After Sanger Rainsford accidentally falls off the yacht, he yells for help as the boat sails away and begins swimming in the direction of Ship-Trap Island, which is where he had heard gunshots. Rainford swims toward the island, where he is forced to climb jagged boulders onto dry land before he falls asleep at the edge of the dense jungle. Rainsford wakes up in the late afternoon the next day and begins to walk along the shore. Close to the edge of the jungle, Rainsford discovers an empty .22 cartridge and begins to follow the footprints of hunting boots that travel along the cliff. As nightfall descends on the island, Rainsford sees lights coming from the edge of a high bluff near the sea and discovers that he is looking at a palatial chateau. Rainsford initially believes that he sees a mirage and begins to walk toward the chateau. Upon entering the gate, Rainsford knocks on the door and discovers that two men inhabit the chateau on Ship-Trap Island. Rainsford is then invited inside, where he meets the maniacal General Zaroff.
When Sanger Rainsford goes overboard, as he swims toward land, he hears shots and the scream of a hunted animal in anguish and terror. When he reaches the rocky shore of the island, he climbs on top of a cliff. He falls asleep at the edge of the jungle and wakes up disoriented.
Following the shore, he sees evidence that an animal disturbed the underbrush and then finds a shell cartridge. Next he sees boot prints and follows those. Soon, walking farther, he was astonished to see a structure:
[A]ll the lights were in one enormous building—a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging upward into the gloom. His eyes made out the shadowy outlines of a palatial chateau [...].
Rainsford thought it was a mirage, but then decided it was real. He approached the big house, opened the iron gate, walked up the stone steps, and knocked on the massive door with a big gargoyle shaped knocker. A huge man opened the door.
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