of a common-place nature; and when a short period for rest was taken by the court, who went to supply themselves with cups of Jamaica, Lord Fairfax approached Captain Wagner and said calmly "Well, you are victor, sir,-I congratulate you upon your triumph!" "My Lord," said Captain Wagner, making the military salute, "there is something finer than to get the better of an adversary-it is to act toward that adversary with the chivalry and fairness that your Lordship has displayed on this occasion !" It was the Captain's honest opinion, and the ill humour of the gratified Earl completely disappeared. XXXII. THE WIZARD OF THE MASSINUTTON. It was not until late in the evening that the case of the singular inhabitant of the Fort Mountain came up for examination. He was brought from the private apartment in which he had been confined, into the main room in which the array of justices were seated behind the long table, and directed to sit down until he was called-" when," added the individual who had arrested him, "you'll have a chance, my proud-looking old fellow, to say if you are guilty, or not guilty, and I've got my opinion as to how it'll turn out." With these comforting words the vulgar officer retired, and left his prisoner to himself. That personage seemed to pay no manner of attention to him who thus addressed him. Had no one been beside him-no voice sounded in his ears-he could not have exhibited a more perfect unconsciousness of being spoken to. He was looking with a gloomy and fixed glance at Lord Fairfax, who occupied his former position in the middle of the line of justices:-and thus, motionless, stern, wrapped from head to foot in his old gray over-coat, shaggy and soiled with long use, he presented a singular spectacle. His long gray hair half covered his face, which inclined forward-and the keen eyes, burning beneath the bushy white eyebrows, were never removed for a moment from the face of the Earl. The rude crowd, moving to and fro at the door, regarded the prisoner with superstitious interest; and as the shades of evening began to descend, and his figure grow gradually less distinct in its outlines, they watched him with as much intensity as if they had expected him ere long to melt into thin air and disappear, with a disagreeable smell of sulphur only left behind. The remote and retired life of the old man, his systematic non-attendance upon any occasions of public assemblage in the small towns, or at social gatheringsthe mysterious manner in which he had arrived a year or two before, no one knew whence-and above all, the dense smoke which was frequently seen, even in the hottest days of summer, curling above the summit just beneath which his cabin was situated-all these things had strangely impressed the rude and credulous inhabitants of the frontier, and led them to bestow upon him the name by which he was known throughout the region-"The Wizard of the Massinut ton." What had induced the drunken justice, Hastyluck, to set on foot a prosecution against him for diabolical proceedings, it is difficult to say. It may have been some private spite-or the attempt of a sottish hanger-on to bolster up a damaged reputation by an affectation of zeal in his office of justice-or lastly, the mere enmity of a small, ill-natured mind against one apparently without friends. However this may be, it is certain that Hastyluck set the matter on foot; and in his vagabond wanderings among the rude and ignorant settlers-especially those from the witch-haunted land of Germany -he had experienced little difficulty in impressing upon their minds the idea that every misfortune which had ever happened to them had been caused by the "Wizard of the Massinutton." More than one of these superstitious people were now present, prepared to testify with the utmost distinctness against the prisoner and Major Hastyluck, who had spent a considerable portion of the day in swilling Jamaica in Mynheer Van Doring's inner room, now rubbed his hands and regarded the two wizards seated before him with maudlin triumph. "The prisoner, Powell," said Major Hastyluck, in a thick and stammering voice, "will now be arraigned." Lord Fairfax, whose place had thus been unceremoniously assumed by the drunken Major, turned with a frown to that gentleman, and said with some hauteur: "I pray you, sir, permit the business of the court to proceed regularly." To which cold words Major Hastyluck, who was quite beyond the influence of hauteur, responded with the remarkable words, uttered with shocking indistinct ness: "Hans Doppelkraut 'll tell you!" After which the Major assumed an expression of much dignity, and attempted to pair his nails with a goosequill. The Earl bestowed a withering glance upon his associate, which, however, fell quite powerless, and making a sign to the sheriff, that excitable gentleman summoned the prisoner to stand and say whether or not he was guilty of witchcraft. The prisoner, therefore, rose and said, "I am not guilty," in a calm and indifferent voice. Then taking his seat, he fixed his eyes as before upon Lord Fairfax. Carl Zellycreffer being called, testified in broad German, that his child had been afflicted with internal dropsy and rickets, which he believed to have been caused by the wizard. Being interrogated as to the foundation for this opinion, his reply was extremely unsatisfactory. Hans Doppelkraut succeeded this worthy. Hans