FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144  
145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   >>   >|  
electman stared up at Mr. Gammon when he uttered the hateful name of Reeves. Mr. Gammon twisted the noose on his neck so that the knot would come under his ear, and endured the stare with equanimity. With spectacles settled on a nose that wrinkled irefully, the Cap'n perused the paper, his eyes growing bigger. Then he looked at the blank back of the sheet, stared wildly at Mr. Gammon, and whirled to face his friend Look. "Hiram," he blurted, "you listen to this: 'Pers'nally appeared before me this fifteenth day of September Charles Gammon, of Smyrna, and deposes and declares that by divers arts, charms, spells, and magic, incantations, and evil hocus-pocus, one--one--'" "Arizima," prompted Mr. Gammon, mournfully. The Cap'n gazed on him balefully, and resumed: "'One Arizima Orff has bewitched and bedeviled him, his cattle, his chattels, his belongings, including one calf, one churn, and various ox-chains. It is therefore the opinion of the court that the first selectman of Smyrna, as chief municipal officer, should investigate this case under the law made and provided for the detection of witches, and for that purpose I have put this writing in the hands of Mr. Gammon that he may summon the proper authority, same being first selectman aforesaid.'" "That is just how he said it to me," confirmed "Cheerful Charles." "He said that it was a thing for the selectman to take hold of without a minute's delay. I wish you'd get your hat and start for my place now and forthwith." Cap'n Sproul paid no attention to the request. He was searching the face of Hiram with eyes in which the light was growing lurid. "I'm goin' over to his office and hosswhip him, and I want you to come along and see me do it." He crumpled the paper into a ball, threw it into a corner, and stumped to the window. "It's just as I reckoned," he raged. "He was lookin' out to see how the joke worked. I see him dodge back. He's behind the curtain in his office." Again he whirled on Hiram. "After what the Reeves family has tried to do to us," he declared, with a flourish of his arm designed to call up in Mr. Look's soul all the sour memories of things past, "he's takin' his life in his hands when he starts in to make fun of me with a lunatic and a witch-story." Mr. Gammon had recovered the dishonored document, and was smoothing it on the table. "That's twice you've called me a lunatic," he remonstrated. "You call me that again, and you'll sett
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144  
145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Gammon
 

selectman

 

Reeves

 
office
 

whirled

 

Charles

 

Smyrna

 

lunatic

 

stared

 

Arizima


growing

 
hosswhip
 

searching

 
request
 
minute
 

Cheerful

 

Sproul

 

forthwith

 

attention

 

starts


memories

 

things

 

recovered

 

dishonored

 

remonstrated

 
called
 

document

 

smoothing

 

lookin

 

worked


reckoned

 

window

 
corner
 

stumped

 

declared

 

flourish

 

designed

 

family

 

curtain

 

confirmed


crumpled
 
investigate
 

listen

 

appeared

 

blurted

 
friend
 

looked

 
wildly
 
fifteenth
 

charms