er body and blood a vow that she
would never discover what she had seen; so she took her forefinger and
pricked it, and filled a pen with the blood, and made her write in a book,
one of the imps--like "great boys with long shagged black hair," this
time--having his hand or claw on the witch's, while Anne Styles wrote. And
when she had done writing, the witch said "Amen," and the maid said
"Amen," and the spirits said "Amen" each: and the spirit gave the witch a
bit of silver for the maid, which he first bit. The maid's hand touched
his, and she found that his was cold. Then Bodenham stuck two pins in her
head-dress, which she bid her keep, and be gone; saying, "I will vex the
Gentlewoman well enough, as I did the man in Clarington Park; which I made
walk about with a bundle of Pales on his back all night in a pond of
water, and could not lay them down till the next morning." The piece of
silver, and the hole in her forefinger, the maid showed the judge and jury
in the trial; and both were held to be conclusive evidence against Dr.
Lamb's unfortunate "Darling." How far Anne Styles may be believed is not
difficult to determine; for as to the conjurations about poisoning Mrs.
Goddard, it came out that she, the maid, had gone to the apothecary's for
an ounce of arsenic; and then set abroad the report that the two young
ladies had bought it for the purpose of poisoning their step-mother. As
the young ladies were not disposed to sit down quietly under this
suspicion, they had the report sifted to the bottom, and Anne Styles fled
in fear; which was the meaning of the witch's demanding how she would like
to go to London--high or low--by witch's art, or justice's power. Mr.
Chandler, Mr. Goddard's son-in-law, pursued her, and overtook her at
Sutton-town end; when, to save herself from the unpleasant consequences of
her various misdeeds, beginning with stealing a silver spoon and ending
with buying arsenic, she made this "confession," which was safety to her
but death to old Anne. Anne earnestly and passionately denied every word
the girl said: whereupon Anne Styles, to give greater colour to her story,
fell into fits, so strong that six men could not hold her. She was drawn
up high into the air--so at least runs the report--her feet as high as the
spectators' breasts; and she had scuffles with a black man with no head,
who came and tumbled her about, as a little boy deposed. The little boy
was sleeping in the same room with her, an