, with great self-command, she feigned it, closed her eyes, and
even began to snore. On this the traveller got up, pulled out of his
pocket a dead man's hand, fitted a candle to it, lighted the candle, and
passed hand and candle several times before the servant girl's face,
saying as he did so: "Let those who are asleep be asleep, and let those
who are awake be awake." This done, he placed the light on the table,
opened the outer door, went down two or three of the steps which led
from the house to the road, and began to whistle for his companions. The
girl (who had hitherto had presence of mind enough to remain perfectly
quiet) now jumped up, rushed behind the ruffian, and pushed him down
the steps. She then shut the door, locked it, and ran upstairs to try
and wake the family, but without success: calling, shouting, and shaking
were alike in vain. The poor girl was in despair, for she heard the
traveller and his comrades outside the house. So she ran down again,
seized a bowl of blue (_i.e._ skimmed milk), and threw it over the hand
and candle; after which she went upstairs again, and awoke the sleepers
without any difficulty. The landlord's son went to the window, and asked
the men outside what they wanted. They answered that if the dead man's
hand were but given them, they would go away quietly, and do no harm to
anyone. This he refused, and fired among them, and the shot must have
taken effect, for in the morning stains of blood were traced to a
considerable distance.

These circumstances were related to my informant, Mr Charles Wastell, in
the spring of 1861, by an old woman named Bella Parkin, who resided
close to High Spital, and was actually the daughter of the courageous
servant-girl.

It is interesting to compare them with the following narrations,
communicated to me by the Rev. S. Baring Gould:--"Two magicians having
come to lodge in a public-house with a view to robbing it, asked
permission to pass the night by the fire, and obtained it. When the
house was quiet, the servant-girl, suspecting mischief, crept downstairs
and looked through the keyhole. She saw the men open a sack, and take
out a dry, withered hand. They anointed the fingers with some unguent,
and lighted them. Each finger flamed, but the thumb they could not
light; that was because one of the household was not asleep. The girl
hastened to her master, but found it impossible to arouse him. She tried
every other sleeper, but could not break the