hink of the
old-world legends of dragons and of other monsters. Were they,
perhaps, not such fairy-tales as we have thought? Can it be that there
is some fact which underlies them, and am I, of all mortals, the one
who is chosen to expose it?

May 3.--For several days I have been laid up by the vagaries of an
English spring, and during those days there have been developments, the
true and sinister meaning of which no one can appreciate save myself.
I may say that we have had cloudy and moonless nights of late, which
according to my information were the seasons upon which sheep
disappeared. Well, sheep have disappeared. Two of Miss Allerton's,
one of old Pearson's of the Cat Walk, and one of Mrs. Moulton's. Four
in all during three nights. No trace is left of them at all, and the
countryside is buzzing with rumours of gipsies and of sheep-stealers.

But there is something more serious than that. Young Armitage has
disappeared also. He left his moorland cottage early on Wednesday
night and has never been heard of since. He was an unattached man, so
there is less sensation than would otherwise be the case. The popular
explanation is that he owes money, and has found a situation in some
other part of the country, whence he will presently write for his
belongings. But I have grave misgivings. Is it not much more likely
that the recent tragedy of the sheep has caused him to take some steps
which may have ended in his own destruction? He may, for example, have
lain in wait for the creature and been carried off by it into the
recesses of the mountains. What an inconceivable fate for a civilized
Englishman of the twentieth century! And yet I feel that it is
possible and even probable. But in that case, how far am I answerable
both for his death and for any other mishap which may occur? Surely
with the knowledge I already possess it must be my duty to see that
something is done, or if necessary to do it myself. It must be the
latter, for this morning I went down to the local police-station and
told my story. The inspector entered it all in a large book and bowed
me out with commendable gravity, but I heard a burst of laughter before
I had got down his garden path. No doubt he was recounting my
adventure to his family.

June 10.--I am writing this, propped up in bed, six weeks after my last
entry in this journal. I have gone through a terrible shock both to
mind and body, arising from such an experience as h