er the bull that
was found drowned. Did not all the village folk talk about it, and
regret that someone had not met the beast before it was drowned, and
drawn blood from it so as to release Arsene? Has he ever been seen
since? We have known of others like him who have disappeared and have
never been seen again. How can we deceive ourselves and say there is
no loup-garou? There is; and we must not sleep this night till our son
returns. This night above all others he should not have been out late.
He must be drinking heavily in the village. We do not know what may
happen, Baptiste. I fear some evil is about to befall him, for my
heart is full of fear."

Her voice had a pitiful break in it as she concluded.

"Let us pray the good God to protect him this night, wife," answered
Baptiste, no longer pretending that he did not believe in this strange
legend, in which nearly all his race in his station in life have
faith.

While they were on their knees praying, the yellow-faced clock behind
the stove struck the hour of midnight.

"_Mon Dieu!_ twelve o'clock!"

The anxious mother sprang to her feet, ran to the door, opened it, and
standing on the steps shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked
earnestly down the long snow-clad road in the direction of the little
village of St. Pascal. Behind her stood Baptiste, also shading his
weak eyes and looking. Not a human being was in sight. The
zinc-covered spire of the little village church, nearly half a mile
away, glittered and shone in the fairy light like burnished silver.
The quaint whitewashed cottages that dotted the road to the village
looked far different from what they did in the daytime; somehow the
charitable moon had forgotten to reveal the cracks and stains that
time in its relentless march had made. The lines, too, that age and
care had made on the two eager watching faces were also, by the great
ruler of the night, tenderly smoothed out.

"I cannot see him, Baptiste," she said presently, lowering her hand
from her eyes.

"Neither can I, wife; neither can I. Let us go into the house and
wait." He laid his hand persuasively on her shoulder. As she turned
the moon shone full in her face. She stopped and looked at it for a
few moments like one fascinated, then slowly raised her hand and
pointed at it.

"Baptiste," she said in an awed voice, with the superstitious light
again in her eyes, "do you remember once before when it was as bright
as this?"

He tried to