ampered with evil spirits, and invoked
the Devil continually during the long evenings of the preceding winter,
the prince of powers of the air had at last come at their call, and
ordered a legion of his creatures to take possession of the minds and
bodies that they had so freely offered to him. For certainly there is no
way of explaining the conduct of the "afflicted circle" of girls and
women, than by supposing either that they were guilty of the most
enormous wickedness, or else that they were "possessed with devils."

CHAPTER XIII.

Dulcibel in Danger.

The terrible excitement of these days was enough to drive the more
excitable portion of the inhabitants of Salem almost crazy. The work of
the house and of the farm was neglected; a large number of suspected
persons and their relatives were sunk in the deepest grief, the families
of some of the imprisoned knew not where to get their daily food; for
their property was generally taken possession of by the officers of the
law at the time of the arrest, the accused being considered guilty until
they were proved to be innocent. Upon conviction of a capital offence
the property of the condemned was attainted, being confiscated by the
state; and the constables took possession at once, in order that it
might not be spirited away.

And no one outside of the circle of the accusers knew whose turn might
come next. Neither sex, nor age, nor high character, as we have seen,
was a bar against the malice, or the wantonness of the "afflicted." The
man or woman who had lived a righteous life for over eighty years, the
little child who wondered what it all meant, the maiden whose only
fault might be to have a jealous rival, all were alike in danger.

Especially were those in peril, however, who dared to take the side of
any of the accused, and express even the faintest disbelief in the
justice of the legal proceedings, or the honesty of the witnesses. These
would be surely singled out for punishment. Again and again, had this
been done until the voices of all but the very boldest were effectually
silenced. Those arrested now, as a general thing, would confess at once
to the truthfulness of all the charges brought against them, and even
invent still more improbable stories of their own, as this mollified the
accusers, and they often would be let off with a solemn reprimand by the
magistrates.

Joseph Putnam and his male servants went constantly armed; and two
horses were