The Yellow Sign and Others

The Yellow Sign by Robert W. Chambers. When I first saw the watchman his back was toward me. I looked at him indifferently until he went into the church. Late in the afternoon the day being warm I raised the window again and leaned out to get a sniff of air. A man was standing in the courtyard of the church and I noticed him again with as little interest as I had that morning. As I turned my listless glance included the man below in the churchyard. His face was toward me now and with a perfectly involuntary movement I bent to see it. At the same moment he raised his head and looked at me. Instantly I thought of a coffn-worm. Whatever it was about the man that repelled me I did not know but the impression of a plump white grave-worm was so intense and nauseating that I must have shown it in my expression for he turned his puffy face away with a movement which made me think of a disturbed grub in a chestnut.