There is an interesting Canadian literary reference to the Third
Man, one that inspired a famous Canadian painting that depicts a
Third Man encounter. 'The Walker of the Snow', a poem written by
Canadian poet Charles Dawson Shanly, was inspired by Indian legends
and accounts from fur traders of phantom presences. First published
in
Atlantic Monthly in May 1859, Shanly's poem described the
appearance of a "dusky figure" wearing a "capuchin of gray" who
does not
speak or communicate, culminating with the surprising recognition
"That the walking of the stranger/Left no foot-marks on the snow".
In the poem the apparition is frightening: "I had seen the Shadow
Hunter/And had withered in his blight." Shanly's poem inspired
Blair Bruce's The Phantom Hunter, a painting first exhibited with
immense
success at the 1888 Paris Salon. But, while in Shanly's poem the
phantom figure is eerie, Bruce's canvas (now in the collection of
the Art
Gallery of Hamilton) seems more equivocal. The painting is
sometimes thought to depict the hunter recoiling in fear at the
realization
that he had mysterious company. However, I think it can also be
interpreted as the hunter reaching out wearily toward this being,
as if for help, much closer to the experience of many people who
have
experienced a presence while in extreme peril. What do you think? A
larger
version appears in the gallery of thirdmanfactor.com.