Werwolves

to be found in the more remote districts. Hence one could fill a dozen volumes with the stories, many of them well authenticated, of French werwolves. As far back as

off the defenceless nuns; occasionally it would select for its repas

eir piety sometimes prevailed to such an extent that not even metamorphosis into wolfish form could render it ineffective; and there are instances where werwolves of this type have not only refr

ert, of the Arc Monastery,

uised and cut himself so prodigiously that the blood from his wounds attracted to the spot a number of big wild cats. Taken at a strong disadvantage, and without any weapons to defend himself, Gilbert would soon have fallen a victi

s wounds attended to. At dawn it was restored to its natural shape, and the monks, one and all, were startled out of their senses to find themselves in the presence of a stern and awesome dignitary of the Church, wh

of Rola

an estuary of the Rhone rather further than he had intended, and having no pilot on board, ran ashore in the darkness. A thunderstorm came on; a general panic ensued; and Bonivon soon found himself struggling in a whirlpool. Powerful swimmer though he was, he would most certainly have been drowned had

oved of the thousand and one atrocities he had perpetrated on the helpless Hu

m gently to his feet, led him some considerable distance inland

d Bonivon with the gravest apprehensions. Dragging him along, Bonivon's guide took him into a room, and leaving him there for some seconds, reappeared carrying a lantern. Bonivon now

th fear till he was once more taken by

as standing on the table, and the werwolf, moti

orced to guard against the treachery of his fellow creatures, he more than half suspected some subtle design underlying this act

s as to how he would be killed and what it would feel like to be eaten alive. His conscience, too, rising up in judgment against him, added its own paroxysms of dismay, paroxysms which were still further augmented by the finding of the dead body of a woman, nude and horribly mutilated, lying doubled up and partly concealed by a curtain. Such a discovery could not fail to fil

little wider, and then, when Bonivon's heart was on the point of bursting, it suddenly swung open wide, and the cold, grey da

on rolled off the table and went int

I will explain. You are in the house of Roland Bertin, and the body lying over yonder is that of my wife, whom your crew barbarously murdered yesterday when t

ould not have spoke

Mère Grénier, who lives in the forest at the back of our village. As soon as it was dark I metamo

ruitless effort to speak,

ashore and killed you. Yet-I did not, because it is not in my nature to destroy anything. I have never in my life killed an animal, nor, to my knowledge, an insect; I love all life-animal life and v

d wrung them. And from that hour to the day of his death-which was not for

es and

"Bisclaveret" in Marie de France's poem, composed in 1200 a.d.; and in the

revenge frequently resorted to by witches; and countless knights and ladies were thus victimized. Nor were such practices confined to anc

years of age. As might be expected, Beatrice had many admirers; but none were so passionately attached to her as Herbert Poyer, a handsome youth, and one Henri Sangfeu, an extremely plain youth. Beatrice-and one can scarcely blame her for it-preferred Herbert, and with

Ugly; or, Lov

very bad time. Eventually it was shown to Beatrice, and it was then that the climax was reached. Although Henri was present at the moment, unable to restrain herself, she went into peals

ay, crimson with rage and mortification. He hated Beatrice now as

e a witch, and, therefore, shunned by every one. All sorts of unsavoury stories were told of her, and she was held resp

ng a morning when the sun was shining brightly, he screwed up his courage, and after many bad scares finally succeeded in reaching her dwelling-or, I might say, her shanty, for by a more appropriate term than the latter such a queer-looking untidy habitation could not be described. To his astonishment Mère Maxim was by no means so unprepossessing as he had imagined. On the contrary, she was more than passably good-looking, with black hair, rosy cheeks, and exceedingly white teeth. What he did not altogether like were her eyes-which, though large

humped as it had never thumped before when she encouraged him to put his arm round her waist and kiss her. It wa

at-and I like fat young men," and she pinched his cheeks playfully and patte

ded in a soul; I haven't even so much as d

s belt and box of bonbons." So saying, she handed him a beautiful belt composed of the skin of some wild animal and fastened with a gold buckle, and a box of delicious pink and white sugarplums. "Do not give her these things till the marriage eve," s

d the delightful coolness of her thin and supple hands. His mad infatuation for her made him oblivious

ve no need to buy a kitchen poker. Ha! ha! ha!" But their coarse wit fell flat. Henri hardly heard it-all his thoughts, his burning love, his un

ed to foretell a storm, all combined to disturb his fancy and raise strange spectres in his imagination. The shrill hooting of an owl, as it rustled overhead, caused him an unprecedented shock, and the great rush of blood to his head made him stagger and clutch hold of the nearest object for support. He had barely recovered from this alarm when his eyes almost started out of their sockets with fright as he caught sight of a queer sha

all in white. She wore sparkling jewels at her throat and waist, buckles of burnished gold on her shoes; her teeth flashed like polished

and how fat! It does my heart good to see you. Come in

icated with the joy of it all, he lay still and quiet, wishing only to remain like that for eternity, she stooped down, and, fetching a knot of cord from under the seat, began laughingly to bind his hands and feet. And at each turn and tw

ving aside the clothes that cov

house and village in search of human prey, some bonny babe, or weak, defenceless woman, but always some one fat, tender, and juicy-some one like you." And bending low over him, she bared her teeth, and dug her cruel nails deep into his flesh. A flame from the wood f