Jack London 
The Night-Born 

‘But so quiet a man was Mr. Ward, that Dave’s courage returned. Besides, a new theory had suggested itself. The wild man was evidently Mr. Ward’s brother, a lunatic privately confined. Dave had heard of such things. Perhaps Mr. Ward wanted it kept quiet. That was why he had given him the twenty dollars. ‘Say, ‘ Dave began, ‘now I come to think of it that wild man looked a lot like you—’ That was as far as Dave got, for at that moment he witnessed a transformation and found himself gazing into the same unspeakably ferocious blue eyes of the night before, at the same clutching talon-like hands, and at the same formidable bulk in the act of springing upon him. But this time Dave had no night-stick to throw, and he was caught by the biceps of both arms in a grip so terrific that it made him groan with pain. He saw the large white teeth exposed, for all the world as a dog’s about to bite. Mr. Ward’s beard brushed his face as the teeth went in for the grip on his throat. But the bite was not given. Instead, Dave felt the other’s body stiffen as with an iron restraint, and then he was flung aside, without effort but with such force that only the wall stopped his momentum and dropped him gasping to the floor. ‘What do you mean by coming here and trying to blackmail me?’ Mr. Ward was snarling at him. ‘Here, give me back that money.’ Dave passed the bill back without a word…’ ‘The Night-Born’ is a collection of Western short stories by the author Jack London, each with a surreal mix of fact and fiction.