'53 
THE WITCH OF SMOKY HOLLOW 
CHAPTER I 
IN a hollow on the side of one of the hills of a south- 
ern county, twety-five years ago, there nestled a sub- 
stantial building. Half farm-house, half cottage it was, 
-as to style, but a massive structure, having thick oak 
doors and window-frames, with stout shutters to guard 
the narrow lights. It gave one the idea that the man 
who had built it, whatever he might have been, desired 
safety and privacy in his home. It was grey with age 
and covered with lichens when I knew it first ; and 
the thinly scattered rustic population in the country 
round could give me no information as to who built 
it or the character of its inhabitants. 
Local tradition, however, hinted that a great man, 
who once owned most of the property about, had 
caused it to be built for a very beautiful lady to live 
in. At the time I first knew the place it was not in- 
habited ; and, with the exception of a shepherd or a 
woodman, who at rare intervals passed that way, very 
