Читать книгу Ye Lyttle Salem Maide. A Story of Witchcraft онлайн

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Many voices faltered and broke this morning. Few families but missed some beloved face. Over one hundred persons in the little village were in prison accused of witchery.

The minister filled his prayers with the subject of witchcraft and made the barn-like building ring with the text: “Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

At this Goodwife Cloyse, who sat next to Deliverance, rose and left the meeting-house in displeasure. She believed the text alluded to her sister, who was then in prison charged with having a familiar spirit. The next day she too was cried upon and cast into prison as a witch, although a woman of purest life.

Deliverance thrilled with terror at the incident. She felt she had been seated next to a witch, and this in God’s own house. Moreover she imagined a sudden pain in her right arm, and dreaded lest a spell had been cast on her.

The day which opened with so fearful an event was to end yet more ominously.

Following the sermon came the pleasant nooning-hour. The people gathered in family groups on the meeting-house steps, or sought the shade of the nearby trees and ate their lunches. The goodwives provided bountifully for the soldiers, and the judges ate with the minister and his family.