THE DEAD WATCH, 137 



person we both knew, " is very ill, and not likely to last long.' 

 " I saw him to-day," we observed, " and I fear that what you say 

 is true : he cannot last long." " Well, sir, it will be a good thing 



for John (the person recently buried) ; his term of watching 



will be a short one." " I do not understand what you mean," we 

 observed, with some curiosity. " The man is dead and buried ; 

 what watching should he have to do?" "Why, sir, don't you 

 know that the spirit of the last person buried in the island has to 

 keep watch and ward over the graves till the spirit of the next 

 person buried takes his place?" " I really did not know that," we 

 replied. " Is it a common opinion that such is the case, and do 

 you believe it yourself ? " " Well, sir, it is generally believed by 

 the people ; and having always heard that it was so, I cannot well 

 help believing it too. The spirit whose watch it is, is present there 

 day and night. Some people have seen them : my mother, God 

 rest her ! once pointed out to me, when I was a little boy, an 

 appearance, as of a flame of light on the island, slowly moving 

 backwards and forwards, and she assured me it was the watching 

 spirit going his rounds." " What particular object has the spirit in 

 watching?" we asked. "Well, I don't exactly know," was the 

 answer. " He just takes a sort of general charge of the Island of 

 the Dead, until his successor arrives." We have since found that 

 a belief in this superstition is common among the old people. The 

 spirit or ghost is supposed to be to a certain extent unhappy, and 

 impatient of relief while in the discharge of this office, and thus, it 

 is considered, that the sooner after a funeral there is occasion again 

 for the opening of a grave, the better it is for the spirit of the last 

 person interred, who then, and not till then, passes finally and 

 fully to his rest. 



We have to warn such of our readers as dwell by the sea, 

 and all " who go down to the sea in ships, and see His wonders 

 in the deep," that unusually high tides may be expected 



