Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-02
tried and sentenced, and burned at tho
stake rs a werewolf"

The fear of this urged him to retrea
stealthily homewards, least any of tn
agents of justice should get sight o
him and carry him away to trial. I
!, he could but reach home he would i'm
plore his wife to stab him with a knife
; between the eyes, and draw some drop:
of blood, a sovereign cure for lycan.
thropy. But poor NJ. Duties head was
never very clear, and now it was in a
thorough condition of bewilderment,
so that he completely lost himself, and
skunk about the streets in disconso.
late manner, vainly searching for his
own domicile. His bewilderment be-
came greater with every step he took;
and his confusion and alarm were not
a little heightened by his stumbling
over an elderly gentleman, and leaving
him apparently dead of fright on the
pavement. Ii did not menu matters
when, hearing a .facre driving by, he
suddenly stepped towards it and asked
the way of the driver-for the coach
man jumped off his seat in q paroxysm
of terror, aud the horses, equally
frightened, ran away with the carriage.
whilst the people inside screamed
through the windows.
At last M. Ouhe sat down IN a door
step and gave himself up I'd despair.
The stake was before him. and his
Imagination conjured up all the horrors
of his positions chained about the waist,
and dancing in the midst of the flames.
All at nee a familiar voice smote
upon his ear-the voice of his eldest
son. A ray of hope penetrated his
breast. He rose from his seat and
walked to meet his tirst-born. That
young gentleman was returning from
the masquerade ball at which he had
been figuring. He had imbibed a con-
siderable amount of wine before he
left home, and he had absorbed a little
more during the pauses in the dance.
He was accordingly scarcely sober, and
and as he returned, he sang or talked
to himself at the top OF his voice. But
now he saw something which sobered
him instantly. This was nothing else
than his own masquerading habit of
bear-skin, which he had left hanging
over the back of a chair, walking
deliberately towards him, as though
the spirit Of the departed Bruin had re-
tenanted his forsaken skin, and was
coming in the dead of night to demand a
reckoning with him who had dared to
use it as a carnival habit He stood
and looked at it with pale face and
staring eyes, whilst a shudder ran
through his frame.
If it had been within the limits of
physical possibility, he would have
sunk into his shoes. Wien he heard
his w name articulat,d in hollow
tones from the muzzle, hi turned heel,
and fled like the wind. In vain did
M. QUITE call after him; the louder he
called, the faster fled tn. youth, and
the distracted father was obliged to
pursue his son. The rsce was run
with the utmost speed by both parties.
The young man was urged on by terror
lest the skin should o,ertake him,
and NJ. Quite dreaded losing sight of
his son, lest he should a, the same
home. When NJ. QUITE, h .jeume,
turned his white face over his shoulders,
he saw the creature gaining on him,
and heard it's hollow calls. He lodged
from street to street, but he invariably
saw the bear-skin double the corner
and rush after him, turn where he
would. 1t was in vain for him to hope
to throw il out, and at last lie ran
straight for home. This he hadle by
the garden. 1t was his custom to leave
the house by the back door, and clam
Der over the garden rails, whenever he
went out on his night expeditions, and
now he made for the garden, hoping
to climb the rails and escape through
the door and lock it before the skin
could overtake him.
He reached the ratings. It was a
difficult and delicate matter to sur
mount them with the time at his disposal;
but now that it was to beaccomplished
in no time atall, it was hazardous in the
extreme. NJ. Oufe, junior, ~hadreached
the top, and was preparing to jump
down, when a furry paw grasped his
ankle and held him as though in
a vice, for the monster proceeded to
climb the ratings, holding on to his
leg. The poor youth underworld
to break away; he writhed and
strained to be free. Holding the iron
bars with his hands, he vociferated
loudly for help. The creature reached
the top; and clasped him round the
waist, whilst the hideous snout was
poked close to his ear over his shoulder.
Both leaped together, and were brought
up with a jerk. The rails were topped
with sharp dart-heads, and or Of these
caught in the hide, so that M Quite
and his son were suspended from it in
mid air, the latter in the arms of his
father. Both cried together forfassist-
ance; the young mar louder than ever
when he heard the sonorous bowls of
his captor in his ear.
Lights appeared in the lower apart
ments at the back of the house, and
presently the garden door was opened
by a troop of terrified male and female
servants, provided with blunderbusses,
swords, and pistols. In the rear APP
peared Madame QUITE, half dressed, but
with her night-cap on her head. The
young man called to his mother, and
the moment she saw the hope of the
family dangling in the grasp of the
monster, she tainted away again.
There was an old man. a servant of
the house, who claimed and exercised
supreme authority in the household.
He came forward with a pistol in each
hand, and the youth cried out to him
to shoot the creature through the head.
In vain did NJ. QUITE shout to him to
4 Ioos.% IJs, .-z.l. 1..L =. ~.