e
hangman was waiting for her. Sarah Good and six others of whom Salem
chose to be rid that day went with her.

[Illustration: The sheriff brought the witch up the broad aisle, her
chains clanking as she stepped.]

It was the 19th of July, 1692, when, at a signal, all eight swung off
into eternity, and Reverend Mr. Noyes, in his zeal, pointing to the
swaying bodies, said:

"There hang eight fire-brands of hell!"

Mr. Parris, unable to conceal his triumph, declared these the most holy
words ever uttered by lips not divine.

The bodies were put away on the hill like so many dead dogs; but during
the silent watches of the night, Charles Stevens and the sons and
grandsons of Rebecca Nurse disinterred her and brought her remains home
where a coffin had been prepared. Mrs. Stevens and Cora Waters dressed
the body in most becoming robes. All kissed the cold dead face of one
they loved, as she lay in a rear room, the windows blinded and a guard
outside. Then the body was hurriedly buried in a grave prepared in the
field, where soon after the afflicted husband slept at her side.

Considering such horrible events, one can but conclude that superstition
was having full sway.

CHAPTER XV.

"YOUR MOTHER A WITCH."

'Tis a bleak wild, but green and bright
In the summer warmth and the mid-day light,
There's the hum of the bee and the chirp of the wren,
And the dash of the brook from the older glen.
There's the sound of the bell from the scattered flock,
And the shade of the beach lies cool on the rock,
And fresh from the west is the free-wind's breath.
There is nothing here that speaks of death.
--Bryant.

Shortly after the arrest and incarceration of Goodwife Nurse, Reverend
Deodat Lawson, an eminent Boston divine, came to Salem village. All land
travel at that time was on horseback. He lodged at the house of
Nathaniel Ingersol near the home of the minister Mr. Parris. The
appearance of a foreigner in the village was at once the signal for
making a new convert, and the afflicted put themselves on exhibition to
convince him that evil spirits were abroad. He had been but a short time
at the house of Ingersol, when Captain Walcut's daughter Mary came to
see him and speak with him. She greeted him with a smile, and hoped he
had had a pleasant journey.

It was now growing late, and she stood in the door bidding all
good-evening, prepara