Жах у музеї

           Oneflashlightviewshewedanincredibleinteriorchamberwithwildcarvingsandacuriousthronewhoseproportioncouldnothavebeendesignedforahumanoccupant. Thecarvingsonthegiganticmasonry—highwallsandpeculiarvaultingoverhead—weremainlysymbolic,andinvolvedbothwhollyunknowndesignsandcertainhieroglyphsdarklycitedinobscenelegends. Overthethroneloomedthesamedreadfulsymbolwhichwasnowpaintedontheworkroomwallabovethepadlockedplankdoor. Jonesdartedanervousglanceattheclosedportal. Assuredly,Rogershadbeentostrangeplacesandhadseenstrangethings. Yetthismadinteriorpicturemighteasilybeafraud—takenfromaverycleverstagesetting. Onemustnotbetoocredulous. ButRogerswascontinuing: 

           “Well,weshippedtheboxfromNomeandgottoLondonwithoutanytrouble. Thatwasthefirsttimewe’deverbroughtbackanythingthathadachanceofcomingalive. Ididn’tputItondisplay,becausethereweremoreimportantthingstodoforIt. Itneededthenourishmentofsacrifice,forItwasagod. OfcourseIcouldn’tgetItthesortofsacrificeswhichItusedtohaveinItsday,forsuchthingsdon’texistnow. Buttherewereotherthingswhichmightdo. Thebloodisthelife,youknow. Eventhelemursandelementalsthatareolderthantheearthwillcomewhenthebloodofmenorbeastsisofferedundertherightconditions.” 

           Theexpressiononthenarrator’sfacewasgrowingveryalarmingandrepulsive,sothatJonesfidgetedinvoluntarilyinhischair.