The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-07-12
sUlucklv nd the mfeend negfo,IWlk
another grdn-sc!uckl Massa Wilt tilly

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another grdn-nc1uckl Massa wilt iill!
! bitts !
he took my lett handSin his soft AMI
cold paw. / felt a sharp prick In M
wrist.
"You will dip the pen,' said the ole
gentleman, Tin the blood. 1t is q mere
form.
1Cliick," said Boule-de-neige.
"A mere form because we have ne
ink handy"
ssCMck-cluckw!
/ signed my name as desired. and
following the directions of the old gen.
tlemen, placed my finger on the red
wafer at the margin, saying: Il de
clare this my act and deed
Then ! gave the pen to Boule-de-
neige. He signed after me- in a firm,
flowing hand, "Boule-de-neige." AS
looked. the letters seemed somehow TO
shape themselves into "Beelzebub.'
looked at him with a kind of terror.
The creature grinned in my face as II
he OWNED my thought, and gave ut
terance to n of his hideous "clucks.
Then | began to feel the same faint
ness which | had at first experienced.
1t mounted upwards from my feet
slowly, so that l heard the old gentle
mans voice, though l saw nothing. 1t
grew gradually fainter.
Supper at 10. Boule-de-neige," he
was saying: 81 feel getting hungry al
ready. What shall | do with myself
| till 10 O'clock? l an certainly getting
hungry. l think l can have it served
at half-past nine. oh. blessed day! Oh,
thankful. blessed day! Boule-de-neige.
it must be supper for three-for four
for five. 1 shall have champagne-the
Perrier Jouet-the Curacao punch at
terward. Curacao punch haven't
tasted it for three months and more.
Oh, what a Observation-Disclosures
| heard no more because my senses
failed me altogether, and his voice died
away in my ears.
When I came to myself / was leaning
against the post in Bucklersbury,
where / had met the old mar
A Whit of stale cooked meat from
the cookshop, which caught me as [
opened@my eyes, produced a singular
feeling Of disgust. "Pah," | muttered,
s'roast mutton!" and moved from the
spot. My hunger vas gone, that was
quite certain. / felt a quietness about
those regions, wherever they may be.
which belong to appetite. ( was almost
dreamy in the repose which followed
a morning so stormy. I walked quiet
~ away homeward in a kind Of daze,
trying to make out something of what
had happened. The first thing 1 found
/ could not remember was the name CT
the old gentleman. When that came
back to me and under what circum.
- =, oo, 7 will AL -o,, oo ruo rrnt a1oy, r
Bit by bit l recalled the whole events
of the afternoon, one after the other.
1 saw the old man, with his purple face
and bloodshot eyes and white hair; /
saw the wrinkled and scanned old ne
gro; Isaw the octagonal room without
doors or windows; the splendid dinner;
the host watching my every gesture;
remembered everything except the
name of the man to whom 1 had sold
my appetite.
It was so strange that I laughed
when I thought of it. I must have
been drunk; he gave me a good dinner
and / took too much wine; but, then,
how was it that I remembered clearly
everything, eve the smallest detail?
On the bed in one rOOm which con-
s1rtuted my lodging I found a letter.
It was from a firm of lawyers, dated
that evening at half past six-only
half an hour after / signed the paper
stating that they were empowered by
a client whose name was not mention
ed. to give me the sum of EDO monthly,
to begin from that day, and to be paid
to me personally. How did they get
their instructions then? And it was all
true!
I was too tired with the days ad-
ventures to think any more; and
though it was only 8 O'clock, I went
to bedsand fell fast asleep. In an hour
I awoke again, with a choking sensa-
ton, as if | was eating too much. |
knew instantly what was going on,
and bysa kind Of prophetic insight. The
old man was taking his supper, and
taking more than was goOd-for me. l
sprang from the bed, gasping for
breath. Presently, as I gathered, ne
began to drink too much as well. MY
brain went round and round. ] laugh
ed, sang and danced; and OOn after,
with a heavy fall, l rolled s%enseless on
the carpet, and remembered nothing
nor
It was early in the morning when /
awOke, still lying on the floor. / had q
splitting headache. I had fallen against
some corner of the furniture and black
ened one eye. / had broken two chairs
somehow or other. l was cold, ill and
shaken. I got into bed, and tried to
remember what had happened. Clearly
I must have made a drunken beast of
myself over the dinner, and reeled
home with my head full of fancies AMI
dreams; perhaps the dinner itself was
a dream. and a hallucination too; if SO.
the nan0s Of hnngar would soon re-