ir ears, and in their children's ears, till the end of the world.
And Nance dropped down dead as soon as she had made an end of speaking,
and the pirates set sail from Marblehead at morning dawn; but the folk
there hear the cry still, shrill and pitiful, from the waste marshes,
"Lord Jesu! have mercy on me! Save me from the power of man, O Lord
Jesu!"'

'And by token,' said Elder Hawkins's deep bass voice, speaking with the
strong nasal twang of the Puritans (who, says Butler,

"Blasphemed custard through the nose"),

'godly Mr. Noyes ordained a fast at Marblehead, and preached a
soul-stirring discourse on the words; "Inasmuch as ye did it not unto
one of the least of these, my brethren, ye did it not unto me." But it
has been borne in upon me at times, whether the whole vision of the
pirates and the cry of the woman was not a device of Satan's to sift
the Marblehead folk, and see what fruit their doctrine bore, and so to
condemn them in the sight of the Lord. If it were so, the enemy had a
great triumph, for assuredly it was no part of Christian men to leave a
helpless woman unaided in her sore distress.'

'But, Elder,' said Widow Smith, 'it was no vision; they were real
living men who went ashore, men who broke down branches and left their
footmarks on the ground.'

'As for that matter, Satan hath many powers, and if it be the day when
he is permitted to go about like a roaring lion, he will not stick at
trifles, but make his work complete. I tell you, many men are spiritual
enemies in visible forms, permitted to roam about the waste places of
the earth. I myself believe that these Red Indians are indeed the evil
creatures of whom we read in Holy Scripture; and there is no doubt that
they are in league with those abominable Papists, the French people in
Canada. I have heard tell, that the French pay the Indians so much gold
for every dozen scalps off Englishmen's heads.'

'Pretty cheerful talk this,' said Captain Holdernesse to Lois,
perceiving her blanched cheek and terror-stricken mien. 'Thou art
thinking that thou hadst better have stayed at Barford, I'll answer for
it, wench. But the devil is not so black as he is painted.'

'Ho! there again!' said Elder Hawkins. 'The devil is painted, it hath
been said so from old times; and are not these Indians painted, even
like unto their father?'

'But is it all true?' asked Lois, aside, of Captain Holdernesse,
letting the elder hold forth unheeded by her, thoug