Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-01
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

to the opening below. There was faint
| sound Of shifting.
Judging from the stark horror which
| l experienced myself, l doubted now IL
Burke could sustain the role allotted him
In beneath the slightly raised window
| came hand, perceptible TO me despite
| the darkness of the roof 1t seemed to
/ project from the black silhouette outside
the pane to be thrust forward-and for
ward-and forward that small
hand with the outstretched fingers.
The unknown possesses unique terrors:
| and since ! was unable to conceive what
manner of thing this could be, which,
extending its incredibly long arms now
sought the throat of the man upon the
| bed, | tasted of that sort of terror which
ordinarily one knows only in dreams
quick, sir-quict" screamed Burke
starting UP from the pillow The quest
ing hands had reached his throat
choking down an urgent dread that
mad of touching the thing which had
reached through tho window to Kill the
sleeper | sprang across tho room and
srasped the rigid, hairy forearms.
Heavens! Never have felt such mus
cles, such tendons, as those beneath the
hirsute skin! They seemed to he of steel
WIRE, and with suden frightful scnsa-
uon of impotence, ! realized that | was rs
powerless as a child to relax that strangla
hold Burke was making the most fright
iul sounds and quite obviously was being
asphyXiated before my eyes! "Smith"
cried Smith! Help! hclp for Gods
saken
Despite the confusion of my mind be-
came aware of sounds outside and below
me. Twice tho thing at the window
coughed there was an incessant, lashlike
cracking, then somc shouted words which
L WAS nn0hla IN "a ptt4 n nj N,u In
staccato report of a pistol.
Snarling like that of a wild beast came
from the creature with the hairy arms,
and renewed coughing. But the steel
grip relaxed not one iota. | realized two
things-the first that in my terror at the
suddenness of tho attack I had omitted
to act as prearranged: the second. that |
had discredited the strength of the visit
tant, while Smith had foreseen II,
Desisting in my vain cndeavor to pit
my strength against that of the name
less thing. | sprang back across the room
and took up the weapon which had been
lett in my charge earlier in the night
but which had been unable to believe it
would be necessary to employ. This was
sharp and heavy AK, which Nayland
Smith, when / had met him in Covent
Garden, had specially brought with him,
to the great amazcment of Weymouth
and myself
AS l leapcd back to the window and
upliftod this primitive weapon, a second
shot sounded from below, and moro fierce
snarling, coughing, and cultural mutter-
lngs assailed my ears from beyond the
pane.
Lifting the heavy blade. I brought it
down with all my strength upon the
nearer of those hairy arms where il !
crossed the window ledge. sevcrng
muscle, tendon and bone as easily as
knife might cut cheese.
\ shriek-a shriclS neither human nor
animal, but gruCsomcly compounded of |
both-folowcd and merged into a |
choking cough. Like flash the other !
shaggy arm was withdrawn. and some |
the soping red tiles and crashed on to |
the ground beneath.
With a second piercing shriok louder /
than that recently uttered by Burke, wall i
ing through the night from somewhere |
below, | turned desperately to the man |
on the bed who now was become sig |
silent. A candle with matches |
stood upon a table hard by. and, my |
fingers far from steady | set about OBJ
tanning light, This accomplished, I II
stood the candle upon the little chest of |
drawers and returned to Burkc's side. II
''NIerciful God"' | cried.
or all the pictures which remain In |
my memory, some of them dark enough. II
/ can find none more horrible than that II
which now confronted me in the dim
Burke lay crosswisc on the 1
bed, his head thrown back and sagginE; II
ono rigid hand he held in the air and II
with the other graspCd the hairy forearm II
which | had severed with the AK; for, in II
a death grip, the dead fingers were still H
viseliSe at his throat, II
CONCLUDED TOMORROW Il