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L
THE EVIL EYE;
OB,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
A ROMANCE.
BY WILLIAM CARLETON,
AUTHOR OF " TALE8 AND STORIES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY,* VALENTINE
M‘CLUTCIIY,” “WILLY REILLY,” “THE BLACK BARONET,' ‘JANE,
SINCLAIR*” “THE TITHE PROCTOR,” “THE BROKEN PLEDGE,’ &C.
m library
hill,
NEW YORK :
P. J. KENEDY,
EXCELSIOR PUBLISHING HOUSE,
5 BARCLAY STREET.
1896.
PR
Lf 1^16
.ES
)
Copyright,
D. & J. SADLIER & CO
1885.
boston college library ]
CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, f
TO
EDWARD AND ANTHONY FOX,
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,
All AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE MANY ACTS OF KINDNESS, WHICH
I HAVE FROM TIME TO TIME RECEIVED AT THEIR HANDS l
AND
PERHAPS WHEN THEY AND I SHALL BE IN THE DUST,
THEIR DESCENDANTS,
EVEN UPON THE STRENGTH OF THIS HUMBLE TESTIMONY,
WILL FEEL PROUD OF THOSE VIRTUES,
WHICH IN THE COURSE OF TIME AND YEARS MIGHT HAVE BEEN
OTHERWISE FORGOTTEN.
WILLIAM OARLETON.
PREFACE
There is very little to be said about this book in the
shape of a preface. The superstition of the Evil Eye is, and
has been, one of the most general that ever existed among
men. It may puzzle philosophers to ask why it prevails
wherever mankind exist . There is not a country on the
face of the earth where a belief in the influence of the Evil
Eye does not prevail. In my own young days it was a set-
tled dogma of belief. I have reason to know, however, that,
like other superstitions, it is fast fading out of the public
mind. Education and knowledge will soon banish those idle
and senseless superstitions : indeed, it is a very difficult thing
to account for their existence at all. I think some of them
have come down to us from the times of the Druids, — a class
of men whom, excepting what is called their human sacrifices,
I respect. My own opinion is, that what we term human
sacrifices was nothing but their habitual mode of executing
criminals. Toland has written on the subject and left us very
little the wiser. Who could, after all, give us information
upon a subject which to us is only like a dream f
What first suggested the story of the Evil Eye to me was
this: A man named Case, who lives within a distance of
about three or four hundred yards of my residence, keeps a
ri
PREFACE.
large dairy ; he is the possessor of five or six and twenty of
the finest cows I ever saw, and he told me that a man who
was an enemy of his killed three of them by his overlooking
them, — that is to say, by the influence of the Evil Eye.
The opinion in Ireland of the Evil Eye is this : that a man
or woman possessing it may hold it harmless, unless there is
some selfish design or some spirit of vengeance to call it into
operation. I was aware of this, and I accordingly constructed
my story upon that principle. I have nothing further to add ;
the story itself will detail the rent.
CONTENTS
9AQM
I. — SHORT AND PRELIMINARY . . . .1
n. — a murderer’s wake and the arrival of a
STRANGER ..... 15
m. — THE BREAKFAST NEXT MORNING. — WOODWARD, ON
HIS WAY HOME, MEETS A STRANGER. — THEIR
CONVERSATION . . . . .40
IV. — WOODWARD MEETS A GUIDE. — HIS RECEPTION AT
HOME. — PREPARATIONS FOR A F&TE . . 59
V. — THE BONFIRE. — THE PRODIGY . . .85
VI. — SHAWN-N A-MIDDOGUE. — SHAN-DHINNE-DHUV, OR THE
BLACK SPECTRE. .... 109
VH. — A COUNCIL OF TWO. — VISIT TO BEECHGROVE. — THE
HERBALIST ..... 134
VIII. — A HEALING OF THE BREACH. — A PROPOSAL FOR
MARRIAGE ACCEPTED . • • . 161
IX. — CHASE OF THE WHITE HARE. . . . 184
X. — TRUE LOVE DEFEATED .... 207
XI. — A CONJURER’S LEVEE .... 230
XH. — FORTUNE-TELLING .... 259
XIH. — WOODWARD IS DISCARDED FROM MR. GOODWIN’S
FAMILY. — OTHER PARTICULARS OF IMPOR-
TANCE ...... 283
XTV. — SHAWN-N A-MIDDOGUE STABS CHARLES LINDSAY IN
MISTAKE FOR HIS BROTHER . . . 807
XV. — THE BANSHEE. — DISAPPEARANCE OF GRACE DAVO-
REN ...... 329
XVI. — A HOUSE OF SORROW. — AFTER WHICH FOLLOWS A
COURTING SCENE .... 848
Vlll
CONTENTS,
CHAPTER PAG*
XVII. — DESCRIPTION OP THE ORIGINAL TORT.— THEIR
MANNER OP SWEARING . . . .371
XVIII. — THE TOIR, OR TORY-HUNT . • • 390
XIX. — PLANS AND NEGOTIATIONS . . • .412
XX. — woodward’s visit to ballyspellan . . 435
XXI. — THE DINNER AT BALLYSPELLAN. — THE APPEAR-
ANCE OP WOODWARD. — VALENTINE GREAT-
RAKES • «*••«
XXn. — HISTORY OP THE BLACK SPECTRE
XXIII. — GREATRAKES AT WORK. — DENOUEMENT
451
473
m
THE EVIL EYE;
OR,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
CHAPTER I.
SHORT AND PRELIMINARY.
In a certain part of Ireland, inside the borders of the
county of Waterford, lived two respectable families,
named Lindsay and Goodwin, the former being of
Scotch descent. Their respective residences were not
more than three miles distant ; and the intimacy that
subsisted between them was founded, for many years,
upon mutual good-will and esteem, with two exceptions
only in one of the families, which the reader will under-
stand in the course of our narrative. Each ranked in
the class known as that of the middle gentry. These
two neighbors — one of whom, Mr. Lindsay, was a
magistrate — were contented with their lot in life,
which was sufficiently respectable and independent to
secure to them that true happiness which is most fre-
quently annexed to the middle station. Lindsay was a
man of a kind and liberal heart, easy and passive in his
nature, but with a good deal of sarcastic humor, yet
neither severe nor prejudiced, and, consequently, a
2
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
popular magistrate as well as a popular man. Good-
win might be said to possess a similar disposition ; but
he was of a more quiet and unobtrusive character than
his cheerful neighbor. His mood of mind was placid
and serene, and his heart as tender and affectionate as
ever beat in a human bosom. His principal enjoyment
lay in domestic life — in the society, in fact, of his wife
and one beautiful daughter, his only child, a girl of
nineteen when our tale opens. Lindsay’s family con
sisted of one son and two daughters ; but his wife, who
was a widow when he married her, had another son by
her first husband, who had been abroad almost since
his childhood, with a grand-uncle, whose intention was
to provide for him, being a man of great wealth and a
bachelor.
We have already said that the two families were
upon the most intimate and friendly terms ; but to this
there was one exception in the person of Mrs. Lindsay,
whose natural disposition was impetuous, implacable,
and overbearing ; equally destitute of domestic tender-
ness and good temper. She was, in fact, a woman
whom not even her own children, gifted as they were
with the best and most affectionate dispositions, could
love as children ought to love a parent. Utterly devoid
of charity, she was never known to bestow a kind act
upon the poor or distressed, or a kind word upon the
absent. Vituperation and calumny were her constant
weapons ; and one would imagine, by the frequency
and bitterness with which she wielded them, that she
was in a state of perpetual warfare with society. Such,
indeed, was the case ; but the evils which resulted
from her wanton and indefensible aggressions upon pri-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
vate character almost uniformly recoiled upon her own
head ; for, as far as her name was known, she was not
only unpopular, but odious. Her husband was a man
naturally fond of peace and quietness in his own house
and family; and, rather than occasion anything in
the shape of domestic disturbance, he continued to
treat her intemperate authority sometimes with indif-
ference, sometimes with some sarcastic observation or
other, and occasionally with open and undisguised con-
tempt. In some instances, however, he departed from
this apathetic line of conduct, and turned upon her with
a degree of asperity and violence that was as impetu-
ous as it was decisive. His reproaches were then
general, broad, fearful ; but these were seldom resorted
to unless when her temper had gone beyond all reason-
able limits of endurance, or in defence of the absent or
inoffensive. It mattered not, however, what the rea-
son may have been, they never failed to gain their
object at the time ; for the woman, though mischievous
and wicked, ultimately quailed, yet not without resis-
tance, before the exasperated resentment of her hus-
band. Those occasional victories, however, which he
gained over her with reluctance, never prevented her
from treating him, in the ordinary business of life, with
a systematic exhibition of abuse and scorn. Much of
this he bore, as we have said ; but whenever he chose
to retort upon her with her own weapons in their com-
mon and minor skirmishes, she found his sarcasm too
cool and biting for a temper so violent as hers, and the
consequence was, that nothing enraged her more than
to see him amuse himself at her expense.
This woman had a brother, who also lived in the
4
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
same neighborhood, and who, although so closely
related to her by blood, was, nevertheless, as different
from her in both character and temper as good could
be from evil. He was wealthy and generous, free from
everything like a worldly spirit, and a warm but unos-
tentatious benefactor to the poor, and to such individ-
uals as upon inquiry he found to be entitled to his
beneficence. His wife had, some years before, died
of decline, which, it seems, was hereditary in her fam-
ily. He felt her death as a calamity which depressed
his heart to the uttermost depths of affiiction, and
from which, indeed, he never recovered. All that
remained to him after her demise was a beautiful little
girl, around whom his affections gathered with a degree
of tenderness that was rendered almost painful by the
apprehension of her loss. Agnes, from her eighth or
ninth year, began to manifest slight symptoms of the
same fatal malady which had carried away her mother.
These attacks filled his heart with those fearful fore-
bodings, which, whilst they threw him into a state of
terror and alarm, at the same time rendered the love
he bore her such as may be imagined, but cannot bo
expressed. It is only when we feel the probability of
losing a beloved object that the heart awakens to a
more exquisite perception of its affections for it, and
wonders, when the painful symptoms of disease appear,
why it was heretofore unconscious of the full extent
of its love. Such was the nature of Mr. Hamilton’s
feelings for his daughter, whenever the short cough or
hectic check happened to make their appearance from
time to time, and foreshadow, as it were, the certainty
of an early death ; and then he should be childless—
THE BLACK SPECTRE*
5
a lonely man in the world, possessing a heart over-
flowing with affection, and yet without an object on
which he could lavish it, as now, with happiness and
delight. He looked, therefore, upon decline as upon
an approaching foe, and the father’s heart became sen-
tinel for the welfare of his child, and watched every
symptom of the dreaded disease that threatened her,
with a vigilance that never slept. Under such circum-
stances we need not again assure our readers that his
parental tenderness for this beautiful girl — now his
“only one,” as he used to call her — was such as is
rare even in the most affectionate families ; but in this
case the slight and doubtful tenure which his appre-
hensions told him he had of her existence raised his
love of her almost to idolatry. Still she improved in
person, grace, and intellect; and although an occa-
sional shadow, as transient as that which passes over
and makes dim the flowery fields of May or April,
darkened her father’s heart for a time, yet it passed
away, and she danced on in the light of youthful happi-
ness, without a single trace of anxiety or care. Her
father’s affection for her was not, however, confined to
herself; on the contrary, it passed to and embraced
every object that was dear to her — her favorite books,
her favorite playthings, and her favorite companions.
Among the latter, without a single rival, stood her
young friend, Alice Goodwin, who was then about her
own age. Never was the love of sisters greater or
more beautiful than that which knit the innocent hearts
of those two girls together. Their affections, in short,
were so dependent upon each other that separation and
absence became a source of anxiety and uneasiness to
6
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
each. Neither of them had a sister, and, in the fervor
of their attachment, they entered into a solemn en-
gagement that each of them should consider herself the
lister of the other. This innocent experiment of the
heart — for such we must consider it in these two sister-
less girls — was at least rewarded by complete success.
A new affinity wras superadded to friendship, and the
force of imagination completed what the heart begun.
Next to Agnes was Alice Goodwin awarded a place
in Mr. Hamilton’s heart. ’Tis true he had nieces ; but
in consequence of the bitter and exasperating temper
of their mother, who was neither more nor less than an
incendiary among her relations, he had not spoken to
her for years ; and this fact occasioned a comparative
estrangement between the families. Sometimes, how-
ever, her nieces and she visited, and were always
upon good terms; but Agnes’s heart had been pre-
occupied ; and even if it had not, the heartless predic-
tions of her aunt, who entertained her with the cheering
and consoling information that u she had death in her
face,” and that u she knew from the high color of her
cheek that she would soon follow her mother,” would
have naturally estranged the families. Now, of this
apprehension, above all others, it was the father’s wish
that Agnes should remain ignorant; and when she
repeated to him, with tears in her eyes, the merciless
purport of her aunt’s observations, he replied, with a
degree of calm resentment which was unusual to him,
u Agnes, my love, let not anything your aunt may
say alarm you in the least ; she is no prophetess, my
dear child. Your life, as is that of all his creatures, is
in the hands of God who gave it. I know her avari-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
7
cious and acrimonious disposition — her love of wealth,
and her anxiety to aggrandize her family. As it is, she
will live to regret the day she ever uttered those cruel
words to you, my child. You shall visit at your
uncle’s no more. Whenever the other members of her
family may please to come here, we shall receive them
with kindness and affection ; but I will not suffer you
to run the risk of listening to such unfeeling prognosti-
cations in future.”
In the meantime her health continued in a state
sufficiently satisfactory to her father. It is true an
occasional alarm was felt from time to time, as a slight
cold, accompanied with its hard and unusual cough,
happened to supervene; but in general it soon dis-
appeared, and in a brief space she became perfectly
recovered, and free from every symptom of the dread-
ful malady.
In this way the tenor of her pure and innocent
life went on, until she reached her sixteenth year.
Never did a happier young creature enjoy existence—
never lived a being more worthy of happiness. Her
inseparable and bosom friend was Alice Goodwin, now
her sister according to their artless compact of love.
They spent weeks and months alternately with each
other ; but her father never permitted a day to pass
without seeing her, and every visit filled his happy
spirit with more hopeful anticipations.
At this period it occurred to him to have their por-
traits drawn, and on hearing him mention this inten-
tion, their young hearts were ecstatic with delight.
u But, papa,” said Agnes, u if you do I have a favor
to ask of you.”
8
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Granted, Agnes, if it be possible.”
“0, quite possible, papa; it is to get both our
portraits painted in the same frame, for, do you know,
I don’t think I could feel happy if Alice’s portrait waa
separated from mine.
u It shall be done, darling — it shall be done.”
And it was done, accordingly ; for what fi ther could
refuse a request founded upon an affection so tender
and beautiful as theirs ?
Agnes has now entered her seventeenth year — but
how is this ? Why does her cheek begin to get alter-
nately pale and red ? And why does the horizon of
the father’s heart begin to darken ? Alas ! it is so —
the spoiler is upon her at last. Appetite is gone — her
spirits are gone, unless in these occasional ebullitions
of vivacity which resemble the lightnings which flash
from the cloud that is gathering over her. It would
be painful to dwell minutely upon the history of her
illness — upon her angelic patience and submission to
the will of God, and upon the affection, now conse-
crated by approaching death into something sacred,
which she exhibited to her father and Alice. The
latter was never from her during the progress of that
mournful decline. The poor dying girl found all the
tenderest offices of love and friendship anticipated.
Except heaven she had scarcely anything to wish for.
But who can even imagine the hopeless agony of her
father’s soul? She had been the single remaining
plank which bore him through a troubled ocean to a
calm and delightful harbor ; but now she is going down,
leaving him to struggle, weak and exhausted for a little,
and then the same dark waves will cover them both.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
9
At length the dreadful hour arrived — the last slight
spasm of death was over, and her spotless soul passed
into heaven from the bereaved arms of her hopeless
and distracted father, who was reduced by the depth
and wildness of despair to a state of agony which
might wring compassion from a demon.
On the morning of her interment, Alice, completely
prostrated by excess of grief and watching, was as-
sisted to bed, being unable to accomplish even the
short distance to her father’s house, and for nearly a
fortnight serious doubts were entertained of her re-
covery. Her constitution, however, though not natur-
ally strong, enabled her to rally, and in three weeks’
time she was barely able to go home to her family.
On the day following Mr. Hamilton called to see her
— a task to which, under the dreadful weight of his
sorrow, he was scarcely equal. He said he con-
sidered it, however, his duty, and he accordingly went.
His visit, too, was very short, nor had he much to
say, and it was well he had not ; for he could by no
exertion have summoned sufficient fortitude for a
lengthened conversation on a subject arising from the
loss of a child so deeply beloved.
u Alice,” said he, “ I know the arrangement entered
into between you — and— and ”
Here he was overcome, and could not for a few
minutes maintain sufficient calmness to proceed, and
poor Alice was almost as deeply affected as himself.
At last he strove to go on.
u You know,” he resumed, u the agreement I allude
to. You were to be sisters, and you were sisters.
Well, my dear Alice, for her sake, as well as for your
10
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
own, and as she looked upon you in that affectionate
light, the contract between you, as far as it now can
be done, shall be maintained. Henceforth you are my
daughter . I adopt you. All that she was to have
shall be yours, reverting, however, should you die
without issue, to my nephew, Henry Woodward ; and
should he die childless, to his brother, Charles Lindsay ;
and should he die without offspring, then to my niece
Maria. I have arranged it so, and have to say that,
except the hope of meeting my child in death, it is
now the only consolation left me. I am, I know, ful-
filling her wishes ; and, my dear Alice, you will relieve
my heart — my broken heart — by accepting it.”
“ O, would to God,” replied Alice, sobbing bitterly,
u that I could give a thousand times as much to have
our beloved Agnes back again ! I have now no sister !
Alas ! alas ! I have now no sister ! ”
u Ah, my child,” he replied, u for now I will call you
so, your grief, though deep and poignant, will pass
away in time, but mine will abide with me whilst I stay
here. That period, however, will not be long; the
prop of my existence, the source of my happiness, is
gone ; and I will never know what happiness is until I
rejoin her and her blessed mother. Good-by, my
daughter ; I will have neither reply nor remonstrance,
nor will I be moved by any argument from this my
resolution.”
He then passed out of the house, entered his car-
riage with some difficulty, and proceeded home with a
heart considerably relieved by what he had done.
It was in vain that Alice and her father did subse-
quently remonstrate with him upon the subject. He
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
11
refused to listen to them, and said his determination
was immovable.
u But,” he added, u if it be any satisfaction to you
to know it, I have not forgotten my relations, to whom
I have left the legacies originally intended for them.
I would have left it directly to Henry Woodward,
were it not that his grasping mother sent him to anoth-
er relation, from whom she calculated that he might
have larger expectations ; and I hope he may realize
them. At all events, my relatives will find themselves
in exactly the same position as if our beloved Agnes
had lived.”
Mr. Hamilton, then advanced in years — for Agnes
might be termed the child of his old age — did not
survive her death twelve months. That afflicting
event fairly broke him down. Death, however, to
him had no terrors, because he had nothing to detain
him here. On the contrary, he looked to it only as a
release from sorrow; an event that would soon wipe
away all tears from his eyes, draw the sting of afflic-
tion from his heart, and restore him once more to his
beloved Agnes and her dear mother. He looked
forward only to close his eyes against the world and
sleep with them — and so he did.
When his will was opened, the astonishment and
dismay of his relations may be easily imagined, as well
as the bitterness of their disappointment. The be-
queathal of the bulk of his property to a stranger, who
could urge no claim of consanguinity upon him, abso-
lutely astonished them ; and their resentment at his
caprice — or rather what they termed his dotage — was
not only deep, but loud. To say the truth, such an
12
THE EVIL EYE; OB,
unexpected demise of property was strongly calculated
to try their temper. After the death of Agnes — an
event which filled the unfeeling and worldly heart of
her aunt with delight — they made many a domestic
calculation, and held many a family council as to the
mode in which their uncle’s property might be dis-
tributed among them, and many anticipations were the
result, because there was none in the usual descent of
property to inherit it but themselves. Now, in all this
they acted very naturally — just, perhaps, as you or I,
gentle reader, would act if placed in similar circum-
stances, and sustained by the same expectations.
In the meantime matters were not likely to rest in
quiet. Murmurs went abroad, hints were given, and
broader assertions advanced, that the old man had not
been capable of making a will, and that his mind had
been so completely disordered and prostrated by exces-
sive grief for the loss of his daughter, that he became
the dupe and victim of undue influence in the person
of a selfish and artful girl — that artful girl being no
other than Alice Goodwin, aided and abetted by her
family. Every circumstance, no matter how trivial,
that could be raked up and collected, was now brought
together, and stamped with a character of significance,
in order to establish his dotage and their fraud. It
is not necessary to dwell upon this. In due time the
matter came to a trial, for the will had been disputed,
and, after a patient hearing, its validity was com-
pletely established, and all the hopes and expectations
of the Lindsays blown into air.
In the meantime, and while the suit was pending,
the conduct of Alice was both generous and disinter-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
13
ested. She pressed her parents to allow hex, under
the peculiar circumstances of the case, to renounce the
bequest, inasmuch as she thought that Mr. Hamilton’s
relatives had a stronger and prior claim. This, how-
ever, they peremptorily refused to do.
u I care not for money,” said her father, u nor have
I much to spare; but you must consider, my dear
Alice, that the act upon the part of Mr. Hamilton was
a spontaneous demise of his own property, as a reward
to you on behalf of his daughter, for the affection
which you bore her, and which subsisted between you.
You were her nurse, her friend, her sister ; you tended
her night and day during her long illness, even to the
injury of your health, and almost at the risk of your
very life. Suppose, for instance, that Mr. Hamilton
had had male heirs ; in that case, the Lindsays would
have been just as they are, perhaps not so well ; for he
might not have left them even a legacy. Then, they
unjustly tax us with fraud, circumvention, and the
practice of undue influence ; and, indeed, have endeav-
ored to stamp an indelible stain upon your character
and honor. Every man, my dear, as the proverb has
it, is at liberty to do what he pleases with his own,
according to his free will, and a reasonable disposition.
Let me hear no more of this, then, but enjoy with
gratitude that which God and your kind friend have
bestowed upon you.”
We need not assure our readers that the Lindsays
henceforth were influenced by an unfriendly feeling
toward the Goodwins, and that all intercourse be-
tween the families terminated. On the part of Mrs.
Lindsay, this degenerated into a spirit of the most
14
THE EVIL EYEJ OR,
intense hatred and malignity. To this enmity, how-
ever, there were exceptions in the family, and strong
ones, too, as the reader will perceive in the course of
the story.
Old Lindsay himself, although he mentioned the
Goodwins with moderation, could not help feeling
strongly and bitterly the loss of property which his
children had sustained, owing to this unexpected dis-
position of it by their uncle. Here, then, were two
families who had lived in mutual good-will and inti-
macy, now placed fronting each other in a spirit of
hostility. The Goodwins felt indignant that their
motives should be misinterpreted by what they con-
sidered deliberate falsehood and misrepresentation;
and the Lindsays could not look in silence upon the
property which they thought ought to be theirs, trans-
ferred to the possession of strangers, who had wheedled
a dotard to make a will in their favor. Such, however,
in thousands of instances, are the consequences of the
“ Opes irritamenta malorum.”
The above facts, in connection with these two
families, and the future incidents of our narrative, we
have deemed it necessary, for the better understanding
of what follows, to place in a preliminary sketch before
our readers.
THE BLACK SPECTRB*
15
CHAPTER H.
A murderer’s wake and the arrival of a stranger.
It is the month of June, and the sun has gone down
amidst a mass of those red and angry clouds which
prognosticate a night of storm and tempest. The air
is felt to be oppressive and sultry, and the whole sky is
overshadowed with gloom. On such a night the spirit
sinks, cheerfulness abandons the heart, and an indefin-
able anxiety depresses it. This impression is not
peculiar to man, who, on such occasions, is only sub-
ject to the same instinctive apprehension which is
known to influence the irrational animals. The clouds
are gathering in black masses ; but there is, neverthe-
less, no opening between them through which the sky
is visible. The gloom is unbroken, and so is the
silence; and a person might imagine that the great
operations of Nature had been suspended and stood
still. The outlying cattle betake them to shelter, and
the very dogs, with a subdued and timid bark, seek
the hearth, and, with ears and tail hanging in terror,
lay themselves down upon it as if to ask protection
from man. On such a night as this we will request
the reader to follow us toward a district that trenches
upon the foot of a dark mountain, from whose precipi-
tous sides masses of gray rock, apparently embedded
in heath and fern, protrude themselves in uncouth and
gigantic shapes. ;Tis true they were not then visible j
16
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
but we wish the reader to understand the character
of the whole scenery through which we pass. We
diverge from the highway into a mountain road, which
resembles the body of a serpent when in motion, going
literally up one elevation, and down another. To the
right, deep glens, gullies, and ravines ; but the dark-
ness with which they are now filled is thick and im-
pervious to the eye, and nothing breaks the silence
about us but the rush of the mountain torrent over
some jutting precipice below us. To the left all is
gloom, as it would be even were there light to guide
the sight, because on that side spreads a black, inter-
minable moor. As it is we can see nothing; yet as
we get along we find that we are not alone. Voices
reach our ears ; but they are not, as usual, the voices
of mirth or laughter. These which we hear — and they
are not far from us — are grave and serious ; the utter-
ance thick and low, as if those from whom they pro-
ceed were expressing a sense of sympathy or horror.
We have now advanced up this rugged path about
half a mile from the highway we have mentioned, and
discovered a light which will guide us to our destina-
tion. As we approach the house the people are
increasing in point of numbers; but still their con-
versation is marked by the same strange and peculiar
character. Perhaps the solemn depth of their voices
gains something by the ominous aspect of the sky ;
but, be this as it may, the feeling which it occasions
fills one with a different and distinct sense of discom-
fort. We ourselves feel it, and it is not surprising;
for, along this wild and rugged path of darkness, we
are conducting the reader to the wake of a murderer.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
17
We have now arrived within fifty yards of the house,
which, however, we cannot see, for nothing but a
solitary light is visible. But, lo ! a flash of lightning !
and there for a moment is the whole rugged and
savage scenery revealed. The huge, pointed moun-
tains, the dreary wastes, the wild, still glens, the
naked hills of granite, and the tremendous piles of
rocks, ready, one would think, to crash down from the
positions where they seem to hang, if only assailed by
a strong gale of wind — these objects, we say, were
fearful and startling in themselves ; but the sensations
which they produced were nothing in comparison with
the sight of an unpainted deal coffin which stood near
the door, against the side wall of the house. The
appearance of a coffin, but especially at night, is one
that casts a deep shadow over the spirits, because it is
associated with death, of which it is the melancholy
and depressing exponent ; but to look upon it by such
an awful though transient light as that which pro-
ceeds from the angry fires of heaven, and to reflect
upon the terrible associations of blood and crime which
mingle themselves with that of a murderer, is a dread-
ful but wholesome homily to the heart. We now
enter the house of death, where the reader must sup-
pose himself to be present, and shall go on to describe
the scene which presents itself.
On entering, we found the house nearly crowded;
but we could observe that there were very few of the
young and light-hearted present, and scarcely any fe-
males, unless those who were related to the family of
the deceased, or to himself. The house was low and
long, and the kitchen in which they had laid him out
18
THE EVIL EYE ; OB,
was spacious, but badly furnished. Altogether its
destitution was calculated to deepen the sense of awe
which impressed those who had come to spend the night
with the miserable widow and wailing orphans of the
murderer.
The unfortunate man had been executed that morn-
ing after having acknowledged his crime, and, as the
laws of that period with respect to the interment of the
convicted dead were not so strict as they are at present,
the body was restored to his friends, in order that they
might bury it when and where they wished. The crime
of the unhappy man was deep, and so was that which
occasioned it. His daughter, a young and beautiful
girl, had been seduced by a gentleman in the neighbor-
hood who was unmarried ; and that act of guilt and
weakness on her part was the first act that ever brought
shame upon the family. All the terrible passions of the
father’s heart leaped into action at the ruin of his child,
and the disgrace which it entailed upon his name. The
fury of domestic affection stimulated his heart, and
blazed in his brain even to madness. His daughter
was obliged to fly with her infant and conceal herself
from his vengeance, though the unhappy girl, until the
occurrence of that woful calamity, had been the solace
and the sunshine of his life. The guilty seducer, how-
ever, was not doomed to escape the penalty of his crime.
Morrissey — for that was the poor man’s name — cared
not for law ; whether it was to recompense him for the
degradation of his daughter, or to punish him for inflict-
ing the vengeance of outraged nature upon the author
of her ruin. What compensation could satisfy his heart
for the infamy entailed upon her and him ? what paltry
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
19
damages from a jury could efface her shame or restore
her innocence ? Then, the man was poor, and to the
poor, under such circumstances, there exists no law,
and, consequently, no redress. He strove to picture to
himself his beautiful and innocent child ; but he could
not bear to bring the image of her early and guiltless
life near him. The injury was irreparable, and could
only be atoned for by the blood of the destroyer. He
could have seen her borne shameless and unpolluted to
the grave, with the deep, but natural, sorrow of a
father ; he could have lived with her in destitution and
misery ; he could have begged with her through a hard
and harsh world ; he could have seen her pine in want j
moan upon the bed of sickness ; nay, more, he could
have seen her spirit pass, as it were, to the God who
gave it, so long as that spirit was guiltless, and her
humble name without spot or stain ; yes, he could have
witnessed and borne all this, and the blessed memory
of her virtues would have consoled him in his bereave-
ment and his sorrow. But to reflect that she was
trampled down into guilt and infamy by the foot of the
licentious libertine, was an event that cried for blood ;
and blood he had, for he murdered the seducer, and
that with an insatiable rapacity of revenge that was
terrible. He literally battered the head of his victim
out of all shape, and left him a dead and worthless
mass of inanimate matter. The crime, though desper-
ate, was openly committed, and there were sufficient
witnesses at his trial to make it a short one. On that
morning, neither priest, nor friar, nor chaplain, nor
jailer, nor sheriff could wring from him one single
expression of regret or repentance for what he had
20
THE EVIL EYE; OB,
done. The only reply he made them was this—
u Don’t trouble me ; I knew what my fate was to be,
and will die with satisfaction.”
After cutting him down, his body, as we have said,
was delivered to his friends, who, having wrapped it in
a quilt, conveyed it on a common car to his own house,
where he received the usual ablutions and offices of
death, and was composed upon his own bed into that
attitude of the grave which will never change.
The house was nearly filled with grave and aged
people, whose conversation was low, and impressed
with solemnity, that originated from the painful and
melancholy spirit of the event that had that morning
taken place. A deal table was set lengthwise on the
floor; on this were candles, pipes, and plates of cut
tobacco. In the usual cases of death among the poor,
the bed on which the corpse is stretched is festooned
with white sheets, borrowed for the occasion from the
wealthier neighbors. Here, however, there was noth-
ing of the kind. The associations connected with
murder were too appalling and terrible to place the
rites required, either for the wake or funeral of the
murderer, within the ordinary claims of humanity for
these offices of civility to which we have alluded. In
this instance none of the neighbors would lend sheets
for what they considered an unholy purpose ; the bed,
therefore, on which the body lay had nothing to orna-
ment it. A plain drugget quilt was his only covering,
but he did not feel the want of a better.
It was not the first time I had ever seen a corpse ;
but it was the first time I had ever seen that of a mur-
derer. I lfoked upon it with an impression which it
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
21
is difficult, if not impossible, to describe. I felt my
nerves tingle, and my heart palpitate. To a young
man, fresh, and filled with the light-hearted humanity
of youth, approximation to such an object as then lay
before me is a singular trial of feeling, and a painful
test of moral courage. The sight, however, and the
reflections connected with it, rendered a long contem-
plation of it impossible, and, besides, I had other ob-
jects to engage my attention. I now began to observe
the friends and immediate connections of the deceased.
In all, there were only seven or eight women, including
his wife. There were four boys and no daughters;
for, alas ! I forgot to inform the reader that his fallen
daughter was his only one ; a fact which, notwithstand-
ing his guilt, must surely stir up the elements of our
humanity in mitigation of his madness.
This house of mourning was, indeed, a strange, a
solemn, and a peculiar one. The women sat near the
bed upon stools, and such other seats as they had pre-
pared. The wife and his two sisters were rocking
themselves to and fro, as is the custom when manifest-
ing profound sorrow in Irish wakehouses; the other
women talked to each other in a low tone, amounting
almost to a whisper. Their conduct was marked, in
fact, by a grave and mysterious monotony ; but after a
little reflection, it soon became painfully intelligible.
Here was shame, as well as guilt and sorrow — here
was shame endeavoring to restrain sorrow ; and hence
the silence, and the struggle between them which it
occasioned. The wife from time to time turned her
heavy eyes upon the countenance of the corpse ; and
after the first sensations of awe had departed from me,
22
THE EVIL EYE; Oft,
I ventured to look upon it with a purpose of discover-
ing in its features the lineaments of guilt. Owing tc
the nature of his death, that collapse which causes the
flesh to shrink almost immediately after the spirit has
departed was not visible here. The face was rather
full and livid, but the expression was not such as peni
tence or a conviction of crime could be supposed to
have left behind it. On the contrary, the whole
countenance had somewhat of a placid look, and the
general contour was unquestionably that of affection
and benevolence.
It was easy, however, to perceive that this agonizing
restraint upon the feelings of that loving wife could not
last long, and that the task which the poor woman was
endeavoring to perform in deference to the conventional
opinions of society was beyond her strength. Hers,
indeed, was not a common nor an undivided sorrow ;
for, alas, she had not only the loss of her kind husband
and his ignominious death to distract her, but the shame
and degradation of their only daughter which occasioned
it ; and what a trial was that for a single heart ! From
time to time a deep back-drawing sob would proceed
from her lips, and the eye was again fixed upon the
still and unconscious features of her husband. At
length the chord was touched, and the heart of the wife
and mother could restrain itself no longer. The children
had been for some time whispering together, evidently
endeavoring to keep the youngest of them still ; but
they found it impossible — he must go to awaken hi?
daddy. This was too much for them, and the poor
things burst out into an uncontrollable wail of sorrow
The conversation among the spectators was immediately
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
23
hushed ; but the mother started to her feet, and turning
to the bed, bent over it, and raised a cry of agony such
as I never heard nor hope ever to hear again. She
clapped her hands, and rocking herself up and down
over him, gave vent to her accumulated grief, which
now rushed like a torrent that had been dammed up
and overcome its barriers, from her heart.
u O Harry ,” said she in Irish — but we translate it —
u O Harry, the husband of the kind heart, the loving
father, and the good man ! O Harry, Harry, and is it
come to this with you and me and our childre ! They may
say what they will, but you’re not a murderer. It was
your love for our unfortunate Nannie that made you do
what you did. 0, what was the world to you without
her ! Wasn’t she the light of your eyes, and the sweet
pulse of your loving heart ! And did ever a girl love a
father as she loved you, till the destroyer came across
her — ay, the destroyer that left us as we now are, sunk in
sorrow and misery that will never end in this world
more ! And now, what is she, and what has the de-
stroyer made her ? 0, when I think of how you sought
after her you loved as you did, to take her life, and
when I think of how she that loved you as she did was
forced to fly from the hand that would pluck out your
own heart sooner than injure a hair of her head — so
long as she was innocent — 0, when I think of all this,
and look upon you lying there now, and all for the love
you bore her, how can my heart bear it, and how can I
live. O, the destroyer, the villain ! the devil ! what
has he wrought upon us ! But, thank God, he is
punished — the father’s love punished him. They are
liars ! you are no murderer. The mother’s heart within
24
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
me tells me that you did what was right — you acted
like a man, my husband. God bless you, and make
your soul happy for its love to Nannie. Til kiss you,
Harry — I’ll kiss you, my heart’s treasure, for your noble
deed — but 0 Harry, you don’t know the lips of sorrow
that kiss you now. Sure they are the lips of your own
Rose, that gave her young heart to you, and was happy
for it. Don’t feel ashamed, Harry ; it’s a good man’s
case to die the death you did, and be at rest, as I hope
you are, for you are not a murderer ; and if you are,
it is only in the eye of the law, and it was your love for
Nannie that did it.”
This woful dirge of the mother’s heart, and the wife’s
sorrow, had almost every eye in tears ; and, indeed, it
was impossible that the sympathy for her should not be
deep and general. They all knew the excellence and
mildness of her husband’s character, and that every word
she uttered concerning him was truth.
In Irish wakehouses, it is to be observed, the door is
never closed. The heat of the house, and the crowd-
ing of the neighbors to it, render it necessary that it
should be open ; but independently of this, we believe it
is a general custom, as it is also to keep it so during
meals. This last arises from the spirit of hospitality
peculiar to the Irish people.
When his wife had uttered the words “you are no
murderer,” a young and beautiful girl entered the house
in sufficient time to have heard them distinctly. She
was tall, her shape was of the finest symmetry, her
features, in spite of the distraction which, at a first
glance, was legible in them, were absolutely fascinat
ing. They all knew her well ; but the moment she
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
25
wade her appearance, the conversation, and those ex-
pressions of sympathy which were passing from one to
another, were instantly checked j and nothing now
was felt but compassion for the terrible ordeal that
they knew was before her mother. She rushed up to
where her mother had sat down, her eyes flashing, and
her long brown hair floating about her white shoulders,
which were but scantily covered.
u You talk of a murderer, mother,” she exclaimed.
u You talk of a murderer, do you ? But if murder has
been committed, as it has, I — I am the murderer.
Keep back now, let me look upon my innocent father —
upon that father that I have murdered.”
She approached the bed on which he lay, her eyes
still flashing, and her bosom panting, and there she
stood gazing upon his features for about two minutes.
The silence of the corpse before them was not
deeper than that which her unexpected presence
occasioned. There she stood gazing on the dead body
of her father, evidently torn by the pangs of agony
and remorse, her hands clenching and opening by
turns, her wild and unwinking eyes riveted upon those
moveless features, which his love for her had so often
lit up with happiness and pride. Her mother, who
was alarmed, shocked, stunned, gazed upon her, but
could not speak. At length she herself broke the
silence.
u Mother,” said she, UI came to see my father, for
I know he won’t strike me now, and he never did. O,
no, because I ran away from him and from all of you,
but not till after I had deserved it ; before that I was
safe. Mother, didn’t my father love me once better
2
2«
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
than his own life ? I think he did. O, yes, and I re-
turned it by murdering him — by sending him — that
father there that loved me so well — by — by sending
him to the hangman — to a death of disgrace and
shame. That’s what his own Nannie , as he used to call
me, did for him. But no shame — no guilt to you,
father ; the shame and the guilt are your own Nannie’s}
and that’s the only comfort I have ; for you’re happy,
what I will never be, either in this world or the next.
You are now in heaven ; but you will never see your
own Nannie there”
The recollections caused by her appearance, and the
heart-rending language she used, touched her mother’s
heart, now softened by her sufferings into pity for her
affliction, if not into a portion of the former affection
which she bore her.
u 0 Nannie, Nannie ! ” said she, now weeping bit-
terly upon a fresh sorrow, u don’t talk that way — don’t,
don’t ; you have repentance to turn to ; and for what
you’ve done, God will yet forgive you, and so will your
mother. It was a great crime in you ; but God can
forgive the greatest, if his own creatures will turn to
him with sorrow for what thev’ve done.”
She never once turned her eyes upon her mother,
nor raised them for a moment from her father’s face.
In fact, she did not seem to have heard a single syllable
she said, and this was evident from the wild but affect-
ing abstractedness of her manner.
u Mother ! ” she exclaimed, u that man they say is a
murderer, and yet I am not worthy to touch him. Ah !
I’m alone now — altogether alone, and he — he that
loved me, too, was taken away from me by a cruel
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
27
death — ay, a cruel death ; for it was barbarous to kill
him as if he was a wild beast — ay, and without one
moment’s notice, with all his sins upon his head. He
is gone — he is gone ; and there lies the man that
murdered him — there he lies, the sinner ; curse upon
his hand of blood that took him I loved from me ! O,
my heart’s breakin’ and my brain is boilin’ ! What
will I do ? Where will I go ? Am I mad ? Father,
my curse upon you for your deed of blood ! I never
thought I’d live to curse you ; but you don’t hear me,
nor know what I suffer. Shame, disgrace — ay, and
I’d bear it all for his sake that you plunged, like a
murderer, as you were, into eternity. How does any
of you know what it is to love as I did ? or what it is
to lose the man you love by a death so cruel ? And
this hair that he praised so much, who will praise it or
admire it now, when he is gone ? Let it go, too, then.
I’ll not keep it on me — I’ll tear it off — off ! ”
Her paroxysm had now risen to a degree of fury
that fell little, if anything, short of insanity — temporary
insanity it certainly was. She tore her beautiful hair
from her head in handfuls, and would have proceeded
to still greater lengths, when she was seized by some of
those present, in order to restrain her violence. On
finding that she was held fast, she looked at them with
blazing eyes, and struggled to set herself free ; but on
finding her efforts vain, she panted deeply three or
four times, threw back her head, and fell into a fit
that, from its violence, resembled epilepsy. After a
lapse of ten minutes or so, the spasmodic action, having
probably wasted her physical strength, ceased, and she
lay ir a quiet trance ; so quiet, indeed, that it might have
28
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
passed for death, were it not for the deep expression
of pain and suffering which lay upon her face, and be-
trayed the fury of the moral tempest which swept
through her heart and brain. All the mother’s grief
now was hushed — all the faculties of her soul were
now concentrated on her daughter, and absorbed by
the intense anxiety she felt for her recovery. She
sat behind the poor girl, and drew her body back so
that her head rested on her bosom, to which she
pressed her, kissing her passive lips with streaming
eyes.
u O, darling Nannie ! 77 she exclaimed, u strive and
rouse yourself ; it is your loving mother that asks you.
Waken up, poor misled and heart-broken girl, waken
up ; I forgive you all your errors. O, avillish machree
(sweetness of my heart), don’t you hear that it is your
mother’s voice that’s spakin’ to you ! ”
She was still, however, insensible ; and her little
brothers were all in tears about her.
u O mother ! ” said the oldest, sobbing, u is Nannie
dead too ? When she went away from us you bid us
not to cry, that she would soon come back ; and now
she has only come back to die. Nannie, I’m your own
little Frank; won’t you hear me! Nannie, will you
never wash my face of a Sunday morning more ? will
you never comb down my hair, put the pin in my shirt
collar, and kiss me, as you used to do before we went
to Mass together ? 77
The poor mother was so much overcome by this art-
less allusion to her innocent life, involving, as it did,
such a manifestation of affection, that she wept until
fairly exhausted, after which she turned her eyes up
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
29
to heaven and exclaimed, whilst her daughter’s inan-
imate body still lay in her arms,
“0 Lord of mercy, will you not look down with
pity and compassion on me this night ! ”
In the course of about ten minutes after this hei
daughter’s eyes began to fill with those involuntary
tears which betoken in females recovery from a fit;
they streamed quietly, but in torrents, down her
cheek. She gave a deep sigh, opened her eyes, looked
around her, first with astonishment, and then toward
the bed with a start of horror.
“ Where am I ? ” said she.
“You are with me, darlin’,” replied the mother,
kissing her lips, and whispering, “Nannie, I forgive
you — I forgive you; and whisper, your father did
before he went to death.”
She smiled faintly and sorrowfully in her mother’s
face, and said, “ Mother , I didn’t know that .” After
which she got up, and proceeding to the bed, she fell
upon his body, kissed his lips, and indulged in a wild
and heart-breaking wail of grief. This evidently
afforded her relief, for she now became more calm and
collected.
“Mother,” said she, “I must go.”
“ Why, sure you won’t leave us, Nannie ? ” replied
the other with affectionate alarm.
“O, I must go,” she repeated; “bring me the chil-
dren till I see them once — Frank first.”
The mother accordingly brought them to her, one by
one, when she stooped down and kissed them in turn,
not without bitter tears, whilst they, poor things, were
all in an uproar of sorrow. She then approached her
30
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
mother, threw herself in her arms, and again wept
wildly for a time, as did that afflicted mother along
with her.
u Mother, farewell/7 said she at length — u farewell ;
think of me when I am far away — think of your unfor-
tunate Nannie, and let every one that hears of my mis-
fortune think of all the misery and all the crime that
may come from one false and unguarded step.77
u O, Nannie darling,77 replied her mother, u don7t
desert us now ; sure you wouldn7t desert your mother
now, Nannie ? 77
u If my life could make you easy or happy, mother,
I could give it for your sake, worthless now and un-
happy as it is ; but I am going to a far country, where
my shame and the misfortunes I have caused will never
be known. I must go, for if I lived here, my disgrace
would always be before you and myself ; then I would
soon die, and I am not yet fit for death.77
With these words the unhappy girl passed out of
the house, and was never after that night seen or heard
of, but once, in that part of the country.
In the meantime that most pitiable mother, whose
afflicted heart could only alternate from one piercing
sorrow to another, sat down once more, and poured
forth a torrent of grief for her unhappy daughter,
whom, she feared, she would never see again.
Those who were present, now that the distressing
scene which we have attempted to describe was over,
began to chat together with more freedom.
u Tom Kennedy,77 said one of them, accosting a
good-natured young fellow, with a clear, pleasant eye,
u how are all your family at Beech Grove ? Ould
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
81
Goodwin and his pretty daughter ought to feel them-
selves in good spirits after gaining the lawsuit in the
case of Mr. Hamilton’s will. They bate the Lindsays
all to sticks.”
u And why not,” replied Kennedy ; u who had a
betther right to dispose of his property than the man
that owned it ? and, indeed, if any one livin’ desarved
it from another, Miss Alice did from him. She nearly
brought herself to death’s door, in attending upon and
nursing her sister, as she called poor Miss Agnes ; and,
as for her grief at her death, I never saw anything like
it, except ” — he added, looking at the unfortunate
widow — u where there was blood relationship.”
“Well, upon my sowl,” observed another, “I can’t
blame the Linsdays for feeling so bittherly about it as
they do. May I never see yestherday, if a broth-
er of mine had property, and left it to a stranger
instead of to his own — that is to say, my childre — I’d
take it for granted that he was fizzen down stairs for the
same. It was a shame for the ould sinner to scorn his
own relations for a stranger.”
“ Well,” said another, “ one thing is clear — that
since he did blink them about the property, it could’nt
get into betther hands. Your master, Tom, is the
crame of a good landlord, as far as his property goes,
and much good may it do him and his ! I’ll go bail
that, as far as Miss Alice herself is consarned, many a
hungry mouth will be filled, many a naked back cov-
ered, and many a heavy heart made light through the
manes of it.”
“ Faith,” said a third spokesman, “ and that wouldn’t
be the case if that skinflint barge of Lindsay’s had got
32
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
it in her clutches. At any rate, it’s a shame for her and
them to abuse the Goodwins as they do. If ould
Hamilton left it to them surely it wasn’t their fault.”
“ Never mind,” said another, “ I’ll lay a wager that
Mrs. Lindsay’s son — I mane the step-son that’s now
abroad with the uncle — will be sent for, and a marriage
will follow between him and Miss Goodwin.”
“ It may be so,” replied Tom, “ but it’s not very
probable. I know the man that’s likely to walk into
the property, and well worthy he is of it.”
“ Come, Tom, let us hear who is the lucky youth ? ”
“ Family saicrets,” replied Tom, “ is not to be revaled.
All I can say is, that he is a true gentleman. Give me
another blast o’ the pipe, for I must go home.”
Tom, who was servant to Mr. Goodwin, having now
taken his “ blast,” wished them good-night ; but before
he went he took the sorrowing widow’s cold and passive
hand in his, and said, whilst the tears stood in his
eyes,
“May God in heaven pity you and support your
heart, for you are the sorely tried woman this miserable
night ! ”
He then bent his steps to Beech Grove, his master’s
residence, the hour being between twelve and one
o’clock.
The night, as we have already said, had been calm,
but gloomy and oppressive. Now, however, the wind
had sprung up, and, by the time Kennedy commenced
his journey home, it was not only tempestuous but
increasing in strength and fury every moment. This,
however, was not all ; — the rain came down in torrents,
and was battered against his person with such force
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
83
that in a few moments he was drenched to the skin.
So far, it was wind and rain — dreadful and tempestuous
as they were. The storm, however, was only half
opened. Distant flashes of lightning and sullen growls
of thunder proceeded from the cloud masses to the right,
but it was obvious that the thunderings above them
were only commencing their deep and terrible pealings.
In a short time they increased in violence and fury, and
resembled, in fact, a West Indian hurricane more than
those storms which are peculiar to our milder climates.
The tempest-voice of the wind was now in dreadful
accordance with its power. Poor Kennedy, who
fortunately knew every step of the rugged road along
which he struggled and staggered, was frequently
obliged to crouch himself and hold by the projecting
crags about him, lest the strength of the blast might
hurl him over the rocky precipices by the edges of
which the road went. With great difficulty, however,
and not less danger, he succeeded in getting into the
open highway below, and into a thickly inhabited
country. Here a new scene of terror and confusion
awaited him. The whole neighborhood around him
were up and in alarm. The shoutings of men, the
screams of women and children, all in a state of the
utmost dread and consternation, pierced his ears, even
through the united rage and roaring of the wind and
thunder. The people had left their houses, as they
usually do in such cases, from an apprehension that if
they remained in them they might be buried in their
ruins. Some had got ladders, and attempted, at the
risk of their lives, to secure the thatch upon the roofs
by placing flat stones, sods, and such other materials, as
2 #
34
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
by their weight, might keep it from being borne off
like dust upon the wings of the tempest. Their
voices, and screams, and lamentations, in accordance,
as they were, with the uproar of the elements, added a
new feature of terror to this dreadful tumult. The
lightnings now became more vivid and frequent, and
the pealing of the thunder so loud and near, that he felt
his very ears stunned by it. Every cloud, as the
lightnings flashed from it, seemed to open, and to dis-
close, as it were, a furnace of blazing fire within its
black and awful shroud. The whole country around,
with all its terrified population running about in con-
fusion and dismay, were for the moment made as clear
and distinct to the eye as if it were noonday, with this
difference, that the scene borrowed from the red and
sheeted flashes a wild and spectral character which the
light of day never gives. In fact, the human figures,
as they ran hurriedly to and fro, resembled those images
which present themselves to the imagination in some
frightful dream. Nay, the very cattle in the fields
could be seen, in those flashing glimpses, huddled up
together in some sheltered corner, and cowering with
terror at this awful uproar of the elements. It is a
very strange, but still a well-known fact, that neither
man nor beast wishes to be alone during a thunder-storm.
Contiguity to one’s fellow-creatures seems, by some un-
accountable instinct, to lessen the apprehension of
danger to one individual when it is likely to be shared
by many, a feeling which makes the coward in the
field of battle fight as courageously as the man who i?
naturally brave.
The tempest had not yet diminished any of its pow-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
SB
er ; so far from that, it seemed as if a night-battle of
artillery was going on, and raging still with more vio-
lence in the clouds. Thatch, doors of houses, glass,
and almost everything light that the winds could seize
upon, were flying in different directions through the
air ; and as Kennedy now staggered along the main
road, he had to pass through a grove of oaks, beeches,
and immense ash trees that stretched on each side for
a considerable distance. The noises here were new to
him, and on that account the more frightful. The
groanings of the huge trees, and the shrieking of their
huge branches as they were crushed against each other,
sounded in his ears like the supernatural voices of
demons, exulting at their participation in the terrors
of the storm. His impression now was that some guilty
sorcerer had raised the author of evil, and being unable
to lay him, the latter was careering in vengeance over
the earth until he should be appeased by the life of
some devoted victim — for such, when a storm more
than usually destructive and powerful arises, is the
general superstition of the people — at least it was so
among the ignorant in our early youth.
In all thunder-storms there appears to be a regular
gradation — a beginning, a middle, and an end. They
commence first with a noise resembling the crackling
of a file of musketry where the fire runs along the line,
man after man ; then they increase, and go on deepen-
ing their terrors until one stunning and tremendous
burst takes place, which is the acme of the tempest.
After this its power gradually diminishes in the same
way as it increased — the peals become less loud and
less frequent, the lightning feebler and less brilliant,
36
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
until at length it seems to take another course, and
after a few exhausted volleys it dies away with a
hoarse grumble in the distance.
Still it thundered and thundered terribly ; nor had
the sweep of the wind-tempest yet lost any of its fury.
At this moment Kennedy discovered, by a succession
of those flashes that were lighting the country around
him, a tall young female without cloak or bonnet, her
long hair sometimes streaming in the wind, and some-
times blown up in confusion over her head. She was
proceeding at a tottering but eager pace, evidently
under the influence of wildness and distraction, or
rather as if she felt there was something either mortal
or spectral in pursuit of her. He hailed her by her
name as she passed him, for he knew her, but received
no reply. To Tom, who had, as the reader knows,
been a witness of the scene we have described, this
fearful glimpse of Nannie Morrissey’s desolation and
misery, under the pelting of the pitiless storm and the
angry roar of the elements, was distressing in the
highest degree, and filled his honest heart with com-
passion for her sufferings.
He was now making his way home at his utmost
speed, when he heard the trampling of a horse’s feet
coming on at a rapid pace behind him, and on look-
ing back he saw a horseman making his way in the
same direction with himself. As he advanced, the
repeated flashes made them distinctly visible to each
other.
u I say,” shouted the horseman at the top of his
lungs, u can you direct me to any kind of a habitation,
where I may take shelter ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
37
li Speak louder/7 shouted Tom; “I can7t hear you
for the wind.77
The other, in a voice still more elevated, repeated
the question, u I want to get under the roof of some
human habitation, if there be one left standing. I
feel that I have gone astray, and this is no night to be
out in.77
u Faith, sir,77 again shouted Tom, “it7s pure gospel
you7re spakin7, at any rate. A habitation ! Why,
upon my credibility, they7d not deserve a habitation
that 7ud refuse to open the door for a dog on such a
night as this, much less to a human creature with a
sowl to be saved. A habitation ! Well, I think I can,
and one where you7ll be well treated. I suppose, sir,
you7re a gentleman ? 77
u Speak out,77 shouted the traveller in his turn ; u I
ean7t hear you.77
Tom shaded his mouth with his hand, and shouted
again, u I suppose, sir, you7re a gentleman ? 77
u Why, I suppose I am/7 replied the stranger, rather
haughtily.
“Becaise/7 shouted Tom, u devil a traneen it 7ud
signify to them I7m bringing you to whether you are
or not. The poorest man in the parish would be
sheltered as well as you, or maybe a betther man.77
u Are we near the house ? 77 said the other.
u It7s just at hand, sir/7 replied Tom, u and thanks
be to God for it ; for if ever the devil was abroad on
mischief, he is this night, and may the Lord save us !
It7s a night for a man to tell his grandchildre about,
and he may call it the 1 night o7 the big storm.7 77
A lull had now taken place, and Tom heard a laugh
38
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
from the stranger which he did not much relish; it
was contemptuous and sarcastic, and gave him no very
good opinion of his companion. They had now arrived
at the entrance-gate, which had been blown open by
the violence of the tempest. On proceeding toward
the house, they found that their way was seriously
obstructed by the fall of several trees that had been
blown down across it. With some difficulty, however,
they succeeded in reaching the house, where, although
the hour was late, they found the whole family up,
and greatly alarmed by the violence of the hurricane.
Tom went in and found Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin in the
parlor, to both of whom he stated that a gentleman on
horseback, who had lost his way, requested shelter foi
the night.
u Certainly, Kennedy, certainly ; why did you not
bring the gentleman in ? Go and desire Tom Stinton to
take his horse to the stable, and let him be rubbed down
and fed. In the meantime, bring the gentleman in.”
u Sir,” said Tom, going to the bottom of the hall
door-steps, u will you have the goodness to walk in ;
the masther and misthress are in the parlor ; for who
could sleep on such a night as this ? ”
On entering he was received with the warmest and
most cordial hospitality.
u Sir,” said Mr. Goodwin, u I speak in the name of
myself and my wife when I bid you heartily welcome
to whatever my roof can afford you, especially on such
an awful night as this. Take a seat, sir; you must
want refreshment before you put off those wet clothes
and betake yourself to bed, after the dreadful severity
of such a tempest.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
39
“I have to apologize, sir, for this trouble,” replied
the stranger, u and to thank you most sincerely for the
kindness of the reception you and your lady have given
to an utter stranger.”
u Do not mention it, sir,” said Mr. Goodwin ; u come,
put on a dry coat and waistcoat, and, in the mean-
time, refreshments will be on the table in a few minutes.
The servants are all up and will attend at once.
The stranger refused, however, to change his clothes,
but in a few minutes an abundant cold supper, with
wine and spirits, were placed upon the table, to all of
which he did such ample justice that it would seem as
if he had not dined that day. The table having been
cleared, Mr. Goodwin joined him in a glass of hot
brandy and water, and succeeded in pressing him to
take a couple more, whilst his wife, he said, was get-
ting a bed and room prepared for him. Their chat for
the next half hour consisted in a discussion of the
storm, which, although much abated, was not yet over.
At length, after an intimation that his room was ready
for him, he withdrew, accompanied by a servant, got
into an admirable bed, and in a few minutes was fast
asleep.
40
THE EVIL EYE; OB,
CHAPTER III.
BREAKFAST NEXT MORNING. — WOODWARD, ON HIS WAT
HOME, MEETS A STRANGER. THEIR CONVERSATION.
The next morning he joined the family in the break-
fast parlor, where he was received with much kindness
and attention. The stranger was a young man, prob-
ably about twenty-seven, well made, and with features
that must be pronounced good; but, from whatever
cause it proceeded, they were felt to be by no means
agreeable. It was impossible to quarrel with, or find
fault with them; their symmetry was perfect; the
lips well defined, but hard and evidently unfeeling;
his brows, which joined each other, were black, and,
what was very peculiar, were heaviest where they met
— a circumstance which, notwithstanding the regular-
ity of his other features, gave him, unless when he
smiled, a frowning if not a sinister aspect. That, how-
ever, which was most remarkable in his features was
the extraordinary fact that his eyes were each of a dif-
ferent color, one being black and piercing in its gleam,
and the other gray ; from which circumstance he was
known from his childhood by the name of Harry na
Suit Gloir — Suil Gloir being an epithet always be-
stowed by the Irish upon persons who possessed eyes
of that unnatural character. This circumstance, how-
ever, was not observed on that occasion by any of the
family. His general manners, though courteous, were
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
41
cold, and by no means such as were calculated either
to bestow or inspire confidence. His language, too,
was easy enough when he spoke, but a cold habit of
reserve seemed to permeate his whole being, and to
throw a chill upon the feelings of those to whom he
addressed himself. So much was this the case that
whenever he assumed an air of familiarity a dark,
strange, and undefinable spirit, which was strongly felt,
seemed not only to contradict his apparent urbanity,
but to impress his auditors with a sense of uneasiness
sometimes amounting to pain — an impression, however,
for which they could not at all account.
u Sir,” said Mr. Goodwin, u I hope you slept well
after what you suffered under the tempest of last
night ? ”
€i I assure you, sir, I never enjoyed a sounder night’s
sleep in my life,” replied their guest ; u and were it
not for the seasonable shelter of your hospitable roof
I know not what would have become of me. I am un-
acquainted with the country, and having lost my way,
I knew not where to seek shelter, for the night was so
dreadfully dark that unless by the flashes of the light-
ning nothing could be seen.”
uIt was certainly an awful — a terrible night,” ob-
served his host ; u but come, its severity is now past ;
let me see you do justice to your fare ; — a little more
ham ? ”
u Thank you, sir,” replied the other ; u if you please.
Indeed, I cannot complain of my appetite, which is at
all times excellent ” — and he certainly corroborated the
truth of his statement by a sharp and vigorous attack
upon the good things before him.
42
THE EVIL EYE} OR,
u Sir,” said Mrs. Goodwin, u we feel happy to have
had the satisfaction of opening our doors to you last
night ; and there is only one other circumstance which
could complete our gratification.”
u The gratification, madam,” he replied, u as well as
the gratitude, ought to be all on my side, although I
have no doubt, and can have none, that the conscious-
ness of your kindness and hospitality are equally grati-
fying on yours. But may I ask to what you allude,
madam ? ”
u You are evidently a gentleman, sir, and a stran-
ger, and we would feel obliged by knowing — ”
u O, I beg your pardon, madam,” he replied, inter-
rupting her; “I presume that you are good enough
to flatter me by a wish to know the name of the indi-
vidual whom your kindness and hospitality have placed
under such agreeable obligations. For my part I have
reason to bless the tempest which, I may say, brought
me under your roof. 6 It is an ill wind/ says the prov-
erb, c that blows nobody good ; ’ and it is a clear case,
my very kind hostess, that at this moment we are
mutually ignorant of each other. I assure you, then,
madam, that I am not a knight-errant travelling in
disguise and in quest of adventure, but a plain gentle-
man, by name Woodward, step-son to a neighbor of
yours, Mr. Lindsay, of Rathfillan House. I need
scarcely say that I am Mrs. Lindsay’s son by her first
husband. And now, madam, may I beg to know the
name of the family to whom I am indebted for so much
kindness.”
Mrs. Goodwin and her husband exchanged glances,
and something like a slight cloud appeared to over-
THE BLACE SPECTRE.
43
shadow for a moment the expression of their counte-
nances. At length Mr. Goodwin spoke,
“ My name, sir,” he proceeded, “ is Goodwin ; and
until a recent melancholy event, your family and mine
were upon the best and most cordial terms; but,
unfortunately, I must say that we are not so now — a
circumstance which I and mine deeply regret. You
must not imagine, however, that the knowledge of your
name and connections could make the slightest difference
in our conduct toward you on that account. Your
family, Mr. Woodward, threw off our friendship and
disclaimed all intimacy with us ; but I presume you
are not ignorant of the cause of it.”
“ I should be uncandid if I were to say so, sir. I
am entirely aware of the cause of it ; but I cannot see
that there is any blame whatsoever to be attached to
either you or yours for the act of my poor uncle. I
assure you, sir, I am sorry that my family failed to con-
sider it in its proper light ; and you will permit me to
request that you will not identify my conduct with
theirs. So far as I, at least am concerned, my uncle’s
disposition of his property shall make no breach nor
occasion any coolness between us. On the contrary,
I shall feel honored by being permitted to pay my
respects to you all, and to make myself worthy of your
good opinions.”
“ That is generously spoken, Mr. Woodward,” re-
plied the old man; “and it will afford us sincere
pleasure to reciprocate the sentiments you have just
expressed.”
“You make me quite happy, sir,” replied Wood-
ward, bowing very courteously. “This, I presume,
44
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
is the young lady to whom my cousin Agnes was %x»
much attached ? ”
“ She is, sir,” replied her father.
“ Might I hope for the honor of being presented to
her, Mr. Goodwin ? ”
“ With pleasure, sir. Alice, my dear, although you
already know who this gentleman is, yet allow me,
nevertheless, to present him to you.”
The formal introduction accordingly took place,
after which Woodward, turning to Mrs. Goodwin,
said,
“I am not surprised, madam, at the predilection
which my cousin entertained for Miss Goodwin, even
from what I see ; but I feel that I am restrained by her
presence from expressing myself at further length. I
have only to say that I wish her every happiness, long
life, and health to enjoy that of which she seems, and I
am certain is, so worthy.”
He accompanied those words with a low bow and a
very gracious smile, after which, his horse having been
brought to the door, he took his leave with a great
deal of politeness, and rode, according to directions
received from Mr. Goodwin, toward his father’s
house.
After his departure the family began to discuss his
character somewhat to the following effect :
“That is a fine young man,” said Mr. Goodwin,
“ liberal-minded and generous, or I am much mistaken.
What do you think, Martha ? ” he added, addressing his
wife.
“Upon my word,” replied that lady, “I am much
of your opinion — yet I don’t know either ; although
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
45
polite and courteous, there is something rather dis-
agreeable about him.”
“ Why,” inquired her husband, “ what is there dis-
agreeable about him ? I could perceive nothing of the
sort; and when we consider that his uncle, who left
this property to Alice, was his mother’s brother, and
that as he was nephew by blood as well as by law, and
that it was the old man’s original intention that the
property should go directly to him, or in default of
issue, to his brother — I think when we consider this,
Martha, that we cannot but entertain a favorable im-
pression of him, considering what he has lost by the
unexpected turn given to his prospects in consequence
of his uncle’s will. Alice, my dear, what is your
opinion of him ? ”
“ Indeed, papa,” she replied, “I have had — as we
all have had— but a very slight opportunity to form
any opinion of him. As for me, I can judge only by
the impressions which his conversation and person have
left upon me.”
“ Well, and anything favorable or otherwise ? ”
“ Anything at all but favorable, papa — I experienced
something like pain during breakfast, and felt a strong
sense of relief the moment he left the room.”
“Poor child, impressions are nothing. I have met
men of whom first impressions were uniformly unfavor-
able, who, notwithstanding their rough outsides, were
persons of sterling worth and character.”
“Yes, papa, and men of great plausibility and ease
of manner, who, on the contrary, were deep, hypocriti-
cal and selfish when discovered and their hearts laid
open. As regards Mr. Woodward, however, heaven
46
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
forbid that I should place the impressions of an igno-
rant girl like myself against the knowledge and experi-
ence of a man who has had such opportunites of
knowing the world as you. All I can say is, that
whilst he seemed to breathe a very generous spirit,
my impressions were completely at variance with every
sentiment he uttered. Perhaps, however, I do him in-
justice— and I should regret that very much. I will
then, in deference to your opinion, papa, endeavor to
control those impressions and think as well of him as I
can.”
61 You are right, Alice, and I thank you. We should
never, if possible, suffer ourselves to be prematurely
ungenerous in our estimate of strangers, especially
when we know that this world is filled with the most
absurd and ridiculous prejudices. How do you know,
my dear child, that yours is not one of them ? ”
“ Alice, love,” said her mother, u I think, upon re-
flection, your father is right, as he always is ; let us
not be less generous than this young man, and you
know it would be ungenerous to prejudge him ; and
this comes the more strange from you, my love, inas-
much as I never yet heard you express a prejudice
almost against any person.”
u Because I don’t remember, mamma, that I ever
felt such an impression — prejudice — call it what you
will — against any individual as I do against this man.
I absolutely fear him without knowing why.”
66 Precisely so, my dear Alice,” replied her father,
u precisely so ; and, as you say, without knowing why .
In that one phrase, my child, you have defined preju-
dice to the very letter. Fie, Alice ; have more sense,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
47
toy dear ; have more sense. Dismiss this foolish prej-
udice against a young man, who, from what he said at
breakfast, is entitled to better feelings at your hands.”
u As I said, papa, I shall certainly strive to do so.”
Alice Goodwin’s person and character must, at this
stage of our narrative, be made known to our readers.
As to her person, it is only sufficient to say that she
was a tall, beautiful girl, of exceeding grace and won-
derful proportions. There was, however, a softness
about her appearance of constitutional delicacy that
seemed to be incompatible with a strong mind, or per-
haps we should rather say that was identical with an
excess of feeling. This was exhibited in the tender-
ness of her attachment to Agnes Hamilton, and in the
agonizing grief which she experienced at her death —
a grief which had wellnigh become fatal to a girl of
her fragile organization. The predominant trait, how-
ever, in her character was timidity and a terror of a
hundred trifles, which, in the generality of her sex,
would occasion only indifference or laughter. On that
very morning, for instance, she had not recovered
from her painful apprehensions of the thunder-storm
which had occurred on the preceding night. Of
thunder, but especially of lightning, she was afraid
even to pusillanimity; indeed so much so, that on
such occurrences she would bind her eyes, fly down
stairs, and take refuge in the cellar until the hurly-
burly in the clouds was over. This, however, was not
so much to be wondered at by those who live in our
present and more enlightened days ; as our readers will
admit when they are toid that the period of our narra-
tive is in the reign of that truly religious monarch,
48
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Charles the Second, who, conscious of his inward and
invisible grace, was known to exhaust himself so liber-
ally of his virtue, when touching for the Evil, that
there was very little of it left to regulate that of his
own private life. In those days Ireland was a mass of
social superstitions, and a vast number of cures in a
variety of diseases were said to be performed by
witches, wizards, fairy-men, fairy-women, and a thou-
sand other impostors, who, supported by the gross
ignorance of the people, carried that which was first
commenced in fraud and cunning into a self-delusion,
which, in process of time, led them to become dupes to
their own impostures. It is not to be wondered at,
then, that Alice Goodwin, a young creature of a warm
imagination and extraordinary constitutional timidity,
should feel the full force of the superstitions which
swarmed around her, and impregnated her fancy so
strongly that it teemed with an unhealthy creation,
which frequently rendered her existence painful by a
morbid apprehension of wicked and supernatural influ-
ences. In other respects she was artlessness itself,
could never understand what falsehood meant, and, as
to truth, her unspotted mind was transparent as a
sunbeam. Our readers are not to understand, how-
ever, that though apparently flexible and ductile, she
possessed no power of moral resistance. So very far
from that, her disposition, wherever she thought her-
self right, was not only firm and unbending, but some-
times rose almost to obstinacy. This, however, never
appeared, unless she considered herself as standing
upon the basis of truth. In cases where her judgment
was at fault, or when she could not see her way, she
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
49
was a perfect child, and, like a child, should be taken
by the hand and supported. It was, however, when
mingling in society that her timidity and bashfulness
were most observable; these, however, were accom-
panied with so much natural grace, and unaffected
innocence of manner, that the general charm of her
whole character was fascinating and irresistible ; nay,
her very weaknesses created an atmosphere of love and
sympathy around her that nobody could breathe with-
out feeling her influence. Her fear of ghosts and
fairies, her dread of wizards and witches, of wise women
and strolling conjurers, with the superstitious accounts
of whom the country then abounded, were, in the eyes
of her more strong-minded friends, only a source of
that caressing and indulgent affection which made its
artless and innocent object more dear to them. Every
one knows with what natural affection and tenderness
we love the object which clings to us for support under
the apprehension of danger, even when we ourselves
are satisfied that the apprehension is groundless. So
was it with Alice Goodwin, whose harmless foibles and
weaknesses, associated as they were with so much
truth and purity, rendered her the darling of all who
knew her.
Woodward had not proceeded far on his way when
he was overtaken by an equestrian, who came up to
him at a smart pace, which, however, he checked on
getting beside him.
“ A fine morning, sir, after an awful night,” observed
the stranger.
“It is, sir,” replied Woodward, “and a most awful
night it assuredly was. Have you heard whether
3
50
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
there has been destruction to life or property to any
extent ? ”
u Not so much to life,” replied his companion, u but
seriously, I understand, to property. If you had rid-
den far you must have observed the number of dwell-
ing-houses and out offices that have been unroofed,
and some of them altogether blown down.”
u I have not ridden far,” said Woodward ; u I was
obliged to take shelter in the house of a country gentle-
man named Goodwin, who lives over in the trees.”
u You were fortunate in finding shelter anywhere,”
replied the stranger, u during such a tempest. I
remember nothing like it.”
As they proceeded along, indulging in similar chat,
they observed that five or six countrymen, who had
been walking at a smart pace, about a couple of hun-
dred yards before them, came suddenly to a stand-still,
and, after appearing to consult together, they darted
off the road and laid themselves down, as if with a
view of concealment, behind the grassy ditch which
ran along it.
u What can these persons mean ? ” asked Wood-
ward ; u they seem to be concealing themselves.”
u Unquestionably they do,” replied the stranger;
u and yet there appears to be no pursuit after them.
I certainly can give no guess as to their object.”
While attempting, as they went along, to account
for the conduct of the peasants, they were met by a
female with a head of hair that was nearly blood-red,
and whose features were hideously ugly, or rather we
should say, absolutely revolting. Her brows, which
were of the same color as the hair, were knit into a
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
51
scowl, such as is occasioned by an intense expression
of hatred and malignity, yet which was rendered almost
frightful by a squint that would have disfigured the
features of a demon. Her coarse hair lay matted to-
gether in stiff, wiry waves on each side of her head,
from whence it streamed down her shoulders, which it
covered like a cape of scarlet. As they approached
each other, she glanced at them with a look from which
they could only infer that she seemed to meditate the
murder of each, and yet there was mingled with its
malignity a bitter but derisive expression that was per-
fectly diabolical.
u What a frightful hag ! ” exclaimed Woodward,
addressing his companion ; u I never had a perfect con-
ception of the face of an ogress until now ! Did you
observe her walrus tusks, as they projected over her
misshapen nether lip ? The hag appears to be an im-
personation of all that is evil.”
u She may be a very harmless creature for all that,”
replied the other ; “ we are not to judge by appear-
ances. I know a man who had murder depicted in his
countenance, if ever a man had, and yet there lived not
a kinder, more humane, or benevolent creature on earth.
He was as simple, too, as a child, and the most affec-
tionate father and husband that ever breathed. These,
however, may be exceptions ; for most certainly I am
of opinion that the countenance may be considered, in
general, a very certain index to the character and
disposition. But what is this ? — here are the men
returning from their journey ; let us question them.”
u Pray,” said Woodward, addressing them, u if it be
not impertinent, may I inquire why you ran in such a
52
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
hurry off the road just now, and hid yourselves behind
the ditch ? ”
“ Certainly, sir, you may,” replied one of them;
“ we wor on on: way to the fair of Knockmore, and
we didn’t wish to meet Pugshy Roe ” (Red Peggy).
“ But why should you not wish to meet her ? ”
“ Bekaise, sir, she’s unlucky — unlucky in the three
ways — unlucky to man, unlucky to baste, and unlucky
to business. She overlooks, sir ; she has the Evil Eye
— the Lord be about us ! ”
“The Evil Eye,” repeated Woodward, dryly; “and
pray what harm could her evil eye do you ? ”
“ Why, nothing in the world,” replied the man,
naively, “ barrin’ to wither us off o’ the earth — that’s
all.”
“ Has she been long in this neighborhood ? ” asked
the stranger.
“ Too long, your honor. Sure she overlooked Biddy
Nelligan’s child, and it never did good aftherwards.”
“ And I,” said another, “ am indebted to the thief
o’ hell for the loss of as good a cow as ever filled a
piggin”
“Well, sure,” observed a third, “ Father Mullen is
goin’ to read her out next Sunday from the althar.
She has been banished from every parish in the coun-
tliry. Indeed, I believe he’s goin’ to drown the candles
against her, so that, plaise the Lord, she’ll have to
tramp.
“How does she live and maintain herself?” asked
the stranger again.
“ Why, sir,” replied the man, “ she tuck possession
of a waste cabin and a bit o’ garden belongin’ to it ;
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
58
and Larry Sullivan, that owns it, was goin’ to put her
out, when, Lord save us, he and his whole family were
saized with sickness, and then he sent word to her that
if she’d take it off o’ them and put it on some one else
he’d let her stay.”
“ And did she do so ? ”
“She did, sir; every one o’ them recovered, and
she put it on his neighbor, poor Harry Commiskey and
his family, that used to visit them every day, and from
them it went over the country — and bad luck to her !
Devil a man of us would have had luck or grace in the
fair to-day if we had met her. That’s another gift she
has — to bring bad luck to any one that meets her first
in the mornin’ ; for if they’re goin’ upon any business
it’s sure not to thrive with them. She’s worse than
Mrs. Lindsay; for Mrs. Lindsay, although she’s un-
lucky to meet, and unlucky to cattle, too, has no
power over any one’s life ; but they say it has always
been in her family, too.”
The equestrians then proceeded at a rather brisk
pace until they had got clear of the peasants, when
they pulled up a little.
“ That is a strange superstition, sir,” said Woodward,
musingly.
“It is a very common one in this country, at all
events,” replied the other ; “ and I believe pretty gen-
eral in others as well as here.”
“ Do you place any faith in it ? ” asked the other.
The stranger paused, as if investigating the subject
in question, after which he replied,
“ To a certain extent I do ; but it is upon this prin-
ciple, that I believe the force of imagination on a weak
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
64
mind constitutes the malady. What is your own
opinion ? ”
“ Why, that it is not a superstition but a fact ; a fact,
too, which has been frequently proved ; and, what is
more, it is known, as the man said, to be hereditary in
families.”
“ I don’t give credence to that,” said the stranger.
“ Why not, sir?” replied Woodward; “are not the
moral qualities hereditary ? are not the tempers and
dispositions hereditary, as well as decline, insanity,
scrofula, and other physical complaints?”
The stranger paused again, and said, “ Perhaps so.
There is certainly much mystery in human nature;
more, probably, than we can conceive or be aware of.
Time, however, and the progress of science, will de-
velop much. But who was this Mrs. Lindsay that the
man spoke of? ”
“That lady, sir,” replied the other, “is my
mother.”
The stranger, from a feeling of delicacy, made no
observation upon this, but proceeded to take another
view of the same subject.
“Suppose, then,” he added, “that we admit the fact
that the eye of a certain individual can transfuse, by
the force of strong volition, an evil influence into the
being or bodily system of another — why should it hap-
pen that an eye or touch charged with beneficence ,
instead of evil, should fail to affect with a sanative
contagion those who labor under many diseases ? ”
“ The only reply I can make to your question,” said
Woodward, “ is this : the one has been long and gen
erally known to exist, whereas the latter has never been
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
55
heard of, which most assuredly would not have been the
case if it had ever existed ; as for the cure of the King7®
Evil, it is a royal imposture.”
u I believe in the latter ,” observed the other calmly.
u Upon what grounds ? ” asked his companion.
u Simply because I know a person who possesses the
sanative power I speak of.”
u And I believe in the former,” replied Woodward,
u and upon better grounds still, because I possess it
myself.”
u You will pardon me,” said the other ; u but I hes-
itate to believe that.”
Woodward, who felt this imputation against his
veracity with resentment, suddenly pulled up his horse,
and, turning himself on the saddle, looked upon his
companion with an expression that was as extraordi-
nary as it was blighting. The stranger, on the other
hand, reining in his horse, and taking exactly the same
attitude as Woodward, bent his eye on him in return ;
and there they sat opposite to each other, where we
will leave them until we describe the somewhat extraor-
dinary man who had become the fellow-traveller of the
hero of the breakfast table.
He was mounted upon a powerful charger; for in-
deed it was evident at a glance that no other would
have been equal to his weight. He was well-dressed
— that is to say, in the garb of a country gentleman of
the day. He wore his own hair, however, which fell
in long masses over his shoulders, and a falling collar,
which came down over his breast. His person was
robust and healthy looking, and, what is not very usual
in large men, it wa? remarkable for the most consura-
56
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
mate proportion and symmetry. He wore boots and
silver spurs, and his feet were unusually small, con-
sidering his size, as were also his hands. That, how-
ever, which struck the beholder with amazement, was
the manly beauty of his features. At a first glance this
was visible ; but on contemplating them more closely
you began to feel something strange and wonderful
associated with a feeling of veneration and pleasure.
Even this, however, was comparatively little to what
a still more deliberate perusal of that face brought to
light. There could be read the extraordinary union of
humility and grandeur ; but above all, and beyond all
other expressions, there proceeded from his eyes, and
radiated like a halo from every part of his countenance,
a sense of power which was felt to be irresistible. His
eyes, indeed, were almost transparent with light — a
light so clear, benignant, and strong, that it was im-
possible to withstand their glance, radiant with benev-
olence though it was. The surrender to that glance,
however, was a willing and a pleasing one. The specta-
tor submitted to it as an individual would to the eye of
a blessed spirit that was known to communicate nothing
but good. There, then, they sat contemplating one an-
other, each, as it were, in the exercise of some particu-
lar power, which, in this case, appeared to depend
altogether on the expressions of the eye. The gaze
was long and combative in its character, and constituted
a trial of that moral strength which each, in the pecu-
liar constitution of his being, seemed to possess. After
some time, however, Woodward’s glance seemed to lose
its concentrative power, and gradually to become vague
and blank. In a little time he felt himself rapidly
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
57
losing ground, and could hardly avoid thinking that
the eyes of his opponent were looking into his very
soul: his eyelids quivered, his eyes assumed a dull
and listless appearance, and ultimately closed for some
moments — he was vanquished, and he felt it.
“ What is the matter with you ? ” said his companion
at length, “ and why did you look at me with such a
singular gaze ? I hope you do not feel resentment at
what I said. I hesitated to believe you only because I
thought you might be mistaken.”
“I entertain no resentment against you,” replied
Woodward; “but I must confess I feel astonished.
Pray, allow me to ask, sir, are you a medical man ? ”
“ Not at all,” replied the other; “I never received
a medical education, and yet I perform a great number
of cures.”
“ Then, sir,” said Woodward, “ I take it, with every
respect, that you must be a quack.”
“ Did you ever know a quack to work a cure with-
out medicine?” replied the other; “now I cure with-
out medicine, and that is more than the quack is able
to do with it ; I, consequently, cannot be a quack.”
“ Then, in the devil’s name, what are you ? ” asked
Woodward, who felt that his extraordinary fellow-
traveller was amusing himself at his expense.
“I reply to no interrogatory urged upon such
authority,” said the stranger ; “ but let me advise you,
young man, not to allow that mysterious and malignant
power which you seem to possess to gratify itself by
injury to your fellow-creatures. Let it be the princi-
pal purpose of your life to serve them by every means
within your reach, otherwise you will neglect to your
3 *
58
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
cost those great duties for which God created you.
Farewell, my friend, and remember my words ; for they
are uttered in a spirit of kindness and good feeling.”
They had now arrived at cross-roads ; the stranger
turned to the right, and Woodward proceeded, as
directed, toward Rathfillan House, the residence of his
father.
The building was a tolerably large and comfortable
one, without any pretence to architectural beauty. It
had a plain porch before the hall-door, with a neat
lawn, through which wound a pretty drive up to the
house. On each side of the lawn was a semicircle of
fine old trees, that gave an ancient and impressive
appearance to the whole place.
Now, one might imagine that Woodward would have
felt his heart bound with affection and delight on his
return to all that ought to have been dear to him after
so long an absence. So far from that, however, he
returned in disappointment and ill-temper, for he cal-
culated that unless there had been some indefensible
neglect, or unjustifiable offence offered to his uncle
Hamilton by his family, that gentleman, who, he knew
had the character of being both affectionate and good-
natured, would never have left his property to a stran-
ger. The alienation of this property from himself was,
indeed, the bitter reflection which rankled in his heart,
and established in it a hatred against the Goodwins
which he resolved by some means to wreak upon them
in a spirit of the blackest vengeance. Independently
of this, we feel it necessary to say here, that he was
Utterly devoid of domestic affection, and altogethei
insensible to the natural claims *nd feelings of con
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
59
sanguinity. His uncle abroad, for instance, had fre-
quently urged him to pay a visit to his relatives, and.,
of course, to supply him liberally with the necessary
funds for the journey. To every such suggestion, how-
ever, he gave a decided negative. 66 If they wish to see
me,” he would reply, u let them come and see me : as
for me, I have no wish to see them, and I shall not go.”
This unnatural indifference to the claims of blood
and affection not only startled his uncle, but shook his
confidence in the honor and integrity of his favorite.
Some further discoveries of his dishonesty ultimately
led to his expulsion from the heart of that kind rela-
tive, as well as from the hospitable roof of which he
proved himself so unworthy.
With such a natural disposition, and affected as he
must have been by a train of circumstances so de-
cidedly adverse to his hopes and prospects, our readers
need not feel surprised that he should return home in
anything but an agreeable mood of mind.
CHAPTER IV.
WOODWARD MEETS A GUIDE.' — HIS RECEPTION AT HOME.
— PREPARATIONS FOR A FETE.
Woodward rode slowly, as he indulged in those dis-
agreeable reflections to which we have alluded, until
he reached a second cross-roads, where he found him-
self somewhat at a loss whether to turn or ride straight
onward. While pausing for a moment, as to which
60
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
way he should take, the mellow whistle of some person
behind him, indulging in a light-hearted Irish air,
caused him to look back, when he saw a well-made,
compact, good-looking young fellow approaching, who,
finding his attention evidently directed to him, con*
eluded his melody and respectfully touched his hat.
“ Pray, my good friend,” said Woodward, “ can you
direct me to Rathfillan, the residence of Mr. Lindsay,
the magistrate ?”
u Misther Lindsay’s, is it ? ”
“ Yes ; I said so.”
“ Well, I think I can, sir.”
“ Yes ; but are you sure of it ? ”
“ Well, I think I am, sir.”
“You think! why, d — n it, sir, do you not know
whether you are or not ? ”
“ May I ax, sir,” inquired the other in his turn, “ if
you are a religious character ? ”
“ Why, what the devil has that to do with the mat-
ter in question?” said Woodward, beginning to lose
his temper. “ I ask you to direct me to the residence
of a certain gentleman, and you ask me whether I am
a religious character ? What do you mean by that ? ”
“ Why, sir,” replied the man, “ not much, Fm
afeard — only if you had let me speak, which you
didn’t, God pardon you, I was going to say, that if you
knew the way to heaven as well as I do to Misther
Lindsay’s you might call yourself a happy man, and
born to luck.”
Woodward looked with something of curiosity at his
new companion, and was a good deal struck with his
appearance. His age might be about twenty-eight or
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
61
from that to thirty ; his figure stout and well-made ; his
features were decidedly Milesian, but then they were
Milesian of the best character; his mouth was firm,
but his lips full, red, and handsome ; his clear, merry
eyes would puzzle one to determine whether they were
gray or blue, so equally were the two colors blended in
them. After a very brief conversation with him, no
one could doubt that humor formed a predominant
trait in his disposition. In fact, the spirit of the forth-
coming jest was visible in his countenance before the
jest itself came forth ; but although his whole features
bore a careless and buoyant expression, yet there was
no mistaking in them the unquestionable evidences of
great shrewdness and good sense. He also indulged
occasionally in an ironical and comic sarcasm, which,
however, was never directed against his friends ; this
he reserved for certain individuals whose character
entitled them to it at his hands. He also drew the
long-bow, when he wished, with great skill and effect.
Woodward, after having scrutinized his countenance
for some time, was about to make some inquiries, as a
stranger, concerning the character of his family and
the reputation they bore in the neighborhood, when he
found himself, considerably to his surprise, placed in
the witness-box for a rather brisk fire of cross-exami-
uation.
u You are no stranger in this part of the country, I
presume/7 said he, with a view of bringing him out for
his own covert and somewhat ungenerous purposes.
u I am no stranger, sure enough, sir,” replied the
other, u so far as a good slice of the counthry side goes ;
but if I am not you are, sir, or Fm out in it V
62
THE EVIL EYE; OB,
u Yes, I am a stranger here.”
“ Never mind, sir, don’t let that disthress you ; it’s
a good man’s case, sir. Did you thravel far, wid sub-
mission ? I spake in kindness, sir.”
“ Why, yes, a — a — pretty good distance ; but about
Mr. Lindsay and — ”
“Yes, sir; crossed over , sir, I suppose ¥ I mane
from the other side ? ”
“ O ! you want to know if I crossed the Channel ? ”
“ Had you a pleasant passage, sir ¥ ”
u Yes, tolerable.”
“ Thank God ! I hope you’ll make a long stay with
us, sir, in this part of the counthry. If you have any
business to do with Mr. Lindsay — as of coorse you
have — why, I don’t think you and he will quarrel ;
and by the way, sir, I know him and the family well,
and if I only got a glimpse, I could throw in a word or
two to guide you in dalin’ wid him — that is, if I knew
the business.”
“ As to that,” replied Woodward, u it is not very
particular ; I am only coming on a pretty long visit to
him, and as you say you know the family, I would feel
glad to hear what you think of them.”
“Misther Lindsay, or rather Misther Charles, and
you will have a fine time of it, sir. There’s delightful
fishin’ here, and the best of shootin’ and huntin’ in
harvest and winter — that is, if you stop so long”
“ What kind of a man is Mr. Lindsay ¥ ”
“ A fine, clever * man, sir ; six feet in his stockin'
soles, and made in proportion.”
