But it was all in
vain. Elspat MacTavish was never found, whether
dead or alive; nor could there ever be traced the
slightest circumstance to indicate her fate.
The neighbourhood was divided concerning the
cause of her disappearance. The credulous thought
that the evil spirit, under whose influence she seemed
to have acted, had carried her away in the body;
and there are many who are still unwilling, at untimely
hours, to pass the oak-tree, beneath which,
as they allege. she may still be seen seated according
to her wont. Others less superstitious supposed,
that had it been possible to search the gulf of
the Corri Dhu, the profound deeps of the lake, or
the whelming eddies of the river, the remains of
Elspat MacTavish might have been discovered; as
nothing was more natural, considering her state of
body and mind, than that she should have fallen in
by accident, or precipitated herself intentionally
into one or other of those places of sure destruction.
The clergyman entertained an opinion of his
own. He thought that, impatient of the watch
which was placed over her, this unhappy woman's
instinct had taught her, as it directs various domestic
animals, to withdraw herself from the sight of
her own race, that the death-struggle might take
place in some secret den, where, in all probability,
her mortal relics would never meet the eyes of
mortals.
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