"I believe she walked, sir," replied Barney; "but afther that every eye was upon her, and many a time she was seen goin" to the haunted house when she thought no eye was upon her. Afther this, of coorse, she disappeared, for, to tell you the truth, the town became too hot for her; and, indeed, this is not surprisin". Two or three of the neighborin" women miscarried, and several people lost their cattle after she came to the town; and to make a long story short, just as it was made up to throw her into the parson"s pond, she disappeared, as I said, exactly as if she had known their intention: and becoorse she did."
"And did they ever find out where she went to?"
"Have patience, sir, for patience, they say, is a virtue. About a month afterwards some of the townspeople came up to the mountains here, to hunt hares, just as we did. Several of them before this had seen a white hare near the very spot we"re sittin" in, but sorra dog of any description, either hound, greyhound, or lurcher could blow wind in her tail; even a pair of the Irish bloodhounds were brought, and when they came on her, she flew from them like the wind, I and laughed at them, becoorse. Well, sir, the whole country was in a terrible state of alarm about the white hare, for every one knew, of coorse, that she was a witch; and as the cows began, here and there, to fail in their milk, why, it was a clear case that she sucked them in ordher to supply some imp of the devil that sucked herself. At that time there was a priest in this parish, a very pious man by name Father McFeen; and as he liked, now and then, to have a dish of hare soup, he kept a famous greyhound, called Koolawn, that was never said to miss a hare by any chance. As I said, some of the townspeople came up here to have a hunt, and as they wished, above all things, to bring the priest"s greyhound and the white hare together, they asked the loan of him from his reverence, telling him, at the same time, what they wanted him for. Father McFeen was very proud of his dog, and good right he had, and tould them they should have him with pleasure.
""But, as he"s goin" to try his speed against a witch," said he, "I"ll venture to say that you"ll have as pretty a run as ever was seen on the hills."
"Well, sir, at all events, off they set to the mountains; and sure enough, they weren"t long there when they had the best of sport, but no white hare came in their way. Koolawn, however, was kept in the slip the whole day, in the hope of their startin" her, for they didn"t wish to have him tired if they should come across her. At last, it was gettin"
late, and when they were just on the point of givin" her up, and, goin"
home, begad she started, and before you"d say Jack Kobinson, Koolawn and she were at it. Sich a chase, they say, was never seen. They flew at sich a rate that the people could hardly keep their eyes upon them. The hare went like the wind; but, begad, it was not every evening she had sich a dog as famous Koolawn at her scut. He turned her, and turned her, and every one thought he had her above a dozen of times, but still she turned, and was off from him again. At this rate they went on for long enough, until both began to fail, and to appear nearly run down. At length the gallaut Koolawn had her; she gave a squeal that was heard, they say, for miles. He had her, I say, hard and fast by the hip, but it was only for a moment; how she escaped; from him n.o.body knows; but it was thought that he wasn"t able, from want of breath, to keep his hoult.
To make a long story short, she got off from him, turned up towards the; cabin we"re sittin" in, Koolawn, game as ever, still close to her; at last she got in, and as the dog was about to spring in afther her, he found the door shut in his face. There now was the proof of it; but wait till you hear what"s comin". The men all ran up here and opened the door, for there was only a latch upon it, and if the hare was in existence, surely they"d find her now. Well, they closed the door at wanst for fraid she"d escape them; but afther sarchin" to no purpose, what do you think they found? No hare, at any rate, but ould Bet Harramount pantin" in the straw there, and covered wid a rug, for she hadn"t time to get on the blanket--just as if the life was lavin"
her. The sweat, savin" your presence, was pourin" from her; and upon examinin" her more closely, which they did, they found the marks of the dog"s teeth in one of her ould hips, which was freshly bleedin". They were now satisfied, I think, and--"
"But why did they not seize and carry her before a magistrate?"
"Aisy, Masther Harry; the white cat, all this time, was sittin" at the fireside there, lookin" on very quietly, when the thought struck the men that they"d set the dogs upon it, and so they did, or rather, so they tried to do, but the minute the cat was pointed out to them, they dropped their ears and tails, and made out o" the house, and all the art o" man couldn"t get them to come in again. When the men looked at it agin it was four times the size it had been at the beginin", and, what was still more frightful, it was gettin" bigger and bigger, and fiercer and fiercer lookin", every minute. Begad, the men seein" this took to their heels for the present, wid an intention of comin" the next momin", wid the priest and the magisthrate, and a strong force to seize upon her, and have her tried and convicted, in ordher that she might be burned."
"And did they come?"
