"Lumley,.Brian.-.Titus.Crow.1.-.Burrowers.Beneath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lumley Brian)

THE BURROWERS BENEATH BY BRIAN LUMLEY

The Nethermost Caverns
(From the Files of Titus Crow)
Blowne House
Leonard's-Walk Heath
London
18th May 196-
Ref: - 53/196-G. K. Lapham & Co. Head Office, GKL Cuttings 117 Martin Hudd St Nottingham, Notts.
Dear Mr Lapham,
Please alter my order as it stands to cover only the most outstanding cases, on which your continued cooperation would be appreciated as ever. This action not to be misconstrued as being all but a cancellation of my custom, on the contrary, but for the time being I would rather you concentrate your efforts on my behalf to full coverage of one special line. I require all cuttings, one copy of each, from all forty-three dailies normally covered, of current occurrences involving earthquakes, tremors, subsidences, and like phenomena (and backdated to cover the last three years where at all possible), to continue until further notice. Thank you for your prompt attention.
Yrs faithfully, T. Crow
Blowne House 19th May
Ref: - 55/196-
Edgar Harvey, Esq.
Harvey, Johnson & Harvey, Solicitors
164-7 Mylor Rd
Radcar, Yorks.
Dear Mr Harvey,
I am given to understand that you are the literary agent of Paul Wendy-Smith, the young writer of tales of romantic and/or macabre fiction, and that following his mysterious disappearance in 1933 you became executor to the estate. I was only a very young man at that time, but I seem to remember that because of certain special circumstances publication of the writer's last story (showing, I believe, strange connections with the disappearance of both the author and his uncle, the explorer-archaeologist Sir Amery Wendy-Smith) was held in abeyance. My query is simply this: has the work since seen publication, and if so where may I obtain a copy?
I am, sir, hopefully
expectant of an early
answer, Yrs sincerely,
T. Crow
Blowne House
Harvey, Johnson & Harvey Mylor Rd Radcar, Yorks. 22nd May
Dear Mr Crow, Regarding your inquiry (your reference 55/196- of 19th
May), you are correct, I was executor to the estate of Paul Wendy-Smith - and yes, there was a tale held in abeyance for a number of years until the Wendy-Smiths were both officially pronounced 'missing or dead' in 1937. The story, despite being a very slight piece, has seen publication more recently in an excellently presented and major macabre collection. I enclose proofs of the story, and, should you require the book itself, the publisher's card.
Hoping that this covers your inquiry to your complete satisfaction, I am, Sir,
Yours sincerely, Edgar Harvey
Blowne House 25th May
Ref: - 58/196-Features Reporter Coalville Recorder 11 Leatham St Coalville, Leics.
My dear Mr Plant,
Having all my life been interested in seismological phenomena, I was profoundly interested in your article in the issue of the Recorder for 18th May. I know your coverage was as complete as any man-in-the-street could possibly wish, but wonder if perhaps you could help me in my own rather more specialized inquiry? Tremors of the type you described so well are particularly interesting to me, but there are further details for which, if it is at all possible you can supply them, I would be extremely grateful. Calculations I have made suggest (however
inaccurately) that the Coalville shocks were of a linear rather than a general nature; that is, that they occurred on a line almost directly south to north and in that chronological order - the most southerly occurring first. This, at least, is my guess, and I would be grateful if you could corroborate, or (as no doubt the case will be) deny my suspicion; to which end I enclose a stamped, addressed envelope.
Sincerely and appreciatively
Yrs, I am, sir,
Titus Crow
Blowne House 25th May
Ref: - 57/196-Raymond Bentham, Esq. 3 Easton Crescent Alston, Cumberland
My dear sir,
Having read a cutting from a copy of the Northern Daily Mail for 18th May, I would like to say how vastly interested I was in that article which contained certain parts of your report on the condition of the west sections of Harden Mine's old workings, and feel it a great pity that Sir David Betteridge, scientific adviser to the Northeast Coal-Board, has chosen to look at your report in so unenlightened and frivolous a manner.
To me, while admittedly knowing little of yourself or your job, it would seem rather irresponsible on the part of so large and well-founded an industrial board to employ for twenty years an Inspector of Mines without, during that time, discovering that his 'faculties are not all that they should be!'
Now, I am not a young man myself, indeed at sixty-three years of age I am far and away your senior, but I have complete faith in my faculties - and, since reading certain of the things in your report which I can (in a rather peculiar way) corroborate, I am also sure that you were quite correct in the observations you made in the complex of the discontinued Harden workings. Just how I can be so sure must, unfortunately, remain my secret - like most men I am averse to derision, a point I am sure you will appreciate - but I hope to offer you at least some proof of my sincerity in writing this letter.
Thus, to reassure you beyond any doubt that I am not simply 'pulling your leg', or in any way trying to add my own sarcastic comment to what has already been made of your report, I return your attention to the following:
Other than mentioning briefly certain outlines which you say you found etched in the walls of those new and inexplicable tunnels which you discovered down there cut (or rather 'burned', as you had it) through the rock a mile below the surface, you seem reluctant to describe in detail the content or actual forms of those outlines. Might I suggest that this is because you did not wish to be further ridiculed, which you feared might well be the case should you actually describe the etchings? And might I further tell you what you saw on those unknown tunnel walls; that those oddly dimensioned designs depicted living creatures of sorts - like elongated octopuses or squids but without recognizable heads or eyes - tentacled worms in fact but of gigantic size?
Dare I lay my cards on the table yet more fully and mention the noises you say you heard down there in the depths of the Earth; sounds which were not in any way the normal stress noises of a pit, even given that the mine in question had not been worked for five years and was in poor repair? You said chanting, Mr Bentham, but quickly
retracted your statement when a certain reporter became unnecessarily facetious. Nonetheless, I take you at your original word: you said chanting, and I am sure you meant what you said! How do I know? Again, I am not at liberty to disclose my sources; however, I would be obliged for your reaction to the following:
Ce'haiie ep-ngh fl'hur G'harne fhtagn,
Ce'haiie fhtagn ngh Shudde-M'ell.