ese mysterious words:

"When the _mors du diable_ flourishes, reap the winter rye."

(The _mors du diable_ is the scabwort plant.)

"The ash tree is coming out in leaf. There will be no more frost."

"Summer solstice, thistle in flower."

"If it rain not in June, the wheat will turn white. Look out for
mildew."

"When the wild cherry appears, beware of the full moon."

"If the weather on the sixth day of the new moon is like that of the
fourth, or like that of the fifth day, it will be the same nine times
out of twelve, in the first case, and eleven times out of twelve in the
second, during the whole month."

"Keep your eye on neighbours who go to law with you. Beware of malicious
influences. A pig which has had warm milk given to it will die. A cow
which has had its teeth rubbed with leeks will eat no more."

"Spawning time with the smelts; beware of fevers."

"When frogs begin to appear, sow your melons."

"When the liverwort flowers, sow your barley."

"When the limes are in bloom, mow the meadows."

"When the elm-tree flowers, open the hot-bed frames."

"When tobacco fields are in blossom, close your greenhouses."

And, fearful to relate, these occult precepts were not without truth.
Those who put faith in them could vouch for the fact.

One night, in the month of June, when Gilliatt was playing upon his
bagpipe, upon the sand-hills on the shore of the Demie de Fontenelle, it
had happened that the mackerel fishing had failed.

One evening, at low water, it came to pass that a cart filled with
seaweed for manure overturned on the beach, in front of Gilliatt's
house. It is most probable that he was afraid of being brought before
the magistrates, for he took considerable trouble in helping to raise
the cart, and he filled it again himself.

A little neglected child of the neighbourhood being troubled with
vermin, he had gone himself to St. Peter's Port, and had returned with
an ointment, with which he rubbed the child's head. Thus Gilliatt had
removed the pest from the poor child, which was an evidence that
Gilliatt himself had originally given it; for everybody knows that there
is a certain charm for giving vermin to people.

Gilliatt was suspected of looking into wells--a dangerous practice with
those who have an evil eye; and, in fact, at Arculons, near St. Peter's
Port, the water of a well became unwholesome. The good woman to whom
this well belonged said to Gilliatt:

"Look here, at this wa