The Black Cat (1895-1922) was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The twelfth issue offers the following 6 stories: "The Reapers", by Ly Batterman Lindsay: eager to start a new life, a young couple learns that they cannot run from their past "A Kindergarten Hold-Up", by Mabell Shippie Clarke: a good-for-nothing tramp finds empathy while watching the innocent play of children "The Guardian of Mystery Island", by Dr. Edmond Nolcini: while trying to disprove a superstition, an adventurer encounters a strange old woman and some very dangerous plants "A Mental Mischance", by Thomas F. Anderson: reading people's minds is not always a blessing "The Barber of the Alpena", by J. Harwood: a suggestible man has a horrible experience at a barber-shop "Which was like a Woman", by William Albert Lewis: a woman is confronted by a man from her past she did not expect to ever see again - Summary by Sonia