Fairy darts are generally aimed at the fingers, causing the joints to
swell and grow red and inflamed. An eminent fairy-woman made the cure
of fairy darts her speciality, and she was sent for by all the country
round, and was generally successful. But she had no power unless
_asked_ to make the cure, and she took no reward at the time; not till
the patient was cured, and the dart extracted. The treatment included
a great many prayers and much anointing with a salve, of which she
only had the secret. Then she proceeded to extract the dart with great
solemnity, working with a small instrument, on the point of which she
finally produced the dart. This proved to be a bit of flax artfully
laid under the skin by the malicious fairies, causing all the evil,
and of course on seeing the flax no one could doubt the power of the
operator, and the grateful patient paid his fee.