DEACON.
We came to ask you,
You being with us in church covenant,
What part you have, if any, in these matters.

MARTHA.
And I make answer, No part whatsoever.
I am a farmer's wife, a working woman;
You see my spinning-wheel, you see my loom,
You know the duties of a farmer's wife,
And are not ignorant that my life among you
Has been without reproach until this day.
Is it not true?

DEACON.
So much we're bound to own,
And say it frankly, and without reserve.

MARTHA.
I've heard the idle tales that are abroad;
I've heard it whispered that I am a Witch;
I cannot help it. I do not believe
In any Witchcraft. It is a delusion.

DEACON.
How can you say that it is a delusion,
When all our learned and good men believe it,--
Our Ministers and worshipful Magistrates?

MARTHA.
Their eyes are blinded and see not the truth.
Perhaps one day they will be open to it.

DEACON.
You answer boldly. The Afflicted Children
Say you appeared to them.

MARTHA.
And did they say
What clothes I came in?

DEACON.
No, they could not tell.
They said that you foresaw our visit here,
And blinded them, so that they could not see
The clothes you wore.

MARTHA.
The cunning, crafty girls!
I say to you, in all sincerity,
I never have appeared to anyone
In my own person. If the Devil takes
My shape to hurt these children, or afflict them,
I am not guilty of it. And I say
It's all a mere delusion of the senses.

DEACON.
I greatly fear that you will find too late
It is not so.

MARTHA (rising).
They do accuse me falsely.
It is delusion, or it is deceit.
There is a story in the ancient Scriptures
Which I much wonder comes not to your minds.
Let me repeat it to you.

DEACON.
We will hear it.

MARTHA.
It came to pass that Naboth had a vineyard
Hard by the palace of the King called Ahab.
And Ahab, King of Israel, spake to Naboth,
And said to him, Give unto me thy vineyard,
That I may have it for a garden of herbs,
And I will give a better vineyard for it,
Or, if it seemeth good to thee, its worth
In money. And then Naboth said to Ahab,
The Lord forbid it me that I should give
The inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
And Ahab came into his house displeased
And heavy at the words which Naboth spake,
And laid him down upon his bed, and turned
His face away; and he would eat no bread.
And Jezebel, the