Хребты безумия
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Occasionallyitsvaryinggradebecamesosteepthatgrooveswerecutinthefloor. Severaltimeswenotedthemouthsofsmalllateralgalleriesnotrecordedinourdiagrams;noneofthemsuchastocomplicatetheproblemofourreturn,andallofthemwelcomeaspossiblerefugesincasewemetunwelcomeentitiesontheirwaybackfromtheabyss. Thenamelessscentofsuchthingswasverydistinct. Doubtlessitwassuicidallyfoolishtoventureintothattunnelundertheknownconditions,butthelureoftheunplumbedisstrongerincertainpersonsthanmostsuspect—indeed,itwasjustsuchalurewhichhadbroughtustothisunearthlypolarwasteinthefirstplace. Wesawseveralpenguinsaswepassedalong,andspeculatedonthedistancewewouldhavetotraverse. Thecarvingshadledustoexpectasteepdownhillwalkofaboutamiletotheabyss,butourpreviouswanderingshadshownusthatmattersofscalewerenotwhollytobedependedon.
Afteraboutaquarterofamilethatnamelessscentbecamegreatlyaccentuated,andwekeptverycarefultrackofthevariouslateralopeningswepassed. Therewasnovisiblevaporasatthemouth,butthiswasdoubtlessduetothelackofcontrastingcoolerair. Thetemperaturewasrapidlyascending,andwewerenotsurprisedtocomeuponacarelessheapofmaterialshudderinglyfamiliartous. ItwascomposedoffursandtentclothtakenfromLake’scamp,andwedidnotpausetostudythebizarreformsintowhichthefabricshadbeenslashed. Slightlybeyondthispointwenoticedadecidedincreaseinthesizeandnumberofthesidegalleries,andconcludedthatthedenselyhoneycombedregionbeneaththehigherfoothillsmustnowhavebeenreached. Thenamelessscentwasnowcuriouslymixedwithanotherandscarcelylessoffensiveodor—ofwhatnaturewecouldnotguess,thoughwethoughtofdecayingorganismsandperhapsunknownsubterraneanfungi.
