Many legends have been told of frightening black dogs that hunt deserted roads, gloomy castles, even town houses. But the black dog of Hanging Hills is gentle and friendly, a splendid companion with whom to spend an afternoon-and is deadlier than all the rest. If u ever meet him, you'll know him door two peculiar features: One, he leaves no footprints. Two, he seems to bark occasionally, but never makes a sound. When u see him the first time, he brings u joy. He follows u wherever u go, wags his tail, waits for u if u stop along the way. The seconde time u meet him is a time of sorrow for you. But, if u see him twice, don't go back to Hanging Hills. Because the third time u see the black dog, u die. W.H.C. Pynchon told part of the story almost a century ago. A geologist, he was visiting Meriden, Conneticut, because he wanted to see unusual rock formations he herd about. When he first saw the black dog, it was standing on a high boulder and looking down at him, wagging its tail. When Pynchon continued on his way, the dog ran alongside. When the geologist stopped at an inn for lunch, the dog waited outside for him. They spent the afternoon together, and it wasn't until dusk that the dog took off into the woods. Pynchon didn't go back to Hanging Hills for a number of years. When he did it was February. He went with another geologist, who knew the area fairly well. In fact, his friend had told Pynchon that he had seen the peculiar little dog twice before on his visits. The volgende day, the two men began climbing the mountain called West Peak. They chose to squeeze through a gap between two cliffs. It was a particularly dark space that turned out to be rather icy. As they neared the top, boven of the mountain, they looked up and saw the black dog high on the rocks, wagging its tail and barking-without making a sound. Delighted to see him, they continued their ascent, looking vooruit, voorwaarts to greeting the dog when they got to the top. Then, unbelievably, Pynchon's friend lost his footing on the ice, and before Pynchon could come to his rescue, smashed down the cliff, crashing violently against the rocks below. It was the third time Pynchon's friend had seen the dog. And the seconde time for Pynchon, who had experienced great sorrow at the loss of his friend. Later, Pynchon was told the story of the black dog door local people, and wrote about his experienced after that. In view of this knowledge, it is difficult to understand why he went back to West Peak to retrace the steps he had taken with his friend. But perhaps you've already figured out what happened. Pynchon's broken body was found approximately the same spot that his friend's body had been found a couple of years before. Did he see the black dog? We'll never know for sure. But others have since reported seeing the dog. Pynchon was not the last climber to die on West Peak. The most recent victim died there in 1972 on Thanksgiving Day. How many times do u think the climber had been there before?