testified that he believed his cattle to have been destroyed by the wizard's shooting them with hair balls, as no marks of disease, or violence, were discovered upon them:-his neighbour, Flangel, who was too sick to attend, was certain that his illness was caused by the wizard's changing him into a horse, bridling and saddling him, and riding him at full speed over the very top of the Fort Mountain, to a meeting of witches and wizards in the "Hog Back." He, the witness, did not know how this wasbut he could say, that in his opinion his own cows had been made dry by the prisoner, by fixing a pin in a towel for each cow-hanging the towel over a door, and drawing the milk from the fringes. The officer had told him that they had seen a towel at the prisoner's house :and that the "Hog Back" was the most probable place for a meeting, such as neighbour Flangel had declared he was ridden to, saddled and bridled, with heavy spurs dug every instant into his sideswhich marks, by some witchcraft of the prisoner, were, however, not visible when he returned to his human shape. Having given this perspicuous testimony, Hans Doppelkraut stood aside, and Joe Gunn, hunter and trapper, was called. Joe Gunn, for his part, did'nt know whether there was any sech thing as witchcraft or not, and only hearn about it. He had been acquainted with hunters who said their guns were bewitched and would'nt shoot straight-and when Black, one of his hounds, could'nt be got to hunt of late, he had burnt him in the forehead with a hot iron-after which he did'nt know whether he hunted or not, for, like an ongrateful varmint, he run away. Major Hastyluck there had told him, Joe Gunn, that "strange things was in the wind now-abouts"-and asked him if he was well; when he, Joe Gunn, told the Major that he did have a little tetch of the rhumatiz from sleeping out o'nights on the ground; the Major had asked him solemnly if he was sure that this was not caused by Powell. He, Joe Gunn, replying that in this miserable world there was nothing whatsoever that was nat'rally sartin, the Major had advised him to draw a picture of the wizard on a plank, and shoot at it with a bullet containing a bit of silver. His old woman would'nt hear of any such waste of precious metals, and he fired away at the picture, drawn on the fence in charcoal, with an ordinary bullet. The Major told him the bullet would hit the old wizard all the same as if he was really there and so, not wanting to kill any body, and knowing Long July Ann, his rifle, sent the ball right where he put the bead, he aimed at the right shoulder, and put it there. If the talk about wizards was true, the prisoner ought to have an ounce of lead in his right shoulder-which he, Joe Gunn, would'nt like to have in his own-and that was all he knew about it.* A singular expression of surprise passed over the face of the prisoner, who, nevertheless, did not move. "Search him, search him, according to the law of witchcraft!" came with maudlin energy from the drunken Major on the bench:-and many of the justices evidently acquiesced in the propriety of this proceeding. But before the officious worthies of the law could approach, the prisoner rose slowly to his feet, and opened his lips to address the court. At the same moment a stir was heard at the door, some pitying exclamations were uttered by the crowd, and through an opening which was speedily made for her, Cannie advanced into the court The wagon of good Mr. Yeardly had broken down, and she had just arrived at the Ordinary-trembling, pale, shaking with an indefinable fear. room. The sight of the old man, however, seemed to give her strength. The power of a resolute will, and a devotion which That the introduction of witchcraft into a work, the scene of which is laid in Virginia, may not be attributed to the fancy merely of the writer, the reader is referred to the account of the trial of Grace Sherwood, in Princess Anne county, in Howe's Virginia Antiquities, and to the following passage from "Notes of the Settlement and Indian Wars, of the Western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania," by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Doddridge. "The belief in witchcraft was prevalent among the early settlers of the Western country. To the witch was ascribed the tremendous power of inflicting strange and incurable diseases, particularly on children-of destroying cattle by shooting them with hair balls, and a great variety of other means of destruction-of inflicting spells and curses on guns and other things-and lastly, of changing men into horses, and after bridling and saddling them, riding them at full speed over hill and dale to their frolicks and other rendezvous. . .. Wizards were men supposed to possess the same mischievous power as the witches. . . . . The diseases of children, supposed to be inflicted by witchcraft, were those of the internal dropsy and the rickets. The symptoms and cure of these destructive diseases were utterly unknown in former times in the country. Diseases which could neither be accounted for nor cured, were usually ascribed to some supernatural agency of a malignant kind. For the cure of the diseases inflicted by witchcraft, the picture of the supposed witch was drawn on a stump, or piece of board, and shot at with a bullet containing a little bit of silver. This bullet transferred a painful and