t of
something which I could not see. I bent in my saddle and looked in
the door, but naught could I see. Then I dismounted and tied my
horse to a tree near by, and entered the house and looked about the
sorry place as well as I could in the pale sift of moonlight,
and--the old woman was not there. But one room there was, with a
poor pallet in a corner and a chest against the wall and a stool,
and a kettle in the fireplace, with a little pile of sticks and a
great scattering of ashes, but no one there, and also, if I may be
believed, _no broom._ All this I tell for what it may be worth to
the credulity of them who hear; the facts be such as I have said.
But whether believing it myself or not, yet knowing that that white
cat, though it had been Margery Key in such guise, or her familiar
imp on his way to join her at some revel whither she had ridden her
broom, had done me good service, and, seeing the piteous smallness
of the pile of sticks on the hearth, and reflecting upon the
distressful bend of the old soul's back, whether she had sold
herself to Satan or not, I lingered a minute to break down a goodly
armful of brush in the wood outside and carry inside for the
replenishment of her store. And as I came forth, having done so, I
heard the door of the nearby house open, and saw two white faces
peering out at me, and heard a woman's voice shriek shrilly that
here was the devil seeking the witch, and though I called out to
reassure them, the door clapped to with a bang like a pistol-shot,
and my horse danced about so that I could scarcely mount. Then I
rode away, something wondering within myself, since I had been taken
for the devil, how many others might have been, and whether men made
their own devils and their own witches, instead of the Prince of
Evil having a hand in it, and yet that happened which I have
related, and I have told the truth.

XII

Such a blaze of light as was the governor's mansion house that night
I never saw, and I heard the music of violins, and hautboys, and
viola da gambas coming from within, and a silvery babble of women's
tongues, with a deeper undertone of men's, and the tread of dancing
feet, and the stamping of horses outside, with the whoas of the
negro boys in attendance, and through the broad gleam of the
moonlight came the flare and smoke of the torches. It seemed as if
the whole colony was either dancing at the governor's ball or
standing outside on tiptoe with interest. I