“The island was only temporarily inhabited by a few people who had cattle and horses grazing there for some weeks in the year, and after this catastrophe they felt peculiarly lonely, and sought refuge from their thoughts by all spending the evening together in one house.  This particular evening they were all seated round the fire having a chat, when they heard steps approaching the door.  Though the approach was fine, soft sand, yet the steps were audible as if coming on hard ground.  They knew there was no one on the island save the few who were sitting quietly round the fire, and so in eager expectation they faced round to the door.  What was their amazement when the door opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered man appeared and filled the whole doorway—­and that man the captain who had been buried several days previously.  He wore the identical suit in which he had often visited the island and even the “cheese-cutter” cap, so common a feature of sea-faring men’s apparel, was not wanting.  All were struck dumb with terror, and a woman who sat in a corner opposite the door, exclaimed in Irish in a low voice to my father: 

“‘O God!  Patrick, there’s the captain.’

“My father, recovering from the first shock, when he saw feminine courage finding expression in words, said in Irish to the apparition: 

“‘Come in!’

“They were so certain of the appearance that they addressed him in his own language, as they invariably talked Irish in the district in those days.  But no sooner had he uttered the invitation than the figure, without the least word or sign, moved back, and disappeared from their view.  They rushed out, but could discover no sign of any living person within the confines of the island.  Such is the true account of an accident, by which three men lost their lives, and the ghostly sequel, in which one of them appeared to the eyes of four people, two of whom are yet alive, and can vouch for the accuracy of this narrative.”

GROUP III

We now come to the third group of this chapter, in which we shall relate two first-hand experiences of tragedies being actually witnessed some time before they happened, as well as a reliable second-hand story of an apparition being seen two days before the death occurred.  The first of these is sent by a lady, the percipient, who desires that her name be suppressed; with it was enclosed a letter from a gentleman who stated that he could testify to the truth of the following facts: 

“The morning of May 18, 1902, was one of the worst that ever dawned in Killarney.  All through the day a fierce nor’-wester raged, and huge white-crested waves, known locally as ‘The O’Donoghue’s white horses,’ beat on the shores of Lough Leane.  Then followed hail-showers such as I have never seen before or since.  Hailstones quite as large as small marbles fell with such rapidity, and seemed so hard that the glass in the windows of the room in which I stood appeared to be about to break into fragments every moment.  I remained at the window, gazing out on the turbulent waters of the lake.  Sometimes a regular fog appeared, caused by the terrible downpour of rain and the fury of the gale.