The pedlar and his pack

On a dark December night Alice the housekeeper opened the door to a handsome pedlar. He told her a tale of woe about having walked from Belfast with his heavy burden and asked if she would put him up for the night. The master of the house was staying in the city that night and Alice informed him that she could not take him in. Having accepted this he bartered with her to look after his heavy pack while he sought alternative accommodation in the area. Alice initially said no but reluctantly after much persuasion she took his pack. She was informed that it contained delicate goods and that it must remain as he placed it - hanging between the seats of two chairs in the kitchen. She bid him farewell as he went off into the night.

Walking into the kitchen later in the evening, Alice noticed, to her horror, in the corner of her eye that the bag appeared to be moving. It seem to stop at once when her presence was known. Doubting what she had seen, Alice entered the room on two more occasions to try and catch the bag moving, on the second she was convinced. She ran out to the outhouses to find Richard an older man who resided in the house with her and Edward, a sixteen year old youth. Richard was unconvinced but when Edward returned to the house from a day’s shoot he entered the kitchen to discover the pack moving too.

All three couldn’t decide what to do and so Edward quite rashly decided that he should fire a shot into the bag. Upon doing so the bag immediately gushed blood onto the floor. All three rushed to tear the bag open and to their horror discovered a small muscular man wielding a knife in one hand and a whistle in the other. Edward was immediately able to make sense of the situation.

The master of the house had spent many years in India and had accumulated a wealth. He had returned to the ancestral home in Lecale with a fortune of £10,000. The man in the pack was the Trojan horse and upon the house falling silent would have used the knife to free himself and the whistle to summon the pedlar and raid the house. Deciding on the next course of action Edward decided they should call around their neighbours and set up an armed guard in the house. The group decided to wait until midnight to blow on the whistle. On doing so, within five minutes a large body on men on horseback arrived at the house.

The group set about firing their arms at them and they soon fled. Four of the party lay dead in the courtyard. Some returned before sunrise to remove their fallen comrades. When the master of the house heard of the bravery of Alice, Richard, and Edward he rewarded them for their service. Edward was made the gamekeeper and lived to a ripe old age.

He was often visited by the ghost of the small man and was disturbed by these visits so he called upon the priest for advice. The next time the ghost appeared Edward questioned, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost what do you want from me?” The ghost informed him of a guilt that was burdening him. Edward was informed of a stolen treasure which the man had buried which should be returned to its rightful owner. Since doing this Edward was never again visited by the ghost.