Portly, large, comely.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
63
u But I want to know nothing about his figure ; is
the man reputed good or bad ? ”
“Why, just good or bad, sir, according as he’s
treated.”
“ Is he well liked, then ? I trust you understand me
now.”
“ By his friends, sir, no man betther — by them that’s
his inemies, not so well.”
“ You mentioned a son of his, Charles, I think j what
kind of a young fellow is he?”
“ Very like his father, sir.”
“I see; well, I thank you, my friend, for the
liberality of your information. Has he any daugh-
ters ? ”
“ Two, sir ; but very unlike their mother .”
“ Why, what kind of a woman is their mother ? ”
“ She’s a saint, sir, of a sartin class — ever and always
at her prayers,” {sotto voce , “ such as they are — cursing
her fellow-cratures from mornin’ till night.”)
“ Well, at all events, it is a good thing to be relig-
ious.”
“ Devil a better, sir ; but she, as I said, is a saint
from — heaven” ( sotto voce , “and very far from it too.)
But, sir, there’s a lady in this neighborhood — I won’t
name her — that has a tongue as sharp and poisonous as
if she lived on rattlesnakes ; and she has an eye of her
own that they say is every bit as dangerous.”
“ And who is she, my good fellow ? ”
“ Why, a very intimate friend of Mrs. Lindsay’s, and
seldom out of her company. Now, sir, do you see that
house wid the tall chimleys, or rather do you see the
tall chimleys — for you can‘t see the house itself? That’s
64
TIIE EVIL EYE; OK,
where the family we spake of lives, and there you’ll see
Mrs. Lindsay and the lady I mention.”
Woodward, in fact, knew not what to make of his
guide ; he found him inscrutable, and deemed it useless
to attempt the extortion of any further intelligence from
him. The latter was ignorant that Mrs. Lindsay’s son
was expected home, as was every member of that
gentleman’s family. He had, in fact, given them no
information of his return. The dishonest fraud which
he had practised upon his uncle, and the apprehension
that that good old man had transmitted an account of
his delinquency to his relatives, prevented him from
writing, lest he might, by subsequent falsehoods, con-
tradict his uncle, and thereby involve himself in deeper
disgrace. His uncle, however, was satisfied with having
got rid of him, and forbore to render his relations un-
happy by any complaint of his conduct. His hope was,
that Woodward’s expulsion from his house, and the
withdrawal of his affections from him, might, upon re-
flection, cause him to turn over a new leaf — an effort
which would have been difficult, perhaps impracticable,
had he transmitted to them a full explanation of his
perfidy and ingratitude.
A thought now occurred to Woodward with reference
to himself. He saw that his guide, after having pointed
out his father’s house to him, was still keeping him
company.
“ Perhaps you are coming out of your way,” said he ;
“you have been good enough to show me Mr. Lindsay’s
residence, and I have no further occasion for your
services. I thank you : take this and drink my health ; ”
and as he spoke he offered him some silver.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
65
“Many thanks, sir,” replied the man, in a far differ-
ent tone of voice, “ many thanks ; but I never resave
or take payment for an act of common civility, espe-
cially from any gentleman on his way to the family of
Mr. Lindsay. And now, sir, I will tell you honestly and
openly that there is not a better gentleman alive this
day than he is. Himself, his son, and daughter* are
loved and honored by all that know them ; and woe be-
tide the man that ’ud dare to cruck (crook) his finger
at one of them.”
“ You seem to know them very well.”
“ I have a good right, sir, seem’ that I have been in
the family ever since I was a gorson.”
“ And is Mrs. Lindsay as popular as her husband ? ”
“ She is his wife, sir — the mother of his children, and
my misthress ; afther that you may judge for yourself.”
“ Of course, then, you are aware that they have a
son abroad.”
“ I am, sir, and a fine young man they say he is.
Nothing vexes them so much as that he won’t come to
see them. He’s never off their tongue ; and if he’s
aquil to what they say of him, upon my credit the sun
needn’t take the throuble of shinin’ on him.”
“ Have they any expectation of a visit from him, do
you know ? ”
“ Not that I hear, sir ; but I know that nothing would
rise the cockles of their hearts aquil to seein’ him among
them. Poor fellow! Mr. Hamilton’s will was a bad
business for him, as it was thought he’d have danced
into the property. But then, they say, his other uncle
* His daughter Jane was with a relation in England, and does not
appear in this romance.
66
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
will provide for him, especially as he took him from the
family, by all accounts, on that condition.”
This information — if information it could be called
— was nothing more nor less than wormwood and gall
to the gentleman on whose ears and into whose heart
it fell. The consciousness of his present position — dis-
carded by a kind uncle for dishonesty, and deprived, as
he thought, by the caprice or mental imbecility of
another uncle, of a property amounting to upwards of
twelve hundred per annum — sank upon his heart with
a feeling which filled it with a deep and almost blas-
phemous resentment at every person concerned, which
lie could scarcely repress from the observation of his
{juide.
“What is your name?” said he abruptly to him;
ind as he asked the question he fixed a glance upon
*iim that startled his companion.
The latter looked at him, and felt surprised at the
fearful expression of his eye ; in the meantime, we
must say, that he had not an ounce of coward’s flesh on
his bones.
“ What is my name, sir ? ” he replied. “ Faith,
afther that look, if you don’t know my name, I do yours ;
there was your mother’s eye fastened on me to the life.
However, take it aisy, sir; devil a bit I’m afeard. If
you’re not her son, Misther Woodward, why, I’m not
Barney Casey, that’s all. Don’t deny it, sir; you’re
welcome home, and I’m glad to see you, as they all
will be.”
“Harkee, then,” said Woodward, “you are right;
but, mark me, keep quiet, and allow me to manage
matters in my own way ; not a syllable of the discovery
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
67
you have made, or it will be worse for you. I am not
a person to be trifled with.”
u Troth, and you’re right there, sir ; it’s what I often
said, often say, and often will say of myself. Barney
Casey is not the boy to be trifled wid.”
On arriving at the house, Barney took round the
horse — a hired one, by the way — to the stable, and
Woodward knocked. On the door being opened, he
inquired if Mr. Lindsay was within, and was answered
in the affirmative.
u Will you let him know a gentleman wishes to see
him for a few minutes ? ”
u What name, sir, shall I say ? ”
u O, it doesn’t matter — say a gentleman.”
u Step into the parlor, sir, and he will be with you
immediately.”
He did so, and was there but a very short time when
his step-father entered. Short as the time was, how-
ever, he could not prevent himself from reverting to
the strange equestrian he had met on his way, nor to
the extraordinary ascendency he had gained over him.
Another young man placed in his circumstances would
have felt agitated and excited by his approaching inter-
view with those who were so nearly related to him, and
whom, besides, he had not seen for such a long period
of time. To every such emotion, however, he was
absolutely insensible ; there was no beating pulse, no
heaving of the bosom, not a nerve disturbed by the
tremulous vibrations of awakened affection, no tumult
of the heart, no starting tear — no ! there was nothing
of all this — but, on the contrary, a calm, cold, imper-
turbable spirit, so dead and ignorant of domestic attach-
68
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
ment, that the man could neither feel nor understand
what it meant.
When his step-father entered, he naturally bowed to
the stranger, and motioned him to a seat, which the
other accordingly took. Lindsay certainly was, as
Barney Casey had said, a very fine-looking man for
his years. He was tall, erect, and portly, somewhat
inclined to corpulency, of a handsome, but florid coun-
tenance, in which might be read a large expression of
cheerfulness and good-humor, together with that pecu-
liar tinge which results from conviviality. Indeed,
there could scarcely be witnessed a more striking con-
trast than that between his open, kind-looking features,
and the sharp, disagreeable symmetry which marked
those of his step-son with such a dark and unpleasant
character.
“My servant tells me,” said Lindsay, courteously,
“ that you wished to see me.”
“I did, sir,” replied Woodward; “in that he spoke
correctly ; I wished to see you, and I am glad to see
you.”
“ I thank you, sir,” replied the other, bowing again ;
“ but — ahem — in the meantime, sir, you have the
advantage of me. ”
“ And intend to keep it, sir, for a little,” replied
Woodward, with one of his cold smiles. “ I came to
speak to you, sir, concerning your son who is abroad,
and to ask if you have recently heard from himself or
his uncle.”
“ 0, then, I presume, sir,” replied Lindsay, “ you
are an acquaintance or friend of his ; if so, allow me to
bid you welcome ; nothing, I assure you, could afford
THE KLACK SPECTRE.
69
either myself or my family greater pleasure than to
meet and show attention to any friend of his. Unfor-
tunately, we have heard nothing from him or his uncle
for nearly the last year and a half ; but, you will be
doubly welcome, sir, if you can assure us that they are
both well. His uncle, or rather I should say his grand-
uncle, for in that relation he stands to him, adopted
him, and a kinder man does not live.”
UI believe Mr. Woodward and his uncle are both
well, the former, I think, sir, is your step-son only.”
u Don’t say only , sir, he is just as much the son of my
affection as his brother, and now, sir, may I request to
know the name of the gentleman I am addressing ? ”
u Should you wish to see Henry Woodward himself,
sir ? ”
u Dear sir, nothing would delight me more, and all
of us, especially his mother ; yet the ungrateful boy
would never come near us, although he was pressed and
urged to do so a hundred times.”
u Well, then, sir,” replied that gentleman, rising up,
u he now stands before you ; I am Henry Woodward,
father.”
A hug that half strangled him was the first acknowl-
edgment of his identity. u Zounds, my dear Harry —
Harry, my dear boy, you’re welcome a thousand times,
ten thousand times. Stand off a little till I look at you ;
fine young fellow, and your mother’s image. Gad-
zooks, I was stupid as a block not to know you ; but
who would have dreamed of it. There, I say — hallo,
Jenny ! — come here, all of you; here is Harry at last.
Are you all deaf, or asleep ? ”
These words he shouted out at the top of his voice,
70
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
and in a few minutes his mother, Charles, and his sistei
Maria entered the room, the two latter in a state of
transport.
u Here, Jenny, here he is ; you have the first claim ;
confound it, Charley, Maria, don’t strangle the boy ; ha,
ha, ha!”
In fact, the precaution, so far as the affectionate
brother and sister were concerned, was anything but
needless. His mother, seeing their eagerness to em-
brace him, which they did with tears of delight, stood
calmly by until he was disentangled from their arms,
when she approached him and imprinted two kisses up
on his lips, with an indifference of manner that, to a
stranger, would have been extraordinary, but which, to
those who were present, excited no surprise ; for she
had scarcely, during her life, ever kissed one of her own
children. Nothing, indeed, could exceed the tumultu-
ous exultation of spirits with which they received him,
nor was honest Lindsay himself less joyously affected.
Yet it might be observed that there was a sparkle in
the eye of his mother, which was as singular as it was
concentrated and intense. Such an expression might
be observed in a menagerie when a tigress, indolently
dallying with one of her cubs, exhibits, even in re-
pose, those fiery scintillations in the eye which startle
the beholders. The light of that eye, though intense,
was cold, calculating, and disagreeable to look upon.
The frigidity of her manner and reception of him might,
to a certain extent, be accounted for from the fact that
she had gone to his uncle’s several times for the purpose
of seeing him, and watching his interests. Let us not,
therefore, impute to the coldness of her habits any want
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
71
*>f affection for him ; on the contrary, his little finger
was a thousand times dearer to her than the bodies and
souls of all her other children, adding to them her
husband himself, put together. Besides, she was per-
fectly unsusceptible of emotions of tenderness, and, con-
sequently, a woman of powerful will, inflexible deter-
mination, and the most inexorable resentments. She
was also ambitious, as far as she had scope for it, with-
in her sphere of life, and would have been painfully
penurious in her family, were it not that the fiery
resolution of her husband, when excited by long and
intolerable provocation, was at all times able to subdue
her — a superiority over her will and authority which
she never forgave him. In fact, she neither loved him-
self, nor anything in common with him ; and the
natural affection which he displayed on the return of
her son was one reason why she received him with such
apparent indifference. To all the rest of the family she
had a heart of stone. Since her second marriage they
had lost three children ; but, so far as she was con-
cerned, each of them went down into a tearless grave.
She had once been handsome ; but her beauty, like her
son’s, was severe and disagreeable. There is, however,
such a class of beauty, and it is principally successful
with men who have a penchant for overcoming difficul-
ties, because it is well known that the fact of conciliat-
ing or subduing it is justly considered no ordinary
achievement. A great number of our old maids may trace
their solitude and their celibacy to the very question-
able gift of such beauty, and the dispositions which
usually accompany it. She was tall, and had now grown
thin, and her features had become sharpened by ill-
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
temper into those of a fleshless, angular-faced vixen
Altogether she was a faithful exponent of her own evil
and intolerable disposition ; and it was said that she had
inherited that and the “unlucky eye” from a family
that was said to have been deservedly unpopular, and
equally unscrupulous in their resentments.
“Well, Harry,” said she, after the warm-hearted
ebullition of feeling produced by his appearance had
subsided, “so you have returned to us at last; but
indeed you return now to a blank and dismal prospect.
Miss Goodwin’s adder tongue has charmed the dotage
of your silly old uncle to some purpose for herself.”
“ Confound it, Jenny,” said her husband, “ let the
young man breathe, at least, before you bring up that
eternal subject. Is not the matter over and decided ?
and where is the use of your making both yourself and
us unhappy by discussing it ? ”
“ It may be decided, but it is not over, Lindsay,”
she replied; “don’t imagine it: I shall pursue the
Goodwins, especially that sorceress, Alice, with a ven-
geance that will annul the will, and circumvent those
who wheedled him into the making of it. My curse
upon them all, as it will be ! ”
“ Harry, when you become better acquainted with
your mother,” said his step-father, “ you will get sick
of this. Have you breakfasted ; for that is more to the
point t ”
“ I have, sir,” replied the other ; “ and you would
scarcely guess where ; ” and here he smiled and glanced
significantly at his mother.
“Why, I suppose,” said Lindsay, “in whatever inn
you stopped at.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
73
i No/’ he replied ; “I was obliged to seek shelter
from the storm last night, and where do you think I
found it ? ”
“ Heaven knows. Where ? ”
“Why, with your friend and neighbor, Mr. Good-
win.”
“No friend, Harry,” said his mother; “don’t say
that.”
“I slept there last night,” he proceeded, “and
breakfasted there this morning, and nothing could
exceed the cordiality and kindness of my reception.”
“ Did they know who you were ? ” asked his mother,
with evident interest.
“ Not till this morning, at breakfast.”
“Well,” said she again, “ when they heard it?”
“ Why, their attention and kindness even redoubled,”
replied her son ; “ and as for Miss Goodwin herself,
she’s as elegant, as sweet, and as lovely a girl as I
ever looked on. Mother, I beg you to entertain no
implacable or inveterate enmity against her. I will
stake my existence that she never stooped to any
fraudulent circumvention of my poor uncle. Take my
word for it, the intent and execution of the will must
be accounted for otherwise.”
“Well and truly said, Harry,” said his step-father —
“well and generously said; give me your hand, my
boy ; thank you. Now, madam,” he proceeded, ad-
dressing his wife, “ what have you to say to the opinion
of a man who has lost so much by the transaction,
when you hear that that opinion is given in her
favor ? ”
“Indeed, my dear Harry,” observed his sister, “she
4
74
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
is all that you have said of her, and much more, if
you knew her as we do ; she is all disinterestedness and
truth, and the most unselfish girl that ever breathed.”
Now, there were two persons present who paused
upon hearing this intelligence ; one of whom listened
to it with unexpected pleasure, and the other with
mingled emotions of pleasure and pain. The first of
these was Mrs. Lindsay, and the other her son Charles.
Mrs. Lindsay, whose eyes were not for a moment off
her son, understood the significant glance he had given
her when he launched forth so heartily in the praise
of Alice Goodwin ; neither did the same glance escape
the observation of his brother Charles, who inferred,
naturally enough, from the warmth of the eulogium that
had been passed upon her, that she had made, perhaps,
too favorable an impression upon his brother. Of this,
however, the reader shall hear more in due time.
u Well,” said the mother slowly, and in a meditating
voice, u perhaps, after all, we may have done her injus-
tice. If so, no person would regret it more than my-
self ; but we shall see. You parted from them, Harry,
on friendly terms ? ”
u I did, indeed, my dear mother, and am permitted,
almost solicited, to make their further acquaintance,
and cultivate a friendly intimacy with them, which I
am determined to do.”
u Bravo, Harry, my fine fellow ; and we will be on
friendly terms with them once more. Poor, honest,
and honorable old Goodwin ! what a pity that either
disunion or enmity should subsist between us. No ; the
families must be once more cordial and affectionate, as
they ought to be. Bravo, Harry ! your return is pro-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
75
phetic of peace and good feeling; and, confound me,
but you shall have a bonfire this night for your gener-
osity that will shame the sun. The tar-barrels shall
blaze, and the beer-barrels shall run to celebrate your
appearance amongst us. Come, Charley, let us go to
Rathfillan, and get the townsfolk to prepare for the
fete : we must have fiddlers and pipers, and plenty of
dancing. Barney Casey must go among the tenants,
too, and order them all into the town. Mat Mulcahy,
the innkeeper, must give us his best room ; and, my
life to yours, we will have a pleasant night of it.”
u George,” exclaimed his wife, in a tone of queru-
lous remonstrance, you know how expensive — ”
“Confound the expense and your penury both,”
exclaimed her husband ; “ is it to your own son, on his
return to us after such an absence, that you’d grudge
the expense of a blazing bonfire ? ”
“ Not the bonfire,” replied his wife, “ but — ”
“ Ay, but the cost of drink to the tenants. Why,
upon my soul, Harry, your mother is anything but
popular here, you must know ; and I think if it were
not from respect to me and the rest of the family she’d
be indicted for a witch. Gadzooks, Jenny, will I never
get sense or liberality into your head ? Ay, and if you
go on after your usual fashion, it is not unlikely that
you may have a tar-barrel of your own before long.
Go, you and Harry, and tell your secrets to each other
while we prepare for the jubilation. In the meantime,
we must get up an extempore dinner to-day — the set
dinner will come in due time, and be a different affair ;
but at all events some of the neighbors we must have
to join us in the jovialities — hurroo !”
76
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Well, George,’’ said she, with h^r own peculiar
smile, u I see you are in one of your moods to-day.”
u Ay, right enough, the imperative one, my dear.”
u And, so far as I am concerned, it would not cer-
cainly become me to stand in the way of any honor
bestowed upon my son Harry ; so I perceive you must
only have it your own way — I consent .”
u I don’t care a fig whether you do or not. When
matters come to a push, I am always master of my own
house, and ever will be so — and you know it. Good-
by, Harry, we will be back in time for dinner, with as
many friends as we can pick up on so short notice—
hurroo !”
He and Charles accordingly went forth to make the
necessary preparations, and give due notice of the
bonfire, after which they succeeded in securing the
attendance of about a dozen guests to partake of the
festivity.
Barney, in the meantime, having received his orders
for collecting, or, as it was then called, warning in
the tenantry to the forthcoming bonfire, proceeded
upon his message in high spirits, not on account
of the honor it was designed to confer on Wood-
ward, against whom he had already conceived a strong
antipathy, in consequence of the resemblance he bore
to his mother, but for the sake of the fun and amuse-
ment which he purposed to enjoy at it himself. The
first house he went into was a small country cabin,
such as a petty fanner of five or six acres at that time
occupied. The door was not of wood, but of wicker-
work woven across long wattles and plastered over with
clay mortar. The house had two small holes in the
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
77
front side-walls to admit the light ; but during severe
weather these were filled up with straw or rags to
keep out the storm. On one side of the door stood a
large curra , or, uould man,” for it was occasionally
termed both — composed of brambles and wattles tied
up lengthwise together — about the height of a man and
as thick as an ordinary sack. This was used, as they
termed it, u to keep the wind from the door.” If the
blast came from the right, it was placed on that side,
and if from the left, it was changed to the opposite.
Chimneys, at that period, were to be found only upon
the houses of extensive and wealthy farmers, the only
substitute for them being a simple hole in the roof over
the fireplace. The small farmer in question cultivated
his acres with a spade ; and after sowing his grain he
harrowed it in with a large thorn bush, which he him-
self, or one of his sons, dragged over it with a heavy
stone on the top to keep it close to the surface. When
Barney entered this cabin he found the vanithee , or
woman of the house, engaged in the act of grinding
oats into meal for their dinner writh a quern, consisting
of two aiminutive millstones turned by the hand ; this
was placed upon a prasJceen, or coarse apron, spread
under it on the floor to receive the meal. An old
woman, her mother, sat spinning flax with the distaff —
for as yet flax wheels were scarcely known — and a
lubberly young fellow about sixteen, with able, well-
shaped limbs and great promise of bodily strength, sat
before the fire managing a double task, to wit, roasting,
first, a lot of potatoes in the greeshaugh , which consisted
cf half embers and half ashes, glowing hot; and,
secondly, at a little distance from the larger lighted
78
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
turf, two cluck eggs, which, as well as the potatoes, he
turned from time to time, that they might be equally
done. All this he conducted by the aid of what was
termed a maddha vristha , or rustic tongs, which was
nothing more than a wattle, or stick, broken in the
middle, between the ends of which he held both his
potatoes and his eggs while turning them. Two good-
looking, fresh-colored girls were squatted on their
hunkers (hams), cutting potatoes for seed — late as the
season was — with two case knives, which had been
borrowed from a neighboring farmer of some wealth.
The dress of the women was similar and simple. It con-
sisted of a long-bodied gown that had only half skirts ;
that is to say, instead of encompassing the whole person,
the lower part of it came forward only as far as the hip
bones, on each side, leaving the front of the petticoat
exposed. This posterior part of the gown would, if left to
fall to its full length, have formed a train behind them of
at least two feet in length. It was pinned up, however,
to a convenient length, and was not at all an ungraceful
garment, if we except the sleeves, which went no farther
than the elbows — a fashion in dress which is always
unbecoming, especially when the arms are thin. The.
hair of the elder woman was doubled back in front,
from about the middle of the forehead, and the rest of
the head was covered by a dowd cap , the most primitive
of all female head-dresses, being a plain shell, or skull-
cap, as it were, for the head, pointed behind, and with-
out any fringe or border whatsoever. This turning up
of the hair was peculiar only to married life, of which
condition it was universally a badge. The young
females wore theirs fastened behind by a skewer } but
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
79
on this occasion one of them, the youngest, allowed it
to fall in natural ringlets about her cheeks and
shoulders.
u God save all here/7 said Barney, as he entered the
house.
u God save you kindly, Barney,” was the instant
reply from all.
u Ah, Mrs. Davoren,” he proceeded, u ever the
same ; by this and by that, if there’s a woman living
ignorant of one thing, and you are that woman.”
u Sorrow off you, Barney ! well, what is it ? ”
u Idleness, achora. Now, let me see if you have
e’er a finger at all to show ; for upon my honorable
word they ought to be worn to the stumps long ago.
Well, and how are you all? But sure I needn’t ax.
Faith, you’re crushin’ the blanther * anyhow, and that
looks well.”
u We must live, Barney ; ’tis a poor shift we’d make
'idout the praties and the broghan ,” (meal porridge).
u What news from the big house ? ”
u News, is it? Come, Corney, come, girls, bounce;
news is it? O, faitha’, thin it’s I that has the news
that will make you all shake your feet to-night.”
u Blessed saints, Barney, what is it ? ”
u Bounce, I say, and off wid ye to gather brusna
(dried and rotten brambles) for a bonfire in the great
town of Rathfillan.”
u A bonfire, Barney ! Arra, why, man alive ? ”
u Why ? Why, bekaise the masther’s step-son and
the misthress’s own pet has come home to us to set
* Blanter , a well-known description of oats. It was so called from
Laving been originally imported from Blantire in Scotland.
80
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
the counthry into a state o’ conflagration wid his
beauty. There won’t be a whole cap in the barony
before this day week. They’re to have fiddlers, and
pipers, and dancin’, and drinkin1 to no end ; and the
glory of it is that the masther, God bless him, is to
pay for all. Now ! ”
The younger of the two girls sprang to her feet with
the elasticity and agility of a deer.
u 0, beetha , Barney,” she exclaimed, u but that will
be the fun ! And the misthress’s son is home ? Arra,
what is he like, Barney ? Is he as handsome as Masther
Charles ? ”
UI hope he’s as good,” said her mother.
u As good, Bridget ? No, but worth a ship-load of
him ; he has a pair of eyes in his head, Granua,” (< an -
glice , Grace,) addressing the younger, 66 that ’ud turn
Glendhis (the dark glen) to noonday at midnight ;
divil a lie in it ; and his hand’s never out of his pocket
wid generosity.”
u O, mother,” said Grace, u won’t we all go ? ”
u Don’t ax your mother anything about it,” replied
Barney, u bekaise mother, and father, and sisther, and
brother, daughter and son, is all to come.”
u Arra, Barney,” said Bridget Davoren, for such
was her name, u is this gentleman like his ecald of a
mother ? ”
u Hasn’t a feature of her purty face,” he replied,
u and, to the back o’ that, is very much given to relig-
ion. Troth, my own opinion is, he’ll be one of our-
selves yet ; for I can tell you a saicret about him.”
UA saicret, Barney,” said Grace; u maybe he’s
married ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
81
16 Married, no ; he tould me himself this mornin'
that it’s not his intention ever to marry ’till he meets a
purty girl to plaise him ; he’ll keep a loose foot, he says,
and an aisy conscience till then, he says ; but the saicret
is this, he never aits flesh mate of a Friday — when he
canyt get it. Indeed, I’m afeard he’s too good to be
long for this world ; but still, if the Lord was to take
him, wouldn’t it be a proof that he had a great regard
for him ! ”
Grace Davoren was flushed and excited with delight.
She was about eighteen, rather tall for her age, but
roundly and exquisitely moulded ; her glossy ringlets,
as they danced about her cheeks and shoulders, were
black as ebony; but she was no brunette ; for her skin
was milk white, and that portion of her bosom, which
was uncovered by the simple nature of her dress, threw
back a polished light like ivory ; her figure was perfec-
tion, and her white legs were a finer specimen of sym-
metry than ever supported the body of the Venus de
Medicis. This was all excellent ; but it was the spar-
kling lustre of her eyes, and the radiance of her whole
countenance, that attracted the beholder. If there was
anything to be found fault with, it was in the spirit,
not in the physical perfection, of her beauty. There
was, for instance, too much warmth of coloring and of
constitution visible in her whole exquisite person ; and
sometimes her glances would puzzle you to determine
whether they were those of innocence or of challenge.
Be this as it may, she was a rare specimen of rustic
beauty and buoyancy of spirit.
“O, Barney,” said she, u that’s the pleasantest news
I heard this month o’ Sundays — sich dancin’ as we’ll
4 *
TIIE EVIL EYE; OR,
Si'
have ! and maybe I won’t foot it, and me got my new
shoes and drugget gown last week ; ” and here she
lilted a gay Irish air, to which she set a-dancing with
a lightness of foot and vivacity of manner that threw
her whole countenance into a most exquisite glow of
mirthful beauty.
“ Granua,” said her mother, reprovingly, u think of
yourself and what you are about; if you worn’t a
light-hearted, and, I’m afeard, a light-headed, girl, too,
you wouldn’t go on as you do, especially when you
know what you know, and what Barney here, too,
knows.”
“ Ah,” said Barney, his whole manner immediately
changing, “ have you heard from him, poor fellow ? ”
“ Torley’s gone to the mountains,” she replied, “and
— but here he is. Well, Torley, what news, asthore ? ”
Her husband having passed a friendly greeting to
Barney, sat down, and having taken off his hat, lifted
the skirt of his cothamore (big coat) and wiped the per-
spiration off his large and manly forehead, on which,
however, were the traces of deep care. He did not
speak for some time, but at length said :
“ Bridget, give me a drink.”
His wife took a wooden noggin, which she dipped
into a churn and handed him. Having finished it at a
draught, he wiped his mouth with his gathered palm,
breathed deeply, but was still silent.
“ Torley, did you hear me ? What news of that
unfortunate boy ? ”
“ No news, Bridget, at least no good news ; the boy's
an outlaw, and will be an outlaw — or rather he won’t
be an outlaw long ; they’ll get him soon.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
83
“But why would they get him? hasn’t he sense
enough to keep from them ? ”
“ That’s just what he has not, Bridget ; he has left
the mountains and come down somewhere to the Infield
country ; but where, I cannot make out.”
“Well, asthore, he’ll only bring on his own punish-
ment. Troth, I’m not a bit sorry that Granua missed
him. I never was to say, for the match, but you should
have your way, and force the girl there to it, over and
above. Of what use is his land and wealth to him
now ? ”
“ God’s will be done,” replied her husband, sorrow-
fully. “ As for me, I can do no more in it, nor I won’t.
I was doing the best for my child. He’ll be guided by
no one’s advice but his own.”
“That’s true,” replied his wife, “you did. But
here’s Barney Casey, from the big house, cornin’ to
warn the tenantry to a bonfire that’s to be made to-
night in Rathfillan, out of rejoicin’ for the misthress’s
son that’s come home to them.”
Here Barney once more repeated the message, with
which the reader is already acquainted.
“You are all to come,” he proceeded, “ould and
young ; and to bring every one a backload of sticks
and brusna to help to make the bonfire.”
“Is this message from the masther or misthress,
Barney ! ” asked Davoren.
“ 0, straight from himself,” he replied. “ I have it
from his own lips. Troth he’s ready to leap out of his
skin wid delight.”
“ Bekaise,” added Davoren, “ if it came from the
misthress, the sorrow foot either I or any one of my
84
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
family would set near her; but from himself, that’s
a horse of another color. Tell him, Barney, we’ll
be there, and bring what we can to help the bonfire.”
Until this moment the young fellow at the fire
never uttered a syllable, nor seemed in the slightest
degree conscious that there was any person in the
house but himself. He was now engaged in masticat-
ing the potatoes and eggs, the latter of which he ate
with a thin splinter of bog deal, which served as a sub-
stitute for an egg-spoon, and which is to this day used
among the poor for the same purpose in the remoter
parts of Ireland. At length he spoke :
“ This won’t be a good night for a bonfire anyhow.”
66 Why, Andy, abouchal f ” (my boy.)
“Bekaise, mudher, the storm was in the fire * last
night when I was rakin’ it.”
“ Then we’ll have rough weather,” said his father ;
“ no doubt of that.”
“ Don’t be afeard,” said Barney, laughing; “take
my word for it, if there’s to be rough weather, and
that some witch or wizard has broken bargain with the
devil, the misthress has intherest to get it put off till
the bonfire’s over.”
He then bade them good-by, and took his departure
to fulfil his agreeable and welcome mission. Indeed,
* This is a singular phenomenon, which, so far as I am aware, has
never yet been noticed by any Irish or Scotch writers when describing
the habits and usages of the people in either country. When stirring
the greeshaugh , or red-hot ashes, at night at the settling, or mending, or
raking of the fire, a blue, phosphoric-looking light is distinctly visible
in the embers, and the more visible in proportion to the feebleness of the
light emitted by the fire. It is only during certain states of the atmos-
phere that this is seen. It is always considered as a prognostic ol
severe weather, and its appearance is termed as above.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
85
he spent the greater portion of the day not only in
going among the tenants in person, but in sending the
purport of the said mission to be borne upon the four
winds of heaven through every quarter of the barony ;
after which he proceeded to the little market-town of
Rathfillan, where he secured the services of two fid-
dlers and two pipers. This being accomplished, he
returned home to his master’s, ripe and ready for both
dinner and supper ; for, as he had missed the former
meal, he deemed it most judicious to kill, as he said,
the two birds with one stone, by demolishing them
both together.
CHAPTER V.
THE BONFIRE. — THE PRODIGY.
Andy Davoren’s prognostic, so far as the appearance
of the weather went, seemed, at a first glance, to be
literally built on ashes. A calm, mild, and glorious
serenity lay upon the earth ; the atmosphere was clear
and golden ; the light of the sun shot in broad, trans-
parent beams across the wooded valleys, and poured its
radiance upon the forest tops, which seemed empurpled
with its rich and glowing tones. All the usual signs
of change or rough weather were wanting. Every-
thing was quiet; and a general stillness was abroad,
which, when a sound did occur, caused it to be heard at
an unusual distance. Not a breath of air stirred the
trees, which stood as motionless as if they had been
carved of marble. Notwithstanding all these auspicious
appearances, there were visible to a clear observer of
86
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
nature some significant symptoms of a change. The sur-
faces of pools and rivers were covered with large white
bubbles, which are always considered as indications
of coming rain. The dung heaps, and the pools gener-
ally attached to them, emitted a fetid and offensive smell ;
and the pigs were seen to carry straw into their sties,
or such rude covers as had been constructed for them.
In the meantime the dinner party in Lindsay’s were
enjoying themselves in a spirit quite as genial as his
hospitality. It consisted of two or three country
squires, a Captain Dowd — seldom sober — a pair of
twin brothers, named Cumming, with a couple of half
sirs — a class of persons who bore the same relation to a
gentleman that a salmon-trout does to a salmon. The
Protestant clergyman of the parish was there — a jocund,
rattling fellow, who loved his glass, his dog, his gun,
and, if fame did not belie him, paid more devotion to
his own enjoyments than he did to his Bible. He
dressed in the extreme of fashion, and was a regular
dandy parson of that day. There also was Father
Magauran, the parish priest, a rosy-faced, jovial little
man, with a humorous twinkle in his blue eye, and an
anterior rotundity of person that betokened a moderate
relish for the convivialities. Altogether it was a merry
meeting ; and of the host himself it might be said that
he held as conspicuous a place in the mirth as he did
in the hospitality.
“Come, gentlemen,” said he, after the ladies had
retired to the withdrawing-room, “ come, gentlemen, fill
high ; fill your glasses.”
“ Troth,” said the priest, “ we’d put a heap on them,
if we could.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
87
“ Right, Father Magauran ; do put a heap on them,
if you can ; but, at all events, let them be brimmers ;
Pm going to propose a toast.”
“ Let it be a lady, Lindsay, if you love me,” said the
parson, filling his glass.
“ Sorra hair I care if it is,” said the priest, “ pro-
vided she’s dacent and attends her duty ; go on, squire ;
give us her name at once, and don’t keep the parson’s
teeth watering.”
“Be quiet, reverend gentlemen,” said Lindsay,
laughing ; “ how can a man speak when you take the
words out of his mouth ? ”
“ The Lord forbid we’d swallow them, though,” sub-
joined the parson ; “ if we did, we’d not be long in a
state of decent sobriety.”
“ Talk about something you understand, my worthy
friends, and allow me to proceed,” replied the host;
“don’t you know that every interruption keeps you
from your glass ? Gentlemen, I have great pleasure in
proposing the health of my excellent and worthy step-
son, who has, after a long absence, made me and all
my family happy by his return amongst us. I am sure
you will all like him when you come to know him,
and that the longer you know him, the better you will
like him. Come now, let me see the bottom of every
man’s glass uppermost. I do not address myself di-
rectly to the parson or the priest, because that, I know,
would be, as the latter must admit, a want of confi-
dence in their kindness.
“ Parson,” said the priest, in a whisper, “ that last
observation is gratifying from Lindsay.”
“ Lindsay is a gentleman,” replied the other, in the
88
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
same voice ; “ and the most popular magistrate in the
barony. Come, then.”
Here the worthy gentleman’s health was drank with
great enthusiasm, after which he thanked them in very
grateful and courteous terms, paying, at the same time,
some rather handsome compliments to the two clergy-
men with respect to the appropriate gravity and ex-
quisite polish of their manners. He saw the rapidity
with which they had gulped down the wine, and felt
their rudeness in interrupting Mr. Lindsay, when about
to propose his health, as offensive, and he retorted it
upon them with peculiar irony, that being one of the
talents which, among others, he had inherited from his
mother.
“I cannot but feel myself happy,” said he, “in
returning to the roof of so hospitable a father; but
sensible to the influences of religion, as I humbly
trust I am, I must express a still higher gratification
in having the delightful opportunity of making the
acquaintance of two reverend gentlemen, whose proper
and becoming example will, I am sure, guide my
steps — if I have only grace to follow it — into those
serious and primitive habits which characterize them-
selves, and are so decent and exemplary in the minis-
ters of religion. They may talk of the light of the
gospel ; but, if I don’t mistake, the light of the gospel
itself might pale its ineffectual fires before that which
shines in their apostolic countenances.”
The mirth occasioned by this covert, but comical,
rebuke, fell rather humorously upon the two worthy
gentlemen, who, being certainly good-natured and ex-
cellent men, laughed heartily.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
89
“Thats a neat speech,” said the parson, “ but not
exactly appropriate. Father Tom and I are quite un-
worthy of the compliment he has paid us.”
“ Neat,” said Father Tom ; “ I don’t know whether
the gentleman has a profession or not ; but from the
tone and spirit in which he spoke, I think that if he
has taken up any other than that of his church, he
has missed his vocation. My dear parson, he talks of
the light of our countenances — a light that is lit by
hospitality on the one hand, and moderate social en-
joyment on the other. It is a light, however, that
neither of us would exchange for a pale face and an
eye that seems to have something mysterious at the
back of it.”
“ Come, come, Harry,” said Lindsay, “you mustn’t
be bantering these two gentlemen ; as I said of your-
self, the longer you know them the better you will
relish them. They have both too much sense to carry
religion about with them like a pair of hawkers, cry-
ing out c who’ll buy, who’ll buy ; ’ neither do they
wear long faces, nor make themselves disagreeable by
dragging religion into every subject that becomes the
topic of conversation. On the contrary, they are
cheerful, moderately social, and, to my own knowledge,
with all their pleasantry, are active exponents of much
practical benevolence to the poor. Come, man, take
your wine, and enjoy good company.”
“ Lindsay,” said one of the guests, a magistrate,
u how are we to get the country quiet ? Those rap-
parees and outlaws will play the devil with us if we
don’t put them down. That young scoundrel, Shawn
na Middogue , is at the head of them it is said, and,
TITE EVIL EYE; OR,
00
it would seem, possesses the power of making himself
invisible ; for we cannot possibly come at him, although
he has been often seen by others.”
“ Why, what has been Shawn’s last exploit ? ”
“ Nothing that I have heard of since Bingham’s
robbery ; but there is none of us safe. Have you
your house and premises secured ? ”
“Not I,” replied Lindsay, “unless by good bolts
and bars, together with plenty of arms and ammu-
nition.”
“ How is it that these fellows are not taken ? ” asked
another.
“ Because the people protect them,” said a third ;
“ and because they have strength and activity ; and
thirdly, because we have no adequate force to put
them down.”
“All very sound reasons,” replied the querist ; “ but
as to Shawn na Middogue , the people are impressed
with a belief that he is under the protection of the
fairies, and can’t be taken, on this account. Even if
they were willing to give him up, which they are not,
they dare not make the attempt, lest the vengeance
of the fairies might come down on themselves and
their cattle, in a thousand shapes.”
“ I will tell you what the general opinion upon the
subject is,” replied the other. “It seems his foster-
mother was a midwife, and that she was called upon
once, about the hour of midnight, to discharge the
duties of her profession toward a fairy man’s wife, and
this she refused to do unless they conferred some gift
either upon herself personally, or upon some one whom
she should name. Young Shawn, it appears, was her
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
91
favorite, and she got a solemn promise from them to
take him under their protection, and to preserve him
from danger. This is the opinion of the people ; but
whether it is true or not I won’t undertake to deter*
mine.”
“ Come, gentlemen,” said their host, “ push the bot-
tle ; remember we must attend the bonfire.”
“So,” said the magistrate, “you are sending us to
blazes, Mr. Lindsay.”
“ Well, at all events, my friends,” continued Mr.
Lindsay, “ we must make haste, for there’s little time
to spare. Take your liquor, for we must soon be off.
The evening is delightful. If you are for coffee, let
us adjourn to the ladies ; and after the bonfire we will
return and make a night of it.”
“ Well said, Lindsay,” replied the parson; “ and so
we will.”
“ Here, you young stranger,” said the priest, ad-
dressing Woodward, “I’ll drink your health once
more in this bumper. You touched us off decently
enough, but a little too much on the sharp, as you
would admit if you knew us. Your health again, sir,
and you are welcome among us ! ”
“Thank you, sir,” replied Woodward; “I am glad
to see that you can bear a jest from me or my father,
even when it is at your own expense — your health.”
“ Are you a sportsman ? ” asked the parson ; “ be-
cause, if you are not, just put yourself under my
patronage, and I will teach you something worth
knowing. I will let you see what shooting and hunt-
ing mean.”
“I am a bit of one,” replied Woodward, “but shall
92
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
be very happy to put myself into your hands, notwith-
standing.”
“If I don’t lengthen your face I shall raise your
heart,” proceeded the divine. “If I don’t make a
sportsman of you — ”
“Ay,” added the priest, “you will find yourself in
excellent hands, Mr. Woodward.”
“If I don’t make a sportsman of you — confound
your grinning, Father Tom, what are you at ? — I’ll
make a far better thing of you, that is, a good fellow,
always, of course, provided that you have the materials
in you.”
“ Not a doubt of it,” added Father Tom ; “ you’ll
polish the same youth until he shines like yourself
or his worthy father here. He’ll give you a com-
plexion, my boy — a commodity that you sadly want at
present.”
The evening was now too far advanced to think
of having coffee — a beverage, by the way, to which
scarcely a single soul of them was addicted. They
accordingly got to their legs, and as darkness was set-
ting in they set out for the village to witness the rejoic-
ings. Young Woodward, however, followed his brother
to the drawing-room, whither he had betaken himself
at an early hour after dinner. Under their escort,
their mother and sister accompanied them to the bon-
fire. The whole town was literally alive with anima-
tion and delight. The news of the intended bonfire
had gone rapidly abroad, and the country people
crowded into the town in hundreds. Nothing can at
any time exceed the enthusiasm with which the Irish
enter into and enjoy scenes like that to which they
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
93
now flocked with such exuberant spirits. Bells were
ringing, drums were beating, fifes were playing in the
town, and horns sounding in every direction, both in
town and country. The people were apparelled in
their best costume, and many of them in that equivo-
cal description of it which could scarcely be termed
costume at all. Bareheaded and barefooted multitudes
of both sexes were present, regardless of appearances,
half mad with delight, and exhibiting many a frolic
and gambol considerably at variance with the etiquette
of fashionable life, although we question whether the
most fashionable fete of them all ever produced half so
much happiness. Farmers had come from a distance
in the country, mounted upon lank horses ornamented
with incrusted hips, and caparisoned with long straw
back-suggauns that reached from the shoulder to the
tail, under which ran a crupper of the same material,
designed, in addition to a hay girth, to keep this
primitive riding gear firm upon the animaFs back.
Behind the farmer, generally sat either a wife or a
daughter, remarkable for their scarlet cloaks and blue
petticoats ; sometimes with shoes and stockings, and
very often without them. Among those assembled, we
cannot omit to mention a pretty numerous sprinkling
of that class of strollers, vagabonds, and impostors with
which the country, at the period of our tale, was over-
run Fortune-tellers, of both sexes, quacks, card-
cutters, herbalists, cow-doctors, whisperers, with a long
list of such cheats, were at the time a prevailing nuis-
ance throughout the kingdom ; nor was there a fair
proportion of them wanting here. That, however,
which filled the people with the most especial curiosity.
94
TIIE EVIL EYE; OH,
awe, and interest, was the general report that nothing
less than a live conjurer, who had come to town on
that very evening, was then among them. The town,
in fact, was crowded as if it had been for an illumination ;
but as illuminations, unless they could be conducted
with rushlights, were pageants altogether unknown »a
such small remote towns as Rathfillan, the notion of
one had never entered their heads. All around the
country, however, even for many miles, the bonfires
were blazing, and shone at immense distances from
every hill-top. We have said before that Lindsay
was both a popular landlord and a popular magistrate ;
and on this account alone the disposition to do honor
to any member of his family was recognized by the
people as an act of gratitude and duty.
The town of Rathfillan presented a scene of which
we who live in the present day can form but a faint
conception. Yet, sooth to say, we ourselves have,
about forty years ago, witnessed in remote glens and
mountain fastnesses little clumps of cabins, whose
inhabitants stood still in the midst even of the snail’s
progress which civilization had made in the rustic parts
of Ireland; and who, upon examination, presented
almost the same rude personal habits, antiquated social
usages, agricultural ignorance, and ineradicable super-
stition as their ancestors did in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. Lindsay, knowing how unpopular hi’s wife
was, not only among their own tenantry, but through-
out the country at large, and feeling, besides, how well
that unpopularity was merited, very properly left her
and Maria to his son Charles, knowing that as the two
last named shared in the good-will which the people
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
95
bore him, their mother would be treated with forbear-
ance and respect so long as she was in their company.
He wished, besides, that Harry should seem to partake
of the honor and gratitude which their enthusiasm
would prompt them to pay to himself.
The whole town was one scene of life, bustle, and
enjoyment. It was studded with bonfires, which were
surrounded by wild groups of both sexes, some tolerably
dressed, some ragged as Lazarus, and other young
urchins with nothing but a slip of rag tied about their
loins “ to make them look jinteel and daicent.” The
monster bonfire, however — that which was piled up
into an immense pyramid in honor of the stranger —
was not ignited until the arrival of the quality. The
moment the latter made their appearance it was set in
a flame, and in a few minutes a blaze issued up from
it into the air that not only dimmed the minor exhibi-
tions, but cast its huge glare over the whole town,
making every house and hut as distinctly visible as if
it were broad daylight. Then commenced the huzza-
ing— the bells rang out with double energy — the drums
were beaten more furiously — the large bullocks5 horns
were sounded until those who blew them were black
in the face, and every manifestation of joy that could
be made was resorted to. Fiddles and pipes were in
busy requisition, and “the Boys of Rathfillan,” the
favorite local air, resounded in every direction. And
now that the master and the quality had made their
appearance, of course the drink should soon follow,
and in a short time the hints to that effect began to
thicken.
“Thunder and turf, Jemmy, but this is dry workj
96
THE EVIL EYE; Ott,
my throat’s like a lime-burner’s wig for want of a drop
o’ something to help me for the cheerin’.”
u Hould your tongue, Paddy ; do you think the
masther’s honor would allow us to lose our voices in
his behalf. It’s himself that hasn’t his heart in a trifle,
God bless him.”
u Ah, thin, your honor,” said another fellow, in tat-
ters, u isn’t this dust and hate enough to choke a bishop ?
O Lord, am I able to spake at all ? Upon my sowl,
sir, I think there’s a bonfire in my throath.”
Everything, however, had been prepared to meet
these demands ; and in about a quarter of an hour
barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey were placed under
the management of persons appointed to deal out their
contents to the thirsty crowds. Then commenced the
dancing, whilst the huzzaing, shouting, jingling of
bells, squeaking of fifes, blowing of horns, and all the
other component parts of this wild melody, were once
more resumed with still greater vigor. The great feat
of the night, however, so far as the people were con-
cerned, was now to take place. This was to ascertain,
by superior activity, who among the young men could
leap over the bonfire, when burnt down to what was
considered such a state as might make the attempt a
safe one. The circles about the different fires were
consequently widened to leave room for the run, and
then commenced those hazardous but comic perform-
ances. As may be supposed, they proceeded with
various success, and occasioned the most uproarious
mirth whenever any unfortunate devil, who had over-
tasked his powers in the attempt, happened to fail, and
was forced to scamper out of the subsiding flames with
T1IE BLACK SPECTRE.
97
scorched limbs that set him a dancing without music.
In fact, those possessed of activity enough to clear
them were loudly cheered, and rewarded with a glass
of whiskey, a temptation which had induced so many
to try, and so many to fail. When these had been
concluded about the minor fires, the victors and spec-
tators repaired to the great one, to try their fortune
upon a larger and more hazardous scale. It was now
nearly half burned down, but was still a large, glowing
mass, at least five feet high, and not less than eighteen
in diameter at the base. On arriving there they all
looked on in silence, appalled by its great size, and
altogether deterred from so formidable an attempt.
It would be death to try it, they exclaimed ; no liv-
ing man could do it ; an opinion which was universally
acceded to, with one single exception. A thin man,
rather above the middle size, dressed in a long, black
coat, black breeches, and black stockings, constituted
that exception. There was something peculiar, and
even strikingly mysterious, in his whole appearance.
His complexion was pale as that of a corpse, his eyes
dead and glassy, and the muscles of his face seemed
as if they were paralyzed and could not move. His
right hand was thrust in his bosom, and over his left
arm he bore some dark garment of a very funereal cast,
almost reminding one of a mortcloth.
u There is one” said he, in a hollow and sepulchral
voice, u that could do it.”
Father Magauran, who was present, looked at him
with surprise ; as indeed did every one who had got an
opportunity of seeing him.
u I know there is,” he replied, u a sartin individual
5
98
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
who could do it ; ay, in troth, and maybe if he fell into
the flames, too, he’d only find himself in his own ele-
ment ; and if it went to that could dance a hornpipe in
the middle of it.”
This repartee of the priest’s elicited loud laughter
from the by-standers, who, on turning round to see how
the other bore it, found that he had disappeared. This
occasioned considerable amazement, not unmixed with
a still more extraordinary feeling. Nobody there knew
him, nor had ever even seen him before ; and in a short
time the impression began to gain ground that he must
have been no other than the conjurer who was said to
have arrived in the town that day. In the meantime,
while this point was under discussion, a clear, loud, but
very mellow voice was heard about twenty yards above
them, saying, u Stand aside, and make way — leave me
room for a run.”
The curiosity of the people was at once excited by
what they had only a few minutes before pronounced
to be a feat that was impossible to be accomplished.
They accordingly opened a lane for the daring individ-
ual, who, they imagined, was about to submit himself to
a scorching that might cost him his life. No sooner
was the lane made, and the by-standers removed back,
than a person evidently youthful, tall, elastic, and mus-
cular, approached the burning mass with the speed and
lightness of a deer, and flew over it as if he had wings.
A tremendous shout burst forth, which lasted for more
than a minute, and the people were about to bring him
to receive his reward at the whiskey keg, when it was
found that he also had disappeared. This puzzled them
once more, and they began to think that there were
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
99
more present at these bonfires than had ever received
baptism 5 for they could scarcely shake themselves free
of the belief that the mysterious stranger either was
something supernaturally evil himself, or else the con-
jurer as aforesaid, who, by all accounts, was not many
steps removed from such a personage. Of the young
person who performed this unprecedented and terrible
exploit they had little time to take any notice. Torley
Davoren, however, who was one of the spectators,
turned round to his wife and whispered,
u Unfortunate boy— madman I ought to say — what
devil tempted him to come here ? ”
u Was it him ? ” asked his wife.
u Whist, whist,” he replied ; u let us say no more
about it.”
In the meantime, although the youthful performer
of this daring feat may be said to have passed among
them like an arrow from a bow, yet it so happened
that the secret of his identity did not rest solely with
Torley Davoren. In a few minutes whisperings began
to take place, which spread gradually through the
crowd, until at length the name of Shawn na Middogue
was openly pronounced, and the secret — now one no
longer — was instantly sent abroad through the people,
to whom his fearful leap was now no miracle. The im-
pression so long entertained of his connection with the
fairies was thus confirmed, and the black stranger was
no other, perhaps, than the king of the fairies himself.
At this period of the proceedings Mrs. Lindsay, in
consequence of some signifiant whispers which were
directly levelled at her character, suggested to Maria
that having seen enough of these wild proceedings, it
100
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
would be more advisable to return home* — a suggestion
to which Maria, whose presence there at all was in
deference to her father’s wishes, very gladly consented.
They accordingly placed themselves under the escort
of the redoubtable and gallant twins, and reached home
in safety.
It was now expected that the quality would go down
to the inn, where the largest room had been fitted up
for refreshments and dancing, and into which none but
the more decent and respectable classes were admitted.
There most of the beauties of the town and the ad-
joining neighborhood were assembled, together with
their admirers, all of whom entered into the spirit of
the festivity with great relish. When Lindsay and his
company were about to retire from the great bonfire,
the conductors of the pageant, who also acted as
spokesmen on the occasion, thus addressed them :
“ It’s right, your honors, that you should go and see
the dancin’ in the inn, and no harm if you shake a heel
yourselves, besides taking something to wash the dust
out o’ your throats ; but when you come out again, if
you don’t find a fresh and high blaze before you still,
the devil’s a witch.”
As they proceeded toward the inn, the consequences
of the drink, which the crowd had so abundantly re-
ceived, began, here and there, to manifest many un-
equivocal symptoms. In some places high words were
going on, in others blows ; and altogether the affair
seemed likely to terminate in a general conflict.
“ Father,” said his son Charles, “ had you not bet-
ter try and settle these rising disturbances ? ”
“Not I,” replied the jovial magistrate; “let them
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
101
thrash one another till morning; they like it, and I
make it a point never to go between the poor people
and their enjoyments. Gadzooks, Charley, don’t you
know it would be a tame and discreditable affair with-
out a row ? ”
“ Yes ; ” but now that they’ve got drunk, they’re
cheering you, and groaning my mother.”
“Devil’s cure to her,” replied his father; “if she
didn’t deserve it she’d not get it. What right had she
to send my bailiffs to drive their cattle without my
knowledge, and to take duty fowl and duty work
from them whenever my back is turned, and contrary
to my wishes ? Come in till we have some punch ; let
them shout and fight away ; it wouldn’t be the thing,
Charley, without it.”
They found an exceedingly lively scene in the large
parlor of the inn; but, in fact, every available room
in the house was crowded. Then, after they had
looked on for some time, every eye soon singled out
the pride and beauty of the assembly in the person of
Grace Davoren, whose features were animated into
greater loveliness, and her eyes into greater brilliancy,
by the light-hearted spirit which prevailed. She was
dressed in her new drugget gown, had on her new
shoes and blue stockings, a short striped blue and red
petticoat, which displayed as much of her exquisite
limbs as the pretty liberal fashion of the day allowed ;
her bust was perfection ; and, as her black, natural
ringlets fluttered about her milk-white neck and glow-
ing countenance, she not only appeared inexpressibly
beautiful, but seemed to feel conscious of that beauty,
as was evident by a dash of pride — very charming,
102 THE EVIL EYE; OR,
indeed — which shot from her eye, and mantled on her
beautiful cheek.
“ Why, Charles,” exclaimed Woodward, addressing
his brother in a whisper, “ who is that lovely peasant
girl? ”
“ Her father is one of our tenants,” replied Charles ;
“and she was about to be married some time ago,
but it was discovered, fortunately in time, that her in-
tended husband was head and leader of the outlaws that
infest the country. It was he, I believe, that leaped
over the bonfire.”
“ Was she fond of him ? ”
“Well, it is not easy to say that ; some say she was,
and others that she was not. Barney Casey says she
was very glad to escape him when he became an out-
law.”
“ By the way, where is Barney ? I haven’t seen
him since I came to look at this nonsense.”
“Just turn your eye to the farthest corner of the
room, and you may see him in his glory.”
On looking in the prescribed direction, there, sure
enough, was Barney discovered making love hard and
fast to a pretty girl, whom Woodward remembered to
have seen that morning in Mr. Goodwin’s, and with
whom he (Barney) had become acquainted when the
families were on terms of intimacy. The girl sat
smiling on his knee, whilst Barney, who had a glass of
punch in his hand, kept applying it to her lips from
time to time, and pressing her so lovingly toward him,
that she was obliged occasionally to give him a pat
upon the cheek, or to pull his whiskers. Woodward’s
attention, however, was transferred once more to Grace
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
103
Davoren, from whom he could not keep his eyes — a
fact which she soon discovered, as was evident by a
slight hauteur and affectation of manner toward many
of those with whom she had been previously on an
equal and familiar footing.
“ Charles/7 said he, u I must have a dance with
this beautiful girl ; do you think she will dance with
me ? 77
u I cannot tell,77 replied his brother, u but you can
ask her.77
“ By the way, where are my father and the rest ?
They have left the room.77
u The landlord has got them a small apartment,77 re-
plied Charles, u where they are now enjoying them-
selves. If you dance with Grace Davoren, however,
be on your good behavior, for if you take any unbe-
coming liberties with her, you may repent it; don7t
imagine because you see these humble girls allowing
their sweethearts to kiss them in corners, that either
they or their friends will permit you to do so.77
“ That7s as it may be managed, perhaps,77 said
Woodward, who immediately approached Grace in
imitation of what he had seen, and making her a low
bow, said,
u 1 dance to you, Miss Davoren, if you will favor
me.77
She was then sitting, but immediately rose up, with
a blushing but gratified face, and replied,
u I will, sir, but I7m not worthy to dance with a gen-
tleman like you.77
u You are worthy to dance with a prince,77 he re-
plied, as he led her to their station, fronting the music.
104
TIIE EVIL EYE; OR,
“Well, my pretty girl,” said be, “what do you
wish ? ”
“Your will, sir, is my pleasure .”
“Very well. Piper,” said he, “play up ‘Kiss my
lady ; ’ ” which was accordingly done, and the dance
commenced. Woodward thought the most popular
thing he could do was to affect no superiority over the
young fellows present, but, on the contrary, to imitate
their style and manner of dancing as well as he could ;
and in this he acted with great judgment. They felt
flattered and gratified even at his awkward and clumsy
imitations of their steps, and received his efforts with
much laughter and cheering; nor was Grace herself
insensible to the influence of the mirth he occasioned.
On he went, cutting and capering, until he had them
in convulsions ; and when the dance was ended, he
seized his partner in his arms, swung her three times
round, and imprinted a kiss upon her lips with such
good-humor that he was highly applauded. He then
ordered in drink to treat her and her friends, which he
distributed to them with his own hand ; and after con-
triving to gain a few minutes’ private chat with Grace,
he amply rewarded the piper. He was now about to
take his leave and proceed with his brother, when two
women, one about thirty -five, and the other far advanced
in years, both accosted him almost at the same moment.
“ Your honor won’t go,” said the less aged of the two,
“ until you get your fortune tould.”
“ To be sure he won’t, Caterine,” they all replied ;
“ we’ll engage the gentleman will cross your hand wid
silver ; like his father before him, his heart’s not in tha
money.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
105
u Never mind her, sir,” said the aged crone, “ she’s
a schemer, and will tell you nothing but what she
knows will plaise you. Show me your hand, sir, and
I’ll tell you the truth.”
“ Never mind the cattiagh , sir, (old woman, by way
of reproach ;) she’s dotin’, and hasn’t remembered her
own name these ten years.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Woodward, addressing
Caterine, “ I shall hear what you both have to say—
but you first.”
He accordingly crossed her hand with a piece of
silver, after which she looked closely into it — then upon
his countenance, and said,
“You have two things in your mind, and they’ll
both succeed.”
“ But, my good woman, any one might tell me as
much.”
“ No,” she replied, with confidence ; “ examine your
own heart and you’ll find the two things there that it
is fixed upon ; and whisper,” she added, putting her
lips to his ear, “ I know what they are, and can help
you in both. When you want me, inquire for Caterine
Collins. My uncle is Sol Donnell, the herb doctor.”
He smiled and nodded, but made no reply.
“ Now,” said he, “ my old crone, come and let me
hear what you have to say for me ; ” and as he spoke
another coin was dropped into her withered and skinny
hand.
“ Bring me a candle,” said she, in a voice that
whistled with age, and, if one could judge by her hag-
like and repulsive features, with a malignity that was
a habit of her life. After having inspected his palm
5 *
106
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
with the candle, she uttered three eldrich laughs, or
rather screams, that sounded through the room as if
they were more than natural. “ Ha, ha, ha ! ” she ex-
claimed ; “look here; there’s the lim> of life stopped
by a red instrument ; that’s not good ; I see it, I feel
it ; your life will be short and your death violent ; ay,
indeed, the purty bonfire of your life, for all so bright
as it burns, will be put out wid blood — and that soon.”
“ You’re a d — d old croaker,” said Woodward,
“ and take delight in predicting evil. Here, my good
woman,” he added, turning to the other, u there’s an
additional half-crown for you, and I won’t forget your
words.”
He and Charles then joined their friends in the other
room, and as it was getting late they all resolved to
stroll once more through the town, in order to take a
parting look at the bonfires, to wish the people good-
night, and to thank them for the kindness and alacrity
with which they got them up, and manifested their
good feeling upon so short a notice. The large fire
was again blazing, having been recruited with a fresh
supply of materials. The crowd were looking on;
many were staggering about, uttering a feeble huzza,
in a state of complete intoxication, and the fool of the
parish was attempting to dance a hornpipe, when large,
blob-like drops began to fall, as happens at the com-
mencement of a heavy shower. Lindsay put his hand
to his face, on which some few of them had fallen, and,
on looking at his fingers, perceived that they were
spotted as if with blood !
“ Good God ! ” he exclaimed, “ what is this ? Am
I bleeding ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
107
They all stared at him, and then at each other, with
dismay and horror ; for there, unquestionably, was the
hideous and terrible fact before them, and legible on
every face around them — it was raining blood !
An awe, which we cannot describe, and a silence,
deep as that of the grave, followed this terrible prod-
igy. The silence did not last long, however, for in a
few minutes, during which the blood fell very thickly,
making their hands and visages appear as if they had
been steeped in gore — in a few moments, we say, the
heavens, which had become one black and dismal mass,
opened, and from the chasm issued a red flash of
lightning, which was followed almost immediately by
a roar of thunder, so loud and terrific that the whole
people became fearfully agitated as they stood round
the blaze. It was extremely difficult, indeed, for igno-
rant persons to account for, or speculate upon, this
strange and frightful phenomenon. As they stood in
fear and terror, with their faces apparently bathed in
blood, they seemed rather to resemble a group of
hideous murderers, standing as if about to be driven
into the flames of perdition itself. To compare them
to a tribe of red Indians surrounding their war fires,
would be but a faint and feeble simile when contrasted
with the terror which, notwithstanding the gory hue
with which they were covered from top to toe, might
be read in their terrified eyes and visages. After a
few minutes, however, the alarm became more intense,
and put itself forth in words. The fearful intelligence
now spread. u It is raining blood ! it is raining blood ! 99
was shouted from every mouth ; those who were in the
houses rushed out, and soon found that it was true;
108
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
for the red liquid was still descending, and in a few
minutes they soon were as red as the others. The
flight home now became one of panic ; every house
was crowded with strangers, who took refuge wher-
ever they could find a shelter ; and in the meantime
the lightning was flashing and the thunder pealing
with stunning depth throughout the heavens. The
bonfires were soon deserted ; for even those who were
drunk and tipsy had been aroused by the alarm, and
the language in which it was uttered. Nobody, in
fact, was left at the great fire except those who com-
posed the dinner party, with the exception of the two
clergymen, who fled and disappeared along with the
mob, urged, too, by the same motives.
“ This will not be believed,” said Lindsay; “it is,
beyond all doubt and scepticism, a prodigy from
heaven, and must portend some fearful calamity.
May God in heaven protect us ! But who is this ? ”
As he spoke, a hideous old hag, bent over her staff,
approached them ; but it did not appear that she was
about to pay them any particular attention. She was
mumbling and cackling to herself when about to pass,
but was addressed by Lindsay.
“Where are you going, you old hag? They say
you are acquainted with more than you ought to know.
Can you account for this blood that’s falling ? ”
“ Who are you that axes me ? ” she squeaked.
“I’m Mr. Lindsay, the magistrate.”
“ Ay,” she screamed again, “ it was for your son,
Harry, na Snil Gloir * that this bonfire was made to-
* Sail Gloir was an epithet bestowed on persons whose eyes were of
different colors.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
109
night. Well, he knows what I tould him, and let him
think of it ; but there will be more blood than this,
and that before long, I can tell you and him.”
So saying, she hobbled on, mumbling and muttering
to herself like a witch rehearsing her incantations on
her way to join their sabbath. They now turned their
steps homewards, but had not proceeded far when the
rain came down as it might be supposed to have done
in the deluge ; the lightnings flashed, the thunder
continued to roar, and by the time they reached Rath-
fillan House they were absolutely drenched to the
skin. The next morning, to the astonishment of the
people, there was not visible a trace or fragment of
the bonfires ; every vestige of them had disappeared ;
and the general impression now was, that there must
have been something evil and unhallowed connected
with the individual for whom they had been prepared.
CHAPTER VI.
SHAWN-NA-MIDDOGUE — SHAN-DHINNE-DHUV, OR THE
BLACK SPECTRE.
The next evening was calm and mild ; the sun
shone with a serene and mellow light from the even-
ing sky ; the trees were green, and still ; but the
music of the blackbird and the thrush came sweetly
from their leafy branches. Henry Woodward had
been listening to a rather lengthy discussion upon the
subject of the blood-shower, which, indeed, was the
110
TIIE EVIL EYE; OR,
topic of much conversation and great wonder through-
out the whole parish. His father, a Protestant gentle-
man, and with some portion of education, although not
much, was, nevertheless, deeply imbued with the
superstitions which prevailed around him, as, in fact,
were most of those who existed in his day ; the very
air which he breathed was rife with them ; but what
puzzled him and his family most was the difficulty
which they found in shaping the prodigy into signifi-
cance. Why it should take place, and upon such an
occasion, they could not for their lives imagine. The
only persons in the family who seemed altogether in-
different to it were Woodward and his mother, both of
whom treated it with ridicule and contempt.
u It comes before some calamity/7 observed Mr.
Lindsay.
u It comes before a fiddle-stick, Lindsay/7 replied his
wife. u Calamity ! yes ; perhaps you may have a
headache to-morrow, for which the world must be
prepared by a storm of thunder and lightning and a
shower of blood. The head that reels over night with
an excess of wine and punch will ache in the morning
without a prodigy to foretell it.77
u Say what you will/7 he replied, “I believe the
devil had a hand in it ; and I tell you/7 he added,
laughing, u that if you be advised by me, you7ll begin
to prepare yourself — i a stitch in time saves nine/ you
know — so look sharp, I say.77
u This, Harry/7 she said, addressing her son, u is the
way your mother has been treated all along ; yes, by a
brutal and coarse-minded husband, who pays no atten-
tion to anything but his own gross and selfish enjoy-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
Ill
ments ; but, thank God, I have now some person to
protect me.”
u O, ho ! ” said her husband, “ you are for a battle
now. Harry, you don’t know her. If she lets loose
that scurrilous tongue of hers I have no chance ; upon
my soul, I’d encounter another half dozen of thunder-
storms, and as many showers of blood, sooner than
come under it for ten minutes ; a West India hurricane
is a zephyr to it.”
u Ah, God help the unhappy woman that’s blistered
for life with an ignorant sot ! — such a woman is to be
pitied — and such a woman am I ; — I, you good-for-
nothing drunken booby, who made you what you are.”
u 0, fie ! mamma,” said Maria, u this is too bad to
papa, who, you know, seldom replies to you at all.”
u Miss Lindsay, I shall suffer none of your imperti-
nence,” said her mother; “ leave the room, madam,
this moment — how dare you ? but I am not surprised
at it ; — leave the room, I say.”
The poor, amiable girl, who was all fearfulness and
affection, quietly left the room as she was desired, and
her father, who saw that his worthy wife was brimful
of a coming squall, put on his hat, and after having
given her one of his usual sardonic looks, left the
apartment also.
“ Mother,” said her son Charles, “I must protest
against the unjustifiable violence of temper with which
you treat my father. You know he was only jesting
in what he said to you this moment.”
“Let him carry his jests elsewhere, Mr. Charles,”
she replied, “ he shan’t indulge in them at my expense ;
nor will I have you abet him in them as you always do
112
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
— yes, sir, and laugh at them in my face. All this,
however, is very natural ; as the old cock crows the
young one learns. As for Maria, if she makes as duti-
ful a wife as she does a daughter, her husband may
thank God for getting his full share of evil in this
life.”
“I protest to heaven, Harry,” said Charles, address-
ing his brother, “ if ever there was a meek, sweet-tem-
pered girl living, Maria is. You do not yet know her,
but you will, of course, have an opportunity of judg-
ing for yourself.”
“ You perceive, Harry,” said his mother, addressing
him in turn; “you perceive how they are banded
against me; in fact, they are joined with their father
in a conspiracy to destroy my peace and happiness.
This is the feeling that prevails against me in the house
at large, for which I may thank my husband and chil-
dren— I don’t include you, Harry. There is not a
servant in our establishment but could poison me, and
probably would, too, were it not for fear of the gal
lows.”
Woodward listened to this strange scene with amaze-
ment, but was prudent enough to take no part in it
whatsoever. On the contrary, he got his hat and pro-
ceeded out to take a stroll, as the evening was so fine,
and the aspect of the country so delightful.
“ Harry,” said his brother, “ if you’re for a walk
I’ll go with you.”
“Not at present, Charley,” said he; “I am in a
thoughtful mood, and generally prefer a lonely stroll
on such a beautiful evening as this.”
He accordingly went out, and bent his steps by a
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
113
long, rude green lane, which extended upwards of half
a mile across a rich country, undulating with fields and
meadows. This was terminated by a clump of haw-
thorn trees, then white and fragrant with their lovely
blossoms, which lay in rich profusion on the ground.
Contiguous to this was a small but delightful green
glen, from the side of which issued one of those beauti-
ful spring wells for which the country is so celebrated.
Over a verdant little hill, which concealed this glen
and the well we mention, from a few humble houses,
or rather a decenter kind of cabins, was visible a
beaten pathway by which the inhabitants of this small
hamlet came for their water. Upon this, shaded as he
was by the trees, he steadily kept his eye for a consider-
able time, as if in the expectation of some person who
had made an appointment to meet him. Half an hour
had nearly elapsed — the shades of evening were now
beginning to fall, and he had just come to the resolu-
tion of retracing his steps, with a curse of disappoint-
ment on his lips, when, on taking another, and what
he intended to be a last glance at the pathway in
question, he espied the individual for whom he waited.
This was no other than the young beauty of the neigh-
borhood— Grace Davoren. She was tripping along
with a light and merry step, lilting an Irish air of a
very lively character, to which she could scarcely pre-
vent herself from dancing, so elastic and buoyant were
her spirits. On coming to the brow of the glen she
paused a moment and cast her eye searchingly around
her, but seemed after the scrutiny to hesitate about
proceeding farther.
Woodward immediately showed himself, and after
114
TICE EVIL EYE; OR,
beckoning to her, proceeded toward the well. She
still paused, however, as if irresolute ; but after one or
two significant gestures on his part, she descended
with a slow and apparently a timid step, and in a
couple of minutes stood beside the well. The imme-
diate purport of their conversation is not essential to
this narrative ; but, indeed, we presume that our
readers may give a very good guess at it without any
assistance from us. The beautiful girl was young,
and credulous, and innocent, as might naturally be
inferred from the confusion of her manner, and the
tremulous tones of her voice, which, indeed, were
seductive and full of natural melody. Her heart pal-
pitated until its beatings might be heard, and she
trembled with that kind of terror which is composed
of apprehension and pleasure. That a gentleman — one
of the quality — could condescend to feel any interest in
a humble girl like her, was what she could scarcely
have dreamed ; but when he told her of her beauty, the
natural elegance and symmetry of her figure, and
added that he loved her better than any girl, either
high or low, he had ever seen, she believed that his
words were true, and her brain became almost giddy
with wonder and delight. Then she considered what
a triumph it was over all her female acquaintances,
who, if they knew it, would certainly envy her even
far more than they did already. After about half an
hour’s conversation the darkness set in, and she ex-
pressed an apprehension lest some of her family should
come in quest of her — a circumstance, she said, which
might be dangerous to them both. He then prevailed
on her to promise another meeting, which at length she
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
115
did ; but on his taking leave of her she asked him by
which way he intended to go home.
“I came by the old green path/’ said he, “but
intend to turn down the glen into the common road.”
“ 0, don’t go that way, ” said she ; “ if you do,
you’ll have to pass the haunted house, ay, and maybe,
might meet the Shan-dhinne-dhuv .”
“ What is that,” said he.
“O, Lord save us, sir,” said she, “did you never
hear of the Shan-dhinne-dhuv ? A spirit, sir, that ap-
pears about the haunted house in the shape of a black
ould man, and they say that nobody lives long afther
seein’ him three times. ”
“ Yes ; but did he ever take any person’s life ? ”
“ They say so, sir.”
“ When ? How long ago ? ”
“Indeed, I can’t tell that, sir ; but sure every one
says it.”
“Well, what every one says must be true,” he re-
plied, smiling. “ I, however, am not afraid of him, as
I never go unarmed ; and if I happen to meet him, trust
me I will know what mettle he’s made of before we part,
or whether he belongs to this world or the other.”
He then went down the glen, by the bottom of which
the road went ; and at a lonely place in a dark angle
of it this far-famed spirit was said to appear.
This vain, but simple girl, the pride of her honest
parents and all her simple relations and friends, took
up her pitcher and proceeded with an elated heart by
the pathway we have mentioned as leading to her
father’s house. We say her heart was elated at the
notion of having engaged the affections of a handsome,
110 THE EVIL EYE; OR,
young, and elegant gentleman , but at the same time
she felt a secret sense of error, if not of guilt, in having
given him a clandestine meeting, and kept an appoint-
ment which she knew her parents and brothers would
have heard with indignation and shame. She was
confident, however, in her own strength, and resolved
in her mind that Woodward’s attachment for her never
should terminate either in her disgrace or ruin. There
were, however, many foolish and pernicious ballads
sung about that period at the hearths of the peasantry,
in which some lord or squire of high degree was repre-
sented to have fallen in love with some beautiful girl of
humble life, whom he married in spite of his proud re-
lations, and after having made her a lady of rank, and
dressed her in silks and satins, gold rings and jewels,
brought her home to his castle, where they lived in
grandeur and happiness for the remainder of their lives.
The simple-minded girl began to imagine that some
such agreeable destiny might be reserved for herself ;
and thus endeavored, by the deceitful sophistry of a
credulous heart, and proud of her beauty, to palliate
her conduct amidst the accusations of her own con-
science, which told her she was acting wrong.
She had now got about half way home, when she
saw an individual approach her at a rapid pace ; and
as the moon had just risen, his figure was distinctly be-
fore her, and she immediately felt a strong impression
of terror and alarm. The individual in question was
young, tall, and muscular ; his person had in it every
symptom of extraordinary activity and vigor. His
features, however, were not at all such as could be
termed handsome ; so far from that, they were rude and
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
117
stern, but not without a wild and disagreeable dignity.
His eyes were at all times fierce and fiery, and gave
unequivocal indications of a fierce and fiery spirit.
He wore a pair of rude pantaloons that fitted closely
to his finely made limbs, a short jacket or Wyliecoat
that also fitted closely to his body, over which he wore
the usual cloak of that day, which was bound about
his middle with a belt and buckle, in which was stuck
a middogue, or, as it ought to be written, meadoige ,
and pronounced maddogay. He wore a kind of cap or
barrad , which, as well as his cloak, could by being
turned inside out, instantly change his whole appear*
ance, and mislead his pursuers — for he was the outlaw.
Such was the startling individual who now approached
her, and at whose fierce aspect she trembled — not less
from her knowledge of the natural violence of his char-
acter than from a consciousness of her interview with
Woodward.
“ Well, Granua (Grace),” said he, quickly and with
some vehemence, “ where have you been ? ”
“At the well,” she replied; “have you eyes in
your head ? Don’t you see my pitcher ? ”
“I do; but what kept you there so long? and why
is your voice tremblin’, as if you wor afeard, or did
something wrong ? Why is your face pale, too ? — it’s
not often so.”
“ The Lord save us, Shawn,” replied Grace, attempt-
ing to treat those pointed interrogatories with a jocular
spirit, “ how can you expect me to answer such a
catechize as you’re puttin’ to me at wanst.”
“ Answer me, in the mane time,” he replied ; “ I’D
have no doubling, Granua.”
118
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
u Has anything vexed you, Shawn.”
u Chorp an diaoul ! tell me why you staid so long at
the well” — and as he spoke his eyes flashed with
resentment and suspicion.
u I did’nt stay long at it.”
u I say you did. What kept you?”
u Why, bekaise I didn’t hurry myself, but took my
time. I was often longer.”
u You were spakin’ to some one at the well.”
u Ah, thin, Shawn, who would I be spakin’ to ? ”
u Maybe I know — I believe I do — but I want
now to know whether you’re a liar, as I suspect you
to be, or whether you are honest enough to tell the
truth.”
u Do you suspect me, then ? ”
u I do suspect you ; or rather I don’t — bekaise I
know the truth. Answer me — who wor you spakin’
with ? ”
u Troth,” said she, u I was lookin’ at your sweet-
heart in the well,” meaning her own shadow, u and was
only asking her how she did.”
“ You danced with Harry-na-Suil Babr last night ? ”
u I did ; because the gentleman axed me — and why
would I refuse him ? ”
u You whispered in a corner with him ? ”
u I did not,” she replied j u how could I when the
room was so throng ? ”
u Ay, betther in a throng room than a thin one ; ay,
and you promised to meet him at the well to-night ,
and you kept your word.”
A woman’s courage and determination to persist in
falsehood are never so decided and deliberate as when
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
119
she feels that the suspicion expressed against her is
true. She then gets into heroics and attempts to turn
the tables upon her opponent, especially when she
knows, as Miss Davoren did on this occasion, that he
has nothing but suspicion to support him. She knew
that her lover had been at the bonfire, and that his
friends must have seen her dance with Woodward ;
and this she did not attempt to deny, because she
could not ; but as for their tryste at the well, she felt
satisfied, from her knowledge of his jealous and violent
character, that if he had been aware of it, it would not
have been by seeking the fact through the medium of
his threats and her fears that he would have proceeded.
Had he seen Woodward, for instance, and herself
holding a secret meeting in such a place and at such
an hour, she concluded justly that the middogue or
dagger, for the use of which he had been already so
celebrated, would have been brought into requisition
against either one or both.
“I’ll talk no more to you,” she replied, with a
flushed face ; “ for even if I tould you the truth, you
wouldn’t believe me. I did meet him, then ; are you
satisfied now ! ”
This admission was an able stroke of policy on her
part, as the reader will soon perceive.
“ O,” he exclaimed, with a bitter, or, rather, a furi-
ous expression of face, u dar manim , if you had, you
wouldn’t dare to confess as much. But listen to me ;
if I ever hear or know, to my own satisfaction, that
you meet him, or keep his company, or put yourself
in his power, I’ll send six inches of this ” — and he
pulled out the glittering weapon — “into your heart
120
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
and his ; so now be warned and avoid him, and don’t
bring down my vengeance on you both.”
“ I don’t see what right you have to bring me over
the coals about any one. My father was forcin’ me to
marry you ; but I now tell you to your teeth, that I
never had the slightest intention of it. No ! I wouldn’t
take the wealth of the barony, and be the wife of sich a
savage murdherer. No man wid blood upon his hands
and upon his sowl, as you have — a public robber, a
murdherer, an outlaw — will ever be my husband.
What right have you to tell me who I’m to spake to, or
who I’m not to spake to ? ”
“ Ah,” he replied, “ that wasn’t your language to me
not long ago.”
“ But you were a different boy then from what you
are now. If you had kept your name free from dis-
grace and blood, I might have loved you ; but I cannot
love a man with such crimes to answer for as you
have.”
“You accuse me of shedding blood,” he replied;
“ that is false. I have never shed blood nor taken life ;
but, on the contrary, did all in my power to prevent
those who have placed me at their head from doin’ so.
Yet, when they did it in my absence, and against my
orders, the blame and guilt is charged upon me because
I am their leader. As for anything else I have done,
I do not look upon it as a crime ; let it rest upon the
oppression that drove me and others to the wild lives we
lead. We are forced to live now the best way we can,
and that you know; but as to this gentleman , you
musn’t spake to him at any rate,” he proceeded ; “ why
should you ? What ’ud make a man so high in life,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
121
and so far above you as he is, strive to become acquaint-
ed with you, unless to bring about your ruin to gratify
his own bad passions ? Think of it, and bring it home
to your heart. You have too many examples before
your eyes, young as you are, of silly girls that allow
themselves to be made fools of, and desaved and ruined
by such scoundrels as this. Look at that unfortunate
girl in the mountains there — Nannie Morrissey ; look
at her father hanged only for takin’ God’s just revenge,
as he had a right to do, on the villain that brought de-
struction upon her and his innocent family, and black
shame upon their name that never had a spot upon it
before. After these words you may now act as you
like ; but remember that you have got Shawn-na-
Middogue’s warning , and you ought to know what
that is.”
He then started off in the same direction which
Woodward had taken, and Grace, having looked after
him with considerable indignation on her own part, and
considerable apprehension on behalf of Woodward, took
up her pitcher and proceeded home.
She now felt herself much disturbed, and experienced
that state of mind which is often occasioned by the
enunciation of that which is known to be truth, but
which, at the same time, is productive of pain to the
conscience, especially when that conscience begins to
abandon the field and fly from its duty.
Woodward, as he had intended, preferred the open
and common road home, although it was much longer,
rather than return by the old green lane, which was
rugged and uneven, and full of deep ruts, dangerous
inequalities, and stumps of old trees, all of which ren-
122
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
dered it not only a disagreeable, but a dangerous, path by
night. Having got out upon the highway, which here,
and until he reached near home, was, indeed, solemn-
looking and lonely, not a habitation except the haunted
house being visible for upwards of two miles, he pro-
ceeded on his way, thinking of his interview with Grace
Davoren. The country on each side of him was nearly
a desert ; a gray ruin, some of whose standing and iso-
lated fragments assumed, to the excited imagination of
the terrified peasants as they passed it by night, the ap-
pearance of supernatural beings, stood to the left, in the
centre of an antiquated church-yard, in which there had
not been a corpse buried for nearly half a century — a
circumstance which always invests a graveyard with a
more fearful character. As Woodward gazed at these
still and lonely relics of the dead, upon which the
faint rays of the moon gleamed with a spectral and mel-
ancholy light, he could not help feeling that the sight
itself, and the associations connected with it, were
calculated to fill weak minds with strong feelings of
supernatural terror. His, however, was not a mind
accessible to any such impressions; but at the same
time he could make allowance for them among those
who had seldom any other notions to guide them on
such subjects than those of superstition and ignorance.
The haunted house, which was not yet in sight, he
did not remember, nor was he acquainted with its his-
tory, with the exception of Grace's slight allusion to it.
At length he came to a part of the road which was
overhung, or rather altogether covered with long beech
trees, whose huge arms met and intertwined with each
other across it, filling the arch they made with a solemn
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
123
darkness even in the noon of day. At night, however,
the obscurity was black and palpable ; and such upon
this occasion was its awful solemnity and stillness, and
the sense of insecurity occasioned by the almost super-
natural gloom about him, that Woodward could not
avoid the idea that it afforded no bad conception of the
entrance to the world of darkness and of spirits. He
had not proceeded far, however, under this dismal
canopy, when an incident occurred which tested his
courage severely. As he went along he imagined that
he heard the sound of human footsteps near him. This,
to be sure, gave him at first no trouble on the score of
anything supernatural. The country, however, was,
as we have already intimated, very much infested with
outlaws and robbers, and although Woodward was well
armed, as he had truly said, and was no coward besides,
yet it was upon this view of the matter that he expe-
rienced anything like apprehension. He accordingly
paused, in order to ascertain whether the footsteps he
heard might not have been the echo of his own. When
his steps ceased, so also did the others ; and when he
advanced again so did they. He coughed aloud, but
there was no echo ; he shouted out u Is there any one
there ? ” but still there was a dead stillness. At length
he said again, u Whoever you may be, and especially
if your designs be evil and unlawful, you had bettei
beware ; I am well armed, and both able and deter-
mined to defend myself ; if money is your object, pass
on, for I have none about me.”
Again, there was the silence, as there was the dark-
ness of the grave. He now resumed his former pace,
and the noise of footsteps, evidently and distinctly dif
124
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
ferent from his own, were once more heard near him.
Those that accompanied him fell upon his ear with
a light, but strange and chilling sound, that filled him
with surprise, and something like awe. In fact, he had
never heard anything similar to it before. It was very
strange, he thought, for the sounds, though light, were
yet as distinct and well-defined as his own. He still
held a pistol in each hand, and as he had no means of
unravelling this mystery so long as he was inwrapped
in such Cimmerian gloom, he resolved to accelerate his
pace and get into the light of the moon as soon as he
could. He accordingly did so ; but the footsteps, al-
though they fell not now so quickly as his own, still
seemed to maintain the same distance from him as
before. This certainly puzzled him ; and he was at-
tempting, if possible, to solve this new difficulty, when
he found himself emerging from the darkness, and in a
few moments standing in the light of the moon. He
immediately looked about him, but except the usual
inanimate objects of nature, he could see nothing.
Whatever it is, thought he, or, rather, whoever it is,
he has thought proper to remain undiscovered in the
darkness. I shall now bid him good-night, and pro-
ceed on my way home. He accordingly moved on
once more, when, to his utter astonishment, he heard
the footsteps again, precisely within the same distance
of him as before.
“Tut,” said he, “I now perceive what the matter
with me is. This is a mere hallucination, occasioned
by a disordered state of the nerves ; and as he spoke
he returned his pistols into his breast pockets, where he
usually wore them, and once more resumed his journey .
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
125
There was, however, something in the sound of the
footsteps — something so hollow — so cold, as it were,
and so unearthly, that he could not throw off the unac-
countable impression which it made upon him, infidel
and sceptic as he was upon all supernatural intimations
and appearances. At length, he proceeded, or rather
they proceeded, onward until he arrived within sight
of what he supposed to be the haunted house. He
paused a few moments, and was not now so insensible
to its lonely and dismal aspect. It was a two-storied
house, and nothing could surpass the spectral appear-
ance of the moon’s light as it fell with its pale and
death-like lustre upon the windows. He stood contem-
plating it for some time, when, all at once, he perceived,
walking about ten yards in advance of him, the shape
of a man dressed in black from top to toe. It was
not within the scope of human fortitude to avoid be-
ing startled by such a sudden and incomprehensible
apparition. Woodward was startled ; but he soon re-
covered himself, and after the first shock felt rather
satisfied that he had some visible object with which he
could make the experiment he projected, viz., to ascer-
tain the nature, whether mortal or otherwise, of the
being before him. With this purpose in view, he
walked very quickly after him, and as the other did
not seem to quicken his pace into a corresponding
speed, he took it for granted that he would soon over-
take him. In this, however, he was, much to his as-
tonishment, mistaken. His own walk was quick and
rapid, whilst that of this incomprehensible figure was
slow and solemn, and yet he could not lessen the dis-
tance between them a single inch.
126
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“Stop, sir,” said Woodward, “whoever or whatever
you are — stop, I wish to speak with you ; be you
mortal or spiritual, I fear you not — only stop,”
The being before him, however, walked on at the
same slow and solemn pace, but still persisted in main-
taining his distance. Woodward was resolute, fear-
less— a sceptic, an infidel, a materialist — but here was
a walking proposition in his presence which he could
not solve, and which, up to that point, at least, had set
all his theories at defiance. His blood rose — he be-
came annoyed at the strange silence of the being be-
fore him, but more still at the mysterious and tardy
pace with which it seemed to precede and escape him.
“ I will follow it until morning,” he said to himself,
“ or else I shall develop this startling enigma.”
At this moment his mysterious fellow-traveller, after
having advanced as if there had not been such an indi-
vidual as Woodward in existence, now stood ; he was
directly opposite to the haunted house, and turning
round, faced the tantalized and bewildered mortal.
The latter looked on him ; his countenance was the
countenance of the dead — of the sheeted dead, stretched
out in the bloodless pallor which lies upon the face of
vanished life — of existence that is no more, at least in
flesh and blood. Woodward approached him — for the
thing had stood, as we have said, and permitted him
to come within a few yards of him. His eyes were
cold and glassy, and apparently without speculation,
like those of a dead man open; yet, notwithstanding
this, Woodward felt that they looked at him, if not
into him.
