The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-01-06

kept the awful experiences of the night
out of the region of fancy: one, the
half-dried bloo clotted upon the blade
of my halberd; the other, the dark
mass pon which the thing had been
feeding, which lay, a idle horror.
amongst the bushes on the edge of the
glade. Before l reached it I knew
what 1 should find, and, as l parted
the bushes with my pike-staf, thera.
his face grey in the morning light the
tattered throat hidden by the dropped
jaw. and the half-shut eyes set and
inscrutable, lay the last Lord Estnera,
done to death on his own land. like
a stoat-ridden rabbit, by a death OF
horror such as this nineteenth century
can scarcely understand.
/ had known it. as l say, before l ap-
preached the thicket, but the shock
of certainty was too much for me, and
the search party that entered the glade
an hour or two later thought at first
that they had two corpseS instead Of
one to lea with.
For a fortnight or more my shattered
nerves and weakened body prevented
my dwelling in any way on the tragedy
in which / had taken part, and by
that time the inquest was over ami
the body Of my poor friend lay with
his ancestors in the family vault. The
most pathetic thing in the whole bus
mess. so the subaltern told me, had
| HNNAl liz - SliCA III DNS
sick, the keeper. He r~eproaches him.
self, y'know, because he wasn't there
to help his master. He was sleep
walking or something that night and
cut himself horribly, he doesn't know
how. on a broken window; laid open
all his forearm just like a sword j
II he'd been asleep in ar ordinary way,
he must heard the cries, for you
were Just near his house, by BuSSicks
Pool, y'knoW. when we found you an
it"
AS he spoke there flashed through
my mind a vision of thosa terrible Sec
Onds on the edge Of the clearing, OF
the soft something that met my blow.
and the blood clotteG on the blade Of
my halberd; and | gasped as some
tint Of the horrible truth came 70 he
"Dennison," said 1, I'm as fit as l
eve shall be now, and Tn going e
play his game to q finish; get your
gun and some buckshot cartridges.
We'll spend tonight in EstWood, and
! see what luck we can find.
The subaltern was q very fine speci-
men OF the English soldier, and the
very scare which the last fortnight's
work had rubbed into him more dog
sedly determined to see the mattel
through. so it fell out that that night
saw us wrapped in our overCoats.
crOuChing, gun in hand, by the thick
cts Of Bussick's Pool
It was a wonderful clear night, witt.
stars, and the air was still. We had
kept our vigil for less than an hour,
when travelling along che mutterirg
silence of the wood came the sharp clay.
Of a closing door. answered at nay
shoulder by the snick Of the subaltern's
gun-lock, as he locke to the loading
Of his weapon.
For a while there was silence; and
then a twig snapped, and in the white
light of the stars we were aware OF Il
tall figure walking up the pathway
from the keepers cottage. a second or
two more showed us Bussick, walking
slowly and like q man constrained
against his will. straight towards the
nool where we lay hidden, with fixed.
sightless, grey eyes that stared TO right
and left, and his body as naked as on
the day when he was born. And, a&
he drew near, we were witness to =
strange and horrible sight, for in the
body of the man before US the human
soul and the beast spirit hat drove
hin! We're visibly striving for posses
sion. Now he woul stop, II fight
with n mighty effort to draw himself
erect. and again the possession would
seize him and bow him upon his hands.
his hair bristling ont like fur, his eyes
glowing green in the shadow of the
branches, till, on the edge of the pool,
ne stopped upon all fours, holding his
: NOullutu dIIl lISHi lDe SIOuHu DIS u
dog nurses n sore leg, and throwing
back his terrible inhuman head, where
only teeth and yes showed through
the matted tangle of grey Irvine,
howled till the arms of the trees re-
echoed.
The horror was too much: with an
oath Dennison sprang to his feet. and
the thing with a yelp of rage, sprang
at us, to fall torn with q dougle charge
of buch shot, swapping at the bushes
with it's teeth and writhing in coh-
vuisive agony.
At last it stiffened and lay still, ard
mis- and 1 carried what was lsfr
Of it back to the cottage and laid 1t OH
the settle to linger in pain for an hour
or two longer, and pass in the grey
dawn.
a few words We heard from it now
and again, and fewer still that wer,
rational, though enough to show us.
what we had guessed before, that the
doings Of the Grey Shadow were p
sealed book to BusSick the keeper; but
just before he passed he cried one
thing worthy OF notice. For as the
stars were beginning to pale before
the promise of dawn the rangled shape
upon the settle Eeaved itself upon it:
sound arm with a great shout "Skol Ia
fine Hamramir, Aoi." Now 1 point ~
theory, I draw no Inference, but those
words are Morse, and stand for
Health to the Were Wolf: Hurrahi"
Prosperity of North Carolinians