(DEATH TO LISTENER)

WHEN I FIRST BECAME A SOUNSELOR I WAS STATIONED AT A
CAMP UP IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN. FOR REASONS WHICH WILL
BE OBVIOUS, I WON'T MENTION THE NAME OF THE CAMP.
DURING MY FIRST WEKK, WE HAD NOT BEEN ASSIGNED ANY
CABINS YET, SO I WAS STAYING , ALONG WITH ABOUT HALF
THE OTHER COUNSELORS, IN THE HOSPITAL AT THE CAMP.
ABOUT ELEVEN ON--I THINK IT WAS A TUESDAY NIGHT--I
HEARD THIS HORRIBLE SCREAM. I RAN TO THE WOMEN'S DORM
AND FOUND THE NURSE JUST LYING ON THE FLOOR; SHE HAD
FAINTED. SHE JUST KEPT MUMBLING DA GRU, DA GRU. ABOUT
THIS TIME SOME OF THE OTHER COUNSELORS ARRIVED. AFTER
THE NURSE HAD RECOVERED, I ASKED MY UNIT LEADER WHAT THIS
DA GRU STUFF WAS. HE LOOKED AROUND THE ROOM AND THERE
IN THE WINDOW WAS A PIECE OF CHAIN. NOW THAT HE WAS SURE
IT WAS DA GRU, HE WOULD TELL ME ABOUT HIM. "DA GRU,"
HE SAID, "WAS A DUTCHMAN WHO OWNED PART OF THE LAND THE
CAMP WAS BUILT ON. ABOUT TWENTY YEARS AGO, THE PEOPLE
WHO PURCHASED THIS LAND FROM DA GRU CHEATED HIM ON THE
PRICE. THEY DID NOT PAY HIM THE TRUE VALUE OF THE LAND.
WHEN DA GRU DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD BEEN CHEATED, HE VOWED
TO GET REVENGE. THAT SAME YEAR SOME OF THE BUILDINGS
WERE DAMAGED, BEATEN BY CHAINS. THE NEXT YEAR, SOME
OF THE ANIMALS KEPT AT THE CAMP WERE FOUND WITH CHAINS
WRAPPED AROUND THEIR THROATS. THAT NIGHT THE ANIMALS
WERE KILLED. SOME OF THE COUNSELORS HAD HEARD THE
SOUND OF THE CHAINS AND HEARD THIS PECULIAR "OOOING"
SOUND. THEY RAN TO THE BARN WHERE THEY FOUND THE DEAD
ANIMALS AND CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF DA GRU ENTERING THE
NEARBY WOODS. FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS NO ONE HAD HEARD OF
OF DA GRU AGAIN TILL TWO CAMPERS WERE FOUND STRANGLED
AND BEATEN BY CHAINS. A MASS MANHUNT WAS BEGUN TO
CAPTURE DA GRU. THEY FOUND HIM IN HIS CABIN, HANGING
BY A CHAIN. HE HAD HUNT HIMSELF. BESIDE HIM WAS A
NOTE WHICH SAID IN EFFECT, THAT HIS REVENGE WAS NOT
COMPLETE.
I SAID, "HOLD IT, YOU JUST SAID DA GRU WAS DEAD. HOW
COULD HE BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NURSE FAINTING AND THE
CHAIN ON THE WINDOW?" HE ASKED ME TO LET HIM CONTINUE.
FOR ABOUT TEN YEARS NO MORE WAS THOUGHT OF THE MAD MAN,
UNTIL FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN THE CAMP DISCOVERED THAT PART
OF THE LAND PURCHASED FROM DA GRU HAD A MINERAL VALUE.
JUST AS THE CAMP WAS ABOUT TO SELL SOME OF THIS LAND,
FOR A LARGE PROFIT, ONE OF THE CAMPERS WAS FOUND
MURDERED -- BEATEN WITH CHAINS. HIS FRIEND WAS FOUND
INJURED BUT ALIVE. ALL HE COULD SAY WAS 'DA GRU, DA
GRU.' THE MEN WHO FOUND HIM REPORTED HEARING THIS
STRANGE "OOOING" SOUND AND THE CLINK OF CHAINS. THE
DEAL TO SELL THE LAND FELL THROUGH, TILL A COUPLE OF
DAYS AGO. NOW THE CAMP IS AGAIN CONSIDERING SELLING
SOME OF THIS LAND. THE STORY GOES THAT DA GRU WOULD
RATHER KILL THAN ALLOW THIS PROFIT TO TAKE PLACE TO THE
PEOPLE WHO CHEATED HIM.
I ASKED, "DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THIS STORY?" HE
SAID, "YOU WILL AFTER TOMORROW NIGHT. WE ARE GOING TO
CAPTURE DA GRU." WELL WE, THAT IS MYSELF AND THE OTHER
COUNSELORS, WITHOUT ANY INTELLIGENCE WENT ON A WILD
GHOST CHASE. THE PLAN WAS SIMPLE: A GOAT WOULD BE TIED
IN THE MIDDLE OF AN OPEN FIELD, WITH A BELL AROUND ITS
NECK. ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CAMP WOULD REMAIN
INDOORS AS WELL AS ALL THE ANIMALS, FOR IT SEEMED THAT
DA GRU COULD NOT ENTER A LOCKED WINDOW OR DOOR. THE REST
OF US WOULD REMAIN HIDDEN TILL WE HEARD THE GOAT BEING
KILLED. WE WOULD THEN, WITH THE AID OF SOME CHARM,
WHICH I HAD NO IDEA HOW IT WOULD WORK, PROCEED TO BEAT
THE GHOST WITH THE SAME CHAINS HE COMMITTED HIS DEEDS WITH.
WE WERE ALSO ARMED WITH A HEALTHY COLLECTION OF BASEBALL
BATS, B. B. GUNS AND TWENTY-TWOS. ABOUT MIDNIGHT WE HEARD
THE CRYING OF THE GOAT AND WE RAN TO THE FIELD. WE
COULD HEAR THE SOUND OF THE CHAIN AND THE STRANGE
"OOOING" SOUND. WE FOUND THE GOAT DEAD, BUT ALSO CAUGHT
A GLIMPSE OF SOME FIGURE WALKING AWAY TOWARD AN OLD CAMP-
FIRE SITE. WE CAUTIOUSLY INCHED OUR WAY DOWN THE PATH.
"WHERE IS HE?" I ASKED "WHERE?" SOMEONE WHISPERED. "I
DON'T SEE HIM," ANOTHER MANAGED TO BREATHE. "MIKE,
WHERE IS HE," (AT THIS POINT YELL "THERE", WITH ALL
YOU'VE GOT).

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; CAMP OHIYESA ; ESCANABA

Date learned: NOT GIVEN