han'--an' he war dead. An' I skeered the hawgs, an' they skeered his
horse, an' he killed him; an' I be 'sponsible fur it all, an' I wisht
ye'd hang me fur it quick, an' be done with it!"

She burst into sobs once more, and hid her face on her arm on the back
of the chair. Then, suddenly lifting her head, she resumed: "I jes'
called and called Ben, an' bein' he hain't never fur off, he hearn me,
an' kem. An' then he rid fur the neighbors, an' kem down the valley
arter you-uns," with a side glance at the coroner. "An' he lef' me a
shootin'-iron, in case of a fox, or a wolf, or suthin' kem along.
'Bout sunset the neighbors kem. An' till then I sot thar keepin'
watch, an' a-viewin' the witch-face 'crost the Cove, plumb till the
sun went down."

She bowed her head again on her arm, and a momentary silence ensued.
Then the coroner, clearing his throat, said reassuringly, "Thar ain't
nuthin' in the witch-face, nohow. It's jes' a notion. Man and boy, I
have knowed that hillside fur forty year, an' I never could see no
witch-face; it's been p'inted out ter me a thousand times."

She looked at him in dumb amazement for a moment; then broke out,
"Waal, what would ye think ef ye hed seen, like me, the witch-face
shining in the darkest night, nigh on ter midnight, like the ole 'oman
had lighted her a candle somewhars,--jes' shinin', an' grinnin', an'
mockin', plain ez daybreak? That's what _I_ hev viewed--an' I 'low ter
view it agin--oh, I do, I do!"

He looked at her hard, but he did not say what he thought, and the
faces of the jurymen, which had implied a strong exception to his
declaration of skepticism touching the existence of the ominous facial
outline on the hillside, underwent a sudden change of expression. She
was hardly responsible, they considered, and her last incredible
assertion had gone far to nullify the effect of her previous
testimony. She was overcome by the nervous shock, or had told less
than she knew and was still concealing somewhat, or was so credulous
and plastic and fanciful as to be hardly worthy of belief. She was
dismissed earlier than she had dared to hope: and with this
deterioration of the testimony of the witness who was nearest the time
and place of the disaster, the jury presently went to work to evolve
out of so slender a thread of fact and so knotty a tangle of
possibility their verdict.

For a long time, it seemed to the curious without, and to the
agitated, nervous witnesses peering t