The Golden Ape

It was a night like any other night, but not for John Pride. He was on his way to see the fulfllment of a contract made exactly one hundred years before. A century ago, a stranger had come to Pride's great-grandfather with the curious request that the elder Pride locate for him some property to which the title was entirely clear, to which there could not possibly be any claim for a century. And Pride was to put certain objects in trust, which his male descendant would deliver to the mansion on the property exactly one hundred years later. And the stranger wanted privacy, wanted no one entering the property for the entire century during which he had possession. Pride's great-grandfather didn't see how he could guarantee that, but the stranger said he had his own means of assuring that there would be no intruders, if the property were remote enough. He had paid a handsome retainer and promised more for the faithful fulfliment of the contract.