"They did; but of all the storms that ever fell from the heavens, none o" them could aquil the one that come on that night. Thundher, and wind, and lightnin", and hail, and rain, were all at work together, and every one knew at wanst that the devil was riz for somethin". Well, I"m near the end of it. The next mornin" the priest and the magisthrate, and a large body of people from all quarthers, came to make a prisoner of her; but, indeed, wherever she might be herself, they didn"t expect to find this light, flimsy hut standin", nor stick nor stone of it together afther such a storm. What was their surprise, then, to see wid their own eyes that not a straw on the roof of it was disturbed any more than if it had been the calmest night that ever came on the earth!"
"But about the witch herself?"
"She was gone; neither hilt nor hair of her was there; nor from that day to this was she ever seen by mortal. It"s not hard to guess, however, what became of her. Every one knows that the devil carried her and her imp off in the tempest, either to some safer place, or else to give her a warm corner below stairs."
"Why, Barney, it must be an awful little house, this."
"You may say that, sir; there"s not a man, woman, or child in the barony would come into it by themselves. Every one keeps from it; the very rapparees, and robbers of every description, would take the shelter of a cleft or cave rather than come into it. Here it is, then, as you see, just as she and the devil and his imp left it; no one has laid a hand on it since, nor ever will."
"But why was it not pulled down and levelled at the time?"
"Why, Masther Harry? Dear me, I wondher you ask that. Do you think the people would be mad enough to bring down her vengeance upon themselves or their property, or maybe upon both? and for that matther she may be alive yet."
"Well, then, if she is," replied Woodward, "here goes to set her at defiance;" and as he spoke he tossed bed, straw, rug, blanket, and every miserable article of furniture that the house contained, out at the door.
Barney"s hair stood erect upon his head, and he looked aghast.
"Well, Masther Harry," said he, "I"m but a poor man, and I wouldn"t take the wealth of the parish and do that. Come away, sir; let us lave it; as I tould you, they say there"s a curse upon it, and upon every one that makes or meddles wid it. Some people say it"s to stand there till the day of judgment."
Having now refreshed themselves, they left Bet Harramont"s cabin, with all its awful a.s.sociations, behind them, and resumed their sport, which they continued until evening, when, having killed as many hares as they could readily carry, they took a short cut home through the lower fields. By this way they came upon a long, green hill, covered in some places with short furze, and commanding a full view of the haunted house, which lay some four or five hundred yards below them, with its back door lying, as usual, open.
"Let us beat these furze," said Woodward, "and have one run more, if we can, before getting home; it is just the place for a hare."
"With all my heart," replied Barney; "another will complete the half dozen."
They accordingly commenced searching the cover, which they did to no purpose, and were upon the point of giving up all hope of I success, when, from the centre of a low, broad clump of furze, out starts a hare, as white almost as snow. Barney for a moment was struck dumb; but at length exerting his voice, for he was some distance from Woodward, he shouted out--
"O, for goodness" sake, hould in the dogs, Masther Harry!"
It was too late, however; the gallant, animals, though fatigued by their previous exertions, immediately gave n.o.ble chase, and by far the most beautiful and interesting course they had had that day took place upon the broad, clear plain that stretched before them. It was, indeed, to the eye of a sportsman, one of intense and surpa.s.sing interest--an interest which, even to Woodward, who only laughed at Barney"s story of the witch, was, nevertheless, deepened tenfold by the coincidence between the two circ.u.mstances. The swift and mettlesome dogs pushed her hard, and succeeded in turning her several times, when it was observed that she made a point to manage her running so as to approximate to the haunted house--a fact which was not un.o.bserved by Barney, who now, having joined Woodward, exclaimed--
"Mark it, Masther Harry, mark my words, she"s alive still, and will be wid the _Shan-dhinne-dhuv_ in spite o" them! Bravo, Sambo! Well done, Snail; ay, Snail, indeed--hillo! by the sweets o" rosin they have her--no, no--but it was a beautiful turn, though; and poor Snail, so tired afther his day"s work. Now, Masther Harry, thunder and turf! how beautiful Sambo takes her up. Bravo, Sambo! stretch out, my darlin" that you are!--O, blood, Masther Harry, isn"t that beautiful? See how they go neck and neck wid their two noses not six inches from her scut; and dang my b.u.t.tons but, witch or no witch, she"s a thorough bit o" game, too.
Come, Bet, don"t be asleep, my ould lady; move along, my darlin"--do you feel the breath of your sweetheart at your bottom? Take to your broomstick; you want it."
