"But, Sir, I heard the death-watch several times when my sister was ill of a decline, and she died about six months afterwards. I said she would die. I was quite sure she would."
"Very likely; and though you may trace a connection between her disorder and her death, yet what connection can you trace between the noise of this little insect and her death?"
"But, Sir, since the screech owl left my window, our dog has done nothing but howl for the last two nights. O! it is so dismal to lie awake and hear it. It makes me tremble like an aspen leaf."
"And do you think that the howling of the dog is a prognostic of your death, any more than the death of either of your servants?"
"I remember, Sir, the dog howled most awfully just before my grandmother died: and when she heard it she said she should be sure to die, and she did die sure enough."
"And how old, Madam, was your grandmother when she died?"
"Ninety-two, all but four weeks and three days."
"And she really did hear the dog howl some short time before her death?"
"Yes, Sir, about five nights before she died; and all the servants heard it; and they were so frightened; and they all said, nothing can save her after these howlings."
"Very likely; and as most dogs occasionally howl in the night, it would be very strange if some person did not die after such howlings; but can we suppose that the Supreme Being employs shooting stars, insects, owls, and dogs, to announce to us the approach of our death?"