"'Now this beats a',' muttered his wife to herself; 'however, I shall be
obedient for a time; but if I dinna ken what all this is for before the
morn by sunket-time, my tongue is nae langer a tongue, nor my hands worth
wearing.'

"The voice of her husband in prayer interrupted this mental soliloquy;
and ardently did he beseech to be preserved from the wiles of the fiends
and the snares of Satan; from witches, ghosts, goblins, elves, fairies,
spunkies, and water-kelpies; from the spectre shallop of Solway; from
spirits visible and invisible; from the Haunted Ships and their unearthly
tenants; from maritime spirits that plotted against godly men, and fell
in love with their wives--'

"'Nay, but His presence be near us!' said his wife, in a low tone of
dismay. 'God guide my gudeman's wits: I never heard such a prayer from
human lips before. But, Sandie, my man, Lord's sake, rise. What fearful
light is this? Barn and byre and stable maun be in a blaze; and Hawkie,
and Hurley, Doddie, and Cherrie, and Damsonplum will be smoored with
reek, and scorched with flame.'

"And a flood of light, but not so gross as a common fire, which ascended
to heaven and filled all the court before the house, amply justified the
good-wife's suspicions. But to the terrors of fire Sandie was as
immovable as he was to the imaginary groans of the barren wife of Laird
Laurie; and he held his wife, and threatened the weight of his right
hand--and it was a heavy one--to all who ventured abroad, or even
unbolted the door. The neighing and prancing of horses, and the
bellowing of cows, augmented the horrors of the night; and to any one who
only heard the din, it seemed that the whole onstead was in a blaze, and