Page:Weird Tales Volume 6 Number 5 (1925-11).djvu/123

By Night He Plied His Revolting Quest, and
by Day He Trafficked With Ghouls

On the banks of the Seine, not far from where a famous avenue crosses it on a famous bridge, there is a small stone house, gray and inconspicuous amid its surroundings. Here there lived, entirely alone, Jules Dérroil. He was about fifty years old and had a kind face covered with short, stubby beard. He wore rough, rivermen's clothes, a black cap, and smoked a straight, black pipe. His house, which faced the river, had a small boat tied up in front of it. By day, the boat was always there and Jules at home; by night, the boat was absent and Jules in it, paddling up and down the river, sometimes three miles from home. Before daybreak, he would return and tie up the boat; then he would carry into his house a big black sack, bulging with contents, the nature of which could not be told by looking at it. Only Jules Dérroil knew what was in the sack.

During the day, several fine automobiles with chauffeurs would stop in the street not far away, and men would come and enter Jules' house. After a few minutes they would emerge carrying something wrapped in old newspapers. The men were generally well dressed, and had sharp, neatly trimmed beards. Some wore eyeglasses and silk hats and looked distinguished.

The police had investigated these activities several times, but found nothing wrong about them. Once they had held up Jules with his sack; it had contained firewood and old shoes and stuff he had been gathering in the river. Again they had accosted the visiting gentlemen and examined their packages: the packages had held lily bulbs and small plants in pots. So they did not bother Jules and his visitors any more. Moreover, since the men were all prominent, perhaps they had influence with the prefect, and the gendarmes were given secret instructions not to be too inquisitive.

Jules' strange doings went on for years before their tragic ending, and even the sharp-eyed neighbors had no clue to the mystery of the black sack.

One afternoon an automobile arrived, and a man got out. He was tall, handsome, and elegant. He entered Dérroil's house.

The room in which he was received was simply furnished. It was lighted by two windows which looked upon the river, the waters being just below outside. There was a fireplace and a bright wood fire. A small kettle hung near the fireplace. Some heavy sticks were piled near by for fuel. On the wall near the fire was placed a long, heavy knife such as is used for chopping up firewood. A shelf at one end of the room was lined with packages of something wrapped in newspapers. The bulging black sack stood in one comer. A table sat in the middle of the floor.