He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an old hand, and this is what was on it:
"When I grew in the Wood
I was water'd wth Blood
Now in the Church I stand
Who that touches me with his Hand
If a Bloody hand he bear
I councell him to be ware
Lest he be fetcht away
Whether by night or day,
But chiefly when the wind blows high
In a night of February."
"This I dreampt, 26 Febr. Ao 1699. John Austin."
"I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something of that kind?" said the curator.
"Yes," I said, "I suppose one might. What became of the figure in which it was concealed?"
"Oh, I forgot," said he. "The old man told me it was so ugly and frightened his children so much that he burnt it."