Page:Weird Tales Volume 36 Number 12 (1943-07).djvu/67

66 for you or anybody. I just wanted to get as far as I could away."

"Sure, sure, Nancy, I understand," Cummings soothed.

"Empty, his throat was horribly torn. Do you think it was an animal, Empty? A rabid dog?"

"There are no blood-sucking dogs, Nancy."

"A bat then? Empty, isn't there a huge, South American vampire bat which attacks men? Perhaps one of those bats was shipped north in a crate of oranges or bananas, and has escaped and crawled into a hollow tree somewhere on the campus."

Cummings' face was grim. "No, Nancy. The blood-sucking bat of South America has a wing span of scarcely three inches. It couldn't tear a man's throat or suck more than a thimbleful of blood. The big South American bats are fruit-eaters—perfectly harmless."

"But something fiendish attacked Freddy last night and now Slats. Oh, Empty, I'm frightened!”

UMMINGS was frightened, too, but he kept his emotions to himself. Only Limerick and O'Rourke knew. A half hour later they were at Simeon Hodges' grave again. The sun was westerning rapidly and the sloping tombstones now seemed drenched with blood. On all sides of them were tumbled mounds of freshly upturned earth.

They were digging like mad. Sweat was streaming from them and they were wearing necklaces of garlic which O'Rourke had bought at the village Italian fruit store. They were getting down to the coffin as fast as they could.

"I can't understand it," muttered Cummings. "How did he get back in without disturbing the earth?"

"A vampire can turn into a thin mist and filter through a screen, a keyhole, under a door or down through the earth," panted O'Rourke. "The last time we left the coffin above ground and he had to bury himself. Now the coffin's under four feet of earth. He simply seeped back."

"I don't know why I'm doing this," grumbled Limerick. "You're both as mad as March hares. There's nothing but a dried-up old guy in that coffin named Simeon Hodges. He's been out and around, sure. But that's because we took him out and somebody with a rotten sense of humor put him back."

"You're wearing a necklace of garlic, Limerick," said O'Rourke. "Why don't you take it off?"

Limerick grunted. "When you're with fools do as fools do. Why should I make myself conspicuous?"

There was a dull, heavy thud. "Careful," warned Cummings. "We don't want to smash the coffin."

"We made our big mistake when we brought him into the dormitory," muttered O'Rourke. "Once you bring a vampire into your home or invite him in he can flow back anytime. You might as well try to keep out smoke, or running water."

"He had to break the screen to get out," said Cummings. "That proves he could not—"

"It doesn't prove a thing. He simply wanted to get out quickly. I'm telling you, Empty, he can seep in and out now by simply changing himself into a puff of vapor. By driving this stake through his heart we’ll be saving three lives. Important lives, Empty—our own."

He patted the long, wooden stake which protruded from his hip pocket. "We should have destroyed him last night when he was glutted and rosy from the blood that came out of poor Freddy."

"He'll still be rosy," said Cummings, grimly.

They were breast-deep in the grave now