Dulcibel: A Tale of Old Salem

by Henry Peterson

  CHAPTER XLII.

  Master Raymond Astonishes the Magistrates.

  The examination was to commence at three o'clock in the afternoon, andto be held in the Court House in the town, as being more convenient toSquire Hathorne than the meeting-house in the village.

  As Master Thomas Putnam's house and farm were several miles beyond thevillage, it made quite a long ride for them to attend the examination.He had arranged with his wife, however, to start immediately after theirusual twelve o'clock dinner, taking her behind him on a pillion, as wascustomary at that day--his daughter Ann being already in town, where shewas paying a visit to a friend. He had received however a message aboutten o'clock, requesting his immediate presence at Ipswich, on a matterof the most urgent importance; and though he was greatly puzzled by it,he concluded to go at once to Ipswich and go from there direct to Salemtown, without coming home again, as it would be very much out of hisroad to do so.

  According to this new arrangement, Mistress Ann would take the otherhorse, and a lady's saddle, and ride to town by herself. They had stilla third horse, but that was already in town with her daughter.

  The Court House was but a short distance from the prison; and, as it wasa good Puritan fashion to be punctual to the minute, at three o'clockprecisely Squires Hathorne and Corwin were in their arm-chairs, andMaster Raymond standing on the raised platform in front of them. As thelatter looked carefully around the room, he saw that neither ThomasPutnam nor his mischievous wife, nor his own best friend Joseph Putnam,was present. Squire Hathorne also observed that Mistress Ann Putnam wasnot present; but, as she was usually very punctual, he concluded thatshe would be there in a few minutes, and after some whispered words withhis colleague, resolved to proceed with the examination.

  Turning to the young Englishman, he said in his usual sterntones:--"Ellis Raymond, you are brought before authority, upon highsuspicion of sundry acts of witchcraft. Now tell us the truth of thismatter."

  But no answer came from the accused. Then, when all eyes were intentlyregarding him, he gave a wild shriek, and fell outstretched upon theplatform.

  "Let me to him!" said Dr. Griggs, elbowing his way through the crowd. "Isaid a month ago that an 'evil hand' was upon him; and now I am certainof it."

  Master Raymond had not been an attentive observer of the recent trialsfor nothing; and he now gave the audience an exhibition which wouldcompare favorably with the best, even with Mistress Ann Putnam's andAbigail William's. His face became shockingly contorted, and he writhedand twisted and turned convulsively. He tore imaginary spectral handsfrom around his neck. He pushed imaginary weights from off his breast.He cried, "Take them away! Pray, take them away!" until the wholecompany were very much affected; and even the magistrates were greatlyastounded.

  Dr. Griggs loosened his collar and unbuttoned his doublet, and had waterbrought to sprinkle his face keeping up a running fire of words at thesame time, to the effect that he knew, and had said, as least a monthbefore, that Master Raymond had an "evil hand" upon him.

  "Who is it hurts you?" at length asked credulous Squire Hathorne.

  "See, there is the yellow bird!" cried the young man, staring intovacancy. "He is coming to peck my eyes out! Kill it! kill it!" dashinghis hands out from his face violently. "Has no one a sword--pray do tryto kill it!"

  Here an impetuous young villager, standing by, drew his rapier, andstabbed violently in the direction of the supposed spectral bird.

  "Oh! Oh! You almost killed it! See, there are some of its feathers!" Andthree yellow feathers were seen floating in the air; being small chickenfeathers with which he had been provided that very morning by UncleRobie, the jailer; and which the adroit Master Raymond rightly thoughtwould have a prodigious effect.

  And the result was fully equal to his expectations. From that moment, itwas evident that he had all the beholders with him; and Squire Hathorne,disposed as he had been to condemn him almost without a hearing, wascompletely staggered. He had the feathers from the "yellow bird"carefully placed upon his desk, with the purpose of transmitting them atonce to Master Cotton Mather who, with these palpable proofs of thereality of the spectral appearance would be able utterly to demolishall the skeptical unbelievers.

  Finding that such an effect had been produced, Master Raymond allowedhimself to regain his composure somewhat.

  "Mistress Ann Putnam, who is one of the two complainants, unaccountablyis not here," said Squire Hathorne. "Master Jethro Sands, what have youto say against this young man? You are the other complainant."

  "Probably my mother has come to the conclusion that she was mistaken, asI told her; and therefore she has remained at home," said Ann Putnam,the daughter; who was delighted with the feather exhibition, and wassecretly wondering how it was done.

  "Well, what have you to say,--Jethro Sands?"

