'Witch gone, Massa Parris, all gone; Pompey well as ever.'

'Thanks be to God!' said the clergyman; 'he has heard my prayer. I wrestled with him a full hour on your account, and he gave me faith to believe that the devil would be cast out.'

'Massa Putnam got the witch out; he did it all himself—nobody helped him.'

'What do you mean, Pompey? I do not understand you.'

'I must now explain,' said Putnam, 'and am willing to apologize for the language I used when I came in, so far as to express my belief that you are under a strong delusion, and I do not wish to impute to you corrupt and wicked motives. You have been a good minister, and a kind man in past years, and you well know that in the contest for your parish rights, I have taken your side and supported your claims; but in these witch prosecutions, I have been astonished at the madness of your course, and can only account for it on the ground that you are partially insane; and now in regard to the change in Pompey, I will tell you all the facts. I went out this morning to oversee some men whom I had employed to dig a well. Pompey was there, dancing about in strange attitudes, and presently he threw himself on the ground and began to bite the roots of a tree, and fill his mouth with gravel. I asked him the cause of his strange conduct, and his only reply was, 'Witch, Massa, witch got into Pompey.'

'Who put the witch in, Pompey?' was my next question.

'You, Massa; all well, when you go away.'

'Well, Pompey,' said I, 'if I made you sick, I ought to cure you. The same person who put the witch in, ought to drive the witch out; and taking him to a tree, I gave him, at least, forty stripes, every one of which seemed to possess a magic power. The witches fled in every direction, and I have brought him to you to-day, clothed, and in his right mind. Now, Mr. Parris, I would not detract from the efficacy of your prayers; you know my reverence for religion; but in my poor opinion, if you would take those four wicked girls, (one of whom, I grieve to say it, is my niece, and bears the honest name of Putnam,) and apply the same remedy which has done so much for Pompey, no sign of witchcraft would be seen, and the community would be restored to reason and common sense.'

So saying, the farmer took his departure with Pompey, leaving the minister to his own reflection, and to the deep mortification and shame, in which his own credulity and folly had involved him.

The position of Mary Graham was now critical and alarming. Since her return to Salem, she had boldly condemned the witch proceedings, and in every circle where she moved, her whole influence was directed against the prevailing delusion. Unappalled by the dangers that surrounded her, she extended her sympathy and pity to those who were in prison, and favored the escape of some who were in imminent danger of arrest. In these offices of love and charity she was nearly alone; for though her friends admired her courage and fortitude in the cause of humanity, yet few of them dared to imitate her example. She wrote to Walter and her brother, begging them in concert with Mr. Willard to see Dr. Mather, who had returned from England, and enlist his influence to suspend all further prosecutions. But this good man, though he deplored the excesses into which the community was rushing, either believed the evil would soon be cured, or was so far influenced by his son, that he could not be induced to take a bold stand against the courts; yet it is believed he used much private remonstrance and expostulation, and it was generally supposed the public movements had none of his countenance and support.