Manly Wade Wellman - Judge Pursuivant 01 by The Hairy Ones Shall Dance (v1.1)

for glory or vengeance, ventured into the place, just at dusk. He
came out in a little while, torn and bitten almost to pieces, and died as he
broke clear of the cedar hedge."

             XI
     
                  ''To meet that monster face
to face!"
                   I think that both Susan and I fairly reeled
before this news, like actors registering surprise in an old-fashioned
melodrama. As for Judge Pursuivant, he turned to the table, cut a generous
wedge of the meat pie and set it, all savory and steaming, on a plate for
himself His calm zest for the good food gave us others steadiness again, so
that we sat down and even ate a little as he described his day in town.
                   He had found opportunity to talk to Susan in
private, confiding in her about me and finally sending her to me; this, as he
said, so that we would convince each other of our resjjective innocences. It
was purely an inspiration, for he had had no idea, of course, that such
conviction would turn out so final. Thereafter he made shift to enter the Gird
house and talk to Doctor Zoberg.
                   That worthy he found sitting somewhat limply
in the parlor, with John Gird's coffin in the next room. Zoberg, the judge
reported, was mystified about the murder and anxious to bring to justice the
townsfolk - there were more than one, it seemed - who had beaten him. Most of
all, however, he was concerned about the charges against me.
                   "His greatest anxiety is to prove you
innocent," Judge Pursuivant informed me. "He intends to bring the
best lawyer possible for your defense, is willing even to assist in paying the
fee. He also swears that character witnesses can be brought to testify that you
are the most peaceable and law-abiding man in the country."
                   "That's mighty decent of him," I
said. "According to your reasoning of this morning, his attitude proves
him innocent, too."
                   "What reasoning was that?" asked
Susan, and I was glad that the judge continued without answering her.
                   "I was glad that I had sent Miss Susan
on. If your car had remained there, Mr Wills, Doctor Zoberg might have driven
off in it to rally your defenses."
                   "Not if I know him," I objected.
"The whole business, what of the mystery and occult significances, will
hold him right on the spot. He's relentlessly curious and, despite his temporary
collapse, he's no coward."
                   "I agree with that," chimed in
Susan.
                   As for my pursuers of the previous night, the
judge went on, they had been roaming the snow-covered streets in twos and
threes, heavily armed for the most part and still determined to punish me for
killing their neighbor. The council was too frightened or too perplexed to deal
with the situation, and the constable was still in bed, with his brother
assuming authority, when Judge Pursuivant made his inquiries. The judge went to
see the wounded man, who very pluckily determined to rise and take up his
duties again.
                   "I'll arrest the man who plugged
me," O'Bryant had promised grimly, "and that kid brother of mine can
quit playing policeman."
                   The judge applauded these sentiments, and
brought him hot food and whisky, which further braced his spirits. In the
evening came the invasion by the younger O'Bryant of the Devil's Croft, and his
resultant death at the claws and teeth of what prowled there.
                   "His throat was so torn open and filled
with blood that he could not speak," the judge concluded, "but he
pointed back into the timber, and then tried to trace something in the snow
with his finger. It looked like a wolf's head, with fjointed nose and ears. He died
before he finished."
                   "You saw him come out?" I asked.