distressed her merciful heart. She followed her
aunt and cousins out into the open air with
downcast eyes and pale face. Grace Hickson
was going home with a feeling of triumphant
relief at the detection of the guilty one. Faith
alone seemed uneasy and disturbed beyond her
wont, for Manasseh received the whole transaction
as the fulfilment of a prophecy, and
Prudence was excited by the whole scene into a
state of discordant high spirits.

"I am quite as old as Hester Tappau," said
she; "her birthday is in September and mine in
October."

"What has that to do with it?" said Faith,
sharply.

"Nothing, only she seemed such a little thing
for all those grave ministers to be praying for,
and so many folk came from a distance—some
from Boston they said—all for her sake, as it
were. Why, didst thou see it was godly Mr.
Henwick that held her head when she wriggled
so, and old Madam Holbrook had herself helped
upon a chair to see the better. I wonder how
long I might wriggle before great and godly
folk would take so much notice of me? But I
suppose that comes of being a pastor's daughter.
She'll be so set up there'll be no speaking to her
now. Faith! thinkest thou that Hota really
had bewitched her? She gave me corn-cakes
the last time I was at Pastor Tappau's, just
like any other woman, only, perchance, a trifle
more good-natured; and to think of her being
a witch after all!"

But Faith seemed in a hurry to reach home,
and paid no attention to Prudence's talking.
Lois hastened on with Faith, for Manasseh was
walking alongside of his mother, and she kept
steady to her plan of avoiding him, even though
she pressed her company upon Faith, who had
seemed of late desirous of avoiding her.

That evening the news spread through Salem
that Hota had confessed her sin, had acknowledged
that she was a witch. Nattee was the
first to hear the intelligence. She broke into
the room where the girls were sitting with Grace
Hickson, solemnly doing nothing, because of
the great prayer-meeting in the morning, and
cried out, "Mercy, mercy, mistress, everybody!
take care of poor Indian Nattee, who never do
wrong, but for mistress and the family; Hota
one bad wicked witch, she say so herself; oh,
me! oh, me!" and stooping over Faith, she said
something in a low, miserable tone of voice, of
which Lois only heard the word "torture." But
Faith heard all, and turning very pale, half
accompanied, half led Nattee back to her kitchen.
Presently, Grace Hickson came in. She had
been out to see a neighbour; it will not do to
say that so godly a woman had been gossiping;
and, indeed, the subject of the conversation she
had held was of too serious and momentous a
nature for me to employ a light word to designate
there was all the listening and repeating
small details and rumours, in which the
speakers have no concern, that constitutes
gossiping; but in this instance, all trivial facts and
speeches might be considered to bear such dreadful
significance, and might have so ghastly an
ending, that such whispers were occasionally
raised to a tragic importance. Every fragment
of intelligence that related to Mr. Tappau's
household was eagerly snatched at; how his dog
howled all one long night through, and could
not be stilled; how his cow suddenly failed in
her milk only two months after she had calved;
how his memory had forsaken him one morning
for a minute or two in repeating the Lord's
Prayer, and he had even omitted a clause thereof
in his sudden perturbation; and how all these
forerunners of his children's strange illness
might now be interpreted and understood—this
had formed the staple of the conversation
between Grace Hickson and her friends. There
had arisen a dispute among them at last as to how
far these subjections to the power of the Evil
One were to be considered as a judgment upon
Pastor Tappau for some sin on his part; and if
so, what? It was not an unpleasant discussion,
although there was a good deal of difference of
opinion; for as none of the speakers had had
their families so troubled, it was rather a proof
that they had none of them committed any sin.
In the midst of all this talk, one, entering in from
the street, brought the news that Hota had
confessed all, had owned to signing a certain little
red book which Satan had presented to her,
had been present at impious sacraments, had
ridden through the air to Newbury Falls, and,
in fact, had assented to all the questions which
the elders and magistrates, carefully reading
over the confessions of the witches who had
formerly been tried in England, in order that
they might not omit a single inquiry, had asked
of her. More she had owned to, but things of
inferior importance, and partaking more of the
nature of earthly tricks than of spiritual power.
She had spoken of carefully adjusted strings, by
which all the crockery in Pastor Tappau's house
could be pulled down or disturbed; but of such
intelligible malpractices the gossips of Salem
took little heed. One of them said that such an
action showed Satan's prompting, but they all
preferred to listen to the grander guilt of the
blasphemous sacraments and supernatural rides.
The narrator ended with saying that she was
to be hung the next morning, in spite of her
confession, even although her life had been promised
to her if she acknowledged her sin; for it was
well to make an example of the first-discovered
witch, and it was also well that she was an
Indian, a heathen, whose life would be no great
loss to the community. Grace Hickson on this
spoke out. It was well that witches should
perish off the face of the earth, Indian or
English, heathen, or worse, a baptised Christian
who had betrayed the Lord, even as Judas did,
and had gone over to Satan. For her part, she
wished that the first-discovered witch had been
a member of a godly English household, that it
might be seen of all men that religious folk
were willing to cut off the right hand, and pluck
out the right eye, if tainted with this devilish
sin. She spoke sternly and well. The last
comer said that her words might be brought to