SUPERSTITIONS AND HAUNTINGS 279 



he recovered and gave orders that on no excuse 

 was the man who had come that day ever to be 

 let into the house again, especially if he himself 

 was ill and helpless. 



The heir, reformed for a space, and then 

 weary of good works grew wilder and wickeder 

 than ever, until he again fell ill. 



He was lying in the same room and again some- 

 one rang. The butler seeing the foreign-looking 

 man waiting outside, tried to shut the door and 

 call his mistress. 



The man pushed past him and ran upstairs. 



It took a few minutes to find anyone, and this 

 time all was quiet, no shriek arose. 



No shriek, but the boy's bed was empty. He 

 was not there. He had disappeared and was 

 never seen again. 



There were no trains in those days either to 

 bring the stranger down or take the two away. 



The heir was never seen again and the country 

 people point to the house and say : 



" One of thim was carried off be the Divil." 



Whether there was murder in it and the boy 

 was hidden by his people no one will ever know% 

 If you ask one of them they will tell you there was 

 no explanation. 



About ten years ago a woman disappeared — 

 I think it was in Galway. 



It was snowy weather. She went to the weU 

 for a bucket of water and was never seen again. 



