The
next morning, to the astonishment of the people, there was not visible
a trace or fragment of the bonfires; I every vestige of them had
disappeared; and the general impression now was, that there must have
been something evil and unhallowed connected with the individual for
whom they had been prepared.
CHAPTER VI. Shawn-na-Middogue
--Shan-Dhinne-Dhuv, or The Black Spectre.
The next evening was calm and mild; the sun shone with a serene and
mellow light from the evening sky; the trees were green, and still; but
the music of the blackbird and the thrush came sweetly from their
leafy branches. Henry Woodward had been listening to a rather lengthy
discussion upon the subject of the blood-shower, which, indeed, was the
topic of much conversation and great wonder throughout the whole parish.
His father, a Protestant gentleman, and with some portion of
education, although not much, was, nevertheless, deeply imbued with
the superstitions which prevailed around him, as, in fact, were most of
those who existed in his day; the very air which he breathed was rife
with them; but what puzzled him and his family most was the difficulty
which they found in shaping the prodigy into significance.
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