r about half an hour, she heard
something that almost fairly knocked her up. It was the voice of a
woman, crying and wailing in the greatest distress, as if all belonging
to her were under-boord.

"When Sally heard it first, she thought it was nothing but the whistling
of the wind; but it soon came again, more sorrowful than before, and as
the storm arose, it rose upon the blast along with it, so strange and
mournful that she never before heard the like of it. 'The Lord be about
us!' said she to herself, 'what can that be at all?--or who is it? for
its not Nelly,' maning her sister-in-law. Again she listened, and there
was, sobbing and sighing in the greatest grief, and she thought she
heard it louder than ever, only that this time it seemed to name
whomsoever it was lamenting. Sally now got up and put her ear to the
door, to see if she could hear what it said. At this time the wind
got calmer, and the voice also got lower; but although it was still
sorrowful, she never heard any living Christian's voice so sweet, and
what was very odd, it fell in fits, exactly as the storm sunk, and rose
as it blew louder.

"When she put her ear to the chink of the door, she heard the words
repeated, no doubt of it, only couldn't be quite sure, as they wern't
very plain; but as far as she could make any sense out of them, she
thought that it said--'Oh, Larry M'Farland!--Larry M'Farland!--Larry
M'Farland!'

"Sally's hair stood on end when she heard this; but on listening again,
she thought it was her own name instead of Larry's that it repeated,
and that it said, 'Sally M'Farland!--Sally M'Farland!--Sally M'Farland!'
Still she wasn't sure, for the words wern't plain, and all she could
think was, that they resembled her own name or Larry's more than any
other words she knew. At last, as the wind fell again, it melted away,
weeping most sorrowfully, but so sweetly, that the likes of it was never
heard. Sally then went to bed, and the poor woman was so harrished with
one thing or another, that at last she fell asleep."

"'Twas the Banshee," said Shane Fadh.

"Indeed it was nothing else than that same," replied M'Roarkin.

"I wonder Sally didn't think of-that," said Nancy--"sure she might know
that no living crathur would be out lamenting under such a night as that
was."

"She did think of that," said Tom; "but as no Banshee ever followed
_her own_* family, didn't suppose that it could be such a thing; but she
forgot that it might