27) The Striding Place by Gertrude Atherton

Plot:

Weigall, “continental and detached,” has tired of grouse shooting. He finds the company at his host’s estate boring and the women “a dull lot.” What’s really bothering him is that his friend, Wyatt Gifford, a guest on a neighboring estate, has been missing for two days.

This angers Weigall more than anything else. Gifford likes to pull pranks. The two friends met in college. There, a mutual friend went mad and had to be confined to a hospital, where he later died. The mutual friend’s experience inspired Weigall and Gifford to discuss the nature and destiny of the soul.

Weigall eventually goes out to look for his friend, unadvisedly at night and in the rain. He comes to a part of the River Wharfe known as the Strid. Here, the river narrows, almost to the point where an adventurous person can leap across it. The rocky, slippery banks are undercut, trapping air-breathing animals beneath them, making any leaping quite dangerous.

It all gives Weigall the willies. He’s about to turn away when he sees something white in the water—a hand thrashing. At the wrists are cufflinks Weigall recognizes as belonging to his friend Gifford.

Thoughts:

This is a sad, spooky little tale. The shock ending contrasts nicely with the bored young man in the beginning.

Atherton gives the reader some nice atmospheric build-up along the way—the woods at night are mysterious and conceal the daylit world—the danger Weigall experiences of slipping on the wet rocks around the river’s edge—the revulsion he feels at the slimy water.

The Strid is a real place along the River Wharfe and just as dangerous as the story makes it out to be. It is in a scenic walking area.

The dangers have been known for centuries. Stories of people drowning date from medieval times.

I can recommend this story as a quiet little horror story.

The story can be read here.

The story can be listened to here via Librivox:

Bio: Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948) was born in San Francisco, California. On her mother’s side, she was a descendant of Benjamin Franklin. She published about 50 books over her lifetime, plus short stories and articles. Her first fantasy novel was What Dreams May Come: A Romance (1888) under the pseudonym Frank Lin. In addition to supernatural tales, she published novels and what might now be considered creative nonfiction about her family. The latter scandalized her husband and mother-in-law when they realized she was the anonymous author.


Title: “The Striding Place”
Author: Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948)
First published: First published as “The Twins” in The Speaker, June 20, 1896