"The men thought to rush to his aid, but we stopped them, and together we watched as he expired, writhing as though crushed and coughing up gouts of blood.
"In anger and in folly, the men tore the stone arch to the ground by casting grappling hooks over it, and made of it a cairn for Raldo the Dwarf. A madness seemed to come over them. They would not listen to reason, nor could we make them leave until that task was accomplished. I looked to Darrow for aid, hoping he would exert his leadership, but the wizard's thoughts seemed elsewhere, and he began speaking to himself as though holding some inner argument.
"But I assumed his confusion to be alike to my own, so I held my peace. For I wondered how others had managed this same passage before us, and contrived to return, unscathed. Had we done something to waken the arch? Was it aware of the wizard's presence? Such questions, it seemed to me, must be on the wizard's mind.
"We had lost valuable time and all meagre advantage afforded us by then, and as night fell the rain stopped, and all became hot, still, and watchful.
"`Twas then I knew for certain that Darrow was, in fact, taking leave of his senses. He began muttering to himself, saying, `This land is evil, and it is alive! It watches us! It is vast . . . vast . . . I am altogether too small to meet this task!'