Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-09-27

0din, where thousands have been
made man and wife in their day, Go
you nearer to the stone, wife of Mac
Kenneth, and you shall be married
there too, IL you're me- afraid@'
DO / look afraldy said with
smile; and she smiled back at me.
Put your hand--closed, so-through
the hole in the stone l obeyed with
some difficulty, for the hole was I'M
evenly cut, and its edges We're jagged.
Now" said the witch, open your
hand, and hold it so, and now say
after me-
/ hesitated moment, and then re-
peated after her In the name of the
One-E Eyed, the name OF Odin, l hold
thee and have thee through this life.
and that life, and all lives TO follow.
1 call thee and keep thee my hand for
the witness. my lips for thy kissing,
my strength for thy weakness, my
tears for thy sorrow, my breast for thy
head when thou boune thee 10 sleep
ing, my life for thy Calling" Then
she stopped and looked vaguely at me
and beyond me. and | finished the
oath with words that rose in my
mind, though l had never heard them
before
My life for thy calling, my death
for thy living. Hear, Thor, and hear,
Odin, and Hector MacKenneth."
Then | drew my hand out from the
hole and turned to the witch; but the
next minute / saw that her thoughts
were not with me or with this ma
terial world at all, and went softly
away, leaving her standing with her
back to the sea, and her eyes fixed on
the great stone, listening, listening in
tently and vainly with her hand
against her ear.
SO | saw her the next time | passed
her neat cottage She had been gath
ering some herbs, and now she stood
listening again, with the herbs held
tightly to her breast. This time
stopped to speak to her. Lief Mac
Kenneth" / said quietly. "are you
not going to give your sister the morns
greeting"
She gave me quick. Wild wonder
ing look, and her eyes filed with sud
den sunshine. God bless you for the
MacKenneth," she said earnestly,
! land for the sisterhood. But you must
not stop with me today"
"Whyg / said I'VE are not going
to have a storm, Lief"
| Are we no'?', she laughed
Woman, dear, you're no Zctlander
There'll be storm on us inside of an
i hour, and a black wind strong enough
to blow the heart out o your breast,
| orr
"Or the dead cut of their graves" j
said with meaning, and her face
lighted up again.
maybe" she muttered, maybe.
/ Now 90 home, you wife of MacKen-
meth, and dream O. your man, and the
BARNS to be. Oh, ay," as drew back
/ flushing holly. Pm not a witch for
nothing, and / can see their shadows
round you, Eleanor MacKenneth, two,
three and four. Now'-she turned
and caught my hands in hers and
kissed rue ON lips and cheek and fore
head with eager close kisses. There
now 20 home, Eleanor. woman, and
shut the storm out. When do you go
to your own home-soon?"
Next week" | answered. Il told
Hector to expect me on Thursday
.Ay: and fine calm journey to you,
dear heart. But I'll no see you again.
Go now. and goodby, woman, dear"
I heard very little Of the storm that
night. for / slept as soundly as a
child; and when toward morning !
| began to dream. my dreams were
pleasant enough, thought they were all
Of Lief. The last dream Of all was
the one which made the deepest I'M
preston on me. 1t was Of Lief again.
/ but as / had never seen her. Young,
and with wonderful shy gladness in
her eyes, she stood at the door OF her
cottage in the driving rain with her
hand fast in the hands Of a man with
I fair hair and bold blue eyes, younger
edition of my own husband. ] saw
them kiss each other. and then !
/ woke.
Ronald has come back to her" /
! said to myself as ! rubbed my drowsy
i eyes; and somehow I was not in the
4 least surprised or grieved when mine
4 hostess came in later on in the morn
/ ing to tell me that the storm had
wrecked half score of houses, and
had blown the witch's cabin ont to
sea. Nothing was ever heard of the
witch herself; but after little while
my husband and had a pine wood
cross put up close to the stone OF
odin, and on 1t we wrote the two
names, Lief and Ronald And In the
small church of Kirk-Harold. where
Lief was christened we put up
tablet to the glory OF God and In low
| ing memory OF Ronald MacKenneth
and Lief. his wife Macmillan's Maya