notions—confided them to the landlord of the
mean hostelry. Breaking his faith, the wretch
sold the goods, and afterwards assured the fishermen
that, in consequence of an unexpected
approach of the revenue-officers, he had been
compelled to fling the deposit into the sea.
The truth was, however, revealed in some
manner to the worthy smugglers, and, inspired
with prophetic power, they said to the landlord,
in unison, "Thou hast committed thy last
theft."

All this occurred in the autumn. About
Christmas-time, the wicked islander was enjoying
himself on the continent, with a party of
friends, when he was suddenly struck with
paralysis, and exclaiming "That was the Skrat!"
died on the spot. The body was decently put into
a coffin, but on the following morning the coffin
was found shivered to fragments, and the
body, lacking the nose, lay upon the ground.
Another coffin was provided, which was more
gently opened than the first, and the body
was taken away altogether—of course by the
Skrat. The friends of the deceased could not
do much under these peculiarly distressing
circumstances, but still they did their best. They
carried the empty coffin to be buried with all
solemnity.

It is with real pleasure we record the wholesome
check put by an honest Eibo man upon a
prosaic investigator, who had ventured to doubt
the truth of this very awful and very moral tale.
The Eibo man had told his story to the investigator
just as we have given it, but the latter,
instead of receiving it in good faith, proceeded
to the church where the funeral had been held,
and looked over the registry. From this he
learned that the wicked landlord had died a
natural death on the 1st of November, 1847,
after an illness that had lasted six months, and
that he had been buried on the 5th of the same
month, without anything remarkable having
been noticed by the pastor. Proud of his
discovery, the investigator hastened back to the
Eibo man, and detailed the information he
had gathered. But the Eibo man was not
daunted. "How should the pastor know what
was inside the coffin?" This was his question;
and the story of the Skrat remained
triumphant.

To those who are lucky enough to secure the
services of a Skrat, it will bring money,
vegetables, hams, corn, linen, and even milk; but
we grieve to relate that it only obtains these
articles by stealing them from less favoured
mortals. A farmer's wife in the island of Dago,
finding that her cow yielded less than the proper
supply of milk, watched one fine night, and
perceived that the cause of deficiency was a little
child, who sank into the earth as soon as she
approached. It is not always that the Skrat
gets so quickly out of the way. An old parish
clerk of Nucko, returning home from the beer-
shop, met a great hulking fellow who carried on
his shoulder two gloves filled with corn, and
quizzed him for the lightness of his burden.
"Psha!" answered the churl, "I would not be
called Skrat if I could not carry more than
this." With these words he flung down the
gloves, which instantly swelled into two huge
sacks, and thrashed the clerk within an inch of
his life. Had not the pastor's dog set up a
louder bark than usual, and frightened the
Skrat away, even that inch might have been
consumed. A few crosses marked on a doorway,
or a few straws laid crosswise on the
threshold, are found efficient against the
depredations of the Skrat.

This serviceable friend will not only steal for
its master but will jealously guard his property.
In fact, its zeal borders on cruelty. A man at
Hapsal had a Skrat on his premises, which
burned off the hair of two light-fingered ladies
who came to rob the house, and frightened them
not only out of the domicile but out of their
wits. A woman in the same town had a portable
Skrat, no bigger than a flea, which she
carried about in a box, and which, when she let
it out, made the whole room glow as if with fire.
This good woman was once robbed by a neighbour
of a sum of money; but the thief, making
away with his spoil, heard such a noise behind
him that he lost his presence of mind, and bolted
into a hole in the ice, where he miserably
perished.

For performing the most arduous duties the
Skrat only requires his board, his favourite dainties
being bread-and-butter and two or three sorts
of porridge, which are set apart for him in a
special vessel. Sometimes this provision is the
subject of an express contract, and woe to the
man who does not faithfully comply with its
terms. A peasant of Kirtil, in Dago, who,
during harvest-time, forgot to give his Skrat the
stipulated bread-and-butter, and consequently
found all his straws thrown into disorder,
might think himself a very lucky fellow, for
at Nyby, a place on the continent, where an
ill-conditioned boy eat up the Skrat's food
and soiled the vessel that held it, the house
was reduced to ashes. This awful event took
place no further back than the Christmas of 1846.

This burning faculty seems to distinguish the
Skrat from the Scotch Brownie, with which it
has much in common, aud renders it particularly
terrible. At Kemis, in the island of Dago, a
man saw a Skrat flying through the air like a
great burning cat. He tore open the front of
his shirt, and, bending down, peeped at the
animal between his legs. The Skrat at once
vanished into a house, from which a small flame
was seen to issue. In three days the house was
entirely consumed, and during the time of the
conflagration the Skrat was often seen running
in and out of the house in the shape of a singed
cat. We suspect that the grotesque attitude
of the man meant malice; that he had a grudge
against the owner of the house into which he
charmed the Skrat by virtue of the ridiculous
posture.

As Skrats can make themselves useful on
occasion, we need not be surprised that Skrat-
catching is a regular occupation. An old blind
beggar-woman seems to have had a singular talent