“I call the Virgin Mary and St Bridget to witness
That if your hurt was caused by man,
Through ill-will,
Or the evil eye,
Or a wicked heart,
That you, Muireall, my daughter, may be whole—
And this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!”)
Just as she finished, and as she was lingering on the line, “Gu’m bi thusa, Muireall gu math” Rory, the blind collie, rose, whimpered, and stood with snarling jaws.
Strangely enough, Gorromalt heard this, though his ears had been deaf to all else, or so it seemed, at least.
“Down, Rory! down, beast!” he exclaimed, in a voice strangely shrill and weak.