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“Look at me!”
He pretended to fall over. He rubbed his rump and sat on the twister so that he fell in the grass. He clowned badly, but Percival and the others noticed and sniffed and laughed. Presently they were all laughing so absurdly that the biguns joined in.
Jack was the first to make himself heard. He had not got the conch and thus spoke against the rules; but nobody minded.
“And what about the beast?”
Something strange was happening to Percival. He yawned and staggered, so that Jack seized and shook him.
“Where does the beast live?”
Percival sagged in Jack's grip.
“That's a clever beast,” said Piggy, jeering, “if it can hide on this island.”
“Jack's been everywhere—”
“Where could a beast live?”
“Beast my foot!”
Percival muttered something and the assembly laughed again. Ralph leaned forward.
“What does he say?”
Jack listened to Percival's answer and then let go of him. Percival, released, surrounded by the comfortable presence of humans, fell in the long grass and went to sleep.
Jack cleared his throat then reported casually.
“He says the beast comes out of the sea.”
The last laugh died away. Ralph turned involuntarily, a black, humped figure against the lagoon. The assembly looked with him, considered the vast stretches of water, the high sea beyond, unknown indigo of infinite possibility, heard silently the sough and whisper from the reef.
Maurice spoke, so loudly that they jumped.
“Daddy said they haven't found all the animals in the sea yet”
Argument started again. Ralph held out the glimmering conch and Maurice took it obediently. The meeting subsided.
“I mean when Jack says you can be frightened because people are frightened anyway that's all right. But when he says there's only pigs on this island I expect he's right but he doesn't know, not really, not certainly I mean—” Maurice took a breath. “My daddy says there's things, what d`you call'em that make ink—squids—that are hundreds or yards long and eat whales whole.” He paused again ana laughed gaily. “I don't believe in the beast of course. As Piggy says, life's scientific, but we don't know, do we? Not certainly, I mean—”
Someone shouted.
“A squid couldn't come up out of the water!”
“Could!”
“Couldn't!”
In a moment the platform was full of arguing, gesticulating shadows. To Ralph, seated, this seemed the breaking up of sanity. Fear, beasts, no general agreement that the fire was all-important: and when one tried to get the thing straight the argument sheered off, bringing up fresh, unpleasant matter.
He could see a whiteness in the gloom near him so he grabbed it from Maurice and blew as loudly as he could. The assembly was shocked into silence. Simon was close to him, laying hands on the conch. Simon felt a perilous necessity to speak; but to speak in assembly was a terrible thing to him.
“Maybe,” he said hesitantly, “maybe there is a beast.”
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