changed , but the same , with ghastly looks and arms that were withered , she appeared to her sons as they returned from the hunt , in the twilight , in the close of the day . at night she darkly unlatched the lodge - door and glided in , and bent over them as they sought to sleep . oftenest it was her bare brow , white , and bony , and bodyless , that they saw floating in the air , and making a mock of them in the wild paths of the forest , or in the midnight darkness of the lodge . she was a terror to all their lives , and she made every spot where they had seen her , hideous to the living eye ; so that after being long buffeted and beset , they at last resolved , together with their father , now stricken in years , to leave the country . they began a journey toward the south . after traveling many days along the shore of a great lake , they passed around a craggy bluff , and came upon a scene where there was a rough fall of waters , and a river issuing forth from the lake . they had no sooner come in sight of this fall of water , than they heard a rolling sound behind them , and looking back , they beheld the skull of a woman rolling along the beach . it seemed to be pursuing them , and it came on with great speed ; when , behold , from out of the woods hard by , appeared a headless body , which made for the beach with the utmost dispatch .
she was a terror to all their lives , and she made every spot where they had seen her , hideous to the living eye .
why did the boys and their father leave the country ?
why did the boys and their father leave the country ?