she visiting the fair, she saw a man steal something from a stall, and with one corner of her eye recognised her old master. Unthinkingly she said, "How are you, Master? How are the children?" He replied, "How did you see me?" "With the corner of my eye," she replied. But from that moment she paid the long-deferred penalty for her curiosity, and became blind in her left eye, the sight of which she never recovered. It has long been a common belief that it is highly dangerous for a young lady to display curiosity in all matters of ghostly import, and many a German household tale gives the most thrilling details of disobedience in this respect. Stories, too, are told of young girls forecasting the future on the eve of their wedding day, and, through over curiosity, of their having a very different response to their inquiries from what they expected. Thus a certain damsel was warned against peeping into the looking-glass after she had performed various divinatory rites, but her curiosity led her to do so, whereupon she was horrified at seeing the figure of Death frowning at her. In many an old family residence there is the mysteriously haunted room, "of which the atmosphere is supernaturally fatal to body and mind." Hence, should curiosity foolishly induce any one to enter a room of this description, the effects are generally said to be more or less serious. Some few years ago the case was reported of a young lady whose curiosity caused her, despite all advice, to go into such a haunted room, but, adds the account," she saw, heard, and felt horror so intense that she went mad, and never recovered sanity enough to tell how or why." And, whilst speaking of woman's curiosity, there is the well-known story of the Lady Freemason, who, in a perhaps unique way, paid the penalty for her inquisitiveness. The lady in question was the Honourable Elizabeth St. Leger, and her father Lord Doneraile-a very zealous Mason-held a warrant and occasionally opened a lodge at Doneraile House. On one occasion it appears that previous to the initiation of a candidate to the first steps of Masonry, Miss St. Leger -either by accident or design-happened to be in an apartment adjoining the one used as a lodge room. Hearing the voices of the Freemasons, she thought it a good opportunity to see this mystery, and making a hole in the wall-which at this time was undergoing some alterationswith her scissors she suceeeded in gaining a view unobserved of the first two steps of the mystic ceremony. But, unfortunately for her curiosity, it had never occurred to her that there was no mode of egress except through the room where the Freemasons were assembled engaged in carrying out the concluding part of the second stage, and, as she stealthily opened the door," there stood before her, to her dismay, a grim and surly tiler with his long sword unsheathed. Go forward she could not, and, panic-struck, her shriek alarmed the members of the lodge, who, finding that she had witnessed their proceedings," resolved, it is said, at once "to put the fair spectatress to death; but her life was spared on condition of her going through the remaining steps of the mystic ceremony she had unlawfully witnessed." This young lady afterwards married Richard Aldworth, of Newmarket, and whenever a benefit was given at the theatres in Dublin or Cork, in aid of the Masonic Female Orphan Asylum, she walked at the head of the Freemasons with her apron and other insignia of Freemasonary, and sat in the front row of the stage-box. According to another version of this romantic story, Miss St. Leger concealed herself in an empty clock case, where she remained in her secret hiding-place for a considerable time, until, on being discovered secreted, she was compelled to become a member of the craft. Another equally strange traditionary account of woman's curiosity-the punishment for which is a striking illustration of the arbitrary state of affairs in Scotland in former days-was that of the wife of a lord of the Sessions, Lord Grange. It was suspected that the lady had by some manner or other contrived to learn the contents of some state papers of great consequence, and for fear she should divulge anything she had learnt therein, she was privately conveyed to the island of St. Kilda by her husband and son, where, on her arrival, she was to be left to shift for herself, the two sailing back again without any one having the slightest knowledge of what had transpired. The disappearance of Lady Grange soon be came a matter of comment, and although every effort was made to ascertain the place of concealment, it was to no purpose. Years passed without anything being heard of her, until accidentally after her death, which took place at the end or thirty years, her melancholy and romantic fate was ascertained. Her isolated island home afforded no implements for writing, but anxious to let posterity have some facts of her sad and eventful life, she worked it on her muslin apron with her hair. Further stories are to be found in family history and romance of the hardships and perils to which curiosity has subjected the indiscreet of the fair sex, this propensity having oftentimes subjected them to the most unenviable experiences. Truly, as it has been observed, "the over curious are not over wise," and to woman's curiosity may be added these warning words : "Search not to find what lies too deeply hid; Nor to know things whose knowledge is forbid." M SISTER LEGENDS "Nine maidens fair in life were they, Scotch Ballad. ANY interesting stories founded on the heroism and self-denying love of sisters are current in different parts of the country, and form an interesting chapter in the folk-lore of the fair sex. A pretty tradition told of the building of Linton Church, of which there are one or two versions, has already been given in a previous chapter, being only one of the numerous historic romances which in simple language tell of the beautiful sacrifice that in extreme emergency a sister's love has been ready, at one time or another, to make, and, as in this case, to save the brother's life. These traditionary stories, too, are not confined 1 See page 83, and "Church-Lore Gleanings." |