Many of the women were affected to tears by the sight of the little maid, seated on the stool in the cart, the kitten clasped to her breast.
Deliverance knew naught of this sympathy. She had but a dull sense of many people, and that the sun had never shone so brightly before. She was dazed by terror and grief, and a stupor crept over her, so that her head hung heavily on her breast and her limbs seemed cold and of leaden weight.
The cart passed out of the street into a rocky path, and ascended by imperceptible degrees to the summit of a low, green hill.
The little maid lifted her head and looked steadfastly at the scaffold there erected. On the platform she saw the figures of the minister and the hangman, dark against the blue sky.
Chapter XIX
On Gallows’ Hill
At the foot of this scaffold, the driver stopped. Deliverance was bidden to step out. Attended by the guard, she ascended the ladder. Only one instinct remained to the heart-broken child, and that was to clasp still closer to her breast the little kitten, the one faithful and loving friend who clung to her in this dread hour.
“Deliverance Wentworth,” spoke the minister in a loud, clear voice, “will you, while there is yet time, confess your sin of witchery, or will you be launched into eternity to the loss of your immortal soul?”
She looked at him vaguely. His words had not pierced to her dulled comprehension.