'Laura Silver Bell' is a tale I first read in Ghost Stories and Mysteries by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a fairy story rather than a mystery. Laura Lew is the pretty foster daughter of Farmer Lew, who has reared her as his own since her mother rented two of his rooms and gave birth in one of them, dying ten days later. The mother's little silver bell is worn around Laura's neck.

Farmer Lew has been a good father in all respects but one: he hasn't had Laura baptized yet. This means the fairies can have power over her.

Mall Carke was the midwife at Laura's birth and we see the story through her eyes. Carke is a witch as well as a sage femme (wise woman), and she knows what's what. She warns Laura that her sweetheart isn't what she thinks he is. Can Mall Carke keep the 17-year-old safe until she can be baptized the next Sunday? Can she keep herself safe from the mysterious man in black?

Fair warning: some of the dialog is in dialect form. ( )