Жах Данвіча

           Thegovernment,alarmedatsuchsignsofwholesaleregionaldecadence,sentseveralofficersandmedicalexpertstoinvestigate; conductingasurveywhichNewEnglandnewspaperreadersmaystillrecall. ItwasthepublicityattendingthisinvestigationwhichsetreportersonthetrackoftheWhateleys,andcausedtheBostonGlobeandArkhamAdvertisertoprintflamboyantSundaystoriesofyoungWilbur’sprecociousness,OldWhateley’sblackmagic,andtheshelvesofstrangebooks,thesealedsecondstoreyoftheancientfarmhouse,andtheweirdnessofthewholeregionanditshillnoises. Wilburwasfourandahalfthen,andlookedlikealadoffifteen. Hislipsandcheekswerefuzzywithacoarsedarkdown,andhisvoicehadbeguntobreak. 

           EarlSawyerwentouttotheWhateleyplacewithbothsetsofreportersandcameramen,andcalledtheirattentiontothequeerstenchwhichnowseemedtotrickledownfromthesealedupperspaces. Itwas,hesaid,exactlylikeasmellhehadfoundinthetoolshedabandonedwhenthehousewasfinallyrepaired; andlikethefaintodourswhichhesometimesthoughthecaughtnearthestonecircleonthemountains. Dunwichfolkreadthestorieswhentheyappeared,andgrinnedovertheobviousmistakes. Theywondered,too,whythewritersmadesomuchofthefactthatOldWhateleyalwayspaidforhiscattleingoldpiecesofextremelyancientdate. TheWhateleyshadreceivedtheirvisitorswithill-concealeddistaste,thoughtheydidnotdarecourtfurtherpublicitybyaviolentresistanceorrefusaltotalk.