Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-02
A NIGHT OF HORROR.
M. QUITE disappearing as a Were.
Wolf.

Wolf.
A cheerful man was NJ. Quite, Iwh,
loved a jovial evening with friends,
glass OF good wine, and a 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 a very good,
avery respectable, a very kind-hearted
man, but also a very silly orc. He re-
gardcd himself as a bit of q philoso-
pher, and despised superstition; vet,
for all that, he fidgeted 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 III. Quite
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 assertthat any ofthe party had drunk
more than he ought, but they had all
grazed the line OF moderation, and M.
QUITE. being naturally light-hearted,
had become exceedingly "jolly." When
the relations withdrew, the children
= went TO bed. Madame Quite took her
candle and departed with her ladies'
maid. and NJ. QUITE, for the sake of a
little exercise, trotted up and down
his chamber, whistling a 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-headedness into the
bargain, had slipped off from the
patcrna! house by the back door, as
soon us the guests began to leave, in a
masqucrading dress. and had betaken
himself, after the manner of scape-
gsgraces. to a ball. M. QUITE, having
Wcaricd 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. M. Ouile OBJ
served his sons door open, so he walked
anto Che room. impelled by curiosity or
hby q desire for Il little more converse
ton. The son was. however, just at
'that.time dancing in the ballroom of a
Shotcl two streets off.
/ M. QUITE, not finding the young man,
sat himself down beside The bed, and
began to overhaul the various mas
Yuerading dresses which his son had
left out upon Il chair. There was a
neat suit of green and gold, intended
as q forester's dress; there was a cos
tune ofthe time of Francois L.. covered
with spangles; and last, but not least,
there was a bear-skin suit, so contrived
thatthe wearerofit was covered with fur
from head to foot, andlooked precisely
like a black bear escaped from a travel
ing caravan. M. Quite turned this
dress yer and over, and its originality
attracted his interest. He thought
.he should like to see whether it
would fit his person. He therefore
arrayed himself in the habit, and found
that it suited to a T.
Just then the idea entered his head
that the opportunity of disabusing
Madame Ouiie of her superstitions had
now presented itself. Madame QUITE
was nearly as great a fool as her hus-
band. 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
for the purpose of devouring children.
"Now." unused M. Ou1e, 'is a chance
for me to eradicate these baneful super
stitions from her mind. If she sees
me in this dress, and takes me to be a
werewolf, when l show her the decep-
ton 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 M. Ouf1e
retreated 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 doorajar. Then, taking up a book,
he seated himself before the fire. The
book happened to be Bodin's ''Demono.
MANIA" and M. Quite opened il
at the chapter on Lycanthropy.
He read on, and the tales Of were-wolyes
hoated 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 o:
sorccrers being provided by the evi
one with wolf-skins which they were
condemned to wear for seven years
and of Lycaon sentenced by Jove te
run abouti in bestial form, till a piercing
shrek and a crash brought him with {
start to his feet.
The ladies' maid, after having pinned
her mistress back hair in a heap, anc
fitted over it the night-cap, had left the
chamber, and had come downstairs
AS she passed the dining-room, sht
saw that there was still Il light in it
and thinking that the candles had no
been extinguished, she entered precipi
tatcly to put them out. There in thu
dead Of night she stood, and saw before