Excerpted from Campfire Tales by William Forgey, M.D.

This story took place in a wild isolated area in the moors of Northern England. One day a stranger came to the village and said his name was Mr. Black. He was a tall good looking man with black hair and a big bushy black mustache.

It was the custom of the day that gentlemen would go around the village in the afternoons and court the young women, always in the presence of a chaperon, usually a parent. There was one woman that really took his fancy. Mary was her name. Mary was an orphan child, she didn't have any parents but she had four brothers. So whenever Mr. Black came to court, which was about once a month in the beginning, one of the brothers would always be there. They would sit and talk and have tea.

Mary really started to like Mr. Black. He was a lot more interesting than the boys who usually came around. He had been to far away lands, he knew a lot of different people, and he knew strange languages. Well, before long he was coming there about once a week, usually on a Tuesday. After some time, Mr. Black said,"You know Mary, I have been coming to visit you and you have never been to visit me."

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Mr. Black said, "Well its no secret. I do keep myself to myself but I live in a house in the woods just north of town."

"Aahh, Mr. Black, that's what it is! People around here don't go into those woods. Why I have never been any distance at all into them."

Mr. Black said, "Well they are perfectly safe woods and I'll come by sometime and take you out there."

Well he never did get around to it and Mary was just as glad. She wasn't too sure about going into those woods. Finally it came to be a spring afternoon. It was on a Sunday, a beautiful day. The sun was shining and Mary was out picking wild flowers. She was kind of wandering some and daydreaming. She kept picking a few more, mostly blue bells. She was wandering along not paying much attention to where she was. Without knowing it she had gotten into the woods north of town.

Now she wasn't really lost. She knew she just had to head back south to get home but she had clearly gone a lot deeper then she had planned. She looked around and she noticed a little clearing off to the side. She thought she could perhaps go over there and get her bearings with the sun and maybe find a path heading back home south. Well she walked and when she got to the end of the clearing she saw an old English style house at the far end.

She thought, "That must be Mr. Black's house. Well he did invite me for tea and I'm sure he would know the best way home. "

So she walked over toward the house. When she got there she went up the three big granite steps. There was a heavy knocker on the door. She clanged it a few times. It rang hollow inside. No one answered.

She was kind of curious, so she came around the steps and went to the side of the house and peered in one of the windows. All she could see was a wooden hallway. She was really intrigued by now and she thought, "I'm sure Mr. Black wouldn't mind if I just went in and looked around a bit."

She came back around and climbed the front steps. As she did something caught her eye She looked up and saw that there were some words carved in the lintel above the door. The words said "Be Bold, Be Bold!"

She felt, "That's an odd welcome."

She tried the door and found that it was open. She walked in and saw a hallway with doors leading off to the side. Right in front of her was a broad staircase leading up to a long gallery that was filled with windows, allowing the sun to pour in. It was the kind of staircase that made you want to walk up it pretending you were very rich and very grand. Well, that's exactly what Mary did. She walked up pretending she was very elegant and when she got to the top, the sun was just pouring in those windows and it was all so beautiful. She was in kind of a day dreaming mood.

She noticed another door at the far end of the hall and thought, "That must be Mr. Black's bedroom."

She walked down toward it. As she got closer she saw that there were more words carved in the lintel above it, and these words said, "Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold!"

She tried the door and it was the bedroom. It was kind of dark inside. The curtains were drawn. It was a large room. Over to one side there was a brass bed and right next to it there was a mahogany wash stand with a porcelain bowl and pitcher. What really caught her eye was another door. She thought, "That must be Mr. Black's closet. Oh, he is such a fine dresser I would like to see some of his clothes."

So she walked over toward it. As she got close she saw that there were more words carved above it and these words said, "Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold, Or Your Heart's Blood Will Run Cold!"

She opened that door and it was pitch black inside. It took awhile for her eyes to adjust to that darkness. Once they did she saw what appeared to be three bath tubs. The first was filled with a dark liquid. She tasted it and it tasted like blood. The second was filled with what appeared to be human bones. And the third was filled with hair, long human hair and skin! She was terrified. She ran out of the closet and shut the door. She looked around to make sure that she had not touched anything or left any sign that she had been there.

She ran out of the bedroom. She closed the door and she was hurrying down the landing when she heard something! She looked out of the windows and she saw Mr. Black striding across the clearing, pulling a young woman by the hair! The girl was struggling and screaming. Mary knew she had to hide somewhere. She looked around and finally ran down the steps, went to the side of the staircase and crouched down below it. No sooner had she squatted down when Mr. Black flung open the door. He came strutting across the hallway, still pulling that young woman by the hair.

He started up the staircase, the girl struggling all the way, kicking, screaming, pleading for mercy. She reached out and grabbed hold of the banister. Mr. Black, without breaking stride, pulled out a large knife and hacked off her hand at the wrist. He jerked the sobbing girl right up the staircase, down the hallway and into his room.

That hand had fallen into Mary's lap! Stifling a scream, she wrapped it up in her apron and ran out of the house, scurrying home as fast as she could.

Well that was on a Sunday and on Tuesday Mr. Black came to court. Mary made sure that all four of her brothers were there. They were sitting, having tea, and after a while Mr. Black said, "You know, Mary, you aren't very talkative. Is anything the matter?"

Mary said, "Well Mr. Black, I have been having a bad dream and I have not been getting much sleep."

Mr. Black answered, "Well, you know I have traveled the world and I have read many dreams. Perhaps if you tell me yours I will be able to help you."

Mary said, "Well Mr. Black I dreamed I was out picking wild flowers and I came to an old house. I dreamed I went up the steps of that house and I saw some words carved in the lintel above the door. The words said, 'Be Bold, Be Bold.'"

Mr. Black sat stiffly in his chair and interrupted, "Surely it was not so'". Mary continued, "I dreamed that I went into that house and up a staircase and came to another door with more words carved in it. These words said, 'Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold. '"

Now Mr. Black's face turned pale and he said, "But surely it was not so and is not so."

"I dreamed that I went into that door and came still to another door with more words carved above it and these words said, 'Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold, Or Your Heart's Blood Will Run Cold.'"

Mr. Black said, "But surely it was not so, and it is not so, and never could be so."

Mary continued, "But that is the way it was in my dream, Mr. Black. And I dreamed that I opened that third door and there were three vats inside. The first was filled with human blood, and the second was filled with human bones, and the third was filled with human hair and skin."

Mr. Black said, "Well surely it was not so, and it is not so, and never could be so, and a curse on him that would make it so."

Mary said, "That is the way it was in my dream, Mr. Black. I dreamed that I came out of the closet, shut the door, went out of the bedroom, closed that door and I was hurrying down the landing when I saw you, Mr. Black, come striding across the clearing outside. You were pulling a young woman by the hair. And I dreamed I saw you come through the front door and start up the staircase, still pulling that young woman. About half way up she was struggling and screaming when she reached out and grabbed onto the banister. You, Mr. Black, drew out your knife and hacked off her hand at the wrist and pulled her on up the staircase and into your room!"

By this time Mr. Black was on his feet and he said, "Well surely it was not so and it is not so, and God forbid that it should be so."

Mary very quietly took that hand from under her apron. She put it on Mr. Black's plate and looked him straight in the eye and said, "But Mr. Black, It was so and it is so. And here is the very hand to show."

The four brothers took him out back and they killed him.

And I cannot tell you how or, your heart's blood will run cold.

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