“ Speak,” said he, “ speak ; who or what are you f ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
127
He received no reply ; but in a few seconds the ap-
parition, if it were such, put his hand into his bosom,
and, pulling out a dagger, which gleamed with a faint
and visionary light, he directed it as if to his (Wood-
ward’s) heart. Three times he did this, in an attitude
more of warning than of anger, when, at length, he
turned and approached the haunted house, at the door
of which he disappeared.
Woodward, as the reader must have perceived, was
a strong-minded, fearless man, and examined the awful
features of this inscrutable being closely.
“This, then,” thought he, “is the Shan-dhinne-
dhuVj or the Black Spectre ; but, be it what it may, I
am strongly of opinion that it was present at the bon-
fire last night, and as I am well armed, I will un-
questionably pursue it into the house. Nay, what is
more, I suspect that it is in some way or other con-
nected with the outlaw Shawn-na-Middogue , who it
was, they say, made that amazing leap over the afore-
said bonfire in my own presence.”
On that very account, however, he reflected that
such an intrusion might be attended with more danger
than that to be apprehended from a ghost. He conse-
quently paused for some time before he could decide
on following up such a perilous resolution. While he
thus stood deliberating upon the prudence of this dar-
ing exploit, he heard a variety of noises, and knock-
ings, and rollings, as if of empty barrels, and rattling
of chains, all going on inside, whilst the house itself
appeared to be dark and still, without smoke from the
chimneys or light in the windows, or any other symp-
tom of being inhabited, unless by those who were pro-
128
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
ducing the wild and extraordinary noises he then
heard.
“ If I do not see this out/7 said he, “ my account of
it will go to add another page to the great volume of
superstition. I am armed, not a whit afraid, and 1
will see it out, if human enterprise can effect it.7 7
Ho immediately entered the door, which he found,
somewhat to his surprise, was only laid to, and, after
listening for a few moments, resolved to examine the
premises closely. In deference to the reader, whose
nerves may not be so strong as those of Henry Wood-
ward, and who consequently may entertain a very
decided objection to enter a haunted house, especially
one in such a lonely and remote situation, we will only
say that he remained in it for at least an hour and
a half ; at the expiration of which time he left it,
walked home in a silent and meditative mood, spoke
little to his family, who were a good deal surprised at
his abstracted manner, and, after sipping a tumbler of
punch with his step-father, went rather gloomily to bed.
The next morning at breakfast he looked a good
deal paler than they had yet seen him, and for some
time his contribution to the family dialogue was rather
scanty.
“ Harry,77 said his mother, “ what is the matter
with you? You are silent, and look pale. Are you
unwell ? 77
“No, ma7am,77 he replied, “I cannot say that I am.
But, by the way, have you not a haunted house in the
neighborhood, and is there not an apparition called
the Black Man, or the Black Spectre, seen occasionally
about the premises ? 77
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
129
“ So it is said,1’ replied Lindsay ; “ but none of this
family has ever seen it, although I believe it has un-
doubtedly been seen by many persons in the neighbor-
hood.”
“What is supposed to have been the cause of its
appearance ? ” asked Harry.
“Faith, Harry,” replied his brother, “I fear there is
nobody here can give you that information. To speak
for myself, I never heard its appearance accounted
for at all. Perhaps Barney Casey knows. Do you,
father ? ”
“ Not I,” replied his father ; “ but as you say,
Charley, we had better try Barney. Call him up.”
“Perhaps,” said Mrs. Lindsay, sharply and disdain-
fully, “it was the Black Spectre who produced the
shower of blood last night.”
“ Faith, it?s not unlikely,” replied her husband,
“if he be, as the people think, connected with the
devil.”
In a couple of minutes Barney entered to know
what was wanted.
“Barney,” said his master, “can you inform us who
or what the SJian-dhinne-dhuv is, or why he appears
in this neighborhood ? Damn the fellow ; he has that
house of mine on my hands this many a long year, for
I cannot get it set. Pve had priests and parsons to lay
him, and for some time we thought the country was
free of him ; but it was all to no purpose ; he was still
sure to return, and no earthly habitation should serve
him but that unlucky house of mine. It is very odd
that he never began to appear until after my second
marriage.”
130
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“Sir,” replied Barney, “I hard something about
it; but I’m not clear on it. To tell you the truth,
there’s two or three accounts of him ; but anyhow,
sir, you’re in luck for the right one ; for if livin’ man
can give it to you, Bandy Brack, the pedler, is the
man. He’s now at his breakfast in the kitchen ; but
I’ll have him up.”
“ Not to the parlor,” said his mistress ; “ a strolling
knave like him. Who ordered him his breakfast in
the kitchen without my knowledge ? ” she asked.
“ The moment I can find out the person that dared
to do so, that moment they shall leave my family.
Must I keep an open house for every strolling vagabond
in the country ? ”
“ If you choose to turn me out,” replied her hus-
band, “ you may try your hand at it. It was I ordered
the poor man his breakfast ; and, what is more, I desire
you instantly to hold your peace.”
As he spoke, she saw that one of his determined
looks settled upon his countenance — a pretty certain
symptom that she had better be guided by his
advice.
“ Come, Barney,” said he, “ throw up that window
and send the poor man here, until he tells us what he
knows about this affair.”
The window was accordingly thrown open, and in a
few minutes Bandy Brack made his appearance out
side, and, upon being interrogated on the subject in
question, took off his hat, and was about to commence
his narrative, when Lindsay said,
“ Put on your hat, Bandy ; the sun’s too hot to be
uncovered.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
131
(i That’s more of it,” said his wife ; u a fine way to
make yourself respected, Lindsay.”
u I love to be respected,” he replied sternly, u and
to deserve respect ; but have no desire to incur the
hatred of the poor by oppression and want of charity,
like some of my female acquaintances.”
u Plase your honor,” said Bandy, u all that I know
about the Shan-dhinne-dhuv , or the Black Spectre , as
the larned call him, won’t require many words to tell
you. It’s not generally known what I’m goin’ to say
now. The haunted house, as your honor, maybe, re-
mimbers, was an inn — a carman’s inn chiefly — and
one night, it seems, there came a stranger to stop in
it. He was dressed in black, and when he thought it
time to go to bed he called the landlord, Antony
McMurt, and placed in his hands a big purse ’o goold
to keep for him till he should start at daybreak, as he
intended, the next morning. Antony — ”
“ Ay,” said Lindsay, interrupting him, u that ac-
counts for the nature of the villain’s death. I re-
member him well, Bandy, although I was only a boy at
the time ; go on — he was always a dishonest scoundrel
it was said — proceed.”
u Well it seems , Antony, sir, mistook him for a Prot-
estant parson ; and as he had a hankerin’ afther the
goold, he opened a gusset in the man’s throat that same
night, when the unsuspectin’ traveller was sound in
that sleep that he never woke from in this world.
When the deed was done Antony stripped him of his
clothes, and in doin’ so discovered a silver crucifix
upon his breast, and a bravery (breviary) under his
head, by which he found that he had murdhered a
132
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
priest of his own religion in mistake. They say he
stabbed him in the jigler vein wid a middoge. At all
events, the body disappeared, and there never was any
inquiry made about it — a good proof that the unfor-
tunate man was a stranger. Well and good, your hon-
or— in the coorse of a short time, it seems , the mur-
dhered priest began to appear to him, and haunted
him almost every night, until the unfortunate Antony
began to get out of his rason, and, it is said , that when
he appeared to him he always pointed the middoge at
him, just as if he wished to put it into his heart. An-
tony then, widout tellin’ out his own saicret, began to
tell everybody that he was doomed to die a bloody
death ; in short, he became unsettled — got fairly beside
himself, and afther mopin’ about for some months
in ordher to avoid the bloody death the priest threat-
ened him wid, he went and hanged himself in the very
room where he killed the unfortunate priest before.”
“I remember when he hanged himself, very well,”
observed Lindsay, u but d — n the syllable of the rob-
bery and murder of the priest or anybody else ever I
heard of till the present moment, although there was an
inquest held over himself. The man got low-spirited
and depressed, because his business failed him, or,
rather, because he didn’t attend to it ; and in one of
these moods hanged himself ; but by all accounts, Ban-
dy, if he hadn’t done the deed for himself the hangman
would have done it for him. He was said, I think, to
have been connected with some of the outlaws, and to
have been a bad boy altogether. I think it is now near
fifty years ago since he hanged himself.”
u ’ Tis said , sir, that this account comes from one of
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
133
his own relations ; but there’s another account, sir, of
the Shan-dhinne-dhuv that I don’t believe a word of.”
“ Another — what is that, Bandy ? ”
u 0, bedad, sir,” replied Bandy, u it’s more than I
could venture to tell you here”
u Come, come — out with it.”
Mrs. Lindsay went over with an inflamed face, and
having ordered him to go about his business, slapped
down the window with great violence, giving poor Ban-
dy a look of wrath and intimidation that sealed his lips
upon the subject of the other tradition he alluded to.
He was, consequently, glad to escape from the threat-
ening storm which he saw brewing in her countenance,
and, consequently, made a very hasty retreat. Bar-
ney, who met him in the yard returning to fetch his
pack from the kitchen, noticed his perturbation, and
asked him what was the matter.
“ May the Lord protect me from that woman’s eye !”
replied the pedler, u if you’d ’a’ seen the look she gave
me when she thought I was goin’ to tell them the true
story of the Shan-dhinne-dhuv .”
u And why should she put a sword in her eye against
you for that, Bandy ? ” asked the other.
Bandy looked cautiously about him, and said, in a
whisper :
u Because it’s connected wid her family, and follows
it.”
He then proceeded to the kitchen, and having secur-
ed his pack, he made as rapid a disappearance as pos-
sible from about the premises.
134
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
CHAPTER VII.
A COUNCIL OF TWO. — VISIT TO BEECH GROVE. — THE
HERBALIST.
Woodward now amused himself by walking and
riding about the country and viewing its scenery,
most of which he had forgotten during his long ab-
sence from home. It was not at all singular in that
dark state of popular superstition and ignorance, that
the shower of blood should, somehow or other, be as-
sociated with him and his detested mother. Of course,
the association was vague, and the people knew not
how to apply it to their circumstances. As they be-
lieved, however, that Mrs. Lindsay possessed the power
of overlooking cattle, which was considered an evil
gift, and in some mysterious manner connected with
the evil spirit, and as they remembered — for supersti-
tion, like guilt, always possesses a good memory — that
even in his young days, when little more than a child,
her son Harry was remarkable for having eyes of a
different color, from which circumstance he was even
then called Harry na Suil Glair, they naturally inferred
that his appearance in the country boded nothing good ;
that, of course, he had the Evil Eye, as every one
whose eyes differed, as his did, had; and that the
thunder and lightning, the rain which drowned the
bonfires, but, above all, the blood-shower, were indi-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
t35
cations that the mother and son were to be feared and
avoided as much as possible, especially the latter.
Others denied that the devil had anything to do with
the shower of blood, or the storm which extinguished
the fires, and stoutly maintained that it was God him-
self who had sent them to warn the country against
having any intercourse that could possibly be avoided,
with them. Then there was the Black Spectre that
was said to follow her family ; and did not every one
know that when it appeared three times to any person,
it was a certain proof that that person’s coffin might
be purchased? We all know how rapidly such
opinions and colloquies spread, and we need scarcely
say that in the course of a fortnight after the night of
the bonfires all these matters had been discussed over
half the barony. Some, in fact, were for loading him
with the heavy burden of his mother’s unpopularity ;
but others, more generous, were for waiting until the
people had an opportunity of seeing how he might turn
out — whether he would follow in his mother’s footsteps,
or be guided by the benevolent principles of his step-
father and the rest of the family. Owing to these
circumstances, need we say, that there was an unusual
interest, almost an excitement, felt about him, which
nothing could repress. His brother Charles was as
well-beloved and as popular as his father, but, then,
he excited no particular interest, because he was not
suspected to possess the Evil Eye, nor to have any
particular connection with the devil.
In this case matters stood, when one day Wood-
ward, having dressed himself with particular care,
ordered his horse, saying that he would ride over to
136
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Beechgrove and pay a visit to the Goodwins. There
were none in the room at the time but Charles and his
mother. The former started, and seemed uneasy at
this intelligence; and his mother, having considered
for a time, said :
u Charles, I wish to speak to Harry.”
Charles took the hint, and left the mother and son
to the following dialogue : —
u Harry,” said she, “ you spoke very warmly of that
cunning serpent who defrauded you of your in-
heritance, and all of us out of our right. May I ask
for what purpose you wish to cultivate an intimacy
with such a scheming and dishonest crew as that ? ”
u Faith, mother, to tell you the truth, you dont
detest them, nor feel the loss of the property more
than I do ; but the truth is, that the game I wish to
play with them will be a winning one, if I can induce
them to hold the cards. I wish to get the property,
and as I feel that that can’t be done without marrying
their milk-and-curd of a daughter, why, it is my inten-
tion to marry her accordingly.”
u Then you don’t marry a wife to be happy with
her?”
u In one sense not I — in another I do ; I shall make
myself happy with her property.”
u Indeed, Harry, to tell you the truth, there is very
little happiness in married life, and they are only fools
that expect it. You see how I am treated by Lindsay
and my own children.”
u Well, but you provoke them — why disturb yourself
with them? Why not pass through life as quietly
as you can ? Imitate Lindsay.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
137
u What ! make a sot of myself — become a fool, as he
is?”
u Then, why did you marry him ? ”
u Because I was the fool then, but I have suffered
for it. Why, he manages this property as if it wasn’t
mine — as if I didn’t bring it to him. Think of a man
who is silly enough to forgive a tenant his gale of rent,
provided he makes a poor mouth, and says he is not
able to pay it.”
u But I see no harm in that either ; if the man is
not able to pay, how can he ? What does Lindsay do
but make a virtue of necessity. He cannot skin a
flint, can he ? ”
u That’s an ugly comparison,” she replied, u and I
can’t conceive why you make it to me . I am afraid,
Harry, you have suffered yourself to be prejudiced
against the only friend— the only true friend, you have
in the house. I can tell you, that although they keep
fair faces to you, you are not liked here.”
u Very well; if I find that to be true, they will lose
more than they’ll gain by it.”
u They have been striving to secure your influence
against me. I know it by your language.”
u In the devil’s name, how can you know it by my
language, mother ? ”
u You talked about skinning a flint; now, you had
that from them with reference to me. It was only the
other day that an ill-tongued house-maid of mine, after
I had paid her her wages, and 6 stopped ’ for the articles
she injured on me, turned round, and called me a skin
flint ; they have made it a common nickname on me.
I’d have torn her eyes out only for Lindsay, who had
138
TIIE EVIL EYE; OK,
the assurance to tell me that if he had not interfered I’d
have had the worst of it — that I’d come off second best,
and such slang ; yes, and then added afterwards, that
he was sorry he interfered. That’s the kind of a
husband he is, and that’s the life I lead. Now, this
property is mine, and I can leave it to any one I please ;
he hasn’t even a life interest in it.”
u O,” exclaimed the son, in surprise, u is that the
case ? ”
u It is,” she replied, u and yet you see how I am
treated.”
“I was not aware of that, my dear mother,” re-
sponded worthy Harry. u That alters the case
entirely. Why, Lindsay, in these circumstances,
ought to put his hands under your feet ; so ought they
all, I think. Well, my dear mother, of one thing I can
assure you, no matter how they may treat you, calcu-
late firmly upon my support and protection ; make
yourself sure of that. But, now, about Miss Milk-and-
curds — what do yo think of my project ? ”
u I have been frequently turning it over in my mind,
Harry, since the morning you praised her so violently,
and I think, as you cannot get the property without
the girl, you must only take her with it. The notion
of its going into the hands of strangers would drive
me mad.”
“Well, then, we understand each other; I have
your sanction for the courtship.”
“ You have ; but I tell you again, I loathe her as I
do poison. I never can forgive her the art with which
she wheedled that jolter-headed old sinner, your uncle,
out of twelve hundred a year. Unless it returns to
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
139
the family, may my bitter malediction fall upon her
and it.”
u Well, never mind, my dear mother, leave her to
me — I shall have the girl and the property — but by
hook or crook, the property. I shall ride over there,
now, and it will not be my fault, if I don’t tip both her
and them the saccharine.”
uBy the way, though, Harry, now that I think of it,
I’m afraid you’ll have opposition.”
u Opposition ! How is that ? ”
u It is said there is a distant relation of theirs, a
gentleman named O’Connor, a Ferdora O’Connor, I
think, who, it is supposed, is likely to be successful
there ; but, by the way, are you aware that they are
Catholics ? ”
u As to that, my dear mother, I don’t care a fig for
her religion ; my religion is her property, or rather
will be so when I get it. The other matter, however,
is a thing I must look to — I mean the rivalry ; but on
that, too, we shall put our heads together, and try
what can be done. I am not very timid; and the
proverb says, you know, a faint heart never won a
fair lady.”
Our readers may perceive, from the spirit of the
above conversation, that the son was worthy of the
mother, and the mother of the son. The latter, how-
ever, had, at least, some command over his temper,
and a great deal of dexterity and penetration besides ;
whilst the mother, though violent, was clumsy in her
resentments, and transparent in her motives. Short
as Woodward’s residence in the family was, he saw at
a glance that the abuse she heaped upon her husband
140
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
and children was nothing more nor less than delib •
erate falsehood. This, however, to him was a matter
of perfect indifference. He was no great advocate of
truth himself, whenever he found that his interests or
his passions could be more effectually promoted by
falsehood ; although he did not disdain even truth
whenever it equally served his purpose. In such a
ease it gave him a reputation for candor under which
he could, with more safety, avail himself of his disin-
genuity and prevarication. He knew, as we said, that
his mother’s description of the family contained not
one atom of nth; and yet he was too dastardly and
cunning to defend them against her calumny. The
great basis of his character, in fact, was, a selfishness,
which kept him perpetually indifferent to anything
that was good or generous in itself, or outside the
circle of his own interests, beyond which he never
passed. Now, nothing, on the other hand, could be
more adversative to this, than the conduct, temper,
and principles of his brother and sister. Charles was
an amiable, manly, and generous young fellow, who,
with both spirit and independence, was, as a natural
consequence, loved and respected by all who knew
him ; and as for his sweet and affectionate sister,
Maria, there was not living a girl more capable of
winning attachment, nor more worthy of it when
attained ; and severely, indeed, was the patience of
this admirable brother and sister tried, by the diabol-
ical temper of their violent and savage mother. As
for Harry, he had come to the resolution, now that he
understood the position of the property, to cultivate
his mother’s disposition upon such a principle of c m-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
141
duct as would not compromise him with either party.
As to their feuds he was perfectly indifferent to them ;
but now his great object was, to study how to promote
his own interests in his own way.
Having reached Beechgrove, he found that unas-
suming family at home, as they usually were ; for,
indeed all their principal enjoyments lay within the
quiet range of domestic life. Old Goodwin himself
saw him through the parlor window as he approached,
and, with ready and sincere kindness, met him in the
hall.
u I am very glad to see you, Mr. Woodward/7 said
he. u Allow me to conduct you to the drawing-room,
where you will meet Mrs. Goodwin, Alice, and a par-
ticular friend of ours. I cannot myself stop long with
you, because I am engaged on particular business ;
but you will not miss an old fellow like me when you
have better company. I hope my old friends are all
well. Step in, sir. Here is Mr. Woodward, ladies ;
Mr. Woodward, this gentleman is a friend of ours,
Mr. Ferdora O’Connor ; Ferdora, this is Mr. Wood-
ward; and now I must leave you to entertain each
other ; but I shall return, Mr. Woodward, before you
go, unless you are in a great hurry. Bridget, see that
luncheon is ready ; but you must lay it in the front
parlor, because I have these tenants about me in the
dining-room, as it is so much larger.”
u I have already given orders for that,” replied his
wife. He then hurried out and left them, evidently
much gratified by Woodward’s visit. O’Connor and
the latter having scanned each other by a glance or
two, bowed with that extreme air of politeness which
142
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
is only another name for a want of cordiality. O’Con-
nor was rather a plain-looking young fellow, as to his
person and general appearance ; but his Milesian face
was handsome, and his eye clear and candid, with a
dash of determination and fire in it. Very different,
indeed, was it from the eye that was scrutinizing him
at that moment, with such keenness and penetration.
There are such things as antipathies ; otherwise why
should those two individuals entertain, almost in a
moment’s time, such a secret and unaccountable dis-
relish towards each other ? Woodward did not love
Alice, so that the feeling could not proceed from jeal-
ousy ; and we will so far throw aside mystery as to
say here, that neither did O’Connor; and, we may
add still further, that poor, innocent, unassuming Alice
was attached to neither of them.
u I hope your brother is well, sir,” said O’Connor,
anxious to break the ice, and try the stuff Woodward
was made of. u I have not seen him for some time.”
u 0 ! then, you are acquaintances ? ” said Woodward.
u We are more, sir,” replied O’Connor, u we are
friends.”
u I hope you are all well,” interrupted kind-hearted
Mrs. Goodwin.
u Quite well, my dear madam,” he replied. Then
turning to O’Connor: u To be a friend to my brother,
sir,” he said, u next to finding you a friend and favor-
ite in this family, is the warmest recommendation to
me. My long absence from home prevented me from
knowing his value until now ; but now that I do know
him, I say it, perhaps, with too much of the partiality
of a brother, I think that any man may feel proud of
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
143
his friendship ; and I say so with the less hesitation,
because I am sure he would select no man for his friend
who was not worthy of it ; ” and he bowed courteously
as he spoke.
“ Faith, sir,” replied O’Connor, “you have hit it ; I
for one am proud of it ; but, upon my conscience, he
wouldn’t be his father’s son if he wasn’t what he is.”
Alice was sewing some embroidery, and seemed to
take no notice, if one could judge by her downcast
looks, of what they said. At length she said, with a
smile :
“ As you, Ferdora, have inquired for your favorite,
I don’t see why I should not inquire after mine ; how
is your sister, Mr. Woodward ? ”
“ Indeed, she’s the picture of health, Miss G oodwin ;
but I will not ” — he added, with a smile to balance her
own — “ I will not be answerable for the health of her
heart.”
Alice gave a low laugh, that had the slightest tinc-
ture of malice in it, and glanced at O’Connor, who be-
gan to tap his boot with his riding whip.
“ She is a good girl as ever lived,” said Mrs. Good-
win, “ and I hope will never have a heartache that may
harm her.”
“Heaven knows, madam,” replied Woodward, “it
is time only that will tell that. Love is a strange and
sometimes rather a painful malady.”
“ Of course you speak from your own experience,
Mr. Woodward,” replied Alice.
“ Then you have had the complaint, sir,” said
O’Connor, laughing. “ I wonder is it like small-pox or
measles ? ”
144
TIIE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ How is that, sir ? ” said Woodward, smiling,
“ Why, that if you’ve had it once you’ll never have
it a second time.”
“Yes, but if I should be ill of it now?” and h%
glanced at Alice, who blushed.
“ Why, in that case,” replied O’Connor, “ it’s in bed
you ought to be; no man with an epidemic on him
should be permitted to go abroad among his majesty’s
liege subjects.”
“Yes, Ferdora,” said Alice, “but I don’t thinfc Mr.
Woodward’s complaint is catching.”
“ Ood forbid that the gentleman should die of it,
though,” replied Ferdora, “ for that would be a serious
loss to the ladies.”
“ You exaggerate that calamity, sir,” replied Wood-
ward, with the slightest imaginable sneer, “ and forget
that if I die you survive me.”
“Well, certainly, there is consolation in that,” said
O’Connor, “especially for the ladies, as I said; isn’t
there, Alley ? ”
“ Certainly,” replied Alice ; “ in making love, Ferdo
ra, you have the prowess of ten men.”
“ Do you speak from experience, now , Miss Good-
win?” asked Woodward, rather dryly.
“ O ! no,” replied Alice, “I have only his own word
for it.”
“ Only his own word, Miss Goodwin ! Do you imply
by that, that his own word requires corroboration ? ”
Alice blushed again,' and felt confused.
“I assure you, Mr. Woodward,” said O’Connor,
“ that when my word requires corroboration, I alwaya
corroborate it myself.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
145
“But, according to Miss Goodwin’s account of it,
i5i r, that’s not likely to add much to its authenticity.”
“ Well, Mr. Woodward,” said O’Connor, with the
greatest suavity of manner, “ I’ll tell you my method
under such circumstances ; whenever I meet a gentle-
man that doubts my word, I always ma^e him eat his
own.”
“ There’s nothing new or wonderful in that,” replied
the other ; “ it has been my own practice during life.”
“ What ? to eat your own words ! ” exclaimed O’Con-
nor, purposely mistaking him ; “ very windy feeding,
faith. Upon my honor and conscience, in that case,
your complaint must be nothing else but the colic, and
not love at all. Try peppermint wather, Mr. Wood-
ward.”
Alice saw at once, but could not account for the fact,
that the worthy gentlemen were cutting at each other,
and the timid girl became insensibly alarmed at the
unaccountable sharpness of their brief encounter. She
looked with an anxious countenance, first at one, and
then at the other, but scarcely knew what to say.
Woodward, however, who was better acquainted with
the usages of society, and the deference due to the
presence of women, than the brusque , but somewhat
fiery Milesian, now said, with a smile and a bow to
that gentleman :
“Sir, I submit; I am vanquished. If you are as
successful in love as you are in banter, I should not
wish to enter the lists against you.”
“ Faith, sir,” replied O’Connor, with a good-humored
laugh, “ if your sword is as sharp as your wit, you’d be
an ugly customer to meet in a quarrel”
7
146
TITE EVIL EYE; OR,
O’Connor, who had been there for some time, now
rose to take his leave, at which Alice felt rather satis-
fied. Indeed, she could not avoid observing that, what-
ever the cause of it might be, there seemed to exist
some secret feeling of dislike between them, which oc-
casioned her no inconsiderable apprehension. O’Con-
nor she knew was kind-hearted and generous, but, at
the same time, as quick as gunpowder in taking and
resenting an insult. On the other hand, she certainly
felt much regret at being subjected to the presence of
Woodward, against whom she entertained, as the reader
knows, a strong feeling that amounted absolutely to
aversion. She could not, however, think of treating
him with anything bordering on disrespect, especially
in her own house, and she, consequently, was about to
say something merely calculated to pass the time. In
this, however, she was anticipated by Woodward, who,
as he had his suspicions of O’Connor, resolved to sound
her on the subject.
u That seems an agreeable young fellow,” said he j
u somewhat free and easy in his deportment.”
u Take care, Mr. Woodward,” said her mother ; u say
nothing harsh against Ferdora, if you wish to keep on
good terms with Alley. He’s the white-headed boy
with her”
u I am not surprised at that, madam,” he replied,
u possessed as he is of such a rare and fortunate qual-
ity.”
u Pray, what is that, Mr. Woodward ? ” asked Alice,
timidly.
u Why, the faculty of making love with the power
of ten men,” he replied.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
147
“ You must be a very serious man,” she replied.
u Serious, Miss Goodwin ! Why do you think so f ”
u I hope you are not in the habit of receiving a jest
as a matter of fact.”
“ Not,” he replied, u if I could satisfy myself that
there was no fact in the jest ; but, indeed, in this
world, Miss Goodwin, it is very difficult to distinguish
jest from earnest.”
u I am a bad reasoner, Mr. Woodward,” she replied.
u But, perhaps, Miss Goodwin, Mr. O’Connor would
say that you make up in feeling what you want in
logic.”
UI hope, sir,” replied Alice, with some spirit— for
she felt hurt at his last observation — u that I will
never feel on any subject until I have reason as well as
inclination to support me.”
“ Ah,” said he, “I fear that if you once possess the
inclination you will soon supply the reason. But, by
the way, talking of your friend and favorite, Mr.
O’Connor, I must say I like him very much, and I am
not surprised that you do.”
u I do, indeed,” she replied ; u I know of nobody I
like better than honest, frank, and generous Fer-
dora.”
“Well, Miss Goodwin, I assure you he shall be a
favorite of mine for your sake.”
u Indeed, Mr. Woodward, if you knew him, he would
oecome one for his own.”
u Have you known him long, may I ask, Miss Good-
win ? ”
“ 0 dear, yes,” said Mrs. Goodwin, who now, finding
this a fair opening in the conversation, resolved to have
148
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
her share of it — u O dear ! yes ; Alley and he know
each other ever since her childhood ; he’s some three
or four years older than she is, to be sure, but that
makes little difference.”
“And, I suppose, Mrs. Goodwin, their intimacy —
perhaps I may say attachment — has the sanction of
their respective families ? ”
“ God bless you, sir, to be sure it has — are they not
distantly related ? ”
“ That, indeed, is a very usual proceeding among
families,” observed Woodward ; “ the boy and girl
are thrown together, and desired to look upon each
other as destined to become husband and wife ; they
accordingly do so, fall in love, are married, and soon
find themselves — miserable ; in fact, these matches sel-
dom turn out well.”
“ But there is no risk of that here,” replied Alice.
“ I sincerely hope not, Miss Goodwin. In your case,
unless the husband was a fool, or a madman, or a vil-
lain, there must be happiness. Of course you will be
happy with him ; need I say,” and here he sighed,
“ that he at least ought to be so with you ? ”
“ Upon my word, Mr. Woodward,” replied Alice,
smiling, “ you are a much cleverer man than I pre-
sume your own modesty ever permitted you to sus-
pect.”
“ I don’t understand you,” he replied, with a look of
embarrassment.
“ Why,” she proceeded, “ here have you, in a few
minutes, made up a match between two persons who
never were intended to be married at all; you have
got the sanction of two families to a union which
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
149
neither of them even for a moment contemplated.
Dear me, sir, may not a lady and gentleman become
acquainted without necessarily falling in love ? ”
“ Ah, but, in your case, my dear Miss Goodwin, it
would be difficult — impossible I should say — to re-
main indifferent, if the gentleman had either taste or
sentiment ; however, I assure you I am sincerely glad
to find that I have been mistaken.”
“ God bless me, Mr. Woodward,” said Mrs. Good-
win, “ did you think they were sweethearts ? ”
“ Upon my honor, madam, I did — and I was very
sorry for it.”
“Mr. Woodward,” replied Alice, “don’t mistake me j
I am inaccessible to flattery.”
“I am delighted to hear it,” said he, “because I
know that for that reason you are not and will not be
insensible to truth.”
“Unless when it borrows the garb of flattery, and
thus causes itself to be suspected.”
“In that case,” said Woodward, “nothing but good
sense, Miss Goodwin, can draw the distinction between
them — and now I know that you are possessed of
that.”
“ I hope so, sir,” she replied, “ and that I will ever
continue to observe that distinction. Mamma, I want
more thread,” she said ; “ where can I get it ? ”
“Up stairs, dear, in my work-box.”
She then bowed slightly to Woodward and went up to
find her thread, but in fact from a wish to put an end
to a conversation that she felt to be exceedingly dis-
agreeable. At this moment old Goodwin came in.
“You will excuse me, I trust, Mr. Woodward,” said
150
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
he, “I was down in the dining-room receiving rents
for .” He paused, for, on reflection, he felt that this
was a disagreeable topic to allude to; the fact being
that he acted as his daughter’s agent, and had been
on that and the preceding day receiving her rents.
“Martha,” said he, “what about luncheon? You’ll
take luncheon with us, Mr. Woodward ? ”
Woodward bowed, and Mrs. Goodwin was about to
leave the room, when he said :
“Perhaps, Mrs. Goodwin, you’d be good enough to
remain for a few minutes.” Mrs. Goodwin sat down,
and he proceeded : “ I trust that my arrival home will,
under Providence, be the means of reconciling and re-
uniting two families who never should have been at
variance. Not but that I admit, my dear friends, — if
you will allow me to call you so,— that the melancholy
event of my poor uncle’s death, and the unexpected
disposition of so large a property, were calculated to
try the patience of worldly-minded people — and who
is not so in a more or less degree ? ”
“ I don’t think any of your family is,” replied Good-
win, bluntly, “ with one exception.”
“O! yes, my mother,” replied Woodward, “and I
grant it ; at least she was so, and acted upon worldly
principles ; but I think you will admit, at least as
Christians you must, that the hour of change and re-
gret may come to every human heart when its errors,
and its selfishness, if you will, have been clearly and
mildly pointed out. I do not attribute the change that
has happily taken place in my dear mother to myself,
but to a higher power ; although I must admit, as I do
with all humility, that I wrought earnestly, in season
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
151
and out of season, since my return, to bring it about ;
and, thank heaven, I have succeeded. I come this
day as a messenger of peace, to state that she is will-
ing that the families should be reconciled, and a hap-
pier and more lasting union effected between them.”
“I am delighted to hear it, Mr. Woodward,” said
Goodwin, much moved ; “ God knows I am. Blessed
be the peace-maker, and you are he ; an easy conscience
and a light heart must be your reward.”
“ They must,” added his wife, wiping her eyes ;
“ they must, and they will.”
“ Alas ! ” proceeded Woodward, “ how far from
Gospel purity is every human motive when it comes to
be tried by the Word ! I will not conceal from you the
state of my heart, nor deny that in accomplishing this
thing it was influenced by a certain selfish feeling on
my part; in one sense a disinterested selfishness I
admit, but in another a selfishness that involves my own
happiness. However, I will say no more on that sub-
ject at present. It would scarcely be delicate until the
reconciliation is fully accomplished ; then, indeed, per-
haps I may endeavor, with fear and trembling, to make
myself understood. Only until then, I beg of you to
think well of me, and permit me to consider myself as
not unworthy of a humble place in your affections.”
Old Goodwin shook him warmly by the hand, and
his wife once more had recourse to her pocket-hand-
kerchief. “God bless you, Mr. Woodward!” he ex-
claimed; “God bless you. I now see your worth, and
know it ; you already have our good-will and affections,
and, what is more, we feel that you deserve them.”
“ I wish, my dear sir,” said the other, “ that Miss
152
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Goodwin understood me as well as you and her re-
spected mother.”
u She does, Mr. Woodward,” replied her father ;
“ she does, and she will, too.”
“I tremble, however,” said Woodward, with a deep
sigh ; u but I will leave my fate in your hands, or, I
should rather say, in the hands of Heaven.”
Lunch was then announced, and they went down to
the front parlor, where it was laid out. On entering
the room Woodward was a good deal disappointed to
find that Miss Goodwin was not there.
u Will not Miss Goodwin join us ? ” he asked.
u Certainly,” said her father ; u Martha, where is
she?”
“ You know, my dear, she seldom lunches,” replied
her mother.
u Well, but she will now,” said Goodwin ; “it is not
every day we have Mr. Woodward; let her be sent for.
John, find out Miss Goodwin, and say we wish her to
join us at luncheon.”
John in a few moments returned to say that she had
a slight headache, and could not have the pleasure of
coming down.
“ 0 ! I am very sorry to hear she is unwell,” said
Woodward, with an appearance of disappointment and
chagrin, which he did not wish to conceal ; or, to speak
the truth, which, in a great measure, he assumed.
After lunch his horse was ordered, and he set out
on his way to Rathfillan, meditating upon his visit,
and the rather indifferent reception he had got from
Alice.
Miss Goodwin, though timid and nervous, was, nev-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
153
ertheless, in many things, a girl of spirit, and possessed
a great deal of natural wit and penetration. On that
day Woodward exerted himself to the utmost, with a
hope of making a favorable impression upon her. He
calculated a good deal upon her isolated position and
her necessary ignorance of life and the world, and in
doing so, he calculated, as thousands of self-sufficient
libertines, in their estimate of women, have done both
before and since. He did not know that there is an
intuitive spirit in the female heart which often enables
it to discover the true character of the opposite sex ;
and to discriminate between the real and the assumed
with almost infallible accuracy. But, independently
of this, there was in Woodward’s manner a hardness
of outline, and in his conversation an unconscious
absence of all reality and truth, together with a cold,
studied formality, dry, sharp, and presumptuous, that
required no extraordinary penetration to discovery
for the worst of it was, that he made himself disagree-
ably felt, and excited those powers of scrutiny and
analysis that are so peculiar to the generality of the
other sex. In fact, he sought his way home in any-
thing but an agreeable mood. He thought to have
met Alice an ignorant country girl, whom he might
play upon ; but he found himself completely mistaken,
because, fortunately for herself, he had taken her upon
one of her strong points. As it was, however, whilst
he could not help admiring the pertinence of her re-
plies, neither could he help experiencing something
of a bitter feeling against her, because she indulged
in them at his own expense ; whilst against O’Connor,
who bantered him with such spirit and success, and
7*
154
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
absolutely turned him into ridicule in her presence, he
almost entertained a personal resentment. His only
hope now was in her parents, who seemed as anxious
to entertain his proposals with favor as Alice was t©
reject them with disdain. As for Alice herself, her
opinion of him is a matter with which the reader is
already acquainted.
Our hero was about half-way home when he over-
took a thin, lank old man, who was a rather important
character in the eyes of the ignorant people at the
period of which we write. He was tall, and so bare
of flesh, that when asleep he might pass for the skele-
ton of a corpse. His eyes were red, cunning, and
sinister-looking; his lips thin, and from under the
upper c.ie projected a single tooth, long and yellow as
saffron. His face was of unusual length, and his
parchment cheeks formed two inward curves, occa-
sioned by the want of his back teeth. His breeches
were open at the knees ; his polar legs were without
stockings ; but his old brogues were foddered , as it is
called, with a wisp of straw, to keep his feet warm.
His arms were long, even in proportion to his body,
and his bony fingers resembled claws rather than any-
thing else we can now remember. They (the claws)
were black as ebony, and resembled in length and
sharpness those of a cat when she is stretching herself
after rising from the hearth. He wore an old barrad
of the day, the greasy top of which fell down upon
the collar of his old cloak, and over his shoulder
was a bag, which, from its appearance, must have
contained something not very weighty, as he walked
on without seeming to travel as a man who carried
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
155
a burden. He had a huge staff in his right hand,
the left having a hold of his bag. Woodward at first
mistook him for a mendicant, but upon looking at
him more closely, he perceived nothing of that
watchful and whining cant for alms which marks the
character of the professional beggar. The old skele-
ton walked on, apparently indifferent and independent,
and never once put himself into the usual posture
of entreaty. This, and the originality of his appearance,
excited Woodward’s curiosity, and he resolved to speak
to him.
“ Well, my good old man, what may you be carrying
in the bag ? ”
The man looked at him respectfully, and raising his
hand and staff touched his barrad , and replied :
u A few yarribs, your honor.”
“ Yarribs ! What the deuce is that ? ”
u Why, the yarribs that grow, sir — to cure the peo
pie when they’re sick.”
“ O, you mean herbs.”
16 1 do, sir, and I gather them too for the potecars.”
“O, then you are what they call a herbalist.”
“I believe I am, sir, if you put that word against
(to) a man that gethers yarribs.”
“Yes, that’s what I mean. You sell them to the
apothecaries, I suppose ? ”
“ I do a little, sir, but I use the most of them my-
self. Sorra much the potecars knows about the use o’
them ; they kill more than they cure wid ’em, and
calls thim that understands what they’re good for
rogues and quacks. May the Lord forgive them this
day ! Amin , acheernah ! (Amen, O Lord !) ”
156
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ And do you administer these herbs to the sick ? ”
u I do, sir, to the sick of all kinds — man and baste
There’s nothing like them, sir, bekaise it was to cure
diseases of all kinds that the Lord, blessed be Hia
name ! amin , acheernah ! planted them in the earth
for the use of his cratures. Why, sir, will you listen
to me now, and mark my words ? There never was a
complaint that follied either man or baste, brute or
bird, but a yarrib grows that ’ud cure it if it was
known. When the head’s hot wid faver, and the
heart low wid care, the yarrib is to be found that will
cool the head and rise the heart.”
“ Don’t you think, now,” said Woodward, im-
agining that he would catch him, “that a glass ot
wine, or, what is better still, a good glass of punch,
would raise the heart better than all the herbs in the
universe ? ”
“ Lord bless me ! ” he exclaimed, as if in soliloquy ;
“ the ignorance of the rich and wealthy, and of great
people altogether, is unknown ! Wine and punch !
And what, will you tell me, does wine and punch
come from ? Doesn’t the wine come from the grapes
that grow in forrin parts — sich as we have in our hot-
houses— and doesn’t the whiskey that you make your
punch of grow from the honest barley in our /wn
fields ? So much for your knowledge of yarribs.”
“ Why, there you are right, my old friend. I for-
got that.”
“ You forgot it ? Tell the truth at once, and say
you didn’t know it. But maybe you did forget it, for
troth he’d be a poor crature that didn’t know that
whiskey is made from barley.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
157
He here turned his red satirical eye upon Wood-
ward, with a glance that was strongly indicative of
contempt for his general information.
“Well, he proceeded, “the power of yarribs is
wondherful, — if it was known to many as it is
to me.”
“ Why, from long practice, I suppose, you must be
skilful in the properties of herbs ? ”
“Well, indeed, you need’nt only suppose it, but you
may be sartin of it. Have you a good appetite ? ”
“ A particularly good one, I assure you.”
“Now, wouldn’t you think it strange that I could
give you a dose that ’ud keep you on half a male a
day for the next three months ? ”
“ God forbid,” replied Woodward, who, among his
other good qualities, was an enormous trencherman, —
“ God forbid that ever such a dose should go down my
throat.”
“ Would you think, now,” he proceeded, with a sin-
ister grin that sent his yellow tusk half an inch out of
his mouth, “ that if a man was jealous of his wife, or a
wife of her husband, I couldn’t give aither o’ them a
dose that ’ud cure them ? ”
“Faith, I dare say you could,” replied Woodward;
“ a dose that would free them from care of all sorts as
well as jealousy.”
“ I don’t mane that,” said the skeleton ; “ ha, ha !
you’re a funny gentleman, and maybe I — but no — I
don’t mane that ; but widout injurin’ a hair in aither
o’ their heads.”
“ I am not married,” said the other, “ but I expect
to be soon, and when I am I will pay you well for tho
158
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
knowledge of that herb — for my wife, I mean. Where
do you live ? ”
“ In Rathfillan, sir. Pm a well-known man there,
and for many a long mile about it.”
“You must be very useful to the country people
hereabouts ?”
“Ay,” he exclaimed, “you mane to the poor, I sup-
pose, and you’re right ; but maybe I’m of sarvice to
the rich, too. Many a face I save from — I could save
from shame, I mane — if I liked, and could get well
ped for it, too. Some young, extravagant people that
have rich ould fathers do be spakin’ to me, too ; but
thin, you know, I have a sowl to be saved, and am a
religious man, I hope, and do my duty as sich, and
that every one that has a sowl to be saved, may!
Amin , acheernah ! ”
“ I am glad to find that your sense of duty preserves
you against such strong temptations.”
“ Then, there’s another set of men — these outlaws
that do be robbin’ rich people’s houses, and they, too,
try to tempt me.”
“ Why should they tempt you ? ”
“ Bekaise the people, now knowin’ that they’re
abroad, keep watch-dogs, bloodhounds, and sich useful
animals, that give the alarm at night, and the robbers
wishin’, you see, to get them out of the way, do be
temptin’ me about wishin’ me to pison them.”
“Of course you resist them?”
“Well, I hope I do; but sometimes it’s hard to get
over them, especially when they plant a skean or a
middogue to one’s navel, and swear great oaths that
they’ll make a scabbard for it of my poor ould bldg
TI1E BLACK SPECTRE.
159
(belly) — I say, when the thieves do the business that
way, it requires a grate dale of the grace o’ God to
deny them. But what’s any Christhen ’idout the grace
o’ God ? May we all have it ! Amin , acheernah ! ”
u Well, when I marry, as I will soon, I’ll call upon
you ; I dare say my wife will get jealous, for I love the
ladies, if that’s a fault.”
Another grin was his first reply to this, after which
he said :
u Well, sir, if she does, come to me.”
u Where in Rathfillan do you live ? 99
u O, anybody will tell you ; inquire for ould Sol
Donnel, the yarrib man, and you’ll soon find me out.”
u But suppose I shouldn’t wish it to be known that
I called on you ? ”
u Eh ? ” said the old villain, giving him another sig-
nificant grin that once more projected the fang ; u well,
maybe you wouldn’t. If you want my sarvices, then,
come to the cottage that’s built agin the church-yard
wall, on the north side ; and if you don’t wish to be
seen, why you can come about midnight, when every
one’s asleep.”
u What’s this you say your name is ? ”
“ Sol Donnel.”
What do you mean by Sol ? ”
He turned up his red eyes in astonishment, and ex-
claimed :
u Well, now, to think that a larned man as you must
be shouldn’t know what Sol means ! Well, the igno-
rance of you great people is unknown. Don’t you
know — but you don’t — oughtn’t you know, then, that
Sol means Solomon, who was the wisest man and the
160
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
biggest blaggard that ever lived ! Faith, if / had lived
in his day he’d be a poor customer to me, bekaise he
had no shame in him ; but indeed, the doin’s that
goes on now in holes and corners among ourselves was
no shame in his time. That’s a fine bay horse you
ride ; would you like to have him dappled ? A dap •
pled bay, you know, is always a great beauty.”
u And could you dapple him ? ”
u Ay, as sure as you ride him.”
u Well, I’ll think about it and let you know; there’s
some silver for you, and good-by, honest Solomon.”
Woodward then rode on, reflecting on the novel and
extraordinary character of this hypocritical old villain,
in whose withered and repulsive visage he could not
discover a single trace of anything that intimated the
existence of sympathy with his kind. As to that, it was
a tabula rasa , blank of all feelings except those which
characterize the hyena and the fox. After he had
left him, the old fellow gave a bitter and derisive look
after him.
u There you go,” said he, u and well I knew you,
although you didn’t think so. Weren’t you pointed
out to me the night o’ the divil’s bonfire, that your
mother, they say, got up for you ; and didn’t I see you
since spakin’ to that skamin’ blaggard, Caterine Col-
lins, my niece, that takes many a penny out o’ my
hands ; and didn’t I know that you couldn’t be talkin’
to her about anything that was good. Troth, you’re
not your mother’s son or you’ll be cornin’ to me as well
as her. Bad luck to her ! she was near gettin’ me
into the stocks when I sowld her the dose of oak bark
for the sarvants, to draw in their stomachs and shorten
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161
their feedin’. My faith, ould Lindsay ’ud have put
me in them only for fraid o’ bringin’ shame upon hhi
wife.” *
CHAPTER VIII.
A HEALING OF THE BREACH — A PROPOSAL FOR MAR-
RIAGE ACCEPTED.
On that evening, when the family were assembled at
supper, Mrs. Lindsay, who had had a previous consul-
tation with her son Harry, thought proper to introduce
the subject of the projected marriage between him and
Alice Goodwin.
u Harry has paid a visit to these neighbors of ours,”
said she, u these Goodwins, and I think, now that he
has come home, it would be only prudent on our part
to renew the intimacy that was between us. Not that
I like, or ever will like, a bone in one of their bodies ;
but it’s only right that we should foil them at their own
weapons, and try to get back the property into the hands
of one of the family at least, if we can, and so prevent
it from going to strangers. I am determined to pay
them a friendly visit to-morrow.”
u A friendly visit ! ” exclaimed her husband, with an
* Some of our readers may imagine that in the enumeration of the
etires which old Sol professed to effect we have drawn too largely upon
their credulity, whereas there is scarcely one of them that is not prac-
tised, or attempted, in remote and uneducated parts of Ireland, almost
down to the present day. We ourselves in early youth saw a man who
professed, and was believed to be able, to cure jealousy in either man
or woman by a potion ; whilst charms for colics, toothaches, taking
motes out of the eye, and for producing love, were common among the
ignorant people within our own recollection.
162
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
expression of surprise and indignation on his counte-
nance which he could not conceal ; u how can you say a
friendly visit, after having just told us that you neither
like them, nor ever will like them ? not that it was at
all necessary for you to assure us of that . It is, how-
ever, the hypocrisy of the thing on your part that
startles and disgusts me.”
u Call it prudence, if you please, Lindsay, or worldly
wisdom, if you like, after all the best kind of wisdom ;
and I only wish you had more of it.”
u That makes no difference in life,” replied her hus-
band, calmly, but severely ; u as it is, you have enough,
and more than enough, for the whole family.”
u But has Harry any hopes of success with Alice
Goodwin,” asked Charles, u because everything de-
pends on thatV ’
u If he had not, you foolish boy, do you think I
would be the first to break the ice by going to pay
them a visit f The girl, I dare say, will make a very
good wife, or if she does not, the property will not be a
pound less in value on that account : that’s one com-
fort.”
u And is it upon this hollow and treacherous princi-
ple that you are about to pay them a friendly visit ? ”
asked her husband, with ill-repressed indignation.
u Lindsay,” she replied sharply, u I perceive you are
rife for a quarrel now ; but I beg to tell you, sir, that
I will neither seek your approbation nor regard your
authority. I must manage these people after my own
fashion.”
u Harry,” said his step-father, turning abruptly, and
with incredulous surprise to him, u surely it is not
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
163
possible that you are a party to such a shameful im-
posture upon this excellent family ? ”
His brother Charles fastened his eyes upon him as if
he would read his heart.
“ I am sorry, sir,” replied that gentleman, “ that you
should think it necessary to apply the word imposture
to any proceeding of mine. You ought to know my
mother’s outspoken way, and that her heart is kinder
than her language. The fact is, from the first moment
I saw that beautiful girl I felt a warm interest in her,
and I feel that interest increasing every day. I cer-
tainly am very anxious to secure her for her own sake,
whilst I candidly admit that I am not wholly indiffer-
ent to the property. I am only a common man like
others, and not above the world and its influences —
who can be that lives in it ? My mother, besides, will
come to think better of Alice, and all of them, when
she shall be enabled to call Alice daughter ; won’t you,
mother ? ”
The mother, who knew by the sentiments which he
had expressed to her before on this subject, that he
was now playing a game with the family, did not con-
sider it prudent to contradict him ; she consequently
replied, —
“I don’t know, Harry; I cannot get their trick
about the property out of my heart ; but, perhaps, if I
saw it once more where it ought to be, I might change
That’s all I can say at present.”
“Well, come, Harry,” said Lindsay — adverting to
what he had just said — “ I think you have spoken
fairly enough ; I do — it’s candid ; you are not above
this world ; why should you be ? — come, it is candid.”
164
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ I trust, sir, you will never find me uncandid, either
on this or any other subject.”
“ No ; I don’t think I shall, Harry. Well, be it so,
— setting your mother out of the question, — proceed
with equal candor in your courtship. I trust you de-
serve her, and, if so, I hope you may get her.”
“ If he does not,” said Maria, “ he will never get
such a wife.”
“ By the way, Harry,” asked Charles, “ has she given
you an intimation of anything like encouragement ? ”
“Well, I rather think I am not exactly a fool,
Charles, nor likely to undertake an enterprise without
some prospect of success. I hope you deem me, at
least, a candid man.”
“ Yes ; but there is a class of persons who frequently
form too high an estimate of themselves, especially in
their intercourse with women ; and who very often
mistake civility for encouragement.”
“Very true, Charles — exceedingly just and true;
but I hope I am not one of those either ; my knowl-
edge of life and the world will prevent me from that,
I trust.”
“I hope,” continued Charles, “that if the girl is
averse to such a connection she will not be harassed or
annoyed about it.”
“I hope, Charles, I have too much pride to press
any proposal that may be disagreeable to her ; I rather
think I have. But have you, Charles, any reason to
suppose that she should not like me ? ”
“ Why, from what you have already hinted, Harry,
you ought to be the best judge of that yourself.”
“Weil, I think so, too. I am not in the habit ol
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
155
walking blindfold into any adventure, especially one
bo important as this. Trust to my address, my dear
fellow,” he added, with a confident smile, “and, be-
lieve me, you shall soon see her your sister-in-law.”
“And I shall be delighted at it, Harry,” said his
sister; “so go on and prosper. If you get her you
will get a treasure, setting her property out of the
question.”
“ Her property ! ” ejaculated Mrs. Lindsay ; “ but
no matter ; we shall see. I can speak sweetly enough
when I wish.”
“ I wish to God you would try it oftener, then,” said
her husband ; “ but I trust that during this visit of
yours you will not give way to your precious temper
and insult them at the outset. Don’t tie a knot with
your tongue that you can’t unravel with your teeth.
Be quiet, now ; I didn’t speak to raise the devil and
draw on a tempest — only let us have a glass of punch,
till Charley and I drink success to Harry.”
The next day Mrs. Lindsay ordered the car, and
proceeded to pay her intended visit to the Goodwins.
She had arrived pretty near the house, when two of
Goodwin’s men, who were driving his cows to a graz-
ing field on the other side of the road by which she was
approaching, having noticed and recognized her, im-
mediately turned them back and drove them into a
paddock enclosed by trees, where they were completely
out of her sight.
“ Devil blow her, east and west ! ” said one of them.
“ What brings her across us now that we have the cat-
tle wid us ? and doesn’t all the world know that she’d
lave them sick and sore wid one glance of her unlucky
166
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
eye. I hope in God she didn’t see them, the thief o*
the devil that she is.”
“ She can’t see them now, the cratures,” replied the
other ; “ and may the devil knock the light out of her
eyes at any rate,” he added, “ for sure, they say it’s
the light of hell that’s in them.”
“ Well, when she goes there she’ll be able to see her
way, and sure that’ll be one comfort,” replied his com-
panion ; “ but in the mane time, if anything happens
the cows — poor bastes — we’ll know the rason of it.”
“ She must dale wid the devil,” said the other, “ and
I hope she’ll be burned for a witch yet ; but whisht,
here she comes, and may the devil roast her on his
toastin’ iron the first time he wants a male ! ”
“ Troth, an’ he’d find her tough feedin’,” said his
comrade ; “ and barrin’ he has strong tusks, as I sup-
pose he has, he’d find it no every-day male wid him.”
As they spoke, the object of their animadversion ap-
peared, and turned upon them, so naturally, a sinister
and sharp look, that it seemed to the men as if she had
suspected the subject of their conversation.
“ You are Mr. Goodwin’s laborers, are you not?”
uWe are, ma’am,” replied one of them, without, as
usual, touching his hat, however.
“You ill-mannered boor,” she said, “why do you
not touch your hat to a lady, when she condescends to
speak to you ? ”
“ I always touch my hat to a lady , ma’am,” replied
the man sharply.
“Come here, you other man,” said she; “perhaps
you are not such an insolent ruffian as this ? Can you
tell me if Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin are at home ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
167
“ Are you goin’ there ? ” asked the man, making a
low bow.
“ Yes, I am, my good man,” she replied.
“Well, then, ma’am,” he added, bowing again,
“ you’ll find that out when you go to the house and
he made her another bow to wind up the information
with all due politeness.
“ Barney,” said she to the servant, her face inflamed
with rage, “ drive on. I only wish I had those ruffianly
scoundrels to deal with ; I would teach them manners
to their betters at all events ; and you, sirra, why did
you not use your whip and chastise them ? ”
“Faith, ma’am,” replied our friend Barney Casey, “ it’s
aisier said than done wid some of us. Why, ma’am, they’re
the two hardiest and best men in the parish ; however,
here’s Pugshy Ruah turnin’ out o’ the gate, and she’ll
be able to tell you whether they are at home or not.”
“ 0, that’s the woman they say is unlucky,” observed
his mistress — “ unlucky to meet , I mean ; I have often
heard of her ; indeed, it may be so, for I believe there
are such persons ; we shall speak to her, however.
My good woman,” she said, addressing Pugshy, “ al-
low me to ask, have you been at Mr. Goodwin’s ? ”
Now Pugshy had all the legitimate characteristics of
an “unlucky” woman; red-haired, had a game eye —
that is to say, she squinted with one of them ; Pugshy
wore a caubeen hat, like a man ; had on neither shoe
nor stocking ; her huge, brawny arms, uncovered
almost to the shoulders, were brown with freckles, as
was her face ; so that, altogether, she would have made
a bad substitute either for the Medicean Yenus or the
Apollo Belvidere.
168
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ My good woman, allow me to ask if you have been
at Mr. Goodwin’s.”
Pugshy, who knew her well, stood for a moment, and
closing the eye with which she did not squint, kept the
game one fixed upon her very steadily for half a minute,
and as she wore the caubeen rather rakishly on one
side of her head, her whole figure and expression were
something between the frightful and the ludicrous.
“ Was I at Misther Goodwin’s, is it ? Lord love you,
ma’am, (and ye need it, sotto voce), an’ maybe you’d
give us a thrifle for the male’s mate ; it’s hard times
wid us this weader.”
“ I have no change ; I never bring change out with
me.”
“ You’re goin’ to Mr. Goodwin’s, ma’am ? ”
“ Yes ; are he and Mrs. Goodwin at home, can you
tell me ? ”
“ They, are, ma’am, but you may as well go back
again ; you’ll have no luck this day.”
“Why so?”
“ Why, bekaise you won’t ; didn’t you meet me f
Who ever has luck that meets me ? Nobody ought to
know that betther than yourself, for, by all accounts,
you’re tarred wid the same stick.”
“ Foolish woman,” replied Mrs. Lindsay, “ how is it
in your power to prevent me ? ”
“No matther,” replied the woman; “go an; but
mark my words, you’ll have your journey for nuttin’,
whatever it is. Indeed, if I turned back three steps
wid you it might be otherwise, but you refused to cross
my hand, so you must take your luck,” and with a
frightful glance from the eye aforesaid she passed on.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
169
As she drove up to Mr. Goodwin’s residence she was
met on the steps of the hall-door by that kind-hearted
gentleman and his wife, and received with a feeling of
gratification which the good people could not disguise.
“ I suppose,” said Mrs. Lindsay, after they had got
seated in the drawing-room, “ that you are surprised to
see me here ? ”
“ We are delighted, say, Mrs. Lindsay,” replied Mr.
Goodwin — “ delighted. Why should ill-will come be-
tween neighbors and friends without any just cause
on either side ? That property ”
“ 0, don’t talk about that,” replied Mrs. Lindsay ;
“ I didn’t come to speak about it ; let everything
connected with it be forgotten ; and as proof that I
wish it should be so, I came here to-day to renew the
intimacy that should subsist between us.”
“And, indeed,” replied Mrs. Goodwin, “the inter-
ruption of that intimacy distressed us very much —
more, perhaps, Mrs. Lindsay, than you might feel dis-
posed to give us credit for.”
“Well, my dear madam,” replied the other, “I am
sure you will be glad to hear that I have not only my
own inclination, but the sanction and wish of my whole
family, in making this friendly visit, with the hope of
placing us all upon our former footing. But, to tell
you the truth, this might not have been so, were it not
for the anxiety of my son Henry, who has returned to
us, and whom, I believe, you know.”
“ We have that pleasure,” replied Goodwin ; “ and
from what we have seen of him, we think you have a
right to feel proud of such a son.”
“ So I do, indeed,” replied his mother j “ he is a
8
170
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
good and most amiable young man, without either art
or cunning, but truthful and honorable in the highest
degree. It is to him we shall all be indebted for this
reconciliation; or, perhaps, I might say,” she added,
with a smile, u to your own daughter Alice.”
u Ah ! poor Alice,” exclaimed her father ; u none of
us felt the estrangement of the families with so much
regret as she did.”
“ Indeed, Mrs. Lindsay,” added his wife, u I can bear
witness to that ; many a bitter tear it occasioned the
poor girl.”
u I believe she is a most amiable creature,” replied
Mrs. Lindsay ; .u and I believe,” she added with a smile,
u that there is one particular young gentleman of that
opinion as well as myself.”
We believe in our souls that the simplest woman in
existence, or that ever lived, becomes a deep and thor-
ough diplomatist when engaged in a conversation that
involves in the remotest degree any matrimonial specu-
lation for a daughter. Now, Mrs. Goodwin knew as
well as the reader does, that Mrs. Lindsay made allu-
sion to her son Harry, the new-comer; but she felt
that it was contrary to the spirit of such negotiations
to make a direct admission of that feeling ; she, accord-
ingly, was of opinion that in order to bring Mrs. Lind-
say directly to the point, and to exonerate herself and
her husband from ever having entertained the question
at all, her best plan was to misunderstand her, and
seem to proceed upon a false scent.
“O, indeed, Mrs. Lindsay,” she replied, UI am not
surprised at that ; Charles and Alice were always great
favorites with each other.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
171
“ Charles ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Lindsay ; u Charles !
What could induce you to think of associating
Charles and Alice ? He is unworthy of such an asso-
ciation.”
u Bless me,” exclaimed Mrs. Goodwin in her turn ;
u why, I thought you alluded to Charles.”
il No,” said her neighbor, u I alluded to my eldest
son, Harry, to whose good offices in this matter both
families are so much indebted. He is worthy of any
girl, and indeed few girls are worthy of him ; but as
for Alice, you know what a favorite she was with me,
and I trust now I shall like her even better than
ever.”
u You are right, Mrs. Lindsay,” said Goodwin, u in
saying that few women are worthy of your eldest son ;
he is a most gentlemanly, and evidently a most acccom-
plished young man ; his conversation at breakfast here
the morning after the storm was so remarkable, both
for good sense and good feeling, that I am not sur-
prised at your friendly visit to-day, Mrs. Lindsay. - He
was sent, I hope, to introduce a spirit of peace and
concord between us, and God forbid that we should
repel it ; on the contrary, we hail his mediation with
delight, and feel deeply indebted to him for placing
both families in their original position.”
“I trust in a better position,” replied his adroit
mother ; u I trust in a better position, Mr. Goodwin, and a
still nearer and dearer connection. It is better, how-
ever, to speak out ; you know me of old, my dear
friends, and that I am blunt and straightforward — as
the proverb has it/ 1 think what I say, and I say what
I think.* This visit, then, is made, as I said, not only
172
THE EVIL EYE , OR,
by my own wish, but at the express entreaty of my son
Harry, and the great delight of the whole family ;
there is therefore no use in concealing the fact — he is
deeply attached to your daughter, Alice, and was from
the first moment he saw her ; — of course you now
understand my mission — which is, in fact, to make a
proposal of marriage in his name, and to entreat your
favorable consideration of it, as well as your influence
in his behalf with Alice herself.”
“ Well, I declare, Mrs. Lindsay,” replied Mrs. Good-
win, (God forgive her!) “you have taken us quite by
surprise — you have indeed ; — dear me — I’m quite agi-
tated ; but he is, indeed, a fine young man — a perfect
gentleman in his manners, and if he be as good as he
looks — for marriage, God help us, tries us all ”
“ I hope it never tried you much, Martha,” replied
her husband, smiling.
“ No, my dear, I don’t say so. Still, when the hap-
piness of one’s child is concerned — and such a child
as Alice ”
“ But consider, Mrs. Goodwin,” replied the ambas-
sadress, who, in fact, was not far from an explosion at
what she considered a piece of contemptible vacillation
on the part of her neighbor — “ consider, Mrs. Good-
win,” said she, “ that the happiness of my son is con-
cerned.”
“I know it is,” she replied; “but speak to her
father, Mrs. Lindsay — he, as such, is the proper per-
son— O, dear me.”
“Well, Mr. Goodwin — you have heard what I have
said ? ”
“I have, madam,” said he; “but thank God I am
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
173
not so nervous as my good wife here. I like your son,
Harry, very much, from what I have seen of him—
and, to be plain with you, I really see no objection to
such a match. On the contrary, it will promote peace
and good-will between us ; and, I have no doubt, will
prove a happy event to the parties most concerned.”
“ O, there is not a doubt of it,” exclaimed Mrs.
Goodwin, now chiming in with her husband; “no,
there can be no doubt of it. O, they will be very
happy together, and that will be so delightful. My
darling Alice ! ” — and here she became pathetic, and
shed tears copiously — “ yes,” she added, “ we will
lose you, my darling, and a lonely house we will have
after you, for I suppose they will live in the late Mr.
Hamilton’s residence, on their own property.”
This allusion to the arrangements contemplated in
the event of the marriage, redeemed, to a certain
degree, the simple-hearted Mrs. Goodwin from the
strongest possible contempt on the part of a woman
who was never known to shed a tear upon any earthly
subject.
“Well, then,” proceeded Mrs. Lindsay, “I am to
understand that this proposal on the behalf of my son
is accepted ? ”
“ So far as I and Mrs. Goodwin are concerned,” re-
plied Goodwin, “ you are, indeed, Mrs. Lindsay, and so
far all is smooth and easy; but, on the other hand,
there is Alice — she, you know, is to be consulted.”
“ 0 ! as for poor Alice,” said her mother, “there will
be no difficulty with her ; whatever I and her father
wish her to do, if it be to please us, that she will do.”
“I trust,” said Mrs. Lindsay, “she has no previous
174
THE EYIL EYE; OR,
attachment ; for that would be unfortunate for herself,
poor girl.”
“ She an attachment ! ” exclaimed her mother; “no,
the poor, timid creature never thought of Buch a
thing.”
“ It is difficult for parents to know that,” replied
Mrs. Lindsay ; “but where is she? ”
“ She’s gone out,” replied her mother, “ to take a
pleasant jaunt somewhere with a young friend of ours,
a Mr. O’Connor ; but, indeed, I’m glad she is not here,
for if she was, we could not, you know, discuss this
matter in her presence.”
“ That is very true,” observed Mrs. Lindsay, dryly ;
“ but perhaps she doesn’t regret her absence. As it is,
I think you ought to impress upon her that, in the
article of marriage, a young and inexperienced girl like
her ought to have no will but that of her parents, who
are best qualified, from their experience and knowledge
of life, to form and direct her principles.”
“ I do not think,” said her father, “ that there is
anything to be apprehended on her part. She is the
most unselfish and disinterested girl that ever existed,
and sooner than give her mother or me a pang, I am
sure she would make any sacrifice ; but at the same
time,” he added, “ if her own happiness were involved
in the matter, I should certainly accept no such sacri-
fice at her hands.”
“As to that, Mr. Goodwin,” she replied, “I hope we
need calculate upon nothing on her part but a willing
consent and obedience. At all events, it is but natural
that they should be pretty frequently in each other’s
society, and that my son should have an opportunity
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
175
of inspiring her with good will towards him, if not a
still warmer feeling. The matter being now under-
stood, of course, that is and will be his exclusive privi-
lege.77
66 Your observations, my dear madam, are but reason-
able and natural/7 replied Goodwin. u Why, indeed,
should it be otherwise, considering their contemplated
relation to each other ? Of course, we shall be delighted
to see him here as often as he chooses to come, and so,
I am sure, will Alice.77
They then separated upon the most cordial terms j
and Mrs. Lindsay, having mounted her vehicle, pro-
ceeded on her way home. She was, however, far from
satisfied at the success of her interview with the Good-
wins. So far as the consent of the father and mother
went, all was, to be sure, quite as she could have wished
it ; but then, as to Alice herself, there might exist an
insurmountable difficulty. She did not at all relish
the fact of that young lady7s taking her amusement
with Mr. 07Connor, who she knew was of a handsome
person and independent circumstances, and very likely
to become a formidable rival to her son. As matters
stood, however, she resolved to conceal her apprehen-
sions on this point, and to urge Harry to secure, if
possible, the property, which both she herself and he
had solely in view. As for the girl, each of them
looked upon her as a cipher in the transaction, whose
only value was rated by the broad acres which they
could not secure without taking her along with them.
The family were dispersed when she returned home,
and she, consequently, reserved the account of her
mission until she should meet them in the evening.
176
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
At length the hour came, and she lost no time in open •
ing the matter at full length, suppressing, at the same
time, her own apprehensions of Alice’s consent, and
her dread of the rivalry on the part of O’Connor.
u Well,” said she, u I have seen these people ; I have
called upon them, as you all know ; and, as I said, I
have seen them.”
u To very little purpose, I am afraid,” said her
husband ; u I don’t like your commencement of the
report.”
“ I suppose not,” she replied ; u but, thank God, it is
neither your liking nor disliking that we regard, Lind-
say. I have seen them, Harry ; and I am glad to say
that they are civil people.”
“ Is it only now you found that out ? ” asked her
husband ; “ why, they never were anything else, Jenny.”
“Well, really,” said she, “I shall be forced to ask
you to leave the room if you proceed at this rate.
Children, will you protect me from the interruption
and the studied insults of this man ? ”
“ Father,” said Charles, “ for Heaven’s sake will you
allow her to state the result of her visit t We are all
very anxious to hear it ; none more so than I.”
“Please except your elder brother,” said Harry,
laughing, “ whose interest you know, Charley, is most
concerned.”
“ Well, perhaps so,” said Charles ; “ of course, Harry
— but proceed, mother, we shan’t interrupt you.”
“ 0, go on,” said his mother, u go on ; discuss the
matter among you, I can wait ; don’t hesitate to inter-
rupt me ; your father there has set you that gentle-
manly example.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
177
“ It must surely be good when it comes,” said Harry,
with a smile ; “ but do proceed, my dear mother, and
never mind these queer folk ; go on at once, and let ua
know all : we — that is, myself — are prepared for the
worst ; do proceed, mother.”
“Am I at liberty to speak?” said she, and she
looked at them with a glance that expressed a very
fierce interrogatory. They all nodded, and she resumed :
“Well, I have seen these people, I say; I have
made a proposal of marriage between Harry and Alice,
and that proposal is ”
She paused, and looked around her with an air of
triumph ; but whether that look communicated the
triumph of success, or that of her inveterate enmity
and contempt for them ever since the death of old
Hamilton, was as great a secret to them as the Bono-
nian enigma. There was a dead silence, much to her
mortification, for she would have given a great deal
that her husband had interrupted her just then, and
taken her upon the wrong tack.
“Well,” she proceeded, “do you all wish to hear
it?”
Lindsay put his forefinger on his lips, and nodded to
all the rest to do the same.
“Ah, Lindsay,” she exclaimed, “you are an ill-
minded man ; but it matters not so far as you are
concerned — in three words, Harry, the proposal is
accepted ; yes, accepted, and with gratitude and
thanksgiving.”
“ And you had no quarrel ? ” said Lindsay, with as-
tonishment ; “ nor you didn't let out on them ? Well,
well!”
8*
178
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Children, I am addressing myself to you , and
especially to Harry here, who is most interested ; no,
I see nothing to prevent us from having back the prop-
erty and the curds-and-whey along with it.”
u Faith, and the curds-and-whey are the best part
of it after all,” said Lindsay ; u but, in the meantime,
you might be a little more particular, and give us a
touch of your own eloquence and ability in bringing it
about.”
u What did Alice herself say, mother ? ” asked
Charles ; u was she a party to the consent ? because,
if she was, your triumph, or rather Harry’s here, is
complete.”
u It is complete,” replied his mother, having re-
course to a dishonest evasion ; u the girl and her pa-
rents have but one opinion. Indeed, I always did the
poor thing the credit to believe that she never was
capable of entertaining an opinion of her own, and it
now turns out a very fortunate thing for Harry that
it is so ; but of course he has made an impression
upon her.”
u As to that, mamma,” said Maria, u I don’t know
— he may, or he may not ; but of this I am satisfied,
that Alice Goodwin is a girl who can form an opinion
for herself, and that, whatever that opinion be, she will
neither change nor abandon it upon slight grounds. I
know her well, but if she has consented to marry
Harry she will marry him, and that is all that is to be
said about it.”
u I thought she would,” said Harry ; u I told you,
Charley, that I didn’t think I was a fool — didn’t I ? ”
u I know you did, Harry,” replied his brother ; u but
TflE BLACK SPECTRE.
179
I don’t know how — it strikes me that I would rather
have any other man’s opinion on that subject than your
own ; however, time will tell.”
u It will tell, of course ; and if it proves me a fool,
I will give you leave to clap the fool’s cap on me for
life. And now that we have advanced so far and so
well, I will go and take one of my evening strolls, in
order to meditate on my approaching happiness.” And
he did so.
The family were not at all surprised at this, even
although the period of his walks frequently extended
into a protracted hour of the night. Not so the ser-
vants, who wondered why Master Harry should walk so
much abroad and remain out so late at night, espe-
cially considering the unsettled and alarming state of
the country, in consequence of the outrages and rob-
beries which were of such frequent occurrence. This,
it is true, was startling enough to these simple people ;
but that which filled them not only with astonishment,
but with something like awe, was the indifference
with which he was known to traverse haunted places
alone and unaccompanied, when the whole country
around, except thieves and robbers, witches, and evil
spirits, were sound asleep. u What,” they asked each
other, u could he mean by it ? ”
u Barney Casey, you that knows a great deal for an
unlarned man, tell us what you think of it,” said the
cook ; u isn’t it the world’s wondher, that a man that’s
out at such hours doesn’t see somethin ? ? There’s Lanty
Bawn, and sure they say he saw the white woman be-
yant the end of the long horeen on Thursday night
last, the Lord save us ; eh, Barney ? ”
180
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Barney immediately assumed the oracle.
“ He did,” said he ; “ and what is still more fearful,
it’s said there was a black man along wid her. They
say that Lanty seen them both, and that the black man
had his arm about the white woman’s waist, and was
kissin ’ her at full trot.”
The cook crossed herself, and the whole kitchen
turned up its eyes at this diabolical piece of courtship.
“ Musha, the Lord be about us in the manetime ; but
bad luck to the ould boy, (a black man is always
considered the devil, or the ould boy , as they call him,)
wasn’t it a daisant taste he had, to go to kiss a ghost ? ”
“ Why,” replied Barney with a grin, “ I suppose the
ould chap is hard set on that point ; who the devil else
would kiss him, barrin ’ some she ghost or other ? Some
luckless ould maid, I’ll go bail, that gother a beard
while she was here, and the devil now is kissin’ it off
to get seein’ what kind of a face she has. Well, all I
can say,” he proceeded, “ is, that I wish him luck of
his employment, for in troth it’s an honorable one and
he has a right to be proud of it.”
“Well, well,” said the housemaid, “it’s a wondher
how any one can walk by themselves at night ; wasn’t
it near the well at the foot of the long hill that goes
up to where the Davorens live that they were seen ? ”
“It was,” replied Barney; “at laste, they say so.”
“And didn’t yourself tell me,” she proceeded, “ that
that same lonesome boreen is a common walk at night
wid Master Harry ? ”
“ And so it is, Nanse,” replied Barney ; “but as for
Misther Harry, I believe it’s purty well known, that by
night or by day he may walk where he likes.”
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
181
u Father of heaven ! ” they exclaimed in a low, ear-
nest voice ; u but why , Barney ? ” they asked in a con-
densed whisper.
u Why ! Why is he called Harry na Suit JBalor for f
Can you toll me that ? ”
u Why, bekaise his two eyes isn’t one color.”
u And why arn’t they one color ? Can you tell me
that ? ”
u O, the sorra step farther I can go in that
question.”
u No,” said Barney, full of importance, u I thought
not, and what is more, I didn’t expect it from you.
His mother could tell, though. It’s in her family, and
there’s worse than that in her family.”
“ Troth, by all accounts,” observed the girl, “ there
never was anything good in her family. But, Barney,
achora, will you tell us, if you know, what’s the rason
of it?”
“If I know ? ” said Barney, rather offended ; “ maybe
I don’t know, and maybe I do, if it came to that.
Any body, then, that has two eyes of different colors
always has the Evil Eye, or the Suit JBalor, and
has the power of overlookin’ ; and, between our-
selves, Masther Harry has it. The misthress herself
can only overlook cattle , bekaise both her eyes is of the
one color; but Masther Harry could overlook either
man or woman if he wished. And how do you think
that comes ? ”
“ The Lord knows,” replied the cook, crossing her-
self ; u from no good, at any rate. Troth, I’ll get a
gospel and a scapular, for, to tell you the truth, I ob-
served that Masther Harry gave me a look the other
182
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
day that made my flesh creep, by rason that he thought
the mutton was overdone.”
u O, you needn’t be afeard,” replied Barney ; “ he
can overlook or not, as he plaises ; if he does not
wish to do so, you’re safe enough ; but when any one
like him that has the power wishes to do it, they could
wither you by degrees off o’ the airth.”
“ God be about us ! But, Barney, you didn’t tell us
how it comes, for all that.”
“It comes from the fairies. Doesn’t every one know
that the fairies themselves has the power of overlookin’
both cattle and Christians ? ”
“ That’s true enough,” she replied ; “ every one, in-
deed, knows that. Sure, my aunt had a child that died
o’ the fairies.”
“ Yes, but Masther Harry can see them.”
u What ! is it the fairies ? ”
“ Ay, the fairies, but only wid one eye, that piercin’
black one of his. No, no ; as I said before, he may
walk where he likes, both by night and by day ; he’s
safe from everything of the kind ; even a ghost daren’t
lay a finger on him ; and as the devil and the fairies
are connected, he’s safe from him , too, in this world at
laste ; but the Lord pity him when he goes to the next ;
for there he’ll suffer laity”
The truth is, that in those days of witchcraft and
apparitions of all kinds, and even in the present,
among the ignorant and uneducated of the lower classes,
any female seen at night in a lonely place, and sup-
posed to be a spirit, was termed a white woman, no
matter what the color of her dress may have been, pro-
vided it was not black. The same superstition held
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
183
good when anything in the shape of a man happened
to appear under similar circumstances. Terror, and
the force of an excited imagination, instantly trans-
formed it into a black man , and that black man, of
course, was the devil himself. In the case before us,
however, our readers, we have no doubt, can give a
better guess at the nature of the black man and white
woman in question than either the cook, the housemaid,
or even Barney himself.
It was late that night when Harry came in. The
servants, with whose terrors and superstitions Casey
had taken such liberties, now looked upon him as some-
thing awful, and, as might be naturally expected, felt
a dreadful curiosity with respect to him and his move-
ments. They lay awake on the night in question, with
the express purpose of satisfying themselves as to the
hour of his return, and as that was between twelve and
one, they laid it down as a certain fact that there was
something u not right,” and beycnd the common in hia
remaining out so late.
184
THE EVIL EYE; UK,
CHAPTER IX.
CHASE OF THE WHITE HARE.
“Hark, forward, forward ; holla ho ! ”
The next morning our friend Harry appeared at tht
breakfast table rather paler than usual, and in one of
his most abstracted moods ; for it may be said here
that the frequent occurrence of such moods had not
escaped the observation of his family, especially of his
step-father, in whose good grace, it so happened, that
he was not improving. One cause of this was his
supercilious, or, rather, his contemptuous manner
towards his admirable and affectionate brother. He
refused to associate with him in his sports or diver-
sions ; refused him his confidence, and seldom ad-
dressed him, except in that tone of banter which
always implies an offensive impression of inferiority
and want of respect towards the object of it. After
breakfast the next morning his father said to Charles,
when the other members of the family had all left the
room, —
u Charley, there is something behind that gloom of
Harry’s which I don’t like. Indeed, altogether he has
not improved upon me since his return, and you are
aware that I knew nothing of him before. I cannot
conceive his object in returning home just now, and, it
seems, with no intention of going back. His uncle
was the kindest of men to him, and intended to pro-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
185
vide for him handsomely. It is not for nothing he
would leave such an uncle, and it is not for nothing
that such ar uncle would part with him, unless there
was a screw loose somewhere. I don’t wish to press
him into an explanation ; but he has not offered any,
and refuses, of course, to place any confidence in me.”
“My dear father,” replied his generous brother, “I
fear you judge him too harshly. As for these fits of
gloom, they may be constitutional ; you know my
mother has them, and won’t speak to one of us some-
times for whole days together. It is possible that
some quarrel or misunderstanding may have taken
place between him and his uncle ; but how do you
know that his silence on the subject does not proceed
from delicacy towards that relative ? ”
“ Well, it may be so ; and it is a very kind and
generous interpretation which you give of it, Charley.
Let that part of the subject pass, then ; but, again,
regarding this marriage. The principle upon which
he and his mother are proceeding is selfish, heartless,
and perfidious in the highest degree ; and d me if
1 think it would be honorable in me to stand by and
see such a villanous game played against so excellent
a family — against so lovely and so admirable a girl as
Alice Goodwin. It is a union between the kite and
the dove, Charley, and it would be base and cowardly
in me to see such a union accomplished.”
“ Father,” said Charles, “ in this matter will you be
guided by me ? If Alice herself is a consenting party
to the match, you have, in my opinion, no right to
interfere, at least with her affections. If she marries
him without stress or compulsion, she does it deliber-
186
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
ately, and she shapes her own course and her own
fate. In the meantime I advise you to hold back for
the present, and wait until her own sentiments are
distinctly understood. That can be effected by a pri-
vate interview with yourself, which you can easily
obtain. Let us not be severe on Harry. I rather
think he is pressed forward in the matter by my
mother, for the sake of the property. If his uncle
has discarded him, it is not, surely, unreasonable that
a young man like him, without a profession or any
fixed purpose in life, should wish to secure a wife —
and such a wife — who will bring back to him the very
property which was originally destined for himself in
the first instance. Wait, then, at all events, until
Alice’s conduct in the matter is known. If there be
unjustifiable force and pressure upon her, act ; if not,
I think, sir, that, with every respect, your interference
would be an unjustifiable intrusion.”
“Very well, Charley; I believe you are right; I
will be guided by you for the present ; I won’t inter-
fere ; but in the meantime I shall have an eye to their
proceedings. I don’t think the Goodwins at all mer-
cenary or selfish, but it is quite possible that they may
look upon Harry as the heir of his uncle’s wealth;
and, after all, Charley, nature is nature ; that may in-
fluence them even unconsciously, and yet I am not in
a condition to undeceive them.”
“Father,” said Charles, “all I would suggest is, as
I said before, a little patience for the present ; wait a
while until we learn how Alice herself will act. I am
sorry to say that I perceived what I believe to be an
equivocation on the part of my mother in her allusion
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
187
to Alice. I think it will be found by and by that her
personal consent has not been given ; and, what is
more, that she was not present at all during their con-
versation on the subject. If she was, however, and
became a consenting party to the proposal, then I say
now, as I said before, you have no right to interfere in
the business.”
u What keeps him out so late at night ? I mean
occasionally. He is out two or three nights every week
until twelve or one o’clock. Now, you know, in the
present state of the country, that is not safe. Shawn -
na-Middogue and such scoundrels are abroad, and they
might put a bullet through him some night or other.”
u He is not at ail afraid on that score,” replied
Charles ; u he never goes out in the evening without a
case of pistols freshly loaded.”
u Well, but it is wrong to subject himself to danger.
Where is he gone now ? ”
u He and Barney Casey have gone out to course ; I
think they went up towards the mountains.”
Such was the fact. Harry was quite enamoured of
sport, and, finding dogs, guns, and fishing rods ready to
his hand, he became a regular sportsman — a pursuit in
which he found Barney a very able and intelligent
assistant, inasmuch as he knew the country, and every
spot where game of every description was to be had.
They had traversed a considerable portion of rough
mountain land, and killed two or three hares, when the
heat of the day became so excessive that they consid-
ered it time to rest and take refreshments.
u The sun, Masther Harry, is d hot,” said Bar-
ney $ u and now that ould Bet Harramount hasn’t been
188
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
in it for many a long year, we may as well go to that
dissolate cabin there above, and shelter ourselves from
the hate — not that I’d undhertake to go there by my-
self ; but now that you are wid me I don’t care if 1
take a peep into the inside of it, out of curiosity.”
“Why,” said Woodward, “what about that cabin
“I’ll tell you that, sir, when we get into it. It’s con*
sarnin’ coorsin’, too ; but nobody ever lived in it since
she left it.”
“Since who left it ? ”
“Never mind, sir; I’ll tell you all about it by andby.”
It was certainly a most desolate and miserable hut,
and had such an air of loneliness and desertion about it
as was calculated to awaken reflections every whit as
deep and melancholy as the contemplation of a very
palace in ruins, especially to those who, like Barney,
knew the history of its last inhabitant. It was far up
in the mountains, and not within miles of another hu-
man habitation. Its loneliness and desolation alone
would not have made it so peculiarly striking and im-
pressive had it been inhabited ; but its want of smoke
— its still and lifeless appearance — the silence and the
solitude around it — the absence of all symptoms of hu-
man life — its significant aspect of destitution and pov-
erty, even at the best — all contributed to awaken in
the mind that dreamy reflection that would induce the
spectator to think that, apart from the strife and bustle
of life, it might have existed there for a thousand years.
Humble and contemptible in appearance as it was, yet
there, as it stood — smokeless, alone, and desolate, as
we have said, with no exponent of existence about it
— no bird singing, no animal moving, as a token of
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
189
contiguous life, no tree waving in the breeze, no shrub,
even, stirring, but all still as the grave — there, we
say, as it stood, afar and apart from the general uproar
of the world, and apparently gray with long antiquity,
it was a solemn and a melancholy homily upon hu-
man life in all its aspects, from the cabin to the palace,
and from the palace to the grave. Now, its position
and appearance might suggest to a thinking and roman-
tic mind all the reflections to which we have alluded,
without any additional accessories ; but when the read-
er is informed that it was supposed to be the abode of
crime, the rendezvous of evil spirits, the theatre of un-
holy incantations, and the temporary abode of the Great
Tempter — and when all these facts are taken in con-
nection with its desolate character, he will surely admit
that it was calculated to impress the mind of all those
who knew the history of its antecedents with awe and
dread.
“I have never been in it,” said Barney, “and I
don’t think there’s a man or woman in the three next
parishes that would enter it alone, even by daylight ;
but now that you are wid me, I have a terrible curios-
ity to see it inside.”
A curse was thought to hang over it, but that curse,
as it happened, was its preservation in the undilapidated
state in which it stood.
On entering it, which Barney did not do without
previously crossing himself, they were surprised to find
it precisely in the same situation in which it had been
abandoned. There were one small pot, two stools, an
earthen pitcher, a few wooden trenchers lying upon a
shelf, an old dusty salt-bag, an ash stick, broken in the
190
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
middle, and doubled down so as to form a tongs ; and
gathered up in a corner was a truss of straw, covered
with a rug and a thin old blanket, which had constitut-
ed a wretched substitute for a bed. That, however,
which alarmed Barney most, was an old broomstick
with a stump of worn broom attached to the end of it,
as it stood in an opposite corner. This constituted the
whole furniture of the hut.
“ Now, Barney,” said Harry, after they had exam-
ined it, “ out with the brandy and water and the slices
of ham, till we refresh ourselves in the first place, and
after that I will hear your history of this magnificent
mansion.”
“ O, it isn’t the mansion, sir,” he replied, “but the
woman that lived in it that I have to spake about.
God guard us ! There in that corner is the very
broomstick she used to ride through the air upon ! ”
“ Never mind that now, but ransack that immense
shooting-pocket and produce its contents.”
They accordingly sat down, each upon one of the
stools, and helped themselves to bread and ham,
together with some tolerably copious draughts of bran-
dy and water which they had mixed before leaving
home. Woodward, perceiving Barney’s anxiety to
deliver himself of his narrative, made him take an
additional draught by way of encouragement to pro-
ceed, which, having very willingly finished the bum-
per offered him, he did as follows :
“ Well, Masther Harry, in the first place, do you
believe in the Bible ? ”
“ In the Bible ! — ahem — why — yes — certainly,
Barney ; do you suppose I’m not a Christian ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
191
“ God forbid/7 replied Barney ; “ well, the Bible
itself isn’t thruer than what Fm goin7 to tell you — sure
all the world for ten miles round knows it.77
“ Well, but, Barney, I would rather you would let
me know it in the first place.77
“So I will, sir. Well, then, there was a witch-
woman, by name one Bet Harramount, and on the
surface of God7s earth, blessed be his name ! there
was nothin7 undher a bonnet and petticoats so ugly.
She was pitted wid the small-pox to that degree that
you might hide half a peck of marrowfat paise (peas)
in her face widout their being noticed ; then the sames
(seams) that ran across it were five-foot raspers, every
one of them. She had one of the purtiest gooseberry
eyes in Europe ; and only for the squint in the other,
it would have been the ornament of her comely face
entirely ; but as it was, no human bein7 was ever able
to decide between them. She had two buck teeth in
the front of her mouth that nobody could help ad-
mirin7 ; and, indeed, altogether I don7t wondher that
the devil fell in consate wid her, for, by all accounts,
they say he carries a sweet tooth himself for comely
ould women like Bet Harramount. Give the tasty
ould chap a wrinkle any day before a dimple, when he
promotes them to be witches, as he did her. Sure
he was seen kissin7 a ghost the other night near Cru-
kanesker well, where the Davorens get their wather
from. 0, thin, bedad, but Grace Davoren is a beauty
all out ; and maybe 7tis herself doesn’t know it.77
“ Go on with your story,77 said Woodward, rather
dryly ; “proceed.77
“ Well, sir, there is Bet Harramount’s face for you,
192
THE EVIL eye; OR,
and the rest of her figure wasn’t sich as to disgrace it.
