St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-07-31
"A NIGHTOF HORROR.
M. Quite Masquerading as Were
E Wolf.

M. Quite Masquerading as a Were
C Wolf.
A cheerful man was NJ. QUITE, -wht
loved a jovial evening with friends. i:
glass of good wine, and merry tale
A worthy man, too, was he-the mos,
exemplary of husbands. and the most
indulgent of fathers. But he had his
weakness; and which of Us has not:
His weakness was weakness of intel.
lect. In short, he was q very good
very respectable, very kind-hearted
man, but also a very silly ore. He re.
garded himself as bit of philoso.
pher, and despised superstition; yet,
for all that, he 6dgeted if the salt
cellar were upset, alarmed if the knife
and fork were crossed, and he would
positively refuse to make the thirteenth
at dinner.
1t was Carnival time, and NJ. Oufle
invited all his own relations and his
wife's relations to dinner. A pleasant
evening they passed. They ate and
they drank, and they talked and they
sang. They ate till they were more
than satisfied. drank till they were very
merry, talked themselves dry, and sang
themselves hoarse. Far be it from me
to assert that any of the party had drunk
more than he ought, but they had all
grazed the line of moderation, and NJ.
Oufe, being naturally light-hearted,
had become exceedingly "jony." When
ho Lott 81,
went to bed. Madame Quite took her
candle and departed with her ladies'
maid, and NJ. Oufle, for the sake of !
little exercise, trotted up and down
his chamber, whistling plaintive
melody, and whistling it out Of tune.
This gentleman S eldest son, who had
inherited all his fathers amiable quail
ties. and his empty y-headedness into the
bargain, had slipped off from the
paternal house by the back door, as
soon rs the guests began to leave, in a
masquerading dress, and had betaken
himself. after the manner of scape-
Eraces, to a ball. NJ. Oufle, having
wearied of describing curves in his own
room. opened the door and went up
stairs. a process attended by difficulties
which would have proved insuperable
but for the assistance of the banisters.
Arrived on the landing, NJ. Quite OBJ
served his sons door open. so he walked
into the room. impelled by curiosity or
by desire for a little more conversa-
ton. The son was. however, just at
that time dancing in the ballroom of
hotel two streets of.
NJ Guile, not finding the young man,
sat himself down beside the bed, and
began to overhaul the various mas
querading dresses which his son had
left out upon chair. There was
neat suit of green and gold. intended
as a forester S dress: there was a cos
tune ofthe time of Francois l.. covered
with spangles; and last, but not least.
there was bear-skin suit. so contrived
that the wearer of it was covered with fur
from head to foot, and looked precisely
like black bear escaped from travel
ing caravan. NJ. QUITE turned this
dress over and over, and its originality
attracted his interest. He thought
he should like to see whether it
would tit his person. He therefore |
arrayed himself in the habit, and found |
that it suited to T.
just then the idea entered his head |
that the opportunity of disabusine
Madame Outie of her superstitions had |
now presented itself Madame Oufie
was nearly as great a fool as her hus-
hand. and that was saying a great deal.
She was infected with the vulgar be-
lief in witchcraft and demonology, and |
believed implicitly that warlocks could
transform themselves into wild beasts
tor the purpose of devouring children.
Now. mused NJ. Oufle. .'is chance
for me to eradicate these baneful super
shtions from her mind. If she sees
me in this dress. and takes me to be a
werewolf, when show her the decep-
tion she will never believe in the
supernatural again"
Accordingly he walked to his wife's
door and listened. The servant was
STILL with her mistress, so NJ. QUITE
+. treated downstairs to the dining
room. intending to wait till his good
lady was alone; and that he might know
when the maid was dismissed, he left
the door ajar. Then. taking up book,
he seated himself before the fire. The
book happened to be Bodin's ..Demono-
mania, and NJ. Quite opened it
at the chapter on Lycanthropy.
He read On. and the tales of were-wolves
fioated in strange colors through his
brain, till he fell asleep with his head
on the table, and the book on his lap.
And as he slumbered he dreamed of
sorcerers being provided by the evil
one with wolf-skins which they were
to wear for seven wears.
and of Lycaon sentenced by Jove to
run about in bestial form. till piercing
Shrek and crash brought him with 4
start to his feet
The ladies' maid, after having pinned !