The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

A Ceilidh. 617
hand and placed it on the table, so that its fors-part was
within the magic circle, and then he chanted strange words
in an unknown tongue, calling on the Devil to appear, and
reminding him that he was powerless to go beyond the
bounds of the magic circle. But just as the Chief and
those standing near him expected to see the Evil One pre-
sent himself, the door of the hall was suddenly thrown
open, and a fearful cry was raised that the castle was on
fire. Then a rush was made to the door, but it was too
late, for the fire had already cut off all means of escape, and
the next moment, amid the heartrending cries of the
doomed inmates, the roof fell in, burying every man and
woman in the castle except the head butler, who in a dying
state managed to escape by a back door."
At this moment Caesar uttered a loud growl and sprang
towards the door. He stopped half-way and with elevated
tail and lowered head commenced to bark furiously. All
eyes were now directed towards the door, and an indescrib-
able scene of confusion followed when a large black object
was indistinctly seen in the darkness. The girls screamed
and clutched the arms of the young men, who took
advantage of the opportunity to draw their fair friends
closer to them, assuring them in endearing terms that they
were quite safe. Seoras Glas called Caesar to his side, and
Aonghas Ban cautiously approached the unknown intruder,
and became all of a sudden very brave on discovering that
the cause of the alarm was only one of his own cows that
had broken its halter, and thus got out of its stall. When
order was at last restored, Seoras Glas returned to his
subject.
"The head butler succumbed to his injuries a few days
after the dreadful catastrophe, and it was he who gave an
account of the manner in which that memorable Sunday
morning was spent in Glenard Castle. Ever since then it
is said that a ghost resembling that seen by Sandy
Stewart, the drover, has been haunting the neighbourhood
of the castle, but no one has ever spoken to it."