Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-10-30

duu pccpcu III.
She saw the old woman pour water
into large tub that stood in the middle
of the room, and place wooden dish in
it; and, full of interest and curiosity,
she walked into the cabin.
"There, wean, said Betty, "you
watch thon tub, an tell me what the
wee dish does, an I'll gle you piece wi
taste O butter an sugar on it,"
The witch crouched by the hearth,
with her pointed chin supported on her
skinny, claw-like hands. Her face was
thin and furrowed, her nose meagre and
hooked, her eyes cruel and cunning, and
the long teeth that her parted lips dis
closed while she muttered lamentations
looked cruel, too.
"What is it you're sayin', Betty"
asked the child.
"Watch the wee dish, child, an tell
me what you see."
ooh, Betty Betty! the dish is going
round an round in the tub"
More muttering.
"What's the dish doing now, Eileen
mavourneenW
cob! oh! OH Musha musha! It's
spinning round as fast as anythingl It's
turning overl There! It's full of water
---it's gone to the bottom of the tubl"
"That's right" and Betty rubbed
her skinny claws together, and grinned
with pleasure. "Thon's your daddy's
boat that's sunk in Tamney Lough," she
chuckled, can thon thief O the world,
thon rascal Tom Doolan, is in her. an
he'll be drowned. Curse him he sent
his boys to pelt me wi mud an stones.
Let him drown an burn" She con-
tinued, in lower tone:
"' Nae candle at his head
Nae priest beside his bed,
Nae winding sheet, nae hearse,
Nae coffin TOR his c0rse.'"
When little Eileen caught these dread
full words she became frightened, and
ran to the door. The sky was as clear rs
ever, except directly above the ozier
island on Tamney Tough, where heavy
cloud seemed to hang; while white
crested waves, driven by the wind,
washed over the upturned boat, which
dashed, rudderless, up and down upon
the rocky point of the island.
1t was a strange sight; the furious
storm was confined to that one spot,
while on all other sides the landscape
lay glowing in August sunshine.
My daddy's boats lostl He'll be
said the child, returning to
Betty's side, and beginning to cry
"Hurrah! hurrah!" cried the witch:
'Nae candle at his head,
Nae priest beside his bed"
The awfulness of the partial storm had
struck others besides little Eileen. Three
u four people in the village street had
zen the Tough become lashed into fury
n moment, and had also watched the
BOAT being overturned; and as quickly
Is possible another boat was launched,
md the bodies of Doolan and Devenny
we're sought for.
Jack Devenny was brought to shore,
ind after restoratives had been used, he
recovered consciousness.
Where's TAM" where's Tam7"
we're the first words he said.
eve Gamma get him." was the reply;
md Toms widow wrung her hands and
obbed bitterly.
"They'll no get him." chuckled Bet
", from her post of observation at the
cabin door on the hill overhanging
ramney Tough:
"'Nae winding-sheet, nae hearse,
Nae coffin for his corse.'"
One or two of the searchers overheard
ner, and they shook their fists in her
face with rage.
All that day and all the next day they
sought, but Tom Doolan's body could
L. I'D
found, and the lake was regarded with
horror for years.
But to return to the witch. Little
Eileen was an intelligent child, and she
told her father how Betty had babe her
watch the dish in the tub of water, while
she had been muttering low to herself;
how it had turned round and round,
sinking at last to the bottom; and how
Betty had exclaimed: "Ay, that's yer
fathers boat, an Tom Doolan, the thief
an villain, ill be drowned!"
Devenny was not quite so unnamed
by superstitious dread as his neighbors;
besides which, he was sorry for the loss
of his comrade, and he determined that
his loss should be avenged. Feeling his
way very cautiously, he found a couple
of accomplices among the kneeling crowd
in the chspel-yard next Sunday, and he
settled with them what was to be the
witch's fate.
One night, when all was silent in the
village of Tamney, the three men stole
out of Devenny's cottage, and cossted
the reedy edge of the Tough, in whose
gloomy depths poor Doolan was lying.
IL H. ~