sufficient to be sure, if this were so, that no creature with strength
less than that of a whale could break it down, and in such case its bulk
would assure us from being molested.

Then, even as he made sure of the fastenings, there came a cry of fear
from some of the men; for there had come at the glass of the unbroken
window, a reddish mass, which plunged up against it, sucking upon it,
as it were. Then Josh, who was nearest to the table, caught up the
candle, and held it towards the Thing; thus I saw that it had the
appearance of a many-flapped thing shaped as it might be, out of raw
beef--_but it was alive_.

At this, we stared, everyone being too bemused with terror to do aught
to protect ourselves, even had we been possessed of weapons. And as we
remained thus, an instant, like silly sheep awaiting the butcher, I
heard the framework creak and crack, and there ran splits all across the
glass. In another moment, the whole thing would have been torn away, and
the cabin undefended, but that the bo'sun, with a great curse at us for
our landlubberly lack of use, seized the other cover, and clapped it
over the window. At that, there was more help than could be made to
avail, and the battens and wedges were in place in a trice. That this
was no sooner accomplished than need be, we had immediate proof; for
there came a rending of wood and a splintering of glass, and after that
a strange yowling out in the dark, and the yowling rose above and
drowned the continuous growling that filled the night. In a little, it
died away, and in the brief silence that seemed to ensue, we heard a
slobby fumbling at the teak cover; but it was well secured, and we had
no immediate cause for fear.