15 



FOX-FIRE 



gence until the next even- 

 ing, but it had entirely dis- 

 appeared by the following 

 night, at which time its 

 original haunt, the post, was 

 also doubtless lost in the 

 darkness. A week later I 

 again passed its neighbor- 

 hood in the late 

 hours without -- 

 the slightest hint 

 of its presence. 



This is the mysterious "fox-fire" or "ghost- 

 fire" which has so imposed upon the imagina- 

 tions of credulous country folk the world over, 

 doubtless a conspicuous factor in many a har- 

 rowing tale in the legendary or traditional lore 



of spooks and 

 goblins, 



I remember 

 the breathless 

 interest with 

 which as a boy 

 I listened to the 

 weird story, 

 whose scene 

 was located not 

 far from my na- 

 tive town, of a 



