CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

More Deaths and Sadness

The next morning I left the island to find Henry. I knew he wanted to see me and continue traveling. We had planned to go to more places in Europe together before I married Elizabeth. So, after washing and packing away all my instruments, I gathered the body parts of the second monster and put them in a large box. Looking at the body parts made me sick. Then, I put some large rocks in the box to make it sink into the water. I stayed in the small house until night came, and then put the box in a little boat. I took the boat a few miles away from the land, and then threw it into the water when a cloud hid the moon.

As the box sank into the water, I felt a little better. At least no one would ever know what I had done on the island. Soon, the beautiful night and the gentle moving of the boat in the water made me fall asleep.

I slept for many hours. When I woke up, it was late in the morning.

A strong wind was blowing. I realized that while I was sleeping, the wind had taken my boat far out into the Atlantic Ocean, away from land. I did not know where I was! Hours passed and I became very hungry and thirsty. I knew that if I did not find land, I could drown, or starve to death. As it got dark, I saw some land to the south. Quickly, I traveled towards the lights I saw in the distance. When I put the boat onto the beach, some people came up to me and stared at me. They did not ask to help me, which was surprising. I was dirty, tired, and hungry. They only looked at me and talked to each other. I did not understand their actions, but I asked them, "Friends, could you tell me where I am:

The people said nothing to me, only stared at me angrily. "What is wrong here? I did not expect English people to treat strangers in this way," I told them. "I don't know anything about how the English treat strangers," said one man. "And I don't care. You're in Ireland now, and we Irish hate criminals!" "Criminals? What do you mean? I haven't done anything wrong!" I cried. "Well, I don't know about that! You'd better come with me to see Mr Kirwin, the leader of our town. A man was killed here last night, and he will want to talk to you!" I was upset and angry, but I knew I could make them see that I hadn't killed anyone. I followed the people to Mr Kirwin's house. The town's leader was a kindly old man, who asked the fisherman to tell their story before letting me talk.

The fisherman said, "Well, sir, I was out in my boat last night, and when the wind began to blow we went back to the land. When we were arriving, I saw something floating in the water. By the light of the moon, I saw that it was the body of a young man. His body was still warm, and I didn't know if he was dead or unconscious. I dragged him to the beach and tried to wake him up, but it was too late. He was dead.

"At first, I thought that the poor man had drowned in the water. But then I saw the black finger marks on his neck, and I knew he had been strangled to death! His neck was broken." When the man told us of the finger marks on the dead man's neck, I began to shake. This was the same way William had died! My blood was cold inside my body. The town leader looked at me, and then said, "You were found on the beach with a boat, and we do not know who you are. You must come with me to see the body."

Mr Kirwin probably wanted to see what I might say or do if I saw the body. He had seen me become upset when I heard of the throat marks. So, I followed the leader to the village's inn. We went into an empty room. In the middle of the room, there was a coffin.

Then came the horrible moment. Even now, I cannot remember it without wanting to kill myself. I looked into the coffin to see the lifeless body.

The dead man was Henry Clerval. I threw myself on his cold dead body. I shouted and cried out, "Now three people have died because of me. How many more people will that evil monster kill, oh, Henry my best friend ... He should have killed me instead!" I could not continue speaking. I fell down on the floor, unconscious.

(end of section)