At last Arthur pulled
away the cloth from one. None of them spoke. They stared with astonished
eyes. For here, too, was a strange mass of flesh, almost as large as a
new-born child, but there was in it the beginnings of something ghastly
human. It was shaped vaguely like an infant, but the legs were joined
together so that it looked like a mummy rolled up in its coverings.
There were neither feet nor knees. The trunk was formless, but there
was a curious thickening on each side; it was as if a modeller had meant
to make a figure with the arms loosely bent, but had left the work
unfinished so that they were still one with the body. There was something
that resembled a human head, covered with long golden hair, but it was
horrible; it was an uncouth mass, without eyes or nose or mouth. The
colour was a kind of sickly pink, and it was almost transparent. There
was a very slight movement in it, rhythmical and slow. It was living too.
Then quickly Arthur removed the covering from all the other jars but one;
and in a flash of the eyes they saw abominations so awful that Susie had
to clench her fists in order not to scream.
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