The log cabin Democrat. [volume] (Conway, Ark.) 1901-1982, 1909-04-29

The catalogue proved no cata-
logue after all. but letter from my
uncle to me.
Dear nephew, whom shall never
see" it began, II am soon TO die.
Why should one go to ones grave
bearing the full burden of ones
secrets? ! am not a believer. |
cannot make my confession to any
priest. / make it now to YOU. Yet
you may never see this paper. You
are to see it only under condition of
making a request which YOU may
never make. Yet your interest in
the gargoylc-'
"Your interest in the gargoyle
may lead you to make inquiries con-
corning its history. | alone can tell
you what it is.
"When | returned from the CONT
nent to England after many years of
travel, and established myself in this
house. | brought with me strange
creature, horrible Quasimodo of a
dwarf. whom | had saved one day
in Padua from the attack of a mob
who believed he had stolen a child.
Here | thought, is gargoyle come
to life. / will add him to my curl
osities.' The monster attached HIM
self to me with dog-like fidelity, and
| made of him kind of fetch-and-
carry servant. In the course Of our
relationship I found that at times he
was sullen and malignant, and need
ed close watching, but | never
feared him. His sulIen fits were al
ways followed by expressions of vio-
lent attachment to my person.
eve had been in this house six
months when what | am about to re-
late took place By we | mean the
gargoyle and the old housekeeper,
whom YOU will find when you come
to take possession. She was hor-
riblv afraid of the dwarf, and | kept
him out Of her sight as much as
possible. | don't think she ever al
lowed herself a good look at him. /
never allowed him to go outside the
garden walls lest he should brighten
women and children.
''Then came bad night. The
dwarf had been sullen; had twice re-
fused to do my bidding. | was in
my chair tormented with govt, and
at his third refusal to obey me, ac-
companied by muttered words OF IN
science, | reached out my crutch and
struck him a heavy blow, heavier
than / intended. He fell to the
floor and lay there squirming like a
hurt spider. and all the time looking
up at me with a horrible, malignant
stare that maddened me. |. dealt
him another blow. Then he was
quite still.
II lost all sense of pain then. |
could walk and even go to the side
of the thing where it lay on the
floor. | had made myself a muir
derer-for that carcass,
"What was TO be done? | could
not hang for such a paltry life. l
could not rid myself of the body. |
resolved to conceal my crime by re-
vealing it. In my youth | had be-
come familiar with a method of en-
balming which turns the body, by a
kind Of petrifying process, into a
hard. dense substance. This | en-
ploved upon the body of the dwarf.
afterwards coating it with thin
laver of cement, which when dry
has the consistency of granite. Then
| affixed this strange gargoyle to the
wall.
81 told my housekeeper that | had
sent my dwarf back to Italy. Her re-
lief was great. | kept my new art
treasure covered, as | did many of
the other objects in the room, so she
suspected nothing. After many
years | showed her one day my
'gargoyle from French cathedral.
The horror in her face, still remem-
bered, compeIs me to this confess
sion. | trust you to be as faithful
in guarding my secret as she has
been.
REFORMING THE HEAD HUNTERS
A curious development is in steady