nd squawking like mad; and as
he let the thread out again they ran away with all their might, only to
be twitched back by their tormentor, who laughed until he cried at their
antics.

The two magistrates and brother clergyman were old, as nearly all men in
office were in those days, and their eyes saw no strings either. So they
had a long talk, and decided Jonathan had best be arrested and tried,
lest he should bewitch people next.

But on that day little Deliverance Parker, the minister's granddaughter,
who lived out beyond the town, came to make a visit at her
grandfather's, and she was told by Dame Betty that she must not play
with Jonathan Winthrop as she used to do, for he was a witch, and had
bewitched their chickens. And then Dame Betty showed her, as she had
many others, from behind the blinds, Jonathan as he was plaguing the
poor fowls.

Now little Deliverance had sharp eyes, saw the strings plainly, and took
in the trouble at once; but Betty was so set and stupid she could not
convince her, and they would not let her tell Jonathan of his danger.

Fortunately matters came to a crisis that afternoon. The magistrates had
been waiting for Jonathan's father to come home; but as he was kept so
long at Salem, they took matters in their own hands, and brought
Jonathan before quite an assembly in the minister's study.

The poor boy was so frightened at all the stern faces before him that he
didn't know what to say to the charge, and grew so confused and
flustered, they believed him guilty at once.

But little Deliverance waited until the magistrates had finished
talking, and then walked straight before them, and began to speak.

"Verily, he is no witch. He only ties strings to the corn that the poor
fowls eat, and by the aid of the strings pulls them about."

"Thou art mistaken, little one; we saw no strings," said the
magistrates.

"Yes, but there were;" and little Deliverance was so positive, and by
that time Jonathan had found his tongue, and both children explained the
affair so clearly, that the old magistrates looked rather foolish, and
dismissed the case with a reprimand to Jonathan for wasting his time so
foolishly. But some good came of the boy's prank after all. For his
father, seeing how near Jonathan came being proved a witch, bestirred
himself in favor of poor School-master Halleck, who was set free from
prison in consequence.

[Begun in No. 19 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, March 9.]

ACROS