Evening star., 1928-01-04
WORLD FAMOUS STORIES
BY J TODIfENTER.
LILY AND THE BANSHEE

I'm ireland the banshee Is supposed 70
l,c q WaiIin9 fairy who ati"nd@ trrtain Oil
tann'nirs & ana none ,nt hnt lhrm 1, and wails
the cry or moan nsad ~ IN" if'sh ncasartrg
the banshee's WALL
..w, the banshec, sir? Wen, sir. az
was striving to tell ye, was going
home from work one day, from Mr.
cassidys that ! tould ye OF. in the
dusk o. the evening. J had more nor
II milc--aye, It Was nearer twO mile
to throck to, where / was IOdgin'
with n dacent WILDLY woman / knew.
Biddy Mcguire be name, 30 as to be
near me work.
II was the first week in November.
an n lonesome read ! had to travel.
an dark enough, wid thre"s above 1T;
an about Railways there was bit Of
bridge / had TO cross, over one
y them little sthrames that runs into
the Doddher. ! walked on in the
middle iv the road for there was no
toe-path at that time, nor for many
% long day after that.
But, as / was sayin'. 7 walked
| along till come nigh upon the
| bridge, where the road was bit
open, an there. right enough, I seen
the hogs back o the Ould-fashloned
bridge that used To he there till it
|
stoamin' up out Of the water all
| Well. now. often as I'll passed by
| tn place before, that night ii
seemed stranger to me, an like a
place ye might see In Il dhram". An
as / come up to it 1 began to feel
n could wind blowin' through the
| hollow q me heart.
"Musha Thomas" sez 7 to meself.
''is it yersolf that's in it?" seZ I: ''or.
If 1t is, what's the matter wid ye at
all. at all?" seq /.
| So / put a b0uld face on 1t. an
made a struggle TO set one leg
afore the other. ontil / came TO tn"
rise o the bridge. And there, God
he good to us. in corner o the
wall I seen an ould woman, as /
thought, sittin' i'm squatt!ng posi-
tion, all crouched together. an her
head bowed down, seeminly in her
greatest affiiction.
Well. sir. 1 pitied the ould cray
thur. an though l wasn't worth n
penny. for the mortal fright / was
in. l up an sez 10 her:
That's a could lodgin' for ye,
ma am"
Well. there's nothin' she sez 10
that. nor TUX no more notice O me
than IL I hadn's let word out o
me. but KEEP rockin' herself TO an
fro, as IL her heart was breakin'
ST seq to her again:
"Eh. ma'am. il there anythin' the
matthcr wild ye?"
An / made for to touch her on
the shoulder. on'y somethin'
stopped me, for as l looked closer
at her ! saw she was no more an
ould woman nor she was an ould
| sFsH~ -
was her hair. that was stealth down
over her shoulders. Oh, but that was
the hair. The likes OF il | never
seen on mortal woman. young or Ould,
before ner sence. II grew as sthrong
out of her AZ out Of e'er young slip
of girl We could see; but the color
OF il was msthery TO describe.
The first squint got of it | thought
il was Silvery gray. like an ould
crone's. but when l got up beside her
| saw. be the glance o the sky. II was
n sort iv an Iscariot color, an shine
out of II like silk floss. IL ran over
her shoulders and the two shapely
arms she was lanin' her head on, and
then | persaved that the gray cloak
and the geen gowned undhernaith II
was made OF no earthly material /
ever laid eyes on.
| Now needn't tell We. sir. that / seen
nil this in the twinkle OF bedpost-
long as ! take 10 tell IL. So ] made a
/ step hack from her. an The Lord re
! hetune us an harm" seq I. out loud.
an wild that / blessed myself Well,
/ the word wasn't out o me mouth atore
: she turned her face on me. Twas the
lwfulest apparition ever / seen, the
face OF her as she looked up at me.
Twas as pale as a corpse. an a most
I q freckies on IL. like the freCkles on
turkeys egg. An the two eyes were
sewn in wild red thread. from the ter
rihie power o cryin' she had to do.
An they were blue, an as could az
the moon in a hog.hole Of frosty
night. an deadan'l!ve look in them
that sent n could shiver through the
MARIA o me bones,
Ye could ha rung n taycupful o
could paspiration out o the hair . me
head that minute. SO We could. Well,
| thought the life 'ud lave me intirely
when she rig up ill., bedad she looked
mostly as tail as a pillar. an Wild the
TWO eyes gain back at me. an her
two arms stretched out before her.
an O keen out OF her that rtx the hair
~ me scalp ill il was as still as the
hogs bristles in new hearth broom.
away she ElideS-glides round the
angle OF the bridge. an down with
her into the sihrame that ran undhcr
naith il. Twas then began 10 SgS-
prct what she was.
| made great sthruggle 10 gct