he Kensington Horror," or "The Stabbing Woman," or "The
Woman in Black." During the past two or three days several
cases have occurred of young children straying from home or
neglecting to return from their playing on the Heath. In
all these cases the children were too young to give any
properly intelligible account of themselves, but the
consensus of their excuses is that they had been with a
"bloofer lady." It has always been late in the evening when
they have been missed, and on two occasions the children
have not been found until early in the following morning.
It is generally supposed in the neighborhood that, as the
first child missed gave as his reason for being away that a
"bloofer lady" had asked him to come for a walk, the others
had picked up the phrase and used it as occasion served. This
is the more natural as the favourite game of the little ones
at present is luring each other away by wiles. A correspondent
writes us that to see some of the tiny tots pretending to be the
"bloofer lady" is supremely funny. Some of our caricaturists
might, he says, take a lesson in the irony of grotesque by
comparing the reality and the picture. It is only in accordance
with general principles of human nature that the "bloofer lady"
should be the popular role at these al fresco performances. Our
correspondent naively says that even Ellen Terry could not be so
winningly attractive as some of these grubby-faced little
children pretend, and even imagine themselves, to be.

There is, however, possibly a serious side to the question,
for some of the children, indeed all who have been missed
at night, have been slightly torn or wounded in the throat.
The wounds seem such as might be made by a rat or a small
dog, and although of not much importance individually, would tend
to show that whatever animal inflicts them has a system or method
of its own. The police of the division have been instructed to
keep a sharp lookout for straying children, especially when very
young, in and around Hampstead Heath, and for any stray dog which
may be about.

THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE, 25 SEPTEMBER EXTRA SPECIAL

THE HAMPSTEAD HORROR

ANOTHER CHILD INJURED

THE "BLOOFER LADY"

We have just received intelligence that another child,
missed last night, was only discovered late in the morning
under a furze bush at the Shooter's Hill side of Hampstead
Heath, which is perhaps, less frequented than the other
parts. It has the