Avon Fantasy Reader No. 9 — page 105: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

I stood dumb, where I was. The hair rose up in a horrible living fash- jon on the great head, waving and moving. It rippled down over the fore- head, and spread abruptly over the whole gargantuan stone face, hiding the features completely. Suddenly, I swore at the thing madly, and I hove — my axe at it. Then I was backing crazily for the door, slumping the scum as high as the deck-beams, in my fierce haste. I reached the stairs, and caught at the stone rail, that was modelled like a rope; and so hove myself up out of the water. I reached the little deck-house, where I had seen the great head of hair. I jumped through the doorway, out on to the decks, and I felt the night air sweet on my face. . . . Goodness! I ran forward along the decks. There was a Babel of shouting in the waist of the ship, and a thudding of feet running. Some of the men were singing out, to get into the boat; but the Third Mate was shouting that they must wait for me. “He's coming,” called someone. And then I was among them. “Turn that lamp up, you idiot,” said the Captain’s voice. “This is just where we want light!” | I glanced down, and realised that my lamp was almost out. I turned it up, and it flared, and began again to dwindle. “Those damned boys never filled it,’ I said. “They deserve their necks breaking.” The men were literally tumbling over the side, and the Skipper was hurrying them. “Down with you into the boat,” he said to me. “Give me the lamp. I'll pass it down. Get a move on you!” : | The Captain had evidently got his nerve back again. This was more _ like the man I knew. I handed him the lamp, and went over the side. All the rest had now gone, and the Third Mate was already in the stern, waiting. As I landed on the thwart, there was a sudden, strange noise from aboard the ship—a sound, as if some stone object were trundling down the sloping decks, from aft. In that one moment, I got what you might truly call the “horrors.” I seemed suddenly able to believe incredible possibilities. “The stone men!” I shouted. “Jump, Captain! Jump! Jump!” The vessel - seemed to roll oddly. Abruptly, the Captain yelled out something, that not one of us in the boat understood. There followed a succession of tremendous sounds, aboard the ship, and I saw his shadow swing out huge against the thin mist, as he turned suddenly with the lamp. He fired twice with his revolver. | “The hair!” I shouted. “Look at the hair!” We all saw it—the great head of red hair that we had seen grow visibly on the monstrous stone head, below in the cabin. It rose above the rail, and there was a moment of intense stillness, in which I heard the Captain gasping. The Third Mate fired six times at the thing, and I found myself fixing an oar up against the side of that abominable vessel, to get aboard. As I did so, there came one appalling crash, that shook the stone ship fore and aft, and she began to cant up, and my oar slipped and fell into the 103 CORDIC OOKS (EO)