The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

6i6 The Highland Monthly.
" What 7ms he going to do then ?" asked Alan Breac.
' To raise the Devil," was the startling reply.
The scene that followed this awful announcement was
a very impressive one. The group round the fire drew still
closer to each other, and bent their heads in the direction
of the speaker, who now lowered his voice almost to a
whisper. The room was in semi-darkness, for the lamp-
light having been extinguished when Aonghas Ban ceased
mending his net, only the lurid glare thrown by the peat-
fire in its immediate vicinity enabled the party to see each
other's faces, and Caesar, giving utterance to an occasional
low growl, stared with eyes that blinked, blinked, blinked,
towards the gloomy doorway, and the dark shadows had
now left the corners and extended themselves round the
walls, and darted hither and thither like the Merry Dancers
of the infernal regions,
"You see," continued the old man in a solemn voice,
" it was the custom long ago, when a dispute arose that
could not be otherwise settled, to appeal as a last resort to
the Devil, whose decision was considered final. He was
raised by the exercise of certain formalities, and it was
believed that the first words spoken by him on such occa-
sions were truthful, but that after he had answered the
particular question put to him it was impossible for him to
speak else than falsely. Well, the Chief ordered all the
lights to be lowered. Then he drew a circle with a piece
of chalk on the floor near one corner of the hall, and had
brought to him a table covered with black cloth, which he
placed so that one-half of it lay inside the circle. Then he
drew a corresponding part of a circle on the table, drew a
pair of black gloves over his hands, and ordered the two
young disputants to explain the cause of their quarrel.
When all this was done he told his servants to get him a
black cat, for whenever the Devil was raised it was
necessary to give him some live animal, otherwise he would
destroy the people in the house and then set fire to it.
When the black cat was produced, the Chief took it in his