  The audience looked around at Jethro with scornful faces, evidentlyconsidering him an imposter. What did he know about witches--compared tothis rich young man from over the seas?

  "Tell him you find you were mistaken also," whispered Leah Herrick.

  "After seeing what we have seen, I withdraw my charges, Squire. I thinkthat Mistress Putnam and myself must have been visited by the spectreof somebody else, and not by Master Raymond."

  "I hope that next time you will wait until you are quite certain,"replied Squire Hathorne gruffly. "Do you know that Master Raymond canhave his action against you for very heavy damages, for slander anddefamation?"

  "I certainly am very sorry, and humbly beg Master Raymond's pardon,"said Jethro, very much alarmed. He had never thought that the affairmight take this turn--as indeed it did in many cases, some six monthsafterward; and which was a very effective damper upon the spirits of theprosecutors.

  Then the magistrates could do nothing less than discharge the prisoner;and Master Raymond stepped down from the platform a free man, to besurrounded by quite a circle of sympathizing friends. But his firstthanks were due to Dr. Griggs for his professional services.

  "Doctor, those things you did for me when in the convulsions, relievedme greatly," and he took out his purse. "Yes, Doctor, I insist upon it.Skill like yours is always worth its recompense. We must not muzzle theox, you know, that treads out the corn." And he put a gold piece intoDr. Grigg's palm--which was not often favored with anything but silverin Salem.

  Dr. Griggs was glad that he had been able to render him a littleservice; and said that, if there had been the least necessity for it, hewould have gone on the platform, and testified as to the completeabsurdity of the charge that that excellent woman, Mistress Ann Putnam,evidently in mistake, had brought against him.

  Then the "afflicted circle" had to be spoken to, who this afternoon didnot appear to be in the least afflicted, but in the very best ofspirits. They now felt more admiration for him than ever; and greetedhim with great cordiality as he came to where they were standing. "Whenare you going back to England?" was a frequent question; and he assuredthem he now hoped to go before many weeks; and then, smiling, added thatthey would be certain to hear from him.

  As the crowd thinned out a little, Abigail Williams called him aside;"and did you really see the yellow bird, Master Raymond?" said shearchly.

  "The yellow bird!" replied he dreamily. "Ah! you know that when we thatare 'afflicted' go into trances, we are not conscious of all that wesee."

  "For it seemed to me," continued the girl in a low tone, "that thosefeathers looked very much like chicken feathers." Then she laughedcunningly, and peered into his face.

  "Indeed!" replied the young man gravely; "well, a chicken's bill,pecking at your eyes, is not a thing to be made light of. I knew of agirl, one of whose eyes was put entirely out by her pet canary."

  And as he moved at once toward the rest of the group, the quick-wittedand precocious child was compelled to follow.

  The magistrates had left the Court House, with the majority of thepeople, including Jethro Sands, when who should come in, walkinghastily, and his face flushed with hard rid
ing, but Thomas Putnam.

  "Am I too late? What was done?" he said quickly to Leah Herrick, who wasstanding near the door.

  "Oh, the charge broke down, and Master Raymond was discharged."

  "Ah! Where is my wife?"

  "She did not come. It was said by your daughter, that she probablyfound she was mistaken in the person, and stayed for that reason."

  "I do not believe it--she would have told me. What did Jethro Sands do?"

  "Oh, he withdrew the charges, so far as he was concerned. There was agreat deal more danger that Master Raymond would prove him to be awitch, than he Master Raymond."

  "I see--it is a case of conspiracy!" exclaimed Master Putnam hotly. "Hadyou any hand in this, Master Raymond?" turning to the young Englishman,who had drawn near, on his way to the door.

  "Ah, Master Putnam, glad to see you. You did get here early enoughhowever to witness my triumphant vindication. Here is learned Dr.Griggs, and young Mistress Williams, and your own gifted daughter, andhandsome Mistress Herrick, and half-a-dozen others of my old friends whowere ready to testify in my behalf, if any testimony had been needed.Make my compliments to Mistress Putnam; and give her my best thanks forher noble course, in confessing by her absence that she was mistaken,and that she had accused the wrong person."

  The cool assurance with which this was uttered, quite confused ThomasPutnam. Could his wife have stayed away purposely? Perhaps so, for shewas accustomed to rapid changes of her plans. But why then had he beenlured off on a wild-goose chase all the way to Ipswich?

  While he was standing there musing, his daughter came up. "I think,father, you and mother, next time, had better take my advice," said thatincorrigible and unmanageable young lady; just about as opposite acharacter to the usual child of that period as could well be imagined.But these witchcraft trials, in which she figured so prominently hadutterly demoralized her in this as in certain other respects.