In offering a second volume of Pennsylvania mountain legends and folktales to the reading public, the author does so with a note of appreciation to all who found the first volume of legends of interest - public and press alike. The old stories and folktales which appeared in my Pennsylvania Fireside Tales Volume 1 and which seemed to strike a "chord" within me, also apparently appealed to others as well.

Most people like these survivors from a bygone day - a time that was simpler in many ways than this present hectic age. In turn, these "survivors" not only help to perpetuate that feeling of kinship some of us feel toward these rugged Pennsylvania hills, but they also connect us to a rich fabric of history and to the people who lived it.

With that link or connection, they cause us to feel closer to the past; our life's span seems extended, and we seem less mortal. It is with this background, then, that this second volume of Pennsylvania fireside tales is presented for the public's reading enjoyment.

As explained in the first volume of this series, the title "fireside tales" comes from the fact that these stories and legends are variants of, or are exactly like, episodes that were related by early settlers sitting around their fireplaces on cold winter evenings when story-telling was the only form of entertainment by which to relax. Return now to those days of old when the pace was slower and life was harder.

Keep in mind, however, that people then seemed content with their lot, finding pleasure in simple things like a wolf's howl, a panther's cry, a firefly's glow, or a flaming sunset sinking slowly behind the everlasting hills. In this volume:The Black Ghost of ScotiaJuniata GapThrough the VeilSnakes, Snakes, SnakesThe Lower FortSpellboundLast of the Big ShotsHaunts of the HighwayMore SnakesLittle Red Riding Hood?Burned at the StakeRiddenDead for Three Days?Mollie Maguire MemoriesSitting with the DeadThe ThrowbackBloody RunBeyond BeliefJack’s NarrowsNights in the Colby NarrowsWestern Pennsylvania Wolf Days.