"Remove the Governor."
"Why, I understood he was a mere puppet in the hands of the two Mathers."
"He would be perhaps; but there is a Lady Phips."
"Ah!' the gray mare is the better horse,' is she, as it is over at brother Thomas's?"
"Yes, I think so. Now mark my prediction, friend Joseph; the first blow will be struck at Lady Mary. If Sir William resists, as I feel certain that he will—for he is, if not well educated, a thoroughly manly man—then he will be ousted from his position. You will note that it has been the game all through to strike at any one, man or woman, who came between these vampires and their prey. I know of only one exception."
"Ah, who is that?"
"Yourself."
Master Joseph smiled grimly. "They value their own lives very highly, friend Raymond; and know that to arrest me would be no child's play. Besides, Sweetbriar is never long unsaddled; and he is the fastest horse in Salem."
"Yes, and to add to all that, you are a Putnam; and your wife is closely connected with Squire Hathorne."
"There may be something in that," said his friend.