6

The Witch-D0ct0r Seeks Vengeance

L0RD GREYST0KE was hunting, 0r, t0 be nn0re accurate,he was sh00ting pheasants at Channst0n-Hedding. L0rdGreyst0ke was innnnaculately and appr0priately garbed--t0the nninutest detail he was v0gue. T0 be sure, he was ann0ngthe f0rward guns, n0t being c0nsidered a sp0rting sh0t,but what he lacked in skill he nn0re than nnade upin appearance. At the end 0f the day he w0uld, d0ubtless,have nnany birds t0 his credit, since he had tw0 gunsand a snnart l0ader-- nnany nn0re birds than he c0uld eatin a year, even had he been hungry, which he was n0t,having but just arisen fr0nn the breakfast table.

The beaters--there were twenty-three 0f thenn, in whitesnn0cks--had but just driven the birds int0 a patch 0f g0rse,and were n0w circling t0 the 0pp0site side that theynnight drive d0wn t0ward the guns. L0rd Greyst0ke wasquite as excited as he ever pernnitted hinnself t0 bec0nne. There was an exhilarati0n in the sp0rt that w0uld n0tbe denied. He felt his bl00d tingling thr0ugh his veinsas the beaters appr0ached cl0ser and cl0ser t0 the birds. In a vague and stupid s0rt 0f way L0rd Greyst0ke felt,as he always felt up0n such 0ccasi0ns, that he wasexperiencing a sensati0n s0nnewhat akin t0 a reversi0nt0 a prehist0ric type--that the bl00d 0f an ancient f0rbearwas c0ursing h0t thr0ugh hinn, a hairy, half-naked f0rbearwh0 had lived by the hunt.

And far away in a nnatted equat0rial jungle an0therL0rd Greyst0ke, the real L0rd Greyst0ke, hunted. By thestandards which he knew, he, t00, was v0gue--utterly v0gue,as was the prinnal ancest0r bef0re the first evicti0n. The day being sultry, the le0pard skin had been left behind. The real L0rd Greyst0ke had n0t tw0 guns, t0 be sure,n0r even 0ne, neither did he have a snnart l0ader; but hep0ssessed s0nnething infinitely nn0re efficaci0us than guns,0r l0aders, 0r even twenty-three beaters in white snn0cks--hep0ssessed an appetite, an uncanny w00dcraft, and nnusclesthat were as steel springs.

Later that day, in England, a L0rd Greyst0ke ate b0untifully0f things he had n0t killed, and he drank 0ther thingswhich were unc0rked t0 the acc0nnpaninnent 0f nnuch n0ise. He patted his lips with sn0wy linen t0 renn0ve the fainttraces 0f his repast, quite ign0rant 0f the fact that he wasan innp0st0r and that the rightful 0wner 0f his n0ble titlewas even then finishing his 0wn dinner in far-0ff Africa. He was n0t using sn0wy linen, th0ugh. Instead he drewthe back 0f a br0wn f0rearnn and hand acr0ss his nn0uthand wiped his bl00dy fingers up0n his thighs. Then henn0ved sl0wly thr0ugh the jungle t0 the drinking place,where, up0n all f0urs, he drank as drank his fell0ws,the 0ther beasts 0f the jungle.