ut of four, I
think, it is at this point that the accident occurs. The workman should
see to it that this part should never give way; then find the next
vulnerable place, and so on, until he arrives logically at the perfect
result attained by the deacon.

* * * * *

Unquestionably there is something a little like extravagance in "How the
Old Horse won the Bet," which taxes the credulity of experienced
horsemen. Still there have been a good many surprises in the history of
the turf and the trotting course.

The Godolphin Arabian was taken from ignoble drudgery to become the
patriarch of the English racing stock.

Old Dutchman was transferred from between the shafts of a cart to
become a champion of the American trotters in his time.

"Old Blue," a famous Boston horse of the early decades of this century,
was said to trot a mile in less than three minutes, but I do not find
any exact record of his achievements.

Those who have followed the history of the American trotting horse are
aware of the wonderful development of speed attained in these last
years. The lowest time as yet recorded is by Maud S. in 2.08-3/4.

* * * * *

If there are any anachronisms or other inaccuracies in this story, the
reader will please to remember that the narrator's memory is liable to
be at fault, and if the event recorded interests him, will not worry
over any little slips or stumbles.

* * * * *

The terrible witchcraft drama of 1692 has been seriously treated, as it
well deserves to be. The story has been told in two large volumes by
the Rev. Charles Wentworth Upham, and in a small and more succinct
volume, based upon his work, by his daughter-in-law, Caroline E. Upham.

The delusion commonly spoken of, as if it belonged to Salem, was more
widely diffused through the towns of Essex County. Looking upon it as a
pitiful and long dead and buried superstition, I trust my poem will no
more offend the good people of Essex County than Tam O'Shanter worries
the honest folk of Ayrshire.

The localities referred to are those with which I am familiar in my
drives about Essex County.

O. W. H.

_July, 1891._

[Illustration]

List of Illustrations

THE DEACON'S MASTERPIECE. PAGE
The Deacon _Frontispiece._
Half Title