"Remember our facts," he went on. "Menning's mother came from
Westphalia, one of the parts of Europe where the belief in
lycanthropy is most widely spread and where its existence is still
credited among the peasants of today. Lycanthropy was believed to be
a hereditary taint, as transmissible as insanity, which may lie
dormant through one or more generations, so much so that at one time
the relatives of an accused man or woman were all held suspect.
There seems to have been more or less of a mystery about the Mennings
altogether, chiefly on account of the mother's character, and most
particularly in regard to Jakey. Remember also what Lennox said
about the strong persistence of type in both sons, although of
different paternity. We have Lennox's assertion that there was
something peculiar, 'animal', about Jakey, which certainly impressed
him, but which he seemed rather at a loss to describe. Then there is
that unexplained incident when Jakey was with the circus. Whatever
it was, it was something that gave such a shock to the
proprietor--who, remember, had originally conceived the idea of the
wild-man stunt himself, so wasn't likely to have been taken in by
acting--that he sacrificed his best drawing card then and there
sooner than have Jakey remain another night with the show. All the
brother would say was that he 'guessed Jakey acted too well,' which
in itself is fairly significant.
"That Aaron knew, or suspected, certain facts about his brother,
there is no doubt. Why else should he so obstinately oppose any
medical examination, and particularly the idea of Jakey being removed
even temporarily from their control? Why did he make the very
singular statement that Jakey was 'all right in the daytime,' and
that _at night they shut him up_?"
"And the bullet?" I asked.
"Do you remember that Aaron promised if it became necessary he would
take steps? What those steps were he did not say, but I believe
myself that this silver bullet answers the question. Remember the
horror in which lycanthropy was held, the revulsion it excited, and
think whether he would not have resorted to the gravest measures
sooner than have the whole concealed story come to light.
"I think that Aaron had already determined that night, unknown to
their mother, to put an end to the whole thing; that he went out to
seek his half-brother at the time, and under that form, when alone it
would be possible to bring himself to do that which he felt had to be
done. Jakey must have suspected. There was a struggle between the
two, and it was Aaron who was killed, before he had time to use the
silver bullet which he dropped, there, in the moment of unexpected
attack. The old mother must have known the truth; through all her
horror and superstition her love for her first son survived, and
together they concocted the story of Aaron's absence with the wagon.
That she paid bitterly, many times over, for her impulse, there is no
doubt. She was now completely under Jakey's dominion--the dominion
of a being little better than a monster, whom she dared not now
denounce, for who would have believed her story?
"It is certain that what we saw last night is what attacked Lessing,
and had attacked him previously. It reached him through the
skylight, but not altogether as he thought. It climbed. You will
remember that in every instance the attack was from overhead."
"But the thing that... that I touched..." I cried. "It was _furry_!
It----"