She was half bent wid age, wore an ould black bonnet,
an ould red cloak, and walked wid a staff that was
bent at the top, as it seems every witch must do.
Where she came from nobody could ever tell, for she
was a black stranger in this part of the country. At
all events, she lived in the town below, but how she
lived nobody cculd tell either. Everything about her
was a riddle ; no wondher, eonsidherin’ she hardly was
ever known to spake to any one, from the lark to the
lamb. At lenth she began to be suspected by many
sensible people to be something not right ; which you
know, sir, was only natural. Peter O’Figgins, that
was cracked, — but then it was only wid dhrink and
lamin’ — said it ; and Katty McTrollop, Lord Bilberry’s
henwife, was of the same opinion, and from them and
others the thing grew and spread until it became right
well known that she was nothin’ else than a witch, and
that the big wart on her neck was nothin’ more nor less
than the mark the devil had set upon her, to suckle
his babies by. From this out, them that had Christian
hearts and loved their religion trated the thief as she
desarved to be trated. She was hissed and hooted,
thank God, wherever she showed her face ; but still
nobody had courage to lay a hand upon her by rason
of her blasphaimin’ and cursin’, which, they say, used
to make the hair stand like wattles upon the heads of
them that heard her.”
u Had she not a black cat?” asked Woodward;
u surely, she ought to have had a familiar.”
u No,” replied Barney ; u the cat she had was a white
cat, and the manin ’ of its color will appear to you by
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
193
and by ; at any rate, out came the truth. You have
heard of the Black Spectre — the Shan-dhinne-dhuv f ”
“ I have,” replied the other ; “ proceed.”
“ Well, sir, as I said, the truth came out at last; in
the coorse of a short time she was watched at night,
and seen goin ’ to the haunted house, where the Spectre
lives.”
“ Did she walk there, or fly upon her broomstick ? ”
asked Woodward, gravely.
“I believe she walked, sir,” replied Barney; “but
afther that every eye was upon her, and many a time she
was seen goin’ to the haunted house when she thought no
eye was upon her. Afther this, of coorse, she dis-
appeared, for, to tell you the truth, the town became too
hot for her ; and, indeed, this is not surprisin’. Two or
three of the neighborin’ women miscarried, and several
people lost their cattle after she came to the town ; and
to make a long story short, just as it was made up to
throw her into the parson’s pond, she disappeared, as I
said, exactly as if she had known their intention : and
becoorse she did.”
“ And did they ever find out where she went to ? ”
“ Have patience, sir, for patience, they say, is a vir-
tue. About a month afterwards some of the towns-
people came up to the mountains here, to hunt hares,
just as we did. Several of them before this had seen a
white hare near the very spot we’re sittin’ in, but
sorra dog of any description, either hound, greyhound,
or lurcher could blow wind in her tail ; even a pair
of the Irish blood-hounds were brought, and when they
came on her, she flew from them like the wind, and
laughed at them, becoorse. Well, sir, the whole coun-
9
194
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
try was in a terrible state of alarm about the white
hare, for every one knew, of coorse, that she was a
witch ; and as the cows began, here and there, to fail
in their milk, why, it was a clear case that she sucked
them in ordher to supply some imp of the devil that
sucked herself. At that time there was a priest in this
parish, a very pious man, by name Father McFeen ;
and as he liked, now and then, to have a dish of hare
soup, he kept a famous greyhound, called Koolawn,
that was never said to miss a hare by any chance. As
I said, some of the townspeople came up here to have
a hunt, and as they wished, above all things, to bring
the priest’s greyhound and the white hare together,
they asked the loan of him from his reverence, telling
him, at the same time, what they wanted him for.
Father McFeen was very proud of his dog, and good
right he had, and tould them they should have him
with pleasure.
u c But, as he’s goin’ to try his speed against a witch/
said he, c I’ll venture to say that you’ll have as pretty a
run as ever was seen on the hills.’
u Well, sir, at all events, off they set to the moun-
tains ; and sure enough, they weren’t long there when
they had the best of sport, but no white hare came in their
way. Koolawn, however, was kept in the slip the
whole day, in the hope of their startin’ her, for they
didn’t wish to have him tired if they should come across
her. At last, it was gettin’ late, and when they were
just on the point of givin’ her up, and goin’ home,
begad she started, and before you’d say Jack Robison,
Koolawn and she were at it. Sich a chase, they say,
was never seen. They flew at sich a rate that th#
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
195
people could hardly keep their eyes upon them. The
hare went like the wind ; but, begad, it was not every
evening she had sich a dog as famous Koolawn at her
scut. He turned her, and turned her, and every one
thought he had her above a dozen of times, but still
she turned, and was off from him again. At this rate
they went on for long enough, until both began to fail,
and to appear nearly run down. At length the gallant
Koolawn had her ; she gave a squeal that was heard,
they say, for miles. He had her, I say, hard and fast
by the hip, but it was only for a moment ; how she
escaped from him nobody knows ; but it was thought
that he wasn’t able, from want of breath, to keep his
boult. To make a long story short, she got off from
him, turned up towards the cabin we’re sittin’ in,
Koolawn, game as ever, still close to her ; at last she
^ot in, and as the dog was about to spring in afther her,
he found the door shut in his face. There now was
the proof of it ; but wait till you hear what’s cornin’.
The men all ran up here and opened the door, for there
was only a latch upon it, and if the hare was in exist-
ence, surely they’d find her now. Well, they closed
the door at wanst for fraid she’d escape them ; but
ifther sarchin’ to no purpose, what do you think they
found ? No hare, at any rate, but ould Bet Harra-
mount pantin’ in the straw there, and covered wid a
rug, for she had’nt time to get on the blanket — just as
f the life was lavin’ her. The sweat, savin’ your pres-
ence, was pourin’ from her; and upon examinin’ her more
elosely, which they did, they found the marks of the
iog’s teeth in one of her ould hips, which was freshly
deedin’. They were now satisfied, I think, and *
196
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
u But why did they not seize and carry her before a
magistrate ? ”
u Aisy, Masther Harry ; the white cat, all this time,
was sittin’ at the fireside there, lookin’ on very quietly,
when the thought struck the men that they’d set the
dogs upon it, and so they did, or rather, so they tried
to do, but the minute the cat was pointed out to them,
they dropped their ears and tails, and made out o’ the
house, and all the art o’ man couldn’t get them to come
in again. When the men looked at it agin it was four
times the size it had been at the beginning and, what
was still more frightful, it was gettin’ bigger and big-
ger, and fiercer and fiercer lookin’, every minute. Be-
gad, the men seein’ this took to their heels for the pres-
ent, wid an intention of cornin’ the next mornin’, wid
the priest and the magisthrate, and a strong force to
seize upon her, and have her tried and convicted, in
ordher that she might be burned.”
u And did they come ? ”
u They did ; but of all the storms that ever fell from
the heavens, none o’ them could aquil the one that
come on that night. Thundher, and wind, and lightnin’,
and hail, and rain, were all at work together, and every
one knew at wanst that the devil was riz for somethin’.
Well, I’m near the end of it. The next mornin’ the priest
and the magisthrate, and a large body of people from all
quarthers, came to make a prisoner of her ; but, indeed,
wherever she might be herself, they didn’t expect to
find this light, flimsy hut standin’, nor stick nor stone
of it together afther such a storm. What was their sur-
prise, then, to see wid their own eyes that not a straw
on the roof of it was disturbed any more than if it had
been the calmest night that ever came on the earth ! ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
197
“But about the witch herself ?”
“ She was gone ; neither hilt nor hair of her was
there ; nor from that day to this was she ever seen by
mortal. It’s not hard to guess, however, what became
of her. Every one knows that the devil carried her
and her imp off in the tempest, either to some safer
place, or else to give her a warm corner below stairs.”
“Why, Barney, it must be an awful little house,
this.”
“ You may say that, sir ; there’s not a man, woman,
or child in the barony would come into it by them-
selves. Every one keeps from it ; the very rapparees,
and robbers of every description, would take the shel-
ther of a cleft or cave rather than come into it. Here
it is, then, as you see, just as she and the devil and his
imp left it ; no one has laid a hand on it since, nor ever
will.”
“ But why was it not pulled down and levelled at
the time ? ”
“ Why, Masther Harry ? Dear me, I wondher you
ask that. Do you think the people would be mad
enough to bring down her vengeance upon themselves
or their property, or maybe upon both ? and for that
matther she may be alive yet.”
“Well, then, if she is,” replied Woodward, “here
goes to set her at defiance ; ” and as he spoke he tossed
bed, straw, rug, blanket, and every miserable article of
furniture that the house contained, out at the door.
Barney’s hair stood erect upon his head, and he
looked aghast.
“ Well, Masther Harry,” said he, “ I’m but a poor
man, and I wouldn’t take the wealth of the parish and
198
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
do that. Come away, sir ; let us lave it ; as I tould
you, they say there’s a curse upon it, and upon every
one that makes or meddles wid it. Some people say
it’s to stand there till the day of judgment.”
Having now refreshed themselves, they left Bet
Harramount’s cabin, with all its awful associations,
behind them, and resumed their sport, which they con-
tinued until evening, when, having killed as many
hares as they could readily carry, they took a short
cut home through the lower fields. By this way they
came upon a long, green hill, covered in some places
with short furze, and commanding a full view of the
haunted house, which lay some four or five hundred
yards below them, with its back door lying, as usual,
open.
“Let us beat these furze,” said Woodward, “and
have one run more, if we can, before getting home -; it
is just the place for a hare.”
“ With all my heart,” replied Barney ; “ another
will complete the half dozen.”
They accordingly commenced searching the cover,
which they did to no purpose, and were upon the
point of giving up all hope of success, when, from
the centre of a low, broad clump of furze, out starts a
hare, as white almost as snow. Barney for a moment
was struck dumb ; but at length exerting his voice, for
he was some distance from Woodward, he shouted
out, —
“ O, for goodness’ sake, hould in the dogs, Masther
Harry ! ”
It was too late, however ; the gallant animals, though
fatigued by their previous exertions, immediately gava
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
199
noble chase, and by far the most beautiful and inter-
esting course they had had that day took place upon
the broad, clear plain that stretched before them. It
was, indeed, to the eye of a sportsman, one of intense
and surpassing interest — an interest which, even to
Woodward, who only laughed at Barney’s story of
the witch, was, nevertheless, deepened tenfold by the
coincidence between the two circumstances. The swift
and mettlesome dogs pushed her hard, and succeeded
in turning her several times, when it was observed
that she made a point to manage her running so as to
approximate to the haunted house — a fact which was
not unobserved by Barney, who now, having joined
Woodward, exclaimed, —
“Mark it, Masther Harry, mark my words, she’s
alive still, and will be wid the Shan-dhinne-dhuv in
spite o’ them ! Bravo, Sambo ! Well done, Snail ;
ay, Snail, indeed — hillo ! by the sweets o’ rosin they
have her — no, no — but it was a beautiful turn,
though; and poor Snail, so tired afther his day’s
work. Now, Masther Harry, thunder and turf! how
beautiful Sambo takes her up. Bravo, Sambo ! stretch
out, my darlin’ that you are ! — O, blood, Masther
Harry, isn’t that beautiful? See how they go neck
and neck wid their two noses not six inches from her
scut ; and dang my buttons but, witch or no witch,
she’s a thorough bit o’ game, too. Come, Bet, don’t
be asleep, my ould lady ; move along, my darlin’—
do you feel the breath of your sweetheart at your bot-
tom ? Take to your broomstick ; you want it.”
As he uttered these words the hare turned, — indeed
it was time for her, — and both dogs shot forward, by
200
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
the impetus of their flight, so far beyond the point of
her turn, that she started off towards the haunted
house. She had little time to spare, however, for
they were once more gaining on her; but still she
approached the house, the dogs nearing her fast. She
approached the house, we say ; she entered the open
door, the dogs within a few yards of her, when, almost
in an instant, they came to a standstill, looked into it,
but did not enter ; and when whistled back to where
Woodward and Barney stood, they looked in Barney’s
eye, not only panting and exhausted, as indeed they
were, but terrified also.
“ Well, Masther Harry,” said he, assuming the air
of a man who spoke with authority, “what do you
think of that f ”
“ I think you are right,” replied Woodward; assum-
ing on his part, for reasons which will be subsequently
understood, an impression of sudden conviction. “I
think you are right, Barney, and that the Black Spec-
tre and the witch are acquaintances.”
“ Try her wid a silver bullet,” said Barney ; “ there
is nothing else for it. No dog can kill her — that’s a
clear case ; but souple as she is, a silver bullet is the
only messenger that can overtake her. Bad luck to
her, the thief ! sure, if she’d turn to God and repint, it
isn’t codgerin’ wid sich company she’d be, and often in
danger, besides, of havin’ a greyhound’s nose at her
flank. I hope you’re satisfied, Masther Harry ? ”
“ Perfectly, Barney ; there can be no doubt about it
now. As for my part, I know not what temptation
could induce me to inter that haunted house. I see
that I was on dangerous ground when I defied the
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
201
witch in the hut ; but I shall take care to be more
cautious in future.”
They then bent their steps homewards, each suffi-
ciently fatigued and exhausted after the sports of the
day to require both food and rest. Woodward went
early to bed, but Barney, who was better accustomed
to exercise, having dined heartily in the kitchen, could
not, for the soul of him, contain within his own bosom
the awful and supernatural adventure which had just
occurred. He assumed, as before, a very solemn and
oracular air ; spoke little, however, but that little was
deeply abstracted and mysterious. It was evident to
the whole kitchen that he was brimful of something,
and that that something was of more than ordinary
importance.
“ Well, Barney, had you and Masther Harry a pleas-
ant day’s sport ? I see you have brought home five
hares,” said the cook.
u Hum ! ” groaned Barney ; u but no matther ; it’s a
quare world, Mrs. Malony, and there’s strange things
in it. Heaven bless me ! Heaven bless me, and heaven
bless us all, if it comes to that ! Masther Harry said
he’d send me down a couple o’ glasses of 0, here
comes Biddy wid them ; that’s a girl, Bid — divil sich
a kitchen-maid in Europe ! ”
Biddy handed him a decanter with about half a pint
of stout whiskey in it, a portion of which passed into a
goblet, was diluted with water, and drunk off, after
which he smacked his lips, but with a melancholy air,
and then, looking solemnly and meditatively into the
fire, relapsed into silence.
u Did you meet any fairies on your way ? ” asked
9*
202
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Nanse, the housemaid. For about half a minute Barney
did not reply ; but at length, looking about him, he
started, —
“ Eh ? What’s that ? Who spoke to me ? ”
“Who spoke to you?” replied Nanse. “Why, I
think you’re beside yoursel — I did.”
“ What did you say, Nanse ? 1 am beside myself.”
There was now a sudden cessation in all the culi-
nary operations, a general pause, and a rapid congre-
gating around Barney, who still sat looking solemnly
into the fire.
“Why, Barney, there’s something strange over
you,” said the cook. “ Heaven help the poor boy ;
sure, it’s a shame to be tormentin’ him this way ; but
in the name of goodness, Barney, and as you have a
sowl to be saved, will you tell us all ? Stand back,
Nanse, and don’t be torturin’ the poor lad this way, as
I said.”
“ Biddy,” said Barney, his mind still wandering, and
his eyes still fixed on the fire — “ Biddy, darlin’, will
you hand me that decanther agin ; I find I’m not aquil
to it. Heaven presarve us ! Heaven presarve us ! —
that’s it ; now hand me the wather, like an angel out of
heaven as you are, Bid. Ah, glory be to goodness,
but that’s refreshin’, especially afther sich a day —
sich a day ! O saints above, look down upon us poor
sinners, one and all, men and women, wid pity and
compassion this night ! Here ; I’m very wake ; let
me get to bed; is there any pump wather in the
kitchen ? ”
To describe the pitch to which he had them wound
up would be utterly impossible. He sat in the cook’s
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
203
arm-chair, leaning a little back, his feet placed upon
the fender, and his eyes, as before, immovably, pain-
fully, and abstractedly fixed upon the embers. He
was now the centre of a circle, for they were all
crowded about him, wrapped up to the highest possible
pitch of curiosity.
“ We were talkin’ about Masther Harry,” said he,
“ the other night, and I think I tould you somethin’
about him ; it’s like a dhrame to me that I did.”
“ You did, indeed, Barney,” said the cook, coaxingly,
“ and I hope that what you tould us wasn’t true.”
“ Ay, but about to-day, Barney ; somethin’ has
happened to-day that’s troublin’ you.”
“Who is it said that?” said he, his eyes now
closed, as if he were wrapped up in some distressing
mystery. “ Was it you, Nanse ? It’s like your voice,
achora.”
Now, the reader must know that a deadly jealousy
lay between Nanse and the cook, quoad honest Barney,
who, being aware of the fact, kept the hopes and fears
of each in such an exact state of equilibrium, that
neither of them could, for the life of her, claim the
slightest advantage over the other. The droll varlet
had an appetite like a shark, and a strong relish for
drink besides, and what between precious tidbits from
the cook and borrowing small sums for liquor from
Nanse, he contrived to play them off one against the
jther with great tact.
“ I think,” said he, his eyes still closed, “ that that
is Nanse’s voice ; is it, acushla ? ”
“ It is, Barney, achora,” replied Nanse ; “ but there’s
something wrong wid you.”
204
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ I wish to goodness, Nanse, you’d let the boy alone,”
said the cook; “ when he chooses to spake, he’ll spake
to them that can undherstand him.”
“ O, jaminy stars ! that’s you, I suppose ; ha, ha, ha.”
“ Keep silence,” said Barney, “ and listen. Nanse,
you are right in one sinse, and the cook’s right in
another ; you’re both right, but at the present spakin’
you’re both wrong. Listen — you all know the Shan -
dhinne-dhuv f ”
“ Know him ! The Lord stand between us and him,”
replied Nanse ; “ I hope in God we’ll never either know
or see him.”
“ You know,” proceeded Barney, “ that he keeps the
haunted house, and appears in the neighborhood of
it?”
“ Yes, we know that, achora,” replied the cook,
sweetly.
“Well, you can’t forget Bet Harramount, the witch,
that lived for some time in Rathfillan? She that was
hunted in the shape of a white hare by pious Father
McFeen’s famous greyhound, Koolawn .”
“ Doesn’t all the world know it, Barney, avillish ? ”
said Nanse.
“ Divil the word she’ll let out o’ the poor boy’s
lips,” said the cook, with a fair portion of venom.
Nanse made no reply, but laughed with a certain de-
scription of confidence, as she glanced sneeringly at the
cook, who, to say the truth, turned her eyes with a
fiery and impulsive look towards the ladle.
“Well,” proceeded Barney, “you all know that the
divil took her and her imp, the white cat, away on the
night of the great storm that took place then ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
205
u We do ! Sure we have heard it a thousand times.”
u Very well — I want to show you that Bet Harra-
mount, the white witch, and the Black Specthre are
sweethearts, and are leadin’ a bad life together.”
u Heavenly Father ! Saints above ! Blessed Mother ! ”
were ejaculated by the whole kitchen. Barney, in fact,
was progressing with great effect.
u 0, yez needn’t be surprised,” he continued, u for
it was well known that they had many private meetin’s
while Bet was livin’ in Rathfillan. But it was thought
the divil had taken her away from the priest and mag-
istrate on the night o’ the storm, and so he did ; and
he best*knew why. Listen, I say— Masther Harry and
I went out this day to coorse hares ; we went far up
into the mountains, and never pulled bridle till we
came to the cabin where the witch lived, the same that
Koolawn chased her into in the shape of a white hare,
after taking a bite out of her, — out of the part next
her scut. Well, we sat down in the cursed cabin,
much against my wishes, but he would rest nowhere
else — mark that — so while we were helpin’ ourselves
to the ham and brandy, I up and tould him the history
of Bet Harramount from a to izzard . 6 Well,’ said he,
1 to show you how little I care about her, and that 1
set her at defiance, I’ll toss every atom of her beggarly
furniture out of the door ; ’ and so he did — but by
dad I thought he done it in a jokin’ way, as much as to
say, I can take a liberty where another can’t. I knew,
becoorse, he was wrong ; but that makes no maxim —
I’ll go on wid my story. On our way home we came to
the green fields that lie on this side of the haunted
house ; a portion of it, on a risin’ ground, is covered
206
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
with furze. Now listen — when we came to it he
stood ; 6 Barney,’ says he, c there’s a hare here ; give
me the dogs, Sambo and Snail ; they’ll have sich a
hunt as they never had yet, and never will have
agin.’
u He then closed his eyes, raised his left foot, and
dhrew it back three times in the divil’s name, pro-
nounced some words that I could’t understand, and
then said to me, ‘ Now, Barney, go down to that
withered furze, and as you go, always keep your left
foot foremost ; cough three times, then kick the furze
with your left foot, and maybe you’ll see an ould friend
o’ yours.’
u Well, I did so, and troth I thought there was some-
thin’ over me when I did it ; but— what ’ud you think ? —
out starts a white hare , and off went Sambo and Snail
afther her, full butt. I have seen many a hard run,
but the likes o’ that I never seen. If they turned her
wanst they turned her more than a dozen times ; but
where do you think she escaped to at last ? ”
u The Lord knows, Barney ; where ? ”
u As heaven’s above us, into the haunted house ; and
if the dogs were to get a thousand guineas apiece, one
of them couldn’t be forced into it afther her. They
ran with their noses on her very scut, widin five or six
yards of it, and when she went into it they stood sto^k
still, and neither man nor sword could get them to go
farther. But what do you think Masther Harry said
afther he had seen all this ? i Barney,’ said he, 1 I’m
detarmined to spend a night in the haunted house
before I’m much ouldher ; only keep that to yourself,
and don’t make a blowin’ horn of it through the parish.’
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
207
And what he said to me I say to you — never breathe
a syllable of it to man or mortal. It’ll be worse for
you if you do. And now, do you remember what Lanty
Malony saw the other night ? The black man kissin’
the white woman. Is it clear to yez now? The
Shan-dhinne-dhuv — the Black Spedhre — kissin’ Bet
Harramount, the white woman. There it is ; and now
you have it as clear as a, b, c.”
Barney then retired to his bed, leaving the denizens
of the kitchen in a state which the reader may very
well understand.
CHAPTER X.
TRUE LOVE DEFEATED.
Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, in the absence of their
daughter, held a very agreeable conversation on the
subject of Mrs. Lindsay’s visit. Neither Goodwin nor
his wife was in the slightest degree selfish, yet, somehow,
there crept into their hearts a certain portion of selfish-
ness, which could be traced only to the affection which
they felt for Alice. They calculated that Henry
Woodward, having been reared and educated by his
uncle, would be amply provided for by that wealthy
gentleman — who, besides, was childless. This consid-
eration became a strong element in their deliberations
and discussions upon the projected match, and they
accordingly resolved to win over Alice’s consent to it
as soon as possible. From the obedience of her disposi-
tion, and the natural pliancy of her character with the
opinions of others, they concluded the matter as
208
TIIE EVIL EYE; OR,
arranged and certain. They forgot, however, that
Alice, though a feeble thinker on matters of superstition
and others of a minor importance, could sometimes
exercise a will of her own, but very seldom, if ever,
when opposed to theirs. They knew her love and
affection for them, and that she was capable of making
any sacrifice that might contribute to their happiness.
They had, however, observed of late — indeed for a
considerable time past — that she appeared to be in low
spirits, and moved about as if there was a pressure
of some description on her mind ; and when they asked
her if she were at ease — which they often did — she
only replied by a smile, and asked them in return why
she should be otherwise. With this reply they were
satisfied, for they knew that upon the general occur-
rences of life she wras almost a mere child, and that,
although her health was good, her constitution was
naturally delicate, and liable to be affected by many
things indifferent in themselves, which girls of a stronger
mind and constitution would neither perceive nor feel.
The summing up of all was that they apprehended no
obstruction to the proposed union from any objection
on her part, as soon as she should be made acquainted
with their wishes.
In the course of that very evening they intro-
duced the subject to her, with that natural confid-
ence which resulted from their foregone conclusions
upon it.
u Alley,” said her mother, u I hope you’re in good
spirits this evening.”
u Indifferent enough, mamma; my spirits, you know,
are not naturally good.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
209
“ And why should they not ? ” said her mother ;
u what on earth have you to trouble you ? ”
“0, mamma/’ she exclaimed, “you don’t know how
often I miss my sister; — at night I think I see her,
and she looks pale and melancholy, and full of sorrow
—just as she did when she felt that her hope of life
was gone forever. O, how willingly — how joyfully —
would I return her fortune, and if I had ten times as
much of my own, along with it, if it could only bring
her back to me again ! ”
“ Well, you know, my darling, that can’t be done ;
but cheer up ; I have good news for you — news that I
am sure will delight you.”
“ But I don’t stand in need of any good news,
mamma.”
This simple reply proved an unexpected capsize to
her mother, who knew not how to proceed ; but, in the
moment of her embarrassment, looked to her husband
for assistance.
“ My dear Alice,” said her father, “ the fact is this
— you have achieved a conquest, and there has been a
proposal of marriage made for you.”
Alice instantly suspected the individual from whom
the proposal came, and turned pale as death.
“ That does not cheer my spirits then, papa.”
“ Tha* may be, my dear Alice,” replied her father ;
“but, in the opinion of your mother and me, it
ought.”
“ From what quarter has it come, papa, may I ask ?
I am living very lonely and retired here, you know.”
“ The proposal, then, my dear child, has come from
Henry Woodward, this day; and what will surprise
210
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
you more, through his mother, too — who has been of
late such an inveterate enemy to our family. So far
as I have seen of Henry himself, he is everything I
could wish for a son-in-law.”
u But you have seen very little of him, papa.”
u What I have seen of him has pleased me very
much, Alice.”
“ How strange,” said she, musingly, u that father
and daughter should draw such different conclusions
from the same premises. The very thought of that
young man sinks the heart within me. I beg, once for
all, that you will never mention his name to me on this
subject, and in this light, again. It is not that I
hate him — I trust I hate nobody — but I feel an antipathy
against him ; and what is more, I feel a kind of terror
when I even think of him ; and an oppression, for
which I cannot account, whilst I am in his society.”
u This is very strange, Alice,” replied her father ;
u and, I am afraid, rather foolish, too. There is nothing
in his face, person, manner, or conversation that, in my
opinion, is not calculated to attract any young woman
in his own rank of life — at least, I think so.”
u Well, but the poor child,” said her mother, u knows
nothing about love —how could she ? Sure, my dear
Alley, true love never begins until after marriage.
You don’t know what a dislike I had to your father,
there, whilst our friends on both sides were making
up the courtship. They literally dragged me into it.”
u Yes, Alley,” added her father, smiling, u and they
literally dragged me into it ; and yet, when we came
together, Alice, there never was a happier couple in
existence.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
211
Alice could not help smiling, but the smile soon
passed away. “That may be all very true,” she
replied, “ but in the meantime you must not press me
on this subject. Don’t entertain it for a moment. I
shall never marry this man. Put an end to it — see
his mother, and inform her, without loss of time, of the
unalterable determination I have made. Do not palter
with them, father — do not, mother; and above all
things, don’t attempt to sacrifice the happiness of your
only daughter. I could make any sacrifice for your
happiness but this ; and if, in obedience to your wishes,
I made it, I can tell you that I would soon be with my
sister . You both know that I am not strong, and that
I am incapable of severe struggles. Don’t, then, harass
me upon this matter.”
She here burst into tears, and for a few minutes
wept bitterly.
“ We must give it up,” said her father, looking at
Mrs. Goodwin.
“ No such thing,” replied his wife ; “ think of our
own case, and how happy we have been in spite of
ourselves.”
“Ay, but we were neither of us fools, Martha; at
least you were not, or you would never have suffered
yourself to be persuaded into matrimony, as you did at
last. There was, it is true, an affected frown upon
your brow ; but then, again, there was a very sly smile
under it. As for me, I would have escaped the match
if 1 could ; but no matter, it was all for the best,
although neither of us anticipated as much. Alice,
my child, think of what we have said to you ; reflect
upon it. Our object is to make you happy ; our expe-
212
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
rience of life is much greater than yours. Don’t reply
to us now ; we will give you a reasonable time to think
of it. Consider that you will add to your mother’s
happiness and mine by consenting to such an unobjec-
tionable match. This young man will, of course,
inherit his uncle’s property ; he will elevate you in
life ; he is handsome, accomplished, and evidently
knows the world, and you can look up to him as a hus-
band of whom you will have a just right to feel proud.
Allow the young man to visit you ; study him as closely
as you may ; but above all things do not cherish an
unfounded antipathy against him or any one.”
Several interviews took place afterwards between
Alice and Henry Woodward; and after each interview
her parents sought her opinion of him, and desired to
know whether she was beginning to think more favor-
ably of him than she had hitherto done. Still, how-
ever, came the same reply. Every interview only
increased her repugnance to the match, and her antip-
athy to the man. At length she consented to allow him
one last interview — the last, she asserted, which she
would ever afford him on the subject, and he accord-
ingly presented himself to know her final determina-
tion. Not that from what came out from their former
conversations he had any grounds, as a reasonable
man, to expect a change of opinion on her part ; but
as the property was his object, he resolved to leave
nothing undone to overcome her prejudice against him
if he could. They were, accordingly, left in the draw-
ing-room to discuss the matter as best they might, but
with a hope on the part of her parents that, knowing,
as she did, how earnestly their hearts were fixed upon
THE BLACK SPECTRE,
213
her marriage with him, she might, if only for their
sakes, renounce her foolish antipathy, and be prevailed
upon by his ardor and his eloquence to consent at last.
“Well, Miss Goodwin,” said he, when they were
left together, “ this I understand, and what is more, I
fear, is to be my day of doom. Heaven grant that it
may be a favorable one, for I am badly prepared to
see my hopes blasted, and my affection for you spurn-
ed ! My happiness, my dear Miss Goodwin — my
happiness for life depends upon the result of this inter-
view. I know — but I should not say so — for in this
instance I must be guided by hearsay — well, I know
from hearsay that your heart is kind and affectionate.
Now I believe this ; for who can look upon your face
and doubt it ? Believing this, then, how can you, when
you know that the happiness of a man who loves you
beyond the power of language to express, is at stake,
depends upon your will — how can you, I say, refuse
to make that individual — who appreciates all your vir-
tues, as I do — who feels the influence of your extraor-
dinary beauty, as I do — who contemplates your future
happiness as the great object of his life, as I do — how
can you, I say, refuse to make that man happy ? ”
“Mr. Woodward,” she said, “I will not reply to
your arguments ; I simply wish to ask you, Are you a
gentleman? — in other words, a man of integrity and
principle ? ”
“ Do you doubt me, Miss Goodwin ? ” he inquired,
as if he felt somewhat hurt.
“It is very difficult, Mr. Woodward,” she replied,
“ to know the heart ; I request, however, a direct and
a serious answer, for I can assure you that I am about
214
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
to place the deepest possible confidence in your faith
and honor.”
“ O,” he exclaimed, “ that is sufficient ; in such a
case I feel bound to respect your confidence as sacred ;
do not hesitate to confide in me. Let me perish a
thousand times sooner than abuse such a trust. Speak
out, Miss Goodwin.”
“ It is necessary that I should,” she replied, “ both
for your sake and my own. Know, then, that my heart
is not at my own disposal ; it is engaged to another.”
“ I can only listen, Miss Goodwin — I can only listen,
— but — but — excuse me, — proceed.”
“ My heart, as I said, is engaged to another — and
that other is your brother Charles.”
Woodward fixed his eyes upon her face — already
scarlet with blushes, and when she ventured to raise
hers upon him, she beheld a countenance sunk appar-
ently in the deepest sorrow.
“ Alas ! Miss Goodwin,” he replied, “you have filled
my heart with a double grief. I could resign you — of
course it would and must be with the most inexpressible
anguish, — but to resign you to such a . O ! ” he
proceeded, shaking his head sorrowfully, “you know
not in what a position of torture you place me. You
said you believed me to be a gentleman ; sc I trust —
I feel — I am, and what is more, a brother, and an
affectionate brother, if I — 0, my God, what am I to
do ? How, knowing what I know of that unfortunate
young man, could I ever have expected this ? In the
meantime I thank you for your confidence, Miss
Goodwin ; I hope it was God himself who inspired you
to place it in me, and that it may be the means of your
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
215
salvation from — but perhaps I am saying too much ;
he is my brother ; excuse me, I am not just now cool
and calm enough to say what I would wish, and what
you, poor child, neither know nor suspect, and perhaps
1 shall never mention it ; but you must give me time.
Of course, under the circumstances you have mentioned,
I resign all hopes of my own happiness with you ; but,
so help me Heaven, if I shall resign all hopes of yours .
I cannot now speak at further length ; I am too much
surprised, too much agitated, too much shocked at what
I have heard ; but I shall see you, if you will allow me,
to-morrow; and as I cannot become your husband,
perhaps I may become your guardian angel. Allow
me to see you to-morrow. You have taken me so
completely by surprise that I am quite incapable of
speaking on this subject, as perhaps — but I know not
yet — I must become more cool, and reflect deeply upon
what my conduct ought to be. Alas ! my dear Miss
Goodwin, little you suspect how completely your
happiness and misery are in my power. Will you
permit me to see you to-morrow ? ”
u Certainly, sir,” replied Alice, u since it seems that
you have something of more than ordinary importance
to communicate to me — something which, I suppose, I
ought to know. I shall see you.”
He then took his leave with an air of deep melan-
choly and sorrow, and left poor Alice in a state of
anxiety very difficult to be described. Her mind became
filled with a sudden and unusual alarm ; she trembled
like an aspen leaf ; and when her mother came to ask
her the result of the interview, she found her pale as
death and in tears.
216
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ Why, Alley, my child,” said she, “ what is th«
matter ? Why do you look so much alarmed, and why
are you in tears ? Has the man been rude or offensive
to you ? ”
“No, mamma, he has not; but — but — I am to see
him again to-morrow, and until then, mamma, do not
ask me anything upon the subject of our interview
to-day.”
Her mother felt rather gratified at this. There was,
then, to be another interview, and that was a proof that
Woodward had not been finally discarded. So far, matters
did not seem so disheartening as she had anticipated.
She looked upon Alice’s agitation, and the tears she
had been shedding, as the result of the constraint which
she had put upon her inclination in giving him, she
hoped, a favorable reception ; and with this impression
she went to communicate what she conceived to be the
good intelligence to her husband.
Alice, until the next interview took place, passed a
wretched time of it. As the reader knows, she was
constitutionally timid and easily alarmed, and she con-
sequently anticipated something very distressing in the
disclosures which Woodward was about to make. That
there was something uncommon and painful in con-
nection with Charles Lindsay to be mentioned, was quite
evident from Woodward’s language and his unaccount-
able agitation. He was evidently in earnest; and, from
the suddenness with which the confession of her attach-
ment to his brother came upon him, it was impossible,
she concluded, that he could have had time to concoct
the hints which he threw out. Could she have been
mistaken in Charles? And yet, why not? Had he not,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
217
as it were, abandoned her ever since the occurrence of
the family feud ? and why should he have done so unless
there had been some reason for it? It was quite clear,
she thought, that, whatever revelation Woodward was
about to make concerning him, it was one which would
occasion himself great pain as his brother, and that
nothing but the necessity of saving her from unhappiness
could force him to speak out. In fact, her mind was in
a tumult; she felt quite nervous— tremulous — afraid
of some disclosure that might destroy her hopes and her
happiness, and make her wretched for life.
On the next day Woodward made his appearance,
and found Alice by herself in the drawing-room, as
when he left her the day before. His countenance
seemed the very exponent of suffering and misery.
u Miss Goodwin,” said he, u I have passed a period
of the deepest anxiety since I saw you last. You may,
indeed, read what I have suffered, and am suffering, in
my face, for unfortunately it is a tell-tale upon my heart;
but I cannot help that, nor should I wish it to be other-
wise. Believe me, however, that it is not for myself I
suffer, but for you, and the prospects of your future
happiness. You must look upon my conduct now as
perfectly disinterested, for I have no hope. What, then,
should that conduct be in me as a generous man, which
I trust I am, but to promote your happiness as far as I
can ? and on that I am determined. You say you love
my brother; are you certain that your affection is re-
ciprocated? ”
u I believe your brother certainly did love me,” she
replied, with a tremor in her voice which she could not
prevent.
218
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
“Just so, my dear Miss Goodwin; that is well ex-
pressed— did love you; perhaps it may have been so;
possessing anything like a heart, I don’t see how it
could have been otherwise. ”
“ I will thank you, Mr. Woodward, to state what you
have to say with as little circumlocution and ambiguity
as possible. Take me out of suspense, and let me know
the worst. Do not, I entreat you, keep me in a state
of uncertainty. Although I have acknowledged my
love for your brother, in order to relieve myself from
your addresses, which I could not encourage, still I am
not without the pride of a woman who respects herself.”
“ I am aware of that ; but before I proceed, allow me
to ask, in order that I may see my way the clearer, to
what length did the expression of my brother’s affection
go?”
“It went so far,” she replied, blushing, “as an
avowal of mutual attachment ; indeed, it might be
called an engagement ; but ever since the death of his
cousin, and the estrangement of our families, he seems
to have forgotten me. It is very strange ; when I was
a portionless girl he was ardent and tender, but, ever
since this unfortunate property came into my hands, he
seems to have joined in the hard and unjust feeling of
his family against me. I have certainly met him since
at parties, and on other occasions, but we met almost
as strangers ; he was not the Charles Lindsay whom I
had known when I was comparatively a poor girl ; he
appeared to shrink from me. In the meantime, as I
have already confessed to you, he has my heart ; and,
so long as he has, I cannot encourage the addresses of
any other man.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
219
Woodward paused, and looked upon her with well-
feigned admiration and sorrow.
“ The man is blind,” he at length said, u not only
to the fascinations of your person and character, but
to his own interests. What is he in point of property ?
Nothing. He has no rich uncle at his back to estab-
lish him in life upon a scale, almost, of magnificence.
Why, it is since you came into this property that he
ought to have urged his suit with greater earnestness.
I am speaking now like a man of the world, Miss Good-
win ; and I am certain that he would have done so but
for one fact, of which I am aware : he has got into a
low intrigue with a peasant’s daughter, who possesses an
influence over him such as I have never witnessed. She
certainly is very beautiful, it is said ; but of that I cannot
speak, as I have not yet seen her ; but I am afraid,
Miss Goodwin, from all I hear, that a very little time will
disclose her calamity and his guilt. You will now under-
stand what I felt yesterday when you made me acquaint-
ed with your pure and virtuous attachment to such a man ;
what shall I say,” he added, rising, and walking indig-
nantly through the room, u to such a profligate ? ”
“Mr. Woodward,” replied Alice, “I can scarcely
believe that ; you must have been imposed on by some
enemy of his. Depend upon it you are. I think I
know Charles well — too well to deem him capable of
such profligacy ; I will not believe it.”
“I don’t wish you, my dear Miss Goodwin, to be-
lieve it ; I only wish you to suspend your opinion until
time shall convince you. I considered it my duty to
mention the fact, and after that to leave you to the
exercise of your own judgment.”
220
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“I will not believe it,” replied Alice, 6i because I
place his estrangement to a higher and nobler motive,
and one more in accordance with his honorable and
generous character. I do believe, Mr. Woodward, that
his apparent coldness to me, of late, proceeds from
delicacy, and a disinterestedness that is honorable to
him ; at least I will interpret his conduct in this light
until I am perfectly convinced that he is the profligate
you describe him. I do not impute, in the disclosure
you have made, ungenerous motives to you ; because,
if you attempted to displace my affections from your
brother by groundless slander or deliberate falsehood,
you would be a monster, and as such I would look up-
on you, and will, if it appears that you are maligning
him for selfish purposes of your own. I will now tell
you to what I impute his apparent estrangement; I
impute it to honor, sir — to an honorable pride. He
knows now that I am rich ; at least comparatively so,
and that he is comparatively poor ; he hesitates to re-
new our relations with each other lest I might suspect
him of mingling a selfish principle with his affection.
That is the conduct of a man of honor ; and until the
facts you hint at come out broadly, and to public proof,
as such I shall continue to consider him. But, Mr.
Woodward, I shall not rest here; I shall see him, and
give him that to which his previous affection and
honorable conduct have entitled him at my hands —
that is, an opportunity of making an explanation to
myself. But, at all events, I assure you of this fact,
that, if I do not marry him, I shall never marry an-
other.”
u Great God ! ” exclaimed Woodward, u what a
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
221
jewel he has lost. Well, Miss Goodwin, I have nothing
further to say ; if I am wrong, time will convict me.
I have mentioned these matters to you, not on my own
account but yours. I have no hope of your affection ;
and if there were any living man, except myself, to
whom I should wish to see you united, it would be my
brother Charles — that is, if I thought he was woithy
of you. All I ask of you, however, is to wait a little ;
remain calm and quiet, and time will tell you which of
us feels the deepest interest in your happiness. In the
meantime, aware of your attachment to him, as I am,
I beg you will no longer consider me in any other light
than that of a sincere friend. To seduce innocence,
indeed — but I will not dwell upon it ; the love of
woman, they say, is generous and forgiving; I hope
yours will be so. But, Miss Goodwin, as I can ap-
proach you no longer in the character of a lover, I trust I
may be permitted the privilege of visiting the family
as a friend and acquaintance. Now that your decision
against me is known, it will be contrary to the wishes
of our folks at home ; especially of my mother, whose
temper, as I suppose you are aware, is none of the
coolest ; you will allow me, then, to visit you, but no
longer as claimant for your hand.”
“ I shall always be happy to see you, Mr. Woodward,
but upon that condition.”
After he had taken his leave, her parents, anxious
to hear the result, came up to the drawing-room, where
they found her in a kind of a reverie, from which their
appearance startled her.
“Well, Alley,” said her mother, smiling, “is every-
thing concluded between you ? %
222
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ Yes, mamma,” replied Alice, u everything is con
eluded, and finally, too.”
u Did he name the day ? ” said her father, smiling
gravely.
Alice stared at him; then recollecting herself, she
replied, —
u I thought I told you both that this was a man I
could never think of marrying. I don’t understand
him ; he is either very candid or very hypocritical ;
and I feel it painful, and, besides, unnecessary in me
to take the trouble of balancing the character of a
person who loses ground in my opinion on every oc-
casion I see him. Of course, I have discarded him,
and I know very well that his mother will cast fire and
sword between us, as she did before ; but to do Mr.
Woodward justice, he proposes to stand aloof from hei
resentments, and wishes to visit us as usual.”
“ Then it’s all over between you and him ? ” said
her mother.
u It is ; and I never gave you reason to anticipate
any other result, mamma.”
“ No, indeed,” said her father, “you never did,
Alice ; but still I think it is generous in him to sepa-
rate himself from the resentments of that woman, and
as a friend we will be always glad to see him.”
u I know not how it is,” replied Alice ; “ but I felt
that the expression of his eye, during our last inter-
view, oppressed me excessively ; it was never off me.
There was a killing — a malignant influence in it, that
thrilled through me with pain ; but, perhaps, I can
account for that. As it is, he has asked leave to visit
us as usual, and to stand, with respect to me. in th«
THE 13 LACK SPECTRE.
223
light of a friend only. So far as I am concerned,
papa, I could not refuse him a common privilege of
civility ; but, to tell you both the truth, I shall always
meet him not only with reluctance, but with something
almost amounting to fear.”
Woodward, now that he had learned his fate, and
was aware that his brother stood between him and his
expectations, experienced a feeling of vengeance
against him and Alice, which he neither could, nor
attempted to, restrain. The rage of his mother, too,
when she heard that the latter had rejected him, and
avowed her attachment to Charles, went beyond all
bounds. Her son, however, who possessed a greater
restraint upon his feelings, and was master of more
profound hypocrisy and cunning, requested her to con-
ceal the attachment of Alice to his brother, as a mat-
ter not to be disclosed on any account.
u Leave me to my resources,” said he, u and it will
go hard or I will so manage Charles as to disentangle
him from the consequences of her influence over him.
But the families, mother, must not be for the present
permitted to visit again. On the contrary, it is better
for our purposes that they should not see each other as
formerly, nor resume their intimacy. If you suffer
your passions to overcome you, even in our own fam-
ily, the consequence is that you prevent us both from
playing our game as we ought, and as we shall do.
Leave Charles to me; I shall make O’Connor of use,
too ; but above all things do not breathe a syllable to
any one of them of my having been thrown off. I think,
as it is, I have damped her ardor for him a little, and
if she had not been obstinate and foolishly romantic, I
224
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
would have extinguished it completely. As it is, I told
her to leave the truth of what I mentioned to her
respecting him, to time, and if she does I shall rest
satisfied. Will you now be guided by me, my dear
motksr ? ”
u I will endeavor to do so,” she replied ; u but it will
be a terrible restraint upon me, and I scarcely know
how I shall be able to keep myself calm. I will try,
however ; the object is worth it. You know if she
dies without issue the property reverts to you.”
u Yes, mother, the object is worth much more than
the paltry sacrifice I ask of you. Keep yourself quiet,
then, and we will accomplish our purposes yet. I shall
set instruments to work who will ripen our projects,
and, I trust, ultimately accomplish them.”
uWhy, what instruments do you intend to use?”
u I know the girl’s disposition and character well.
I have learned much concerning her from Casey, who
is often there as a suitor for the fair hand of her favor-
ite maid. Casey, however, is a man in whom I can
place no confidence ; he is too much attached to the
rest of the family, and does not at all relish me. I will
make him an unconscious agent of mine, notwithstand-
ing. In the meantime, let nothing appear in your
manner that might induce them to suspect the present
position of affairs between us. They may come to
know it soon enough, and then it will be our business
to act with greater energy and decision.”
And so it was arranged between this precious mother
and son.
Woodward, who was quick in the conception of his
projects, had them all laid even then; and in older to
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
225
work them out with due effect, he resolved to pay a
visit to our friend, Sol Donnel, the herb doctor. This
hypocritical old villain was uncle to Caterine Collins,
the fortune-teller, who had prognosticated to him such
agreeable tidings on the night of the bonfire. She, too,
was to be made useful, and, so far as money could do
it, faithful to his designs — diabolical as they were. He
accordingly went one night, about the hour mentioned
by Donnel, to the cabin of that worthy man ; and
knocking gently at the door, was replied to in a peevish
voice, like that of an individual who had been interrupted
in the performance of some act of piety and devotion.
“ Who is there ? ” said the voice inside.
“ A friend,” replied Woodward, in a low, cautious
tone ; “ a friend, who wishes to speak to you.”
“ I can’t spake to you to-night,” replied Sol ; u you’re
disturbin’ me at my prayers.”
“But I wish to speak to you on particular busi-
ness.”
“ What business ? Let me finish my padereens and
go to bed like a vile sinner, as I am — God help me.
Who are you ? ”
“I don’t intend to tell you that just now, Solomon;
do you wish me to shout it out to you, in order that
the whole neighborhood may hear it ? I have private
business with you.”
Well,” replied the other, “I think, by your voice
and langridge, your’re not a common man, and, al-
dough it’s against my rule to open at this time o’ night
to any one, still I’ll let you in — and sure I must only
3ay my prayers aftherwards. In the manetime it’s a
sin for you or any one to disturb me at them ; if you
10*
226
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
knew what the value of one sinful sowl is in the sight
of God, you would’nt do it — no, indeed. Wait till I
light a candle v
He accordingly lighted a candle, and in the course
of a few minutes admitted Woodward to his herbarium.
When the latter entered, he looked about him with a
curiosity not unnatural under the circumstances. His
first sensation, however, was one that affected his
olfactory nerves very strongly. A combination of
smells, struggling with each other, as it were, for pre-
dominance, almost overpowered him. The good and
the bad, the pleasant and the oppressive, were here
mingled up in one sickening exhalation — for the dis-
agreeable prevailed. The whole cabin was hung about
with bunches of herbs, some dry and withered, others
fresh and green, giving evidence that they had been
only newly gathered. A number of bottles of all
descriptions stood on wooden shelves, but without labels,
for the old sinner’s long practice and great practical
memory enabled him to know the contents of every
bottle with as much accuracy as if they had been
labelled in capitals.
“ How the devil can you live and sleep in such a
suffocating compound of vile smells as this?” asked
Woodward.
The old man glanced at him keenly, and replied, —
“Practice makes masther, sir — I’m used to them;
I feel no smell but a good smell ; and I sleep sound
enough, barrin’ when I wake o’ one purpose to think of
and repent o’ my sins, and of the ungrateful world that
is about me ; people that don’t thank me for doin’ them
good — God forgive them ! amin acheernah ! ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
227
u Why, now,” replied Woodward, u if I had a friend
of mine that was unwell — observe me, a friend of mine
— that stood between me and my own interests, and
that I was kind and charitable enough to forget any ill-
will against him, and wished to recover him from his
illness through the means of your skill and herbs, could
you not assist me in such a good and Christian
work?”
The old fellow gave him a shrewd look and piercing
glance, but immediately replied, —
u Why, to be sure, I could ; what else is the business
of my whole life but to cure my fellow-cratures of their
complaints ? ”
u Yes ; I believe you are very fortunate in that way ;
however, for the present, I don’t require your aid, but
it is very likely I shall soon. There is a friend of mine
in poor health, and if he doesn’t otherwise recover, I
shall probably apply to you; but, then, the party I
speak of has such a prejudice against quacks of all
sorts, that I fear we must substitute one of your
draughts, in a private way , for that of the regular
doctor. That, however, is not what I came to speak
to you about. Is not Caterine Collins, the fortune-
teller, a niece of yours ? ”
u She is, sir.”
u Where and when could I see her ? — but mark me,
I don’t wish to be seen speaking to her in public.”
u Why not ? — what’s to prevent you from chattin’
vvid her in an aisy pleasant way in the streets ; nobody
will obsarve any thing then, or think it strange that a
gentleman should have a funny piece o’ discoorse wid
a fortune-teller.”
228
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ I don’t know that ; observations might be made
afterwards.”
“ But what can she do for you that I can’t ? She’a
a bad graft to have anything to do wid, and I wouldn’t
recommend you to put much trust in her.”
“Why so?”
“ Why, she’s nothin’ else than a schemer.”
Little did old Solomon suspect that he was raising
her very highly in the estimation of his visitor by fall-
ing foul of her in this manner.
“At all events,” said Woodward, “I wish to see
her ; and, as I said, I came for the express purpose of
asking you where and when I could see her — privately,
I mean.”
“ That’s what I can’t tell you at the present spakin’,”
replied Solomon. “ She has no fixed place of livin’,
but is here to-day and away to-morrow. God help
you, she has travelled over the whole kingdom tellin’
fortunes. Sometimes she’s a dummy, and spakes to
them by signs — sometimes a gypsy — sometimes she’s
this and sometimes she’s that, but not often the same
thing long ; she’s of as many colors as the rainbow.
But if you do wish to see her, there’s a chance that
you may to-morrow. A conjurer has come to town,
and he’s to open to morrow, for both town and country,
and she’ll surely be here, for that’s taking the bit out
of her mouth.”
“ A conjurer ! ”
“ Yes, he was here before sometime ago, about the
night of that bonfire that was put out by the shower
o’ blood, but somehow he disappeared from the place,
and he’s now come back.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
229
u A conjurer — well, I shall see the conjurer myself
to-morrow ; but can you give me no more accurate in-
formation with respect to your niece ? ”
u Sarra syllable — as I tould you, she’s never two
nights in the same place ; but, if I should see her, I’ll
let her know your wishes ; and what might I say, sir,
that you wanted her to do for you ? ”
u That’s none of your affair, most sagacious Solomon
— I wish to speak with her myself, and privately, too ;
and if you see her, tell her to meet me here to-morrow
night about this hour.”
u I’ll do so ; but God forgive you for disturbin’ me
in my devotions, as you did. It’s not often I’d give
them up for any one ; but sure out of regard for the
proprietor o’ the town I’d do that, and more for you.”
u Here,” replied Woodward, putting some silver into
his hand, u let that console you ; and tell your niece
when you see her that I am a good paymaster j and, if
I should stand in need of your skill, you shall find me
so, too. Good-night, and may your prayers be power-
ful, as I know they come from a Christian heart, hon-
est Solomon.”
230
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
CHAPTER XI.
A CONJURER’S LEVEE.
We cannot form at this distance of time any ade-
quate notion of the influence which a conjurer of those
days exercised over the minds and feelings of the igno-
rant. It was necessary that he should be, or be sup
posed at least to be, well versed in judicial astrology,
the use of medicine, and consequently able to cast a
nativity, or cure any earthly complaint. There is
scarcely any grade or species of superstition that is not
associated with or founded upon fear. The conjurer,
consequently, was both feared and respected ; and his
character appeared in different phases to the people —
each phase adapted to the corresponding character of
those with whom he had to deal. The educated of
those days, with but few exceptions, believed in astro-
logy, and the possibility of developing the future fate and
fortunes of an individual, whenever the hour of his
birth and the name of the star or planet under which
he was born could be ascertained. The more igno-
rant class, however, generally associated the character
of the conjurer with that of the necromancer or ma-
gician, and consequently attributed his predictions to
demoniacal influence. Neither were they much mis-
taken, for they only judged of these impostors as they
found them. In nineteen cases out of twenty, th«
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
231
character of the low astrologer, the necromancer, and
the quack was associated, and the influence of the stars
and the aid of the devil were both considered as giving
assurance of supernatural knowledge to the same indi-
vidual. This unaccountable anxiety to see, as it were,
the volume of futurity unrolled, so far as it discloses
individual fate, has characterized mankind ever since
the world began ; and hence, even in the present day,
the same anxiety among the ignorant to run after spae-
women, fortune-tellers, and gypsies, in order to have
their fortunes told through the means of their adroit
predictions.
On the following morning the whole town of Rath-
fillan was in a state of excitement by the rumor that
a conjurer had arrived, for the purpose not only of
telling all their future fates and fortunes, but of dis-
covering all those who had been guilty of theft, and
Hhe places where the stolen property was to be found.
This may seem a bold stroke ; but when we consider
the materials upon which the sagacious conjurer had to
work, we need not feel surprised at his frequent
success.
The conjurer in question had taken up his residence
in the best inn which the little town of Rathfillan
afforded. Immediately after his arrival he engaged
the beadle, with bell in hand, to proclaim his presence
in the town, and the purport of his visit to that part of
the country. This was done through the medium of
printed handbills, which that officer read and distrib-
uted through the crowds who attended him. The bill
in question was as follows :
u To the inhabitants of Rathfillan and the adjacent
232
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
neighborhood, the following important communications
are made : —
u Her Zander Vanderpluckem, the celebrated Ger-
man conjurer, astrologist, and doctor, who has had the
honor of predicting the deaths of three kings, five
queens, twenty-one princesses, and seven princes, all
of royal blood, and in the best possible state of health
at the time the predictions were made, and to all of
whom he had himself the honor of being medical
attendant and state physician, begs to announce his
arrival in this town. He is the seventh son of the
great and renowned conjurer, Her Zander Vander-
hoaxem, who made the stars tremble, and the devil
sweat himself to powder in a fit of repentance. His
influence over the stars and heavenly bodies is tremen-
dous, and it is a well-known fact throughout the uni-
verse that he has them in such a complete state of
terror and subjection, that a single comet dare not wag
his tail unless by his permission. He travels up and
down the milky way one night in every month, to see
that the dairies of the sky are all right, and that that
celebrated path be properly lighted ; brings down a
pail of the milk with him, which he churns into buty-
rus, an unguent so efficacious that it cures all maladies
under the sun, and many that never existed. It can
be had at five shillings a spoonful. He can make Ursa
Major, or the Great Bear, dance without a leader, and
has taught Pisces, or the Fishes, to live out of water* — a
prodigy never known or heard of before since the crea-
tion of terra firma. Such is the power of the great and
celebrated Her Vanderpluckem over the stars and
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
233
planets. But now to come nearer home : he cures all
patients of all complaints. No person asking his
assistance need ever be sick, unless when they happen
to be unwell. His insight into futurity is such that,
whenever he looks far into it, he is obliged to shut his
eyes. He can tell fortunes, discover hidden wealth to
any amount, and create such love between sweethearts
as will be sure to end in matrimony. He is complete
master of the fairies, and has the whole generation of
them under his thumb ; and he generally travels with
the king of the fairies in his left pocket closed up in a
snuffbox. He interprets dreams and visions, and is
never mistaken ; can foretell whether a child unborn
will be a boy or a girl, and can also inform the parents
whether it will be brought to the bench or the gallows.
He can also foretell backwards, and disclose to the indi-
vidual anything that shall happen to him or her for the
last seven years. His philters, concocted upon the
profound science of alchemistic philosophy, have been
sought for by persons of the highest distinction, who
have always found them to produce the very effects for
which they were intended, to wit, mutual affection be-
tween the parties, uniformly ending in matrimony and
happiness. Devils expelled, ghosts and spirits laid on
the shortest notice, and at the most moderate terms.
Also, recipes to farmers for good weather or rain, ac-
cording as they may be wanted.
“ (Signed,) Her Zander Vanderpluckem/’
“ The Greatest Conjurer, Astrologer, and Doctor in the world/*
To describe the effect that this bill, which, by the
way, was posted against every dead wall in the town,
234
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
had upon the people, would be impossible. The inn in
which he stopped was, in a short time, crowded with
applicants, either for relief or information, according
as their ills or wishes came under the respective heads
of his advertisement. The room he occupied was up-
stairs, and had a door that led into a smaller one, or
kind of closet, at the end of it ; here sat an old-looking
man, dressed in a black coat, black breeches, and black
stockings ; the very picture of the mysterious individ-
ual who had appeared and disappeared so suddenly at
the bonfire. He had on a full-bottomed wig, and a
long white beard, depending from the lower part of his
face, swept his reverend breast. A large book lay open
before him, on the pages of which were inscribed
cabalistic characters and strange figures. He only
admitted those who wished to consult him, singly ; for
on no occasion did he ever perrtiit two persons at a
time to approach him. All the paraphernalia of astrol-
ogy were exposed upon the same table, at one end of
which he sat in an arm-chair, awaiting the commence-
ment of operations. At length a good-looking country
woman, of about forty-five years, made her appearance,
and, after a low courtesy, was solemnly motioned to
take a seat,
u Well, Mrs. Houlaghan,” said he, u how do you do ? 19
The poor woman got as pale as death. Heavenly
Father, thought she, how does it happen that he comes
to know my name !
u Mrs. Houlaghan, what can I do for you ? not that
I need ask, for I could give a very good guess at it ; 71
and this he added with a very sage and solemn visage,
precisely as if he knew the whole circumstances.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
235
“Why, your honor,” she replied — “but, blessed
Father, how did you come to know my name ? ”
“ That’s a question,” he replied, solemnly, “ which
you ought not to ask me . It is enough that you see I
know it. How is your husband, Frank, and how is
your daughter, Mary ? She’s complaining of late — is
she not ? ”
This private knowledge of the family completely
overwhelmed her, and she felt unable to speak for
some time.
“ Do not be in a hurry, Mrs. Houlaghan,” said he,
mildly ; “ reflect upon what you are about to say, and
take your time.”
“ It’s a ghost, your reverence,” she replied — “ a
ghost that haunts the house.”
“Very well, Mrs. Houlaghan; the fee for laying a
ghost is five shillings ; I will trouble you for that sum ;
we conjurers have no power until we get money from
the party concerned, and then we can work with
effect.”
The simple woman, in the agitation of the moment,
handed him the amount of his demand, and then col-
lected herself to hear the response, and the means of
laying the ghost.
“ Well, now,” said he, “ tell me all about this ghost,
Mrs. Houlaghan. How long has it been troubling the
family ? ”
“ Why, then, ever since Frank lost the use of his
sight, now goin’ upon five months.”
“ When does it appear ? ”
“ Why, generally afther twelve at night ; and wbat
makes it more strange is, that poor Mary’s more afeard
236
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
o’ me than she is of the ghost. She says it appears to
her in her bedroom every night ; but she knows Pm
so timersome that she keeps her door always locked for
fraid Pd see it, poor child.”
“ Does it terrify her ? ”
6 i Not a bit ; she says it does her no harm on earth,
and that it’s great company for her when she can’t
sleep.”
“Has Mary many sweethearts?”
“ She has two : one o’ them rather ould, but wealthy
and well to do ; her father and myself, wishin’ to see
her well settled, are doin’ all we can to get her consent
to marry him.”
“ Who’s the other ? ”
“ One Brine Oge M‘Gaveran, a good-lookin’ vaga-
bone, no doubt, but not worth a copper.”
“ Is she fond of him ? ”
“ Troth, to tell you the truth, I’m afeard she is ; he
has been often seen about the house in the evenin’s.”
“ Well, Mrs. Houlaghan, I will tell you how to lay
this ghost.”
“ God bless you, sir ; poor Mary, although she pur-
tends that the ghost is good company for her, is lookin’
pale and very quare somehow.”
“ Well, then, here is the receipt for laying the ghost :
Marry her as soon as you possibly can to Brine Oge
M^Gaveran — do that and the ghost will never appeal
again ; but if you refuse to do it — I may lay that
ghost of course — but another ghost, as like it as an
egg is to an egg, will haunt your house until she is mar-
ried to Brien Oge. You have wealth yourselves, and
you can make Brine and her comfortable if you wish.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
237
She is your only child ” — (“ Blessed Father, think of
him knowin’ this ! ”) — “ and as you are well to do in
the world, it’s both a sin and a scandal for you to urge
a pretty young girl of nineteen to marry an old miserly
runt of fifty. You know now how to lay the ghost,
Mrs. Houlaghan — and that is what I can do for you ;
but if you do not marry her to Brine Oge, as I said,
another ghost will certainly contrive to haunt you.
You may now withdraw.”
A farmer, with a very shrewd and comic expression
of countenance, next made his appearance, and taking
his hat off and laying it on the floor with his staff across
it, took his seat, as he had been motioned to do, upon
the chair which Mrs. Houlaghan had just vacated.
“Well, my friend,” said the conjurer, “what’s
troubling you ? ”
“ A crock o’ butther, your honor.”
“ How is that ? explain yourself.”
“ Why, sir, a crock o’ butther that was stolen from
me ; and I’m tould for a sartinty that you can discover
the thief o’ the world that stole it.”
“ And so I can. Do you suspect anybody ?”
“ Troth, sir, I can’t say — for I live in a very honest
neighborhood. The only two thieves that were in it —
Charley Folliott and George Austin — were hanged not
long ago, and I don’t know anybody else in the country
side that would stale it.”
“What family have you?”
“ Three sons, sir.”
“How many daughters?”
“ One, sir, — but she’s only a girsha — (a little
girl).”
238
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
UI suppose your sons are very good children to
you ? ”
u Betther never broke bread, sir — all but the
youngest.”
u What age is he ? ”
u About nineteen, sir, or goin’ an twenty ; but he’s i»
heart-scald to me and the family — although he’s his
mother’s pet ; the divil can’t stand him for dress — and,
moreover, he’s given to liquor and card-playin’, and is
altogether goin’ to the bad. Widin the last two or
three days he has bought himself a new hat, a new pair
o’ brogues, and a pair o’ span-new breeches — and, upon
my conscience, it wasn’t from me or mine he got the
money to buy them.”
The conjurer looked solemnly into his book for some
minutes, and then raising his head, fastened his cold,
glassy, glittering eyes on the farmer with a glance that
filled him with awe.
u I have found it out,” said he ; u there are two par-
ties to the theft — your wife and your youngest son.
Go to the hucksters of the town, and ask them if they
will buy any more butter like the last of yours that
they bought, and, depend on it, you will find out the
truth.”
u Then you think, sir, it was my wife and son be-
tween them that stole the butter ? ”
u Not a doubt of it, and if you tell them that I said
so, they will confess it. You owe me five shillings.”
The farmer put his hand in his pocket, and placing
the money before him, left the room, satisfied that there
was no earthly subject, past, present, or to come, with
which the learned conjurer was not acquainted.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
239
The next individual that came before him was a very
pretty buxom widow, who, having made the venerable
conjurer a courtsey, sat down and immediately burst
into tears.
“ What is the matter with you, madam ?” asked the
astrologer, rather surprised at this unaccountable exhi-
bition of the pathetic.
“ O, sir, I lost, about fifteen months ago, one of the
best husbands that ever broke the world’s bread.”
Here came another effusion, accompanied with a very
distracted blow of the nose.
“That must have been very distressing to you,
madam; he must have been extremely fond of such
a very pretty wife.”
“ O sir, he doted alive upon me, as I did upon him
— poor, darling old Paul.”
“ Ah, he was old, was he ? ”
“Yes, sir, and left me very rich.”
“ But what do you wish me to do for you ? ”
“ Why, sir, he was very fond of money ; was, in
fact, a — a — kind of miser in his way. My father and
mother forced me to marry the dear old man, and I did
so to please them ; but at the same time he was very
kind in his manner to me — indeed, so kind that he
allowed me a shilling a month for pocket money.”
“ Well, but what is your object in coming to me? ”
“ Why, sir, to ask your opinion on a case of great
difficulty.”
“ Very well, madam ; you shall have the best opinion
in the known world upon the subject — that is, as soon
as I hear it. Speak out without hesitation, and con-
ceal nothing.”
240
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ Why, sir, the poor dear man before his death —
ah, that ever my darling old Paul should have been
taken away from me ! — the poor dear man, before his
death — ahem — before his death — 0, ah,” — here came
another effusion — “ began to — to — to — get jealous of
me with a young man in the neighborhood that —
that — I was fond of before I married my dear old
Paul.”
“ Was the young man in question handsome ? ”
“ Indeed, sir, he was, and is, very handsome — and
the impudent minxes of the parish are throwing their
caps at him in dozens.”
“ But still you are keeping me in the dark.”
“ Well, sir, I will tell you my difficulty. When
poor dear old Paul was dying, he called me to the bed-
side one day, and says to me : ‘ Biddy/ says he, ‘ Pm
going to die — and you know I am wealthy ; but, in
the meantime, I won’t leave you sixpence.’ ‘ It’s not
the loss of your money I am thinking of, my darling
Paul/ says I, ‘but the loss of yourself’ — and I kissed
him, and cried. ‘ You didn’t often kiss me that way
before/ said he — ‘ and I know what you’re kissing me
for now.’ ‘ No/ I said, ‘ 1 did not ; because I had no
notion then of losing you, my own darling Paul — you
don’t know how I loved you all along, Paul/ said I ;
‘kiss me again, jewel.’ ‘Now/ said he, ‘Pm not
going to leave you sixpence, and I’ll tell you why — 1
saw young Charley Mulvany, that you were courting
before I married you — I saw him, I say, through the
windy there, kiss you, with my own eyes, when you
thought I was asleep — and you put your arms about
his neck and hugged him/ said he. I must be par-
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
241
ticular, sir, in order that you may understand the
difficulty Fm in.”
u Proceed, madam,” said the conjurer. u If I were
young I certainly would envy Charley Mulvany — but
proceed.”
“Well, sir, I replied to him: c Paul, dear/ said I,
*that was a kiss of friendship — and the reason of it
was, that poor Charley was near crying when he heard
that you were going to die and to leave me so lonely.7
* Well/ said he, ‘ that may be — many a thing may be
that’s not likely — and that may be one of them. Go
and get a prayer-book, and come back here.’ Well,
sir, I got a book and went back. i Now/ said he, 6 if
you swear by the contents of that book that you will
never put a ring on man after my death, I’ll leave
you my property.’ i Ah, God pardon you, Paul, dar-
ling/ said I, c for supposing that I’d ever dream of
marrying again’ — and I couldn’t help kissing him once
more and crying over him when I heard what he said.
* Now/ said he, 6 kiss the book, and swear that you’ll
never put a ring on man after my death, and I’ll
leave you every shilling I’m worth.’ God knows it
was a trying scene to a loving heart like mine — so I
swore that I’d never put a ring on man after his death
—and then he altered his will and left me the property
on those conditions.”
“ Proceed, madam, ” said the conjurer ; “ I am still
in the dark as to the object of your visit.”
“ Why, sir, it is to know — ahem — O, poor old Paul.
God forgive me ! it was to know, sir, 0 ”
“ Don’t cry, madam, don’t cry. ”
“ It was to know, sir, if I could ever think of— of
11
242
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
— you must know, sir, we had no family, and I would
not wish that the property should die with me ; to know
if — if you think I could venture to marry again ? ”
u This,” replied the conjurer, u is a matter of un-
usual importance and difficulty. In the first place you
must hand me a guinea — that is my fee for cases of
this kind. ”
The money was immediately paid, and the conjurer
proceeded : u I said it was a case of great difficulty, and
so it is, but ”
u I forgot to mention, sir, that when I went out to
get the prayer-book, I found Charley Mulvany in the
next room, and he said he had one in his pocket ; so
that the truth, sir, is, I — I took the oath upon a booh
of ballads. Now, ” she proceeded, “I have strong rea-
sons for marrying Charley Mulvany ; and I wish to know
if I can do so without losing the property. ”
u Make your mind easy on that point, ” replied the
conjurer ; u you swore never to put a ring on man, but
you did not swear that a man would never put a ring
on you. Go home, ” he continued, u and if you be ad-
vised by me, you will marry Charley Mulvany without
loss of time. ”
A man rather advanced in years next came in, and
taking his seat, wiped his face and gave a deep groan.
“ Well, my friend,” said the conjurer, “in what way
can I serve you? ”
“ God knows it’s hard to tell that, ” he replied ~
“ but Fm troubled.”
“ What troubles you ? ”
“ It's a quare world, sir, altogether. ”
“ There are many strange things in it certainly. n
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
243
“ That’s truth, sir ; but the saison’s favorable, thank
God, and there’s every prospect of a fine spring for put-
tin’ down the crops. ”
“ You are a farmer, then ; but why should you fee.
troubled about what you call a fine season for putting
down the crops? ”
The man moved uneasily upon his chair, and seemed
at a loss how to proceed ; the conjurer looked at him, and
waited for a little that he might allow him sufficient
time to disclose his difficulties.
“ There are a great many troubles in this life, sir,
especially in married families. ”
“ There is no doubt of that, my friend, ” replied the
conjurer.
“ No, sir, there is not. I am not aisy in my mind,
somehow. ”
“Hundreds of thousands are so, as well as you,”
replied the other. “ I would be glad to see the man
who has not something to trouble him ; but will you
allow me to ask you what it is that troubles you ? ”
“ I took her, sir, widout a shift to her back, and a
betther husband never breathed the breath of life than
I have been to her ; ” and then he paused, and pulling
out his handkerchief, shed bitter tears. “ I would love
her still, if I could, sir ; but, then, the thing’s impos-
sible.”
“ O, yes,” said the conjurer ; “ I see you are jealous
of her ; but will you state upon what grounds ? ”
“ Well, sir, I think I have good grounds for it.”
“What description of a woman is your wife, and
what age is she ? ”
“ Why, sir, she’s about my own age. She was once
244
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
handsome enough — indeed, very handsome when 1
married her.”
u Was the marriage a cordial one between you and
her?”
“ Why, sir, she was dotin’ upon me, as I was upon
her.”
“ Have you had a family ? ”
“ A fine family, sir, of sons and daughters.”
“ And how long is it since you began to suspect
her?”
“ Why, sir, I — I — well, no matther about that ; she
was always a good wife and a good mother, until — ”
Here he paused, and again wiped his eyes.
“ Until what ? ”
“Why, sir, until Billy Fulton, the fiddler, came
across her.”
“ Well, and what did Billy Fulton do ? ”
“ He ran away wid my ould woman, sir.”
“ What age is Billy Fulton ? ”
“ About my own age, sir ; but by no means so stout
a man ; he’s a dancin’ masther, too, sir ; and barrin’
his pumps and white cotton stockin’s, I don’t know
what she could see in him ; he’s a poor light crature,
and walks as if he had a hump on his hip, for he
always carries his fiddle undher his skirt. Ay, and
what’s more, sir, our daughter, Nancy, is gone off wid
him.”
“ The devil she is. Why, did the old dancing-mas-
ter run off with both of them ? How long is it since
this elopement took place ? ”
“ Only three days, sir.”
“ And you wish me to assist you ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
245
“ If you can, sir ; and I ought to tell you that the
vagabone’s son is gone off wid them too.”
“O, 0,” said the conjurer, “that makes the matter
wcrse.”
“ No, it doesn’t, sir, for what makes the matter
worse is, that they took away a hundred and thirty
pounds of my money along wid ’em.”
“ Then you wish to know what I can do for you in
this business ? ”
“ I do, sir, i’ you plaise.”
“ Were you ever jealous of your wife before ? ”
“ No, not exactly jealous, sir, but a little suspicious
or so; I didn’t think it safe to let her out much; I
thought it no harm to keep my eye on her.”
“Now,” said the conjurer, “is it not notorious that
you are the most jealous — by the way, give me five
shillings ; I can make no further communications till I
am paid; there — thank you — now, is it not notorious
that you are one of the most jealous old scoundrels in
the whole country ? ”
“ No, sir, barrin’ a little wholesome suspicion.”
“Well, sir, go home about your business. Your
daughter and the dancing-master’s son have made a
runaway match of it, and your wife, to protect the
character of her daughter, has gone with them. You
arc a miser, too. Go home, now ; I have nothing more
to say to you, except that you have been yourself a
profligate. Look at that book, sir; there it is; the
stars have told me so.”
“ You have got my five shillings, sir ; but say what
you like, all the wather in the ocean would’nt wash her
clear of the ould dancin’-masther.”
246
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
In the course of a few minutes a beautiful peasant
girl entered the room, her face mantled with blushes,
and took her seat on the chair as the others had done,
and remained for some time silent, and apparently
panting with agitation.
“ What is your name, my pretty girl ? ” asked the
conjurer.
“ Grace Davoren,” replied the girl.
“And what do you wish to know from me, Miss
Davoren ? ”
u O, don’t call me miss, sir ; I’m but a poor girl.”
The conjurer looked into his book for a few minutes,
and then, raising his head, and fixing his eyes upon
her, replied, —
u Yes, I will call you miss, because I have looked
into your fate, and I see that there is great good for-
tune before you.”
The young creature blushed again and smiled with
something like confidence, but seemed rather at a loss
what to say, or how to proceed.
“ From your extraordinary beauty you must have a
great many admirers, Miss Davoren.”
u But only two, sir, that gives me any trouble — one
of them is a ”
The conjurer raised his hand as an intimation to her
to stop, and after poring once more over the book for
some time, proceeded : —
“ Yes — one of them is Shawn-na-Micldogue ; but he’s
an outlaw — and that courtship is at an end now.”
“ Wid me, it is, sir ; but not wid him. The sogers
and autorities is out for him and others ; but still he
keeps watchin’ me as close as he can.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
247
u Well, wait till I look into the book of fate again
—yes — yes — here is — a gentleman over head and
ears in love with you.”
Poor Grace blushed, then became quite pale. u But,
sir,” said she, u will the gentleman marry me ? ”
u To be sure he will marry you ; but he cannot for
some time.”
u But will he save me from disgrace and shame,
sir ? ” she asked, with a death-like face.
u Don’t make your mind uneasy on that point
but wait a moment till I find out his name in the great
book of fatality ; — yes, I see — his name is Wood-
ward. Don’t, however, make your mind uneasy ; he
will take care of you.”
u My mind is very uneasy, sir, and I wish I had
never seen him. But I don’t know what could make
him fall in love wid a poor simple girl like me.”
This was said in the coquettish consciousness of the
beauty which she knew she possessed, and it was ac-
companied, too, by a slight smile of self-complacency.
u Do you think I could become a lady, sir ? ”
u A lady ! why, what is to prevent you ? You are a
lady already. You want nothing but silks and satins,
jewels and gold rings, to make you a perfect lady.”
u And he has promised all these to me,” she replied.
u Yes ; but there is one thing you ought to do for
your own sake and his — and that is to betray Shawn -
na-Middogue , if you can ; because if you do not, neither
your own life, nor that of your lover, Mr. Woodward,
will be safe.”
u I could’nt do that, sir,” replied the girl ; u it would
be treacherous} and sooner than do so, I’d just as soon
248
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
he would kill me at wanst — still I would do a great
deal to save Mr. Woodward. But will Mr. Woodward
marry me, sir ? because he said he would — in the coorse
of some time.”
“ And if he said so don’t be uneasy ; he is a gentle-
man, and a gentleman, you know, always keeps his
word. Don’t be alarmed, my pretty girl — your lover
will provide for you.”
“Am I to pay you anything, sir?” she asked,
rising.
“ No, my dear, I will take no money from you ; but
if you wish to save Mr. Woodward from danger, you
will enable the soldiers to arrest Shawn-na-Middogue .
Even you, yourself, are not safe so long as he is at
large.”
She then took her leave in silence.
It is not to be supposed that among the crowd that
was assembled around the inn door there were not a
number of waggish characters, who felt strongly in-
clined to have, if possible, a hearty laugh at the great
conjurer. No matter what state of society may exist,
or what state of feeling may prevail, there will always
be found a class of persons who are exceptions to the
general rule. Whilst the people were chatting in
wonder and admiration, not without awe and fear,
concerning the extraordinary knowledge and power of
the conjurer, a character peculiar to all times and all
ages made his appearance, and soon joined them. This
was one of those circulating, unsettled vagabonds, whom,
like scum, society, whether agitated or not, is always
sure to throw on the surface. The comical miscreant
no sooner made his appearance than, like Liston, when
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
249
coming on the stage, he was greeted with a general
roar of laughter.
“ So,” said he, “ you have a conjurer above. But
wait a while ; by the powdhers o’ delf Rantin’ Rody’s
the boy will try his mettle. If he can look farther than
his nose, I’m the lad will find it out. If he doesn’t say
I’ll be hanged, he knows nothing about his business.
I have myself half-a-dozen hangmen engaged to let me
down aisy ; it’s a death I’ve a great fancy for, and,
plaise God, I’m workin’ honestly to desarve it. Which
of you has a cow to steal ? for, by the sweets o’ rosin,
I’m low in cash, and want a thrifle to support nather ;
for nather, my boys, must be supported, and it was
never my intintion to die for want o’ my vittles ; aitin’
and drinkin’ is not very pleasant to most people, I know,
but I was bom wid a fancy for both.”
“ Rantin’ Rody, in airnest, will you go up and have
your fortune tould ? ”
“But wait,” he proceeded; “wait, I say, — wait, —
I have it.” And as he said so he went at the top of
his speed down the street, and disappeared in Sol Don-
nel’s cabin.
“By this and by that,” said one of them, “Rantin’
Rody will take spunk out of him, if it’s in him.”
“ I think he had better have notin’ to do wid him,”
said an old woman, “for fraid he’d rise the devil —
Lord guard us ! Sure it’s the same man that was in
this very town the night he was nz before, and that
the bonfire for Suil Balor (the eye of Balor, or the j Evil
Eye) Woodward was drowned by a shower of blood.
Troth I wouldn’t be in the same Woodward’s coat for
the wealth o’ the world. As for Rantin’ Rody, let him
11*
250
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
take care of himself. It’s never safe to sport wid
edged tools, and he’ll be apt to find it so, if he attempts
to put his tricks upon the conjurer.”
In the meantime, while that gentleman was seated
above stairs, a female, tall, slim, and considerably
advanced in years, entered the room and took her
seat. Her face was thin, and red in complexion,
especially about the point of a rather long nose,
where the color appeared to be considerably deeper in
hue.
“Sir,” said she, in a sharp tone of voice, “I’m told
you can tell fortunes.”
“ Certainly, madam,” he replied, “ you have been
correctly informed.”
“You won’t be offended, then, if I wish to ask you
a question or two. It’s not about myself, but a sister
of mine, who is — ahem — what the censorious world is
pleased to call an old maid.”
“Why did your sister not come herself? ” he asked;
“I cannot predict anything unless the individual is
before me ; I must have him or her, as the case may
be, under my eye.”
“ Bless me, sir ! I didn’t know that ; but as I am
now here — could you tell me anything about my-
self? ”
“ I could tell you many things,” replied the con-
jurer, who read old maid in every line of her face —
“ many things not very pleasant for you to reflect
upon.”
“ O, but I don’t wish to hear anything unpleasant,”
said she ; “ tell me something that’s agreeable. ”
“In the first place, I cannot do so,” he replied; “ (
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
251
must be guided by truth. You have, for instance,
been guilty of great cruelty ; and although you are but
a young woman, in the very bloom of life ”
Here the lady bowed to him, and simpered — her
thin, red nose twisted into a gracious curl, as thanking
him for his politeness.
u In the very prime of life, madam — yet you have
much to be accountable for, in consequence of your
very heartless cruelty to the male sex — you see,
madam, and you feel, too, that I speak truth.”
The lady put the spectre of an old fan up to her
withered visage, and pretended to enact a blush of
admission.
“Well, sir,” she replied, “I — I — I cannot say
but that — indeed I have been charged with — not
that it — cruelty — I mean — was ever in my heart ;
but you must admit, sir, that — that — in fact —
where too many press upon a person, it is the more
difficult to choose.”
“ Unquestionably ; but you should have made a judicious
selection — and that was because you were in no
hurry — and indeed you need not be ; you have plenty
of time before you. Still, there is much blame at-
tached to you — you have defrauded society of its
rights. Why, now, you might have been the proud
mother of a son or daughter at least five years old by
this time, if it had not been for your own obduracy — *
excuse me.”
Up went the skeleton fan again with a wonderfully
modest if not an offended simper at the notion of
such an insinuation; but, said she in her heart, this
is the most gentlemanly conjurer that ever told «
252
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
fortune ; quite a delightful old gentleman ; he is really
charming ; I wish I had met him twenty years ago.
“Well, sir,” she replied, “I see there is no use in
denying — especially to you , who seem to know every-
thing — the truth of the facts you have stated. Thero
was one gentleman in particular whom I rejected —
that is, conditionally — rather harshly ; and do you
know, he took the scarlet-fever soon afterwards and
died of a broken heart.”
“ Go on, madam,” said he ; “ make a clean breast of it
— so shall you enable me to compare the future with the
past, and state your coming fortunes more distinctly.”
“Another gentleman, sir — a country squire — owes,
I fear, his death to my severity ; he was a hard drinker,
but I gave him a month to reform — which sentence
he took so much to heart that he broke his neck in a
fox-chase from mere despair. A third individual — a
very handsome young man — of whom I must confess
I was a little jealous about his flirting with another
young lady — felt such remorse that he absolutely ran
away with and married her. I know, of course, I am
accountable for all these calamities ; but it cannot be
helped now — my conscience must bear it.”
“ You should not look back upon these things with
too much remorse,” replied the conjurer ; “ forget
them — bear a more relenting heart ; make some man
happy, and marry. Have you no person at present in
your eye with whom you could share your charms and
your fortune ? ”
“ 0, sir, you are complimentary.”
“Not at all, madam; speak* to me candidly, as you
perceive I do to you.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
253
u Well, then,” she replied, u there is a young gen-
tleman with whom I should wish to enter into a — a
domestic — that is — a matrimonial connection.”
u Pray what age is he*? ”
u Indeed, he is but young, scarce nineteen ; but then
he is very wild, and I — I — have — indeed I am of
too kind a heart, sir. I have supplied his extravagance
—for so I must call it— poor boy — but cannot ex-
actly get him to accept a legitimate right over me — I
fear he is attached elsewhere — but you know he is
young, sir, and not come to his ripe judgment yet. I
read your handbill, sir; and if you could furnish mo
with a — something — ehem — that might enable mo
to gain, or rather to restore his affections — for 1
think he was fond of me some few months ago — I
would not grudge whatever the payment might be.”
u You mean a philter ? ”
u I believe that is what it is called, sir.”
u Well, madam, you shall be supplied with a philter
that never fails, on the payment of twenty-one shil-
lings. This, philter, madam, will not only make him
fond of you before marriage, but will secure his affec-
tions during life, increasing them day by day, so that
every month of your lives will be a delicious honey-
moon. There is another bottle at the same price ; it
may not, indeed, be necessary for you, but I can as-
sure you that it has made many families happy where
there had been previously but little prospect of hap-
piness ; the price is the same — twenty-one shillings.”
Up went the spectral fan again, and out came the
forty-two shillings, and, with a formal courtesy, the
venerable old maid walked away with the two bottles
of aqva pnra in her pocket.
254
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Now came the test for the conjurer’s knowledge —
the sharp and unexpected trial of his skill and
sagacity. After the old maid had taken her leave,
possessed of the two bottles, a middle-aged, large-
sized woman walked in, and, after making a low
courtesy, sat down as she had been desired. The
conjurer glanced keenly at her, and something like a
smile might be seen to settle upon his features; it
was so slight, however, that the good woman did not
notice it.
u Pray, what’s the object of your visit to me, may I
ask ? ”
“ My husband, sir — he runn’d away from me, sure.”
u Small blame to him,” replied the conjurer. “ If I
had such a wife I would not remain a single hour in
her company.”
u And is that the tratement you give a heart-broken
and desarted crature, like me ? ”
u Come, what made him run away from you ? ”
u In regard, sir, of a dislike he took to me.”
u That was a proof that the man had some taste.”
u Ay, but why hadn’t he that taste afore he married
me?”
u It was very well that he had it afterwards — better
late than never.”
u I want you to tell me where he is.”
u What family have you ? ”
“Seven small childre that’s now fatherless, I may
say.”
u What kind of a man was your husband ? ”
“ Why, indeed, as handsome a vagabone as you’d
see in a day’s travellin ’.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
255
“ Mention his name ; I can tell you nothing till I
hear it.”
“He’s called Rantin’ Rody, the thief, and a great
schamer he is among the girls.”
“ Ranting Rody — let me see,” and here he looked
very solemnly into his book — “yes; I see — a halter.
My good woman, you had better not inquire after him ;
he was born to be hanged.”
“ But when will that happen, sir ? ”
“ Your fate and his are so closely united, that, when-
ever he swings, you will swing. You will both hang
together from the same gallows ; so that, in point of
fact, you need not give yourself much trouble about
the time of his suspension, because I see it written
here in the book of fate, that the same hangman who
swings you off, will swing him off at the same moment.
You’ll die lovingly together; and when he puts his
tongue out at those who will attend his execution, so
will you; and when he dances his last jig in their
presence, so will you. Are you now satisfied ? ”
“ Troth and I’m very fond o’ the vagabone, although
he’s the worst friend I ever had. But you won’t tell
me where he is ? and I know why, because, with all
your pretended knowledge, the devil a know you
know.”
“ Are you sure of that ? ”
“Ay, cocksure.”
“Then I can tell you that he is sitting on the chair
there, opposite me. Go about your business, Rody,
and rant elsewhere ; you may impose upon others, but
not upon a man that can penetrate the secrets of human
life as I can. Go now ; there is a white wand in the
256
THE EVIL EYE; OH,
corner, — ray conjuring rod, — and if I only touched
you with it, I could leave you a cripple and beggar for
life. Go, I say, and tell Caterine Collins how much she
and you gained by this attempt at disgracing me.”
Rody, for it was he, was thunderstruck at this dis-
covery, and, springing to his feet, disappeared.
“ Well, Rody,” said the crowd, “ how did you mam
age ? Did he know you ? ”
Rody was as white in the face as a sheet. “Let me
alone,” he replied; “ the conjurer above is the devil,
and nothin’ else. I must get a glass o’ whiskey ; I’m
near faintin’ ; I’m as wake as a child ; my strength’s
gone. The man, or the devil, or whatsomever he is,
knows everything, and, what is worse, he tould me I
am to be hanged in earnest. ”
“ Faith, Rody, that required no great knowledge on
his part ; there’s not a man here but could have tould
you the same thing, and there’s none of us a conjurer.”
