It
slipped its hindmost feelers onward until they came up to those which were
in advance. Then, in their turn, it advanced those which were in front. It
seemed, too, to move with the utmost labor, shuddering as though it were
in pain.
We were all, for our parts, speechless. I was momentarily hoping that the
drug would take effect on Bob. Either his constitution enabled him to
offer a strong resistance to narcotics, or else the large quantity of neat
spirit which he had drunk acted--as Tress had malevolently intended that
it should--as an antidote. It seemed to me that he would _never_ succumb.
On went the creature--on, and on, in its infinitesimal progression. I was
spellbound. I would have given the world to scream, to have been able to
utter a sound. I could do nothing else but watch.
The creature had reached the end of the stem. It had gained the amber
mouthpiece. It was within an inch of the smoker's nose. Still on it went.
It seemed to move with greater freedom on the amber. It increased its rate
of progress. It was actually touching the foremost feature on the smoker's
countenance. I expected to see it grip the wretched Bob, when it began to
oscillate from side to side. Its oscillations increased in violence. It
fell to the floor. That same instant the narcotic prevailed. Bob slipped
sideways from the chair, the pipe still held tightly between his rigid
jaws.
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