CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Rattlesnake Makes a Spring.
It was a Thursday afternoon, and the "afflicted circle" was having oneof its informal meetings at the house of Mistress Ann Putnam. At thesemeetings the latest developments were talked over; and all the scandalof the neighborhood, and even of Boston and other towns, gathered anddiscussed. Thus in the examination of Captain Alden in addition to thematerial charges of witchcraft against him, which I have noted, wereentirely irrelevant slanders of the grossest kind against his moralcharacter which the "afflicted girls" must have gathered from very lowand vulgar sources.
The only man present on this occasion was Jethro Sands; and the girls,especially Leah Herrick, could not but wonder who now was to be "criedout against," that Jethro was brought into their counsels.
It is a curious natural instinct which leads every faculty--even thebasest--to crave more food in proportion to the extent in which it hasbeen already gratified. In the first place, the "afflicted" girls nodoubt had their little spites, revenges, and jealousies to indulge, butafterwards they seemed to "cry out" against those of whom they hardlyknew anything, either to oblige another of the party, or to punish foran expressed disbelief in their sincerity, or even out of the merewantonness of power to do evil.
Mistress Ann Putnam opened the serious business of the afternoon, afteran hour or so had been spent in gossip and tale-bearing, by an accountof some recent troubles of hers.
"A few nights ago," said she, "I awakened in the middle of the nightwith choking and strangling. I knew at once that a new 'evil hand' wasupon me; for the torment was different from any I had ever experienced.I thought the hand that grasped me around the throat would have killedme--and there was a heavy weight upon my breast, so that I could hardlybreathe. I clutched at the thing that pressed upon my breast, and itfelt hard and bony like a horse's hoof--and it was a horse. By the faintmoonlight I saw it was the wild black 'familiar' that belongs to thesnake-marked witch, Dulcibel Burton. But the hand that grasped my throatwas the strong hand of a man. I caught a sight of his face. I knew itwell. But I pity him so much that I hesitate to reveal it. I feel as ifI would almost rather suffer myself, than accuse so fine a young man ashe seemed to be of such wicked conduct."
"But it appears to me that it is your duty to expose him, MistressPutnam," said Jethro Sands. "I know the young man whose spectre you saw,for he and that black witch of a mare seem to be making their nightlyrounds together. They 'afflicted' me the other night the same way. Iflung them off; and I asked him what he meant by acting in that way? Andhe said he was a lover of the witch Dulcibel; who was one of the queensof Hell--I might know that by the snake-mark on her bosom. And she hadtold him that he must afflict all those who had testified against her;and she would lend him her 'familiar,' the black mare, to help him doit."
By this time, even the dullest of the girls of course saw very plainlywho was being aimed at; but Mistress Putnam added, "upon learning thatMaster Jethro had also been afflicted by this person, I had very littledoubt that I should find the guilty young man had been doing the same toall of you; for we have seen heretofore that when these witches attackone of us, they attack all, hating all for the same reason, that weexpose and denounce them. I may add that I have also heard that theyoung man in question is now in Boston doing all he can in aid of thesnake-witch Dulcibel Burton; and representing all of us to Lady MaryPhips and other influential persons, as being untruthful and maliciousaccusers of innocent people." Here she turned to one who had always beenher right-hand as it were, and said:--"I suppose you have been tormentedin the same way, dear Abigail?"
Ann Putnam, her daughter, however, that precocious and unmanageable girlof twelve, here broke in: "I think my mother is entirely mistaken. I wastreated just the same way about a week ago; but it was not the spectreof Master Raymond at all--it was the spectre of another man whom I neversaw before. It was not at all like Master Raymond; and I, for one, willnot join in crying out against him."
In those old times, parents were treated with a much greater show, atleast, of respect and veneration than they are at present; and thereforeMistress Putnam was greatly shocked at her daughter's language; but herdaughter was well known to all present as an exceptional child, beingvery forward and self-willed, and therefore her mother simply said, "Ihad not expected such unkind behavior from you, Ann."
"Master Raymond has been very kind to all of us, you know--has given uspretty things, and has promised to send us all presents when he getsback from England; and I have heard you and father both say, that thePutnams always stand up for their friends."
This reference to the promised presents from England, evidently told allaround the circle. They had nothing to gain by "crying out" againstMaster Raymond, they had something to gain by not doing it; besides, hewas a very handsome young man, who had tried to make himself agreeableto almost all of them as he had opportunity. And though Dulcibel'sbeauty went for nothing in their eyes, a young man's good looks andgallant bearing were something entirely different.
And so Abigail Williams, and Mary Walcot, and Mercy Lewis, and LeahHerrick, and Sarah Churchill, and Elizabeth Hubbard all had the sametale to tell with suitable variations, as young Ann Putnam had. Theywere certain that the face of the "spectre" was not the face of MasterRaymond; but of some person they had never before seen. Mercy Lewis andSarah Churchill, in fact, were inclined to think it was the face ofSatan himself; and they all wondered very much that Mistress Putnamcould have mistaken such an old and ugly face, for that of the comelyyoung Englishman.
As for Leah Herrick, she did not care in her secret heart if MasterRaymond were in love with Dulcibel--so that he would only take her outof the country, where there was no danger of Jethro's seeing her anymore. All her belief that Dulcibel was a witch was based upon jealousy,and now that it was utterly improbable that Jethro would ever turn histhoughts in that direction again, she had no hard feeling towards her;while, as she also had reason to expect a handsome present from England,she did not share in the least Jethro's bitterness against the youngEnglishman.
But although Mistress Putnam was thus utterly foiled in her effort toenlist the "afflicted circle" in her support, she was not the woman togive up her settled purpose on that account. She knew well that she wasa host in herself, so far as the magistrates were concerned. And, havingJethro Sands to join her, it made up the two witnesses that wereabsolutely necessary by the law of Massachusetts as of Moses. The"afflicted circle" might not aid her, but it was not likely that theywould openly revolt, and take part against her in public; and so shewent the very next morning in company with that obedient tool, herhusband and Jethro Sands, to the office of Squire Hathorne, and got himto issue a warrant for the arrest of Master Ellis Raymond, on the usualcharge of practicing witchcraft.