The times., 1897-06-20
AT THE RED HORSE INN.

One eveaing, when 1 had made about
two-thirds OF the distance between Malaga
: and Cordcya, on NY highway tramp
through Spain, l came upon a roadside
inn with the title of Red Horse It was
wretohed looking place, as are the ma
jority OF roadside inns in that country, and
had not the weather threatened a wild
night | should have passed it without
stopping 1t was in autumn, with chill
to the weather, and 1 was not surprised
To fiud all the doors and windows closed.
or such monstrous size that in the gather
ing twilight l Inistook the animal for a
| dog but as / advanced to knock ne spat
at me and set up a horrid meowing. His
tail had been cut off 10 mere stub, one
ear as gone, and he had but one eye The
| glare of this single eye was like an electric
spark, and the actions OF the cat Were SO
menacing that I had turned from the door
when it opened and was invited to enter
The feline did not go in, but as stepped
across the threshold he uttered sort OF
scream and darted away through the
darkness.
As entered the person who had opened
the door struck a light and held 1T Ep
| to look at ME aud / saw she was an Old
woman Her age must have been abont
| sixty. In the few seconds We stood
looking at each other | noticed that her
| fingers were crooked like the claws Of
bird, her nails were like talons, and the
| Few teeth left in her mouth helped to
| make her face yet more hideous Like
| the cat she had but one eye--the right
| one-and like the cat, too, her eye rad
| a glare TO make even Il hardy man feel
! uneasy.
| There was no formality about registering.
| There was no office, no bar, no register.
| She conducted me up flight Of narrow
stairs and into a room overlooking gar
den, Leaving candle with lie and say
! ing she would have meal ready in half
/ az hour she went dow n stairs. There were
| water and a bowl, and 1 had a washUp
I before inspecting the room. 1t was
room about 1OX12 feet in dimensions,
supplied with miserable furniture and 10
: carpet at all, and the bed was mere tick
OF straw with two dirty quits thrown over
/ it. There was nothing 10 complain OF, how
ever.
/ had been forced to occupy as poor a
room in some of the town hotels, aud the
fact that il was raining heavily outside
made me glad that / had struck any sort
of shelter / had taken a seat on the only
chair in the room to await the call for
supper, when the black cat suddenly ap-
peared before me, coming from under the
bed. For long minute he sat up and
glared at me with that one eye, uttering
no sound, and / was too surprised 10
menace him. When / recovered from MY
astonishment and was about to spring up
/ he slowly walked out of the door. which
had been left open, aud I heard his cl1ws
clicking and scratching as he descended the
stairs. | had seen the beast rush Scross
the highway into the darkness, and how he
had entered the house and foisnd refuge
under my bed was a puzzle. pulled the
bedstead from the wall TO see IL there was
a hole, but fou1 none The cat must have
crept up stairs ahead or behind US md |
determined TO look out that ne did not
consin again. He was not only a grew
some object to look at, but his size and
ferocity made him a dan geIous enemy
The woman had promised me good
supper, and when l descended at her
call l was quite satisfied with the spread
on the table. Wine had always been
furnished with every meal, and she had
placed bottle on the table for ue. /
should have drained the bottle to the last
drop during the meal had the woman rot
spoken a. she did. l was scarcely seated |
at the table when she filled my glass and |
said; 1T is good wine-rich wine-and it |
viii gladden. me to see you drink. You |
shall have two bottles if You wish''
l glanced up at her to catch a greedy |
and cunning look on her face, and it in
stantly occurred to IL e that she had some
object in view in pressing me to drink
Thus far 1 had seen no one else about
the inn, and l put the inquiry as to where
her husband was and if / was the only
guest She replied that she was a widow
and personally conducted the inn, and that !
it so happened that 1 was the only guest /
at that moment
She again called my attention to the |
wine, and then asked several questions of |
a personal nature. Was / married? DID it |
require considerable money 20 travel about? |
Did prefer to carry gold or paper money?
Had l any friend at Malaga or Cordova? |
answered her in haphazard way, giving |
her no real information, and there was a |
malevolent look on her ugly face as knock /
ing ut the door called her away. No sooner |
was her back turned than cast my eyes to
the floor and noticed two or three yawn-
ing crevices at nay feet. 1 seized the wine /
bottle and poured all but glassful Of It's /
contents down the cracks, and as did so /
caught the malignant CLEAN of the black |
cats eye under the table, and he clicked |
his claws in way to make my flesh creep. |
A muttering of voices at the front dooI /
reached my ears, and was In hopes that /
another traveller had arrived to bear me |
company. Iftraveler it was the old wotnan |
turned him away, for she returned alone dt |
the end OF five minutes and resumed Fei /
seat. Her first glance was at the vine
bottle. and as she perceived that had |
nearly ernptied il she expressed her salts
faction and offered to fetch another This |
declined, telling her had a flask of whisky /
in my pocket for a night-cap. For few
minutes she made an effort to ente ftain
me with her talk, but had become upset |
over the situation and was n no mood roI
conversation. She was speaking of the
scenery would view on the road nextdav
and | was listening to a strange cry frCm
outside. which believed had been uttered
by the black cat, when the dreaded object