And the children,
finding themselves all at once people of the first importance, and
no doubt enjoying the fuss which was being made, went on more than
ever with their mad antics.
It was quite plain to every one that the children were bewitched. But
who had done it? Every day the children were asked this question,
and at length they accused a poor old Indian woman, who was a servant
in the family. And the poor old creature was beaten and terrified
until she actually confessed that she was a witch, and in league
with the Evil One.
Perhaps the children had a spite against the old woman, perhaps they
did not realise at first how wicked and cruel they were. Certainly
when they found what excitement they caused, and how interesting
they had become to every one they forgot all else. They became
bolder now and accused other old women. Soon more and older girls
joined them, and many innocent people, both men and women, were
accused by them of witchcraft.
They did all sorts of things to make people believe in these
accusations. As soon as an old woman was brought in they would
fall down on the ground screaming. If she moved they would cry out
that she was crushing them to death; if she bit her lip they would
declare that she was biting them and so on. They told strange
tales, too, of how they had been made to write in a long, thick, red
book,--the book of the Evil One.
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