The Gray Man's Warning

Mary MacLendon was nine when she came to Pawley's Island, South Carolina, to visit her grandmother and the first thing the boy next door did was to tell her about the Gray Man.

"Lots of people around here have seen him," said Jimmy, "and this is the time of year he comes."

"Because it's the hurricane season. He appears to warn people if there's a bad storm coming. Hasn't your grandmother told you? If you see him you'd better watch out."

"You mean something will really happen?"

"It sure will. You might get washed right off this little old island and your house, too, if you don't do what he says."

Mary shivered. "Have you ever seen him?"

"No. They say he comes before all the bad storms but I've never been out here before a hurricane. Ask your grandmother. She'll tell you about him. I've got to go now. See you later." And Jimmy Lattimore's tanned legs took off down the beach.

Mary walked along the water's edge until she came to the high sand dunes that protected her grandmother's house from the wind and the waves. After supper while her grandmother was straightening the kitchen, Mary said, "Grandmother, do you think I will see the Gray Man while I'm here?"

"The Gray Man! Whoever told you that story? I'll bet it was that Lattimore boy. Has he ever seen him?"

"No, but he says lots of people have. Have you, Grandmother?"

"My goodness, no. And I don't expect to!"

"Well, how did the story about him get started?"

"Years ago plantation owners had their summer homes here on the island. One of the girls was engaged to a young man who had been abroad for two years and she got word he would be home soon. She and her mother began to cook his favorite food and decorate the house. On the ride from his own house to hers, the young man and a friend who was riding along the beach with him began to race. He took a short cut through a swampy place and his horse fell. When he tried to get to his feet he found he was only sinking deeper into the mud. His friend tried to help him but it was too late.

"The girl was so sad she would walk for hours up and down the beach. Then late one afternoon she saw a man standing looking out over the water. He was dressed in gray and when she saw him clearly she was sure it was her fiancé. She ran over toward him but when she was just a few feet away, a cloud of mist swirled up from the sea around him and he disappeared.

"That night she dreamed she was in a tiny boat with big waves all around her. She could hear people screaming and see pieces of houses floating past. When she told her parents the next morning they decided to take her to a doctor in Charleston that very afternoon.

"A little while after they left the island a terrible hurricane hurled itself upon the coast. Houses were swept out to sea before anyone could escape and many people living along the water died in the storm. By now the girl and her parents knew that seeing the Gray Man and her dream that night had saved their lives. And that's how the story of the Gray Man started."