"Witch, beldame, devil!" he cried, "I charge you, by the power of God, begone—if you be dead, to the grave—if you be damned, to hell."
An' at that moment the Lord's ain hand out o' the Heevens struck the Horror whaur it stood; the auld, deid, desecrated corp o' the witch-wife, sae lang keepit frae the grave and hirsled round by deils, lowed up like a brunstane spunk and fell in ashes to the grund; the thunder followed, peal on dirling peal, the rairing rain upon the back o' that; and Mr. Soulis lowped through the garden hedge, and ran, wi' skelloch upon skelloch, for the clachan.
That same mornin', John Christie saw the Black Man pass the Muckle Cairn as it was chappin' six; before eicht, he gaed by the change-house at Knockdow; an' no lang after, Sandy M'Lellan saw him gaun linkin' doun the braes frae Kilmackerlie. There's little doubt but it was him that dwalled sae lang in Janet's body; but he was awa' at last; and sinsyne the deil has never fashed us in Ba'weary.
But it was a sair dispensation for the minister; lang, lang he lay ravin' in his bed; and frae that hour to this, he was the man ye ken the day.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
BY CHARLES DICKENS
Charles Dickens was a stanch friend not only of the child but of all humanity. No writer, perhaps, has succeeded in portraying so strikingly the humorous and pathetic in human character. Much of Dickens's reputation for ability in this direction is due to his success with the particular story given herewith. The man or woman who does not know Scrooge, the Ghost that scared him half to death, and what this story stands for, has still something to learn, both of literature and of life.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By CHARLES DICKENS