Rody, however, immediately left them to discuss the
matter among themselves, and went, thoroughly crest-
fallen, to give an account of his mission to Caterine
Collins, who had employed him, and to reassume his
own clothes, which, indeed, were by no means fresh
from the tailor.
The last individual whose interview with the conjurer
we shall notice was no other than Harry Woodward,
our hero. On entering he took his seat, and looked
familiarly at the conjurer.
“Well,” said he, “ there was no recognition ? ”
“ How could there?” replied the other; “you know
the thing’s impossible ; even without my beard, nobody
in the town or about it knows my face, and to those
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
257
who see me in character, they have other things to think
of than the perusal of my features. ”
“ The girl was with you ? ”
“ She was, and I fear that, unless we can get Shawn -
na-Middogue taken off by some means or other, your
life will not, cannot, be safe.”
“She won’t betray him, then? But I need not ask,
for I have pressed her upon that matter before.”
“She is very right in not doing so, ” replied the con-
jurer; “because, if she did, the consequence would be
destruction to herself and her family. In addition to
this, however, I don’t think it’s in her power to betray
him. He never sleeps more than one night in the same
place ; and since her recent conduct to him — I mean
since her intimacy with you — he would place no con-
fidence in her.”
“ He certainly is not aware of our intimacy.”
“ Of course he is not ; you would soon know it to
your cost if he were. The place of your rendezvous is
somewhat too near civilization for him ; you should,
however, change it ; never meet twice in the same
place, if you can.”
“ You are reaping a tolerably good harvest here, I
suppose. Do they ever place you in a difficulty ? ”
“ Difficulty ! God help you ; there is not an indi
vidual among them, or throughout the whole parish,
with whose persons, circumstances, and characters I
am not acquainted ; but even if it were not so, I could
make them give me unconsciously the very informa-
tion they want — returned to them, of course, in a new
shape. I make them state the facts, and I draw the
inferences ; nothing is easier ; it is a trick that every
THE EVIL EYE : OB,
imposter is master of. How do you proceed with Miss
Goodwin ? ”
“That matter is hopeless by fair means— she’s in
love with that d d brother of mine.”
“No chance of the property, then?”
“Not as affairs stand at present; we must, however
maintain our intimacy ; if so, I won’t despair yet ’
“But what do you intend to do? If she marries
your brother the property goes to him— and you may
go whistle.”
“I don’t give it up, though— I bear a brain still, I,
think; but the truth is, I have not cc mulcted my plan
of operations. What I am to do, I know not yet ex-
actly. If I could break off the match between her and
my brother, she might probably, thiough the influence
of her parents and other causes, be persuaded into a
reluctant marriage with Harry Woodward ; time, how-
ever, will tell, and I must only work my way through
the difficulty as well as I can. I will now leave you,
and I don’t think I shall be aide to see you again for a
week to come.”
“ Before you go let me ask if you know a vagabond
called Ranting Rody, who goes about through the
country living no one knows how?”
“No, I do not know him ; what is he ?”
“He’s nothing except a paramour of Caterine Col-
lins’s, who, you know, is a rival of c^rs; nobody here
knows anything about him, whilst he, it appears,
knows every one and everything.”
“ He would make a good conjuror,” replied Wood-
ward, smiling.
“ If the fellow could be depended upon,” replied the
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
259
other, “ he might be useful ; in fact, I am of opinion
that if he wished he could trace Shaum-na-M\ddogue'9
haunts. The scoundrel attempted just now to impose
upon me in the dress of a woman, and, were it not
that I knew him so well, he might have got my beard
stripped from my face, and my bones broken besides;
but I feel confident that if any one could trace and
secure the outlaw, he could — I mean with proper
assistance. Think of this.”
“I shall find him out,” replied Woodward, “and
sound him, at all events, and I think through Caterine
Collins I may possibly secure him; but we must be
eaut<iou3. Good-by; I wish you success.
After which he passed through the crowd, exclaiming,
“A wonderful man — an astonishing man— and a
fearful man ; that is, if he be a man, which I very
much doubt.”
CHAPTER XII.
FORTUNE-TELLING.
Ever since the night of the bonfire Woodward’s
character became involved more or less in a mystery
that was peculiar to the time and the superstitions of
the period. That he possessed the Evil Eye was whis-
pered about; and what was still more strange, it was
not his wish that such rumors should be suppressed.
They had not yet, however, reached either Alice Good-
win or her parents. In the meantime the feelings of
the two families were once more suspended in a kind
of neutral opposition, each awaiting the other to make
260
THE EVIL EYE J OR,
the first advance. Poor Alice, however, appeared
rather declining in health and spirits, for, notwith-
standing her firm and generous defence of Charles
Lindsay, his brother, to a certain extent, succeeded in
shaking her confidence in his attachment. Her parents
frequently asked her the cause of her apparent melan-
choly, but she only gave them evasive replies, and
stated that she had not felt herself very well since
Henry Woodward’s last interview with her.
They now urged her to take exercise — against
which, indeed, she always had a constitutional repug-
nance—and not to sit so much in her own room as
she did; and in order to comply with their wishes in
this respect, she forced herself to walk a couple of
hours each day in the lawn, where she generally read
a book, for the purpose, if possible, of overcoming her
habitual melancholy. It was upon one of these occa-
sions that she saw the fortune-teller, Caterine Collins,
approach her, and as her spirits were unusually de-
pressed at the moment, she felt no inclination to enter
into any conversation with her. Naturally courteous,
however, and reluctant to give offence, she allowed the
woman to advance, especially as she could perceive
from the earnestness of her manner that she was anx-
ious to speak with her.
“Well, Cat erine/’ said she “I hope you are not
coming to tell my fortune to-day; I am not in spirits
to hear much of the future, be it good or bad. Will
you not go up to the house ? They will give you some-
thing to eat.”
“Thank you, Miss Alice, I will go up by and by;
but in the manetime, what fortune could any one tell
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
261
you but good fortune? There’s nothin’ else before
you; and if there is, I’m come to put you on your
guard against it, as I will, plaise goodness. I heard
what I’m goin’ to mention to you on good autority,
and, as I know it’s true, I think it’s but right you should
know of it, too.”
Alice immediately became agitated; but mingled
with that agitation was a natural wish — perhaps it
might be a pardonable curiosity, under the circum-
stances— to hear how what the woman had to disclose
could affect herself. Being nervous, restless, and
depressed, she was just in the very frame of mind to
receive such an impression as might be deeply preju-
dicial to the ease of her heart — perhaps her happiness,
and consequently her health.
“What is it that you think I should know, Cate-
rine ? ”
Caterine, who looked about her furtively, as if to
satisfy herself that there was no one present but them-
selves, said —
“ Now, Miss Goodwin, everything depends on
whether you’ll answer me one question truly, and you
need’nt be afeard to spake the truth to me.”
“Is it concerning myself? ”
“It is, Miss Goodwin, and another, too, but princi-
pally yourself.”
“ But what right have you, Caterine, to question me
upon my own affairs ? ”
“ No right, miss ; but I wish to prevent you from
harm.”
“I thank you for your good wishes, Caterine; but
what is it you would say ? ”
262
THE EVIL EYE | OB)
“Is it true, Miss Alice, that you and Mr. Woodward
are coortin*?”
“ It is not , Caterine,” replied Alice, uttering the dis-
avowal with a good deal of earnestness; “there is no
truth whatsoever in it; nothing can be more false and
groundless — I wonder how such a rumor could have
got abroad; it certainly could not proceed from Mr.
Woodward.”
“ It did not, indeed, Miss Alice ; but it did from his
brother, who, it seems, is very fond of him, and said he
was glad of it; but indeed, miss, it delights my heart
to hear that there is no truth in it. Mr. Woodward,
God save us! is no fit husband for any Christian
woman.”
“ Why so?” asked Alice, laboring under some vague
sense of alarm.
“Why, Heavenly Father 1 Miss Alice, sure it's well
known he has the Evil Eye ; it’s in the family upon his
mother’s side.”
“My God!” exclaimed Alice, who became instantly
as pale as death, “ if that be true, Caterine, it’s shock-
mg.
“ True,” replied Caterine ; “ did you never observe
his eyes ? ”
“Not particularly.”
“Did you remark that they’re of different colors?
that one of them is as black as the devil’s, and the
other a gray ? ”
“I never observed that,” replied Alice, who really
never had.
“Yes, and I could tell you more than that about
him ; ” proceeded Caterine ; they say he’s connected
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
263
wid what’s not good. Sure, when they got up a bon-
fire for him, does’nt all the world know that it was put
out by a shower of blood ; and that’s a proof that he’s
a favorite wid the devil and the fairies.”
“ I believe,” replied Alice, “ that there is no doubt
whatsoever about the shower of blood ; but I should not
consider that fact as proof that he is a favorite with
either the devil or the fairies.”
“ Ay, but you don’t know, miss, that that's the way
they have of showin’ it. Then, ever since he has come
to the country, Bet Harramount, the witch, in the
shape of a white hare, is come back to the neighbor-
hood, and the Shawn- dhinne-dhuv is now seen about
the Haunted House oftener than he ever was. It’s
well known that the white hare plays about Mr. Wood-
ward like a dog, and that she goes into the Haunted
House, too, every night.”
“And what brought you to tell me all this, Cate-
rine?” asked Alice.
“ Why, miss, to put you on your guard ; afraid you
might get married to a man that, maybe, has sould
himself to the devil. It’s well known by his father’s
sarvints that he’s out two or three nights in the week,
and nobody can tell where he goes.”
“ Are the servants your authority for that ? ”
“Indeed they are ; Barney Casey knows a great
deal about him. Now, Miss Alice, you’re on your
guard ; have nothing to do wid him as a sweetheart ;
but above all things don’t fall out wid him, bekaise,
if you did, as sure as I stand here he’d wither you off
o* the earth. And above all things again watch his
eyes ; I mane the black one, but don’t seem to do so ;
264
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
and now good by, miss ; I’ve done my duty to
you.”
“But about his brother, Caterine? He has not the
Evil Eye, I hope ? ”
“ Ah, miss, I could tell you something about him,
too. They’re a bad graft, these Lindsays ; there’s Mr.
Charles, and its whispered he’s goin’ to make a fool
of himself and disgrace his family.”
“ How is that, Caterine ? ”
“I don’t know rightly; I didn’t hear the particu-
lars ; but I’ll be on the watch, and when I can I’ll let
you know it.”
“ Take no such trouble, Caterine,” said Alice ; “ I
assure you I feel no personal interest whatsoever in,
any of the family except Miss Lindsay. Leave me,
Caterine, leave me; I must finish my book: but I
thank you for your good wishes. Go up, and say I
desired them to give you your dinner,”
Alice soon felt herself obliged to follow ; and it was
indeed, with some difficulty she was able to reach the
house. Her heart got deadly sick ; an extraordinary
weakness came over her ; she became alarmed, fright-
ened, distressed ; her knees tottered under her, and
she felt on reaching the hall-door as if she were about
to faint. Her imagination became disturbed ; a heavy,
depressing gloom descended upon her, and darkened
her flexible and unresisting spirit, as if it were the
forebodings of some terrible calamity. The diabolical
wretch who had just left her took care to perform her
base and heartless task with double effect. It was not
merely the information she had communicated concern-
ing Woodward that affected her so deeply, although she
THE BLACK SPECTBE.
265
as it were, in tne inmost recesses of her soul, that
it was true, but that which went at the moment with
greater agony to her heart was the allusion to Charles
Lindsay, and the corroboration it afforded to the truth
of the charge which Woodward had brought, with so
much apparent reluctance, against him — the charge
of having neglected and abandoned her for another,
and that other a person of low birth, who, by relin-
quishing her virtue, had contrived to gain such an art-
ful and selfish ascendency over him. How could she
doubt it ? Here was a woman ignorant of the com-
munication Woodward had made to her, — ignorant of
the vows that had passed between them, — who had
heard of his falsehood and profligacy, and who never
would have alluded to them had she not been ques-
tioned. So far, then, Woodward, she felt, stood with-
out blame with respect to his brother. And how could
she suspect Caterine to have been the agent of that
gentleman, when she knew now that her object in
seeking an interview with herself was to put her on
her guard against him? The case was clear, and, to
her, dreadful as it was clear. She felt herself now,
however, in that mood which no sympathy can allevi-
ate or remove. She experienced no wish to communi-
cate her distress to any one, but resolved to preserve
the secret in her own bosom. Here, then, was she
left to suffer the weight of a twofold affliction — the
dread of Woodward, with which Caterine’s intelligence
had filled her heart, feeble, and timid, and credulous
as it was upon any subject of a superstitious tendency
— and the still deeper distress which weighed her
down in consequence of Charles Lindsay’s treachery
12
266
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
and dishonor. Alas! poor Alice’s heart was not one
for struggles, nurtured and bred up, as she had been,
in the very wildest spirit of superstition, in all its
degrading ramifications. There was something in the
imagination and constitution of the poor girl which
generated and cherished the superstitions which pre-
vailed in her day. She could not throw them off her
mind, but dwelt upon them with a kind of fearful
pleasure which we can understand from those which
operated upon our own fancies in our youth. These
prepare the mind for the reception of a thousand fictions
concerning ghosts, witches, fairies, apparitions, and a
long catalogue of nonsense, equally disgusting and
repugnant to leason and common-sense. It is not
surprising, then, that poor Alice’s mind on that night
was filled with phantasms of the most feverish and
excited description. As far as she could, however, she
concealed her agitation from her parents, but not so
successfully as to prevent them from perceiving that
siie was laboring under some extraordinary and un-
accountable depression. This unfortunately was too
true. On that night she experienced a series of such
wild and lrightful visions as, when she was startled
out of them, made her dread to go again to sleep.
The white hare, the Black Spectre, but, above all, the
fearful expression her alarmed fancy had felt in Wood-
ward s eye, which was nvited upon her, she thought,
with a baleful and demoniacal glance, that pierced and
prostrated her spirit with its malignant and supernatural
power ; all these terrible images, with fifty other
incoherent chimeras, flitted before the wretched girl’s
imagination during her feverish slumbers. Towards
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
267
morning she sank into a somewhat calmer state of rest,
but still with occasional and flitting glimpses of the
same horrors.
So far the master-spirit had set, at least, a portion
of his machinery in motion, in order to work out his
purposes ; but we shall find that his designs became
deeper and blacker as he proceeded in his course.
In a few days Alice became somewhat relieved from
the influence of these tumultuous and spectral phantasms
which had run riot in her terrified fancy ; and this was
principally owing to the circumstance of her having
prevailed upon one of the maid-servants, a girl named
Bessy Mangan, Barney Casey’s sweetheart, to sleep
privately in her room. The attack had reduced and
enfeebled her very much, but still she was slightly
improved and somewhat relieved in her spirits. The
shock, and the nervous paroxysm that accompanied it,
had nearly passed away, and she was now anxious, for
the sake of her health, to take as much exercise as
she could. Still — still — the two leading thoughts
would occur to her — that of Charles’s treachery, and
the terrible gift or curse, possessed by his brother
Henry ; and once more her heart would sink to the
uttermost depths of distress and terror. The super-
natural, however, in the course of a little time, prevailed,
as it was only reasonable to suppose it would in
such a temperament as hers ; and as her mind pro-
ceeded to struggle with the two impressions, she felt
that her dread of Woodward was gradually gaining
upon and absorbing the other. Her fear of him, con-
sequently, wras deadly; that terrible and malignant
eye — notwithstanding its dark brilliancy and awful
268
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
beauty, alas! too, significant of its power — was con-
stantly before her imagination, gazing upon her with a
fixed, determined, and mysterious look, accompanied
a smile of triumph, which deepened its satanity , if
we may be allowed to coin a word, at every glance.
It was not mere antipathy she felt for him now, but
dread and horror. How, then, was she to act? She
had pledged herself to receive his visits upon one con-
dition, and to permit him to continue a friendly
intimacy altogether apart from love. How, then,
could she violate her word, or treat him with rudeness,
who had always not only treated her with courtesy,
but expressed an interest in her happiness which she
had every reason to believe sincere? Thus was the
poor girl entangled with difficulties on every side
without possessing any means of releasing herself
from them.
In a few days after this she was sitting in the draw-
ing-room when Woodward unexpectedly entered it,
and saluted her with great apparent good feeling and
politeness. The surprise caused her to become as pale
as death ; she felt her very limbs relax with weakness,
and her breath for a few moments taken away from
her ; she looked upon him with an expression of alarm
and fear which she could not conceal, and it was with
some difficulty that she was at length enabled to speak.
“ You will excuse me, sir,” she said, f< for not ris-
ing ; I am very nervous, and have not been at all well
for the last week or upwards.”
“Indeed, Miss Goodwin, I am very sorry to hear
this ; I trust it is only a mere passing indisposition ;
I think the complaint is general, for my sister has also
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
269
been ailing much the same way for the last few days.
Don’t be alarmed, Miss Goodwin, it is nothing, and
won’t signify. You should mingle more in society ;
you keep too much alone.”
“ But I do not relish society ; I never mingle in it
that I don’t feel exhausted and depressed.”
“ That certainly makes a serious difference ; in such
a case, then, I imagine society would do you more harm
than good. I should not have intruded on you had
not your mother requested me to come up and try to
raise your spirits — a pleasure which I would gladly
enjoy if I could.”
“I am much obliged to you, Mr. Woodward,” she
replied ; “ I hope a short time will remove this un-
usual depression, and I must only have a little pa-
tience.”
“ Just so, Miss Goodwin ; a little time, as you say,
will restore you to yourself.’’
Now all this was very courteous and kind of Mr.
Woodward, and might have raised her spirits were it
not for the eye . From the moment he entered the
apartment that dreaded instrument of his power was
fixed upon her with a look so concentrated, piercing
and intense, that it gave a character of abstraction to
all he said. In other words, she felt as if his language
proceeded out of his lips unconsciously, and that some
mysterious purport of his heart emanated from his eye.
It appeared to her that he was thinking of something
secret connected with herself, to which his words bore
no reference whatsoever. She neither knew what to
do nor what to say under this terrible and permeating
gaze ; it was in vain she turned away her eyes ; she
270
THE EVIL EYE ) OB,
knew — she felt — that his was upon her — that it was
drinking up her strength — that, in fact, the evil influ-
ence was mingling with and debilitating her frame, and
operating upon all her faculties. There was still, how-
ever, a worse symptom, and one which gave that gaze
a significance that appalled her — this was the smile of
triumph which she had seen playing coldly but tri-
umphantly about his lips in her dreams. That smile
was the feather to the arrow that pierced her, and that
was piercing her at that moment — it was the cold but
glittering glance of the rattlesnake, when breaking
down by the poison of his eyes the power of resistance
in his devoted victim.
" Mr. Woodward,” said she, after a long pause, “I
am unable to bear an interview — have the goodness
to withdraw, and when you go down stairs send my
mother up. Excuse me, sir ; but you must perceive
how very ill I have got within a few minutes.”
“I regret it, exceedingly, Miss Goodwin. I had
something to mention to you respecting that unfortunate
brother of mine ; but you are not now in a condition to
hear anything unpleasant and distressing; and, indeed,
it is better, I think, now that I observe your state of
health, that you should not even wish to hear it.”
“ I never do wish to hear it, sir ; but have the good-
ness to leave me.”
“ I trust my next visit will find you better. Good-
by, Miss Goodwin! I shall send your mother up.”
He withdrew very much after the etiquette of a
subject leaving a crowned head — that is, nearly back-
wards ; but when he came to the door he paused a
moment, turning upon her one long, dark, inexplicable
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
271
gaze, whilst the muscles of his hard, stony mouth were
drawn back with a smile that contained in its expression
a spirit that might be considered complacent, but which
Alice interpreted as derisive and diabolical.
“ Mamma,” said she, when her mother joined her,
4i I am ill, and I know not what to do.”
"I know you are not well, my love,” replied her
mother, “but I hope you’re not worse ; how do you
feel?”
“Quite feeble, utterly without strength, and dread-
fully depressed and alarmed.”
“ Alarmed, Alley ! Why, what could alarm you,
Does not Mr. Woodward always conduct himself as a
gentleman ? ”
“ He does, ma’am ; but, nevertheless, I never wish
to see him again.”
“Why, dear me! Alice, is it reasonable that you
should give way to such a prejudice against that gentle-
man ? Indeed I believe you absolutely hate him.”
“ It is not personal hatred, mother ; it is fear and
terror. I do not, as I said, hate the man personally,
because I must say that he never deserved such a feel-
ing at my hands, but, in the meantime, the sight of
him sickens me almost to death. I am not aware that
he is or ever was immoral, or guilty of any act that
ought to expose him to hatred ; but, notwithstanding
that, my impression, when conversing with him, is, that
I am in the presence of an evil spirit, or of a man who
is possessed of one. Mamma, he must be excluded the
house, and forbidden to visit here again, otherwise my
health will be destroyed, and my very life placed in
danger.*
272
THE ETHi EYE J OR,
“My dear Alice, that is all very strange,” replied
her mother, now considerably alarmed at her language,
but still more so at her appearance ; “ why, God bless
me, child! now that I look at you, you certainly do
seem to be in an extraordinary state. You are the
color of death, and then you are all trembling ! Why
is this, I ask again ? ”
“The presence of that man/’ she replied, in a faint
voice ; “ his presence simply and solely. That is what
has left me as you see me.”
“Well, Alice, it is very odd and very strange, and
it seems as if there was some mystery in it. I will, how-
ever, talk to your father about it, and we will hear
what he shall say. In the meantime, raise your spirits,
and don’t be so easily alarmed. You are naturally
nervous and timid, and this is merely a poor, cowardly
conceit that has got into your head ; but your own good
sense will soon show you the folly of yielding to a mere
fancy. Amuse yourself on the spinet, and play some
brisk music that will cheer your spirits ; it is nothing
but the spleen.”
Woodward, in the meantime, having effected his ob-
ject, and satisfied himself of his power over Alice, pur-
sued his way home in high spirits. To his utter aston-
ishment, however, he found the family in an uproar,
the cause of which we will explain. His mother, whose
temper neither she herself nor any other human being,
unless her husband, when provoked too far, could keep
under anything like decent restraint, had got into a
passion, while he, Woodward, was making his visit ;
and while in a blaze of resentment against the Good-
wins she disclosed the secret of his rejection by Alice,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
273
and dwelt with bitter indignation upon the attachment
she had avowed for Charles — a secret which Henry
had most dishonorably intrusted to her, but which, as
the reader sees, she had neither temper nor principle to
keep.
On entering the house he found his mother and step-
father at high feud. The brows of the latter were knit,
as was always the case when he found himself bent on
mischief. He was calm, however, which was another
bad sign, for in him the old adage was completely re-
versed, “ After a storm comes a calm,” whilst in his
case it uniformly preceded it.
Woodward looked about him with amazement ; his
stepfather was standing with his back to the parlor fire,
holding the skirts of his coat divided behind, whilst his
wife stood opposite to him, her naturally red face still
flaming more deeply with a tornado of indignation.
“And you dare to tell me that you’ll consent to
Charles’s marriage with her ? ”
“ Yes, my dear, I dare to tell you so. You had no ob-
jection that she should marry your son Harry there.
You forgot or dissembled your scorn and resentment
against her, when you thought you could make a catch
of her property : a very candid and disinterested pro-
ceeding on your part. Well, what’s the consequence?
That’s all knocked up ; the girl won’t have him, be-
cause she is attached to his brother, and because his
brother is attached to her. Now, that is just as it
ought to be, and, please God, we’ll have them married.
And I now take the liberty of asking you both to the
wedding.”
u Lindsay, you’re an offensive old dog, sir.”
12*
274
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
“I might retort the compliment by changing the
sex, my dear,” he replied, laughing and nodding at
her, with a face, from the nose down, rather benevo-
lent than otherwise, but still the knit was between
the brows.
“ Lindsay, you're an unmanly villain, and a coward
to boot, or you would’nt use such language to a wo-
man.”
“ Not to a woman ; but I’m sometimes forced to do
so to a termagant.”
“What’s the cause of all this?” inquired Wood-
ward; “upon my honor, the language I hear is very
surprising, as coming from a justice of quorum and
his lady. Fie ! fie ! I am ashamed of you both. In
what did it originate ? ”
“Why,, the fact is, Harry, she has told us that Alice
Goodwin, in the most decided manner, has rejected
your addresses, and confided to you an avowal of her
attachment to Charles here. Now, when I heard this,
I felt highly delighted at it, and said we should have
them married, and so we shall. Then your mother,
in flaming indignation at this, enacted Vesuvius in a
blaze, and there she stands ready for another eruption.”
“ I wish you were in the bottom of Vesuvius, Lind-
say ; but you shall not have your way, notwithstand-
ing.”
“ So I am, my dear, every day in my life. I have a
little volcano of my own here, under the very roof
with me ; and I tell that volcano that I will have my
own way in this matter, and that this marriage must
take place if Alice is willing ; and I’m sure she is, the
dear girl”
THE BLACK SPECTRE. 275
^Sir,” sai<5r Woodward, addressing his stepfather
ca<ml7> I feel a good deal surprised that a thinking
man, oC a naturally sedate temper, as you are ”
“ Yes, H my, I am so.”
“ Of such a sedate temper as you are, should not
recollect the possibility of my mother, who sometimes
takes up impressions hastily, if not erroneously — as
the calmest of us too frequently do — of my mother, I
say, considerably mistaking and unconsciously misre-
presenting the circumstances I mentioned to her.”
“ But why did you mention them exclusively to
her ? ” asked Charles ; “ I cannot see your object in
concealing them from the rest of the family, especially
from those who were most interested in the knowledge
of them.”
“ Simply because I had nothing actually decisive to
mention. I principally confined myself to my own
inferences, which unfortunately my mother, with her
eager habit of snatching at conclusions, in this instance,
mistook for facts. I shall satisfy you, Charles, of this,
and of other matters besides ; but we will require
time.”
“I assure you, Harry, that if your mother does not
keep her temper within some reasonable bounds, either
she or I shall leave the house — and I am not likely to
be the man to do so.”
“This house is mine, Lindsay, and the property is
mine — both in my own right ; and you and your fam-
ily may leave it as soon as you like,”
“But you forget that I have property enough to
support myself and them independently of you.”
" Wherever you go, my dear papa,” said Maria,
276
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
bursting into tears, “I will accompany you. I admit
it is a painful determination for a daughter to be forced
to make against her own mother ; but it is one I should
have died sooner than come to if she had ever treated
me as a daughter.”
Her good-natured and affectionate father took her in
his arms and kissed her.
“My own darling Maria,” said he, “I could forgive
your mother all her domestic violence and outrage had
she acted with the affection of a mother towards you.
She has a heart only for one individual, and that is her
son Harry, there.”
“ As for me,” said Charles, “ wherever my father
goes, I, too, my dear Maria, will accompany him.,,
“ You hear that, Harry,” said Mrs. Lindsay ; " you
see now they are in a league — in a conspiracy against
your happiness and mine ; — but think of their selfish-
ness and cunning — it is the girl’s property they
want.”
“ Perish the property,” exclaimed Charles, indig-
nantly. “ I will now mention a fact which I have
hitherto never breathed — Alice Goodwin and I were,
I may say, betrothed before ever she dreamed of pos-
sessing it ; and if I held back since that time, I did
so from the principles of a man of honor, lest she
might imagine that I renewed our intimacy, after the
alienations of the families, from mercenary motives.”
“You’re a fine fellow, Charley,” said his father:
“you’re a fine fellow, and you deserve her and* her
property, if it was ten times what it is.”
“ Don’t you be dibheartened, Harry,” said hia
mother; “I have a better wife in my eye for you —
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
277
a wife that will bring you connection, and that is Lord
Bilberry’s niece.”
“ Yes,” said her husband, ironically ; “ a man with
fifty thousand acres of mountain. Faith, Harry, you
will be a happy man , and may feed on bilberries all
your life ; but upon little else, unless you can pick the
spare bones of an old maid who has run herself into an
asthma in the unsuccessful sport of husband-hunting.”
“ She will inherit her uncle’s property, Lindsay,”
“Yes, she will inherit the heather and the bilberries.
But go in God’s name ; work out that project ; there
is nobody here disposed to hinder you. Only I hope
you will ask us to the wedding.”
“Mother,” said Woodward, affectionately taking her
hand and giving it a significant squeeze ; “ mother
you must excuse me for what I am about to say ” —
another squeeze, and a glance which she very well un-
derstood— “upon my honor, mother, I must give my
verdict for the present ” — another squeeze — “ against
you. You must be kinder to Charles and Maria, and
you must not treat my father with such disrespect and
harshness. I wish to become a mediator and pacifica-
tor in the family. As for myself, I care not about
property ; I wish to marry the girl I love. I am not,
I trust, a selfish man — God forbid I should ; but for
the present" — another squeeze — “let me entreat you all
to forget this little breeze ; urge nothing ; precipitate
nothing ; a little time, perhaps, if we have patience to
wait, may restore us all, and everything else we are
quarrelling about, to peace and happiness. Charles, I
wish to have some conversation with you.”
“ Ilarry,” said Lindsay, “I am glad you have spoken
278
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
as you did ; your words do you credit, and your con-
duct is manly and honorable.”
“ I do believe, indeed,” said his unsuspecting brother,
“ that the best thing we could all do would be to put
ourselves under his guidance ; as for my part I am
perfectly willing to do so, Harry. After hearing the
good sense you have just uttered, I think you are
entitled to every confidence from us all.”
“You overrate my abilities, Charles ; but not, I
hope, the goodness of an affectionate heart that loves
you all. Charles, come with me for a few minutes ;
and, mother, do you also expect a private lecture from
me by and by ?”
“Well,” said the mother, “I suppose I must. If I
were only spoken to kindly I could feel as kindly ;
however, let there be an end to this quarrel as the boy
says, and I, as well as Charles, shall be guided by his
advice.”
“Now, Charles,” said he, when they had gone to
another room, “ you know what kind of a woman my
mother is ; and the truth is, until matters get settled,
we will have occasion for a good deal of patience with
her ; let us, therefore, exercise it. Like most hot-
tempered women, she has a bad memory, and wrests
the purport of words too frequently to a wrong mean-
ing. In the account she gave you of what occurred
between Alice Goodwin and me, she entirely did.”
“But what did occur between Alice Goodwin and
you, Harry ? ”
“A very few words will tell it. She admitted that
there certainly has been an attachment between you
and her, but — that — that — I will not exactly repeat
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
279
her words, although I don’t say they were meant offen-
sively ; but it amounted to this, that she now filled a
different position in the eyes of the world ; that she
would rather the matter were not renewed ; that if
her mind had changed, she had good reason for justi-
fying the change ; and when I, finding that I had no
chance myself, began to plead for you, she hinted to
me that, in consequence of the feud that had taken
place between the families, and the slanders that my
mother had cast upon her honor and principles, she
was resolved to have no further connection whatsoever
with any one of the blood ; her affections were not
now her own.”
“Alas, Harry!” said Charles, “how few can bear
the effects of unexpected prosperity. When she and
I were both comparatively poor, she was all affection ;
but now that she has become an heiress, see what a
change there is! Well, Harry, if she can be faithless
and selfish, I can be both resolute and proud. She
shall have no further trouble from me on that subject ;
only I must say, I don’t envy her conscience.”
“Don’t be rash, Charles — we should judge of her
charitably and generously ; I don’t think myself she
is so much to blame. O’Connor Fardour, or Farther,
or whatever you call him ”
“O, Ferdora!”
“ Yes, Ferdora ; that fellow is at the bottom of it
all ; he has plied her well during the estrangement,
and to some purpose. I never visit them that I don’t
find him alone with her. He is, besides, both frank
and handsome, with a good deal of dash and insinua-
tion in his address and manner, and, besides, a good
280
THE EVIL EYE J OR,
property, I am told. But, in the meantime, I have a
favor to ask of you ; that is, if you think you can
place confidence in me.”
“Every confidence, my dear Harry,” said Charles,
clasping his hand warmly; “every confidence. As I
said before, you shall be my guide and adviser.”
“Thank you, Charles. I may make mistakes, but
I shall do all for the best. Well, then, will you leave
O’Connor to me ? If you do, I shall not promise much,
because I am not master of future events ; but this
is all I ask of you — yes, there is one thing more — to
hold aloof from her and her family for a time.”
“After what you have told me, Harry, that is an
unnecessary request now ; but as for O’Connor, I think
he ought to be left to myself.”
“ And so he shall in due time ; but I must place him in
a proper position for you first — a thing which you could
not do now, nor even attempt to do, without meanness.
Are you, then, satisfied to leave this matter in my
hands, and to remain quite until I shall bid you act ? ”
“Perfectly, Harry, perfectly ; I shall be guided by
you in everything.”
“ Well, now, Charley, we will have a double triumph
soon, I hope. All is not lost that’s in danger. The
poor girl is surrounded by a clique. Priests have inter-
fered. Her parents, you know, are Catholics ; so, you
know, is O’Connor. Poor Alice, you know, too, is any-
thing but adamant. And now I will say no more ;
but in requital for what I have said, go and send our
patient mild mamma, to me. I really must endeavor
to try something with her, in order to save us all from
this kind of life she is leading us.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
28 i
When his mother entered he assumed the superior
and man of authority ; his countenance exhibited some-
thing unpleasant, and in a decisive and rather author-
itative tone he said, —
“ Mother, will you be pleased to take a seat ? ”
u You are angry with me, Harry — I know you are ;
but I could not restrain my feelings, nor keep your
secret, when I thought of their insolence in requiting
you — you , to whom the property would and ought to
have come 77
6i Pray, ma’am, take a seat.”
She sat down — anxious, but already subdued, as was
evident by her manner.
“I,” proceeded her son, “to whom the property
would and ought to have come — and I, to whom it
will come — — 77
u But are you sure of that ? ”
“ Not, I am afraid, while I have such a mother as
you are — a woman in whom I can place no confidence
with safety. Why did you betray me to this silly
family ? ”
“ Because, as I said before, I could not help it ; my
temper got the better of me.”
“ Ay, and I fear it will always get the better of you.
I could now give you very agreeable information as to
that property and the piece of curds that possesses it ;
but then, as I said, there is no placing any confidence
in a woman of your temper.”
“ If the property is concerned, Harry, you may
depend your life on me. So help me, God, if ever I
will betray you again.”
u Well, that’s a solemn asseveration, and I will
282
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
depend on it ; but if you betray me to this family the
property is lost to us and our heirs forever.”
“Do not fear me ; I have taken the oath.”
“ Well, then, listen ; if you could understand Latin,
I would give you a quotation from a line of Virgil —
1 H«*eret lateri lethalis arundo.’
The girl’s doomed — subdued — overcome ; I am in
the process of killing her.”
“ Of killing her ! My God, how ? not by violence,
surely — that, you know, would not be safe.”
“ I know that ; no — not by violence, but by the
power of this dark eye that you see in my head.”
“ Heavenly Father ! then you possess it ? ”
“ I do ; and if I were never to see her again I don’t
think she could recover ; she will merely wither away
very gently, and in due time will disappear without
issue — and then, whose is the property ? ”
“ As to that, you know there can be no doubt about
it; there is the will — the stupid will, by which she
got it.”
“I shall see her again, however — nay, in spite of
them I shall see her time after time, and shall give her
the Evil Eye, until the scene closes— until I attend
her funeral.”
“ My mind is somewhat at ease,” replied his mother ;
“ because I was alarmed lest you should have had
recourse to any process that might have brought you
within the operation of the law.”
“ Make your mind easy on that point, my dear
mother. No law compels a man to close his eyes ; a
cat, you know, may look on a king ; but of one thing
you may be certain — she dies — the victim is mine.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
283
u One thing is certain/7 replied his mother, u that if
she and Charles should marry, you are ousted from
the property.77
“Don7t trouble yourself about such a contingency;
I have taken steps which I think will prevent that. I
speak in a double sense ; but if I find, after all, that
they are likely to fail, I shall take others still more
decisive.77
CHAPTER XIII.
WOODWARD IS DISCARDED FROM MR. GOODWIN7S FAMILY.
OTHER PARTICULARS OF IMPORTANCE.
The reader sees that Harry Woodward, having ascer-
tained the mutual affection which subsisted between
his brother and Alice, resorted to such measures as
were likely to place obstructions in the way of their
meeting, which neither of them was likely to remove.
He felt, now, satisfied that Charles, in consequence of the
malignant fabrications which he himself had palmed
upon him for truth, would, most assuredly, make
no further attempt to renew their former intimacy.
When Alice, too, stated to him, that if she married not
Charles, whether he proved worthy of her or other-
wise, she would never marry another, he felt that
she was unconsciously advancing the diabolical plana
which he was projecting and attempting to carry into
effect. If she died without marriage or without issue,
the property, at her death, according to his uncle7s will,
reverted, as we have said, to himself. His object,
therefore, was to expedite her demise with as little
284
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
delay as possible, in order that he might become master
of the patrimony. With this generous principle for hia
guide, he made it a point to visit the Goodwins, and tc
see Alice as often as was compatible with the ordinary
usages of society. Had Caterine Collins not put the
unsuspecting and timid girl on her guard against the
influence of the Evil Eye, as possessed by Woodward,
for whom she acted as agent in the business, that poor
girl would not have felt anything like what this dia-
bolical piece of information occasioned her to experi-
ence. Prom the moment she heard it her active
imagination took the alarm. An unaccountable terror
seized upon her; she felt as if some dark doom was
impending over her. It was in a peculiar degree the
age of superstition ; and the terrible influence of the
Evil Eye was one not only of the commonest, but the most
formidable of them all. The dark, significant, but
sinister gaze of Harry Woodward was, she thought,
forever upon her. She could not withdraw her
imagination from it. It haunted her ; it was fixed
upon her, accompanied by a dreadful smile of apparent
con tesy, but of a malignity which she felt as if it pene-
trated her whole being, both corporeal and mental.
She hurried to bed at night with a hope that sleep
might exclude the frightful vision which followed her ;
but, alas ! even sleep was no security to her against its
terrors. It was now that in her distempered dreams
imagination ran riot. She fled from him, or attempted
to fly, but feared that she had not strength for the
effort ; he followed her, she thought, and when she
covered her face with her hands in order to avoid the
sight of him, she felt him seizing her by the wrists,
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
285
and removing her arms in order that he might pour
the malignant influence of that terrible eye into her
very heart. From these scenes she generally awoke
with a shriek, when her maid, Sarah Sullivan, who of
late slept in the same room with her, was obliged to
come to her assistance, and soothe and sustain her as
well as she could. She then lay for hours in such
a state of terror and agitation as cannot be de-
scribed, until near morning, when she generally fell
into something like sound sleep. In fact, her waking
moments were easy when compared with the persecu-
tion which the spirit of that man inflicted on her during
her broken and restless slumbers. The dreadful eye,
as it rested upon her, seemed as if its powerful but
killing expression proceeded from the heart and spirit
of some demon who sought to wither her by slow de-
grees out of life ; and she felt that he was succeeding
in his murderous and merciless object. It is not to be
wondered at, then, that she dreaded the state of sleep
more than any other condition of existence in which
she could find herself. As night, and the hour of re-
tiring to what ought to have been a refreshing rest
returned, her alarms also returned with tenfold terror ;
and such was her apprehension of those fiend-like and
nocturnal visits, that she entreated Sarah Sullivan to
sleep with and awaken her the moment she heard her
groan or shriek. Our readers may perceive that the
innocent girl’s tenure of life could not be a long one
under such strange and unexampled sufferings.
The state of her health now occasioned her parents
to feel the most serious alarm. She herself disclosed
to them the fearful intelligence which had been com-
286
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
municated to her in such a friendly spirit by Caterine
Collins, to wit, that Harry Woodward possessed the
terrible power of the Evil Eye, and that she felt he was
attempting to kill her by it ; adding, that from the state
of her mind and health she feared he had succeeded,
and that certainly, if he were permitted to continue
his visits, she knew that she could not long survive.
“ I remember well/7 said her father, “ that when he
was a boy of about six or seven he was called, by way
of nickname, Harry na Suil Gloir ; and, indeed, the
common report always has been that his mother pos-
sesses the evil eye against cattle, when she wishes to
injure any neighbor that doesn’t treat her with what
she thinks to be proper and becoming respect. If her
son Harry has the accursed gift it comes from her
blood ; they say there is some old story connected with
her family that accounts for it, but, as I never heard it,
I don’t know what it is.”
“ I agree with you,” said his wife ; “ if he has it at
all, he may thank her for it. There is, I fear, some
bad principle in her; for surely the fierceness and
overbearing spirit of her pride, and the malignant
calumnies of her foul and scandalous tongue, can
proceed from nothing that’s good.”
“Well, Martha,” observed her husband, “if the
devilish and unaccountable hatred which she bears her
fellow-creatures is violent, she has the satisfaction of
knowing — and well she knows it — that it is returned
to her with compound interest : I question if the devil
himself is detested with such a venomous feeling as she
is. Her own husband and children cannot like a bone
in her skin.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
287
“And yet/7 replied Alice, “you would have made
this woman my mother-in-law ! Do you think it was
from any regard to us that she came here to propose a
marriage between her son and me ? No, indeed, dear
papa, it was for the purpose of securing the property,
which her brother left me, for him who would other-
wise have inherited it. And do you imagine for a
moment that Harry Woodward himself ever felt one
emotion of personal affection for me ? If you do you
are quite mistaken. I knew and felt all along — even
while he was assuming the part of the lover — that he
actually hated, not only me, but every one of the
family. His object was the property, and so was that
of his mother ; but I absolve all the other members of
the family from any knowledge of, or participation in,
their schemes. As it is, if you wish to see yourselves
childless you will allow his visits, or, if not, you will
never permit his presence under this roof again. I
fear, however, that it is now too late — you see that I
am already on the brink of the grave, in consequence
of the evil influence which the dreadful villain has
gained over me, and, indeed/7 she added, bursting into
tears, “ I have, at this moment, no hopes of recovery.
My strength, both bodily and mental, is gone — I am
as weak as an infant, and I see nothing before me but
an early grave. I have also other sorrows, but even
to you I will not disclose them — perhaps on my bed of
death I may.77
The last words were scarcely uttered when she
fainted. Her parents were dreadfully alarmed — in a
moment both were in tears, but they immediately
summoned assistance. Sarah Sullivan made her
288
TI1E EVIL EVE; OR,
appearance, attended by others of the servants ; the
usual remedies were applied, and in the course of about
ten or twelve minutes she recovered, and was weeping
in a paroxysm bordering on despair when Harry
Woodward entered the room. This was too much for
the unfortunate girl. It seemed like setting the seal
of death to her fate. She caught a glimpse of him.
There was the malignant, but derisive look — one which
he meant to be courteous, but which the bitter feeling
within him overshadowed with the gloomy triumph of
an evil spirit. She placed her hands over her eyes,
gave one loud shriek, and immediately fell into strong
convulsions.
“ Good heavens!” exclaimed Woodward, “what is
the matter with Miss Goodwin ? I am sincerely sorry
to see this. Is not her health good ? ”
“Pray, sir,” leplied her father, “how did you come
to obtrude yourself here at such a moment of domestic
distress ? ”
“Why, my dear sir,” replied Woodward, “of course
you must know that I was ignorant of all this. The
hall-door was open, as it generally is, so was the door
of this room, and I came in accordingly, as I have
been in the habit of doing, to pay my respects to the
family.”
“ Yes,” said Mr Goodwin, “ the hall-door is gener-
ally open, but it shall not be so in future. Come out
of the room, Mr. Woodward; your presence is not re-
quired here.”
“ 0, certainly,” replied Woodward, “ I feel that ;
and I assure you I would not by any means have
intruded had I known that Miss Goodwin was unwell.”
THIS BLACK SPECTRE.
289
“She is unwell/’ responded her father; “very
unwell; unwell unto death, I fear. And now, Mr.
Woodward,” he proceeded, when they had reached the
hall, “ I beg to state peremptorily and decidedly that
all intimacy and intercourse between you arid our
family must cease from this hour. You visit here no
more.”
“ This is very strange language, Mr. Goodwin,”
replied the other, “ and I think, as between two gentle-
men, I am entitled to an explanation. I received the
permission of yourself, your lady, and your daughter
to visit here. I am not conscious of having done any-
thing unbecoming a gentleman, that could or ought to
deprive me of a privilege which I looked upon as an
honor.”
“Well, then,” replied her father, “look into your
own conscience, and perhaps you will find the necessary
explanation there. I am master of my own house
and my own motions, and now I beg you instantly to
withdraw, and to consider this your last visit here.”
“ May I not be permitted to call to-morrow to in-
quire after Miss Goodwin’s health ? ”
“ Assuredly not.”
“ Nor to send a messenger ? ”
“ By no means ; and now, sir, withdraw ; I must go
in to my daughter, till I see what can be done for her.
or whether anything can or not.”
Harry Woodward looked upon him steadily for a
time, and the old man felt as if his very strength was
becoming relaxed; a sense of faintness and terror
came over him, and, as Woodward took his departure
in silence, the father of Alice began to abandon all
18
290
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
hopes of her recovery. He himself felt the effects of
the mysterious gaze which Woodward had fastened on
him, and entered the room, conscious of the fatal power
of the Evil Eye.
Fit after fit succeeded each other for the space of, at
least, an hour and a half, after which they ceased, but
left her in such a state of weakness and terror that she
might be said,' at that moment, to hover between life
and death. She was carried in her distracted father’s
arms to bed, and after they had composed her as well
as they could, her father said, —
“ My darling child, you may now summon strength
and courage ; that man, that bad man, will never come
under this roof again. I have finally settled the point,
and you have nothing further now, nor anything worse,
to dread from him. I have given the villain his nunc
dimittis once and forever, and you will never see him
more.”
“But I fear, papa,” she replied, feebly, “that, as I
said before, it is now too late. I feel that he has kill-
ed me. I know not how I will pass this night. I dread
the hours of sleep above all conditions of my unhappy
existence. 0, no wonder that the entrance of that
man-demon to our house should be heralded by the
storms and hurricanes of heaven, and that the terrible
fury of the elements, as indicative of the Almighty’s
anger, should mark his introduction to our family.
Then the prodigy which took place when the bonfires
were lighted to welcome his accursed return — the show-
er of blood ! O, may God support me, and, above all
things, banish him from my dreams ! Still, I feel some
relief by the knowledge that he is not to oovne here
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
291
again. Yes, I feel that it relieves me ; but, alas ! 1
fear that even the consciousness of that cannot prevent
the awful impression that I think I am near death.”
“ No, darling,” replied her mother, “ don’t allow that
thought to gain upon you. We’ll get a fairy-man or a
fairy-woman, because they know the best remedies
against everything of that kind, when a common leech
or chirurgeon can do nothing.”
“No,” replied her father, “I will allow nothing of
the kind under this roof. It’s not a safe thing to have
dealings with such people. We know that the Church
forbids it. Perhaps it’s a witch we might stumble on ;
and would it not be a frightful thing to see one of those
who are leagued with the devil bringing their uncon-
secrated breaths about us this week, as it were, and,
perhaps, burned the next ? No, we will have a regular
physician, who has his own character, as such, to look
to and support by his honesty and skill, but none of
those withered classes of hell that are a curse to the
country.”
“Very well,” replied Mrs. Goodwin, “have your
own way in it. I dare say you are right.”
“ Oj don’t bring any fairy-women or fairy-men about
me,” said Alice. “ The very sight of them would take
away the little life I have left.”
In the meantime Harry Woodward, who had a
variety of plans and projects to elaborate, found himself,
as every villain of his kind generally does, encompassed
by doubt and apprehension of their failure. The reader
will understand the condition of his heart and feelings
when he advances further in this narrative. Old
Lindsay, who was of a manly and generous dis-
292
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
position, felt considerable surprise that all intimacy
should have been discontinued between his son Charles
and Alice Goodwin. As for the property which she
now possessed, he never once thought of it in con-
nection with their former affection for each other. He
certainly appreciated the magnanimity and disinter-
estedness of his son in ceasing to urge his claims after
she had become possessed of such a fortune ; and it
struck him that something must have been wrong, or
some evil agency at work, which prevented the Good-
wins from reestablishing their former intimacy with
Charles whilst they seemed to court that of his brother.
Here was something strange, and he could not under-
stand it. One morning, when they were all seated at
breakfast, he spoke as follows
“ I can’t, ” said he, “ comprehend the conduct of the
Goodwins. Their daughter, if we are to judge from
appearances, has discarded her accepted lover, poor
Charles, here. Now, this doesn’t look well. There
seems to be something capricious, perhaps selfish, in it.
Still, knowing the goodness of their hearts, as I do, I
cannot but feel that there is something like a mystery
in it. I had set my heart upon a marriage between
Charles and Alice before ever she came into the prop-
erty bequeathed to her. In this I was not selfish cer-
tainly. I looked only to their happiness. Yes, and
my mind is still set upon this marriage, and it shall go
hard with me or I will accomplish it.”
“Father,” said Charles, “if you regard or respect
me, I entreat of you to abandon any such project.
Ferdora O’Connor is now the favorite there. He is
rich and I am poor ; no, the only favor I ask is that
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
293
fon will never more allude to the subject in my
hearing.”
“ But I will allude to it, and I will demand an ex-
planation besides/7 replied Lindsay.
“ Father/7 observed Harry, “ I trust that no member
of this family is capable of an act of unparalleled mean-
ness. I, myself, pleaded my brother’s cause with that
heartless and deceitful girl in language which could not
be mistaken. And what was the consequence ? Be-
cause I ventured to do so I have been forbidden to
visit there again. They told me, without either preface
or apology, that they will have no further intercourse
with our family. Ferdora O’Connor is the chosen man.”
“ It is false/7 said his sister, her eyes sparkling with
indignation as she spoke ; “ it is abominably false ;
and, father, you are right ; seek an explanation from
the Goodwins. I feel certain that there are evil spirits
at work.77
“I shall, my dear girl, 77 replied her father; “ it is
only an act of justice to them. And if the matter be
at all practicable, I shall have Charles and her married
still.77
“ Why not think of Harry ? 77 said his wife ; “ as the
person originally destined to receive the property, he
has the strongest claim.77
“ You are talking now in the selfish and accursed
principles of the world/7 replied Lindsay. “ Charles
has the claim of her early affection, and I shall
urge it.77
“Very well/7 said his wife; “if you succeed in
bringing about a marriage between her and Charles, I
Will punish both you and him severely.77
294
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u As how, madam ? ” asked her husband.
u Are you aware of one fact, Lindsay ? ”
UI am aware of one melancholy fact,” he lcplied,
sarcastically.
“ And, pray, what is it ? ” she inquired.
“ Faith,” he replied, “ that I am your husband.”
“O, yes — just so — that is the way I am treated,
children ; you see it and you hear it. But, now, listen
to me ; you know, Lindsay, that the property I brought
you, as your unfortunate wife, was property in my own
right ; you know, too, that by our marriage settlement
that property was settled on me, with the right of
devising it to any of my children whom I may select
for that purpose. Now, I tell you, that if you press
this marriage between Charles and Alice Goodwin, I
shall take this property into my own hands, shall make
my will in favor of Harry, and you and your children
may seek a shelter where you can find one.”
“ Me and my children ! Why, I believe you think
you have no children but Harry here. Well, you may
do as you like with your property ; I am not so poor
but I and my children can live upon my own. This
house and place, I grant you, are yours, and, as for my-
self, I am willing to leave it to-day ; a life of exclusion
and solitude will be better than that which I lead with
you.”
“Papa,” said Maria, throwing her arms about his
neck and bursting into tears, “ when you go I shall
go ; and wherever you may go to, I shall accompany
you.”
“ Father,” said Charles, in a choking voice, and
grasping his hand as he spoke, “if you leave this
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
295
house you shall not go alone. Neither I nor Maria
shall separate ourselves from you. We will have
enough to live on with comfort and decency.”
“ Mother,” said Harry, rising up and approaching
her with a face of significant severity ; “ mother, you
have forced me to say — and heaven knows the pain
with which I say it — that I am ashamed of you. Why
will you use language that is calculated to alienate
from me the affections of a brother and sister whom I
love with so much tenderness ? I trust you understand
me when I tell you now that I identify myself with
their feelings and objects, and that no sordid expecta-
tion of your property shall ever induce me to take up
your quarrel or separate myself from them. Dispose
of your property as you wish ; I for one shall not earn
it by sacrificing the best affections of the heart, nor by
becoming a slave to such a violent and indefensible
temper as yours. As for me, I shall not stand in need
of your property — I will have enough of my own.”
They looked closely at each other ; but that look
was sufficient. The cunning mother thoroughly under-
stood the freemason glance of his eye, and exclaimed,—
“ Well, I see I am abandoned by all my children;
but I will endeavor to bear it. I now leave you to
yourselves — to meditate and put in practice whatever
plot you please against my happiness. Indeed, I know
what a consolation my death would be to you all.”
She then withdrew, in accordance with the significant
look which Harry gave towards the door.
“ Harry,” said Lindsay, holding out his hand, “you
are not the son of my blood, but I declare to heaven I
love you as well as if you were. Your conduct is noble
296
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
and generous ; ay, and as a natural consequence, disin-
terested ; there is no base and selfish principle in you,
my dear boy ; and I honor and love you as if I were
your father in reality.”
“ Harry,” said Maria, kissing him, “ I repeat and
feel all that dear papa has said.”
“ And so do I,” exclaimed Charles, “ and if I ever
entertained any other feeling I fling it to the winds.”
u You all overrate me,” said Harry ; “ but, perhaps,
if you were aware of my private remonstrances with
my mother upon her unfortunate principles and temper,
you would give me more credit even than you do. My
object is to produce peace and harmony between you,
and if I can succeed in that I shall feel satisfied, let my
mother’s property go where it may. Of course, you
must now be aware that I separate myself from her and
her projects, and identify myself, as I said, with you
all. Still, there is one request I have to make of you,
father, my dear father, for well may I call you so ; and
it is that you will not, as an independent man and a
gentleman, attempt to urge this marriage, on which you
seem to have set your heart, between Charles and
Goodwin’s daughter. You are not aware of what I
know upon this subject. She and Ferdora O’Connor
are about to be married ; but I will not mention what I
could mention until after that ceremony shall have
taken place.”
“ Well,” said his sister, “you appear to speak very
sincerely, Harry, but I know and feel that there is
some mistake somewhere.”
u Harry,” said Lindsay, “ from what has occurred
this morning, I shall be guided by you. I will not
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
297
press this marriage, neither shall I stoop to seek an
explanation.”
u Thank you, sir,” replied Harry. u I advise you
as I do because I would not wish to see our whole
family insulted in your person.”
Maria and her brother Charles looked at each other,
and seemed to labor under a strange and somewhat
mysterious feeling. The confidence, however, with
which Harry spoke evidently depressed them, and, as
they entertained not the slightest suspicion of his
treachery, they left the apartment each with a heavy
heart.
Harry, from this time forward, associated more with
his brother than he had done, and seemed to take him
more into his confidence. He asked him out in all his
sporting expeditions ; and proposed that they should
each procure a shooting dress of the same color and
materials, which was accordingly done ; and so strongly
did they resemble each other, when dressed in them,
that in an uncertain light, or at a distance, it was
nearly impossible to distinguish the one from the
other. In fact, the brothers were now inseparable,
Harry’s object being to keep Charles as much under
his eye and control as possible, from an apprehension
that, on cool reflection, he might take it into his head
to satisfy himself by a personal interview with Alice
Goodwin as to the incomprehensible change which had
estranged her affection from him.
Still, although the affection of those brothers seemed
to increase, the conduct of Harry was full of mystery. •
That the confidence he placed in Charles was slight
and partial admitted of no doubt. He was in the
13*
298
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
habit, for instance, of going out after the family had
gone to bed, as we have mentioned before ; and it was
past all doubt that he had been frequently seen accom-
panied, in his midnight rambles, by what was known in
the neighborhood as the Black Spectre , or, by the
common people, as the Shan-dhinne-dhuv , or the dark
old man. These facts invested his character, which,
in spite of all his plausibility of manner, was unpop-
ular, with something of great dread, as involving on
his part some unholy association with the evil and
supernatural. This was peculiarly the age of super-
stition and of a belief in the connection of both men
and women with diabolical agencies ; for such was the
creed of the day.
One evening, about this time, Caterine Collins was
on her way home to Rathfillan, when, on crossing a
piece of bleak moor adjacent to the town, a powerful
young fellow, dressed in the truis, cloak, and barrad
of the period, started up from a clump of furze bushes,
and addressed her as follows : —
“ Caterine,” said he, u are you in a hurry ? ”
u Not particularly,” she replied ; u but in God’s name,
Shawn, what brings you here ? Are you mad ? or what
tempts you to come within the jaws of the law that are
gaping for you as their appointed victim ? Don’t you
know you are an outlaw ? ”
u I will answer your first question first,” he replied.
u What tempted me to come here? Vengeance — deep
and deadly vengeance. Vengeance upon the villain
who has ruined Grace Davoren. I had intended to
take her life first ; but I am an Irishman, and will not
visit upon the head of the innocent girl, whom this in
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
299
carnate devil has tempted beyond her strength, the
crime for which he is accountable.”
“Well, indeed, Shawn, it would be only serving him
right : but. in the meantime, you had better be on your
guard ; it is said that he fears neither God nor devil,
and always goes well armed ; so be cautious, and if you
take him at all, it must be by threachery.”
“No,” said the outlaw, indignantly, “ I’ll never take
him or any man by treachery. I know I am an outlaw ;
but it was the merciless laws of the country, and their
injustice to me and mine, that made me so ; I resisted
them openly and like a man ; but, bad as I am supposed
to be, I will never stain either my name or my con-
science by an act of cowardly treachery. I will meet
this dark villain face to face, and take my revenge as a
brave man ought. You say he goes well armed, and
that is a proof that he feels his own guilt ; yes, he goes
well armed, you say ; so do I, and it will not be the
treacherous murderer he will meet, but the open foe.”
“Well,” replied Caterine, “that is just like you,
Shawn ; and it is no wonder that the women were fond
of you.”
“Yes,” said he, “but the girl that was dearer to me
a thousand times than my own life has proved faithless,
because there is a stain upon my name — a stain, but
no crime, Caterine ; a stain made by the law, but no
crime. Had her heart been loyal and true, she would
have loved me ten times more in consequence of my
very disgrace — if disgrace I ought to call it ; but in-
stead of that — but wait — O, the villain ! Well, I shall
meet him, I trust, before long, and then, Caterine, ah,
THEN ! ”
300
TIIE EVIL EYE ; OR,
“ Well, Shawn, if she has desarted you, I know one
that loves you better than ever she did, and that would
never desart you, as Grace Davoren has done.”
“Ah, Caterine,” replied the outlaw, sorrowfully, “I
am past that now ; my heart is broke — I could never
love another. What proof of truth or affection could
any other woman give me after the treachery of her
who once said she loved me so well ? She said, indeed,
some time ago, that it was her father forced her to it,
but that was after she had seen Mm , for well I know
she often told me a different story before the night of
the bonfire and the shower of blood. Well, Caterine,
that shower of blood was not sent for nothing. It came
as the prophecy of his fate, which, if I have life, will
be a bloody one.”
“ Shawn,” replied Caterine, as if she had not paid
much attention to his words, “Shawn, dear Shawn,
there is one woman who would give her life for your
love.”
“ Ah,” said Shawn, “ it7s aisily said, at all events —
aisily said ; but who is it, Caterine ? ”
“She is now speaking to you,” she returned.
“ Shawn, you cannot but know that I have long loved
you ; and I now tell you that I love you still — ay,
and a thousand times more than ever Grace Davoren
did.”
“ You ! ” said Shawn, recoiling with indignation ;
“ is it you, a spy, a fortune-teller, a go-between, and,
if all be true, a witch ; you, whose life and character
would make a modest woman blush to hear them men-
tioned ? Why, the curse of heaven upon you ! how
dare you think of proposing such a subject to me 1
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
SOI
Do you think because I?m marked by the laws that my
heart has lost anything of its honesty and manhood 1
Begone, you hardened and unholy vagabond, and leave
my sight.”
“ Is that your language, Shawn ? ”
“ It is ; and what other language could any man
with but a single spark of honesty and respect for him-
self use towards you ? Begone, I say.”
“ Yes, I will begone ; but perhaps you may live to
rue your words : that is all.”
“And, perhaps, so may you,” he replied. “Leave
my sight. You are a disgrace to the name of wo-
man.”
She turned upon her heel, and on the instant bent
her steps towards Rathfillan House.
“ Shawn-na-Middogue” she said as she went along,
“ you talk about revenge, but wait till you know what
the revenge of an insulted woman is. It is not an aisy
thing to know your haunts ; but HI set them upon
your trail that will find you out if you were to hide
yourself in the bowels of the earth, for the words you
used to me this night. Dar manim , I will never rest
either night or day until I see you swing from a
gibbet.”
Instead of proceeding to the little town of Rathfil-
lan, she changed her mind and turned her steps to
Rathfillan House, the residence, as our readers are
aware, of the generous and kind-hearted Mr. Lindsay.
On arriving there she met our old acquaintance,
Barney Casey, on the way from the kitchen to the
stable. Observing that she was approaching the hall-
door with the evident purpose of knocking, and feeling
802
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
satisfied that her business could be with none of the
family except Harry, he resolved to have some con-
versation with her, in order, if possible, to get a
glimpse of its purport. Not, indeed, that he enter-
tained any expectation of such a result, because he
knew the craft and secrecy of the woman he had to
deal with ; but, at all events, he thought that he might
still glean something significant even by her equivoca-
tions, if not by her very silence. He accordingly
turned over and met her.
“ Well, Caterine, won’t this be a fine night when
the moon and stars comes out to show you the road
home again afther you manage the affair you’re bent
on ? ”
u Why, what am I bent on ? ” she replied, sharply.
“Why, to build a church to-night, wid the assist-
ance of Mr. Harry Woodward.”
“ Talk with respect of your masther’s stepson, ” she
replied, indignantly.
u And my sweet misthress’s son,” returned Barney,
significantly. “ Why, Caterine, I hope you won’t lift
me till I fall. What did I say disrespectful of him ?
Faith, I only know that the wondher is how such a
devil’s scald could have so good and kind-hearted a
son,” he added, disentangling himself from her sus-
picions, knowing perfectly well, as he did, that any
unfavorable expression he might utter against that
vindictive gentleman would most assuredly be com-
municated to him with comments much stronger than
the text. This would only throw him out of Harry’s
confidence, and deprive him of those opportunities of
probably learning, from their casual conversation, some
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303
tendency of his mysterious movements, especially at
night ; for that he was enveloped in mystery was a
fact of which he felt no doubt whatsoever. He accord-
ingly resolved to cancel the consequences even of the
equivocal allusion to him which he had made, and
which he saw at a glance that Caterine’s keen suspi-
cions had interpreted into a bad sense.
“So you see, Katty,” he proceeded, “ agra-machree
that you wor, don’t lift me, as I said, till I fall ; but
what harm is it to be fond of a spree wid a purty girl ?
Sure it’s a good man’s case ; but I’ll tell you more ;
you must know the misthress’s wig took fire this
mornin’, and she was within an inch of havin’ the
house in flames. Ah, it’s she that blew a regular
breeze, threatened to make the masther and the other
two take to their travels from about the house and
place, and settle the same house and place upon Mr.
Harry.”
“ Well, Barney,” said Caterine, deeply interested,
“ what was the upshot ? ”
“ Why, that Masther Harry — long life to him —
parted company wid her on the spot ; said he would
take part wid the masther and the other two, and
tould her to her teeth that he did not care a dam about
the property, and that she might leave it as a legacy
to ould Nick, who, he said, desarved it better at her
hands than he did.”
“Well, well,” replied Caterine, “I never thought
he was such a fool as all that comes to. Devil’s cure
to him, if she laves it to some one else ! that’s my com-
passion for him.”
“ Well, but, Caterine, what’s the news ? When will
304
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
the sky fall, you that knows so much about
futurity ? ”
“ The news is anything but good, Barney. The
sky will fall some Sunday in the middle of next week,
and then for the lark-catching. But tell me, Barney,
is Mr. Harry within ? because, if he is, Pd thank you
to let him know that I wish to see him. I have a bit
of favor to ask of him about my uncle Solomon’s
cabin ; the masther’s threatnin’ to pull it down.”
Now, Barney knew the assertion to be a lie, because
it was only a day or two previous to the conversation
that he had heard Mr. Lindsay express his intention
of building the old herbalist a new one. He kept his
knowledge of this to himself, however.
“ And so you want him to change the masther’s
mind upon the subject. Faith and you’re just in luck
after this mornin’s skirmish — skirmish ! no bedad,
but a field day itself ; the masther could refuse him
nothing. Will I say what you want him for ? ”
“ You may or you may not ; but, on second thoughts,
I think it will be enough to say simply that I wish to
spake to him particularly.”
“Very well, Caterine,” replied Barney, “I’ll tell
him so.”
In a few minutes Harry joined her on the lawn,
where she awaited him, and the following dialogue
took place between them:
“ Well, Caterine, Casey tells me that you have some-
thing particular to say to me.”
“ And very particular indeed, it is, Mr. Harry.”
“ Well, then, the sooner we have it the better ; pray;
what is it ? ”
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305
uI’m afeard, Mr. Woodward, that unless you have
some good body’s blessin’ about you, your life isn’t
worth a week’s purchase. ”
“ Some good body’s blessing ! ” he replied ironically ;
“ well, never mind that, but let me know the danger,
if danger there be ; at all events, I am well prepared
for it.”
“The danger then is this — and terrible it is — that
born devil, Shawn-na-Middogue , has got hold of what’s
goin’ on between you and Grace Davoren.”
“ Between me and Grace Davoren ! ” he exclaimed,
in a voice of well-feigned astonishment. “ You mean
my brother Charles. Why, Caterine, that soft-hearted
and soft-headed idiot, for I can call him nothing else,
has made himself a perfect fool about her, and what is
worst of all, I am afraid he will break his engagement
with Miss Goodwin, and marry this wench. Me ! why,
except that he sent nee once or twice to meet her, and
apologize for his not being able to keep his appoint-
ment with her, I know nothing whatsoever of the un-
fortunate girl, unless that, like a fool, as she is, it
seems to me that she ia as fond of him as he, the fool,
on the other hand, is ol her. As for my part, I shall
deliver his messages to her no more — and, indeed, it
was wrong of me ever to do so.”
The moon had now risen, and Caterine, on looking
keenly and incredulously into his face, read nothing
there but an expression of apparent sincerity and sor-
row for the indiscretion and folly of his brother.
“Well,” she proceeded, “in spite of all you tell me
I say that it does not make your danger the less. It
is not your brother but yourself that he suspects, and
306
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
whether right or wrong, it is upon you that his ven-
geance will fall.”
“ Well, but, Caterine,” he replied, u could you not
see Shawn-na-Middogue and remedy that ? ”
“ How, sir ? ” she replied.
“ Why, by telling him the truth,” said the far-
sighted villain, “ that it is my brother, and not I, that
was the intriguer with her.”
“Is that generous towards your brother, Mr. Wood-
ward ? No, sir ; sooner than bring the vengeance of
such a person as Shawn upon him, I would have the
tongue cut out of my mouth, or the right arm off my
body.”
“ And I, Caterine,” he answered, retrieving himself
as well as he could ; “ yes, I deserve to have my tongue
cut out, and my right arm chopped off, for what I have
said. O, no ; if there be danger let me run the risk,
and not poor, good, kind-hearted Charles, who is cer-
tainly infatuated by this girl. He is to meet her to-
morrow night at nine o’clock, in the little clump of
alders below the well, but I shall go in his place — that
is, if I can prevail upon him to allow me — and endeavor
once for all to put an end to this business : mark that I
said, if he will allow me, although I scarcely think he
will. Now, good-night, and many thanks for your
good wishes towards myself and him. Accept of this,
and good-night again.” As he spoke he placed some
money in her unreluetant hand, and returned on hi*
way home.
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307
CHAPTER XIV.
SHAWN-NA-MIDDOGUE STABS CHARLES LINDSAY IN MIS-
TAKE FOR HIS BROTHER.
Shawn-na-Middogue, though uneducated, was a
young man of no common intellect. That he had been
selected to head the outlaws, or rapparees, of that day,
was a sufficient proof of this. After parting from
Caterine Collins, on whom the severity of his language
fell with such bitterness, he began to reflect that he
had acted with great indiscretion, to say the least of
it. He knew that if there was a woman in the barony
who, if she determined on it, could trace him to his
most secret haunts, she was that woman. He saw, too,
that after she had left him, evidently in deep indigna-
tion, she turned her steps towards Rathfillan House,
most probably with an intention of communicating to
Harry Woodward the strong determinations of ven-
geance which he had expressed against him. Here,
then, by want of temper and common policy, had he
created two formidable enemies against himself. This,
he felt, was an oversight for which he could scarcely
forgive himself. He resolved, if possible, to repair the
error he had committed, and, with this object in view,
he hung about the place until her return should afford
him an opportunity of making such an explanation as
might soothe her into good-humor and a more friendly
feeling towards him. Nay, he even determined to prom-
308
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
ise her marriage, in order to disarm her resentment
and avert the danger which, he knew, was to be appre-
hended from it. He accordingly stationed himself in
the shelter of a ditch, along which he knew she must
pass on her way home. He had not long, however, to
wait. In the course of half an hour he saw her ap-
proach, and as she was passing him he said in a low, con-
fidential voice, —
“ Caterine ! ”
“ Who is that ? ” she asked, but without exhibiting
any symptoms of alarm.
“It’s me,” he replied — “Shawn.”
“ Well,” she replied, “ and what is that to me whether
it’s you or not ? ”
“ I have thought over our discourse a while ago, and
I’m sorry for what I’ve said ; — will you let me see you
a part of the way home ? ”
“I can’t prevent you from cornin’,” she replied, “if
you’re disposed to come — the way is as free to you as
to me.”
They then proceeded together, and our readers must
gather from the incidents which are to follow what the
result was of Shawn’s policy in his conversation with
her on the way. It is enough to say that they parted
on the best and most affectionate terms, and that a cer-
tain smack, very delicious to the lips of Caterine, was
heard before Shawn bade her good-night.
Barney Casey, who suspected there was something
in the wind, in consequence of the seciet interview
which took place between Caterine Collins and Harry,
conscious as he felt that it was for no good purpose,
watched that worthy gentleman’s face with keen but
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
309
quiet observation, in the hope of being able to draw
some inference from its expression. This, however,
was a vain task. The face was impassable, inscru-
table ; no sympton of agitation, alarm, or concealed
satisfaction could be read in it, or anything else, in
short, but the ordinary expression of the most perfect
indifference. Barney knew his man, however, and felt
aware, from former observations, of the power which
Woodward possessed of disguising his face whenever he
wished, even under the influence of the strongest emo-
tions. Accordingly, notwithstanding all this indif-
ference of manner, he felt that it was for no common
purpose Caterine Collins sought an interview with him,
and with this impression on his mind he resolved to
watch his motions closely.
The next day Harry and Charles went out to course,
accompanied by Barney himself, who, by the way, ob-
served that the former made a point to bring a case
of pistols and a dagger with him, which he concealed
so as that they might not be seen. This discovery was
the result of Barney’s vigilance and suspicions, for when
Harry was prepared to follow his brother, who went to
put the dogs in leash, he said :
u Barney, go and assist Mr. Charles, and I will join
you both on the lawn.”
Barney accordingly left the room and closed the
door after him ; but instead of proceeding, as directed,
to join Charles, he deliberately put his eye to the key-
hole, and saw Harry secrete the pistols and dagger
about his person. Each, also, brought his gun at the
suggestion of Harry, who said, that although they went
out merely to course, yet it was not improbable that
310 THE EVIL EYE; OR,
they might get a random shot at the grouse or par-
tridge as they went along. Upon all these matters
Barney made his comments, although he said nothing
upon the subject even to Charles, from whom he
scarcely ever concealed a secret. That Harry was
brave and intrepid even to rashness he knew ; but why
he should arm himself with such secrecy and caution
occasioned him much conjecture. His intrigue with
Grace Davoren was beginning to be suspected. Shawn -
na-Middogue might have heard of it. Caterine Col-
lins was one of Woodward’s agents— at least it was
supposed from their frequent interviews that she was,
to a certain degree, in his confidence : might not her
request, then, to see him on the preceding night pro-
ceed from an anxiety, on her part, to warn him against
some danger to be apprehended from that fearful free-
booter ? This was well and correctly reasoned on the
part of Barney ; and, with those impressions fixed upon
his mind, he accompanied the two brothers on the
sporting expedition of the day.
We shall not dwell upon their success, which was
even better than they had expected. Nothing, how-
ever, occurred to render either pistols or dagger neces-
sary ; but Barney observed that, on their return home,
Harry made it a point to come by the well where he
and Grace Davoren were in the habit of meeting, and,
Laving taken his brother aside, he pointed to the little
dark clump of alders, which skirted a small grove, and,
having whispered something to him which he could not
hear, they passed on by the old, broken boreen, which
wc have described, and reached home loaded with
game, but without any particular adventure. Barney’i
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
311
vigilance, however, was still awake, and he made up
his mind to ascertain, if possible, why Harry had
armed himself, for as yet he had nothing but suspicion
on which to rest. He knew that whenever he went
out at night or in the evening he always went armed ;
and this was only natural, for the country was in a
dangerous and disturbed state, owing, as the report
went, to the outrages against property which were said
to have been committed by Shawn-na-Middogue and
his rapparees. During his sporting excursions in the
open day, however, he never knew him to go armed
in this manner before, because, on such occasions, he
had always seen his pistols and dagger hanging against
the wall, where he usually kept them. On this occa-
sion, however, Woodward went like a man who felt
apprehensive of some premeditated violence on the
part of an enemy. Judging, therefore, from what he
had seen, as well as from what he conjectured, Barney,
as we said, resolved to watch him closely.
In the meantime, the state of poor Alice Goodwin’s
health was deplorable. The dreadful image of Harry
Woodward, or, rather, the frightful power of his Satanic
spirit, fastened upon her morbid and diseased imagi-
nation with such force, that no effort of her reason
could shake it off. That dreadful eye was perpetually
upon her and before her, both asleep and awake, and,
lest she might have any one point on which to rest for
comfort, the idea of Charles Lindsay’s attachment to
Grace Davoren would come over her, only to supersede
one misery by introducing another. In this wretched
state she was when the calamitous circumstances, which
we are about to relate, took place.
312
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Barney Casey was a good deal engaged that evening,
for indeed he was a general servant in his master’s
family, and was expected to put a hand to, and super-
intend, everything. He was, therefore, out of the way
for a time, having gone to Rathfillan on a message for
his mistress, whom he cursed in his heart for having
sent him. He lost little time, however, in discharging
it, and was just on his return when he saw Harry
Woodward entering the old boreen we have described ;
and, as the night was rather dark, he resolved to
ascertain — although he truly suspected — the object of
this nocturnal adventure. He accordingly dogged him
at a safe distance, and, in accordance with his suspicions,
he found that Woodward directed his steps to the clump
of alders which he had, on their return that day, pointed
out to his brother. Here he (Barney) ensconced himself
in a close thicket, in order to watch the event. Wood-
ward had not been many minutes there when Grace Dav-
oren joined him. She seemed startled, and surprised,
and disappointed, as Casey could perceive by her man-
ner, or rather by the tones of her voice ; but, whatever
the cause of her disappointment may have been, there
was little time left for either remonstrances or explana-
tion on the part of her lover. Whilst addressing her, a
young and powerful man bounded forward, and, brand-
ishing a long dagger — the dreaded middogue — -
plunged it into his body, and her companion fell with a
groan. The act was rapid as lightning, and the moment
the work of blood and vengeance had been accomplished,
the young fellow bounded away again with the same
speed observable in the rapidity of his approach.
Grace’s screams and shrieks were loud and fearful.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
313
“ Murdherin’ villain of hell/’ she shouted after Shawn
— for it was he — “you have killed the wrong man —
you have murdered the innocent. This is his brother.”
Barney was at her side in a moment.
“ Heavenly Father ! ” he exclaimed, shocked and
astounded by her words, “ what means this ? Is it
Mr. Charles ? ”
“0, yes,” she replied, not conscious that in the
alarm and terror of the moment she had betrayed her-
self, or rather her paramour — “innocent Mr. Charles
Fm afeard is murdhered by that revengeful villain ;
and now, Barney, what is to be done, and how will
we get assistance to bring him home ? But, cheerna
above ! what will become of me ! ”
“ Mr. Charles,” said Barney, “ is it possible that it
is you that is here ? ”
“I am here, Barney,” he replied, with difficulty,
“ and, I fear, mortally wounded.”
“0, God forbid!” replied his humble but faithful
friend. “ I hope it is not so bad as you think.”
“ Take this handkerchief,” said Charles, “ tie it
about my breast, and try and stop the blood. I feel
myself getting weak.”
This Barney proceeded to do, in which operation we
shall leave him, assisted by the unfortunate girl who
was indirectly the means of bringing this dreadful
calamity upon him.
Shaivn-na-Middogue was not out of the reach of
hearing when Grace shouted after him, having paused
to ascertain, if possible, whether he had done his work
effectually. That Harry Woodward was Grace’s par-
amour, he knew ; and that Charles was innocent of that
14
314
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
guilt, he also knew. All that Caterine Collins had
told him on the preceding night went for nothing,
because he felt that Woodward had coined those
falsehoods with a view to screen himself from his
(Shawn’s) vengeance. But in the meantime Grace’s
words, uttered in the extremity of her terror, assured
him that there had been some mistake, and that one
brother might have come to explain and apologize
for the absence of the other. He consequently crept
back within hearing of their conversation, and ascer-
tained with regret the mistake he had committed.
Shawn, at night, seldom went unattended by several of
his gang, and on this occasion he was accompanied by
about a dozen of them. His murderous mistake occa-
sioned him to feel deep sorrow, for he was perfectly
well acquainted with the amiable and generous char-
acter which Charles bore amongst his father’s tenantry.
His life had been, not only inoffensive, but benevolent ;
whilst that of his brother — short as was the time since
his return to Rathfillan House — was marked by a
very licentious profligacy, — a profligacy which he at-
tempted in vain to conceal. Whilst Grace Davoren
and Casey were attempting to stanch the blood which
issued from the wound, four men, despatched by Shawn
for the purpose, came, as if alarmed by Grace’s shrieks,
to the scene of the tragedy, and, after having inquired
as to the cause of its occurrence, precisely as if they
had been ignorant of it, they proposed that the only
thing to be done, so as to give him a chance for life,
was to carry him home without a moment’s delay.
He was accordingly raised upon their shoulders, and,
with more sympathy than could be expected from
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
31B
such men, was borne to his father’s house in appar-
ently a dying state.
It is unnecessary to attempt any description of th«
alarm which his appearance there created. His father
and Maria were distracted ; even his mother manifested
tokens of unusual sorrow, for after all she was his
mother ; and nothing, indeed, could surpass the sorrow
of the whole family. The servants were all in tears,
and nothing but sobs and wailings could be heard
throughout the house. Harry Woodward himself put
his handkerchief to his eyes, and seemed to feel a deep
but subdued sorrow. Medical aid was immediately
sent for, but such was his precarious condition that no
opinion could be formed as to his ultimate recovery.
The next morning the town of Rathfillan, and indeed
the parish at large, were in a state of agitation, and
tumult, and sorrow, as soon as the melancholy catas-
trophe had become known. The neighbors and ten-
ants flocked in multitudes to learn the particulars, and
ascertain his state. About eleven o’clock Harry
mounted his horse, and, in defiance of the interdict that
had been laid upon him, proceeded at a rapid pace to Mr.
Goodwin’s house, in order to disclose — with what object
the reader may conjecture — the melancholy event which
had happened. He found Goodwin, his wife, and Sarah
Sullivan in the parlor, which he had scarcely entered
when Mr. Goodwin got up, and, approaching him in a
state of great alarm and excitement, exclaimed, —
u Good heavens, Mr. Woodward ! can this dreadiu*
intelligence which we have heard be true ? ”
u O, you have heard it, then,” replied Woodward.
u Alas ! yes, it is too true, and my unfortunate brother
316
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
lies with life barely in him, but without the slightest
hope of recovery. As for myself, I am in a state of
absolute distraction ; and were it not that I possess the
consciousness of having done everything in my power
as a friend and brother to withdraw him from this
unfortunate intrigue, I think I should become fairly
crazed. Miss Goodwin has for some time past been
aware of my deep anxiety upon this very subject, be-
cause I deemed it a solemn duty on my part to let her
know that he had degraded himself by this low attach-
ment to such a girl, and was consequently utterly un-
worthy of her affection. I could not see innocence
and purity imposed upon, nor her generous confidence
placed on an unworthy object. This, however, is not
a time to deal harshly by him. He will not be long
with us, and is entitled to nothing but our forbearance
and sympathy. Poor fellow ! he has paid a heavy and
a fatal penalty for his crime. Alas, my brother ! cut
down in the very prime of life, when there was still
time enough for reformation and repentance ! O, it is
too much ! ”
He turned towards the window, and, putting his
handkerchief to his eyes, did the pathetic with a very
good grace.
u But,” said Mrs. Goodwin, u what were the exact
circumstances under which the deplorable act of ven-
geance was committed ? ”
u Alas! the usual thing, Mrs. Goodwin,” replied
Harry, attempting to clear his throat ; u they met last
night between nine and ten o’clock, in a clump of
alders, near the well from which the inhabitants of the
adjoining hamlet fetch their water. The outlawf
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
317
Shawn-na-Middogue , a rejected lover of the girl’s,
stung with jealousy and vengeance, surprised them,
and stabbed my unfortunate brother, I fear, to death.”
“ And do you think there is no hope ? ” she added,
with tears in her eyes ; “ O, if he had only time for
repentance ! ”
“ Alas ! madam, the medical man who has seen him
scarcely holds out any hope ; but, as you say, if he had
time even to repent, there would be much consolation in
that.”
“ Well,” observed Goodwin, his eyes moist with
tears, “ after this day, I shall never place confidence
in man. I did imagine that if ever there was an indi-
vidual whose heart was the source of honor, truth,
generosity, disinterestedness, and affection, your brother
Charles was that man. I am confounded, amazed —
and the whole thing appears to me like a dream ; at all
events, thank God, our daughter has had a narrow
escape of him.”
“Pray, by the way, how is Miss Goodwin?” asked
Harry ; “ I hope she is recovering.”
“So far from that,” replied her father, “she is
sinking fast ; in truth we entertain but little hopes of
her.”
“ On the occasion of my last visit here you forbade
me your house, Mr. Goodwin,” said Woodward ; “ but
perhaps, now that you are aware of the steps I have
taken to detach your daughter’s affections from an in-
dividual whom I knew at the time to be unworthy of
them, you may be prevailed on to rescind that stern
and painful decree.”
Goodwin, who was kind-hearted and placable.
818
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
seemed rather perplexed, and looked towards his wife^
as if to be guided by her decision.
“ Well, indeed,” she replied, “ I don’t exactly know ;
perhaps we will think of it.”
“ No,” replied Sarah Sullivan, who was toasting a
thin slice of bread for Alice’s breakfast. “ No ; if you
allow this man to come about the place, as God is to
judge me, you will both have a hand in your daughter’s
death. If the devils from hell were to visit here, she
might bear it ; but at the present moment one look
from that man would kill her.”
This remonstrance decided them.
“No, Mr. Woodward,” said Goodwin; “the truth
is, my daughter entertains a strong prejudice against
you — in fact, a terror of you — and under these cir-
cumstances, and considering, besides, her state of health,
we could not think of permitting your visits, at least,”
he added, “ until that prejudice be removed and her
health restored- — if it ever shall be. We owe you no
ill-will, sir; but under the circumstances we cannot,
for the present, at least, allow you to visit us.”
“ Well,” replied Woodward, “perhaps — and I sin-
cerely trust — her health will be restored, and her
prejudices against me removed, and when better times
come about I shall look with anxiety to the privilege of
renewing my intimacy with you all.”
“Perhaps so,” returned Mr. Goodwin, “and then
we shall receive your visits with pleasure.”
Woodward then shook hands with him and his wife,
and wished them a good-morning.
On his way home worthy Suil Balor began to enter-
tain reflections upon his prospects in life that he felt
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
319
to be rather agreeable. Here was his brother, whom
he had kindly sent to apologize to Grace Davoren for
the impossibility from illness of his meeting her accord-
ing to their previous arrangement ; yes, we say he
feigned illness on that evening, and prevailed on the
unsuspecting young man to go in his stead, in order,
as he said, to give her the necessary explanations for
his absence. Charles undertook this mission the more
willingly, as it was his firm intention to remonstrate
with the girl on the impropriety of her conduct, in
continuing a secret and guilty intrigue, which must
end only in her own shame and ruin. But when
Harry deputed him upon such a message he antici-
pated the very event which had occurred, or, rather, a
more fatal one still, for, despite his hopes of Alice Good-
win’s ill state of health, he entertained strong appre-
hensions that his stepfather might, by some accidental
piece of intelligence, be restored to his original impres-
sions on the relative position in which she and Charles
stood. An interview between Mr. Lindsay and her
might cancel all he had done ; and if every obstruction
which he had endeavored to place between their union
were removed, her health might recover, their marriage
take place, and then what became of his chance for
the property ? It is true he had managed his plans
and speculations with great ability. Substituting
Charles, like a villain as he was, in his own affair with
Grace Davoren, he contrived to corroborate the false-
hood by the tragic incident of the preceding night.
Now, if this would not satisfy Alice of the truth of his
own falsehood, nothing could. That Charles was the
intrigant must be clear and palpable from what had
320
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
happened, and accordingly, after taking a serious re*
view of his own iniquity, he felt, as we said, peculiarly
gratified with his prospects. Still, it cannot be denied
that an occasional shadow, not proceeding from any
consciousness of guilt, but from an apprehension of
disappointment, would cast its deep gloom across his
spirit. With such terrible states of feeling the machi-
nations of guilt, no matter how successful its progress
may be, are from time to time attended ; and even in
his case the torments of the damned were little short
of what he suffered, from a dread of failure, and its
natural consequences — an exposure which would bar
him out of society. Still, his earnest expectation was
that the intelligence of the fate of her lover would,
considering her feeble state of health, effectually ac-
complish his wishes, and with this consoling reflection
he rode home.
His great anxiety now was, his alarm lest his brother
should recover. On reaching Rathfillan House he
proceeded to his bedroom, where he found his sister
watching.
u My dear Maria/’ said he, in a low and most affec-
tionate voice, u is he better ? ”
“I hope so,” she replied, in a voice equally low;
Ci this is the first sleep he has got, and I hope it will
remove the fever.”
“ Well, I will not stop,” said he, u but do you watch
him carefully, Maria, and see that he is not disturbed.”
u O, indeed, Harry, you may rest assured that I shall
do so. Poor, dear Charles, what would become of us
all if we lost him — and Alice Goodwin, too — O, she
would die. Now, go, dear Harry, and leave him to me.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
321
Harry left the room apparently in profound sorrow,
and, on going into the parlor, met Barney Casey in
the hall.
“ Barney,” said he, “come into the parlor for a
moment. My father is out, and my mother is up-
stairs. I want to know how this affair happened last
night, and how it occurred that you were present at it.
It’s a bad business, Barney.”
“ Devil a worser,” replied Barney, “ especially for
poor Mr. Charles. I was fortunately goin’ down on
my Jcalie to the family of poor disconsolate Granua
(Grace), when, on passing the clump of alders, I
heard screams and shouts to no end. I ran to the
spot I heard the skirls cornin’ from, and there I found
Mr. Charles, lyin’ as if dead, and Grace Davoren with
her hands clasped like a mad woman over him. The
strange men then joined us, and carried him home,
and that’s all I know about it.”
