THE WITCH OF SMOKY HOLLOW 159 
the blow had left smartin', he used come an' wander 
roun' that 'ere house in the holler fur days, an' nights 
too sometimes, an' then he said as he'd travel, there 
waunt nothin' tu hold him here now ; an' he give the 
most strict orders as no one wus tu live thear, only 
an old critter tu see as nothin' went wrong inside like, 
an' the room as she wus fond o' sittin' in wus tu be 
locked up, an' iverythin' wus to be left as she'd left 
it ; nobody wus tu lay a finger on it. He took the 
children with him when he went to furrin parts. He 
niver cum back, fur he died thear, an' then his wife 
she fretted an' troubled so, that 'twaunt long afore 
she went off; fur she wus martal fond o' he. 
' 'Twus said not so werry long ago as some o' that 
'ere furrin lady's family wus livin' ; an' some of the 
folks 'bout here, older than I be, say as they reckons 
as they old chimbleys ull hev smoke cum out of 'em 
afore long. An' that is all I knows on, fur tu hev 
any sense like.' 
CHAPTER II 
IN the spring of the following year my business took 
me again into the neighbourhood of Smoky Hollow, 
to stay for some time. The birds sang their loudest 
