In a few moments he and the breathless women found themselves in the midst of quite a little crowd, for Farmer Joyce had waylaid the first group he came across, and the sound of his stentorian tones, raised in wrathful accusation, speedily summoned others.
“You be a wise lot here, you be!” he cried; “you do know summat, you do. Tell ’ee what—you be the biggest lot o’ stunpolls as ever was seed or heerd on. This be your witch, be it?—thikky poor wold ’ooman what have never done anybody a bit o’ harm in her life—poor wold Ann Kerley what was born and bred here, and did get married to a Little Branston man an’ all, and what have lived among ye so quiet an’ peaceful as a body could do. Why, look at her! Look at the poor wold frightened face of her; d’ye mean for to tell I that’s the face of a witch?”
“Well, she did blight our ’taters,” growled somebody.
“An’ she did overlook Mrs. Clarke’s young duck——”
“Did she?” retorted Farmer Joyce, sarcastically. “Well, she didn’t overlook my young duck, and they be dead—the most on ’em—what do ye make o’ that? Did ye never hear, you wise folk, as duckling do mostly die in thunder weather? And I’ll warrant you be too wise hereabouts to have heerd that this be a blight-year. A lot o’ my ’taters be blighted——”
“I’m sure,” put in poor Martha, eagerly, “our ’taters be blighted too. There, my husband do say ’tis scarce worth while to get ’em up.”
“I s’pose,” cried Farmer Joyce, looking round with withering sarcasm, “I s’pose this ’ere witch have a-gone and wished ill-luck to her own darter’s ’taters. ’Tis very likely, I’m sure. And there’s another thing—I did hear some tale o’ bees a-dyin’ arter they’d a-been put in a new hive.”
“That’s true enough.” “’Tis true, sure,” came one or two voices in reply, not with any great enthusiasm, however; then a man’s sullen tones—“’Tis so true as anything. They was my bees, an’ I can answer for ’t bein’ true.”
“How much food did ye put in for ’em when ye did shift ’em?” inquired Joyce, fixing his eyes on the speaker.
“How much food? I d’ ’low bees be like to keep theirselves.”