“ But, can you understand it, Barney ? As for
me, I cannot. Did Grace say nothing during her
alarm ? ”
“ Divil a syllable,” replied Barney, lying without
remorse ; “she was so thunderstruck with what hap-
pened that she could do nothing nor say anything but
cry out and scream for the bare life of her. They say
she has disappeared from her family, and that nobody
knows where she has gone to. I was at her fathers
to-day, and I know they are searehin’ the country for
her. It is thought she has made away with herself.”
“Poor Charles,” exclaimed his brother, “ what an
unfortunate business it has turned out on both sidefc !
I thought he was attached to Miss Goodwin ; but it
U*
322
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
would appear now that he was deceiving her all
along.”
u Well, Mr. Harry,” replied Barney, dryly, or rather
with some severity, u you see what the upshot is;
treachery, they say, seldom prospers in the long run,
although it may for a while. God forgive them that
makes a practice of it. As for Master Charles, I
couldn’t have dreamt of such a thing.”
u Nor I, Barney. I know not what to say. It per-
plexes me, from whatever point I look at it. At all
events, I hope he may recover, and if he does, I trust
he will consider what has happened as a warning, and
act upon better principles. May God forgive him ! ”
And so ended their dialogue, little, indeed, to the
satisfaction of Harry, whom Barney left in complete
ignorance of the significant exclamations by which
Grace Davoren, in the alarm of the moment, had be-
trayed her own guilt, by stating that Sliawn-na-Mid -
dogue had stabbed the wrong man.
Sarah Sullivan — poor, thoughtless, but affectionate
girl — on repairing with the thin toast to her mis-
tress’s bedroom, felt so brimful of the disaster which had
befallen Charles, that — now believing in his guilt,
as she did, and with a hope of effectually alienating
Alice’s affections from him — she lost not a moment
in communicating the melancholy intelligence to her.
u O, Miss Alice ! ” she exclaimed, u have you heard
what has happened ? O, the false and treacherous
villain ! Who would believe it ? To lave a beautiful
lady like you, and take up with sich a vulgar vag*
abone ! However, he has suffered for it. Shawn -na
Middogue did for him.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
323
u What do you mean, Sarah ?” said her mistress,
much alarmed by such a startling preface ; u explain
yourself. I do not understand you.”
u But you soon will, miss. Shawn-na-Middogue
found Mr. Charles Lindsay and Grace Davoren to-
gether last night, and has stabbed him to death ; life’s
only in him ; and that’s the gentleman that pretended
to love you. Devil’s cure to the villain ! ”
She paused. The expression of her mistress’s face
was awful. A pallor more frightful than that of death,
because it was associated with life , overspread her counte-
nance. Her eyes became dim and dull ; her features
in a moment were collapsed, and resembled those of
some individual struck by paralysis — they were alto-
gether without meaning. She clasped and unclasped
her hands, like one under the influence of strong
hysterical agony ; she laid herself back in bed, wrhere
she had been sitting up expecting her coffee, her eyes
closed, for she had not physical strength even to keep
them open, and with considerable difficulty she said,
in a low and scarcely audible voice, — u My mother ! ”
Poor Sarah felt and saw the mischief she had done,
and, with streaming eyes and loud sobbings, lost not a
moment in summoning Mrs. Goodwin. In truth she
feared that her mistress lay dying before her, and was
immediately tortured with the remorseful impression
that the thoughtless and indiscreet communication she
had made was the cause of her death. It is unnecessary
to describe the terror and alarm of her mother, nor of
her father, when he saw her lying as it were between
life and dissolution. The physician was immediately
sent for, but, notwithstanding all his remedies, until the
324
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
end of the second day, there appeared no change in her.
Towards the close of that day an improvement waa
perceptible ; she was able to speak and take some
nourishment, but it was observed that she never once
made the slightest allusion to the disaster which had
befallen Charles Lindsay. She sank into an habitual
silence, and, unless when forced to ask for some of those
usual attentions which her illness required, she never
ventured to indulge in conversation on any subject
whatsoever. One thing, however, struck Sarah Sulli-
van, which was, that in all her startings, both asleep
and awake, and in all her unconscious ejaculations, that
which appeared to press upon her most was the un-
ceasing horror of the Evil Eye. The name of Charles
Lindsay never escaped her, even in the feverish agita-
tion of her dreams, nor in those exclamations of terror
and alarm which she uttered.
aO, save me! — save me from his eye— he is kill-
ing me ! Yes, Woodward is a devil — he is killing me
— save me — save me ! ”
Well had the villain done his work ; and how his
web of iniquity was woven out we shall see.
On leaving Barney, that worthy gentleman sought
his mother, and thus addressed her : —
u Mother,” said he, apparently much moved, u this is
a melancholy, and I trust in heaven it may not turn out
a fatal, business. Fm afraid poor Charles’s case is
hopeless.”
u O, may God forbid, poor boy ! ” exclaimed Mrs.
Lindsay ; 66 for, although he always joined his father
against me, still he was in other respects most obliging
to every one, and inoffensive to all.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
325
"I know that, and I am sorry that this jade — and
she is a handsome jade, they say — should have gained
such a cursed influence over him. That, however, is
not the question. We must think of nothing now but
his recovery. The strictest attention ought to be paid
to him ; and as it has occurred to me that there is no
female under this roof who understands the manage-
ment of a sick bed, we ought, under these circum-
stances, to provide a nurse for him.”
u Well, indeed, that is true enough, Harry, and it is
very kind and considerate of you to think of it ; but
who will we get ? The women here are very ignorant
and stupid.”
66 1 have been making inquiries,” he replied, u and I
am told there is a woman in Rathfillan, named Collins,
niece to a religious herbalist or herb doctor, who pos-
sesses much experience in that way. It is just such a
wroman we want.”
“ Well, then, let her come ; do you go and engage
her ; but see that she will not extort dishonest terms
from you, because there is nothing but fraud and knav-
ery among these wretches.”
Harry lost little time in securing the services of
Caterine Collins, who was that very day established as
nurse-tender in Charles Lindsay’s sick room.
Alice’s illness was now such as left little expectation
of her recovery. She was stated, and with good reason,
to be in a condition absolutely hopeless ; and nothing
could exceed the regret and sorrow which were felt for
the benevolent and gentle girl. We say benevolent ,
because, since her accession to her newly -acquired prop-
erty, her charities to the poor and distressed were
326
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
bountiful and generous, almost beyond belief ; and even
during her illness she constituted her father as the agent
— and a willing one he was— of her beneficence. In
fact, the sorrow for her approaching death was deep
and general, and the sympathy felt for her parents such
as rarely occurs in life.
Of course it is unnecessary to say that these tidings
of her hopeless illness did not reach the Lindsays. On
the second morning after Harry’s visit he asked for a
private interview with his mother, which was accorded
to him.
u Mother,” said he, uyou must pay the Goodwins
another visit — a visit, mark you, of sympathy and
condolence. You forget all the unpleasant circum-
stances that have occurred between the families. You
forget everything but your anxiety for the recovery of
poor, dear Alice.”
u But,” replied his mother, u I do not wish to go.
Why should I go to express a sympathy which I do not
feel ? Her death is only a judicial punishment on them
for having inveigled your silly old uncle to leave them
the property which would have otherwise come to you
as the natural heir.”
u Mother,” said her dutiful son, u you have a nose,
and beyond that nose you never yet have been able to
look with anything like perspicuity. If you don’t visit
them, your good-natured noodle of a husband will, and
perhaps the result of that visit may cut us out of the
property forever. At breakfast this morning you will
propose the visit, which, mark you, is to be made in
the name and on behalf of all the family. You, conse-
quently, being the deputation on this occasion, both
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
327
your husband and Maria will not feel themselves called
upon to see them. You can, besides, say that her
state of health precludes her from seeing any one out
of her own family, and thus all risk of an explanation
will be avoided. It is best to make everything safe ;
but that she can’t live I know, because I feel that my
power and influence are upon her, and that the force
of this Evil Eye of mine has killed her. I told you
this before, I think.”
“ Even so,” said his mother ; “ it is only what I have
said, a judicial punishment for their villany. Villany,
Harry, never prospers.”
“Egad, my dear mother,” he replied, “I know of
nothing so prosperous : look through life and you will
see the villain thrive upon his fraud and iniquity,
where the honest man — the man of integrity, who
binds himself by all the principles of what are called
honor and morality — is elbowed out of prosperity by
the knave, the swindler, and the hypocrite. O, no,
my dear mother, the two worst passports to indepen-
dence and success in life are truth and honesty.”
“Well, Harry, I am a bad logician, and will not
dispute it with you; but I am far from well, and I
don’t think I shall be able to visit them for two or three
days at least.”
“ But, in the meantime, express your intention to
do so — on behalf of the family, mark ; assume your
right as the proprietor of this place, and as its repre-
sentative, and then your visit will be considered as the
visit of the whole family. In the meantime, mark
me, the girl is dead. I have accomplished that grati-
fying event, so that, after all, your visit will be a mere
328
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
matter of form. When you reach their house you
will probably find it the house of death.”
u And then,” replied his mother, u the twelve hun-
dred a year is yours for life, and the property of your
children after you. Thank God ! ”
That morning at breakfast she expressed her deter-
mination to visit the Goodwins, making it, she said, a
visit from the family in general; such a visit, she
added, as might be proper on their (the Lindsays)
part, but yet such an act of neighborhood that, while
it manifested sufficient respect for them, would pre-
clude all hopes of any future intercourse between
them.
Mr. Lindsay did not relish this much ; but as he
had no particular wish, in consequence of Charles’s
illness, to oppose her motives in making the visit, he
said she might manage it as she wished — he would
not raise a fresh breeze about it. He only felt that he
was sincerely sorry for the loss which the Goodwins
were about to experience.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
329
CHAPTER XV.
THE BANSHEE. — DISAPPEARANCE OF GRACE DAVOREN.
In the meantime it was certainly an unquestionable
fact that Grace Davoren had disappeared, and not even
a trace of her could be found. The unfortunate girl,
alarmed at the tragic incident of that woful night, and
impressed with a belief that Charles Lindsay had been
murdered by Shawn-na-Middogue , had betaken her-
self to some place of concealment which no search on
behalf of her friends could discover. In fact, her dis-
appearance was involved in a mystery as deep as the
alarm and distress it occasioned. But what astonished
the public most was the fact that Charles, whose whole
life had been untainted by a single act of impropriety,
much less of profligacy, should have been discovered
in such a heartless and unprincipled intrigue with the
daughter of one of his father’s tenants, an innocent girl,
who, as such, was entitled to protection rather than in-
jury at his hands.
Whilst this tumult was abroad, and the country was
in an unusual state of alarm and agitation, Harry
Woodward took matters very quietly. That he seem-
ed to feel deeply for the uncertain and dangerous staU
of his brother, who lay suspended, as it were, between
life and death, was evident to every individual of his
family. He frequently took Caterine Collins’s place,
attended him personally, with singular kindness and
affection, gave him his drinks and decoctions with hia
330
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
own hand ; and, when the surgeon came to make his
daily visit, the anxiety he evinced in ascertaining
whether there was any chance of his recovery was
most affectionate and exemplary. Still, as usual, he
was out at night ; but the mystery of his whereabouts,
while absent, could never be penetrated. On those
occasions he always went armed — a fact which he
never attempted to conceal. On one of these nights
it so happened that Barney Casey was called upon to
attend at the wake of a relation, and, as his master’s
family were apprised of this circumstance, they did not
of course expect him home until a late hour. He left
the wake, however, earlier than he had proposed to do,
for he found it a rather dull affair, and was on his way
home when, to his astonishment, or rather to his hor-
ror, he saw Harry Woodward — also on his way home
— in close conversation with the supernatural being so
well known by description as the Shan-dliinne-dhuv , or
Black Spectre. Now, Barney was half cowardly and
half brave — that is to say, had he lived in an enlight-
ened age he would have felt little terror of supernatural
appearances ; but at the period of our story such was
the predominance of a belief in ghosts, fairies, evil spir-
its, and witches, that he should have been either less
or more than man could he have shaken off the pre-
vailing superstitions, and the gross credulity of the
times in which he lived. As it was, he knew not what
to think. He remembered the character which had
been whispered abroad about Harry Woodward, and
of his intercourse with supernatural beings — he was
known to possess the Evil Eye ; and it was generally
understood that those who happened to be endowed
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
331
with that accursed gift were aided in the exercises of it
by the powers of darkness and of evil. What, then,
was he to do ? There probably was an opportunity of
solving the mystery which hung around the midnight
motions of Woodward. If there was a spirit before him,
there was also a human being, in living flesh and blood
— an acquaintance, too — an individual whom he person-
ally knew, ready to sustain him, and afford, if neces-
sary, that protection which, under such peculiar cir-
cumstances, one fellow-creature has a right to expect
from another. Now Barney’s way home led him neces-
sarily— and a painful necessity it was — near the Haunt-
ed House ; and he observed that the place where they
stood, for they had ceased walking, was about fifty yards
above that much dreaded mansion. He resolved,
however, to make the plunge and advance, but
deemed it only good manners to give some intimation
of his approach. He was now within about twenty
yards of them, and made an attempt at a comic song,
which, however, quivered off into as dismal and cow-
ardly a ditty as ever proceeded from human lips.
Harry and the Spectre, both startled by the voice,
turned round to observe his approach, when, to his
utter consternation, the Shan-dhinne-dlmv sank, as it
were, into the earth and disappeared. The hair rose
upon Barney’s head, and when Woodward called out :
u Who comes there ? ”
He could scarcely summon voice enough to reply :
u It’s me, sir,” said he ; u Barney Casey.”
u Come }n, Barney,” said Woodward, u come on
quickly ; ” and he had scarcely spoken when Barney
joined him.
332
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ Barney,” said he, “ I am in a state of great terror.
I have felt ever since I passed that Haunted House as
if there was an evil spirit in my company. The feel-
ing was dreadful, and I am very weak in consequence
of it. Give me your arm.”
“ But did you see nothing, sir ? ” said Barney ;
“ didn’t it become visible to you ? ”
“No,” replied the other; “but I felt as if I was in
the presence of a supernatural being, and an evil one,
too.”
“ God protect us, Mr. Harry ! then, if you didn’t
see it I did.”
“ You did ! ” replied the other, startled ; “ and pray
what was it like ? ”
“ Why, a black ould man, sir ; and, by all accounts
that ever I could hear of it, it was nothing else than
the Shan-dhinne-dhuv. For God’s sake let us come
home, sir, for this, if all they say be true, is unholy
and cursed ground we’re standin’ on.”
“ And where did it disappear ? ” asked Woodward,
leading him by a circuit from the spot where it had
vanished.
“ Just over there, sir,” replied Barney, pointing to
the place. “ But, in God’s name, let us make for home
as fast as we can. I’ll think every minute an hour till
we get safe undher our own roof.”
“Barney,” said Woodward, solemnly, “I have are-
quest to make of you, and it is this — the common re-
port is, that the spirit in question follows our family — -
I mean by my mother’s side. Now I beg, as you expect
my good will and countenance, that, for my sake, and
out of respect for the family in general, you will never
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
333
breathe a syllable of what you have seen this night. It
could answer no earthly purpose, and would only send
abroad idle and unpleasant rumors throughout the
country. Will you promise this ? ”
u Of course I promise it,” replied Barney ; u what
object could I gain by repeatin’ it ? ”
“None whatsoever. Well, then, be silent on the
subject, and let us reach home as soon as we can.”
It would be difficult to describe honest Barney’s
feelings as they went along. He imagined that he felt
Harry’s arm tremble within his, and when he thought
of the reports concerning the evil spirit, and its connec-
tion with Mrs. Lindsay’s family, his sensations were
anything but comfortable. He tossed and tumbled
that night for hours in his bed before he was able to
sleep, and when he did sleep the Shan-dhinne-dhuv
rendered his dreams feverish and frightful.
Precisely at this period, before Mrs. Lindsay had
recovered from her indisposition, and could pay her
intended visit to the Goodwins, a circumstance occurred
which suggested to Harry Woodward one of the most
remorseless and satanic schemes that ever was concocted
in the heart of man. He was in the habit occasionally
of going down to the kitchen to indulge in a smoke
and a piece of banter with the servants. One evening,
whilst thus amusing himself, the conversation turned
upon the prevailing superstitions of the day. Ghosts,
witches, wizards, astrologers, fairies, leprechauns, and
all that could be termed supernatural, or even related
to or aided by it, were discussed at considerable length,
and with every variety of feeling. Amongst the rest
the Banshee was mentioned, — a spirit of whose pecu*
334
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
liar office and character Woodward, in consequence of
his long absence from the country, was completely
ignorant.
u The Banshee ! ” he exclaimed ; u what kind of a
spirit is that ? I have never heard of it.”
u Why, sir,” replied Barney, who was present, u the
Banshee — the Lord prevent us from hearin’ her — is
always the forerunner of death. She attends only
certain families — principally the ould Milesians, and
mostly Catholics, too ; although, I believe, it’s well
known that she sometimes attends Protestants whose
families have been Catholics or Milesians, until the last
of the name disappears. So that, afther all, it seems
she’s not over-scrupulous about religion.”
u But what do you mean by attending families ? ”
asked Woodward ; u what description of attendance or
service does she render them ? ”
u Indeed, Mr. Harry,” replied Barney, u anything
but an agreeable attendance. By goxty, I believe
every family she follows would be very glad to dis-
pense with her attendance if they could.”
u But that is not answering my question, Casey.”
u Why, sir,” proceeded Barney, u I’ll answer it.
Whenever the family that she follows is about to have
a death in it, she comes a little time before the death
takes place, sits either undher the windy of the sick
bed or somewhere near the house, and wails and cries
there as if her very heart would break. They say
she generally names the name of the party that is to
die ; but there is no case known of the sick person
ever recoverin’ afther she has given the warnin’ of
death.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
335
“It is a strange and wild superstition,” observed
Woodward.
“ But a very true one, sir,” replied the cook ;
“ every one knows that a Banshee follows the Good-
win family.”
“ What ! the Goodwins of Beech Grove ? ” said
Harry.
“ Yes, sir,” returned the cook ; “ they lost six chil-
dren, and not one of them ever died that she did not
give the warnin’.”
“ If poor Miss Alice heard it,” observed Barney,
“ and she in the state she’s in, she wouldn’t live
twenty-four hours afther it.”
“ According to what you say,” observed Woodward,
“ that is, if it follows the family, of course it will give
the warning in her case also.”
“ May God forbid,” ejaculated the cook, “ for it’s
herself, the darlin’ girl, that ’ud be the bitther loss to
the poor and destitute.”
This kind ejaculation was fervently echoed by all
her fellow-servants ; and Harry, having finished his
pipe, went to see how his brother’s wound was pro-
gressing. He found him asleep, and Caterine Collins
seated knitting a stocking at his bedside. He beck-
oned her to the lobby, where, in a low, guarded voice,
the following conversation took place between them :
“ Caterine, have you not a niece that sings well ?
Barney Casey mentioned her to me as possessing a fine
voice.”
“ As sweet a voice, sir, as ever came from a woman’s
lips ; but the poor thing is delicate and sickly, and I’m
afeard not long for this world.”
336
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Could she imitate a Banshee, do you think ? ”
“If ever woman could, she could. There’s not her
aquil at the keene, or Irish cry, livin’ ; she’s the only
one can bate myself at it.”
“Well, Caterine, if you get her to go to Mr. Good-
win’s to-morrow night and imitate the cry of the Ban-
shee, I will reward her and you liberally for it. You
are already well aware of my generosity.”
“Indeed I am, Mr. Woodward; but if either you
or I could insure her the wealth of Europe, we
couldn’t prevail on her to go by herself at night.
Except by moonlight she wouldn’t venture to cross
the street of Rathfillan. As to her, you may put that
out of the question. She’s very handy, however,
about a sick bed, and I might contrive, undher some
excuse or other, to get her to take my place for a day
or so. But here’s your father. We will talk about
it again.”
She then returned to the sick room, and Harry met
Mr. Lindsay on the stairs going up to inquire after
Charles.
“ Don’t go up, sir,” said he ; “ the poor fellow,
thank God, is asleep, and the less noise about him the
better.”
Both then returned to the parlor.
About eleven o’clock the next night Sarah Sullivan
was sitting by the bedside of her mistress, who was
then, fortunately for herself, enjoying, what was very
rare with her, an undisturbed sleep after the terror and
agitation of the day, when a low, but earnest and sor-
rowful wailing was heard, immediately, she thought,
under the window. It rose and fell alternately, and at
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
337
the close of every division of the cry it pronounced the
name of Alice Goodwin in tones of the most pathetic
lamentation and woe. The natural heat and warmth
seemed to depart out of the poor girl’s body ; she felt
like an icicle, and the cold perspiration ran in torrent*
from her face.
“My darling misthress,” thought she, “it’s all over
with you at last. There is the sign — the Banshee —
and it is well for yourself that you don’t hear it, be-
cause it would be the death of you at once. However,
if I committed one mistake about Misther Charles’s
misfortune, I will not commit another. You shall
never hear of this from me.”
The cry was then heard more distant and indistinct,
but still loaded with the same mournful expression of
death and sorrow ; but in a little time it died away in
the distance, and was then heard no more.
Sarah, though she had judiciously resolved to keep
this awful intimation a secret from Miss Goodwin,
considered it her duty to disclose it to her parents.
We shall not dwell, however, upon the scene which
occurred on the occasion. A belief in the existence
and office of the Banshee was, at the period of which
we write, almost universally held by the peasantry ;
and even about half a century ago it was one of
the strongest dogmas of popular superstition. After
the grief of the parents had somewhat subsided at this
dreadful intelligence, Mr. Goodwin asked Sarah Sulli-
van if his daughter had heard the wail of this pro-
phetic spirit of death ; and on her answering in the
negative, he enjoined her never to breathe a syllable
of the circumstance to her ; but she told him she had
15
838
THE EVIL EYE; OR^
come to that conclusion herself, as she felt certain, she
said, that the knowledge of it would occasion her mis-
tress’s almost immediate death.
“ At all events,” said her master, “ by the doctor’s
advice we shall leave this place to-morrow morning ;
he says if she has any chance it will be in a change of
air, of society, and of scenery. Everything here has
associations and recollections that are painful, and even
horrible to her. If she is capable of bearing an easy
journey we shall set out for the Spa of Ballyspellan, in
the county of Kilkenny. He thinks the waters of that
famous spring may prove beneficial to her. If the
Banshee, then, is anxious to fulfil its mission it must
follow us. They say it always pays three visits, but
as yet it has paid us only one.”
Mrs. Lindsay had now recovered from her slight in-
disposition, and resolved to pay the last formal visit to
the Goodwins, — a visit which was to close all future in-
tercourse between the families; and our readers are
not ignorant of her motives for this, nor how completely
and willingly she was the agent of her son Harry’s
designs. She went in all her pomp, dressed in satins
and brocades, and attended by Barney Casey in full
livery. Her own old family carriage had been swept
of its dust and cobwebs, and put into requisition on this
important occasion. At length they reached Beech-
grove, and knocked at the door, which was opened by
our old friend, Tom Kennedy.
“ My good man,” she asked, “ are the family at
home ? ”
“No, ma’am.”
“ What ! not at home, and Miss Goodwin so iJl 7 —
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
339
dying, I am told. Perhaps, in consequence of her health,
they do not wish to see strangers. Go and say that
Mrs. Lindsay, of Rathfillan House, is here.”
“ Ma’am, they are not at home ; they have left Beech
Grove for some time.”
“ Left Beech Grove ! ” she exclaimed ; “ and pray
where are they gone to ? I thought Miss Goodwin was
not able to be removed.”
“It was do or die with her,” replied Tom. “The
doctor said there was but one last chance — change of
air, and absence from dangerous neighbors.”
“But you did not tell me where they are gone to.”
“ I did not, ma’am, and for the best reason in life — •
because I don’t know.”
“ You don't know ! Why, is it possible they made
a secret of such a matter ? ”
“ Quite possible, ma’am, and to the back o’ that they
swore every one of us upon the seven gospels never to
tell any individual, man or woman, where they went to.”
“ But did they not tell yourselves ? ”
“ Devil a syllable, ma’am.”
“ And why, then, did they swear you to secrecy ? ”
“Why, of course, ma’am, to make us keep the
secret.”
“ But why swear you, I ask you again, to keep a
secret which you did not know ? ”
“ Why, ma’am, because they knew that in that case
there was litte danger of our committin’ parjury ; and
because every saicret which one does not know is sure
to be kept.”
She looked keenly at him, and added, “ I’m inclined
to think, sirrah, that you are impertinent.”
340
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Very likely, ma’am,” replied Tom, with great
gravity. “I’ve a strong notion of that myself. My
father before me was impertinent, and his last dying
words to me were, 6 Tom, I lay it as a last injunction
upon you to keep up the principles of our family, and
always to show nothing but impertinence to those who
don’t deserve respect.’ ”
With a face scarlet from indignation she immediately
ordered the carriage home, but before it had arrived
there the intelligence from another source had reached
the family, together with the fact that the Banshee had
been heard by Mr. Goodwin’s servants under Miss
Alice’s window. Such, indeed, was the fact ; and the
report of the circumstance had spread through half the
parish before the hour of noon next day.
The removal of Alice sank heavily upon the heart
of Harry Woodward; it seemed to him as if she had
gone out of his grasp, and from under the influence
of his eye, for, by whatever means he might accom-
plish it, he was resolved to keep the deadly power of
that eye upon her. He had calculated upon the voice
and prophetic wail of the Banshee as being fatal in
her then state of health ; or was it this ominous and
supernatural foreboding of her dissolution that caused
them to fly from the place ? He reasoned, as the
reader may perceive, upon the principle of the Ban-
shee being, according to the superstitious notions en-
tertained of her, a real supernatural visitant, and not
the unscrupulous and diabolical imitation of her by
Caterine Collins. Still he thought it barely possible
that the change of air and the waters of the celebrated
spring might recover her, notwithstanding all his inhu-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
341
man anticipations. His brother, also, according to the
surgeon’s last report, afforded hopes of convalescence.
A kind of terror came over him that his plans might
fail, because he felt almost certain that if Alice and
his brother both recovered, Mr. Lindsay might, or
rather would , mount his old hobby, and insist on hav-
ing them married, in the teeth of all opposition on the
part of either himself or his mother. This was a
gloomy prospect for him, and one which he could not
contemplate without falling back upon still darker
schemes.
After the night on which Barney Casey had seen
him and the Black Spectre together we need scarcely
say that he watched Barney closely, nor that Barney
watched him with as keen a vigilance. Whatever
Woodward may have actually felt upon the subject
of the apparition, Barney was certainly undecided as
to its reality ; or if there existed any bias at all, it was
in favor of that reality. Why did Woodward’s arm
tremble, and why did the man, who was supposed
ignorant of fear, exhibit so much terror and agitation
on the occasion ? Still, on the other hand, there
appeared to be a conversation, as it were, between
them, and a familiarity of manner considerably at
variance with Woodward’s version of the circumstances.
Be this as it might, he felt it to be a subject on which
he could, by no process of reasoning, come to anything
like a definite conclusion.
Woodward now determined to consult his mother as
to the plan of their future operations. The absence of
Alice, and the possible chance of her recovery, render-
ed it necessary that some new series of projects should
342
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
be adopted ; but although several had occurred to him,
he had not yet come to a definite resolution respecting
the selection he would make. With this view he and
his conscientious mother closeted themselves in her
room, and discussed the state of affairs in the following
dialogue :
“ Mother,” said he, “ this escape of Miss Curds-and-
whey is an untoward business. What, after all, if she
should recover ? ”
“ Recover ! ” exclaimed the lady ; “ why, did you
not assure me that such an event was impossible, —
that you were killing her, and that she must die ? ”
“ So I still think ; but so long as the notion of her
recovery exists, even only as a dream, so certainly
ought we to provide against such a calamity.”
“ Ah ! Harry,” she exclaimed, “you may well term
it a calamity, for such indeed it would be to you.”
“ Well, but what do you think ought to be done, my
dear mother ? I am anxious to have both your advice
and opinion upon our future proceedings. Suppose
change of air — the waters of that damned brimstone
spring, and above all things, the confidence she will
derive from the consciousness that she is removed from
me and out of my reach — suppose, I say, that all these
circumstances should produce a beneficial effect upon
her, then how do I stand ? ”
“ Why. with very little hope of the property,” she
replied ; “ and then what tenacity of life she has !
Why, there are very few girls who would not have been
dead long ago, if they had gone through half what she
has suffered. Well, you wish to ask me how I would
advise you to act ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
348
u Of course I do.”
u Well, then, you have heard the old proverb : It is
good to have two strings to one’s bow. We shall set
all consideration of her aside for a time, and turn our
attention to another object.”
u What or who is that, mother?”
u You remember I mentioned some time ago the
names of a neighboring nobleman and his niece, who
lives with him. The man I allude to was Lord Bil-
berry, but is now Earl of Cockletown. He was
raised to this rank for some services he rendered the
government against the tories, who had been devastat-
ing the country, and also against some turbulent pa-
pists who were supposed to have privately encouraged
them in their outrages against Protestant life and
property. He was a daring and intrepid man when
in his prime of life, and appeared to seek danger for
its own sake. He is now an old man, although a
young peer, and was always considered eccentric,
which he is to the present day. Some people look
upon him as a fool, and others as a knave ; but in bal-
ancing his claims to each, it has never yet been deter-
mined on which side the scale would sink. He is the
proprietor of a little fishing village on the coast, and
on this account he assumed the title of Cockletown ;
and when he built himself a mansion, as they term it,
he would have it called by no other name than that
of Cockle Hall. It is true he laughs at the thing him-
self, and considers it a good joke.”
u And so it is,” replied her son ; u but what about
the lady, his niece ? ”
u Why, she is a rather interesting person.”
344
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Ahem ! person f ”
“ Yes, about thirty-four or so ; but she will inherit
his property.”
“ And have you any notion of what that may amount
to ? ” asked her calculating son.
“ I could not exactly say,” she replied ; “ but I be-
lieve it is handsome. A great deal of it is mountain,
but they say there are large portions of it capable of
being reclaimed.”
u But how can the estate go to her ? ”
u Simply because there is no other heir,” replied his
mother ; “ they are the last of the family. It is not
entailed.”
“ Thirty-four ! ” ruminated Woodward. “ Well, I
have seen very fine girls at thirty-four ; but in personal
appearance and manner what is she like ? ”
“Why, perhaps a critical eye might not call her
handsome ; but the general opinion on that point is in
her favor. Her manners are agreeable, so are her
features ; but it is said that she is fastidious in her
lovers, and has rejected many. It is true most of
them were fortune-hunters, and deserved no better
success.”
“ But what do you call me, mother ? ”
“ Surely not a fortune-hunter, Harry. Is not there
your granduncle’s large property who is a bachelor,
and you are his favorite.”
“ But don’t you know, mother, that, as respects my
granduncle, I have confided that secret to you already ? ”
“I know no such thing, you fool,” she replied, look-
ing at him with an expression in her odious eye which
could not be described ; “I am altogether ignorant of
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
345
that fact ; but is there not the twelve hundred per
annum which reverts to you on the demise of that dy
ing girl ? ”
u True, my dear mother, true ; you are right, I am
a fool. Of course I never told you the secret of my
disinheritance by the old scoundrel.”
“Ah, Harry, I fear you played your cards badly
there. You knew he was religious, and yet you
should become a seducer; but why make free with
his money ? ”
u Why ? Why, because he kept me upon the tight
curb ; but, as these matters are known only to our-
selves, I see you are right. I am still to be consid-
ered his favorite — his heir — and am here only on a
visit.”
“ Well, but, Harry, he must have dealt liberally with
you on your departure from him ? ”
“ He ! Don’t you know I was obliged to fly ? — to
take French leave, I assure you. I reached Rathfil-
lan House with not more than twenty pounds in my
pocket.”
“ But how does it happen that you always appear to
have plenty of money ? ”
“ My dear mother, there is a secret there ; but it is
one which even you shall not know, — or come, you
shall know it. Did you ever hear of a certain super-
natural being which follows your family, which super-
natural being is known by the name of the Black
Spectre, or some such denomination which I cannot
remember ? ”
“ I don’t wish to hear it named,” replied his mother,
deeply agitated. “ It resembles the Banshee, and never
15*
346
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
appears to any one of our family except as a precursor
of his death by violence.”
Woodward started for a moment, and could not
avoid being struck at the coincidence of the same mis-
sion having been assigned to the two spirits, and he
reflected, with an impression that was anything but
agreeable, upon his damnable suggestion of having
had recourse to the vile agency of Caterine Collins in
enacting the said Banshee, for the purpose of giving
the last fatal blow to the almost dying Alice Goodwin.
He felt, and he had reason to feel, that there was a
mystery about the Black Spectre, which, for the life of
him, he could not fathom. He was, however, a firm and
resolute man, and after a moment or two’s thought he de-
clined to make any further disclosure on the subject, but
reverted to the general topic of their conversation.
u Well, mother,” said he, u after all, your speculation
may not be a bad one ; but pray, what is the lady’s
name ? ”
u Riddle — Miss Riddle. She is of the Clan-Riddle
family, a close relation to the Nethersides of Middle-
town.”
u And a devilish enigmatical name it is,” replied her
son, u as is that of all her connections.”
u Yes, but they were always close and prudent
people, who kept their opinions to themselves, and
wrought their way in the world with great success, and
without giving offence to any party. If you marry
her, Harry, I would advise you to enter public life,
recommend yourself to the powers that be, and, my
word for it, you stand a great chance of having thf
title of Cockletown revived in your person.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
347
u Well, although the title is a ridiculous one, I should
have no objection to it, notwithstanding; but there
will certainly arise some difficulty when we come to the
marriage settlements. There will be sharp lawyers
there, whom we cannot impose upon ; and you know,
mother, I am without any ostensible property.”
u Yes, but we can calculate upon the death of cun-
ning Alice, who, by her undue and flagitious influence
over your uncle, left you so.”
u Ay, but such a calculation would never do either
with her uncle or the lawyers. I think we have noth-
ing to fall back upon, mother, but your own property.
If you settle that upon me everything will go right.”
u And leave myself depending upon Lindsay ? No,
no,” replied this selfish and penurious woman ; u never,
Harry — never, never; you must wait until I die for
that. But I can tell you what we can do : let us enter
upon the negotiation — let us say for the time being
that you have twelve hundred a-year, and, while the
business is proceeding, what is there to prevent you
from going to recruit your health at Ballyspellan, and
kill out Alice Goodwin there, as well as if she re-
mained at home ? By this plan, before the negotia-
tions are closed, you will be able to meet Miss Riddle
with twelve hundred a-year at your back. Alice
Goodwin ! O, how I hate and detest her — ay, as I
do hell ! ”
u The plan,” replied her son, u is an excellent one.
We will commence operations with Lord Cockle town
and Miss Riddle, in the first place ; and having opened
the negotiations, as you say, I shall become unwell,
and go for a short time to try what efficacy the waters
348 TIIE EVIL eye; or,
of Ballyspellan may have on my health — or rather on
my fortunes.”
u We shall visit them to-morrow,” said the mother.
u So be it,” replied the son ; and to this resolution
they came, which closed the above interesting dialogue
between them. We say interesting, for if it has not been
such to the reader, it was so at least to themselves.
CHAPTER XVI.
A HOUSE OP SORROW. — AFTER WHICH FOLLOWS A
COURTING SCENE.
The deep sorrow and desolation of spirit introduced
by the profligate destroyer into the humble abode of
peace and innocence is an awful thing to contemplate.
In our chapter headed u the Wake of a Murderer ” we
have attempted to give a picture of it. The age, in-
deed, was one of licentiousness and profligacy. The
reigning monarch, Charles the Second, of infamous
memory, had set the iniquitous example to his sub-
jects, and surrounded his court by an aristocratic crew,
who had scarcely anything to recommend them but
their imitation of his vices, and this was always a pass-
port to his favor, whilst virtue, morality, and honor
were excluded with contempt and derision. In fact,
the corrupt atmosphere of his court carried its contag-
ion throughout the empire, until the seduction of fe-
male innocence became the fashion of the day, and no
man could consider himself entitled to a becoming posi-
tion in society who had not distinguished himself by
half a dozen criminal intrigues either with the wives or
daughters of his acquaintances. When we contemplate
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
349
for a moment the contrast between the abandoned
court of that royal profligate, and that under which
we have the happiness to live, — the one, a sty of infamy,
licentiousness, and corruption ; the other, a well, un-
defiled, of purity, virtue, and honor, to whose clear and
unadulterated waters nothing equivocal, or even ques-
tionable, dares to approach, much less the base or the
tainted, — we say that, on instituting this comparison
and contrast, the secret of that love and affectionate
veneration which we bear to our pure and high-minded
Queen, and the pride which we feel in the noble example
which she and her Royal Consort have set us, requires
no illustration whatsoever. The affection and gratitude
of her people are only the meed due to her virtues
and to his . We need not apologize to our readers for
this striking contrast. The period and the subject
of our narrative, as well as the melancholy scene to
which we are about to introduce the reader, rendered
it an impossibility to avoid it.
We now proceed to the humble homestead of Torley
Davoren ; a homestead which we have already described
as the humble abode of peace and happiness. Barney
Casey, who felt anxious to know from the parents of
Grace Davoren whether any trace or tidings of her had
been heard of, went to pay the heart-broken family a
visit for that purpose. On entering, he found the father
seated at his humble hearth, unshaven, and altogether
a man careless and negligent of his appearance. He
sat with his hands clasped before him, and his heavy
eyes fixed on the embers of the peat fire which smould-
ered on the hearth. The mother was at her distaff, and
so were the other two females — to wit, her grandmothei
350
THE EVIL EYE; OR^
and Grace’s sister. But the mother ! gracious heaven,
what a spirit of distress and misery breathed from
those hopeless and agonizing features ! There was not
only natural sorrow there, occasioned by the disappear-
ance of her daughter, but the shame which resulted from
her fall and her infamy ; and though last not least,
the terrible apprehension that the hapless girl had
rushed by suicidal means into the presence of an
offended God, u unanointed, unaneled,” with all her sins
upon her head. Her clothes were hanging from the
branches of a large burdock* against the wall, and
from time to time the father cast his eyes upon them
with a look in which might be read the hollow but
terrible expression of despair.
Honest Barney felt his heart deeply moved by all
this, and, sooth to say, his natural cheerfulness and
lightness of spirit completely abandoned him at the
contemplation of the awful anguish which pressed
them down. There is nothing which makes such a
coward of the heart as the influence of such a scene.
He felt that he stood within a circle of misery, and
that it was a solemn and serious task even to enter
into conversation with them. But, as he had come to
make friendly inquiries about the unfortunate girl, he
forced himself to break this pitiable but terrible silence
of despair.
u I know,” said he, with a diffident and melancholy
spirit, u that it is painful to you all to make the inqui-
* The branches of the burdock, when it is cut, trimmed, and seasoned,
are used by the humble classes to hang their clothes upon. They grow
upwards towards the top of the stalk, and, in consequence of this, art
capable of sustaining the heaviest garment.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
351
ries that I wish to make ; but still let me ask you if
you have got any account of her ? ”
The mother’s heart had been bursting — pent up as
it were — and this allusion to her withdrew the flood-
gates of its sorrow ; she spread out her arms, and
rising up approached her husband, and throwing them
about his neck, exclaimed, in tones of the most pene-
trating grief, —
u O, Torley, Torley, my husband, was she not our
dearest and our best ? ”
The husband embraced her with a flood of tears.
“ She was,” said he, “ she was.” But immediately
looking upon her sister Dora, he said, u Dora, come
here — bring Dora to me,” and his wife went over and
brought her to him.
“ O, Dora dear,” said he, u I love you. But, dar-
ling, I never loved you as I loved her”
“But was I ever jealous of that, father?” replied
Dora, with tears. “ Didn’t we all love her ? and did
any one of you love her more than myself? Wasn’t
she the pride of the whole family ? But I didn’t care
about her disgrace, father, if we had her back with
us. She might repent ; and if she did, every one
would forgive their favorite — -for sure she was every
one’s favorite ; and above all, God would forgive her.”
“ I loved her as the core of my heart,” said the
grandmother ; “ but you spoiled her yourselves, and
indulged her too much in dress and everything she
wished for. Had you given her less of her own way,
and kept her more from dances and merry-makings, it
might be better for yourselves and her to-day ; still, I
grant you, it was hard to do it — for who, mavrone ,
352
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
could refuse her anything ? O ! God sees my heart
how I pity you, her father, and you, too, her mother,
above all. But, Torley, dear, if we only had her — if
we only had her back again safe with us — then what
darling Dora says might be true, and her repentance
would wash away her shame — for every one loved ner,
so that they wouldn't judge her harshly.”
66 1 can bear witness to that,” said Barney ; u as it
is, every one pities her, and but very few blame her.
It is all set down to her innocence and want of expe-
rience, ay, and her youthful years. No ; if you could
only find her, the shame in regard of what Fve said
would not be laid heavily upon her by the people.”
u O,” exclaimed the father, starting up, u 0,Granua ,
Granua , my heart’s life ! where are you from us ? Was
not your voice the music of our hearth ? Did not your
light laugh keep us cheerful and happy ? But where
are you now ? O, will no one bring me back my
daughter? Where is my child? she that was the
light — the breakin’ of the summer mornin’ amongst
us ! But wait ; they say the villain is recoverin’
that destroyed her — well — he may recover from the
blow of Shawn-na-Middogue , but he will get a blow from
me that he won’t recover from. I will imitate Morrissy
— and will welcome his fate.”
u Aisy, Torley,” said Casey; Should in a little,
You are spakin’ now of Masther Charles ? ”
u I am, the villain ! warn’t they found together ? ”
u I have one question to ask you,” proceeded Bar-
ney, u and it is this — when did you see or spake with
8hawn-na-Middogue ? ”
u Not since that unfortunate night.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
853
“ Well, all I can tell you is this — that Masther
Charles had as much to do with the ruin of youi
daughter as the king o’ Jerusalem. Take my word
for that. He is not the stuff that such a villain is
mad^ of, but I suspect who is.”
“ And who do you suspect, Barney ? ”
“I say I only suspect; but, so long as it is only
suspicion, I will mention no names. It wouldn’t be
right ; and for that reason I will wait until I have
betther information. But, after all,” he proceeded,
“ maybe nothing wrong has happened.”
The mother shook her head : “ I know to the con-
trary,” she replied, “ and intended on that very night
to bring her to an account about her appearance, but
I never had the opportunity.”
The father here wrung his hands, and his groans
were dreadful.
“ Could you see Shawn-na-Middogue ? ” asked Bar-
ney.
“ No,” replied Davoren ; “ he, too, has disappeared ;
and although he is hunted like a bag-fox, nobody can
find either hilt or hair of him. ”
“ Might it not be possible that she is with him ? ” he
asked again.
“No, Barney,” replied her mother, “ we know Shawn
too well for that. He knows how we loved her, and
what we would suffer by her absence. Shawn, though
driven to be an outlaw, has a kind heart ; and would
never allow us to suffer what we are sufferin’ on her
account. O, no ! we know Shawn too well for that.”
“Well,” replied Barney, meditatively, “there’s one
thing I’m inclined to think : that whoever was the
354
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
means of bringing shame and disgrace upon poor Gra-
tina will get a touch of his middogue that won’t fail
as the first did. Shawn now knows his man, and, with
the help of God, I hope he won’t miss his next blow. I
must now go ; and before I do, let me tell you that, as I
said before, Masther Charles is as innocent of the shame
brought upon poor Granua as the king o’ Jerusalem.”
There is a feeling of deep but silent sorrow which
weighs down the spirit after the death of some beloved
individual who is taken away from among the family
circle. It broods upon, and casts a shadow of the most
profound gloom over the bereaved heart ; but let a
person who knew the deceased, and is capable of feel-
ing a sincere and friendly sympathy for the survivors,
enter into this circle of sorrow ; let him or her dwell
upon the memory of the departed ; then that silent
and nent-up grief bursts out, and the clamor of lamen-
tation is loud and vehement. It was so upon this oc-
casion. When Barney rose to take his departure, a
low murmur of grief assailed his ears ; it gradually
became more loud ; it increased ; it burst into irrepres-
sible violence — they wept aloud; they flew to her
clothes, which hung, as we said, motionless upcn the
stalk of burdock against the wall ; they kissed them
over and over again ; and it was not until Barney,
now deeply affected, succeeded in moderating their sor-
row, that these strong and impassioned paroxysms were
checked and subdued into something like reasonable
grief. Having consoled and pacified them as far as
it was in his power, he then took his departure undei
a feeling of deep regret that no account of the unfor*
tunate girl had been obtained.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
355
The next day Mrs. Lindsay and Harry prepared to
pay the important visit. As before, the old family
carriage was furbished up, and the lady once more
enveloped in her brocades and satins. Harry, too,
made it a point to appear in his best and most becom-
ing habiliments ; and, truth to tell, an exceedingly
handsome and well-made young fellow he was. The
dress of the day displayed his manly and well-propor-
tioned limbs to the best advantage, whilst his silver-
hilted sword, in addition to the general richness of his
costume, gave him the manner and appearance of an
accomplished cavalier. Barney’s livery was also put a
second time into requisition, and the coachman’s cocked
hat was freshly crimped for the occasion.
“ Is it true, mother ? ” inquired Harry, as they went
along, “ that this old noodle has built his residence as
much after the shape of a cockle-shell as was possible
to be accomplished ? ”
“ Perfectly true, as you will see,” she replied.
“ But what could put such a ridiculous absurdity
into his head ? ”
“ Because he thought of the name before the house
was built, and he got it built simply to suit the name.
i There is no use,’ said he, c in calling it Cockle Hall
unless it resembles a cockle ; ’ and, indeed, when you
see it, you will admit the resemblance.”
“ Egad,” said her son, “ I never dreamed that fate was
likely to cramp me in a cockle-shell. I dare say there
is a touch of sublimity about it. The associations are
in favor of it.”
“No,” replied his mother, “but it has plenty of
comfort and convenience about it. The plan was his
856
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
own, and he contrived to make it, notwithstanding its
ludicrous shape, one of the most agreeable residences
in the country. He is a blunt humorist, who drinks a
good deal, and instead of feeling offence at his manner,
which is rather rough, you will please him best by an-
swering him exactly in his own spirit.”
u I am glad you gave me this hint,” said her son ;
u I like that sort of thing, and it will go hard if I don’t
give him as good as he brings.”
“In that case,” replied the mother, “ the chances
will be ten to one in your favor. Seem, above all things,
to like his manner, because the old fool is vain of it,
and nothing gratifies him so much.”
“ But about the niece ? What is to be the cue there,
mother ? ”
“ The cue of a gentleman, Harry, — of a well-bred
and respectful gentleman. You may humor the old
fellow to the top of his bent ; but when you become
the gentleman with her, she will not misinterpret your
manner with her uncle, but will look upon the transi-
tion as a mark of deference to herself. And now you
have your instructions : be careful and act upon them.
Miss Riddle is a girl of sense, and, they say, of feeling ;
and it is on this account, I believe, that she is so criti-
cal in scrutinizing the conduct and intellect of her
lovers. So there is my last hint.”
“ Many thanks, my dear mother ; it will, I think, be
my own fault if I fail with either uncle or niece, sup-
ported as I shall be by your eloquent advocacy.”
On arriving at Cockle Hall, Harry, on looking out
of the carriage window, took it for granted that his
mother had been absolutely bantering him. “ Cocklo
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
357
Hall ! 97 he exclaimed ; u why, curse the hall I see here,
good, bad, or indifferent. What did you mean, mother I
Were you only jesting ? ”
u Keep quiet,” she replied, u and above all things
don’t seem surprised at the appearance of the place.
Look precisely as if you had been in it ever since it
was built.”
The appearance of Cockle Hall was, indeed, as his
mother had very properly informed him, ludicrous
in the extreme. It was built on a surface hollowed
out of a high bank, or elevation, with which the roof
of it was on a level. It was, of course, circular and
flat, and the roof drooped, or slanted off towards the
rear, precisely in imitation of a cockle-shell. There
was, however, a complete deceptio visus in it. To the
eye, in consequence of the peculiarity of its position,
it appeared to be very low, which, in point of fact, was
not exactly the case, for it consisted of two stories,
and had comfortable and extensive apartments. There
was a paved space wide enough for two carriages to
pass each other, which separated it from the embank-
ment that surrounded it. Altogether, when taken in
connection with the original idea of its construction,
it was a difficult thing to look at it without mirth. On
entering the drawing-room, which Harry did alone—
for his mother, having seen Miss Riddle in the parlor,
entered it in order to have a preliminary chat with
her — her son found a person inside dressed in a pair
of red plush breeches, white stockings a good deal
soiled, a yellow long-flapped waistcoat, and a wig, with
a cue to it which extended down the whole length of
his back, — evidently a servant in dirty livery. There
358
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
was something degagee and rather impudent in his
manner and appearance, which Harry considered as in
good keeping with all he had heard of this eccentric
nobleman. Like master like man, thought he.
u Well,” said the servant, looking hardly at him,
u what do you want ? ”
u You be cursed,” replied Harry ; u don’t be imper-
tinent ; do you think I’m about to disclose my business
to you, you despicable menial ? Why don’t you get
your stockings washed ? But if you wish to know what
I want, I want your master.”
The butler, footman, or whatever he might have
been, fixed a keen look upon him, accompanied by a
grin of derision that made the visitor’s gorge rise a
good deal.
u My master,” said the other, u is not under this
roof. What do you think of that ? ”
u You mean the old cockle is not in his shell, then,”
replied Harry.
u Come,” said the other, with a chuckle of enjoy-
ment, u curse me, but that’s good. Who are you ?
— what are you ? You are in good feathers — only
give an account of yourself.”
Harry was a keen observer, but was considerably
aided by what he had heard from his mother. The
rich rings, however, which he saw sparkling on the
fingers of what he had conceived to be the butler or
footman, at once satisfied him that he was then ad-
dressing the worthy nobleman himself. In the mean-
time, having made this discovery, he resolved to act
the farce out.
u Why should I give an account of myself to you,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
359
you cursed old sot ? — you drink, sirrah : I can read it
in your face.”
“I say, give an account of yourself; what’s your
business here ? ”
“ Come, then,” replied Harry, “ as you appear to be
a comical old scoundrel, I don’t care, for the joke’s
sake, if I do. I am coming to court Miss Riddle,
ridiculous old Cockletown’s niece.”
“ Why are you coming to court her ? ”
“ Because I understand she will have a good fortune
after old Cockle takes his departure.”
“ Eh, confound me, but that’s odd ; why, you are a
devilish queer fellow. Did you ever see Lord Cockle-
town ? ”
“ Not I,” replied Harry; “nor I don’t care a curse
whether I do or not, provided I had his niece secure.”
“ Did you ever see the niece ? ”
“ Don’t annoy me, sirrah. No, I didn’t ; neither do
I care if I never did, provided I secure old Cockle’s
money and property. If it could be so managed,
would prefer being married to her in the dark.”
The old peer walked two or three times through
the room in a kind of good-humored perplexity, rais-
ing his wig and scratching his head under it, and sur-
veying Woodward from time to time with a serio-comic
expression.
“ Of course you are a profligate, for that is the order
of the day ? ”
“ Why, of course I am,” replied Harry.
“ Any intrigues — eh ? ”
“Indeed,” replied the other, pulling a long face,
“ I am ashamed to answer you on that subject.
360
THE EVIL EVE; OR,
Intrigues ! I regret to say only half a dozen yet, but
my prospects in that direction are good.”
“ Have you fought ? Did you ever commit murder ! ”
“It can scarcely be called by that name. It was in
tavern brawls : one was a rascally cockleman, and the
other a rascally oysterman.”
“ How did you manage the oysterman ? With a
knife, eh ? ”
“No, sirrah; with my sword I did him open.”
“ Have you any expectation of being hanged ? ”
“Why, according to the life I have led, I think
there is every probability that I may reach that honor-
able position.”
The old peer could bear this no longer. He burst
out into a loud laugh, which lasted upwards of two
minutes.
“ Faith,” said Harry, “ if you had such a prospect be-
fore you, I don’t think you would consider it such a
laughing matter.”
“ Curse you, sir, do you know who lam?”
“ Curse yourself, sir,” replied the other, “no, I don’t;
how should I, when I never saw you before ? ”
“ Sir, I am Lord Cockletown.”
“And, sir, I am Harry Woodward, son — favorite
son — to Mrs. Lindsay of Rathfillan House.”
“ What ! are you a son of that old fagot ? ”
“ Her favorite son, as I said ; that old fagot, sir, is
my mother.”
“Ay, but who was your father?” asked his lord-
ship, with a grin, “ for that’s the rub.”
“ That is the rub,” said Woodward, laughing ; “how
the devil can I tell ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
361
“ Good again,” said his lordship ; u confound me
but you are a queer one. I tell you what, I like you.”
U1 don’t care a curse whether you do or not, pro-
vided your niece does.”
u Are you the fellow that has been abroad, and re-
turned home lately ? ”
u I am the very fellow ,” replied Woodward, with a
ludicrous and good-humored emphasis upon the word
fellow .
u There was a bonfire made for you on your return ? ”
u There was, my lord.”
u And there fell a shower of blood upon that occa-
sion ? ”
u Not a doubt of it, my lord.”
u Well, you are a strange fellow altogether. I have
not for a long time met a man so much after my own
heart.”
66 That is because our dispositions resemble each
other. If I had the chance of a peerage, I would be
as original as your lordship in the selection of my
title ; but I trust I shall be gratified in that, too ; be-
cause, if I marry your niece, I will enter into public
life, make myself not only a useful, but a famous man,
and, of course, the title of Cockletown will be revived
in my person, and will not perish with you. No, my
lord, should I marry your niece, your title shall descend
with your blood, and there is something to console you.”
u Come,” said the old peer, 66 shake hands. Have you
a capacity for public business ? ”
u I was born for it, my lord. I feel that fact ; be-
sides, I have a generous ambition to distinguish my*
self. ”
16
362
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Well/7 said the peer, “we will talk all that ovef
in a few days. But don’t you admit that I am an
eccentric old fellow ? ”
“ And doesn’t your lordship admit that I am an
eccentric young fellow ? ”
“ Ay, but, harkee, Mr. Woodward,” said the peer, “ I
always sleep with one eye open.”
“ And I,” replied Harry, “ sleep with both eyes
open.”
“ Come, confound me, that beats me, you must get
on in life, and I will consider your pretensions to my
niece.”
At this moment his mother and Miss Riddle entered
the drawing-room, which, notwithstanding the comical
shape of the ‘mansion, was spacious, and admirably fur-
nished. Miss Riddle’s Christian name was Thomasina ;
but her eccentric uncle never called her by any other
appellation than Tom, and occasionally Tommy.
“ Mrs. Lindsay, uncle,” said the girl, introducing her.
“ Eh ? Mrs. Lindsay ! O ! how do you do, Mrs.
Lindsay ? How is that unfortunate devil, your hus-
band !”
Now Mrs. Lindsay was one of those women who,
whenever there was a selfish object in view, could not
only suppress her feelings, but exhibit a class of them
in direct opposition to those she actually felt.
“ Why unfortunate, my lord ? ” she asked, smiling.
“ Why, because I am told he plays second fiddle at
home, and a devilish deal out of tune, too, in general.
You play first, ina’am ; but they say, notwithstanding,
that there’s a plentiful lack of harmony in your con-
certs.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
363
“ Ah,” she replied, “your lordship must still have
your joke, I perceive; but, at all events, I am glad to
see you in such spirits.”
“ Well, you may thank your son for that. I say,
Tom,” he added, addressing his niece, “he’s a devil-
ish good fellow ; a queer chap, and I like him.
Woodward, this is Tom Riddle, my niece. This
scamp, Tom, is that woman’s son, Mr. Woodward.
He’s an accomplished youth : Fll be hanged if he isn’t.
I asked him how many intrigues he has had, and he
replied, with a dolorous face, only half a dozen yet.
He only committed two murders, he says ; and when I
asked him if he thought there was any probability of
his being hanged, he replied that, from a review of
his past life, and what he contemplated in the future,
he had little doubt of it.”
Harry Woodward was, indeed, a most consummate
tactician. From the moment Miss Riddle entered the
room, his air and manner became that of a most pol-
ished gentleman ; and after bowing to her when intro-
duced, he cast, from time to time, a glance at her,
which told her, by its significance, that he had only
been gratifying her uncle by playing into his whims
and eccentricities. In the meantime the heart of
Mrs. Lindsay bounded with delight at the progress
which she saw, by the complacent spirit of the old
peer, honest and adroit Harry had made in his good
opinion.
“Miss Riddle,” said he, “his lordship and I have
been bantering each other ; but although I considered
myself what I may term an able hand at it, yet I find
I am no match for him.”
364
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ Well, not exactly, I believe,’7 replied his lordship ;
“ but, notwithstanding, you are one of the best I have
met.”
“Why, my lord,” replied Woodward, “I like the
thing ; and, indeed, I never knew any one fond of it
who did not possess a good heart and a candid disposi-
tion ; so, you see, my lord, there is a compliment for
each of us.”
“Yes, Woodward, and we both deserve it.”
“I trust, Mr. Woodward,” observed his niece, “that
you don’t practise your abilities as a banterer upon
our sex.”
“ Never ! Miss Riddle ; that would be ungenerous
and unmanly. There is nothing due to your sex but
respect, and that, you know, is incompatible with ban-
ter. The wit that could wantonly sport with the
modesty of woman degenerates into impudence and
insult ; ” and he accompanied the words with a low and
graceful bow.
This young fellow, thought Miss Riddle, is a gentle-
man.
“ Yes, but, Mr. Woodward, we sometimes require a
bantering; and, what is more, a remonstrance. We
are not perfect, and surely it is not the part of a friend
to overlook our foibles or our errors.”
“ True, Miss Riddle, but it is not by bantering they
will be reclaimed. A friendly remonstrance, delicately
conveyed, is one thing, but the buffoonery of a banter
is another.”
“What’s that ?” said the peer, “buffoonery ! I deny
it, sir ; there is no buffoonery in banter.”
“ Not, my lord, when it occurs between gentlemen,”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
3G5
replied Woodward, u but, you know, with ladies it is a
different thing.”
u Ay, well, that’s not bad ; a proper distinction. I
tell you what, Woodward, you are a clever fellow ; and
I?m not sure but Pll advocate your cause with Toni
there. Tom, he tells me he is coming to court you,
and he says he doesn’t care a fig about either of us,
provided he could secure your fortune. Ay, and,
what’s more, he says that if you and he are married,
he hopes it will be in the dark. What do you think
of that now ? ”
Miss Riddle did not blush, nor affect a burst of in-
dignation, but she said what pleased both Woodward
and his mother far better.
“ Well, uncle, ” she replied, calmly, u even if he did
say so, I believe he only expressed in words what most,
if not all, of my former lovers actually felt, but were
too cautious to acknowledge.”
UI trust, Miss Riddle,” said Harry, smiling gra-
ciously, u that I am neither so silly nor so stupid as to
defend a jest by anything like a serious apology. You
will also be pleased to recollect that, as an argument
for my success, I admitted two murders, half a dozen
intrigues, and the lively prospect of being hanged. The
deuce is in it, if these are not strong qualifications in
a lover, especially in a lover of yours, Miss Riddle.”
The reader sees that the peer was anything but a
match for Woodward, who contrived, and with perfect
success, to turn all his jocular attacks to his own ac-
count.
Miss Riddle smiled, for the truth was that Harry be-
gan to rise rapidly in her good opinion. His sprightli
366
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
ness was gentlemanly and agreeable, and he contrived,
besides, to assume the look and air of a man who only
indulged in it in compliment to her uncle, and, of
course, indirectly to herself, with whom, it was but
natural, he should hope to make him an advocate.
Still the expression of his countenance, as he managed
it, appeared to her to be that of a profound and seri-
ous thinker — one whose feelings, when engaged, were
likely to retain a strong hold of his heart. That he
should model his features into such an expression is
by no means strange, when we reflect with what suc-
cess hypocrisy can stamp upon them all those traits of
character for which she wishes to get credit from the
world.
u Come, Tom,” said his lordship, u it’s time for
luncheon ; we can’t allow our friends to go without
refreshments. I say, Woodward, I’m a hospitable old
fellow ; did you ever know that before ? ”
“I have often heard it, my lord,” replied the other,
u and I hope to have still better proof of it.” This was
uttered with a significant, but respectful glance, at the
niece, who was by no means displeased at it.
u Ay ! ay ! ” said his lordship, laughing, u the proof
of the pudding is in the eating. Well, you shall have
an opportunity, and soon, too ; you appear to be a
blunt, honest fellow ; and hang me but I like you.”
Miss Riddle now went out to order in the refresh-
ments, but not without feeling it strange how her uncle
and herself should each contemplate Woodward’s char-
acter in so different a light — the uncle looking upon
him as a blunt, honest fellow, whilst to her he appeared
as a man of sense, and a perfect gentleman. Such,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
367
however, was the depth of his hypocrisy, that he suc-
ceeded at once in pleasing both, and in deceiving both.
u Well, Woodward, what do you think of Tom f ”
asked his lordship.
“ Why, my lord, that she is an admirable and lovely
girl.”
“ Well, you are right, sir ; Tom is an admirable
girl, and loves her old uncle as if he was her father, or
maybe a great deal better ; she will have all I am
worth when I pop off, so there’s something for you to
think upon.”
“No man, my lord, capable of appreciating her
could think of anything but herself.”
“ What ! not of her property ? ”
“ Property, my lord, is a very secondary subject
when taken into consideration with the merits of the
lady herself. I am no enemy to property, and I admit
its importance as an element of happiness when rea-
sonably applied, but I am neither sordid nor selfish ;
and I know how little, after all, it contributes to do-
mestic enjoyment, unless accompanied by those virtues
which constitute the charm of connubial life.”
“ Confound me but you must have got that out of a
book, Woodward.”
“ Out of the best book, my lord, — the book of life
and observation.”
u Why, curse it, you are talking philosophy, though.”
u Only common sense, my lord.”
His lordship, who was walking to and fro in the
room, turned abruptly round, looked keenly at him, and
then, addressing Mrs. Lindsay, said, —
“ Why, upon my soul, Mrs. Lindsay, we must try
308
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
and do something with this fellow ; he’ll be lost to the
world if we don’t. Come, I say, we must make a
public man of him.”
u To become a public man is his own ambition, my
lord,” replied Mrs. Lindsay ; u and although I am his
mother, and may feel prejudiced in his favor, still I
agree with your lordship that it is a pity to see such
abilities as his unemployed.”
“Well, madam, we shall consider of it. What do
you think, Woodward, if we made a bailiff of you ? ”
At this moment Miss Riddle entered the room just
in time to hear the question.
“ The very thing, my lord ; and the first capture I
should make would be Miss Riddle, your fair niece
here.”
u Curse me, but the fellow’s a cat,” said the peer,
laughing. “ Throw him as you will, he always falls
upon his legs. What do you think, Tom ? Curse me
but your suitor here talked philosophy in your ab-
sence.”
“ Only common sense, Miss Riddle,” said Harry.
“ Philosophy, it is said, excludes feeling ; but that is
not a charge which I ever heard brought against com-
mon sense.”
“ I am an enemy neither to philosophy nor common
sense,” replied his niece, “ because I think neither of
them incompatible with feeling ; but I certainly prefer
common sense.”
u There’s luncheon announced,” said the peer, rub-
bing his hands, “ and that’s a devilish deal more
comfortable than either of them. Come, Mrs. Lind-
say ; Woodward, take Tom with you.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
369
They then descended to the dining-room, where the
conversation was lively and amusing, the humorous
old peer furnishing the greater proportion of the
mirth.
u Mrs. Lindsay,” said he, as they were preparing to
go, “ I hope, after all, that this clever son of yours is
not a fortune-hunter.”
u He need not be so, my lord,” replied his mother,
“ and neither is he. He himself will have a handsome
property.”
u Will have. I would rather you wouldn’t speak in
the future tense, though. Woodward,” he added, ad-
dressing that gentleman, u remember I told you that I
sleep with one eye open.”
“ If you have any doubts, my lord, on this subject,”
replied Woodward, “ you may imitate me : sleep with
both open.”
“ Ay, as the hares do, and devil a bit they’re the
better for it; but, in the meantime, what property
have you, or will you have? There is nothing like
coming to the point.”
“ My lord,” replied Woodward, “I respect Miss
Riddle too much to enter upon such a topic in her
presence. You must excuse me, then, for the present ;
but if you wish for precise information on the subject,
I refer you to my mother, who will, upon a future
•ccasion — and I trust it will be soon — afford you
every satisfaction on this matter.”
“Well,” replied his lordship, “that is fair enough
— a little vague, indeed — but no matter, your mother
and I will talk about it. In the meantime you are a
devilish clever fellow, and, as I said, I like you ; but still
16 *
370
THE EVIL EYE* OR,
I will suffer no fortune-hunter to saddle himself upon
my property. I repeat it, I sleep with one eye open.
I will be happy to see you soon, Mr. Woodward;
but remember I will be determined on this subject
altogether by the feelings of my niece Tom here.”
“I have already said, my lord,” replied Woodward,
“ that, except as a rational element in domestic happi-
ness, I am indifferent to the consideration or influence
of property. The prevailing motives with me are the
personal charms, the character, and the well-known
virtues of your niece. It is painful to me to say even
this in her presence, but your lordship has forced it
from me. However, I trust that Miss Riddle under-
stands and will pardon me.”
“Mr. Woodward,” she observed, “you have said
nothing unbecoming a gentleman; nothing certainly
but that which you could not avoid saying.”
After the usual forms of salutation at parting, Harry
and his mother entered the old carriage and proceeded
on their way home.
“Well, Harry,” said his mother, “what do you
think?”
“ A hit,” he replied ; “ a hit with both, but espe-
cially with the niece, who certainly is a fine girl. If
there is to be any opposition, it will be with that comi-
cal old buffoon, her uncle. He says he sleeps with
one eye open, and I believe it. You told me it could
not be determined whether he was more fool or knave ;
but, from all I have seen of him, the devil a bit of fool
I can perceive, but, on the contrary, a great deal of
the knave. Take my word for it, old Cockletown ia
not to be imposed upon.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
371
“ Is there no likelihood of that wretch, Alice Good-
win, dying ? 77 said his mother.
“ That is a case I must take in hand/7 returned the
son. “ I shall go to Ballyspellan and put an end to
her. After that we can meet old Cockletown with
courage. I feel that I am a favorite with his niece,
and she, you must have perceived, is a favorite with
him, and can manage him as she wishes, and that is
one great point gained — indeed, the greatest.77
“ No/7 replied his mother, “ the greatest is the
death of Alice Goodwin.77
“Be quiet/7 said her worthy son; “that shall be
accomplished.77
CHAPTER XVII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGINAL TORY. THEIR MANNER
OF SWEARING.
We have introduced an Irish outlaw, or tory, in the
person of Shawn-na-Middogue , and, as it may be
necessary to afford the reader a clearer insight into
this subject, we shall give a short sketch of the charac-
ter and habits of the wild and lawless class to which
he belonged. The first description of those savage
banditti that has come down to us with a distinct and
characteristic designation, is known as that of the wild
band of tories who overran the South and West of Ire-
land both before the Revolution and after it. The
actual signification of the wrord tory , though now, and
for along time, the appellative of a political party, is
372
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
scarcely known except to the Irish scholar and histo-
rian. The term proceeds from the Irish noun toir, a
pursuit, a chase ; and from that comes its cognate,
toircCs a person chased, or pursued — thereby meaning
*,n outlaw , from the fact that the individuals to whom
it was first applied were such as had, by their murders
and robberies, occasioned themselves to be put beyond
the protection of all laws, and, consequently, were con-
sidered outlaws, or tories , and liable to be shot down
without the intervention of judge or jury, as they often
were, wherever they could be seen or apprehended.
We believe the word first assumed its distinct charac-
ter in the wars of Cromwell, as applied to the wild
freebooters of Ireland.
Tory-hunting was at one time absolutely a pastime
in Ireland, in consequence of this desperate body of
people having proved the common enemy of every
class, without reference to either religious or political
distinction. We all remember the old nursery song,
which, however simple, is very significant, and affords
us an excellent illustration of their unfortunate condi-
tion, and the places of their usual retreat.
“ M tell you a story about Johnny Magrory,
Who went to the wood and shot a tory ;
I’ll tell you another about his brother,
Who went to the wood and shot another.”
From this it is evident that the tories of the time of
Cromwell and Charles the Second were but the lineal
descendants of the thievish wood kernes mentioned by
Spenser, or at least the inheritors of their habits.
Defoe attributes the establishment of the word in Eng-
land to the infamous Titus Oates.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
373
u There was a meeting,” says he, u (at which I was
present) in the city, upon the occasion of the discovery
of some attempt to stifle the evidence of the witnesses
(about the Popish plot), and tampering with Bedlow
and Stephen Dugdale. Among the discourse Mr. Bed-
low said c he had letters from Ireland ; that there were
some tories to be brought over hither, who were pri-
vately to murder Dr. Oates and the said Bedlow.’ The
doctor, whose zeal was very hot, could never hear any
man after this talk against the plot, or against the wit-
nesses, but he thought he was one of the tories, and
called almost every man who opposed him in his dis-
course a tory — till at last the word became popular.”
Hume’s account of it is not very much different
from this.
u The court party,” says he, 66 reproached their
antagonists with their affinity to the fanatical conven-
ticlers of Scotland, who were known by the name of
Whigs.* The country party found a resemblance be-
tween the courtiers and the Popish banditti in Ireland,
on whom the appellation of tory was affixed. And
after this manner these foolish terms of reproach came
into public and general use.”
It is evident, from Irish history, that the original
tories, politically speaking, belonged to no party what-
ever. They were simply thieves, robbers, and mur-
deiers on their own account. Every man’s hand was
against them, and certainly their hands were against
* The word whig is taken from the fact, that in Scotland it was applied
to milk that had become sour ; and to this day milk that has lost its
sweetness is termed by the Scotch, and their descendants in the north
of Ireland, whigged milk.
374
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
every man. The fact is, that in consequence of the
predatory nature of Irish warfare, which plundered,
burned, and devastated as it went along, it was impos-
sible that thousands of the wretched Irish should not
themselves be driven by the most cruel necessity, for
the preservation of their lives and of those of their
families, to become thieves and plunderers in absolute
self-defence. Their habitations, such as they were,
having been destroyed and laid in ruins, they were
necessarily driven to seek shelter in the woods, caves,
and other fastnesses of the country, from which they
issued forth in desperate hordes, armed as well as they
could, to rob and to plunder for the very means of life.
Goaded by hunger and distress of every kind, those
formidable and ferocious u wood kernes ” only paid the
country back, by inflicting on it that plunder and
devastation which they had received at its hands.
Neither is it surprising that they should make no dis-
tinction in their depredations, because they experienced,
to their cost, that no u hosting,” on either or any side,
ever made a distinction with them. Whatever hand
was uppermost, whether in the sanguinary struggles
of their rival chiefs, or in those between the Irish and
English, or Anglo-Irish, the result was the same to
them. If they were not robbed or burned out to-day,
they might be to-morrow ; and under such circum-
stances to what purpose could they be expected to
exercise industrious or laborious habits, when they
knew that they might go to bed in comfort at night,
and rise up beggars in the morning ? It is easy to see,
then, that it was the lawless and turbulent state of the
country that reduced them to such a mode of life, and
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
375
drove them to make reprisals upon the property of
others, in the absence of any safe or systematic way
of living. There is no doubt that a principle of revenge
and retaliation animated their proceedings, and that they
stood accountable for acts of great cruelty and murder,
as well as of robbery. The consequence necessarily
was, that they felt themselves beyond the protection of
all law, and fearfully distinct in the ferocity of their
character from the more civilized population of the
country, which waged an exterminating warfare
against them under the sanction and by the assistance
of whatever government existed.
It was about the year 1689 that they began to assume
or be characterized by a different designation — we mean
that of rapparees ; so called, it is said, from the fact of
their using the half pike or short rapier; although,
for our part, we are inclined to think that they were
so termed from the word rapio , to plunder, which
strikes us as the most appropriate and obvious. At all
events it is enough to say that the tories were absorbed
in the rapparees, and their name in Ireland and Great
Britain, except as a political class, was forgotten and
lost in that of the rapparees, who long survived them.
Barney Casey was, as the reader must have perceived,
a young fellow of good sense and very acute observa-
tion. He had been, since an early period of his youth,
domesticated in the family of Mr. Lindsay, who re-
spected him highly for his attachment and integrity.
He had a brother, however, who, with his many good
qualities, was idle and headstrong. His name was
Michael, and, sooth to say, the wild charm of a free-
booter’s life, in addition to his own indisposition to
376
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
labor for his living, were more than the weak material*
of his character could resist. He consequently joined
Shawn-na-Middogue and his gang, and preferred the
dangerous and licentious life of a robber and plunderer
to that of honesty and labor — precisely as many men
connected with a seafaring life prefer the habits of the
smuggler or the pirate to those of the more honorable
and legitimate profession. Poor Barney exerted all his
influence with his brother with a hope of rescuing him
from the society and habits of his dissolute companions,
but to no purpose. It was a life of danger and excite-
ment— of plans, and projects, and changes, and chases,
and unexpected encounters — of retaliation and, occa-
sionally, the most dreadful revenge. Such, however,
was the state of society at that time, that those persona
who had connected themselves with these desperate
outlaws were by no means afraid to pay occasional
visits to their own relatives, and from time to time to
hold communication with them. Nay, not only was
this the fact, but, what is still more strange, many
persons who were related to individuals connected with
this daring and unmanageable class were in the habit
of attending their nightly meetings, sometimes for the
purpose of preventing a robbery, or of setting a family
whom they wished to suffer.
One night, during this period of our narrative, Bar-
ney’s brother contrived to have a secret interview with
him for the purpose of communicating some informa-
tion to him which had reached his ears from Shawn -
na-Middogue , to the effect that Caterine Collins had
admitted to him (Shawn), upon his promise of marry-
ing her — a promise made only for the purpose of getting
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
377
into her confidence, and making her useful as an agent
to his designs — that she knew, she said, that it was not
his brother Charles who had brought unfortunate Grace
Davoren to ruin, but Harry Woodward, and, she added,
when it was too late, she suspected something from his
manner, of his intention to send Charles, on that disas-
trous night, in his stead. But Shawn, who knew Cat-
erine and her connections well, recommended Michael
Casey to apprise his brother that he could not keep
too sharp an eye upon the movements of both, but,
above all things, to try and induce him to set Wood-
ward in such a way that he could repair the blow upon
him, which, in mistake, he had dealt to his innocent
brother. Now, although Barney almost detested Wood-
ward, yet he was incapable of abetting Shawn’s designs
upon Suit Balor .
“No,” said he to his brother, “I would die first. It
is true I do not like a bone in his body, but I will
never lend myself to such a cowardly act as that ; be-
sides, from all I know of Shawn, I did not think he
would stoop to murder.”
“Ay, but think of our companions,” replied his
brother, “ and think, too, of what a notion they have of
it. Shawn, however, is a different man from most, if
not all, of them — and he says he was urged on by a
fit of fury when he found the man, that he thought the
destroyer of Grace Davoren, speaking to her in such a
lonely and suspicious place. It was his intention to
have bidden him to stand on his guard and defend
himself, but jealousy and revenge overcame him at
the moment, and he struck the blow. Thank God that
it failed *, but you may take my word that the next
378
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
won’t — because Shawn now swears, that without pref-
ace or apology, or one moment’s warning, he will stab
him to the heart wherever he can meet him.”
u It’s a bad life,” replied Barney, u that Shawn’s
leading; but, poor fellow, he and his resaved hard
treatment — their house and place torn down and laid
in ruins, and instead of protection from government,
they found themselves proclaimed outlaws. What
could he and they do ? But, Michael, it was a differ-
ent thing with you. Our family were comfortable —
too much so, indeed, for you ; you got idle habits and
a distaste for work, and so, rather than settle down to
industry, you should join them.”
u Ay, and so would you, if you knew the life we
lead.”
u That might be,” replied his brother, u if I didn’t
happen to think of the death you die.”
u As to that,” said Michael, u we have all made up
our minds ; shooting and hanging will get nothing out
of us but the death-laugh at our enemies.”
u Ay, enemies of your own making,” said Barney ;
u but as to the death-laugh on the gallows, remember
that that is at your own expense. It will be what we
call on the wrong side of the mouth, I think. But in
regard of these nightly meetings of yours, I would
have no objection to see one of them. Do you think
I would be allowed to join you for an hour or two,
that I might hear and see what you say and do ? ”
u You may, Barney; but you know it isn’t every
one that would get that privilege ; but in ordher to
make sure, I’ll spake to Shawn about it. Leave is
light, they say ; and as he knows you’re not likely to
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
379
turn a spy upon our hands, Fm certain he won’t have
any objection.”
u When and where will you meet next ? ” asked
Barney.
u On the very spot where Shawn struck his middogue
into the body of Masther Charles,” replied his brother.
u Shawn has some oath of revenge to make against
Woodward, because he suspects that the villain knows
where poor Grranua Davoren is. ”
u Well, on that subject he may take his own coorse,”
replied Barney ; u but as for me, Michael, I neither
can nor will think of the murdher of a fellow-crature,
no matther how wicked he may be, especially when I
know that it is planned for him. As a man and a
Christian, I cannot lend myself to it, and of coorse
— but this is between ourselves — I will put Mr.
Woodward on his guard.”
Those were noble sentiments, considering the wild
and licentious period of which we write, and the
dreadfully low estimate at which human life was then
held.
u Act as you like,” replied Michael ; u but this I can
tell you, and this I do tell you, that if, for the safety
of this villain, you take a single step that may bring
Shcwm-na-Middogue into danger, if you were my
brother ten times over I will not prevent him—
Shawn I mean — from letting loose his vengeance upon
you. No, nor upon Rathfillan House and all that it
contains, you among the number.”
u I will do nothing,” replied Barney, firmly, u to
bring Shawn or any of you into danger ; but as sure
as I have a Christian soul to be saved, and life in my
880
THE EVIL EYE; Ok,
body, I will, as I said, put Mr. Harry Woodward upon
his guard against him. So now, if you think it proper
to let me be present at your meeting, knowing what
you know, I will go, but not otherwise.”
u I feel, Barney,” said his brother, “ that my mind
is much hardened of late by the society I keep. I re-
member when I thought murder as horrible a thing
as you do, but now it is not so. The planning and the
plotting of it is considered only as a good joke among
us.”
u But why don’t you lave them, then ?” said Barney,
u The pious principles of our father and mother were
never such as they practise and preach among you.
Why don’t you lave them, I say ? ”
u Don’t you know,” replied Michael, u that that step
would be my death-warrant ? Once we join them we
must remain with them, let what may happen. No
man laving them, unless he gets clear of the country
altogether, may expect more than a week’s lease of
life ; in general not so much. They look upon him as
a man that has been a spy among them, and who has
left them to make his peace, and gain a fortune from
government for betraying them ; and you know how
often it has happened.”
u It is too true, Michael,” replied his brother, u for
unfortunately it so happens that, whether for good or
evil, Irishmen can never be got to stand by each other.
Ay, it is true — too true. In the meantime call ou
me to-morrow with liberty from Shawn to attend youi
meeting, and we will both go there together.”
u Very well,” replied his brother, u I will do so.”
The next night was one of tolerably clear moon
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
381
light; and about the hour of twelve or one o’clock
some twenty or twenty-five outlaws were assembled
immediately adjoining the spot where Charles Lindsay
was so severely and dangerously wounded. The ap-
pearance of those men was singular and striking.
Their garbs, we need scarcely inform our readers,
were different from those of the present day. Many
— nay, most, if not all of them, were bitter enemies
to the law, which rendered it penal for them to wear
their glibs, and in consequence most of those present
had them in full perfection around their heads, over
which was worn the barrad or Irish cap, which, how-
ever, was then beginning to fall into desuetude. There
was scarcely a man of them on whose countenance
was not stamped the expression of care, inward suffer-
ing, and, as it would seem, the recollection of some
grief or sorrow which had befallen themselves or their
families. There was something, consequently, deter-
mined and utterly reckless in their faces, which de-
noted them to be men who had set at defiance both
the world and its laws. They all wore the truis , the
brogue, and beneath the cloaks which covered them
were concealed the celebrated Irish skean or middogue,
so that at the first glance they presented the appear-
ance of men who were in a peaceful garb and un-
armed. The persons of some of them were powerful
and admirably symmetrical, as could be guessed from
their well-defined outlines. They arranged themselves
in a kind of circle around Sliaivn-na-Middogue , who
stood in the centre as their chief and leader. A spec-
tator, however, could not avoid observing that, owing
to the peculiarity of their costume, which, in conse*
382
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
quence of their exclusion from society, not to mention
the poverty and hardship which they were obliged to
suffer, their appearance as a body was wild and almost
savage. In their countenances was blended a twofold
expression, composed of ferocity and despair. They
felt themselves excommunicated, whether justly or
not, from the world and its institutions, and knew too
well that society, and the laws by which it is regulated
and protected, were hunting them like beasts of prey
for their destruction. Perhaps they deserved it, and
this consideration may still more strongly account for
their fierce and relentless-looking aspect. There is,
in the meantime, no doubt that, however wild, fero-
cious, and savage they may have appeared, the strong
and terrible hand of injustice and oppression had much,
too much, to do with the crimes which they had com-
mitted, and which drove them out of the pale of civil-
ized life. Altogether the spectacle of their appearence
there on that night was a melancholy, as well as a
fearful one, and ought to teach statesmen that it is not
by oppressive laws that the heart of man can be im-
proved, but that, on the contrary, when those who
project and enact them come to reap the harvest of
their policy, they uniformly find it one of violence and
crime. So it has been since the world began, and so
it will be so long as it lasts, unless a more genial and
humane principle of legislation shall become the gen-
eral system of managing, and, consequently, of im-
proving society.
u Now, my friends,” said Shawn-na-Middogne, “you
all know why we are here. Unfortunate Granua
Davoren has disappeared, and I have brought you to*
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
383
gether that we may set about the task of recovering
her, whether she is living or dead. Even her heart-
broken parents would feel it a consolation to have her
corpse in order that they might give it Christian burial.
It will be a shame and a disgrace to us if she is not
found, as I said, living or dead. Will you all promise
to rest neither night nor day till she is found ? In that
case swear it on your skeans.”
In a moment every skean was out, and, with one
voice, they said, u By the contents of this blessed iron,
that has been sharpened for the hearts of our oppress-
ors, we will never rest, either by night or by day, till
we find her, living or dead” — every man then crossed
himself and kissed his skean — u and, what is more, ”
they added, u we will take vengeance upon the villain
that ruined her.”
u Hould,” said Shawn ; u do you know who he is ? ”
66 By all accounts,” they replied, u the man that you
struck.”
u No ! ” exclaimed Shawn, u I struck the wrong man ;
and poor Granua was right when she screamed out
that I had murdered the innocent. But now,” he
added, u why am I here among you ? I will tell you,
although I suppose the most of you know it already :
it was good and generous Mr. Lindsay’s she-devil of a
wife that did it ; and it was her he-devil of a son,
Harry Woodward, that ruined Granua Davoren. My
mother happened to say that she was a heartless and
tyrannical woman, that she had the Evil Eye, and that
a devil, under the name of Shan-dhinne-dhuv , belonged
to her family, and put her up to every kind of wick-
edness. This, which was only the common report,
384
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
reached her ears, and the consequence was that be«
cause we were behind in the rent only a single gale,
she sent in her bailiffs without the knowledge of her
husband, who was from home at the time, and left
neither a bed under us, nor a roof over us. At all
events, it is well for her that she is a woman ; but she
has a son born in her own image, so far, at least, as a
bad heart is concerned ; that son is the destroyer of
Granua Davoren ; but not a man of you must raise
his hand to him : he must be left to my vengeance.
Caterine Collins has told me much more about him,
but it is useless to mention it. The Evil Spirit I spoke
of, the Shan-dliinne-dhuv , and he have been often seen
together ; but no matter for that ; he’ll find the same
spirit badly able to protect him ; so, as I said before,
he must be left to my vengeance.”
u You mentioned Caterine Collins?” said one of
them. u Caterine has friends here, Shawn. What is
your opinion of her ? ”
u Yes,” observed another, u she has friends here ;
but, then, she has enemies, too ; men who have a good
right to hate the ground she walks on.”
u Whatever my opinion of Caterine Collins may be,”
said Shawn, u I will keep it to myself ; I only say, that
the man who injures her is no friend of mine. Isn’t
she a woman ? And, surely, we are not to quarrel
with, or injure a defenceless woman.”
By this piece of policy Shawn gained considerable
advantage. His purpose was to preserve such an as-
cendency over that cunning and treacherous woman
as might enable him to make her useful in working
out his own designs, his object being, not only on that
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
385
account, but for the sake of his own personal safety,
to stand well with both her friends and her enemies.
Other matters were discussed, and plans of ven-
geance proposed and assented to, the details of which
would afford our readers but slight gratification. After
their projects had been arranged, this wild and savage,
but melancholy group, dispersed, and so intimately
were they acquainted with the intricacies of cover and
retreat which then characterized the surface of the
country, that in a few minutes they seemed rather to
have vanished like spectres than to have disappeared
like living men. Shawn, however, remained behind in
order to hold some private conversation with Barney
Casey.
“ Barney,” said he, “ I wish to speak to you about
that villain Woodward. ”
“ I don’t at all doubt,” replied this honest and manly
peasant, u that he is a villain ; but at the same time,
Shawn, you must remember that I am not a tory, and
that I will neither aid nor assist you in your designs of
murdher upon him. I received betther principles from
my father and the mother who bore me ; and indeed I
think that the same thing may be said of yourself,
Shawn. Still and all, there is no doubt but that,
unlike that self-willed brother of mine, you had heavy
provocation to join the life you did.”
“Well, Barney,” replied Shawn, in a melancholy
tone of voice, “ if the same oppressions were to come
on us again, I think I would take another coorse. My
die, however, is cast, and I must abide by it. What
I wanted to say to you, however, is this: — you are
livin’ in the same house with Woodward ; keep your
386
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
eye on him — watch him well and closely ; he is plot
ting evil for somebody.”
“ Why ? ” said Barney ; “ how do you know that ? ”
“ I have it,” replied Shawn, “ from good authority.
He has paid three or four midnight visits to Sol, the
herb docthor, and you know that a greater old scoun-
drel than he is doesn’t breathe the breath of life. It
has been long suspected that he is a poisoner, and they
say that in spite of the poverty he takes on him, he is
rich and full of money. It can be for no good, then,
that Woodward consults him at such unseasonable
hours.”
“Ay ; but who the devil could he think of poison
ing ? ” said Barney. “ I see nobody he could wish to
poison.”
“Maybe, for all that, the deed is done,” replied
Shawn. “ Where, for instance, is unfortunate Granua f
Who can tell that he hasn’t dosed her ? ”
“ I believe him villain enough to do it,” returned the
other ; “ but still I don’t think he did. He was at
home to my own knowledge the night she disappeared,
and could know nothing of what became of her. I
think that’s a sure case.”
“ Well,” said Shawn, “ it may be so ; but in the
manetime his stolen visits to the ould herb docthor
are not for nothing. I end, then, as I began — keep
your eye on him ; watch him closely — and now, good
night.”
These hints were not thrown away upon Barney, who
was naturally of an observant turn ; and accordingly
he kept a stricter eye than ever upon the motions of
Harry Woodward. This accomplished gentleman, like
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
387
eve ry villain of his class, was crafty and secret in
everything he did and said ; that is to say, his object
was always to lead those with whom he held inter-
course, to draw the wrong inference from his words and
actions. Even his mother, as the reader will learn, was
not in his full confidence. Such men, however, are so
completely absorbed in the management of their own
plans, that the latent principle or motive occasionally
becomes apparent, without any consciousness of its
exhibition on their part. Barney soon had an oppor-
tunity of suspecting this. His brother Charles, after
what appeared to be a satisfactory convalescence, began
to relapse, and a fresh fever to set in. The first person
to communicate the melancholy intelligence to Wood-
ward happened to be Barney himself, who, on meeting
him early in the morning, said, —
“I am sorry, Mr. Woodward, to tell you that Mas-
ther Charles is a great deal worse ; he spent a bad night,
and it seems has got very feverish.”
