rseverance was a poor little
struggling town, shut in among the hills, where the stage came only
twice a week, and there were only two news-papers, and not very good
schools. The most intelligent families, such as the Lymans, Potters, and
Chases, laughed at the idea of witches, but there were some people who
believed in them, and that very night little Patty was to have her head
filled with strange stories.

You remember Siller Noonin, who was at Squire Lyman's when Patty was
born? She was a widow, with not much of a home of her own, and was
always going about from house to house nursing sick people, and doing
little odds and ends of work. To-day she had dropped in at Squire
Lyman's to ask if Mrs. Lyman had any more knitting for her to do. In the
nicely sanded sitting-room, or "fore-room," as most of the people called
it, sat Dr. Hilton, leaning back upon the settle, trotting his foot. He
called himself a doctor, though I suppose he did not know much more
about the human system than little Doctor Moses, up in the
spinning-chamber. When old ladies were not very well, he advised them to
take "brandy and cloves, and snakeroot and cinnamon;" and sometimes, if
they happened to feel better after it, they thought Dr. Hilton knew a
great deal.

"You are just the person--ah, I wanted to see," said Dr. Hilton to
Priscilla; "I've been all round looking you up."

"Now that's strange, for I was on my way to your house," said Siller,
putting her hand to her side. "I don't feel well right here, and I
didn't know but you could tell me of some good bitters to take."

Dr. Hilton felt Siller's pulse, looked at her tongue, and then said,
with a wise roll of the eye, which almost set Rachel to laughing, "I
would advise you, ma'am--ah, to get a quart--ah, of good brandy, and
steep some cloves in it, and some--ah,--some--ah,--"

"Snakeroot and cinnamon," chimed in Rachel, looking up from her sewing
with a very innocent face.

Now that was exactly what the Doctor was going to say, only he was
trying to say it very slowly, so that it would sound like something
remarkable, and he did not like to have the words taken out of his
mouth. No doctor would have liked it.

"Well, well, young woman," said he rising from the settle in a rage, "if
you understand medicine better than I do, miss, I'll give up my patients
to you, and you may take charge of 'em."

"Beg pardon, sir," said Rachel; "I only wanted to help you. You seemed
to have forgotte