jostling one another to return Percy ' s books to him as he came down the street , smiling . A robustly-bosomed woman , who appeared to be in danger of bursting her corset seams , and a couple of girls with the nervous , fussy faces , the type one expects to find on rabbits , presented his books to him . " Oh , sir ," they said . " You are soooo very brave !" And " Oh , sir , I should be quite available to polish the handle of your gun if you need a good cleaning ."
But one saw the cover of his book , which read " werewolf ", and when the woman gushed , " Are you a werewolf expert ?" And Percy replied , " Well , I wouldn ' t go so far as to say that , but yes , they are a keen interest of mine ." Well , then the city was in an uproar , and you couldn ' t see Percy through the sea of women that thronged upon him ! Appalling , I say , to throw oneself so completely at a man you have only just met .
They ushered him to the hotel / pub and I was once again left to drag my own luggage behind . Have none of these Americans ever heard of hiring a staff ?
Thursday , June the Twenty-Fourth
I may say that I am pleased beyond all proportion at this turn of events ! I could nearly bust my side with laughter ! Let me recount it as to not forget .
The town is run by an innkeeper — though I say innkeeper only to be polite . I quite understand that she is a Madame when there are not wealthy foreigners around . Her name is Honey Occularus , and she plied Percy with booze . Her entire harem descended on him , making him giggle dumbly , she gave our entire tour free drinks ... but the joke was on them , for Percy was no great werewolf hunter !
" A werewolf has been spotted in the area ," she announced to our party . " To think that it managed to find its way onto your train ! It has been targeting trains for many long months , but yours is the first it has managed to derail . Now that you are properly in werewolf country , we might at last have a hero to aid our small town ."
" A werewolf is no small matter ," slurred Percy . " I have read every burk ... book ... boook ... on werewolves that there is , and I can ... know it ."
" It began by stealing the able-bodied residents of the town . It would carry them , screaming , into the night . Their bones were never found ! Most of the men were taken ; many others fled . That ' s when it turned its attention to the trains ! It hunts the passengers ." She turned very dark . " It wants us dead !" And with a few more swigs of the liquor , Percy replied , " I shall do it !", and had agreed to use his bravery to rid their town of the dreaded werewolf !
It was only the next morning that he realized what he had agreed to do and he ran to me in