A gleam of satisfaction — short and transient, but
which, however, was too significant to be misunder-
stood by such a sagacious observer as Barney — flashed
across his countenance — but only for a moment. He
recomposed his features, and assuming a look expres-
sive of the deepest sorrow, said, —
u Good heavens, Casey, do you tell me that my poor
brother is worse, and we all in such excellent spirits
at what we considered his certain but gradual recov-
ery ? ”
u He is much worse, sir ; and the masther this morn-
ing has strong doubts of his recovery. He’s in great
affliction about him, and so are they all. His loss
388
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
would be felt in the neighborhood, for, indeed, it’s he
that was well beloved by all who knew him.”
u He certainly was a most amiable and affectionate
young fellow,” said Woodward, “and, for my part, if
he goes from us through the means of that murdering
blow, I shall hunt Shawn-na-Middogne to the death.”
u Will you take a friend’s advice ? ” replied Barney :
u we all of us wish, of coorse, to die a Christian death
upon our beds, that we may think of the sins we have
committed, and ask the pardon of our Saviour and
inthersessor for them. I say, then, if you wish to die
such a death, and to have time to repent of your sins,
avoid coming across Shawn-na-Middogue above all men
in the world. I tell you this as a friend, and now
you’re warned.”
Woodward paused, and his face became black with
a spirit of vengeance.
“ How does it happen, Casey,” he asked, “ that you
are able to give me such a warning ? You must have
some particular information on the subject.”
u The only information I have on the subject is this
— that you are set down among most people as the man
who destroyed Grace Davoren, and not your brother ;
Shawn believes this, and on that account, I say, it will
be well for you to avoid him. He believes, too, that
you have her concealed somewhere — although I don’t
think so ; but if you have, Mr. Woodward, it would be
an act of great kindness — an act becomin’ both a gen-
tleman and a Christian — to restore the unfortunate girl
to her parents.”
u I know no more about her than you do, Casey.
How could I ? Perhaps my poor brother, when he ia
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
389
capable of it, may be able to afford us some informa-
tion on the subject. As it is I know nothing of it, but
I shall leave nothing undone to recover her if she be
alive, or if the thing can be accomplished. In the
meantime all I can think of is the relapse of my poor
brother. Until he gets better I shall not be able to
fix my mind upon anything else. What is Grace Da-
voren or Shawn-na-Middogue — the accursed scoun-
drel— to me, so long as my dear Charles is in a state
of danger ? ”
“ Now,” said he, when they parted, 66 now to work
earth and hell to secure Shawn-na-Middogue . He has
got my secret concerning the girl Davoren, and I feel
that while he is at large I cannot be safe. There is a
reward for his head, whether alive or dead, but that I
scorn. In the meantime, I shall not lose an hour in
getting together a band who will scour the country
along with myself, until we secure him. After that
I shall be at perfect liberty to work out my plans with-
out either fear of, or danger from, this murdering
ruffian.”
390
THE EVIL EYE: OIL
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE TOIR, OR TORY HUNT.
Harry Woodward now began to apprehend that, as
the reader sees, either his star or that of Shawn-na -
Middogue must be in the ascendant. He accordingly
set to work with all his skill and craft to secure his per-
son and offer him up as a victim to the outraged laws
of his country, and to a government that had set a
price upon his head, as the leader of the outlaws ; or,
what came nearer to his wish, either to shoot him down
with his own hand, or to have him shot by those who
were on the alert for such persons. The first individ-
ual to whom he applied upon the subject was his bene-
volent step-father, who he knew was a magistrate, and
whose duty was to have the wretched class of whom
we write arrested or shot as best they might.
u Sir,” said he, u I think after what has befallen
my dear brother Charles that this murdering villain,
Shawn-na- Middogue, who is at the head of the tories
and outlaws, ought to be shot, or taken up and handed
over to government.”
u Why,” asked Mr. Lindsay, u what has happened in
connection with Sliawn-na- Middogue and your brother?”
u Why, that it was from his hand he received the
wound that may be his death. That, I think, is suf-
ficient to make you exert yourself ; and indeed it is,
in my opinion, both a shame and a scandal that th©
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
391
subject has not been taken up with more energy by the
magistracy of the country.”
u But who can tell,” replied Lindsay, u whether it
was Shawn-na-Middogue that stabbed Charles ? Charles
himself does not know the individual who stabbed him. ”
u The language of the girl, I think,” replied Wood-
ward, “ might indicate it. He was once her lover ”
u But she named nobody,” replied the other ; u and
as for lovers, she had enough If them, of Sliawn-na -
Middogue is an outlaw now , I know who made him so.
I remember when there wasn’t a better conducted boy
on your mother’s property. He was a credit to his
family and the neighborhood ; but they were turned
out in my absence by your unfeeling mother there,
Harry ; and the fine young fellow had nothing else for
it but the life of an outlaw. Confound me if I can
much blame him.”
u Thank you, Lindsay,” replied his wife ; u as kind
as ever to the woman who brought you that property.
But you forget what the young scoundrel’s mother said
of me — do you ? that I had the Evil Eye, and that
there was a familiar or devil connected with me and
my family ? ”
u Egad ! and I’m much of her opinion,” replied her
husband ; u and if she said it, I give you my honor it
is only what every one who knows you says, and what
I, who know you best, say as well as they. Begone,
madam — leave the room ; it was your damned oppres-
sion made the boy a tory. Begone, I say — I will bear
with your insolence no longer.”
He stood up as he spoke — his eye flashed, and the
stamp of his foot made the floor shake. Mrs. Lindsay
392
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
knew her husband well, and without a single syllable
in reply she arose and left the room.
“ Harry,” proceeded his stepfather, “ I shall take
no proceedings against that unfortunate young man —
tory though he be ; I would resign my magistracy
sooner. Do not, therefore, count on me.”
“ Well, sir,” said he, with a calm but black expression
of countenance, “ I will not enter into domestic quar-
rels ; but I am my mother’s son.”
“ You are,” replied Lindsay, looking closely at him —
“ and I regret it. I do not like the expression of your
face — it is bad ; worse I have seldom seen.”
“Be that expression what it may, sir,” replied
Woodward, “ by the heavens above me I shall rest
neither night nor day until I put an end to Shawn-na-
Middogue .”
“ In the meantime you shall have no assistance from
me, Harry ; and it ill becomes your mother’s son —
the woman whose cruelty to the family made him what
he is — to attempt to hunt him down. On the con-
trary, I tell you as a friend to let him pass ; the young
man is desperate, and his vengeance, or that of his
followers, may come on you when you least expect it.
It is not his death that will secure you. If he dies
through your means, he will leave those behind him
who will afford you but short space to settle your last
account.”
“ Be the consequences what they may,” replied
Woodward, “ either he or I shall fall.”
He left the room after expressing this determination,
and his stepfather said, —
“I?m afraid, Maria, we don’t properly understand
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
393
Master Harry. I am much troubled by what has
occurred just now. I fear he is a hypocrite in morals,
and without a single atom of honorable principle. Did
you observe the expression of his face ? Curse me if
I think the devil himself has so bad a one. Besides, I
have heard something about him that I don’t like
— something which I am not going to mention to you ;
but I say that in future we must beware of him.”
u I was sorry, papa, to see the expression of his face,”
replied Maria ; u it was fearful ; and above all things
the expression of his eye. It made me feel weak when-
ever he turned it on me.”
u Egad, and it had something of the same effect on
myself,” replied her father. “ There is some damned
expression in it that takes away one’s strength. Well,
as I said, we must beware of him.”
Woodward’s next step was to pay a visit to Lord
Cockletown, who, as he had gained his title in conse-
quence of his success in tory-hunting, and capturing
the most troublesome and distinguished outlaws of
that day, was, he thought, the best and most experi-
enced person to whom he could apply for information
as to the most successful means of accomplishing his
object. He accordingly waited on his lordship, to
whom he thought, very naturally, that this exploit
would recommend him. His lordship was in the
garden, where Woodward found him in hobnailed
shoes, digging himself into what he called his daily
perspirations.
“ Don’t be surprised, Mr. Woodward,” said he, “at
my employment ; I am taking my every-day sweat,
because I feel that I could not drink as I do and get
17*
394
TIIE EVIL EYE; 0R>
on without it. Well, what do you want with me ? Is
it anything about Tom ? Egad, Tom says she rather
likes you than otherwise ; and if you can satisfy me as
to property settlements, and all that, I won’t stand in
your way j but, in the meantime, what do you want
with me now ? If it’s Tom’s affair, the state of your
property comes first.”
“No, my lord, I shall leave all dealings of business
between you and my mother. This is a different affair,
and one on which I wish to have your lordship’s advice
and direction.”
“ Ay, but what is it ? Confound it, come to the
point.”
“It is a tory-hunt, my lord.”
“ Who is the tory, or who are the tories ? Come,
I’m at home here. What’s your plan ? ”
“Why, simple pursuit. We have the posse comi -
talus.”
“ The posse comitatus ! — the posse devil ; what do
the tories care about the posse comitatus ? Have you
bloodhounds ? ”
“ No, my lord, but I think we can procure them.”
“ Because,” proceeded his lordship, “ to go hunt a
tory without bloodhounds is like looking for your
grandmother’s needle in a bottle of straw.”
“ I am thankful to your lordship for that hint,” re-
plied Harry Woodward ; “ but the truth is, I have
been almost since my infancy out of the country, and
am, consequently, very ignorant of its usages.”
“ What particular tory are you going to hunt ? ”
“ A fellow named Shawn-na-Middogue .”
“ Ah ! Shawn-na-Middogue , your mother’s victim t
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
395
Don’t hunt him . If you’re wise you’ll keep your dis-
tance from that young fellow. I tell you, Mr. Wood-
ward, there will be more danger to yourself in the
hunt than there will be to him. It’s a well-known
fact that it was your mother’s severity to his family
that made a tory of him ; and, as I said before, I would
strongly recommend you to avoid him. How many
bloodhounds have you got ? ”
u Why, I think we can muster half a dozen.”
“ Ay, but do you know how to hunt them ? ”
u Not exactly ; but I suppose we may depend upon
the instinct of the dogs.”
u No, sir, you may not, unless to a very limited ex-
tent. Those tories always, when pursued by blood-
hounds, go down the wind whenever it is possible, and,
consequently, leave very little trail behind them. Your
object will be, of course, to hunt them against the
wind ; they will consequently have little chance of
escape, unless, as they are often in the habit of doing,
they administer a sop.”
“ What is a sop, my lord ? ”
u A piece of raw beef or mutton, kept for twenty-
four hours under the armpit until it becomes saturated
with the moisture of the body ; after this, administer it
to the dog, and instead of attacking he will follow you
over the world. The other sop resorted to by these
fellows is the middogue , or skean, and, as they contrive
to manage its application, it is the surer of the two.
Should you like to see Tom ? ”
u Unquestionably, my lord. I intended before going
to have requested the honor of a short interview.”
“ Ay, of course, to make love. Well, I tell you that
396
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
Tom, like her uncle, has her wits about her. Go up,
then, you will find her in the withdrawing-room ; and
listen — I desire that you will tell her of your tory-
hunting project, and ask her opinion upon it. Now,
don’t forget that, because I will make inquiries about
it.”
Woodward certainly found her in what was then
termed the withdrawing-room. She was in the act of
embroidering, and received him with much courtesy
and kindness.
“I hope your mother and family are all well, Mr.
Woodward,” she said ; “ as for your sister Maria she is
quite a stay-at-home. Does she ever visit any one
at all?”
“Very rarely, indeed, Miss Riddle; but I think she
will soon do herself the pleasure of calling upon you.”
“ I shall feel much obliged, Mr. Woodward. From
what I have heard, and the little I have seen of her, a
most amiable girl. You have had a chat with my kind-
hearted, but eccentric uncle ? ”
“ I have ; and he imposed it on me as a condition
that I should mention to you an enterprise on which I
am bent.”
“An enterprise ! Pray, what is it?”
“ Why, a tory-hunt ; I am going to hunt down
Shaivn-na-Middogue , as he is called, and I think it will
be rendering the country a service to get rid of him.”
Miss Riddle’s face got pale as ashes ; and she looked
earnestly and solemnly into Woodward’s face.
“ Mr. Woodward,” said she, “ would you oblige mo
in one simple request ? Do not hunt down Shawn-na -
Middogue : my uncle and I owe him our lives.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
397
u How is that, Miss Riddle ? ”
u Do you not know that my uncle was a tory
hunter ? ”
u I have certainly heard so,” replied Woodward ;
u and I am, besides, aware of it from the admirable
instructions which he gave me concerning the best
method of hunting them down.”
u Yes, but did he encourage you in your determina-
tion of hunting down Shawn-na-Middogue f ”
u No, certainly ; but, on the contrary, advised me to
pass him by — to have nothing to do with him.”
u Did he state his reasons for giving you such ad-
vice ? ”
u He mentioned something with reference to certain
legal proceedings taken by my mother against the
<hmily of Shawn-na-Middogue . But I presume my
mother had her own rights to vindicate, and beyond
•hat I know nothing of it. He nearly stabbed my
brother to death, and I will leave no earthly means
unattempted to shoot the villain down, or otherwise
secure him.”
u Well, you are aware that my uncle was the most
successful and celebrated tory -hunter of his day, and
rendered important services to the government in
that capacity — services which have been liberally
rewarded.”
“ I am aware of it, Miss Riddle.”
uBut you are not aware, as I am, that this same
Shawn-na-Middogue saved my uncle’s life and mine on
the night before last ? ”
u How could I, Miss Riddle ? ”
u It is a fact, though, and I beg you to mark it ; and
898
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
I trust that if you respect my uncle and myself, you
will not engage in this cruel and inhuman expedi-
tion.”
“ But your uncle mentioned nothing of this to me,
Miss Riddle.”
“ He does not know it yet. I have been all yesterday
thinking over the circumstance, with a view of getting
his lordship to interfere with the government for this
unfortunate youth ; but I felt myself placed in circum-
stances of great difficulty and delicacy with respect to
your family and ours. I hope you understand me, Mr.
Woodward. I allude to the circumstances which forced
him to become an outlaw and a tory, and it struck me
that my uncle could not urge any application in his
favor without adverting to them.”
“ 0, Miss Riddle, if you feel an interest in his favor,
he shall experience no molestation from me.”
“ The only interest which I feel in him is that of
humanity and common gratitude, Mr. Woodward ; but,
indeed, I should rather say that the gratitude should
not be common to a man who saved my uncle’s life
and mine.”
“And pray may I ask how that came about ? At
all events he has made me his friend forever.”
“ My uncle and I were returning home from dinner,
— we had dined at Squire Dawson’s, — and on coming
to a lonely part of the road we found our carriage
surrounded by a party of the outlaws, who shouted
out, ‘This is the old tory -hunter, who got his wealth
and title by persecuting us, and now we will pay him
home for all.’ ‘Ay,’ observed another, ‘and his niece
is with him, and we will have her off to the moun-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
399
tains/ The carriage was immediately surrounded,
and I know not to what an extent their violence and
revenge might have proceeded, when Shawn came
bounding among them with the air of a man who
possessed authority over them.
u c Stop/ said he ; i on this occasion they must go
free, and on every occasion. Lord Cockletown, let
him be what he may before, is of late a good landlord,
and a friend to the people. His niece, too, is ’
He then complimented me upon some trifling acts of
kindness I had paid to his family when — hem — ahem
— in fact, when they stood much in need of it.”
This was a delicate evasion of any allusion to the
cruel conduct of his mother towards the outlaw’s
family.
u When,” she went on, u he had succeeded in re-
straining the meditated violence of the tories, he ap-
proached me — for they had already dragged me out,
and indeed it was my screaming that brought him with
such haste to the spot. i Now, Miss Riddle/ said he,
in a low whisper which my uncle could not hear, i one
good act deserves another ; you were kind to my fam-
ily when they stood sorely in need of it. You and
your uncle are safe, and, what is more, will be safe : I
will take care of that ; but forget Shawn-na-Middoguey
the outlaw and tory, or if ever you mention his name,
let it be in a spirit of mercy and forgiveness.’ Mr.
Woodward, you will not hunt down this generous
young man?”
“ I would as soon hunt down my father, Miss Riddle,
if he were alive. I trust you don’t imagine that I can
be insensible to such noble conduct.”
400
TOE EVIL EYE; OR,
u I do not think you are, Mr. Woodward ; and I hope
you will allow the unfortunate youth to remain unmo-
lested until my uncle, to whom I shall mention the
circumstances this day, may strive to have him restored
to society.”
We need scarcely assure our readers that Woodward
pledged himself in accordance with her wishes, after
which he went home and prepared such a mask for his
face, and such a disguise of dress for his person, as,
when assumed, rendered it impossible for any one to
recognize him. Such was the spirit in which he kept
his promise to Miss Riddle, and such the honor of
every word that proceeded from his hypocritical lips.
In the meantime the preparations for the chase
were made with the most extraordinary energy and
caution. Woodward had other persons engaged in it,
on whom he had now made up his mind to devolve the
consequences of the whole proceedings. The sherifl
and the posse comitatus , together with assistance from
other quarters, had all been engaged; and as some
vague intelligence of Shawn-na-Middogue’s retreat had
been obtained, Woodward proceeded in complete dis-
guise before daybreak with a party, not one of whom
was able to recognize him, well armed, to have what
was, in those days, called a tory-hunt.
The next morning was dark and gloomy. Gray,
heavy mists lay upon the mountain-tops, from which,
as the light of the rising sun fell upon them, they
retreated in broken masses to the valleys and lower
grounds beneath them. A cold, chilly aspect lay upon
the surface of the earth, and the white mists that had
descended from the mountain-tops, or were drawn up
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
401
from the ground by the influence of the sun, were, al-
though more condensed, beginning to get a warmer look.
Notwithstanding the secrecy with which this enter-
prise was projected it had taken wind, and many of
those who had suffered by the depredations of the tories
were found joining the band of pursuers, and many
others who were friendly to them, or who had relations
among them, also made their appearance, but con-
trived to keep somewhat aloof from the main body,
though not at such a distance as might seem to render
them suspected ; their object being to afford whatever
assistance they could, with safety to themselves and
without incurring any suspicion of affinity to the un-
fortunate tories.
The country was of intricate passage and full of
thick woods. At this distance of time, now that it is
cleared and cultivated, our readers could form no con-
ception of its appearance then. In the fastnesses and
close brakes of those woods lay the hiding-places and
retreats of the tories — u the wood kernes 77 of Spenser’s
day. A tory-hunt at that time, or at any time, was a
pastime of no common danger. Those ferocious and
determined banditti had little to render life desirable.
They consequently set but a slight value upon it. The
result was that the pursuits after them by foreign
soldiers, and other persons but slightly acquainted
with the country, generally ended in disaster and death
to several of the pursuers.
On the morning in question the tory-hunters literally
beat the woods as if they had been in the pursuit of
game, but for a considerable time with little effect.
Not the appearance of a single tory was anywhere
402
THE EVIL EYE; OR.
visible ; but, notwithstanding this, it so happened that
some one of their enemies occasionally dropped, either
dead or wounded, by a shot from the intricacies and
covers of the woods, which, upon being searched and
examined, afforded no trace whatsoever of those who
did the mischief. This was harassing and provocative
of vengeance to the military and such wretched police
as existed in that day. No search could discover a
single trace of a tory, and many of those in the pursuit
were obliged to withdraw from it — not unreluctantly,
indeed — in order to bear back the dead and wounded
to the town of Rathfillan.
As they were entering an open space that lay between
two wooded enclosures, a white hare started across
their path, to the utter consternation of those who
were in pursuit. Woodward, now disguised and in
his mask, had been for a considerable time looking
behind him, but this circumstance did not escape his
notice, and he felt, to say the least of it, startled at
her second appearance. It reminded him, however, of
the precautions which he had taken ; and he looked
back from time to time, as we have said, in expectation
of something appertaining to the pursuit. At length
he exclaimed, —
u Where are the party with the bloodhounds?
Why have they not joined us and come up with us ? ”
u They have started a wolf,” replied one of them,
u and the dogs are after him ; and some of them have
gone back upon the trail of the wounded men.”
u Return for them,” said he ; %i without their assist-
ance we can never find the trail of these accursed
tories ; but, above all, of Shawn-na-Middogue
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
403
In due time the dogs were brought up, but the trails
were so various that they separated mostly into single
hunts, and went at such a rapid speed that they were
lost in the woods.
At length two of them, who came up first, gave
tongue, and the body of pursuers concentrated them-
selves on the newly-discovered trail, keeping as close
to the dogs as they could. Those two had quartered
the woods and returned to the party again when they
fell upon the slot of some unfortunate victim who had
recently escaped from the place. The pursuit now
became energetic and full of interest, if we could for-
get the melancholy and murderous fact that the game
pursued were human victims, who had nothing more
nor less to expect from their pursuers than the savage
wolves which then infested the forests — a price having
been laid upon the heads of each.
After some time the party arrived at the outskirts
of the wood, and an individual was seen bounding
along in the direction of the mountains — the two dogs
in full pursuit of him. The noise, the animation, and
the tumult of the pursuit were now astounding, and
rang long and loud over the surface of the excited and
awakened neighborhood, whilst the wild echoes of
their inhuman enjoyment were giving back their
terrible responses from the hills and valleys around
them. The shouting, the urging on of the dogs by
ferocious cries of encouragement, were loud, incessant,
and full of a spirit which, at this day, it is terrible to
reflect upon. The whole country was alive ; and the
loud, vociferous agitation which disturbed it, resembled
the influence of one of those storms which lash the quiet
404
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
sea into madness. Fresh crowds joined them, as we
have said, and the tumult still became louder and
stronger. In the meantime, Shawn-na-Middogw’s
case — it was he — became hopeless — for it was the
speed of the fleetest runner that ever lived to that of two
powerful bloodhounds, animated, as they were, by their
ferocious instincts. Indeed, the interest of the chase
was heightened by the manner and conduct of the dogs,
which, when they came upon the trail of the individual,
in question, yelped aloud with an ecstatic delight that
gave fresh courage to the vociferous band of pursuers.
“ Who can that man be ? ” asked one of them ; “ he
seems to have wings to his feet.”
“ By the sacred light of day,” exclaimed another,
“it is no other than the famous Shawn-na-Middogue
himself. I know him well ; and even if I did not, who
could mistake him by his speed of foot ? ”
“ Is that he ? ” said the mask ; “ then fifty pounds in
addition to the government reward to the man who
will shoot him down, or secure him, living or dead:
only let him be taken.”
Just then four or five persons, friends of course to
the unfortunate outlaw, came in before the dogs across
the trail, in consequence of which the animals became
puzzled, and lost considerable time in regaining it,
whilst Shawn, in the meantime, was fast making his
way to the mountains.
The reward, however, offered by the man in the
black mask — for it was a black one — accelerated the
speed of the pursuers, between whom a competition of
terrible energy and action arose as to which of them
should secure the public reward and the premium that
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
405
were offered for his blood. Shawn, however, had been
evidently exhausted, and sat down considerably in
advance of them, on the mountain side, to take breath,
in order to better the chance of effecting his escape ;
but whilst seated, panting after his race, the dogs
gained rapidly upon him. Having put his hand over
his eyes, and looked keenly down — for he had the
sight of an eagle — the approach of the dogs did not
seem at all to alarm him.
u Ah, thank God, they will have him soon,” said the
mask, u and it is a pity that we cannot give them the
reward. Who owns those noble dogs ? ”
u You will see that very soon, sir,” replied a man
beside him ; u you will see it very soon — you may
see it now.”
As he uttered the words the dogs sprang upon Shawn,
wagged their tails as if in a state of most ecstatic
delight, and began to caress him and lick his face.
“ Finn, my brave Finn ! ” he exclaimed, patting him
affectionately, “ and is this you ? and Oonah, my dar-
ling Oonah, did the villains think that my best friends
would pursue me for my blood f Come now,” said he,
u follow me, and we will lead them a chase.”
During his brief rest, however, four of the most
active of his pursuers, who knew what is called the lie
of the country, succeeded, by passing through the skirt
of the wood in a direction where it was impossible to
observe them, in coming up behind the spot where he
had sat, and consequently, when he and his dogs, or
those which had been once his, ascended its flat summit,
the four men pounced upon him. Four against one
Would, in ordinary cases, be fearful odds ; but Shawn
±06
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
knew that he had two stanch and faithful friends to
support him. Quick as lightning his middogue was
into one of their hearts, and almost as quickly were
two more of them seized by the throats and dragged
down by the powerful animals that defended him.
The fourth man was as rapidly despatched by a single
blow, whilst the dogs were literally tearing out the
throats of their victims. In the course of about ten
minutes, what between Shawn’s middogue and the
terrible fangs and strength of those dreadful animals,
the four men lay there four corpses. Shawn’s danger,
however, notwithstanding his success, was only increas-
ing. His pursuers had now gained upon him, and
when he looked around he found himself hemmed in,
or nearly so. Speed of foot was everything ; but,
what was worst of all, with reference to his ultimate
escape, four other dogs were making their way up the
mountains — dogs to which he was a stranger, and he
knew right well that they would hunt him with all the
deadly instincts of blood. They were, however, far
in the distance, and he felt little apprehension from
them . Be this as it may, he bounded off accompanied
by his faithful friends, and not less than twenty shots
were fired after him, none of which touched him. The
number of his pursuers, dogs included, almost made
his heart sink ; and would have done so, but that he
was probably desperate and reckless of life. He saw
himself almost encompassed ; he heard the bullets
whistling about him, and perceived at a glance that the
chances of his escape wrere a thousand to one against
him. With a rapid sweep of his eye he marked the
locality. It also was all against him. There was a
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
407
shoreless lake, abrupt and deep to the very edge, ex-
cept a slip at the opposite side, lying at his feet. It
tvas oblong, but at each end of it there was nothing
like a pass for at least two or three miles. If he could
swim across this he knew that he was safe, and that
he could do so he felt certain, provided he escaped
the bullets and the dogs of the pursuers. At all
events he dashed down and plunged in, accompanied
by his faithful attendants. Shot after shot was sent
after him ; and so closely did some of them reach him,
that he was obliged to dive and swim under water from
time to time, in order to save himself from their aim.
The strange bloodhounds, however, which had entered
the lake, were gaining rapidly on him, and on looking
back he saw them within a dozen yards of him. He
was now, however, beyond the reach of their bullets,
unless it might be a longer shot than ordinary, but the
four dogs were upon him, and in the extremity of de-
spair he shouted out, —
u Finn and Oonagh, won’t you save me ? ”
Shame upon the friendship and attachment of man !
In a moment two of the most powerful of the strange
dogs were in something that resembled a death strug-
gle with his brave and gallant defenders. The other
two, however, were upon himself ; but by a stab of his
middogue he despatched one of them, and the other he
pressed under water until he was drowned.
In the meantime, whilst the four other dogs were
fighting furiously in the water, Shawn, having felt
exhausted, was obliged to lie on his back and float, in
order to regain his strength.
A little before this contest commenced, the black
408
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
mask and a number of the pursuing party were stand-
ing on the edge of the lake looking on, conscious of
the impossibility of their interference.
u Is there no stout man and good swimmer pres-
ent,exclaimed the mask, u who will earn the fifty
pounds I have offered for the capture of that man ? ”
u Here am I,” said a powerful young fellow, the best
swimmer, with the exception of Shawn-na-Middogue ,
in the province. u I am like a duck in the water ;
but, upon my sowl, so is he. If I take him, you will
give me the fifty pounds ? ”
“ Unquestionably ; but you know you will have the
government reward besides.”
u Well, then, here goes. I cannot bring my carbine
with me ; but even so — we will have a tug for it with
my skean.”
He threw off his coat and barrad, and immediately
plunged in and swam with astonishing rapidity towards
the spot where Shawn and the dogs — the latter still
engaged in their ferocious contest — were in the lake.
Shawn now had regained considerable strength, and
was about to despatch the enemies of his brave defend-
ers, when, on looking back to the spot on the margin
of the lake where his pursuers stood, he saw the power-
ful young swimmer within a few yards of him. It was
well for him that he had regained his strength, and
such was his natural courage that he felt rather
gratified at the appearance of only a single indi-
vidual.
u Shawn-na-Middogue” said the young fellow, “I
come to make you a prisoner. Will you fight me fairly
in the water ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
409
“I am a hunted outlaw — a tory,” replied Shawn,
u and will fight you the best way I can. If we were
on firm earth I would fight you on your own terms.
If there is to be a fight between us, remember that you
are fighting for the government reward, and I for my
life.”
“ Will you fight me, said the man, “ without using
your middogue ? ”
“ I saw you take a skean from between your teeth
as I turned round,” replied Shawn, “and I know
now that you are a villain and a treacherous ruffian,
who would take a cowardly advantage of me if you
could.”
The fellow made a plunge at Shawn, who was some-
what taken by surprise. They met and grappled in
the water, and the contest between them was, probably,
one of the fiercest and most original that ever occurred
between man and man. It was distinctly visible to
the spectators on the shore, and the interest which it
excited in them can scarcely be described. A terrible
grapple ensued, but as neither of them wished to die
by drowning, or, in fact, to die under such peculiar cir-
cumstances at all, there was a degree of caution in the
contest which required great skill and power on both
sides. Notwithstanding this caution, however, still,
when we consider the unsubstantial element on which
the battle between them raged — for rage it did —
there were frightful alternatives of plunging and sink-
ing between them. Shawn’s opponent was the stronger
of the two, but Shawn possessed in activity what the
other possessed in strength. The waters of the lake
Were agitated by their struggles and foamed white about
18
410
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
them, whilst, at the same time, the four bloodhounds
tearing each other beside them added to the agitation.
Shawn and his opponent clasped each other and fre-
quently disappeared for a very brief space, but the
necessity to breathe and rise to the air forced them to
relax their grasps and seek the surface of the water ;
so was it with the dogs. At length, Shawn, feeling that
his middogue had got entangled in his dress, which the
water had closely contracted about it, rendering it
difficult, distracted as he was by the contest, to extri-
cate it, turned round and swam several strokes from
his enemy, who, however, pursued him with the ferocity
of one of the bloodhounds beside them. This ruse was
to enable Shawn to disengage his middogue, which he
did. In the meantime this expedient of Shawn’s
afforded his opponent time to bring out his skean, —
two weapons which differed very little except in name.
They once more approached one another, each with the
armed hand up, — the left, — and a fiercer and more
terrible contest was renewed. The instability of the
element, however, on which they fought, prevented
them from using their weapons with effect. At all
events they played about each other, offering and
warding off the blows, when Shawn exclaimed, — hav-
ing grasped his opponent with his right arm, —
u I am tired of this ; it must be now sink or swim
between us. To die here is better than to die on the
gallows.”
As he spoke both sank, and for about half a minute
became invisible. The spectators from the shore now
gave them both over for lost ; one of them only
emerged with the fatal middogue in his hand, but his
TIIE BLACK SPECTRE.
411
opponent appeared not, and for the best reason in the
world: he was on his way to the bottom of the lake.
Shawn’s exhaustion after such a struggle now rendered
his situation hopeless. He was on the point of going
down when he exclaimed :
u It is all in vain now ; I am sinking, and me so
near the only slip that is in the lake. Finn and Oonagh,
save me ; I am drowning
The words were scarcely out of his lips when he felt
the two faithful, powerful, and noble animals, one at
each side of him — seeing as they did, his sinking state —
seizing him by his dress, and dragging him forward to
the slip we have mentioned. With great difficulty he
got upon land, but, having done so, he sat down ; and
when his dogs, in the gambols of their joy at his safety,
caressed him, he wept like an infant — this proscribed
outlaw and tory. He was now safe, however, and his
pursuers returned in a spirit of sullen and bitter dis-
appointment, finding that it was useless to continue
the hunt any longer.
412
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
CHAPTER XIX.
PLANS AND NEGOTIATIONS.
We have already said that Woodward was a man of
personal courage, and without fear of anything either
living or dead, yet, notwithstanding all this, he felt a
terror of Shawn-na-Middogue which he could not over-
come. The escape — the extraordinary escape of that
celebrated young tory — depressed and vexed him to
the heart. He was conscious, however, of his own
villany and of his conduct to Grace Davoren, whom
Shawn had loved, and, as Shakespeare says, u conscience
makes cowards of us all.” One thing, however, af-
forded him some consolation, which was that his dis-
guise prevented him from being known as the principal
person engaged in the attempt to hunt down the out-
law. He knew that after the solemn promise he had
given Miss Riddle, any knowledge on her part of his
participation in the pursuit of that generous but unfor-
tunate young man would have so completely sunk him
in her opinion, as an individual professing to be a man
of honor, that she would have treated his proposals
with contempt, and rejected him with disdain. At all
events, his chief object now was to lose no time in pros-
ecuting his suit with her. For this purpose he urged
his mother to pay Lord Cockletown another visit, in
order to make a formal proposal for the hand of his
niece in his name, with a view of bringing the matter
to an issue with as little delay as might be. His
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
413
brother, who had relapsed, was in a very precarious
condition, but still slightly on the recovery, a circum-
stance which filled him with alarm. He only went
out at night occasionally, but still he went out, and,
as before, did not return until about twelve, but much
more frequently one, two, and sometimes three o’clock.
Nobody in the house could understand the mystery of
these midnight excursions, and the servants of the
family, who were well aware of them, began to look
on him with a certain undefined terror as a man whose
unaccountable movements were associated with some-
thing that was evil and supernatural. They felt occa-
sionally that the power of his eye was dreadful ; and as
it began to be whispered about that it was by its evil
influence he had brought Alice Goodwin to the very
verge of the grave for the purpose of getting at the prop-
erty, which was to revert to him in case she should die
without issue, there was not one of them who, on meeting
him, either in or about the house, would run the risk
of looking him in the face. In fact, they experienced
that kind of fear of him which a person might be sup-
posed to feel in the case of a spirit ; and this is not sur-
prising when we consider the period in which they lived.
Be this as it may, his mother got up the old carriage
once more and set out on her journey to Cockle Hall
— her head filled with many an iniquitous design, and
her heart with fraud and deceit. On reaching Cockle
Hall she was ushered to the withdrawing-room, where
she found his lordship in the self-same costume which
we have already described. Miss Riddle was in her
own room, so that she had the coast clear — which was
precisely what she wanted.
414
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Well, Mrs. Lindsay, Pm glad to see you. How do
you do, madam ? Is your son with you ? ” he added,
shaking hands with her.
u No, my lord.”
O ! an ambassadress, then ? ”
u Something in that capacity, my lord.”
u Then I must be on my sharps, for I am told you
are a keen one. But tell me — do you sleep with one
eye open, as I do ? ”
u Indeed, my lord,” she replied, laughing, u I sleep
as other people do, with both eyes shut.”
“ Well, then, what’s your proposal ? — and, mark me,
I’m wide awake.”
u By all accounts, my lord, you have seldom been
otherwise. How could you have played your cards so
well and so successfully if you had not?”
uCome, that’s not bad — just what I expected, and
I like to deal with clever people. Did you put your-
self on the whetstone before you came here ? I’ll go
bail you did.”
u If I did not I would have little chance in dealing
with your lordship,” replied Mrs. Lindsay.
•‘Come, I like that, too; — well said, and nothing
but the truth. In fact it will be diamond cut diamond
between us — eh ? ”
u Precisely, my lord. You will find me as sharp as
your lordship, for the life of you.”
“ Come, confound me, I like that best of all — a
touch of my own candor ;— we’re kindred spirits, Mrs,
Lindsay.”
UI think so, my lord. We should have been man
and wife.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
415
“ Egad, if we had I shouldn’t have played second
fiddle, as I’m told poor Lindsay does ; however, no mat-
ter about that — even a good second is not so bad.
But now about the negotiations — come, give a speci-
men of your talents. Let us come to the point.”
u Well, then, I am here, my lord, to propose, in the
name of my son Woodward, for the hand of Miss Rid-
dle, your niece.”
u I see ; no regard for the property she is to have,
eh?”
•u Do you think me a fool, my lord? Do you im-
agine that any one of common sense would or should
overlook such an element between parties who propose
to marry ? Whatever my son may do — who is deeply
attached to Miss Riddle — I am sure I do not, nor will
not, overlook it ; you may rest assured of that, my
lord.”
Old Cockletown looked keenly at her, and their eyes
met ; but, after a long and steady gaze, the eyes of the
old peer quailed, and he felt, when put to an encoun-
ter with hers, that to which was attributed such ex-
traordinary influence. There sparkled in her steady
black orb a venomous exultation, mingled with a spirit
of strong and contemptuous derision, which made the
eccentric old nobleman feel rather uncomfortable. His
eye fell, and, considering his age, it was decidedly a
keen one. He fidgeted upon the chair — he coughed,
hemmed, then looked about the room, and at length
exclaimed, rather in a soliloquy, —
u Second fiddle ! egad, I’m afraid had we been man
and wife I should never have got beyond it Poor
Lindsay ! It’s confoundedly odd, though.”
416
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
“Well, Mrs. Lindsay — ahem — pray proceed, mad*
am ; let us come to the property. How does your son
stand in that respect ? ”
u He will have twelve hundred a year, my lord.”
“ I told you before, Mrs. Lindsay, that I don’t like
the future tense — the present for me. What has he ? ”
“ It can scarcely be called the future tense, my lord,
which you seem to abhor so much. Nothing stands
between him and it but a dying girl.”
“ How is that, madam ? ”
“ Why, my lord, his Uncle Hamilton, my brother,
had a daughter, an only child, who died of decline, as
her mother before her did. This foolish child was
inveigled into an unaccountable affection for the
daughter of Mr. Goodwin — a deep, designing, artful
girl — who contrived to gain a complete ascendency
over both father and daughter. For months before
my niece’s death this cunning girl, prompted by her
designing family, remained at her sick bed, tended her,
nursed her, and would scarcely allow a single individ-
ual to approach her except herself. In short, she
gained such an undue and iniquitous influence over
both parent and child, that her diabolical object was
accomplished.”
“ Diabolical ! Well, I can see nothing diabolical in
it, for so far. Affection and sympathy on the one
hand, and gratitude on the other — that seems much
more like the thing. But proceed, madam.”
“ Why, my poor brother, who became silly and en-
feebled in intellect by the loss of his child, was pre-
vailed on by Miss Goodwin and her family to adopt
her as his daughter, and by a series of the most artful
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
41?
and selfish manoeuvres they succeeded in getting the
poor imbecile and besotted old man to make a will in
her favor ; and the consequence was that he left her
twelve hundred a year, both to her and her issue,
should she marry and have any ; but in case she should
have no issue, then, after her death, it was to revert to
my son Woodward, for whom it was originally intended
by my brother. It was a most unprincipled and shame-
ful transaction on the part of these Goodwins. Provi-
dence, however, would seem to have punished them
for their iniquity, for Miss Goodwin is dying — at least,
beyond all hope. The property, of course, will soon
be in my son’s possession, where it ought to have been
ever since his uncle’s death. Am I not right, then, in
calculating on that property as his ?”
u Why, the circumstances you speak of are recent ;
I remember them well enough. There was a lawsuit
about the will?”
u There was, my lord.”
u And the instrument was proved strictly legal and
valid ?”
u The suit was certainly determined against us.”
u I’ll tell you what, Mrs. Lindsay ; I am certain that
I myself would have acted precisely as your brother
did. I know the Goodwins, too, and I know, besides,
that they are incapable of reverting to either fraud or
undue influence of any kind. All that you have told
me, then, is, with great respect to you, nothing but
mere rigmarole. I am sorry, however, to hear that
the daughter, poor girl, is dying. I hope in God she
will recover.”
There is no earthly probability — nay, possibility
1R*
418 THE EVIL EYE; OR,
of it — which is a stronger word — I know, my lord,
she will die, and that very soon.”
u You know, madam ! How the deuce can you
know ? It is all in the hands of God. I hope she will
live to enjoy her property.”
u My lord, I visited the girl in her illness, and life
was barely in her ; I have, besides, the opinion of the
physician who attended her, and of another who was
called in to consult upon her state, and both have in-
formed me that her recovery is hopeless.”
u And what opinion does your son, Woodward, en-
tertain upon the subject ?”
u One, my lord, in complete keeping with his gener-
ous character. He is as anxious for her recovery as
your lordship.”
u Well, I like that, at all events ; it is a good point
in him. Yes, I like that — but, in the meantime, here
are you calculating upon a contingency that may never
happen. The calculation is, I grant, not overburdened
with delicacy of feeling ; but still it may proceed from
anxiety for the settlement and welfare of your son.
Not an improbable thing on the part of a mother, I
grant that.”
u Well, then, my lord,” asked Mrs. Lindsay, u whal
is to be done ? Come to the point, as you very prop-
erly say yourself.”
u In the first place bring me the written opinions of
those two doctors. They ought to know her state of
health best, and whether she is likely to recover or not.
I know I am an old scoundrel in entering into a matri-
monial negotiation upon a principle so inhuman as the
poor lady’s death ; but still, if her demise is a certain
THE BLACK SPECTKE.
419
thing, I don’t see why men of the world should not
avail themselves of such a circumstance. Now, I wish
to see poor Tom settled before I die ; and, above all
things, united to a gentleman. Your son Woodward,
Mrs. Lindsay, is a gentleman, and what is more, I have
reason to believe Tommy likes him. She speaks well
of him, and there is a great deal in that ; because I
know that if she disliked him she would not conceal the
fact. She has, occasionally, much of her old uncle’s
bluntness about her, and will not say one thing and
think another ; unless, indeed, when she has a design
in it, and then she is inscrutable.”
u My own opinion is this, my lord : let my son wait
upon Miss Riddle — let him propose for her — and if
she consents, why, the marriage settlements may be
drawn up at once and the ceremony performed.”
u Let me see,” he replied. u That won’t do. I will
never marry off poor Tommy upon a speculation which
may never after all be realized. No, no — I’m awake
there ; but I’ll tell you what — produce me those let-
ters from the physician or physicians who attended her ;
then, should Tom give her consent, the settlements may
be drawn up, and they can lie unsigned until the girl
dies — and then let them be married. Curse me, I’m
an old scoundrel again ; however, as to that the whole
world is nothing but one great and universal scoun-
drel, and it is nothing but to see Tom the wife of a
gentleman in feeling, manners, and bearing, that I con-
sent even to this conditional arrangement.”
“ Well,” replied the lady, u be it so ; it is as much as
either of us can do under the circumstances.”
u Ay, and more than we ought to do. I never was
420
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
without a conscience ; but of all the poor pitiful scoun-
drels of a conscience that ever existed, it was the great-
est. But why should I blame it ? It loved me too well ;
for, after some gentle rebukes when I was about to do a
rascally act, it quietly withdrew all opposition and left
me to my own will.”
u Ah, we all know you too well, my lord, to take
your own report of your own character. However,
I am glad that matters have proceeded so far. I shall do
what your lordship wishes as to the opinions of the
medical men. The lawyers, with our assistance, will
manage the settlements.”
u Yes ; but this arrangement must be kept a secret
from Tom, because if she knew of it she would knock
up the whole project.”
u She shall not from me, my lord.”
u Nor from me, I promise you that. But now for
another topic. I am glad your son had nothing to do
with the dreadful chase of that unfortunate Shawn-na~
Middogue ; he pledged his honor to Tom that he would
rather protect than injure him.”
u So, my lord, he would, ever since his conversation
with Miss Riddle on the subject.”
This, indeed, was very honestly said, inasmuch as it
was she herself who had furnished him with the mask
and other of the disguises.
u Well, I think so ; and I believe him to be a gentle-
man, certainly. This unfortunate tory saved Tom’s
life and mine the other night ; but, independently of
that, Mrs. Lindsay, no son of yours should have any-
thing to do in his pursuit or capture. You understand
me. It is my intention to try what I can do to get
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
421
him a pardon from government, and rescue him from
the wild and lawless life he is leading.”
Mrs. Lindsay merely said, —
“ If my son Woodward could render you any assist-
ance, I am sure he would feel great pleasure in doing
so, notwithstanding that it was this same Shawn-na -
Middogue who, perhaps, has murdered his brother, for
he is, by no means, out of danger.”
u What — he ? Shawn-na-Middogue ! Have you
any proof of that ? ”
“ Not positive or legal proof, my lord, but at least a
strong moral certainty. However, it is a subject on
which I do not wish to speak.”
“ By the way, I am very stupid ; but no wonder.
When a man approaches seventy he can’t be expected
to remember everything. You will excuse me for not
inquiring after your son’s health ; how is he ? ”
“Indeed, my lord, we know not what to say;
neither does the doctor who attends him — the same,
by the way, who attended Miss Goodwin. At present
he can say neither yes or no to his recovery.”
“ No, nor will not as long as he can ; I know those
gentry well. Curse the thing on earth frightens one
of them so much as any appearance of convalescence
in a patient. I had during my life about half a dozen
fits of illness, and whenever they found that I was on
the recovery, they always contrived to throw me back
with their damned nostrums, for a month or six weeks
together, that they might squeeze all they could out
of me. O, devilish rogues ! devilish rogues ! ”
Mrs. Lindsay now asked to see his niece, and the
peer said he would send her down, after which ho
422
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
shook hands with her, and once more cautioned hei
against alluding to the arrangement into which they
had entered touching the matrimonial affairs already
discussed. It is not our intention to give the conver-
sation between the two ladies, which was, indeed, not
one of long duration. Mrs. Lindsay simply stated
that she had been deputed by her son, Woodward, to
have the honor of making a proposal in his name to
her uncle, in which proposal she, Miss Riddle, was
deeply concerned, but that her son himself would soon
have the greater honor of pleading his own cause with
the fair object of his most enthusiastic affection. To
..his Miss Riddle said neither yes nor no ; and, after a
iurther chat upon indifferent topics, the matron took
her departure, much satisfied, however, with the ap-
parent suavity of the worthy peer’s fair niece.
It matters not how hard and iniquitous the hearts
of mothers may be, it is a difficult thing to extinguish
in them the sacred principle of maternal affection.
Mrs. Lindsay, during her son Charles’s illness, and
whilst laboring under the apprehension that she was
about to lose him, went to his sick room after her
return from Lord Cockletown’s, and, finding he
was but slightly improving, — if improving at all,
— she felt herself much moved, and asked him hew
he felt.
u Indeed, my dear mother,” he replied, u I can
scarcely say ; I hardly know whether I am better or
worse.”
Harry was in the room at the time, having gone up
to ascertain his condition.
“ O, come, Charles,” said she, u you were always an
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
423
affectionate son, and you must strive and recover. If
it may give you strength and hope, I now tell you that
the property which I intended to leave to Harry here,
I shall leave to you. Harry will not require it; he
will be well off — much better than you imagine. He
will have back that twelve hundred a year when that
puny girl dies. She is, probably, dead by this time, and
he will, besides, become a wealthy man by marriage.”
“ But I think, my dear mother, that Harry has the
best claim to it ; he is your first-born, and your eldest
son.”
“He will not require it,” replied his mother; “he
is about to be married to Miss Riddle, the niece of Lord
Cockletown.”
“Are you quite sure of that, mother?” asked
Harry, with a brow as black as midnight.
“ There is an arrangement made,” she replied ; “ the
marriage settlements are to be drawn up, but left un-
signed until the death of Alice Goodwin.”
Charles here gave a groan of agony, which, for the
life of him, he could not suppress.
“ She will not die, I hope,” said he ; “ and, mother,
as for the property, leave it to Harry. I don’t think
you ought to change your contemplated arrangements
on my account, even should I recover.”
“ Yes, Charles, but I will — only contrive and live ;
you are my son, and as sure as I have life you will be
heir to my property.”
“ But Maria, mother,” replied the generous young
man ; “ Maria ” and he looked imploringly and
affectionately into her face.
“ Maria will have an ample portion ; I have taken
424
THE EVIL EYEJ OR,
care of that. I will not leave my property to those
who are strangers to my blood, as a son-in-law must
be. No, Charles, you shall have my property. As
for Harry, as I said before, he won’t stand in need
of it.”
“ Of course you saw Miss Riddle to-day, moth-
er ? ” asked Harry.
“I did.”
“ Of course, too, you mentioned the matter to her ? ”
~u To be sure I did.”
“ And what did she say ? ”
“Why, I think she acted just as every delicate-
minded girl ought. I told her you would have the
honor of proposing to herself in person. She heard
me, and did not utter a syllable either for or against
you. What else should any lady do ? You would
not have her jump at you, would you ? Nothing,
however, could be kinder or more gracious than the
reception she gave me.”
“ Certainly not, mother ; to give her consent before
she was solicited would not be exactly the thing : but
the uncle is willing ? ”
“ Upon the conditions I said ; but his niece is to
know nothing of these conditions : so be cautious when
you see her.”
“ I don’t know how it is,” replied Harry ; “ I have
been thinking our last interview over ; but it strikes
me there is, notwithstanding her courtesy of manner,
a hard, dry air about her which it is difficult to pen-
etrate. It seems to me as if it were no easy task to
ascertain whether she is in jest or earnest. Her eye
is too calm and reflecting for my taste.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
425
u But,” replied his mother, u those, surely, are two
good qualities in any woman, especially in her whom
you expect to become your wife.”
u Perhaps so,” said he ; u but she is not my wife
yet, my dear mother.”
u I vdsh she was, Harry,” observed his brother, u for
by all accounts she is an excellent girl, and remark-
able for her charity and humanity to the poor.”
His mother and Harry then left the room, and both
went to her own apartment, where the following con-
versation took place between them :
u Harry,” said she, u I hope you are not angry at
the determination I expressed to leave my property to
Charles should he recover?”
u Why should I, my dear mother ? ” he replied ;
u your property is your own, and of course you may
'eave it to whomsoever you wish. At all events, it
will remain in your own family, and won’t go to
strangers, like that of my scoundrel old uncle.”
u Don’t speak so, Harry, of ray brother ; silly, be-
sotted, and overreached he was when he acted as he
did ; but he never was a scoundrel, Harry.”
u Well, well, let that pass,” replied her son ; u but
the question now is, What am I to do ? What step
should I first take ? ”
“ I don’t understand you.”
u Why, I mean whether should I start directly for
Ballyspellan and put this puling girl out of pain, or go
in a day or two and put the question at once to Miss
Riddle, against whom, somehow, I feel a strong an-
tipathy.”
u Ah, Harry, that’s your grandfather all over j but,
42G
THE EVIL eye; OR,
indeed, our family were full of strong antipathies and
bitter resentments. Why do you feel an antipathy
against the girl ? ”
“ Who can account for antipathies, mother ? I can-
not account for this.”
u And perhaps on her part the poor girl is attached
to you.”
“ Well, but you have not answered my question.
How am I to act ? Which step should I take first —
the quietus of i eurds-and-whey,? or the courtship ?
The sooner matters come to a conclusion the better.
I wish, if possible, to know what is before me : I can-
not bear uncertainty in this or anything else.”
u I scarcely know how to advise you,” she replied ;
u both steps are of the deepest importance, but cer-
tainly which to take first is a necessary consideration.
I am of opinion that our best plan is simply to take a
day or two to think it over, after which we will com-
pare notes and come to a conclusion :” and so it was
determined.
We need scarcely assure our readers that honest
and affectionate Barney Casey felt a deep interest in
the recovery of the generous and kind-hearted Charles
Lindsay, nor that he allowed a single day to pass with-
out going, at least two or three times, to ascertain
whether there was any appearance of his convalescence
On the day following that on which Mrs. Lindsay had
declared the future disposition of her property he went
to see Charles as usual, when the latter, after having
stated to him that he felt much better, and the fever
abating, he said, —
u Casey, I have rather strange news for you.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
427
“ Be it good, bad, or indifferent, sir,” replied Bar-
ney, “you could tell me no news that would plaise me
half so much as that there is a certainty of your gettin’
well again.”
u Well, I think there is, Barney. I feel much better
to-day than I have done for a long while — but the
news, are you not anxious to hear it ?”
“ Why, I hope Til hear it soon, Masther Charles,
especially if it’s good ; but if it’s not good I’m jack-
indifferent about it.”
u It is good, Barney, to me at least, but not so to my
brother Woodward.”
Barney’s ears, if possible, opened and expanded
themselves on hearing this. To him it was a double
gratification : first, because it was favorable to the
invalid, to whom he was so sincerely attached; and
secondly, because it was not so to Woodward, whom
he detested.
u My mother yesterday told me that she has made
up her mind to leave me all her property if I recover,
instead of to Harry, for whom she had originally in-
tended it.”
Barney, on hearing this intelligence, was commenc-
ing to dance an Irish jig to his own music, and would
have done so were it not that the delicate state of the
patient prevented him.
“ Blood alive, Masther Charles ! ” he exclaimed, snap-
ping his fingers in a kind of wild triumph, u what are
you lying there for ? Bounce to your feet like a two-
year ould. O, holy Moses, and Melchisedek the divine,
ay, and Solomon, the son of St. Pether, in all his
glory, but that is news !”
428
THIS EVIL EYE; OR,
“She told my brother Woodward, face to face, that
such was her fixed determination.”
“ Good again ; and what did he say ? ”
“Nothing particular, but that he was glad it was to
Btay in the family, and not go to strangers, like our
uncle’s — alluding, of course, to his will in favor of
dear Alice Goodwin.”
“ Ay, but how did he look ? ” asked Barney.
“I didn’t observe, I was rather in pain at the
time ; but, from a passing glimpse I got, I thought
his countenance darkened a little ; but I may be mis-
taken.”
“Well, I hope so,” said Barney. “I hope so — but
- — well, I am glad to find you are betther, Masther
Charles, and to hear the good piece of fortune you have
mentioned. I trust in God your mother will keep her
word — that’s all.”
“As to myself,” said Charles, “I am indifferent
about the property ; all that presses upon my heart is
my anxiety for Miss Goodwin’s recovery.”
“ Don’t be alarmed on that account,” said Casey ;
“ they say the waters of Ballyspellan would bring the
dead to life. Now, good by, Masther Charles ; don’t
be cast down — keep up your spirits, for something
tells me that there’s luck before you, and good luck,
too.”
After leaving him Barney began to ruminate. He
had remarked an extraordinary change in the counte-
nance and deportment of Harry Woodward during the
evening before and the earlier part of that day. The
plausible serenity of his manner was replaced by unu-
sual gloom, and that abstraction which is produced by
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
429
deep and absorbing thought. He seemed so com-
pletely wrapped up in constant meditation upon some
particular subject, that he absolutely forgot to guard
himself against observation or remark, by his usual
artifice of manner. He walked alone in the garden, a
thing he was not accustomed to do ; and during these
walks he would stop and pause, then go on slowly and
musingly, and stop and pause again. Barney, as we
have said before, was a keen observer, and having
watched him from a remote corner of the garden in
which he was temporarily engaged among some flow-
ers, he came at once to the conclusion that Woodward’s
mind was burdened with something which heavily de-
pressed his spirits, and occupied his whole attention.
“Ah,” exclaimed Barney, “the villain is brewing
mischief for some one, but I will watch his motions if I
should pass sleepless nights for it. He requires a sharp
eye after him, and it will go hard with me or I shall
know what his midnight wanderings mean ; but in the
meantime I must keep calm and quiet, and not seem
to watch him.”
Whilst Barney, who was unseen by Woodward, hav-
ing been separated from him by a fruit hedge over
which he occasionally peeped, indulged in this solilo-
quy, the latter, in the same deep and moody medita-
tion, extended his walk, his brows contracted, and dark
as midnight.
“ The damned hag,” said he, speaking unconsciously
aloud, “ is this the affection which she professed to bear
me ? Is this the proof she gives of the preference
which she often expressed for her favorite son ? To
leave her property to that miserable milksop, my half-
430
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
brother ! What devil could have tempted her to this ?
Not Lindsay, certainly, for I know he would scorn to
exercise any control over her in the disposition of her
property ; and as for Maria, I know she would not. It
must then have been the milksop himself in some
puling fit of pain or illness ; and ably must the beg-
garly knave have managed it when he succeeded in
changing the stern and flinty heart of such a she-devil.
Yes, unquestionably that must be the true meaning of it ;
but, be it so for the present ; the future is a different
question. My plans are laid, and I will put them into
operation according as circumstances may guide me.”
Whatever those plans were, he seemed to have com-
pleted them in his own mind. The darkness departed
from his brow ; his face assumed its usual expression ;
and, having satisfied himself by the contemplation of
his future course of action, he walked at his usual pace
out of the garden.
“Egad,” thought Barney, “Fm half a prophet, but
I can say no more than I’ve said. There’s mischief in
the wind ; but whether against Masther Charles or his
mother, is a puzzle to me. What a dutiful son, too !
A she-devil ! Well, upon my sowl, if he weren’t her
son I could forgive him for that , because it hits her off
to a hair — but from the lips of a son ! O, the blasted
scoundrel ! Well, no matther, there’s a sharp pair of
eyes upon him ; and that’s all I can say at present.”
When the medical attendant called that day to see his
patient he found, on examining Charles, and feeling his
pulse, that he was decidedly and rapidly on the recovery.
On his way down stairs he was met by Woodward, who
said, —
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
431
“Well, doctor, is there any chance of my dear
brother’s recovery ? ”
“It is beyond a chance now, Mr. Woodward; he is
out of danger ; and although his convalescence will be
slow, it will be sure.”
“ Thark God,” said the cold-blooded hypocrite ; “ I
have never heard intelligence more gratifying. My
mother is in the withdra wing-room, and desired me to say
that she wishes to speak with you. Of course it is about
my brother ; and glad I am that you can make so favora-
ble a report of him.”
On going down he found Mrs. Lindsay alone, and
having taken a seat and made his daily report, she
addressed him as follows :
“ Doctor, you have taken a great weight off my mind
by your account of my son’s certain recovery.”
“ I can say with confidence, as I have already said
to his anxious brother, madam, that it is certain, although
it will be slow. He is out of danger at last. The wound
is beginning to cicatrize, and generates laudable pus . His
fever, too, is gone ; but he is very weak still, — quite
emaciated, — and it will require time to place him once
more on his legs. Still, the great fact is, that his recovery
is certain. Nothing unless agitation of mind can retard
it ; and I do not see anything which can occasion that.”
“ Nothing, indeed, doctor ; but, doctor, I wish to speak
to you on another subject. You have been attending
Miss Goodwin during her very strange and severe illness.
You have visited her, too, at Ballyspellan.”
“ I have, madam. She went there by my directions.”
“ How long is it since you have seen her f ”
“ I saw her three days ago.”
432
THE EVIL EYE; OH,
u And how was she ? ”
61 1 am afraid beyond hope, madam. She is certainly
not better, and 1 can scarcely say she is worse, because
worse she cannot be. The complaint is on her mind ;
and in that case we all know how difficult it is for a
physician to administer to a mind diseased.”
“ You think, then, she is past recovery ? ”
“ Indeed, madam, I am certain of it, and I deeply
regret it, not only for her own sake, but for that of her
heart-broken parents.”
“ My dear doctor — 0, by the way, here is your fee ;
do not be surprised at its amount, for, although your fees
have been regularly paid ”
“ And liberally, madam.”
“ Well, in consequence of the favorable and gratify-
ing report which you have this day made, you must
pardon an affectionate mother for the compensation
which she now offers you. It is far beneath the value
of your skill, your anxiety for my son’s recovery, and
the punctuality of your attendance.”
“ What ! fifty pounds, madam ! I cannot accept it,”
said he, exhibiting it in his hand as he spoke.
“ O, but you must, my dear doctor ; nor shall the
liberality of the mother rest here. Come, doctor,
no remonstrance ; put it into your pocket, and now
hear me. You say Miss Goodwin is past all hope.
Would you have any objection to write me a short
note stating that fact ? ”
“How could I, madam ? ” replied the good-natured,
easy man, who, of course, could never dream of her
design in asking him the question. Still, it seemed
lingular and unusual, and quite out of the range of
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
433
his experience. This consideration startled him into
reflection, and something like a curiosity to ascertain
why she, who, he felt aware, was of late at bitter feud
with Miss Goodwin and her family — the cause of
which was well known throughout the country —
should wish to obtain such a document from him.
“ Pardon me, madam ; pray, may I inquire for what
purpose you ask me to furnish such a document ? ”
“ Why, the truth is, doctor, that there are secrets in
all families, and, although this is not, strictly speaking,
a secret, yet it is a thing that I should not wish to be
mentioned out of doors.”
“ Madam, you cannot for a moment do me such
injustice as to imagine that I am capable of violating
professional confidence. I consider the confidence you
now repose in me, in the capacity of your family
physician, as coming under that head.”
“ You will have no objection, then, to write the note
I ask of you ? ”
“ Certainly not, madam.”
“But there is Dr. Lendrum, who joined you in
consultation in my son’s case, as well, I believe, as in
Miss Goodwin’s. Do you think you could get him to
write a note to me in accordance with yours ? Speak
to him, and tell him that I don’t think he has been
sufficiently remunerated for his trouble in the consul-
tations you have had with him here.”
“ I shall do so, madam, and I think he will do him-
self the pleasure of seeing you in the course of to-
morrow.”
Both doctors could, with a very good conscience,
furnish Mrs. Lindsay with the opinions which she
19
434
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
required. She saw the other medical gentleman on the
following day, and, after handing him a handsome
douceur , he felt no hesitation in corroborating the
opinion of his brother physician.
Having procured the documents in question, she
transmitted them, enclosed in a letter, to Lord Cockle-
town, stating that her son Woodward, who had been
seized by a pleuritic attack, would not be able, she
feared, to pay his intended visit to Miss Riddle so soon
as he had expected ; but, in the meantime, she had the
honor of enclosing him the documents she alluded to
on the occasion of her last visit. And this she did with
the hope of satisfying his lordship on the subject they
had been then discussing, and with a further hope that
he might become an advocate for her son, at least until
he should be able to plead his own cause with the lady
herself ; which nothing but indisposition prevented him
from doing. The doctor, she added, had advised him
to try the waters of the Spa of Ballyspellan for a short
time, as he had little doubt that they would restore him
to perfect health. She sent her love to dear Miss
Riddle, and hoped ere long to have the pleasure of
clasping her to her heart as a daughter.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
435
CHAPTER XX.
woodward’s visit to ballyspellan.
AtTER a consultation with his mother our worthy
hero prepared for his journey to this once celebrated
Spa , which possessed even then a certain local ce-
lebrity, that subsequently widened to an ampler range.
The little village was filled with invalids of all classes ;
and even the farmers’ houses in the vicinity were oc-
cupied with individuals in quest of health. The fam-
ily of the Goodwins, however, were still in deep
affliction, although Alice, for the last few days, was
progressing favorably. Still, such was her weakness,
that she was unable to walk unless supported by two
persons, usually her maid and her mother or her father.
The terrible influence of the Evil Eye had made too
deep and deadly an impression ever, she feared, to be
effaced; for, although removed from Woodward’s
blighting gaze, that eye was perpetually upon her,
through the medium of her strong but diseased imagi-
nation. And who is there who does not know how
strongly the force of imagination acts ? On this sub-
ject she had now become a perfect hypochondriac. She
could not shake it off, it haunted her night and day ;
and even the influence of society could scarcely banish
the dread image of that mysterious and fearful look for
a moment.
The society at Ballyspellan was, as the society in
43C
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
such places usually is, very much mixed and hetero-
geneous. Many gentry were there — gentlemen at
tempting to repair constitutions broken down by dis-
sipation and profligacy; and ladies afflicted with a
disease peculiar, in those days, to both sexes, called
die spleen — a malady which, under that name, has
long since disappeared, and is now known by the title
of nervous affection. There was a large public room,
in imitation of the more celebrated English watering-
places, where the more respectable portion of the com-
pany met and became acquainted, and where, also,
balls and dinners were occasionally held. Not a wreck
of this edifice is now standing, although, down to the
days of Swift and Delany, it possessed considerable
celebrity, as is evident from the ingenious verses writ-
ten by his friend to the Dean upon this subject.
The principal individuals assembled at it on this
occasion were Squire Manifold, whose complaint, as
was evident by his three chins, consisted in a rapid
tendency to obesity, which his physician had told him
might be checked, if he could prevail on himself to eat
and drink with a less gluttonous appetite, and take
more exercise. He had already had a fit of apoplexy,
and it was the apprehension of another, with which he
was threatened, that brought him to the Spa . The
next was Parson Topertoe, whose great enemy was the
gout, brought on, of course, by an ascetic and apostolic
life. The third was Captain Cuiverin, whose constitu-
tion had suffered severely in the wars, but which he
attempted to reinvigorate by a course of hard drinking,
in which he found, to his cost, that the remedy was
worse than the disease. There were also a great
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
437
variety of others, among whom were several widows,
whose healthy complexions were anything but a justi-
fication for their presence there, especially in the
character of invalids. Mr. Goodwin, his wife, and
daughter, we need not enumerate. They lodged in the
house of a respectable farmer, who lived convenient to
the village, where they found themselves exceedingly
snug and comfortable. In the next house to them
lodged a Father Mulrenin, a friar, who, although he
attended the public room and drank the waters, was an
admirable specimen of comic humor and robust health.
There was also a Miss Rosebud, accompanied by her
mother, a blooming widow, who had married old Rose-
bud, a wealthy bachelor, when he was near sixty.
The mother’s complaint was also the spleen, or vapors ;
indeed, to tell the truth, she was moved by an uncon-
querable and heroic determination to replace poor old
Rosebud by a second husband. The last whom we
shall enumerate, although not the least, was a very
remarkable character of that day. being no other than
Cooke, the Pythagorean, from the county of Water-
ford. He held, of course, the doctrines of Pythagoras,
and believed in the transmigration of souls. He lived
upon a vegetable diet, and wore no clothing which had
been taken or made from the wool or skins of animals,
because he knew that they must have been killed be-
fore these exuvice could be applied to human use. His
dress, consequently, during the inclemency of winter
and the heats of summer, consisted altogether of linen,
and even his shoes were of vegetable fabric. Our read-
ers, consequently, need not feel surprised at the com-
plaint of the philosopher, which was a chronic and most
438
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
excruciating rheumatism that racked every bone in his
Pythagorean body. He was, however, like a certain
distinguished teetotaler and peace preserver of our
own city and our own day, a mild and benevolent man,
whose monomania affected nobody but himself, and
him it did affect through every bone of his body. He
was attended by his own servants, especially by his
own cook — for he was a man of wealth and consider-
able rank in the country — in order that he could rely
upon their fidelity in seeing that nothing contrary to
his principles might be foisted upon him. He had his
carriage, in which he drove out every day, and into
which and out of which his servants assisted him. We
need scarcely assure our readers that he was the lion
of the place, or that no individual there excited either
so much interest or curiosity. Of the many others of
various, but subordinate classes we shall not speak.
Wealthy farmers, professional men, among whom,
however, we cannot omit Counsellor Puzzlewell, who,
by the way, had one eye upon Miss Rosebud and an-
other upon the comely widow herself, together with
several minor grades down to the very paupers of
society, were all there.
About this period it was resolved to have a dinner,
to be followed by a ball in the latter part of the even-
ing. This was the project of Squire Manifold, whose
physician attended him like, or rather very unlike, his
shadow, for he was a small thin man, with sharp eyes
and keen features, and so slight that if put into the
scale against the shadow he would scarcely weigh it
up. The squire’s wife, who was a cripple, insisted that
he should accompany her husband, in order to see that
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
439
he might not gorge himself into the apoplectic fit with
which he was threatened. His first had a peculiar
and melancholy, though, to spectators, a ludicrous ef-
fect upon him. He was now so stupid, and made such
blunders in conversation, that the comic effect of them
was irresistible j especially to those who were not aware
of the cause of it, but looked upon the whole thing as
his natural manner. He had been, ever since his arrival
at the accursed Spa , kept by Doctor Doolittle upon short
commons, both as to food and drink ; and what with the
effect of the waters, and severe purgatives administered
by the doctor, he felt himself in a state little short of
purgatory itself. The meagre regimen to which he
was so mercilessly subjected gave him the appetite of a
shark. Indeed, the bill of fare prescribed for him was
scarcely sufficient to sustain a boy of twelve years of
age. In consequence of this he had got it into his
head that the season was a season of famine, and on
this calamitous dispensation of Providence he kept
harping from morning to night. The idea of the din-
ner, however, was hailed by them all as a very agree-
able project, for which the squire, who only thought
of the opportunity it would give himself to enjoy a
surfeit, was highly complimented. It was to be in
the shape of a modern table d'hote : every gentleman
was to pay for himself and such of his party as accom-
panied him to it. Even the Pythagorean relished the
proposal, for although peculiar in his opinions, he was
sufficiently liberal, and too much of a gentleman, to
quarrel with those who differed from him. Mr. Good-
win, too, was a consenting party, and mentioned the
subject to Alice in a cheerful spirit, and with a hope
440
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
that she might be able to rally and attend it. She
promised to do so if she could ; but said it chiefly de-
pended on the state of health in which she might find
herself. Indeed, if ever a beautiful and interesting girl
was to be pitied, she, most unquestionably, was an ob-
ect of the deepest compassion. It was not merely
what she had to suffer from the Evil Eye of the demon
Woodward, but from the fact which had reached her
ears of what she considered the profligate conduct of
his brother Charles, once her betrothed lover. This
latter reflection, associated with the probability of his
death, when joined to the terrible malady which Wood-
ward had inflicted on her, may enable our readers to
perceive what the poor girl had to suffer. Still she
told her father that she would be present if her health
permitted her, “ especially, ” she added, “as there was
no possibility of Woodward being among the guests.”
“ Why, my dear child,” said her father, “ what could
put such an absurd apprehension into your head ? ”
“Because, papa, I don’t think he will ever let me
out of his power until he kills me. I don’t think he
will come here ; but I dread to return home, because I
fear that if I do he will obtrude himself on me ; and I feel
that another gaze of his eye would occasion my death.”
“ I would call him out,” replied the father, “ and
shoot him like a dog, to which honest and faithful
animal it is a sin to compare the villain.”
“ And then I might be left fatherless ! ” she ex-
claimed. “ O, papa, promise me that you never will
have recourse to that dreadful alternative.”
“But, my darling, I only said so upon the supposi-
tion of your death by him.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
441
u But mamma ! ”
u Come, come, Alice, get up your spirits, and be
able to attend this dinner. It will cheer you and do
you good. We have been discussing soap bubbles.
Give up thinking of the scoundrel, and you will soon
feel yourself well enough. In about another month
we will start for Killarney, and see the lakes and the
magnificent scenery by which they are surrounded.”
u Well, dear papa, I shall go to this dinner if I am
at all able ; but indeed I do not expect to be able.”
In the meantime every preparation was made for
the forthcoming banquet. It was to be on a large
scale, and many of the neighboring gentry and their
families were asked to it. The knowledge that Cooke,
the Pythagorean, was at the Well had taken wind, and
a strong curiosity had gone abroad to see him. This
eccentric gentleman’s appearance was exceedingly origi-
nal, if not startling. He was, at least, six feet two, but
so thin, fleshless, and attenuated, that he resembled
a living skeleton. This was the more strange, inas-
much as in his earlier days he had been robust and stout,
approaching even to corpulency. His dress was as re-
markable as his person, if not more so. It consisted
of bleached linen, and was exceedingly white ; and so
particular was he in point of cleanliness, that he put
on a fresh dress every day. He wore a pair of long
pantaloons that, unfortunately for his symmetry, ad-
hered to his legs and thighs as closely as the skin ; and
as the aforesaid legs and thighs were skeletonic, noth-
ing could be more ludicrous than his appearance in
them. His vest was equally close ; and as the hang-
ing cloak which he wore over it did not reach far
19*
442
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
enough down his back, it was impossible to view him be-
hind without convulsive laughter. His shoes were made
of some description of foreign bark, which had by some
chemical process been tanned into toughness, and on his
head he wore a turban of linen, made of the same ma-
terial which furnished his other garments. Altogether, a
more ludicrous figure could not be seen, especially if a
person happened to stand behind him when he bowed.
Notwithstanding all this, however, he possessed the
manners and bearing of a gentleman ; the only thing re-
markable about him, beyond what we have described,
being a peculiar wildness of the eyes, accompanied, how-
ever, by an unquestionable expression of great benignity.
We leave the company at the Well preparing for the
forthcoming dinner and return to Rathfillan House,
where Harry Woodward is making arrangements for
his journey to Ballyspellan, which now we believe goes
by the name of Johnstown. Under every circumstance
of his life he was a plotter and a planner, and had at all
times some private speculation in view. On the pres-
ent occasion, in addition to his murderous design upon
Miss Goodwin, he resolved to become a wife-hunter, for,
being well acquainted, as he was, with the tone and
temper of English society at its most celebrated water-
ing places, and the matrimonial projects and intrigues
which abound at them, he took it for granted that he
might stand a chance of making a successful hit with
a view to matrimony. One thing struck him, however,
which was, that he had no horse, and could not go
there mounted, as a gentleman ought. It is true his
stepfather had several horses, but not one of them be-
yond the character of a common hack. He resolved,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
443
therefore, to purchase a becoming nag for his journey,
and with this object he called upon a neighboring
farmer, named Murray, who possessed a very beauti-
ful animal, rising four, and which he learned was to
be disposed of.
“ Mr. Murray,” said he, u I understand you have a
young horse for sale.”
“ I have, sir,” replied Murray ; 66 and a better piece
of flesh is not in the county he stands in.”
u Could I see him ? ”
“ Certainly, sir, and try him, too. He is not flesh and
bone at all, sir — devil a thing he is but quicksilver.
Here, Paudeen, saddle Brien Boro for this gentleman.
You won’t require wings, Mr. Woodward ; Brien Boro
will show you how to fly without them.”
“ Well,” replied Woodward, “ trial’s all ; but at any
rate, I’m willing to prefer good flesh and bone to
quicksilver.”
In a few minutes the horse was brought out, saddled
and bridled, and Woodward, who certainly was an
excellent horseman, mounted him and tried his paces.
“Well, sir,” said Murray, “how do you like him?”
“ I like him well,” said Woodward. “ His temper is
good, I know, by his docility to the bit.”
“ Yes, but you haven’t tried him at a ditch ; follow me
and I’ll show you as pretty a one as ever a horse crossed,
and you may take my word it isn’t every horse could
cross it. You have a good firm seat, sir ; and I know
you will both do it in sportsman-like style.”
Having reached the ditch, which certainly was a
rasper, Woodward reined round the animal, who crossed
it like a swallow.
444
THE EVIL EYEJ OR,
“Now,” said Murray, “unless you wish to ride half
a mile in order to get back, you must cross it again.”
This was accordingly done in admirable style, both by
man and horse ; and Woodward, having ridden him back
to the farm-yard, dismounted, highly satisfied with the
animal’s action and powers.
“ Now, Mr. Murray,” said he, “ what’s his price ! ”
“ Fifty guineas, sir ; neither more nor less.”
“ Say thirty and we’ll deal.”
“ I don’t want money, sir,” replied the sturdy farm
er, “ and I won’t part with the horse under his value
I will get what I ask for him.”
“ Say thirty-five.”
“ Not a cross under the round half hundred ; and I’m
glad it is not your mother that is buying him.”
“ Why so ? ” asked Woodward ; and his eye darkly
sparkled with its malignant influence.
“ Why, sir, because if I didn’t sell him to her at her
own terms, he would be worth very little in a few days
afterwards.”
The observation was certainly an offensive one, espe-
cially when made to her son.
“ Will you take forty for him ? ” asked Woodward,
coolly.
“ Not a penny, sir, under what I said. You are
clearly a good judge of a horse, Mr. Woodward, and I
wonder that a gentleman like you would offer me less
than I ask, because you cannot but know that it is under
his valu£.”
“ I will give no more,” replied Woodward ; “ so there
is an end to it. Let me see the horse’s eyes.”
He placed himself before the animal, and looked
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
445
steadily into his eyes for about five minutes, after which
he said, —
“ I think, Mr. Murray, you would have acted more
prudently had you taken my offer. I bade you full
value for the horse.”
To Murray’s astonishment the animal began to
tremble excessively ; the perspiration was seen to
flow from him in torrents ; he appeared feeble and
collapsed ; and seemed scarcely able to stand on
his limbs, which were shaking as if with terror
under him.
“ Why, Mr. Murray,” said Woodward, UI am very
glad I did not buy him ; the beast is ill, and will be
for the dogs of the neighborhood in three days’ time.”
“ Until the last five minutes, sir, there wasn’t a
sounder horse in Europe.”
“ Look at him now, then,” said Woodward ; “ do
you call that a sound horse ? Take him into the stable ;
before the expiration of three days you will be flaying
him.”
His words were prophetic. In three days’ time the
fine and healthy animal was a carcass.
“Ah! ’’said the farmer, when he saw the horse
lying dead before him, “ this fellow is his mother’s
son. From the time he looked into the horse’s eyes the
poor beast sank so rapidly that he didn’t pass the third
day alive. And there are fifty guineas out of my
pocket. The curse of God on him wherever he
goes ! ”
Woodward provided himself, however, with another
horse, and in due time set out for the Spa at Bally-
spellan.
446
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
The dinner was now fixed for a certain day, and
Squire Manifold felt himself in high spirits as often as
he could recollect the circumstance — which, indeed,
tvas but rarely, the worthy epicure’s memory having
nearly abandoned him. Topertoe, of the gout, and he
were old aquaintances and companions, and had
spent many a merry night together — both, as the
proverb has it, being tarred with the same stick. To-
pertoe was as great a glutton as the other, but without
his desperate voracity in food, whilst in drink he
equalled if he did not surpass him. Manifold would
have forgotten every thing about the dinner had he not
from time to time been reminded of it by his companion.
“ Manifold, we will have a great day on Thursday.”
“ Great ! ” exclaimed Manifold, who, in addition to
his other stupidities, was as deaf as a post ; “ great — -
eh ? What size will it be ? ”
u What size will it be ? Why, confound it, man,
don’t you know what I’m saying ? ”
“No, I don’t — yes, I do — you are talking about
something great. 0, I know now — your toe you
mean — where the gout lies. They say it begins at
the great toe, and goes up to the stomach. I suppose
Alexander the Great was gouty, and got his name from
that.”
“ I’m talking of the great dinner we’re to have on
Thursday,” shouted Topertoe. “ We’ll have a splendid
feed then, my famous old trencherman, and I’ll take
care that Doctor Doolittle shall not stint you.”
“ There won’t be any toast and water — eh ? ”
“ Devil a mouthful ; and we are to have the cele
brated Cooke, the Pythagorean.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
447
u Ay, but is he a good cook ? ”
u He’s the celebrated Pythagorean, I tell you.”
u Pythagorean — what’s that ? I thought you said
he was a cook. Does he understand venison properly ?
O, good Lord! what a life I’m leading! Toast and
water — toast and water. But it’s all the result of
this famine. And yet they know I’m wealthy. I say,
what’s this your name is ? ”
u Never mind that — an old acquaintance. Hell
and torments ! what’s this ? O ! ”
u The weather’s pleasant, Topertoe. I say, Toper-
toe, what’s this your name is ? ”
u 01 O ! ” exclaimed Topertoe, who felt one or
two desperate twinges of his prevailing malady ; u curse
me, Manifold, but I think I would exchange with you ;
your complaint is an easy one compared to mine.
You are a mere block, and will pop off without pain,
instead of being racked like a soul in perdition as
I am.”
u Your soul in perdition — well, I suppose it will.
But don’t groan and scream so — you are not there
yet ; when you are you will have plenty of time to
groan and scream. As for myself, I will be likely to
sleep it out there. I think, by the way, I had the
pleasure of knowing you before ; your face is familiar
to me. What’s this you call the man that attends sick
people ? ”
u A doctor. 0 ! O ! Hell and torments ! what is
this ? Yes, a doctor. 0 ! O ! ”
u Ay, a doctor. Confound me, but I think my
head’s going around like a top. Yes, a — a — a — a doc-
tor. Well, the doctor says that I and Parson Topertoe
448
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
led a nice life of it — one a glutton and the other a
drunkard. Do you know Topertoe ? Because if you
don’t I do. He is a damned scoundrel, and squeezed
his tithes out of the people with pincers of blood.”
“ Manifold, your gluttony has brought you to a fine
pass. Are you alive or not ? ”
“ Eh ? Curse all dry toast and water ! But it’s all
the consequence of this year of famine. Pray, sir,
what do you eat ? ”
“ Beef, mutton, venison, fowl, ham, turbot, salmon,
black sole, with all the proper and corresponding sauces
and condiments.”
“ O Lord ! and no toast and water, beef tea, and
oatmeal gruel ? Heavens ! how I wish this year of
famine was past. It will be the death of me. I say,
what’s this your name is ? Your face is familiar to
me somehow. Could you aid me in poisoning the —
the — what you call him — ay, the doctor ? ”
“ Nothing more easily done, my dear Manifold.
Contrive to let him take one of his own doses, and he’s
done for.”
“ Wouldn’t ratsbane do ? I often think he’s a rat.”
“In face and eyes he certainly looks very like one.”
“ Are you aware, sir, that my wife’s a cripple ? She’s
paralyzed in her lower limbs.”
“ I am perfectly aware of that melancholy fact.”
“ Are you aware that she’s jealous of me ? ”
“No, not that she’s jealous of you now ; but per-
fectly aware that she had good cause to be so.”
“ Ay, but the devil of it is that the paralysis you
speak of never reached her tongue.”
“ I speak of — ’twas yourself spoke of it.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
449
u She sent me here because it happens to be a year
famine — what is commonly called a hard season —
and she stitched the little blasted doctor to me that I
might die legitimately under medical advice. Isn’t that
very like murder — isn’t it ? ”
u Ah, my dear friend, thank God that you are not a
parson, having a handsome wife and a handsome curate,
with the gout to support you and keep you comfortable.
You would then feel that there are other twinges worse
than those of the gout.”
u Ay, but is there anything wrong about your
head?”
u Heaven knows. About a twelvemonth ago I felt
as if there were two sprouts budding out of my fore-
head, but on putting up my hand I could feel nothing.
It was as smooth as ever. It must have been hypo-
chondriasis. The curate, though, is a handsome dog,
and, like yourself, it was my wife sent me here.”
u Is your wife a cripple ? ”
u Faith, anything but that.”
u How is her tongue ? No paralysis in that
quarter ? ”
u On the contrary, she is calm and soft-spoken, and
perfectly sweet and angelic in her manner.”
u But was it in consequence of the famine she sent
you here? Toast and water! — toast and water! 0
Lord ! ”
This dialogue took place in Manifold’s lodgings,
where Topertoe, aided by a crutch and his servant,
was in the habit of visiting him. To Manifold, indeed,
this was a penal settlement, in consequence of the rea-
sons which we have already stated.
450
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
The Pythagorean, as well as Topertoe, was also
occasionally forced to the use of crutches ; and it
was certainly a strange and remarkable thing to wit-
ness two men, each at the extreme point of social in-
dulgence, and each departing from reason and common-
sense, suffering from the consequences of their respec-
tive errors ; Manifold, a most voracious fellow, knocked
on the head by an attack of apoplexy, and Cooke, the
philosopher, suffering the tortures of the damned from
a most violent rheumatism, produced by a monomania
which compelled him to decline the simple enjoyment
of reasonable food and dress. Cooke’s monomania,
however, was a rare one. In Blackwood's Magazine
there appeared, several years ago, an admirable writer,
whose name we now forget, under the title of a mod-
ern Pythagorean ; but that was merely a nom de guerre ,
adopted, probably, to excite a stronger interest in the
perusal of his productions. Here, however, was a man
in whom the principle existed upon what he considered
rational and philosophic grounds. He had gotten the
philosophical blockhead’s crotchet into his head, and
carried the principle, in a practical point of view, much
further tb in ever the old fool himself did in his life.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
451
CHAPTER XXI.
THE DINNER AT BALLYSPELLAN. THE APPEARANCE OP
WOODWARD. VALENTINE GREATRAKES.
The Thursday appointed for the dinner at length
arrived. The little village was all alive with stir and
bustle, inasmuch as for several months no such impor-
tant event had taken place. It was, in fact, a gala
day ; and the poorer inhabitants crowded about the
inn to watch the guests arriving, and the paupers to
solicit their alms. Twelve or one was then the usual
hour for dinner, but in consequence of the large scale
on which it was to take place and the unusual prepa-
rations necessary, it was not until the hour of two that
the guests sat down to table. Some of the principal
names we have already mentioned — all the males, of
course, invalids — but, as we have said, there were a
good number of the surrounding gentry, their wives
and daughters, so that the fete was expected to come
off with great 6clat. Topertoe was dressed, as was
then the custom, in full canonical costume, with his
silk cassock and bands, for he was a doctor of divin-
ity ; and Manifold was habited in the usual dress of
the day — his falling collar exhibiting a neck whose
thickness took away all surprise as to his tendency to
apoplexy. The lengthy figure of the unsubstantial
Pythagorean was cased in linen garments, almost
snow-white, through which his anatomy might be read
452
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
as distinctly as if his living skeleton was naked before
them. Mrs. Rosebud was blooming and expanded into
full flower, whilst Miss Rosebud was just in that inter-
esting state when the leaves are apparently in the act
of bursting out and bestowing their beauty and fra-
grance on the gratified senses of the beholder. Dr.
Doolittle, who was a regular wag — indeed too much
so ever to succeed in his profession — entered the room
with his three-cocked hat under his arm, and the usual
gold-headed cane in his hand ; and, after saluting the
company, looked about after Manifold, his patient. He
saluted the Pythagorean, and complimented him upon
his philosophy, and the healthful habits engendered by
a vegetable diet, and so primitive a linen dress — a
dress, he said, which, in addition to its other advan-
tages, ought to be generally adopted, if only for the
sake of its capacity for showing off the symmetry of
the figure. He was himself a warm admirer of the
principle, and begged to have the honor of shaking
hands with the gentleman who had the courage to
carry it out against all the prejudices of a besotted
world. He accordingly seized the philosopher’s hand,
which was then in a desperately rheumatic state, as
the little scoundrel well knew, and gave it such a
squeeze of respect and admiration that the Pythag-
orean emitted a yell which astonished and alarmed
the whole room.
“ Death and torture, sir— why did you squeeze my
rheumatic hand in such a manner ? ”
“Pardon me, Mr. Cooke — respect and admiration
for your principles.”
“Well, sir, I will thank you to express what you
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
453
may feel in plain language, but not in such damnable
squeezes as that.”
66 Pardon me, again, sir; I was ignorant that the
rheumatism was in your hand ; you know I am not
your physician ; perhaps if I were you could bear a
friendly shake of it without all that agony. I very
much regret the pain I unconsciously, and from mo-
tives of the highest respect, have put you to.”
“It is gone — do not mention it,” said the benevo-
lent philosopher. “ Perhaps I may try your skill some
of these days.”
“ I assure you, sir,” said Doolittle, “ that I am forc-
ing Mr. Manifold here to avail himself of your system
— a simple vegetable diet.”
“ 0 Lord ! ” exclaimed Manifold, in a soliloquy —
for he was perfectly unconscious of what was going on
— “ toast and water, toast and water ! That and a
season of famine — what a prospect is before me ! Doo-
little is a rat, and I will hire somebody to give him
ratsbane. Nothing but a vegetable diet, and be hanged
to him ! WhaPs ratsbane an ounce ?”
“ You hear, sir,” said Doolittle, addressing the Py-
thagorean ; “ you perceive that I am adopting your
system ? ”
“ Mr. Doolittle,” replied Cooke, “ from this day forth
you are my physician — I intrust you with the man-
agement of my rheumatism ; but, in the meantime, I
think the room is devilishly cold.”
