midday
Moira had more than once told me that food had mysteriously disappeared from a cave in which she kept a store of meat for our use , and she showed me where the rocks in front of this cave had been scraped of seaweed and mussel-shells as though by the passage of some cumbersome body . But I gave no heed to her anxieties , and although she urged me to shift our camp I would not leave the beacon lest a ship might pass during my absence . Of the dreadful consequences which followed my selfishness it now only remains for me to tell . I was occupied one midday , as usual , scanning the horizon from the top of the cliff near the beacon in search of a passing vessel , when I noticed Moira urging her canoe toward the shore at a rapid pace . In the wake of the canoe a disturbance of the water betokened the presence of some denizen of the deep , and Moira 's action in making for the rocks at top speed betrayed her terror of whatever it was that followed her . Hastily descending the cliff I ran to her assistance , when I saw Moira spring on to a flat rock upon which she generally landed from her canoe . At the same moment a snaky tentacle rose out of the sea and caught her , while other tentacles quickly enveloped her .