“The Phantom Cougar” by W. Bertram Sinclair is a typical false monster tale for a magazine that published few real supernatural tales. The Popular Magazine, March 20, 1916 and reprinted in June 1, 1930, offered this tale of the wilds of British Columbia with the appearance of a Western. The illustration doesn’t show a cougar, could be from anywhere in the North American West. This is too bad because it is actually a Northern set in an area I have fond memories of.
W. Bertram Sinclair (1881-1972) was born in Scotland but lived most of his life in Montana and British Columbia. He was married to the Western writer, B. M. Bower for seven years before remarrying her cousin. The Sinclairs moved to Vancouver, BC, from where Sinclair wrote most of his 60 Westerns. A stickler for background, he took a job in a lumber camp before writing Big Timber (1917), and was a commercial fisherman before penning Poor Man’s Rock (1920). “The Phantom Cougar” was one of eleven novellas he wrote for the Pulps. Jack London was one of his influences as well as his cousin, Upton Sinclair.
The story concerns Cross, a man who has returned to the Ashcroft area of British Columbia. He has made his fortune in pictures in Hollywood and is back for a vacation. He plans to wander the pine forests and hunt grizzly. While in Ashcroft he comes across an old acquaintance, Bill Hayes, who gets cagey when Cross mentions The Punch Bowl. Bill used to have a ranch in that beautiful wild country but sold it at a loss. He refuses to say why.
Cross goes to Lillooet to hire a hunting guide. No one will take him when he mentions The Punch Bowl. He ends up going alone, with a pack horse and three weeks food. He travels through the gorgeous scenery, admiring the beauty. (The Punch Bowl today is part of E. C. Manning Park.) He comes across a strange stone house that he heard belongs to a strange scientist. He meets Applegard, but isn’t offered any hospitality. His house is made of stone and has a weird cupola at the top.
Just a little farther on, Cross comes to the ranch that once belonged to Bill Hayes. He is met by a beautiful black-haired woman named Emily Durand. She seems frightened. Cross learns why. Behind him is a crouching cougar. When he goes to shoot it, it disappears suddenly. Emily tells him about her brother, Tom, who is recouping from lung disease. He bought the ranch but can’t keep anyone working there. Emily tells Cross she also saw phantom riders and an tall Indian warrior. She thinks she is going mad. Cross tells her he too saw the cougar. Cross falls for Emily and is in no hurry to leave.
One day a motor car comes up the rough road. Inside are two men Cross knows from Hollywood. Slade and his boss from American Photoscope, a rival of Cross’s own studio. The men try to hire Cross away but he refuses. The men leave to go see Applegard in his stone house.
The phantom cougar is back. This time it frightens off the Chinese cook. Later Tom, who has yet to learn of the phantoms, sees the riders and the Indian. Cross approaches the phantom and passes his hand through it. He decides it is some kind of projection. The answer is confirmed when the stone house explodes killing Applegard. Cross finds Slade in the bushes, scorned but unharmed. The man explains they were there to try and buy the professor’s new screenless projector. The man refuses and Slade was on the roof when the explosion happened. He had been trying to steal the technology.
Cross and Tom Durand become partners in the ranch. Cross and Emily become partners in life, getting married. Even though the phantom cougar has been explained, Bill Hayes still wanders around Ashcroft talking of phantoms.
The mad scientist story is pretty typical of Pulps, especially in the pages of Weird Tales. (This particular story doesn’t have enough weird in it for that magazine.) Sinclair’s racism is distasteful in his portrayal of Lung the Chinese cook and the subtle implication that Applegard is a Jew. These stereotypes are the usual Pulp fare. It is unfortunate because there were Chinese pioneers in BC and Sinclair doesn’t use any of that history. For a guy who likes to be accurate, this seems like a lost opportunity.