Captain Culverin now entered, swathed up, and, as
was evident, somewhat tipsy.
66 Eh ! confound me, philosopher, your hand,” he ex-
claimed, putting out his own to shake hands with him.
454
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u I can’t, sir,” replied Cooke ; u I am afflicted with
rheumatism. You seem unwell, captain ; but if you
gave up spirituous liquors — such as wine and usque-
baugh— you would find yourself the better for it.”
u What does all this mean ? ” asked Manifold. u At
all events Doolittle’s a rat. A vegetable diet, a year
of famine, toast, and water — O Lord ! ”
Dinner, however, came, and the little waggish doctor
could not, for the life of him, avoid his jokes. Cooke’s
dish of vegetables was placed for him at a particular
part of the table ; but the doctor, taking Manifold by the
hand, placed him in the philosopher’s seat, whom he after-
wards set before a magnificent sirloin of beef — for,
truth to speak, the little man acted as a kind of master
of the ceremonies to the company at Bally spellan.
u What’s this ? ” exclaimed Manifold. u Perdition !
here is nothing but a dish of asparagus before me !
What kind of treatment is this ? Were we not
to have a great dinner, Topertoe ? Alexander the
Great ! ”
u And who placed me before a sirloin of beef ? ”
asked the philosopher ; u I, who follow the principles
of the Great Pythagorean. I am nearly sick already
with the fume of it. Good heavens ! a sirloin of beef
before a vegetarian.”
Of course Manifold and the philosopher exchanged
places, and the dinner proceeded. Mr. and Mrs. Good-
win were present, but Alice was unable to come, al-
though anxious to do so in order to oblige her par
ents. It is unnecessary to describe the gastric feats
of Manifold and Topertoe. The voracity of the former
was astonishing, nor was that of the latter much less ;
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
455
and when the dishes were removed and the tables
cleared for their compotations, the faces of both gen-
tlemen appeared as if they were about to explode.
The table was now supplied with every variety of
liquor, and the conversation began to assume that con-
vivial tone peculiar to such assemblies. The little doc-
tor was placed between Manifold and the Pythagorean,
who, by the way, was exceedingly short-sighted ; and
on the other side of him sat Parson Topertoe, who
seemed to feel something like a reprieve from his gout.
When the liquor was placed on the table, after dinner,
the Pythagorean got to his feet, filled a large glass of
water, and taking a gulp of it, leaving it about half
full, he proceeded as follows :
u Gentlemen : considering the state of morals in our
unfortunate country, arising as it does from the use of
intoxicating liquors and the flesh of animals, I feel myself
called upon to impress upon the consciences of this
respectable auditory the necessity of studying the admir-
able principles of the great philosopher whose simplicity
of life in food and drink I humbly endeavor to imitate.
Modern society, my friends, is all wrong, and, of course,
is proceeding upon an erroneous and pernicious system —
that of eating the flesh of animals and indulging in the
use, or rather the abuse, of liquors, that heat the blood
and intoxicate the brain into the indulgence of passion
and the commission of crime/7
Here the little doctor threw a glass of usquebaugh —
now called whiskey — into the half-emptied cup which
stood before Cooke.
“A vegetable diet, gentlemen, is that which was
appointed for us by Providence, and water like this our
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
450
drink. And, indeed, water like this is delicious drink.
The Sj)(i of Ballyspellan stands unrivalled for strength
and flavor, and its capacity of exhilarating the animal
spirits is extraordinary. You see, gentlemen, how copi-
ously I drink it ; servant, fill my glass again — thank you.”
In the meantime, and before he touched it, the doctor
whipped another glass of whiskey into it — an act which
the Pythagorean, who was, as we have said, unusually
tall, and kept his eye upon the company, could neither
suspect nor see.
“ It has been ignorantly said that the structure of the
human mouth is an argument against me as to the quality
of our food, and that the growth of grapes is a proof that
wine was ordained to be drank by men. It is perfectly
well known that a man may eat a bushel of grapes with-
out getting drunk ; because the pure vegetable possesses
no intoxicating power any more than the water which I
am now drinking — and delicious water it is ! ”
Here the doctor dug his elbow into the fat ribs of
Topertoe, whose face, in the meantime, seemed in a
blaze of indignation.
“ I tell you what, philosopher, curse me, but you are
an infidel.”
u I have the honor, sir,” he replied, “to be an
infidel — as every philosopher is. The truth of what I
am stating to you has been tested by philosophers, and
it has been ascertained that no quantity of grapes eaten
by an individual could make him drunk.”
The doctor gave the parson another dig, and winked
at him to keep quiet.
“ Sir,” said the parson, unable, however, to restrain
himself, “ confound me if ever I heard such infidel
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
457
opinions expressed in my life. Damn your philosophy j
it is cursed nonsense, and nothing else.”
“ A vegetable diet,” proceeded Cooke, “ is a guar-
antee for health and long life O Lord ! ” he exclaim-
ed, “ this accursed rheumatism will be the death of me.”
“ What is he saying ? ” asked Manifold.
“ He is talking philosophy,” replied the doctor, with
a comic grin, “ and recommending a vegetable diet and
pure water.”
“A devilish scoundrel,” said Manifold. “He’s a
rat, too. Doolittle’s a rat ; but I’ll poison him ; yes,
I’ll dose him with ratsbane, and then I can eat, drink,
and swill away. Is the philosopher’s wife a cripple ? ”
“ He has no wife,” replied Doolittle.
“ And what the devil, then, is he a philosopher for ?
What on earth challenges philosophy in a husband so
much as a wife, — especially if she’s a cripple and
has the use of her tongue ? ”
“ Not being a married man myself,” replied the doc-
tor, “ I can give you no information on the subject ;
or rather I could if I would ; but it would not be for
your comfort : — ask Manifold.”
“ Ay ; but he says there’s something wrong about
his head — sprouts pressing up, or something that way.
Ask Mrs. Rosebud will she hob or nob with me. Mrs.
Rosebud,” he proceeded, addressing the widow, “ hob
or nob ? ”
Mrs. Rosebud, knowing that he was nothing more noi
less than a gouty old parson, bowed to him very coldly,
but accepted his challenge, noth withstanding.
“Mrs. Rosebud,” he added, “ what kind of a man
was old Rosebud ? ”
20
458
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u His family name,” replied the widow, u was not
Rosebud but Yellowboy; and, indeed, to speak the
truth, my dear old Rosebud had all the marks and
tokens of the original family name upon him, for he
was as thin as the philosopher there, and as yellow as
saffron. His mother, however, the night before he was
born, dreamed that she was presented with a rosebud,
and the name, being somewhat poetical, was adopted by
himself and the family as a kind of set-off against the
duck-foot color of the ancestral skin.”
The philospher, in the meantime, finding himself
interrupted, stood, with a complacent countenance,
awaiting a pause in which he might proceed. At
length he got an opportunity of resuming.
“ The world,” he added, u knows but little of the
great founder of so many systems and theories con-
nected with human life and philosophy. It was he
who invented the multiplication table, and solved the
forty-seventh proposition of the first book of Euclid.
It was he who, from his profound knowledge of mu-
sic, first discovered the music of the spheres — a divine
harmony, which, from its unbroken continuity, and
incessant play in the heavenly bodies, we are incap-
able of hearing.”
u Where the deuce, then, is the use of it ? ” cried
Captain Culverin ; u it must be a very odd kind of
music which we cannot hear.”
u The great Samian, sir, could hear it ; but only in
his heart and intellect, and after he had discovered the
truthful doctrine of the metempsychosis , or transmigra-
tion of souls.”
u The transmigration of soles; why, my dear sir,
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
459
doesn’t every fishwoman understand that ? ” observed
the captain. “ Was the fellow a fisherman 1 ”
“ His great discovery, however, if mankind would
only adopt it, was the healthful one of a vegetable
diet, carried out by a fixed determination not to wear
any dress made up from the skins or fleeces of animals
that have been slain by man, but philosophically to
confine himself to plain linen as I do. O Lord ! this
rheumatism will be the death of me. Pythagoras was
one of the greatest philosophers.”
Here the doctor threw another glass of usquebaugh
into the cup which stood before the Pythagorean,
which act, in consequence of his great height and
short sight, he did not perceive, but imagined that he
was drinking the well water.
“Philosopher,” said Captain Culverin, “hob or nob,
a glass with you.”
“With pleasure, captain,” said the Pythagorean,
“ only I wish you would adopt my principles — a veg-
etable diet and aqua pura”
“Upon my credit,” observed Father Mulrenin, “I
think the aqua pura is the best of it. It is blessed
water, this well water, and it ought to be so, because the
parson consecrated it. Hob or nob with me, Mr. Cooke.”
“With pleasure, sir,” replied Mr. Cooke, again;
“and I do assure you, Father Mulrenin, that I think
the parson’s consecration has improved the water.”
“ Sorra doubt of it,” replied the friar ; “ and I am
sure the doctor there will support me in the article of
the parson’s consecration.”
“ The great Samian,” proceeded Cooke, “ the great
Samian ”
400
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ My dear philosopher,” said the facetious friar
“ never mind your great Samian, but follow up your
principles and drink your water.”
The mischievous doctor had thrown another glass
into his cup : “ Drink your water, and set us all a phil-
osophical example of sobriety.”
“ That I always do,” said the philosopher, staggering
a little ; “ that I always do : the water is delicious,
and 1 think my rheumatism has departed from me.
Mr. Manifold, hob or nob ! ”
“No,” replied Manifold, “confound me if I will.
You are the fellow that eats nothing but vegetables,
and drinks nothing but water. Do you think I will
hob or nob with a water-drinking rascal like you ?
Do you think I will put my wine against your paltry
water ? ”
“ Don’t call it paltry,” replied the Pythagorean ; “ it
is delicious. You know not how it elevates the spirits
and, so to speak, philosophizes the whole system of man.
I am beginning to feel extremely happy.”
“ I think so,” replied the friar ; “ but wasn’t it a
fact, as a proof of your metempsychosis , that the great
author of your doctrine was at the siege of Troy some
centuries before he came into the world as the philo-
sopher Pythagoras ? ”
“Yes, sir,” replied his follower, “he fought for the
Greeks in the character of Euphorbus, in the Trojan
war, was Hermatynus, and afterwards a fisherman ; his
next transformation having been into the body of
Pythagoras.”
“ What an extraordinary memory he must have
had,” said the friar. “ Now, can you yourself remem-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
4C1
ber all the bodies your soul has passed through ? — •
but before I expect you to answer me, — hob or nob
again, — this is famous water, my dear philosopher.”
“ It is famous water, Father Mulrenin ; and the par-
son’s consecration has given it a power of exhilaration
which is astonishing.” The doctor had thrown another
glass of usquebaugh into his cup, of course un-
observed.
u Why,” said the friar, u if I’m not much mistaken,
you will feel the benefit of it. It is purely philosophi-
cal water, and fit for a philosopher like you to drink.”
The company now were divided into little knots, and
the worthy philosopher found it necessary to take his
seat. He felt himself in a state of mind which he
could not understand; but the delicious flavor of the
water still clung to him, and, owing to his shortness
of sight, and the doctor’s wicked wit, — if wit it could
be called, — he continued drinking spirits and water
until he became perfectly — or, in the ordinary phrase
— blind drunk, and was obliged to be carried to bed.
In the meantime, a new individual had arrived ;
and, having ascertained from the servants that there
was a great dinner on that day, he inquired if Mr.
Goodwin and his family were present at it. He was
informed that Mr. Goodwin and Mrs. Goodwin were
there, but that Miss Goodwin was unable to come. He
asked where Mr. Goodwin and Mrs. Goodwin resided,
and, having been informed on this point, he imme-
diately passed to the farmer’s house where they lodged.
Now, it so happened that there was a neat garden
attached to the house, in which was an arbor of wil-
lows where Miss Goodwin was in the habit of sitting,
462
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
and amusing herself by the perusal of a book. It
contained an arm-chair, in which she frequently re-
clined, sometimes after the very slight exertion of
walking; it also happened that she occasionally fell
asleep. There were two modes of approach to the
farmer’s house — one by the ordinary pathway, and
another much shorter, which led by a gate that opened
into the garden. By this last the guide who pointed
out the house to Woodward directed him to proceed,
and he did so. On passing through, his eye caught
the summer house, and he saw at a glance that Alice
Goodwin was there, and asleep. She was, indeed,
asleep, but it was a troubled sleep, for the demon gaze
of the terrible eye which she dreaded, and which had
almost blasted her out of life, she imagined was once
more fixed upon her. Woodward approached with a
stealthy step, and saw that, even although asleep, she
was deeply agitated, as was evident by her moanings.
He contemplated her features for a brief space.
u Ah,r he said to himself, u I have done my work.
Although beautiful, the stamp of death is upon her.
One last gaze and it will all be over. I am before her.
in her dream. My eye is upon her in her morbid and
diseased imagination, but what will the consequence
be when she awakens and finds it upon her in real-
ity ? ”
As those thoughts passed through his mind, she gave
a scream, and exclaimed, —
u O, take him away ! take him away ! he is killing
me ! ” and as she uttered the words she awoke.
Now, thought he, to secure my twelve hundred a
year ; now, for one glance, with the power of hell in
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
463
its blighting influence, and all is over ; ray twelve
hundred is safe to me and mine forever.
On awakening from her terrible dream, the first
object that presented itself to her was the fixed gaze
of that terrific eye. It was now wrought up to such
a concentration of malignity as surpassed all that even
her imagination had ever formed of it. Fixed —
diabolical in its aspect, and steady as fate itself — it
poured upon the weak and alarmed girl such a flood
of venomous and prostrating influence that her shrieks
were too feeble to reach the house when calling for
assistance. She seemed to have been fascinated to her
own destruction. There the eye was fastened upon
her, and she felt herself deprived of the power of re-
moving her own from his.
u O my God ! ” she exclaimed, u I am lost — help,
help ; the murderous eye is upon me ! ”
“It is enough,” said Woodward; “good by, Miss
Goodwin. I was simply contemplating your beauty,
and I am sorry to see that you are in so weak a state.
Present my compliments to your father and mother ;
and think of me as a man whose affection you have
indignantly spurned — a man, however, whose eye,
whatever his heart may be, is not to be trifled with.”
He then made her a low bow, and took his departure
back through the garden.
“ It is over,” said he ; “finitum esty the property is
mine ; she cannot be saved now ; I have taken her life ;
but no one can say that I have shed her blood. My
precious mother will be delighted to hear this. Now,
we will be free to act with old Cockletown and his
niece ; and if she does not turn out a good wife—
4G4
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
if she crosses me in my amours — for amours I will
have, — I shall let her, too, feel what my eye can do.”
Alice’s screams, after his departure from the garden,
brought out Sarah Sullivan, who, aided by another
servant, assisted her between them to reach the house,
where she was put to bed in such a state of weakness,
alarm, and terror as cannot be described. Her father
and mother were immediately sent for, and, on arriv-
ing at her bedside, found her apparently in a dying
state. All she could find voice to utter was, —
u He was here — his eye was upon me in the sum-
mer house. I feel I am dying.”
Doctor Doolittle and Father Mulrenin were both
sent for, but she had fallen into an exhausted slumber,
and it was deemed better not to disturb her until she
might gain some strength by sleep. Her parents, who
felt so anxious about her health, and the faint hopes
of her recovery, now made fainter by the incident
which had just occurred, did not return to the assem-
bly, and the consequence was that Woodward and they
did not meet.
When the hour for the dance, however, arrived, the
tables for refreshments were placed in other and smaller
rooms, and the larger one in which they had dined was
cleared out for the ball. The simple-hearted Pythago-
rean had slept himself sober, without being aware of
the cause of his breakdown at the dinner, and he now
appeared among them in a gala dress of snow-white
linen. He was no enemy to healthy amusements, for
he could not forget that the great philosopher whom
he followed had won public prizes at the Olympic
games. He consequently frisked about in the dance
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
4G5
with an awkwardness and a disregard of the graces
of motion, which, especially in the jigs, convulsed the
whole assembly, nor did any one among them laugh
more loudly than he did himself. He especially ad-
dressed himself to, and danced with, Mrs. Rosebud,
who, as she was short, fat, and plump, exhibited as
ludicrous a contrast with the almost naked anatomical
scructure which frisked before her as the imagination
could conceive.
u Upon my credit,” observed the friar, u I see that
extremes may meet. Look at the pilosopher, how he
trebles and capers it before the widow. Faith, I should
not feel surprised if he made Mrs. Pythagoras of her
before long.”
This, however, was not the worst of it, for what or who
but the devil himself should tempt the parson, with his
gout strong upon him, to select Miss Rosebud for a
dance, whilst the philosophic rheumatist was frisking
it as well as he could with her mother ? The room was
in an uproar. Miss Rosebud, who possessed much
wicked humor, having, as the lady always has, the
privilege, called for one of the liveliest tunes then
known. The parson’s attempt to keep time made the
uproar still greater ; but at length it ceased, for neither
the philosopher nor the parson could hold out any
longer, and each retired in a state of torture to hif
seat. The mirth having now subsided, a gentleman
entered the room, admirably dressed, on whom the at-
tention of the whole company was turned. He was tall,
elegantly formed, and at a first glance was handsome.
The expression of his eyes, however, was striking —
startling. It was good — brilliant ; it was bad and
20*
4CG
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
strange, and, to those who examined it closely, such as
they had never witnessed before. Still he was evident-
ly a gentleman : there could be no mistake about that.
His manner, his dress, and his whole bearing, made them
all feel that he was entitled to respect and courtesy.
Little did they imagine that he was a murderer,
and that he entered the room under the gratifying
impression of his having killed Alice Goodwin. It was
Harry Woodward. The evening was now advanced,
but, after his introduction to the company, he joined
in their amusements, and had the pleasure of dancing with
both Mrs. Rosebud and her daughter ; and after having
concluded his dance with the latter, some tidings reach-
ed the room, which struck the whole company with a
feeling of awe. It was at first whispered about, but it
at length became the general topic of conversation.
Alice Goodwin was dying, and her parents were in a
state of distraction. Nobody could tell why, but it ap-
peared she was at the last gasp, and that there was
some mystery in her malady. Many speculations were
broached upon the subject. Woodward preserved
silence for a time, but just as he was about to make
some observations with reference to her illness, a tall,
handsome gentleman entered the room and bowed with
much grace to the company.
Father Mulrenin started up, and, shaking hands with
him, said, —
u I know now, sir, that you have got my letter.”
u I have got it,” replied the other, u and I am here
accordingly.”
As he spoke, his eye glanced around the room, the
most distinguished figure in which, beyond compari
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
467
son, was that of Woodward, who instantly recognized
him as the gentleman whom he had met on the morn-
ing of his departure from the hospitable roof of Mr.
Goodwin, on his return home, and, we may add, between
whom and himself that extraordinary trial of the power
of willy as manifested by the power of the eye, took
place so completely to his own discomfiture. They were
both gentlemen, and bowed to each other very courte-
ously, after which they approached and shook hands,
and whilst the stranger held Woodward’s hand in his
during their short but friendly chat, it was observed
that Woodward’s face got as pale as death, and he al-
most immediately tottered towards a seat from weakness.
u Don’t be alarmed,” said the stranger ; u you now
feel that the principle of good is always able to overcome
the principle of evil.”
u Who or what are you ? ” asked Woodward, faintly.
u I am a plain country gentleman, sir ; and something
more, a man of wealth and distinction ; but who, unlike
my friend Cooke here, do not make myself ridiculous by
absurd eccentricities, and the adoption of the nonsensical
doctrines of Pythagoras, so utterly at variance with
reason and Christian truth. You know, my dear Cooke,
I could have cured you of your rheumatism had you
possessed common-sense ; but who could cure any man
who guards his person against the elements by such a
ludicrous and unsubstantial dress as yours ? ”
“I am in torture, replied Cooke ; u I was tempted to
dance with a pretty woman, and now I am suffering for it.”
“As for me,” exclaimed Topertoe, UI am a match,
and more than a match, for you in suffering. O, this
accursed gout ! ”
468
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
“ I suppose you brought it on by hard drinking, sir,*
said the stranger. “ If that be so, I shall not under-
take to cure you unless you give up hard drinking.”
“I will do anything,” replied Topertoe, u provided
you can allay my pain. I also was tempted to dance
as well as the philosopher; and now the Christian
parson and the pagan Pythagorean are both suffering
for it.”
u What is all this about ? ” exclaimed Manifold. u O
Lord ! is he going to put them on a vegetable diet, re-
lieved by toast and water — toast and water ? ”
The stranger paid but little attention to Manifold,
because he saw by his face and the number of his chins
that he was past hope ; but turning towards Topertoe
and the Pythagorean, he requested them both to sit
beside each other before him. He then asked Topertoe
where his gout affected him, and having been informed
that it was principally in his great toe and right foot,
he deliberately stripped the foot, and having pressed his
hands upon it for about the space of ten minutes, he
desired his patient to rise up and walk. This he did,
and to his utter astonishment, without the slightest
symptom or sensation of pain.
u Why, bless my soul ! ” exclaimed the parson, u I am
cured; the pain is altogether gone. Let me have a
bumper of claret.”
u That will do,” observed the stranger. u You are
incurable. You will plunge once more into a life of
intemperance and luxury, and once more your com-
plaint, from which you are now free, will return to you.
You will not deny yourself the gratification of your
irrational and senseless indulgences, and yet you expect
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
469
to be cured. As for me, I can only remove the malady
of such persons as you for the present, or time being ;
but, so long as you return to the exciting causes of it, no
earthly skill or power in man can effect a permanent
cure. Now, Cooke, I will relieve you of your
rheumatism ; but unless you exchange this flimsy stuff for
apparel suited to your climate and condition, I feel that
I am incapable of rendering you any thing but a tempor-
ary relief.”
He passed his hands over those parts of his limbs
most affected by his complaint, and in a short time he
(the philosopher) found himself completely free from
his pains.
During those two most extraordinary processes
Woodward looked on with a degree of wonder and of
interest that might be truly termed intense. What
the operations which took place before him could mean
he knew not, but when the stranger turned round to the
friar and said, — u Now bring me to this unhappy girl,”
Woodward seized his hat, feeling a presentiment that he
was going to the relief of Alice Goodwin, and with hasty
steps proceeded to the farm house in which she and her
parents lodged. He was now desperate, and resolved, if
courtesy failed, to force one more annihilating glance
upon her before the mysterious stranger should arrive.
We need scarcely inform our readers that he was indig-
nantly repulsed by the family ; but he was furious, and in
spite of all opposition forced his way into her bedroom, to
which he was led by her groans — dying groans they
were considered by all around her. He rushed into her
bedroom, and fixed his eye upon her with something
like the fury of hell in it. The poor girl un seeing him
470
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
a second time fell back and moaned as if she had expired.
The villain stood looking over her in a spirit of the most
malignant triumph.
u It is done now,” said he ; “ there she lies — a
corpse — and I am now master of my twelve hundred
a year.”
He had scarcely uttered the words when he felt a
powerful hand grasp him by the shoulder, and send him
with dreadful violence to the other side of the room.
On turning round to see who the person was who had
actually twirled him about like an infant, he found the
large, but benevolent-looking stranger standing at Alice’s
bedside, his finger upon the pulse and his eyes intently
fixed upon her apparently lifeless features. He then
turned round to Woodward, and exclaimed in a voice of
thunder, —
u She is not dead, villain, and will not die on this
occasion : begone, and leave the room.”
u Villain ! ” replied Woodward, putting his hand to
his sword; “I allow no man to call me villain un-
punished.”
The stranger contemptuously and indignantly waved
his hand to him, as much as to say — presently, pre-
sently, but not now. The truth is, the loud tones of
his voice had caused Alice to open her eyes, and instead
of finding the dreaded being before her, there stood
the symbol of benevolen§e and moral power, with his
mild, but clear and benignant eye smiling upon her.
u My dear child,” said he, u look upon ine and give
me your hands. You shall, with the assistance of that
God who has so mysteriously gifted me, soon be well,
and free from the evil and diabolical influence which
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
471
has been for such selfish and accursed purposes exer-
cised over you.”
He then took her beautiful but emaciated hands into
his own, which were also soft and beautiful, and keeping
his eyes fixed upon hers, he then, with that necessary
freedom which physicians exercise with their patients,
pressed his hands after a time upon her temples, her
head, her eyes, and her heart, the whole family being
present, servants and all. The effect was miraculous.
In the course of twenty minutes the girl was recovered j
her spirits — her health had returned to her. Her
eyes smiled as she turned them with delight upon her
father and mother.
“ O, papa ! ” she exclaimed, smiling, “ 0, dear
mamma, what can this mean ? I am cured, and what
is more, I am no longer afraid of that vile, bad man.
May the God of heaven be praised for this ! but how
will we thank — how can we thank the benevolent
gentleman who has rescued me from death ? ”
“ More thanks are due,” replied the stranger, smil-
ing, “to Father Mulrenin here, who acquainted me in
a letter, not only with your melancholy condition, but
with the supposed cause of it. However, let your
thanks be first returned to God, whose mysterious in-
strument I only am. Now, sir,” said he, turning to
Woodward, “ you laid your hand upon your sword. I
also wear a sword, not for aggression but defence. You
know we met before. I was not then aware of your
personal history, but I am now. I have just returned
from London, where I was at the court of his Majesty
Charles the Second. While in London I met your
granduncle, and from him I learned your history, and
472
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
a bad one it is. Now, sir, I beg to inform you that
your malignant and diabolical influence over the per-
son of this young lady has ceased forever. As to the
future, she is free from that influence ; but if I ever
hear that you attempt to intrude yourself into her
presence, or to annoy her family, I will have you se-
cured in the jail of Waterford in forty-eight hours
afterwards, for other crimes that render you liable to
the law.”
“And pray who are you ?” asked Woodward, with a
blank and crestfallen countenance, but still with a
strong feeling of enmity and bitterness — a feeling
which he could not repress. “ Who are you who pre-
sume to dictate to me upon my conduct and course of
life ? ”
“ Who ami!” replied the stranger, assuming an air
of incredible dignity. “Sir, my name is Valentine
Greatrakes, a person on whom God has bestowed
powers which, apart from inspiration, have seldom for
centuries ever been vouchsafed to man.”
Woodward got pale again. He had heard of his ex-
traordinary powers of curing almost every description
of malady peculiar to the human frame, and without
another word slunk out of the room. On hearing his
name Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin rushed to him, seized his
hands, and with the enthusiasm of grateful hearts each
absolutely wept upon his broad and ample bosom. He
was at this period about forty-six ; but seeing Alice’s
face lit up with joy and delight, he stooped down
and kissed her as a father would a daughter who had
recovered from the death struggle. “ My dear child,”
he said, “ you are now saved ; but you must remain
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
473
here for some time longer, because I do not wish to
part with you until I shall have completely confirmed
the sanative influence with which God has enabled me
to reinvigorate you and others. As for your selfish
persecutor, he will trouble you no more. He knows
now what the consequences would be should he at-
tempt it.”
CHAPTER XXII.
HISTORY OF THE BLACK SPECTRE.
Woodward returned to the public room, where he
was soon followed by Father Mulrenin and Greatrakes,
who were shortly joined by Mr. Goodwin; Mrs. Good-
win having remained at home with Alice. The danc-
ing went on with great animation, and when the hour
of supper arrived there was a full and merry table.
The friar was in great glee, but from time to time kept
his eye closely fixed upon Woodward, whose counte-
nance and conduct he watched closely. It might have
been about the hour of midnight, if not later, when,
after a short lull in the conversation, Father Mulrenin
addressed Mr. Goodwin as follows : —
u Mr. Goodwin, is there not a family in your neigh-
borhood named Lindsay ? ”
u There is,” replied Goodwin ; u and a very respecta-
ble family, too.”
u By the way, there is a very curious tradition, or
legend, connected with the family of Mr. Lindsay’#
wife : have you ever heard of it ? ”
474
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u That such a tradition, or legend, exists, I believe,”
he replied, u but there are many versions of it — al-
though I have never heard any of them distinctly ;
something I did hear about what is termed the Shan -
dhinne-dhuv , or the Black Spectre .”
u Well, then,” proceeded the friar, u if the company
has no objection to hear an authentic account of this
fearful apparition, I will indulge them with a slight
sketch of the narrative :
u When Essex was over here in the Elizabethan
wars — and a nice hand he made of them ; not, God
knows, that we ought to regret it, but I like a good
general whether he is for us or against us — devil a
doubt of that : well, when Essex was over here con-
ducting them (with reverence be it spoken) it so hap-
pened that he had a scoundrel with him by name Ham-
ilton— and a thorough scoundrel was he. 0 Lord !
if I had livedin those days, and wasn’t in Orders to
tie my hands up — but no matter ; this same scoun-
drel was one of the handsomest vagabones in the Eng-
lish camp. Well and good ; but, indeed, to tell God’s
truth, it was neither well nor good, because, as I said,
the man was a first-rate, tiptop scoundrel; but you
will find that he was a devilish sight more so before I
have put a period to my little narration. Mr. Wood-
ward, will you hob or nob ? I think your name is
Woodward ?”
u With great pleasure, sir,” replied Woodward ; 6( and
you are right, my name is Woodward ; but proceed
with your narrative, for, I assure you, I feel very much
interested in it, especially in that portion of it which
relates to the Black Spectre . Though not a believer
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
475
in supernatural appearances, I feel much gratification
in listening to accounts of them. Pray proceed, sir.”
u Well, sir, it so happened that this Hamilton, who
had been originally a Scotch Redshank, became pri-
vately acquainted with a beautiful and wealthy orphan
girl, a relation of the O’Neils ; and it so happened again,
that whether they made a throw on the dice for it or
not, he won her affections. So far, however, there was
nothing very particularly obnoxious in it, because we
know that intermarriages between Catholics and Prot-
estants may disarm the parties of their religious prej-
udices against each other ; and although I cannot
affirm the truth of what I am about to say from my
own experience, still, I think I have been able to smell
out the fact that little Cupid is of no particular relig-
ion, and can be claimed by no particular church ; or
rather I should say that he is claimed by all churches
and all creeds. This Hamilton, as I said, was exceed-
ingly handsome, but it seems from the tradition that
it was by the beauty of his eyes that Eva O’Neil was
conquered, just as the first Eve was by the eyes and
tongue of the serpent. Not, God knows, that the
great Eve was any great shakes, for she left the world
in a nice plight by falling in love with a serpent ; but
upon my credit she was not the first woman, excuse
the blunder, who fell in love with a serpent, and suf-
fered accordingly. I appale to Pythagoras there.”
u It is an allegory,” replied the Pythagorean, u and
simply means that we are innocent so long as we are
young, and that when we come to maturity we are
corrupted and depraved by our passions.”
u How the sorra can you say that,” replied the friar,
476
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
“ when you know that Adam and Eve were created full-
grown ? ”
“Pray go on with your tradition,” said Greatrakes,
“and let us hear the history of the Black Spectre . I
am not myself an infidel in the history of supernatural
appearances, and I wish to hear you out.”
“Well, then,” replied the friar, “you shall. The
villain proposed marriage to this beautiful young
orphan, and as he was a handsome vagabone, as I have
stated, he was accepted ; but his eyes, above all things,
were irresistible. They were married by a Protestant
clergyman, and immediately afterwards by a Catholic
priest, who was far advanced in years. The lady would
submit to no marriage but a legal one. The marriage,
however, was private ; for Hamilton knew that Essex
was aware of his having been during this event a
married man, and that his wife, who was a distant
relation of the Earl’s, was still living. The marriage,
however, came to Essex’s ears, and Hamilton was called
to account. He denied the marriage, the old priest
having been now dead, and none but the Protestant
clergyman of the parish being alive to bear testimony
to the fact of the marriage. He endeavored to prevail
upon the clergyman also to deny the marriage, which
he refused to do, whereupon he was found murdered.
His wife by this marriage having learned from Essex
that Hamilton had most treacherously deceived her,
fell into premature labor and died ; but her last words
were an awful curse upon him, and his children after
him, to the last generation.
“ 6 May the Eye that lured me to destruction,’ she
said, * become a curse to you and your descendants for-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
47 7
ever ! May it blight and kill all those whom it looks
upon, and render it dreadful and dreaded to all those
who will place confidence in you or your descend-
ants ! ’
“ God knows I couldn’t much blame her ; it was her
last Christian benediction to the villain who had de-
stroyed her, and, setting charity aside, I don’t see how
she could have spoken otherwise.
“ When the proofs of the marriage, however, were
about to be brought against him, the Protestant clergy-
man, who, on discovering his iniquity, was too honest
to conceal it, and who felt bitterly the fraud that had
been practised on him, was found murdered, as I have
said, because he was now the only evidence left against
Hamilton’s crime. The latter did not, however, get
rid of him by that atrocious and inhuman act. The
spirit of that man haunts the family from that day to
this ; it is always a messenger of evil to them when-
ever he appears, and it matters not where they go or
where they live, he is sure to follow them, and to fasten
upon some of the family, generally the wickedest, of
course, as his victim. Now, Mr. Woodward, what do
you think of that family tradition ? ”
“I think of it,” replied Woodward, “with contempt,
as I do of everything that proceeds from the lips of an
ignorant and illiterate Roman Catholic priest.”
“ Sir,” replied the friar, “ I am not the inventor of
this family tradition, nor of the crime which is said —
however justly I know not — to have given rise to it ;
but this I do know, that no man having claims to the
character of a gentleman would use such language to
a defenceless man as you have just used to me. Tho
478
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
legend is traditionary in your family, and I have only
given it as I have heard it. If I were not a clergyman
I would chastise you for your insolence ; but my hands
are bound up, and you well know it.”
“ Friar,” said Greatrakes, “ when you know that
your bands are bound up, you should have avoided in-
sulting any man. You should not have related a piece
of family history — perhaps false from beginning to
end — in the presence of a gentleman so intimately
connected with that family as you knew him to be.
It was no topic for a common room like this, and it was
quite unjustifiable in you to have introduced it.”
66 1 feel, sir, that you are perfectly right,” replied the
good-natured friar, “ and I ask Mr. Woodward’s pardon
for having, without the slightest intention of offence to
him, done so. You will recollect that he himself ex-
pressed an anxiety to hear it.”
“ All I say upon the subject,” observed the Pythago-
rean, “is simply this, that Pythagoras himself could
not have cured me of the rheumatism as my friend
Valentine Greatrakes has done.”
“ You will require no cure, and, what is better, no
necessity for cure,” replied Greatrakes, smiling, “if
you will have only common sense, my dear Cooke.
Clothe yourself in warm and comfortable garments, and
feed your miserable carcass with good beef and mutton,
and, in addition to which, like myself and the friar here,
take a warm tumbler of good usquebaugh punch to pro-
mote digestion.”
“ I will never abandon my principles,” replied the
philosopher. “ Linen and vegetable diet forever.”
Manifold was asleep after his gorge, — a sleep from
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
479
which he never awoke, — but Doctor Doolittle, anxious
to secure Cooke as a patient, became quite eloquent
upon the advantages of a vegetable diet, and of the
Pythagorean system in general ; after which the con-
versation of the night closed, and the guests departed
to thevr respective lodgings.
The night was still and beautiful. The moon was
about to sink, but still she emitted that faint and
shadowy light which lends such calm, but picturesque
beauty to the nocturnal landscape. Woodward was
alone; but it would be difficult to find language in
which to describe the bitterness of his feelings and the
frightful sense of his disappointment on finding, not
only that his infamous design upon the life of Alice
Goodwin had been frustrated, but on feeling certain
that she had been restored to perfect health before his
eyes. This, however, was not the worst of it. He
had calculated on killing her, and consequently of
securing the twelve hundred a year, on the strength of
which he and his mother could confidently negotiate
with the old nobleman, who always slept with one eye
open. In the venom and dark malignity of his heart he
cursed Alice Goodwin, he cursed Valentine Greatrakes,
he cursed the world, and he cursed God, or rather
would have cursed him had he believed in the existence
of such a being.
In this mood of mind he was proceeding to his
lodgings, when he espied before him the Shan-dhinne -
dhuVy or Black Spectre , with the middogue in his
hand. He stood and looked at it steadily.
u What is this ? ” said he, addressing the figure be-
fore him. u What pranks are you playing now ? Do you
480
THE EVIL EYE; OK,
think me a fool ? What brought you here ? and what do
you mean by this pantomimic nonsense, Mr. Conjurer ? 99
The figure, of course, made no reply, except by
gesture. It brandished the middogue, or dagger, how-
ever, and pointed it three times at his heart. The
spot upon which this strange interview occurred was
perfectly clear of anything that could conceal an in-
dividual. In fact, it was an open common. Wood-
ward, consequently, led astray by circumstances with
which the reader will become subsequently acquainted,
started forward with the intention of reaching the in-
dividual whom he suspected of indulging himself in
playing with his fears, or rather with jocularly intend-
ing to excite them. He sprang forward, we say, and
reached the spot on which the Black Spectre had
stood, but our readers may judge of his surprise when
he found that the spectre, or whatever it was, had
disappeared, and was nowhere, or any longer, visible.
Place of concealment there was none. He examined
the ground about him. It was firm and compact, and
without a fissure in which a rat could conceal itself.
There is no power in human nature which enables
the heart of man, under similar circumstances, to bear
the occurrence of such a scene as we have described,
unmoved. The man was hardened — an infidel, an
atheist ; but, nothwithstanding all this, a sense of awe,
wonder, and even, in some degree, of terror, came
over his heart, which nearly unnerved him. Most
atheists, however, are utter profligates, as he was ; or
silly philosophers, who, because they take their own
reason for their guide, will come to no other conclu
sion than that to which it leads them.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
481
“ It is simply a hallucination,” said he to himself,
“ and merely the result of having heard the absurd
nonsense of what that ignorant and credulous old friar
related to-night concerning my family. Still it is
strange, because I am cool and sober, and in the per-
fect use of my senses. This is the same appearance
which I saw before near the Haunted House, and of
which I never could get any account. What if there
should be ? ”
He checked himself and proceeded to his lodgings,
with an intention of returning home the next morning ;
which he did, after having failed in the murderous
mission which he undertook to accomplish.
“ Mother,” said he, after his return home, “all is
lost : Alice Goodwin has been restored to perfect
health by Valentine Greatrakes, and my twelve hun-
dred a year is gone forever. How can we enter into
negotiations with that sharp old scoundrel, Lord
Cockletown, now ? I assure you I had her at the last
gasp, when Greatrakes came in and restored her to
perfect health before my face. But, setting that aside
for the present, is there such a being as what is termed
the Blach Spectre , mysteriously connected, if I may
say so, with our family ? ”
His mother’s face got pale as death.
“ Why do you ask, Harry ? ” said she.
“Because,” he replied, “I have reason to think that
I have seen it twice.”
“ Alas ! alas ! ” she exclaimed, “ then the doom of
the curse is upon you . It selects only one of every
generation on which to work its vengeance. The
third appearance of it will be fatal to you.”
482
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u This is all contemptible absurdity, my dear mother
I don’t care if I saw it a thousand times. How can it
interfere with my fate ? ”
“ It does not interfere,” she replied, “ it only inti-
mates it, and whatever the nature of the individual^
death among our family may be, it shadows it out.
What signs did it make to you ? ”
“It brandished what is called in this country a mid-
dogue, or Irish dagger, at my heart.”
His mother got pale again.
“Harry,” said she, “I would recommend you to
leave the kingdom. Avoid the third warning.”
“ Mother,” he replied, “ this certainly is sad non-
sense. I have no notion of leaving the kingdom in
consequence of such superstitious stuff as this ; all
these things are soap bubbles ; put your finger on them
and they dissolve into nothing. How is Charles ? for
I have not yet seen him.”
“ Improving very much, although not able yet to
leave his room.”
Woodward walked about and seemed absorbed in
thought.
“ It is a painful thing, mother,” said he, “ that
Charles is so long recovering. Do you know that I
am half inclined to think he will never recover ? His
wound was a dreadful one, and its consequences on his
constitution will, I fear, be fatal.”
“ I hope not, Harry,” she replied, “ for ever since his
illness I have found that my heart gathers about him
with an affection that I have never felt for him before.”
“ Your resolution, then, is fixed, I suppose, to leave
him your property ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
483
u It is fixed ; there is, or can be, no doubt about it
Once I come to a determination I am immovable.
We shall be able to wheedle Lord Cockletown and his
niece.”
Harry paused a moment, then passed out of the
room, and retired to his own apartment.
Here he remained for hours. At the close of the
evening he appeared in the withdrawing-room, but still
in a silent and gloomy state.
The perfect cure of Miss Goodwin had spread like
wildfire, and reached the whole country.
Greatrake’s reputation was then at its highest, and
the number of his cures was the theme of all conver-
sation. Barney Casey had well marked Woodward
since his return from Ballyspellan, and having heard,
in connection with others, that Miss Goodwin had
been cured by Greatrakes, he resolved to keep his eye
upon him, and, indeed, as the event will prove, it was
well he did so.
That night, about the hour of twelve o’clock, Barney,
who had suspected that he (Woodward) had either
murdered Grace Davoren in order to conceal his own
guilt, or kept her in some secret place for the most
unjustifiable purposes, remarked that, as was generally
usual with him, he did not go to bed at the period
peculiar to the habits of the family.
u There is something on my mind this night,” said
Barney ; u I can’t tell what it is ; but I think he is bent
on some villanous scheme that ought to be watched, and
in the name of God I will watch him.”
Woodward went out of the house more stealthily than
usual, and took his way towards the town of Rathfillan
484
THE EVIL EYE; OIi,
A good way in the distance behind him might be dis-
covered another figure dogging his footsteps, that figure
being no other than the honest figure of Barney Casey.
On went Woodward unsuspicious that he was watched,
until he reached the indescribable cabin of Sol Donnel,
the old herbalist. The night had become dark, and
Barney was able, without being seen, to come near
enough to Woodward to hear his words and observe his
actions. He tapped at the old man’s window, which,
after some delay and a good deal of grumbling, was at
length opened to him. The hut consisted of only one
room — a fact which Barney well knew.
u Who is there ? ” said the old herbalist. u Why do
you come at this hour to deprive me of my rest ? Nobody
comes for any good purpose at such an hour as this.”
“ Open your door, you hypocritical old sinner, and I
will speak to you. Open your door instantly.”
u Wait, then ; I will open it ; to be sure I will open
it ; because I know whoever you are that if there was
not something extraordinary in it, it isn’t at this hour
you’d be coming to me.”
u Open the door I say, and then I shall speak to
you.”
The window, which the old herbalist had opened,
and, in the hurry of the moment, left unshut, remained
unshut, and Barney, after Woodward had entered, stood
close to it in order to hear the conversation which
might pass between them.
u Now,” said Woodward, after he had entered the
hut, u I want a dose from you. One of my dogs, I fear,
is seized with incipient symptoms of hydrophobia, andJ
wish to dose him to death.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
485
“ And what hour is this to come for such a purpose ? ”
asked Sol Donnel. u It isn’t at midnight that a man
comes to me to ask for a dose of poison for a dog.”
u You are very right in that/’ replied Woodward ; “ but
the truth is, that I had an assignation with a girl in the
town, and I thought that I might as well call upon you
now as at any other time.”
The eye of the old sinner glistened, for he knew
perfectly well that the malady of the dog was a fable.
u Well,” said he, “ I can give you the dose, but what’s
to be the recompense ? ”
“ What do you ask ? ” replied the other.
u I will dose nothing under five pounds.”
u Are you certain that your dose will be sure to
effect its purpose ? ” asked Woodward.
“ As sure as I am of life,” replied the old sinner ;
u one glass of it would settle a man as soon as it
would a dog ; ” and as he spoke he fastened his keen,
glittering eyes upon Woodward. The glance seemed
to say, I understand you, and I know that the dog
you are about to give the dose to walks upon two legs
instead of four.
“Now,” said Woodward, after having secured the
bottle, “ here are your five pounds, and marie me — — ”
lie looked sternly in the face of the herbalist, but
added not another word.
The herbalist, having secured the money and de-
posited it in his pocket, said, with a malicious grin,—
u Couldn’t you, Mr. Woodward, have prevented
yourself from going to the expense of five pounds for
poisoning a dog, that you could have shot without all
this expense ? ”
486
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Woodward looked at him. u Your life,” said he,
*will not be worth a day’s purchase if you breathe
a syllable of what took place between us this night.
Sol Donnel, I am a desperate man, otherwise I would
not have come to you. Keep the secret between us,
for, if you divulge it, you may take my word for it that
you will not survive it twenty-four hours. Now, be
warned, for I am both resolute and serious.”
The herbalist felt the energy of his language and
was subdued.
u No,” he replied, u I shall never breathe it ; kill
your dog in your own way ; all I can say is, that half
a glass of it would kill the strongest horse in your
stable ; only let me remark that I gave you the bottle
to kill a dog”
u Now,” thought Barney Casey, u what can all this
mean ? There is none of the dogs wrong. He is at
some devil’s work ; but what it is I do not know ; I
shall watch him well, however, and it will go hard or I
shall find out his purpose.”
As Woodward was about to depart he mused for a
time, and at length addressed the herbalist.
u Suppose,” said he, u that I wish to kill this dog by
slow degrees, would it not be a good plan to give
him a little of it every day, and let him die, as it
were, by inches ? ”
u That my bed may be made in heaven but it is a
good thought, and by far the safest plan,” replied the
herbalist, u and the very one I would recommend you.
A small spoonful every day put into his coffee or her
coffee, as the case may be, will, in the course of a fort-
night or three weeks, make a complete cure.”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
487
u Why, you old scoundrel, who ever heard of a dog
drinking coffee ? ”
u I did,” replied the old villain, with another grin,
and many a time it is newly sweetened for them, too,
and they take it until they fall asleep ; but they forget
to waken somehow. Taste that yourself, and you’ll
find that it is beautifully sweetened ; because if it was
given to the dog in its natural bitter state he might re-
fuse to take it at all, or, what would be worse and
more dangerous still, he might suspect the reason why
it was given to him.”
The two persons looked each other in the face, and
it would, indeed, be difficult to witness such an ex-
pression as the countenance of each betrayed. That
of the herbalist lay principally in his ferret eyes. It
was cruel, selfish, cunning, and avaricious. The eye
of the other was dark, significant, vindictive, and ter-
rible. In his handsome features there was, when con-
trasted with those of the herbalist, a demoniacal eleva-
tion, a Satanic intellectuality of expression, which
rendered the contrast striking beyond belief. The
one appeared with the power of Apollyon, the god of
destruction, conscious of that power ; the other as his
mere contemptible agent of evil — subordinate, low,
villanous, and wicked.
Woodward, after a significant look, bade him good
night, and took his way home.
Barney Casey, however, still dogged him stealthily,
because he knew not whether the dose was intended
for Grace Davoren or his brother Charles. Mrs.
Lindsay had made no secret of her intention to leave
her property to the latter, whose danger, and the state
488
THE EVIL EYE ; OR,
of whose health, had awakened all those affections of
the mother which had lain dormant in her heart so
long. The revivification of her affections for him was
one of those capricious manifestations of feeling which
can emanate from no other source but the heart of a
mother. Independently of this, there was in the mind
of Mrs. Lindsay a principle of conscious guilt, of hard-
ness of heart, of all want of common humanity, that
sometimes startled her into terror. She knew the vil-
lany of her son Woodward, and, after all, the heart
of a woman and a mother is not like the heart of a
man. There is a tendency to recuperation in a wom-
an’s and a mother’s heart, which can be found
nowhere else ; and the contrast which she felt herself
forced to institute between the generous character of
her son Charles and the villany of Woodward broke
down the hard propensities of her spirit, and subdued
her very wickedness into something like humanity.
Virtue and goodness, after all, will work their way,
especially where a mother’s feelings, conscious of the
evil and conscious of the good, are forced to strike the
balance between them. This consideration it was
which determined Mrs. Lindsay, in addition to other
considerations already alluded to, to come to the reso-
lution of leaving her property to her son Charles.
There is, besides, a want of confidence and of mutual
affection in villany which reacts upon the heart, pre-
cisely as it did upon chat of Mrs. Lindsay. She knew
that her eldest son was in intention a murderer ; and
there is a terrible summons in conscience which some-
times awakens the soul into a sense of virtue and
truth.
THE 13 LACK SPECTRE.
489
Be this as it may, Barney Casey’s vigilance was
ineffectual. From the night on which Woodward got
the bottle from the herbalist, Charles Lindsay began
gradually and slowly to decline. Barney’s situation in
the family was that of a general servant, in fact, a man
of all work, and the necessary consequence was, that
he could not contravene the conduct of Harry Wood-
ward, although he saw clearly that, notwithstanding
Charles’s wound was nearly healed, his general health
was getting worse.
Now, the benevolence and singular power of Valen-
tine Greatrakes are historical facts which cannot be
contradicted. After about a month from the time he
cured Alice Goodwin he came to the town of Rath-
fillan, with several objects in view, one of which was
to see Alice Goodwin, and to ascertain that her health
was perfectly reestablished. But the other and greater
one was that which we shall describe. Mr. Lindsay,
having perceived that his son Charles’s health was
gradually becoming worse, though his wound was
healed, and on finding that the physician who attended
him could neither do anything for his malady, nor
even account for it, or pronounce a diagnosis upon its
character, bethought him of the man who had so com-
pletely cured Alice Goodwin. Accordingly, on Great-
rakes’s visit to Rathfillan, he waited upon him, and re-
quested, as a personal favor, that he would come and
see his dying son, for indeed Charles at that time
was apparently not many days from death. This dis-
tinguished and wealthy gentleman at once assented,
and told Mr. Lindsay that he would visit his son the
next day.
21*
490
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u I may not cure him,” said he, u because there are
certain complaints which cannot be cured. Such com-
plaints I never attempt to cure ; and even in others
that are curable I sometimes fail. But wherever there
is a possibility of cure I rarely fail. I am not prcud
of this gift ; on the contrary, it has subdued my heart
into a sense of piety and gratitude to God, who, in his
mercy, has been pleased to make me the instrument
of so much good to my fellow-creatures.”
Mr. Lindsay returned home to his family in high
spirits, and on his way to the house observed his step-
son Woodward and Barney Casey at the door of the
dog-kennel.
u I maintain the dog is wrong,” said Woodward:
u and to me it seems an incipient case of hydro-
phobia.”
“And to me,” replied Barney, u it appears that his
complaint is hunger, and that you have simply deprived
him of his necessary food.”
At this moment Mr. Lindsay approached them, and
exclaimed, —
“ Harry, let your honest and affectionate heart cheer
up. Valentine Greatrakes will be here to-morrow, and
will cure Charles, as he cured Alice Goodwin, and then
we will have them married ; for if he recovers I am
determined on it, and will abide no opposition from
any quarter. Indeed, Harry, your mother is now
willing that they should be married, and is sorry that
she ever opposed it. Your mother, thank God, is a
changed woman, and thank God the change is one that
makes my very heart rejoice.”
“ God be praised,” exclaimed Barney, “ that is good
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
491
news, and makes my heart rejoice nearly as much as
yours.”
“ Father,” said Woodward, “you have taken a
heavy load off my mind. Charles is certainly very ill,
and until Greatrakes comes I shall make it a point to
watch and nurse-tend him myself.”
“ It is just what I would expect from your kind and
affectionate heart, Harry,” replied Lindsay, rather
slowly though, who then passed into the house to com-
municate the gratifying intelligence to his wife and
daughter.
The intensity of Woodward’s malignity and villany
was such that, as we have mentioned before, on some
occasions he forgot himself into such a state of mind,
and, what was worse, into such an expression of coun-
tenance, as, especially to Barney Casey, who so deeply
suspected him, challenged observation. After Linsday
had gone he put his hand to his chin, and said, still
with caution, —
“Yes, poor fellow, I will watch him myself this
night ; for if he happened to die before Greatrakes
comes to-morrow, what an affliction would it not be to
the family, and especially to myself, who love him so
well. Yes, in order to sustain and support him, I will
watch him and act as his nurse this night.”
There was, however, such an expression on his
countenance as could not be mistaken even by a com-
mon observer, much less by such an acute one as
Barney Casey, who had his eye upon him for such a
length of time ! His countenance, Barney saw plainly,
was as dark as hell, and seemed to catch its inspiration
from that damnable region.
492
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u Barney,” said he, u I shall watch the sick bed;
and nurse my brother Charles to-night, in order, if
possible, to sustain him until Greatrakes cures him to-
morrow.”
u Ah, it’s you that is the affectionate brother,” replied
Barney, who had read deliberate murder in his counte-
nance. “ But,” he exclaimed, after Woodward had
gone, u if you watch him this night I will watch you .
You know now that he stands between you and your
mother’s property, and you will put him out of the
way if you can. Yes, I will watch you well this
night.”
The minute poisoned doses which he had contrived
to administer to his brother were always followed by
an excessive thirst. Now, Barney had, as we have
often said, strong suspicions ; but on this occasion he
was determined to place himself in a position from
which he could watch every movement of Woodward
without being suspected himself. His usual sleeping
place was in a low gallery below stairs ; but it so hap-
pened that there was a closet beside Charles’s bed in
which there was neither bed nor furniture of any kind,
with the exception of a single chair. The door be-
tween them had, as is usual, two panes of glass in it,
through which any person in the dark could see what
happened in the room in which Charles slept.
Barney locked the door on the inside, and it waa
well that he did so, for in a short time Woodward
came in, with a guilty and a stealthy pace, and having
looked, like a murderer, about the room, he approached
the closet door and tried to open it ; but finding that
it was locked his apprehensions vanished, and he delib-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
493
irately, on seeing that his brother was asleep, took a
bottle out of his pocket, and having poured about a
wine-glassful of the poison into the small jug which
contained the usual drink of the patient, he left the
room, satisfied that, as soon as his brother awoke, he
would take the deadly draught. When he departed,
Barney came out, and having substituted another
for it — for there was a variety of potions on the sick
table — he, too, stealthily descended the stairs, and
going to the dog-kennel deliberately administered the
pernicious draught to the dog which Woodward had
insisted was unwell. He happily escaped all observa-
tion, and accomplished his plan without either notice
or suspicion. He stayed in the kennel in order to
watch the effects of the potion upon the dog, who died
in the course of about fifteen minutes after having re-
ceived it.
u Now,” said Barney, aI think I have my thumb
upon him, and it will go hard with me or I will make
him suffer for this hellish intention to murder his
brother. Mr. Greatrakes is a man of great wealth and
high rank ; he is, besides, a magistrate of the county,
and, please God, I will disclose to him all that I have
seen and suspect.”
Barney, under the influence of these feelings, went
to bed, satisfied that he had saved the life of Charles
Lindsay, at least for that night, but at the same time
resolved to bring his murderous brother to an account
for his conduct.
494
TH/t EVIL EYE; OB,
CHAPTER XXIII.
GREATRAKES AT WORK. DENOUEMENT.
Greatrakes was on his way from Birch Grove to
Rathfillan House the next day when he was met by
Barney Casey, who had been on the lookout for him.
Barney, who knew not his person, was not capable of
determining whether he was the individual whom he
wanted or not. At all events he resolved at once to
ascertain that fact. Accordingly, putting his hand to
his hat, he said, with a respectful manner, —
“ Pray, sir, are you the great Valentine Great Rooke,
who prevents the people from dyin7 ? 77
u I am Valentine Greatrakes/7 he replied, with a
smile ; u but I cannot prevent the people from dy-
ing.77
u Begad, but you can prevent them from being sick,
at any rate. I am myself sometimes subject to a
colic, bad luck to it — ( this was a lie, got up for the
purpose of arresting the attention of Greatrakes ) —
and maybe if you would be kind enough to rub me
down you would drive the wind out of me and cure
me of it, for at least, by all accounts through the
whole parish, it7s a windy colic that haunts me.77
Greatrakes, who was a man of great good-nature,
and strongly susceptible of humor, laughed very
heartily at Barney7s account of his miserable state
of health.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
495
u Well,” said he, cc my good friend, let me tell you
that the colic you speak of is one of the most healthy
diseases we have. Don’t, if you regard your constitu-
tion and your health, ever attempt to get rid of it.
Your constitution is a windy constitution, and that is
the reason why you are graciously afflicted with a
windy colic.”
It was, in fact, diamond cut diamond between the
two. Barney, who had never had a colic in his life,
shrugged his shoulders very dolefully at the miserable
character of the sympathy which was expressed for
him ; and Greatrakes, from his great powers of obser-
vation, saw that every word Barney uttered with re-
spect to his besetting malady was a lie.
At length Barney’s countenance assumed an ex-
pression of such honest sincerity and feeling that
Greatrakes was at once struck by it, and he kept his
eye steadily fixed upon him.
u Sir,” said Barney, u I understand you are a distin-
guished gentleman and a magistrate besides ? ”
u I am certainly a magistrate,” replied Greatrakes ;
H but what is your object in asking the question, my
good fellow ? ”
u I understand you are going to cure Masther Charles
Lindsay. Now, I wish to give you a hint or two con-
cerning him. His brother — he of the Evil Eye —
according to my most solemn and serious opinion, is
poisoning him by degrees. I think he has been dosing
him upon a small scale, so as to make him die off by
the effects of poison, without any suspicion being raised
against himself; but when his father told him yester-
day that you were to come this day to cure him, his
496
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
brother insisted that he should sit up with him, and
nurse-tend him himself. I was aware of this, and from
a conversation I heard him have with an old herbalist,
named Sol Donnel, I had suspicions of his design
against his brother’s life. He strove to kill Miss
Goodwin by the damnable force and power of his Evil
Eye, and would have done so had not you cured her.’1
“ And are you sure,” replied Greatrakes, “ that it is
not his Evil Eye that is killing his brother ? ”
“ I don’t know that,” replied Barney ; “ perhaps it
may be so.”
“No,” replied Greatrakes, “from all I have read
and heard of its influence it cannot act upon persons
within a certain degree of consanguinity.”
“ I would take my oath,” said honest Barney, “ that
it is the poison that acts in this instance.”
He then gave him a description of Woodward’s
having poured the poison — or at least what he suspect-
ed to be such — into the drink which was usually left at
the bedside of his brother, and of its effect upon the dog.
Greatrakes, on hearing this, drew up his horse, and
looking Barney sternly in the face, asked him, —
“ Pray, my good fellow, did Mr. Woodward ever in-
jure or offend you ? ”
“ No, sir,” replied Barney, “ never in any instance ;
but what I say I say from my love for his brother,
whose life, I can swear, he is tampering with. It is a
weak word, I know, but I will use a stronger, for I say
he is bent upon his murder by poison.”
“Well,” said Greatrakes, “keep your counsel for
the present. I will study this matter, and examine
into it ; and I shall most certainly receive your infor-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
497
nations against him ; but I must have better oppor
lunities of making myself acquainted with the facts.
In the meantime, keep your own secret, and leave the
rest to me.”
When Greatrakes reached Rathfillan House the
whole family attended him to the sick bed of Charles.
Woodward was there, and appeared to feel a deep in-
terest in the fate of his brother. Greatrakes, on look-
ing at him, said, before he applied the sanative power
which God had placed in his constitution, —
“This young man is dying of a slow and subtle
poison, which some person under the roof of this house
has been administering to him in small doses.”
As he uttered these words he fixed his eyes upon
Woodward, whose face quailed and blanched under the
power and significance of his gaze.
“ Sir,” replied Lindsay, u with the greatest respect
for you, there is not a single individual under this
roof who would injure him. He is beloved by every
one. The sympathy felt for him through the whole
parish is wonderful — but by none more than by his
brother Woodward.”
This explanation, however, came too late. Great-
rakes’s impressions were unchanged.
“ I think I will cure him,” he proceeded ; “ but after
his recovery let him be cautious in taking any drink
unless from the hands of his mother or his father.”
He then placed his hands over his face and chest,
which he kept rubbing for at least a quarter of an
hour, when, to their utter astonishment, Charles pro-
nounced himself in as good health as he had ever en-
joyed in his life.
498
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
u This, sir,” said he, u is wonderful ; why, I am per
fectly restored to health. As I live, this man must
have the power of God about him to be able to effect
such an extraordinary cure ; and he has also cured my
darling Alice. What can I say ? Father, give him a
hundred — five hundred pounds.”
Greatrakes smiled.
u You don’t know, it seems,” he replied, u that I do
not receive remuneration for any cures I may effect.
I am wealthy and independent, and I fear that if I were
to make the wonderful gift which God has bestowed on
me the object of mercenary gain, it might be withdrawn
from me altogether. My principle is one of humanity
and benevolence. I will remain in Rathfillan for a
fortnight, and shall see you again,” he added, address-
ing himself to Charles. u Now,” he proceeded, u mark
me, you will require neither drinks nor medicine of any
description. Whatever drinks you take, take them
at the common table of the family. There are circum-
stances connected with your case which, as a magis-
trate of the county, I am resolved to investigate.”
He looked sternly at Woodward as he uttered the
last words, and then took his departure to Rathfillan,
having first told Barney Casey to call on him the next
day.
After Greatrakes had gone, Woodward repaired to
the room of his mother, in a state of agitation which
we cannot describe.
u Mother,” said he, u unless we can manage that old
peer and his niece, I am a lost man.”
u Do not be uneasy,” replied his mother; u whilst
you were at Ballyspellan I contrived to manage that
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
499
Ask me nothing about it ; but every arrangement is
made, and you are to be married this day week. Keep
yourself prepared for a settled case.”
What the mother’s arguments in behalf of the match
may have been, we cannot pretend to say. We believe
that Miss Riddle’s attachment to his handsome person
and gentlemanly manners overcame all objections on
the part of her uncle, and nothing now remained to
stand in the way of their union.
The next day Barney Casey waited upon Greatrakes,
according to appointment, when the following conver-
sation took place between them : —
u Now,” said Greatrakes, solemnly, u what is your
name ? ”
As he put the question with a stern and magisterial
air, his tablets and pencil in hand, which he did with
the intention of awing Barney into a full confession of
the exact truth — a precaution which Barney’s romance
of the windy colic induced him to take, — u I say,” he
repeated, u what’s your name ? ”
Barney, seeing the pencil and tablets in hand, and
besides not being much, or at all, acquainted with
magisterial investigations, felt rather blank, and some-
what puzzled at this query.
He accordingly resorted to the usage of the country,
and commenced scratching a rather round bullet
head.
u My name, your honor,” he replied ; u my name,
couldn’t you pass that by, sir ? ”
“ No,” said Greatrakes, u I cannot pass it by. In
this business it is essential that I should know it.”
“Ay,” replied Barney, u but maybe you have some
500
TIIE EVIL EYE ; OR,
treacherous design in it, and that you are goin’ to take
the part of the wealthy scoundrel against the poor man,
and even if you did, you wouldn’t be the first magis-
trate who did it.”
Greatrakes looked keenly at him. The observation
he expressed was precisely in accordance with the lib-
erality of his own feelings.
u Don’t be alarmed,” he added ; u if you knew my
character, which it is evident you do not, you would
know that I never take the part of the rich man
against the poor man, unless when there is justice on
the part of the wealthy man, and crime, unjustifiable
and cruel crime, on the part of the poor man, which,
I am sorry to say, is not an unfrequent case. Now, I
must insist, as a magistrate, that you give me your
name.”
u Well, then,” replied the other, u I’m one Barney
Casey, sir, who lives in Rathfillan House as a servant
to Mr. Lindsay, stepfather to that murtherin’ black-
guard.”
Greatrakes then examined him closely, and made
him promise to come to Rathfillan that night, in order
that he might accompany him to the hut of old Sol
Donnel, the herbalist.
u I am resolved,” said he, u to investigate this mat-
ter, and in my capacity of a magistrate to bring the
guilty to justice.”
u Faith, sir,” replied Barney, u and I’m not the boy
who is going to stand in your way in such a business as
that. You know that it was I that put you up to it,
and any assistance I can give you in it you may reckon
on. Although not a magistrate, as you are, maybe I’m
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
501
just as fond of justice as yourself. Of cooise I’ll attend
you to-night, and show you the devil’s nest in which
Sol Donnel and his blessed babe of a niece, by name
Caterine Collins, live.”
Greatrakes took down the name of Caterine Collins,
and after having arranged the hour at which Barney
was to conduct him to Sol Donnel’s hut, they separated.
About eleven o’clock that night Barney and Great-
rakes reached the miserable-looking residence in which
this old viper lived.
u Now,” said Greatrakes, addressing the herbalist,
u my business with you is this : I have a bitter enemy
who wants to establish a claim upon my property, and
I wish to put him out of my way. Do you understand
me! I am a wealthy man, and can reward you well.”
u I never talk of these things in the presence of a
third party,” replied the herbalist, looking significantly
at Barney, whom he well knew.
u Well,” replied the other, “I dare say you are
right. Casey, go out and leave us to ourselves.”
There was a little hall in the house, which hall was in
complete obscurity. Barney availed himself of this cir-
cumstance, opened the door and clapped it to as if he had
gone out, but remained at the same time in the inside.
u No, sir,” replied Sol Donnel, ignorant of the trick
which Barney had played upon him, “I never allow a
third person to be present at any of those conversations
about the strength and power of my herbs. Now, tell
me, what it is that you want me to do for you.”
u Why, to tell you the truth,” replied Greatrakes,
u I never heard of your name until within a few days
ago, that you were mentioned to me by Mr. Henry
502
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Woodward, who told me that you gave him a dose to
settle a dog that was laboring under the first symptoms
of hydrophobia. Well, the dog is dead by the influ-
ence of the bottle you gave him ; but now that we are
by ourselves I tell you at once that I want a dose for a
man who is likely, if he lives, to cut me out of a large
property.”
“ O, Cheernah /” exclaimed the old villain, “do you
think that I who lives by curin’ the poor for nothing,
or next to nothing, could lend myself to sich a thing
as that ? ”
“ Very well,” replied the other, preparing to take
his departure, “ you have lost fifty pounds by the affair
at all events.”
“ Fifty pounds ! ” exclaimed the other, whilst his
keen and diabolical eyes gleamed with the united spirit
of avarice and villany. “ Fifty pounds ! well how
simple and foolish some people are. Why now, if you
had a dog, say a setter or a pointer, that from fear of
madness you wished to get rid of, and that you had
mentioned it to me, I could give you a bottle that
would soon settle it ; I don’t go above a dog or the
inferior animals, and no man that has his senses about
him ought to ask me to do anything else.”
“Well, then, I tell you at once that, as I said, it
is not for a dog, but for a worse animal, a man, my
own cousin, who, unless I absolutely contrive to poison
him, will deprive me of six thousand a year. Instead
of fifty I shall make the recompense a hundred, after
having found that your medicine is successful.”
The old villain’s eye gleamed again at the prospect
o t such liberality.
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
503
“Well now,” said he, “see what it is for a pious
man to forget his devotions, even for one day. I forgot
to say my Leadan Wurrah this morning and that is
the raison that your temptation has overcome me.
You must call then to-morrow night, because I have
nothing now, barrin’ what ’ud excite the bowels, and
it seems that isn’t what you want ; but if you be down
here about this same hour to-morrow night, you shall
have what will put your enemy out of the way.”
“That will do then,” replied Greatrakes, “and I
shall depend on you.”
“Ay,” replied the old villain, “but remember that
the act is not mine but your own. I simply furnish
you with the necessary means — your own act will be
to apply them.”
On leaving the hut, Greatrakes was highly gratified
on finding that Barney Casey had overheard their
whole conversation.
“ You will serve as a corroborative evidence,” said he.
The herbalist, at all events, was entrapped, and not
only his disposition to sell botanical poisons, but his
habit of doing so, was clearly proved to the benevolent
magistrate.
On the next night he got the poison, and having con-
sulted with Casey, he said he would not urge the mat-
ter for a few days, as he wished, in the most private
way possible, to procure further evidence against the
guilty parties.
In the meantime, every preparation was made in
both families for Woodward’s wedding. The old peer,
who had cross-examined his niece upon the subject,
discovered her attachment to Woodward ; and as he
50 1
TIIE EVIL EYE ; OR,
wished to see her settled before his death with a gentle-
manly and respectable husband — a man who would be
capable of taking care of the property which he must
necessarily leave her, as she was his favorite and his
heiress — and besides, he loved her as a daughter — he
was resolved that Woodward and she should be united.
“I don’t care a fig,” said he, “ whether this Wood-
ward has property or not. He is a gentleman, respect-
ably connected, of accomplished manners, handsome
in person, and if he has not fortune, why you have ;
and I think the best thing you can do is to accept him
without hesitation. The comical rascal,” said he,
laughing heartily, “took me in so completely during
our first interview, that he became a favorite with
me.”
“ I think well of him,” replied his firm-minded niece ;
“ and I even admit that I love him, as far as a girl of
such a cold constitution as mine may ; but I tell you,
uncle, that if I discovered a taint of vice or want of
principle in his character, I could fling him off with
contempt.”
u I wish to heaven,” replied the uncle, rather net-
tled, “ that we could have up one of the twelve apos-
tles. I dare say some of them, if they were disposed
to marry, might come up to your mark.”
Well, uncle, at all events I like him sufficiently to
consent that he should become my husband.”
“ Well, and is not that enough ; bless my heart,
could you wish to go beyond it ? ”
In the meantime, very important matters were pro-
ceeding, which bore strongly upon Woodward’s destiny.
Greatrakes had collected — aided, of course, by Barney
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
505
Casey, who was the principal, but not the sole, evi-
dence against him — such a series of facts as, he felt,
justified him in receiving informations against him.
At this crisis a discovery was made in connection
with the Haunted House, which was privately, through
Casey, communicated to Greatrakes, who called a
meeting of the neighboring magistrates upon it. This
he did by writing to them privately to meet him on a
particular day at his little inn in Rath Allan. For ob-
vious reasons, and out of consideration to his feelings,
Mr. Lindsay’s name was omitted. At all events the
night preceding the day of Woodward’s marriage with
Miss Riddle had arrived, but two circumstances oc-
curred on that evening and on that night which not
only frustrated all his designs upon Miss Riddle, or
rather upon her uncle’s property, but — however, we
shall not anticipate.
It was late in the evening when Miss Riddle was
told by a servant that a young man, handsome and of
fine proportions, wished to see her for a few minutes.
u Not that I would recommend you to see him,” said
the serving-woman who delivered the message. u He
is, to be sure, very handsome ; but, then, he is one of
those wild people, and armed with a great middogue
or dagger, and God knows what his object may be —
maybe to take your life. As sure as I live he is a
lory.”
u Tnat may be,” replied Miss Riddle ; u but 1 know,
by your description of him, that he is the individual
to whose generous spirit I and my dear uncle owe
our lives : let him be shown in at once to the front
parlor.”
22
506
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
In a few minutes she entered, and found Shawn be-
fore her.
u O Shawn !” said she, A I am glad to see you. My
uncle is using all his interest to get you a pardon —
that is, provided you are willing to abandon the wild
life to which you have taken.”
u I am willing to abandon it,” he replied ; u but I
have one task to perform before I leave it. You have
heard of the toir , or tory-hunt, which was made after
me and others ; but chiefly after me, for I was the ob-
ject they wanted to shoot down, or rather that he , the
villain, wanted to murder under the authority of those
cruel laws that make us tories.”
u Who do you mean by he f ” asked Miss Riddle.
“I mean Harry Woodward,” he replied. u He
hunted me, disguised by a black mask.”
u But are you sure of that, Shawn ? ”
u I am sure of it,” he replied ; u and it was not un
til yesterday that I discovered his villany. I know the
barber in Rathfillan where the black mask was got for
him, I believe, by his wicked mother.”
Miss Riddle, who was a strong-minded girl, paused,
and was silent for a time, after which she said, —
u I am glad you told me this, Shawn. I spoke to
him in your favor, and he pledged his honor to me
previous to the terrible hunt you allude to, and of
which the whole country rang, that he would never
take a step to your prejudice, but would rather protect
you as far as he could, in consequence of your having
generously saved my dear uncle’s life and mine.”
u The deeper villain he, then. He is upon my trail
night and day. He ruined Grace Davoren, who has
THE BLACK SPECTKE.
507
disappeared, and the belief of the people is that he
has murdered her. He possesses the Evil Eye, too,
and would by it have murdered Miss Goodwin, of
Beech Grove, in order to get back the property which
his uncle left her, only for the wonderful power of
Squire Greatrakes, who cured her. And, besides, I
have raison to know that he will be arrested this very
night for attempting to poison his brother. I am a
humble young man, Miss Riddle, but I am afeard that
if you marry him you will stand but a bad chance for
happiness.”
She was again silent, but, after a pause, she said —
u Shawn, do you want money ? ”
u I thank you, Miss Riddle,” he replied, u I don’t
want money : all I want is, that you will not be de-
saved by one of the most damnable villains on the face
of the earth.”
There was an earnestness and force of truth in what
the generous young tory said that could not be mis-
taken. He arose, and was about to take his leave,
when he said, —
u Miss Riddle, I understand he is about to be mar-
ried to you to-morrow. Should he become your hus-
band, he is safe from my hand — and that on your
account ; but as it may not yet be too late to spake, I
warn you against his hypocrisy and villany — against
ihe man who destroyed Grace Davoren — who would
have killed Miss Goodwin with his Evil Eye, in order
to get back the property which his uncle left her, and
who would have poisoned his own brother out of his way
bekase his mother told him she had changed her
mind in leaving it to him (Woodward), and came to
508
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
the resolution of leaving it to his brother, and that
was the raison why he attempted to poison him. All
these things have been proved, and I have raison to
believe that he will sleep — if sleep he can — in
Waterford jail before to-morrow mornin’. But,” he
added, with a look which was so replete with ven-
geance and terror, that it perfectly stunned the girl,
u perhaps he won’t, though. It is likely that the fate
of Grace Davoren will prevent him from it.”
He did not give her time to reply, but instantly dis-
appeared, and left her in a state of mind which oui
readers may very well understand.
She immediately went to her uncle’s library, where
the following brief dialogue occurred :
u Uncle, this marriage must not and shall not take
place.”
u What ! ” replied the peer ; 66 then he is none of
the twelve apostles.”
u You are there mistaken,” said she ; u he is one of
them. Remember Judas.”
u Judas ! What the deuce are you at, my dear
niece ? ”
u Why, that he is a most treacherous villain : that’s
what I’m at,” and her face became crimson with in-
dignation.
u But what’s in the wind ? Don’t keep me in a state
of suspense. Judas! Confound it, what a compar-
ison ! Well, I perceive you are not disposed to be-
come Mrs. Judas. You know me, however, well
enough : I’m not going to press you to it. Do
you think, my dear niece, that Judas was a
gentleman ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
509
u Precisely such a gentleman, perhaps, as Mr. Wood-
ward is.”
u And you think he would betray Christ ? ”
u He would poison his brother, uncle, because he
stands between him and his mother’s property, which
she has recently expressed her intention of leaving to
that brother — a fact which awoke something like com-
passion in my breast for Woodward.”
u Well, then, kick him to hell, the scoundrel. I
liked the fellow in the beginning, and, indeed, all
along, because he had badgered me so beautifully, —
which I thought few persons had capacity to, — and in
consequence, I entertained a high opinion of his in-
tellect, and be hanged to him ; kick him to hell,
though.”
u Well, my dear lord and uncle, I don’t think I would
be capable of kicking him so far ; nor do I think it
will be at all necessary, as my opinion is, that he
will be able to reach that region without any assist-
ance.”
u Come, that’s very well said, at all events — one of
your touchers, as I call them. There, then, is an end
to the match and marriage, and so be it.”
She here detailed at further length the conversation
which she had with Shaivn-na-Middogae ; mentioned
the fact, which had somehow become well known, of
his having wrought the ruin of Grace Davoren, and
concluded by stating that, nothwithstanding his gentle-
manly manners and deportment, he was unworthy
either the notice or regard of any respectable fe-
male.
u Well,” said the peer, u from all you have told me
510
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
I must say you have had a narrow escape ; I did sus-
pect him to be a fortune-hunter ; but then who the
deuce can blame a man for striving to advance him-
self in life ? However, let there be an end to it, and
you must only wait until a better man comes.”
“ I assure you, my dear uncle, I am in no hurry ; so
let that be your comfort so far as I am concerned.”
“Well, then,” said the peer, “I shall write to him
to say that the marriage, in consequence of what we
have heard of his character, is off.”
“ Take whatever steps you please,” replied his ad-
mirable niece ; “ for most assuredly, so far as I am
concerned, it is off. Do you imagine, uncle, that I
could for a moment think of marrying a seducer and a
poisoner ? ”
“ It would be a very queer thing if you did,” replied
her uncle ; “ but was it not a fortunate circumstance
that you came to discover his real character in time to
prevent you from becoming the wife of such a scoun -
drel?”
“ It was the providence of God,” said his niece
“ that would not suffer the innocent to become asso
ciated with the guilty.”
Greatrakes, in the meantime, was hard at work
He and the other magistrates had collected evidence,
and received the informations against Woodward, the
herbalist, and the mysterious individual who was in
the habit of appearing about the Haunted House as
the Shan-dhinne-dhav , or the Blade Spedre. Villany
like this cannot be long concealed, and will, in due
time, come to light.
During the dusk of the evening preceding Wocd-
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
511
ward’s intended marriage, an individual came to Mr.
Lindsay’s house and requested to see Mr. Woodward.
That gentleman came down and immediately recog-
nized the person who had, for such a length of time,
frightened the neighborhood as the Shan-dhinne-dhuv ,
or the Black Spectre . He was shown into the parlor,
and, as there was no one present, the following dia-
logue took place, freely and confidentially, between
them : —
u You must fly,” said the Spectre, or, in other
words, the conjurer, whom we have already described,
— u you must fly, for you are to be arrested this night.
Our establishment for the forgery of bad notes must
also be given up, and the Haunted House must be
deserted. The magistrates, somehow, have smelled
out the truth, and we must change our lodgings. We
dodged them pretty well, but, after all, these things
can’t last long. On to-morrow night I bid farewell to
the neighborhood ; but you cannot wait so long, be-
cause on this very night you are to be arrested. It is
very well that you sent Grace Davoren, at my sugges-
tion, from the Haunted House to what is supposed to
be the haunted cottage, in the mountains, where Nan-
nie Morrissy soon joined her. I supplied them with
provisions, and had a bed and other articles brought
to them, according to your own instructions, and I
think that, for the present, the safest place of conceal-
ment will be there.”
Woodward became terribly alarmed. It was on the
eve of his marriage, and the intelligence almost drove
him into distraction.
u I will follow your advice,” said he, u and will take
512
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
refuge in what is called the haunted cottage, for this
night.”
His mysterious friend now left him, and Woodward
prepared to seek the haunted cottage in the mountains
Poor Grace Davoren was in a painful and critical con-
dition, but Woodward had engaged Caterine Collins to
attend to her : for what object, will soon become evi-
dent to our readers.
Woodward, after night had set in, — it was a mild
night with faint moonlight, — took his way towards the
cottage that was supposed to be haunted, and which,
in those days of witchcraft and superstition, nobody
would think of entering. We have already described
it, and that must suffice for our readers. On entering
a dark, but level moor, he was startled by the appear-
ance of the Blade Spectre , which, as on two occasions
before, pointed its middogue three times at his heart.
He rushed towards it, but on arriving at the spot he
could find nothing. It had vanished, and he was left
to meditate on it as best he might.
We now pass to the haunted cottage itself. There
lay Grace Davoren, after having given birth to a child ;
there she lay — the victim of the seducer, on the very
eve of dissolution, and beside her, sitting on the bed,
the unfortunate Nannie Morrissy, now a confirmed and
dying maniac.
u Grace,” said Nannie, u you, like me, were ruined.”
u I was,” replied Grace, in a voice scarcely audible.
u Ay, but you didn’t murder your father, though, as I
did ; that’s one advantage I have over you — ha ! ha ! ha !”
u I’m not so sure of that, Nannie,” replied the dying
girl ; u but where’s my baby ? ”
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
513
16 O ! yes, you have had a baby, but Caterine Collins
took it away with her.”
u My child ! my child ! where is my child ? ” she
exclaimed in a low, but husky voice ; u where’s my
child ? and besides, ever since I took that bottle she
gave me 1 feel deadly sick.”
u Will I go for your father and mother — but above
all things for your father? But then if he punished
the villain that ruined you and brought disgrace upon
your name, he might be hanged as mine was.”
u Ah ! Nannie,” replied poor Grace ; u my father
won’t die of the gallows ; but he will of a broken
heart.”
u Better to be hanged,” said the maniac, whose
reason, after a lapse of more than a year, was in some
degree returning, precisely as life was ebbing out,
u bekase, thank God, there’s then an end to it.”
UI agree with you, Nannie, it might be only a long
life of suffering ; but I wouldn’t wish to see my father
hanged.”
u Do you know,” said Nannie, relapsing into a deeper
mood of her mania, — u do you know that when I saw
my father last he wouldn’t nor didn’t spake to me ? The
house was filled with people, and my little brother
Frank — why now isn’t it strange that I feel somehow
as if I will never wash his face again nor comb his
white head in order to prepare him for mass ? — but
whisper, Grace, sure then 1 was innocent and had not
met the destroyer.”
The two unhappy girls looked at each other, and if
ever there was a gaze calculated to wring the human
heart with anguish and with pity, it was that gaze.
22*
514
THE EVIL EYE; OR,
Both of them were, although unconsciously, on th«
very eve of dissolution, and it would seem as if a kind
of presentiment of death had seized upon both at the
same time.
“ Nannie,” said Grace, “ do you know that I’m afeard
we’re both goin’ to die ? ”
“ And why are you afeard of it?” asked Nannie.
u Many a time I would ’a given the world to die.”
“ Why,” replied Grace, who saw the deep shadows
of death upon her wild, pale, but still beautiful coun-
tenance,— “ why, Nannie, you have your wish — you
are dying this moment.”
Just as Grace spoke the unfortunate girl seemed as
if she had been stricken by a spasm of the heart. She
gave a slight start — turned up her beautiful, but mel-
ancholy eyes to heaven, and exclaimed, as if conscious
of the moment that had come, —
“ Forgive me, O God! ” after which she laid herself
calmly down by the side of Grace and expired. Grace,
by an effort, put her hand out and felt her heart, but
there was no pulsation there — it did not beat, and she
saw by the utter lifelessness of her features that she
was dead, and had been relieved at last from all her
sorrows.
“ Nannie,” she said, “your start before me won’t be
long. I do not wish to live to show a shamed face and a
ruined character to my family and the world. Nannie
I am coming ; but where is my child ? Where is that
woman who took it away ? My child ! Where is my
child ! ”
Whilst this melancholy scene was taking place, an-
other of a very different description was occurring neai
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
515
the cottage. Two poachers, who were concealed in a
hazel copse on the brow of a little glen beside it, saw
a woman advance with an infant, which, by its cries,
they felt satisfied was but newly born. Its cries, how-
ever, were soon stilled, and they saw her deposit it in
a little grave which had evidently been prepared for it.
She had covered it slightly with a portion of clay, but
ere she had time to proceed further they pounced upon
her.
66 Hould her fast,” said one of them, u she has mur-
dered the infant. At all events, take it up, and I will
keep her safe.”
This was done, and a handkerchief, the one with
which she had strangled it, was found tightly tied
about its neck. That she was the instrument of Wood-
ward in this terrible act, who can doubt ? In the
meantime both she and the dead body of the child
were brought back to Rathfillan, where, upon their
evidence, she was at once committed to prison, the
handkerchief having been kept as a testimony against
her, for it was at once discovered to be her own property.
During all this time Grace Davoren lay dying, in a
state of the most terrible desolation, with the dead
body of Nannie Morrissy on the bed beside her
What had become of her child, and of Caterine Col
Sins, she could not tell. She had, however, other re-
flections, for the young, but guilty mother was not
without strong, and even tender, domestic affections.
u 0 ! ” she exclaimed, in her woful solitude and utter
desolation, u if I only had the forgiveness of my father
and mother I could die happy ; but now I feel that
death is upon me, and I must die alone.”
51G
THE EVIL eye; OR,
A footstep was heard, and it relieved her. “ 0 ! this
is Caterine,” she said, “ with the child.”
The door opened, and the young tory, Shawn-na*
Middogue , entered. He paused for a moment and
looked about him.
“ What is this ? ” said he, looking at the body of
Nannie Morrissy ; “ is it death ? ”
“ It is death,” replied Grace, faintly ; “ there is one
death, but, Shawn, there will soon be another. Shawn,
forgive me, and kiss me for the sake of our early love.”
“ I am an outlaw,” replied the stern young tory ;
“ but I will never kiss the polluted lips of woman as
long as she has breath in her body.”
“ But Caterine Collins has taken away my child, and
has not returned with it.”
“No, nor ever will,” replied the outlaw. “ She was
the instrument of your destroyer. But I wish you to
be consoled, Grace. Do you see that middogue ? It
is red with blood. Now listen. I have avenged you ;
that middogue was reddened in the heart of the villain
that wrought your ruin. As far as man can be, I am
now satisfied.”
“My child!” she faintly said; “my child! where
is it?”
Her words were scarcely audible. She closed her
eyes and was silent. The outlaw looked closely into
her countenance, and perceived at once that death was
there. He felt her pulse, her heart, but all was still.
“ Now,” said he, “ the penalty you have paid for your
crime has taken away the pollution from your lips, and
I will kiss you for the sake of our early love.”
He then kissed her, and rained showers of tears over
THE BLACK SPECTRE.
517
her now unconscious features. The two funerals took
place upon the same day ; and, what was still more
particular, they were buried in the same churchyard.
Their unhappy fates were similar in more than one
point. The selfish and inhuman seducer of each be-
came the victim of his crime ; one by the just and
righteous vengeance of a heart-broken and indignant
father, and the other by the middogue of the brave
and noble-minded outlaw. Who the murderer of
Harry Woodward, or rather the avenger of Grace
Davoren, was, never became known. The only ears
to which the outlaw revealed the secret were closed,
and her tongue silent forever.
The body of Woodward was found the next morning
lifeless unon the moors ; and when death loosened the
tongues of the people, and when the melancholy fate
of Grace Davoren became known, there was one indi-
vidual who knew perfectly well, from moral conviction,
who the avenger of her ruin was.
u Uncle/ said Miss Riddle, while talking with him
on the subject, “I feel who the avenger of the unfor-
tunate and beautiful Grace Davoren is.”
u And who is he, my dear niece ? ”
u It shall never escape my lips, my lord and uncle.”
u Egad, talking of escapes, I think you have had a
very narrow one yourself, in escaping from that scoun-
drel of the Evil Eye.”
u I thank God for it,” she replied, and this closed
their conversation.
There is little now to be added to our narrative.
We need scarcely assure our readers that Charles Lind-
say and Alice Goodwin were in due time made happy,
518 THE EVIL eye; or, the black spectre.
and that Ferdora O’Connor, who had been long at-
tached to Maria Lindsay, was soon enabled to call her
his beloved wife.
The devilish old herbalist, and his equally devilish
niece, together with the conjurer and forger, who had
assumed the character of the Black Spectre , were all
hanged, through the instrumentality of Valentine
Greatrakes, who had acquired so many testimonies
of their villany and their crimes as enabled him, in
conjunction with the other magistrates of the county,
to obtain such a body of evidence against them as no
jury could withstand. It was, probably, well for Wood-
ward that the middogue of the outlaw prevented him
from sharing the same fate, and dying a death of pub-
lic disgrace.
Need we say that honest Barney Casey was rewarded
by the love of Sarah Sullivan, who, soon after their
marriage, was made housekeeper in Mr. Lindsay’s
family ; and that Barney himself was appointed to the
comfortable situation of steward over his property ?
Lord Cockletown exercised all his influence with the
government of the day to procure a pardon for Shawn -
na-Middogue , but without effect. He furnished him,
however, with a liberal sum of money, with which he
left the country, but was never heard of more.
Miss Riddle was married to a celebrated barrister,
who subsequently became a judge.
THE END.
3 9031
01234739
9
PR 4416 <■ E89 1896
C a r 1 e ton t W :L 1 1 i am » 1 794- 1 869
*
The evil eye i
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