As he uttered these words the hare turned,--indeed it was time for her--and both dogs shot forward, by the impetus of their flight, so far beyond the point of her turn, that she started off towards the haunted house. She had little time to spare, however, for they were once more gaining on her; but still she approached the house, the dogs nearing her fast. She approached the house, we say; she entered the open door, the dogs within a few yards of her, when, almost in an instant, they came to a standstill, looked into it, but did not enter; and when whistled back to where Woodward and Barney stood, they looked in Barney"s eye, not only panting and exhausted, as indeed they were, but terrified also.
"Well, Masther Harry," said he, a.s.suming the air of a man who spoke with authority, "what do you think of that?"
"I think you are right," replied Woodward; a.s.suming on his part, for reasons which will be subsequently understood, an impression of sudden conviction. "I think you are right, Barney, and that the Black Spectre and the witch are acquaintances."
"Try her wid a silver bullet," said Barney; "there is nothing else for it. No dog can kill her--that"s a clear case; but souple as she is, a silver bullet is the only messenger that can overtake her. Bad luck to her, the thief! sure, if she"d turn to G.o.d and repint, it isn"t codgerin" wid sich company she"d be, and often in danger, besides, of havin" a greyhound"s nose at her flank. I hope you"re satisfied, Masther Harry?"
"Perfectly, Barney; there can be no doubt about it now. As for my part, I know not what temptation could induce me to enter that haunted house.
I see that I was on dangerous ground when I defied the witch in the hut; but I shall take care to be more cautious in future."
They then bent their steps homewards, each sufficiently fatigued and exhausted after the sports of the day to require both food and rest.
Woodward went early to bed, but Barney, who was better accustomed to exercise, having dined heartily in the kitchen, could not, for the soul of him, contain within his own bosom the awful and supernatural adventure which had just occurred. He a.s.sumed, as before, a very solemn and oracular air; spoke little, however, but that little was deeply abstracted and mysterious. It was evident to the whole kitchen that he was brimful of something, and that that something was of more than ordinary importance.
"Well, Barney, had you and Masther Harry a pleasant day"s sport? I see you have brought home five hares," said the cook.
"Hum!" groaned Barney; "but no matther; it"s a quare world, Mrs. Malony, and there"s strange things in it. Heaven bless me! Heaven bless me, and Heaven bless us all, if it comes to that! Masther Harry said he"d send me down a couple o" gla.s.ses of------O, here comes Biddy wid them; that"s a girl, Bid--divil sich a kitchen-maid in Europe!"
Biddy handed him a decanter with about half a pint of stout whiskey in it, a portion of which pa.s.sed into a goblet, was diluted with water, and drunk off, after which he smacked his lips, but with a melancholy air, and then, looking solemnly and meditatively into the fire, relapsed into silence.
"Did you meet any fairies on your way?" asked Nanse, the housemaid. For about half a minute Barney did not reply; but at length, looking about him, he started--
"Eh? What"s that? Who spoke to me?"
"Who spoke to you?" replied Nanse. "Why, I think you"re beside yoursel"--I did."
"What did you say, Nanse? I am beside myself."
There was now a sudden cessation in all the culinary operations, a general pause, and a rapid congregating around Barney, who still sat looking solemnly into the fire.
"Why, Barney, there"s something strange over you," said the cook.
"Heaven help the poor boy; sure, it"s a shame to be tormentin" him this way; but in the name of goodness, Barney, and as you have a sowl to be saved, will you tell us all? Stand back, Nanse, and don"t be torturin"
the poor lad this way, as I said."
"Biddy," said Barney, his mind still wandering, and his eyes still fixed on the fire--"Biddy, darlin", will you hand me that de-canther agin; I find I"m not aquil to it. Heaven presarve us! Heaven presarve us! that"s it; now hand me the wather, like an angel out of heaven, as you are, Bid. Ah, glory be to goodness, but that"s refreshin", especially afther sich a day--sich a day! O saints above, look down upon us poor sinners, one and all, men and women, wid pity and compa.s.sion this night! Here; I"m very wake; let me get to bed; is there any pump wather in the kitchen?"
To describe the pitch to which he had them wound up would be utterly impossible. He sat in the cook"s arm-chair, leaning a little back, his feet placed upon the fender, and his eyes, as before, immovably, painfully, and abstractedly fixed upon the embers. He was now the centre of a circle, for they were all crowded about him, wrapped up to the highest possible pitch of curiosity.
"We were talkin" about Masther Harry," said he, "the other night, and I think I tould you something about him; it"s like a dhrame to me that I did."
"You did, indeed, Barney," said the cook, coaxingly, "and I hope that what you tould us wasn"t true."
"Aye, but about to-day, Barney; somthin" has happened to-day that"s troublin" you."
"Who is it said that?" said he, his eyes now closed, as if he were wrapped up in some distressing mystery. "Was it you, Nanse? It"s like your voice, achora."