe from his enemy, thesea, and that utter weariness was on him.He flung himself down at the jungle edgeand tumbled headlong into the deepestsleep of his life.When he opened his eyes he knewfrom the position of the sun that it was latein the afternoon. Sleep had given him newvigor; a sharp hunger was picking at him. Helooked about him, almost cheerfully."Where there are pistol shots, thereare men. Where there are men, there isfood," he thought. But what kind of men, hewondered, in so forbidding a place? Anunbroken front of snarled and ragged junglefringed the shore.He saw no sign of a trail through theclosely knit web of weeds and trees; it waseasier to go along the shore, and Rainsfordfloundered along by the water. Not far fromwhere he landed, he stopped.Some wounded thing--by theevidence, a large animal--had thrashedabout in the underbrush; the jungle weedswere crushed down and the moss waslacerated; one patch of weeds was stainedcrimson. A small, glittering object not faraway caught Rainsford's eye and he pickedit up. It was an empty cartridge."A twenty-two," he remarked."That's odd. It must have been a fairly largeanimal too. The hunter had his nerve withhim to tackle it with a light gun. It's clearthat the brute put up a fight. I suppose thefirst three shots I heard was when thehunter flushed his quarry and wounded it.The last shot was when he trailed it hereand finished it."He examined the ground closely andfound what he had hoped to find--the printof hunting boots. They pointed along thecliff in the direction he had been going.Eagerly he hurried along, now slipping on arotten log or a loose stone, but makingheadway; night was beginning to settledown on the island.Bleak darkness was blacking out thesea and jungle when Rainsford sighted thelights. He came upon them as he turned acrook in the coast line; and his first thoughtwas that be had come upon a village, forthere were many lights. But as he forgedalong he saw to his great astonishment thatall the lights were in one enormousbuilding--a lofty structure with pointedtowers plunging upward into the gloom. Hiseyes made out the shadowy outlines of apalatial chateau; it was set on a high bluff,and on three sides of it cliffs dived down towhere the sea licked greedy lips in theshadows."Mirage," thought Rainsford. But itwas no mirage, he found, when he openedthe tall spiked iron gate. The stone stepswere real enough; the massive door with aleering gargoyle for a knocker was realenough; yet above it all hung an air ofunreality.He lifted the knocker, and it creakedup stiffly, as if it had never before beenused. He let it fall, and it startled him withits booming loudness. He thought he heardsteps within; the door remained closed.Again Rainsford lifted the heavy knocker,and let it fall. The door opened then--opened as suddenly as if it were on aspring--and Rainsford stood blinking in theriver of glaring gold light that poured out.The first thing Rainsford's eyes discernedwas the largest man Rainsford had everseen--a gigantic creature, solidly made andblack bearded to the waist. In his hand theman held a long-barreled revolver, and hewas pointing it straight at Rainsford's heart.3