154 THE WITCH OF SMOKY HOLLOW 
few knew that such a house was in existence. The 
hill-side faced the south, and the only approach was 
a very narrow path leading from the moor which 
bordered on the hill-side. 
The hollow was wide and deep, and its sides were 
covered with trees from top to bottom, and tangled 
thicket growth. A spring of the purest water rose 
close to the house and trickled along the side of the 
green stripe which came down from the moor. If you 
stood on the hill immediately above, you might pos- 
sibly catch sight of a large stack of chimneys, but 
nothing more. The manor farm was the nearest 
dwelling to it, and that was a mile and a half distant. 
Though a lonely spot, yet it was warm and shel- 
tered. The venturesome urchins from the hamlet 
knew that the first primroses and bluebells, to say 
nothing of the blue eggs of the hedge-sparrow and 
the larger speckled treasures of the thrush and the 
blackbird, were to be found in the hollow, and they 
would sometimes dare to go there in company in the 
bright sunshine ; but they always shunned the spot 
when the sun was sinking, for they would whisper to 
one another that ' a summut ' in the shape of ' a furrin 
lady ' was to be seen ' walkin' roun' that 'ere old house 
a-cryinV 
When wintry winds swept over the hills and 
