there was the yellow eye ... and then trees , brambles , rotting logs , the perplexities of knotted vine and shallow half-frozen streams , the crackle of breaking snow , the dervish of the maddened stars , as we ran through the forest , i in my weakened state following in the footsteps stamped into the snow by the weight of two men-the doctor and the unconscious john chanler , whom warthrop had slung over his shoulder .