The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-03-31
copyright. 1897. by Julian Tawthorne.l
PAIsT j.

In the autumn 1881 L made morse
back tour through some of the less fire.
quented parts ef I~land as corre-
spondent of a London newspaper. Be-
ginning at the north and working south
ward. | found myself, about the end OF
October. at the smallviIlage of Kilcrea,
three hours ride west OF Cork. Here i
was Hospitality entertained by Father
O'Hea, the local priest, man OF educa-
tion and intelligence. Daring my two
days. stay with him. we became great
friends; we discussed politics. litera-
ture and sociey. and brcNved poteen.
At parting, he gave me as Keepsake an
old leather-bound volume. in manu-
script. of the sixteenth certury. From
the glance / cast through il, before slip
ping il into my pocket. judged it
sort of private family chronicle, certain
10 be curious. and possibly valuable.
And OHea. with nod of the head and
peculiar smile on his broad. genial coun-
tenancc. said: Faith. me dear friend,
ye'll find rare tales III it, but don't We be
reading itafther dark" / recognized the
value of this advice later. Meanwhile
] bade him hearty good-by and rode
off.
My objective point was Ballynean, to
The south and west; but the roads were
bad and not easy TO find. The country
was very desolate. though beautiful in
its own sad way. Bare hills, empty val
leys. rolling naked pastures, destitute
OF cultivation. cattle. or human beings.
Sometimes i saw in the distance the
roofess ruin of cabin. with perhaps
tree growing out of the midst of il.
But no Ballynean hove in sight. At
three o'clock halted by a4stream, wa
tered my horse, and ate n meal of bread
and cheese. Before had finished, there
was a threatening mass of clouds in the
west, and in a very short time the storm
was upon me.
II was All Hallow-e'en-when accord
ing to Irish superstition. fa.ries, ghosts
and geblias are free to hold carnival. 1
soon began to think that the storm
must be of their raising. The rain
lashed the ground fiecely: the wind
h;ssed past me in bewildeI.ing gusts;
Il gerw darker and darker; the weird
noises and the electrical phenomena
confused the senses. / finally allowed
my horse to take whatcourse he would.
Tie forged doggedly ahead, and after an
hour or two of uphill and down-hill
work. saw on my left CLEAN as of the
waters of lake. while on the right rose
an acclivity, just visible against the
sky, the murlSiness of which, covered as
il was with lowering clouds, was some
what lighte ned by the moon; though the
moon itself was of course invisible. AS
j peered up the height. i seemed 70 dis
Germ the rectangular outline of build
ing surmounting il. There were no
lights in il; but the occupants might
have gone to bed or it might be
deserted At all events / resolved TO
1pend the night there. md urging on
my horse. soon came beneath the walls
OF the edifice.
At the same moment the'wind died
away. the rain ceased to fall. and
through deep rift in the clouds, the
moon shone out. The storm was over,
Just when il had become Indifferent TO
me whether il continued or not-an-
other instant of conscious mischief on
the part of the hobgoblins. The house
was built of stone. and seemed TO be
large and rambling; il was neither a
castle nor an ordinary dwelling; it be-
longed to the type of country seats often
met with Tngland: was evidently
very ancient and had long since ceased
to he inhabited. found my way TO the
entrance and riding through il got into
a courtyard. the stone pavement or
which was overgrown with vegetation.
u was surrounded on all four sides by
tho walls of the building, with numer-
Gus unglazed windows revealed duslly
in the moonlight.
Stabling my horse in one of the open
rooms on the ground floor. / took out
Iny match safe, which luckily was filed
with wax matches. and set out on a
journey Of exploration.
What grim and strange old
labyrinth IL was. Room opened into
room intcrminably and irregularly; the
floors were rotten, the plaster had
fallen from the walls. damp fungous
GROWTH cONrTcu lHt ctlltHE.
Mysterious objects half defined them
selves in the glimmer east by the tiny
tapers which ! kept lighting one after
another. and black shadows seemed TO
march on either side Of me. The noise
of my footsteps awakened muttering
echoes in distant regions, and now and
then the ghostly fitting of bat or an
owl made me catch my breath. There
were soft wnisperings in remote cor
rcrs. and sounds like sighs. and low
chuclslings. and stealthy footballs. Nor
did the fact that was wet. cold and
hungry diminish the effect which all
this exercised upon my nervous sys-
TEN.
At length found a stairway. built
OF store. but partly in ruins. by means
OF which L succeeded in reaching the
second story. This was in condition
slightly less dilapidated than the
ground floor. but still forlorn and dis
maptled. Traces were disiinguishable
of q form OF grandeur: few rugs Of