sometimes mortal spell on that part of the witch corresponding with the part of the portrait struck by the bullet. .. The witch had but one way of relieving herself from any spell inflicted upon her in any way, which was that of borrowing something, no matter what, of the family to which the subject of the exercise of her witchcraft belonged! I have known several poor old women much surprised at being refused requests which had usually been granted without hesitation, and almost heart-broken when informed of the cause of the refusal. When cattle or dogs were supposed to be under the influence of witchcraft, they were burnt in the forehead by a branding-iron, or when dead, burned wholly to ashes. This inflicted a spell upon the witch which could only be removed by borrowing as above stated. Witches were often said to milk the cows of their neighbours. This they did by fixing a new pin in a new towel for each cow intended to be milked. This towel was hung over her own door, and by means of certain incantations, the milk was extracted from the fringes of the towel after the manner of milking a cow. This happened," adds the Reverend historian with dry humour, "when the cows were too poor to give much milk.”—Doddridge's Notes: pp. 376-7, in Kercheval's History of the Valley of Virginia. spurned all fear, came to her assistancewithout shedding a tear, or hesitating a moment, the young girl, with the air of a little queen, went to the side of the prisoner and throwing one arm around him nestled close to his bosom. But the trial was too much for herthe agitation she had undergone too excessive-the proud and defiant look which she directed at Lord Fairfax and the justices, was succeeded by a nervous tremor, and burying her face in the old man's breast, she clung to him, and sobbed wildly: "Grand papa! grand papa! they shall not take you from me! They shall not! -no they shall not, while I am alive!" A flood of tears followed these words, and for an instant a dead silence reigned throughout the apartment. All eyes were fixed upon the tall gray-haired man, clasped in the embrace of the beautiful and devoted child-and as they stood thus, bathed in the red light of the declining sun, there was something so proud and noble in the forms of both, that the crowd was hushed and awed. The silence was broken by the prisoner. "My Lord," he said calmly, in his cold, austere voice, "my Lord and Gentlemen of the Court, I beg you to take notice that this presence of my child was against my wishes-I would scorn to make use of any such vulgar trick to excite your sympathies. This absurd accusation of witchcraft has been heard-the witnesses have testified-I might go to my house again, cleared of the foolish imputation-but there is still another charge to be brought against me, I believe. Before that charge is made, I crave a few moments private conversation with the presiding justice of the court-my Lord Fairfax. In making this request, I am not impelled by any fear of the result, or any wish to conciliate your Lordship's favour. My child is agitated -I would be home again-I have other reasons, my Lord Thomas of Denton Fairfax, I should say. I pray that I may speak with your Lordship." At the words "Lord Thomas of Denton," the Earl gave a visible start and leaned forward in his chair, vainly endeavouring to read some secret in the countenance of the prisoner. But that countenance defied all his penetrationit was cold and impenetrable-a mask might have conveyed more expression. Lord Fairfax drew back with a deep sigh and a bewildered look, which was extremely unusual with him—but said nothing. Then seeming suddenly to recollect the request of the prisoner, he rose to his feet and said hurriedly: "I pray the court to suspend its business for a brief period. I am willing to grant the private interview which the prisoner craves. I know not the character of the communication which he is about to make to me, if it be a communication-but trust I may rely upon the good opinion of my honourable associates, that nothing will be taken into consideration by me without their privity and advice." Major Hastyluck, who had been for at least an hour without a fresh potation, cheerfully replied for his brethren, that they had perfect confidence in his Lordship-and then the Major set the example by staggering pompously from his seat toward the inner room. Lord Fairfax, still absent and looking with vague curiosity toward the prisoner, made a sign to that personage and passed up the staircase to his private room. The old man, with soothing words and a smiling caress, entrusted Cannie into the hands of George, who hastened forward to offer her his arm, and then, wrapping his shaggy over-coat more closely around him, stalked through the group of insolent and astounded bailiffs after the Earl. In a few moments the door was locked behind them, and they were alone together. TO BE CONTINUED. FRANCESCA DI RAVENNA. FROM THE ITALIAN OF DANTE. Poschia ch'io ebbi il mio Dottore udito Divina Commedia, INF. CANTO V., 70-142. When I had heard my learned teacher name "Poet, I fain would speak with yonder pair," My natal town reposes on the lea, Where Po and kindred streams blend with the sea. With such delight in arts by lovers tried, That, as thou seest, he ne'er forsakes my side. This love conducted to a common death, And Caina waits for him who quelled our vital breath.” |