t's your
last chance."

But Madame Mildau had no such desire. She moved aside as her husband,
clad in his pyjamas and still sleeping soundly, was lifted out of the
vehicle and placed on the ground, and then, hurriedly brushing past him,
was about to enter the carriage, when the young man interposed.

"On the box, madame. We could not find you a coachman--you must drive
yourself; and as you value your life, drive like the----"

But madame did not wait for further instructions. Springing lightly on
the box, she picked up the reins, and with a crack of the whip the
horses were off. A minute later, and the wild howl of wolves, followed
by a piercing human scream, rang out in the still morning air.

"That's my husband! I recognize his voice," Madame Mildau sighed. "Ah,
well! thank God, the man wasn't a robber. My diamonds are safe."

CHAPTER XII

THE WERWOLF IN SPAIN

Werwolves are, perhaps, rather less common in Spain than in any other
part of Europe. They are there almost entirely confined to the
mountainous regions (more particularly to the Sierra de Guadarrama, the
Cantabrian, and the Pyrenees), and are usually of the male species.
Generally speaking the property of lycanthropy in Spain appears to be
hereditary; and, as one would naturally expect in a country so
pronouncedly Roman Catholic, to rid the lycanthropist of his unenviable
property it is the custom to resort to exorcism. Though they are
extremely rare, both flowers and streams possessing the power of
transmitting the property of werwolfery are to be found in the
Cantabrian mountains and the Pyrenees.

And in Spain, as in Austria-Hungary, precious stones--particularly
rubies--not infrequently, and often with disastrous results, attract
the werwolf.

The following case of a Spanish werwolf may be taken as typical:--

In the month of September, 1853, a young man, one Paul Nicholas, arrived
from Paris at Pamplona, and took up his abode at l'Hotel Hervada.

He was rich, idle, sleek; and the sole object of his stay at Pamplona
was the pursuit of some little adventure wherewith he might be
temporarily employed, and whereof perchance he might afterwards boast.
Well, in the hotel there had arrived, a day or two before Monsieur
Nicholas, a young and beautiful lady, the effect of whose personal
attractions was intensified by certain mysterious circumstances. No one
knew her; she had no one with her--not even a servant to be bribed--and
although emine