5Nearly every time he visits the Outer Banks, the author hears a new tale or another version of an old one and gets "that itch" to write it down for everyone to enjoy. That itch produced the seventeen stories in this fourth volume. There are tales of Indians and trappers, ghosts and firebirds, sea horses and sand dollars, romance and heartache. Some of the stories tell of eerie and frightening events. Some chronicle the history of the coast and its early inhabitants. Others tease us with the promise of love and happiness, only to end in tragedy and despair. Still others explain the strange habits and appearances of local flora and fauna in ways far more intriguing than the scientists do.