How far
ahead the tiger had gone he had no way of knowing. And more and more he
began to feel that if he must come upon the scene of its shadow-sprung
peril, he would at least come upon it after, and in silence. He
crouched lower and (if possible) stalked more quietly, advancing in a
state of warlike readiness.
How far he walked he could not say. But suddenly, or perhaps only made
sudden by the final acceptance of a half believed message from his eyes,
he became aware of a soft light in the distance. This morning-like glow
held fast at the edge of sight, and as he drew closer, began by slow
degrees to reveal its source. Ahead of him the funnel reached its
narrowest point, a squarish hole still broad enough for five men to pass
abreast, that opened into a deepening expanse. Coming toward the
rising, hard-rock lip of it, he went down on his belly, crawled forward,
and looked over into the heart of the thing he feared.
There are times when a man's worst fears are justified, and when he
cannot, with any hope of survival, confront them. But often through
patience, perseverance, and the fullness of time, the antithesis of his
life can be worn down, altered, or made in the end less terrible. And
while it is the height of foolishness for any man to laugh in the face
of death, neither must he deify the many smaller deaths of Fear.
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