OWLS IN A VILLAGE 183 



proved a false prophet, the warning of the owl came 

 to startle her afresh. At noonday she heard it hoot- 

 ing in the great horse-chestnut overgrown with ivy 

 that stands at the roadside, close to her cottage. 

 The incident was discussed by the villagers with their 

 usual solemnity and head- shakings, and now the 

 young woman gave up all hopes of her sick aunt's re- 

 covery ; for that one of her people was going to die 

 was certain, and it could be no other than that ailing 

 one. And, after all, the message and warning was 

 for her and not the aunt. Not many days after the 

 owl had hooted in broad daylight, she dropped down 

 dead in her cottage while engaged in some domestic 

 work. 



On the following morning I went with the friend 

 I was visiting at Willersey to Saintbury, and the 

 story heard overnight was confirmed. The owl had 

 been hooting in the daytime in the same old horse- 

 chestnut tree from which it had a short time ago 

 foretold the young woman's death. One of the 

 villagers, who was engaged in repairing the thatch 

 of a cottage close to the tree, informed us that the 

 owl's hooting had not troubled him in the least. 

 Owls, he truly said, often hoot in the daytime during 

 the autumn months, and he did not believe that it 

 meant death for some one. 



