The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-01-25
The
Devil'c Inn.
BY M. QUAD
COPYRIGHT, 1900, By Q. 3. rEw1S


If you have ever visited the city Of
Zacetacas, Mexico, you have heard the
story Of 1.-THE Devils Inn" and been
mystifed over 1t. If you have not
heard the story by word of mouth. you
will be interested in 1t.
On the highway to San Luis, about
four miles out Of Zacetacas, are the
ruins of the inn. They have been ruins
since 1884. For ten years previous to
that the inn was unoccupied and grad
ually falling into decay. The name
given 1t when it was built and opened
for business was 1.-THE Holy Rest" The
name had no peculiar significance. If
holy men ever came that way, they
found the place full Of sinners The
landlord and most Of his customers
were hard lot, and during the four or
five years the place flourished 1t had a
bad name. The authorities had about
determined to close the inn up when 1t
was suddenly abandoned by the owner.
The most that could be learned from
the servants was that q stranger came
there one night and had long and
confidential conversation with the land
lord, and next morning both were miss
ing. The place was overhauled, but no
traces of murder were found. The
servants scattered, the doors were nail
ed up, and "The Holy Rest" was left
to darkness and the bats. OF course 1t
soon had the reputation of being haunt
ed, and after q couple of years an In
cident occurred that gave 1t still
worse name. a young man belonging
to one of the best families Of Monte
rey, who happened to be In Zacetacas
on a visit, made wager that he would
pass a night alone in the inn. He rode
out before dark. well armed and pro-
vided with lights, and was seen to en-
ter the place by a window. Next day
his naked body was found on the high
way In front Of the house. He had
been terribly dealt with. His ribs had
been crushed, his face bitten as If by
dog, and his clothing had been clawed
off his body. He had been dead for
hours, and it was the opinion of the
doctors that he had been attacked by
wild beast.
A company of 80 soldiers went out
and searched the inn. The search was
a thorough one, but no trace of man or
animal could be found. 1t was discov-
cred that the young man had been at
tackled In particular room, and, after
being killed and stripped, his body had
been carried out, but the facts stopped
there. A man, unless q lunatic, would
not have shown such ferocity, and a
man must have left traces behind him.
How did he manage to carry the body
out? There was no manner of wild
beast in Mexico who could have done
such thing.
was one Of the four American civil
engineers employed by the local gov
eminent Of Zacetacas In the year NAM
ed to make surveys for drainage ca
nal, and of course heard of 1.-THE Dew
IFS Inn," as it had long been called.
That the people were earnest and sim
cere in their talk made no difference
to me. l had no belief in haunted
houses, and my sarcastic reflections
made me enemies. Perhaps things
would not have gone as far as they did
but for the chief Of police of Zacetacas.
He called on me one day in serious
vein and said:
81 want to warn you against making
any foolish move in connection with
The Devils Inn.' The place Is surely
haunted and dangerous to life, no mat
ter what you may think. Don't be silly
enough to pay 1t night visit, as hear
you contemplate doing"
1 had contemplated nothing Of the
kind, but the chief had scarcely finish
ed when l was resolved to take that
very step. My chum was named Clark,
a young man from Chicago, and had
no sooner preached the subject to him
than he was ready for the adventure.
For fear that the authorities might
stop US we let only a few people into
our plan, and one Saturday afternoon.
equipped with everything deemed nee
essary, we were driven out to the inn.
After shaking hands and bidding fare
well with those who had accompanied
us we entered by an unguarded win
dow, and the carriage drove off. 1t
was a rambling one story building con-
tanning IA rooms. There was an office
or bar room, dining room, kitchen.
and the remainder were sleeping rooms.
There was a cellar under the kitchen
only. All the furniture had been left,
and everything was mold and decay.
Our first step was to carefully inspect
every room and the cellar, and we did
not find so much as a rat. We looked
for secret panels in the partitions and
for hidden traps in the floors, but we
made no discoveries.
The dining room was about 10 feet
square. with long table in the center
and dozen stools about. There were
three windows In this room, but all
strongly boarded up. One door opened
from the office and another from the
kitchen. We lighted candles. braced
the doors securely and started bit of
a fire in the open fireplace to drive out
the dampness. We had brought our
pipes, wine and a luncheon, with q
pack Of cards to divert ourselves, and
neither of US had the slightest idea
of anything occurring to alarm us. AS
we sat down to the cards our revolvers
were laid on the table, and we laughed
and joked without restraint We had
braced the doors shut with stout
boards, and our first alarm came when
one Of these boards fell down and the
door swung wide open so that we could
look into the kitchen. The fall OF the
board looked like an accident, but there
was something curious in the way the
door swung clear back. Both OF US
were bit mystified. but we arose ana
secured the door again and went on