"It is he!"
"Perhaps——"
"I know it, Bly, for he hath followed me all day."
"Then wherefore not give him the ball, which he hath guarded from the deer?"
"It would be of no avail, John. A witch cannot be killed with lead. He would throw the ball in my face and laugh at me."
The three walked hastily along, casting wary and uneasy glances behind as the horseman drew nearer. Each trembled lest the horseman should speak, and once or twice he seemed as if he would; but pain, or some other cause unknown to the hunters, prevented his doing so. He rode swiftly by, disappearing over the hill in the direction of Salem.
When he was out of sight the three hunters paused, and, falling on their knees, each uttered a short prayer for deliverance from Satan. As they rose, John Louder said:
"Now I know full well, good men, that he is the wizard who hath tampered with my gun."
"Who is he?"
"Ah! well may you ask, Samuel Gray, who he is; a stranger, the black man, the devil, who hath assumed this form to mislead and torment us. One can only wonder at the various cunning of Satan," and Louder sighed.