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came, and the Ancient ith me"

"Ah! an' wheer did 'e find ye, Peter?--come, speak up an' tell us"

"In the Hollow," I answered

"Ay, 'e found 'ee in the very spot wheer the Wanderer o' the

Roads 'ung 'isself, sixty an' six years ago"

"There is nothing very strange in that!" said I

"What's e

throwin' th' 'aest man in all the South

Country!"

"I beat hie in that either"

"An' then, you lives all alone in that theer ghashly 'Oller--an'

you fights, an' struggles wi' devils an' demons, all in the wind

an' rain an' tearin' tempest--an' what's most of all--you comes

back--alive; an' what's more yet, wi' devil-marks upon ye an'

your throat all tore wi' claws Old Gaffer be over proud o'

findin' ye, but old Gaffer be dodderin'--dodderin' 'e be, an'

fulish wi' years; 'e'd ha' done much better to ha' left ye alone

--I've heerd o' folk sellin' theirselves to the devil afore now,

I've likewise heerd o' the 'Evil Eye' afore now--ah! an' knows

one when I sees it"