"'Shoot a dead body,' said I, 'where's the harm?' Besides, what is
that salt there for?'
"'To keep away evil spirits,' was the reply.
"'Very well,' said I, 'my pistol will scare them away as well.' Then,
cocking it with a loud clink, I presented it slowly at the coffin."
"The lid all at once flew off--the salt-was thrown on the ground with
a crash--the defunct suddenly returned from the other world in perfect
health, and sat half upright in his bier. I did not recognize the
individual at first, but, on closer inspection, found him to be my
communicative companion of the preceding night--the horse-stealer of
the 'Molly Bawn;' and, being a stout young fellow, he was harnessed to
the others, and we commenced our march to the boats."
"You do not appear to have had much trouble in effecting the capture,"
remarked Fritz.
"No; the men were unarmed, and were nearly all intoxicated. You never
saw such a troop; scarcely one of them could walk straight; they
assumed all sorts of figures; the file of prisoners was just like a
bar of music, it was a string of quavers, crotchets, and zig-zags.
Luckily, it was late at night, else we might have had the village
about our ears, and, instead of flakes of snow and screeching
weathercocks, we might have had a shower of dead cats and rotten eggs.
Probably a rescue might have been attempted; at all events, we might
have calculated on a volley of brickbats on our way to the boats.
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