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In these two chapters, Doctor Thorne learns that his niece's other uncle, Roger Scatcherd, has made him the executor of his estate. Inside of his will he has stipulated that if something should happen to his son, his only heir, then the bulk of his estate, which includes $200K, will go to his sister's first born child, which just so happens to be Doctor Thorne's niece Mary. Doctor Thorne spends the bulk of the remaining chapters going back and forth debating on whether he should tell Roger about this development.

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The way Trollope continues to add dimension to the story through multiple plot lines always impresses me, but this one in particular I was surprised by. I knew that Mary would need to inherit in some way so that she could be with her obvious future man, Frank Gresham the younger, but I truly did not know how it was going to happen. I am curious to know if Roger Scatcherd, her unknown uncle, will come to be known to her or if he will die before she or Doctor Thorne can make him aware of the situation.

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Doctor Thorne's internal struggle in regard to the future well-being of his niece and the seemingly underhanded way it might occur contributes to his upstanding character.

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The main character split off from their exploration group while exploring the cave.  They got lost and heard a strange creature approaching them. They hid in the shadows, prepared to throw a rock at the creature. He hits the creature in the head and runs. He eventually bumps into the exploration group and they go to inspect the monster. The monster is dying, but it reveals that it used to be human.

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Personally, I thought the story was mediocre. The writing was fine, but there was no grand pay off, or any buildup for that matter. Overall, I think the story is worth reading just to check it off the list of Lovecraft's works.

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The reveal of the Beast's nature was the best part of the story. The explanation of the beast's strange foot falls along with the revelation of its nature was surely a moment in history.

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The alchemist begins with an orphan child, Antoine de C-, who was taken in by his father's poor servant, Pierre.  They lived in an old keep, passed down through the child's ancient lineage.  Soon it is revealed that the child's ancestry is cursed: Each descendant of Count Comte de C- died on or before their 32nd birthday.  The child began to study the supernatural, searching for an answer to his curse. Eventually we learn that the house was cursed by Charles le Sorcier after Count Comte had his father, Michael Mauvais, killed in a misunderstanding. Eventually, Pierre succumbs to his age, leaving Antoine alone. He explores the ruined stronghold and finds a trapdoor in one of the towers. He lights a torch and heads inside. He finds a locked door ahead of him and can't continue any further, but just before he leaves, he hears something behind him. He turns to see the door open and someone standing in the doorway. The man attempts to kill him, but Antoine burns him to death with the torch. The murderer reveals with his final words that he was Charles le Sorcier.

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This story was wonderfully written.  The backstory behind the curse and Antoine's lineage was perfectly paced and it built up to the climax of the story impeccably.  I personally loved the irony in the perception that the curse was the horrific byproduct of a long dead ancestral feud, only for it to be revealed that the culprit had cracked the code to immortality and was executing the murders himself.

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The reveal of Charles le Sorcier was an amazing payoff to the mysterious nature of the curse. It also gives us a bit of insight into Charles' character, showing that Charles was incredibly vile and petty, becoming immortal just to torture the ancient ancestors of his father's killer. Even those who were completely uninvolved in Michael Mauvais' death were not spared from Charles le Sorcier's wrath.

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The main character begins by outlining his situation.  The protagonist is ready to throw himself out the window, having been enslaved by morphine and tortured with horrific scenery.  To describe what he saw and to save face, he explains the events of his downfall.
The protagonist was sailing on a ship in the Pacific.  A German sea raider attacked them and held the passengers captive.  The Germans were lenient on their prisoners, allowing the main character to escape.  Five days after his captivity, the protagonist escaped in a row boat with rations.
A rather incompetent navigator, our narrator drifted across the seas for days, helpless and alone.  His situation was dire until a strange happening occurred.
He woke up in a strange land: a slimy landscape, the floor like black gelatin, pulsing and squirming as far as the eye could see.  Carcasses of dead fish dotted the horizon.  The air holds a sinister quality.  He slept under his boat, overturned a short distance away, before packing his things and exploring the wicked terrain.
He trekked for days, the slime tugging at his feet as he walked.  He wanders for four days until he reaches the base of a mountain.  Intimidated by the climb, he sleeps in the shadow.
He shoots awake at night, haunted by nightmares.  Determined, he begins to make the climb under the cool moonlit sky.  The interior of the hummock was hollow and he carefully climbs inside.
The floor was a pool of water, lapping at his feet as it shimmered under the glow of the zenith above. Above him towered over him, adorned with alien hieroglyphics, using imagery of aquatic symbols such as fish, eels, octopi, crustaceans, mollusks, whales, and other unknown creatures.
The protagonist's attention is drawn to a carving of grotesque, aquatic, humanoid creatures. He assumes that they were in homage to the deities of some forgotten peoples and notes that the proportions are skewed, the beings seemingly portrayed as large as whales.  As he stares awestruck at the monolith a creature rises from the dark waters below him.
The waters shift subtly as a colossal creature breaches the surface. It swings its gargantuan, scaly arms as it cocks its head back in a guttural sound. The main character goes mad and flees in a frenzy, singing and laughing in fright as he makes his escape.
He wakes up in a San Fransisco hospital. He shares his story with those around him but is not taken seriously. He goes to an expert, determined to share his discoveries about the Philistine legend of Dagon the Fish God. However, the ethnologist does not take him seriously and the narrator gives up.
We return to the modern day. The protagonist explains he turned to morphine, attempting to forget that traumatic experience, only to become trapped in its addicting clutches. He is ready to leap before he hears a lumbering body pressing against the door. He writes his final insanities as he envisions his final delusions.

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While weaker than "The Alchemist," my favorite of Lovecraft's works, "Dagon" is still a good read.  The writing does an excellent job of portraying the ambiance of the hellscape and the horror that comes with it.  The Monolith adds great suspense and builds up nicely to Dagon's maddening appearance. I also appreciate the protagonist's depreciated state and the exposition at the beginning and end of the story.

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The climactic ending to the short story is entertaining.  The main character frantically describes the horrors of his past closing in on him.  "The end is near.  I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it.  It shall not find me.  God, that hand!  The window! The window!" In the final moments of the narrator, he scrawls about dangers closing in on the room, leaving you to question the reality of his delusions.