“That will pass,” I said, yet I wondered, with a strange feeling in my heart, what evils might portend. Little did I guess what perilous times were ahead; when no man’s nor no woman’s life was safe. When the false fear of witchcraft stalked abroad in the land like a horrid spectre, slaying, burning, hanging and crushing.
“See!” cried Hobbs, the wheelwright, pointing to the window.
The red glow outside was fading away, and the moon shone peacefully on the fast whitening snow. Slowly the angry red died out, seeming to sink down into the earth, and with it went some of the fears of those in the room.
“’Tis wonderful! Never before did my eyes behold such a feat of witchcraft,” said the inn keeper.
Then, as we watched, the scarlet covering disappeared entirely, leaving the scene as peaceful as the day had been stormy. It was close on to nine o’clock now, and Dr. Clarke and the wheelwright began to make plans for going home.
“I suppose, Hobbs, that you do not mind going around by the mill with me?” suggested the physician. “’Tis at best a lonesome place, and, though I have no fears, still one man may be no proof against witches. What say you, Hobbs?”
“If I go by the mill with you,” protested the wheelwright, “I will have to pass alone over the bridge whereon, only to-day, Tituba was taken. Nay, Dr. Clarke, I’ll go by the back road to my home, if it please you.”
“But, Hobbs,” urged the man of physic, “the road over the bridge is bathed in moonlight, besides----”
“Enough, I’ll not go,” replied the other. “Was it not near the mill that the other witch was observed to be plucking flowers last summer? Who knows but she has cast a spell over the place?”
Verily the two would never have screwed up courage to go home, had not Willis urged that he was about to close his tavern. So they were forced to make a start.