"Very sorry," pursued Mistress Nutter; "and I wish to make every reparation in my power."
"Reparation, madam!" cried Nowell. "Give back the land you have stolen from me-restore the boundary lines-sign the deed in Sir Ralph"s possession-that is the only reparation you can make."
"I will," replied Mistress Nutter.
"You will!" exclaimed Nowell. "Then the fellow did not deceive us, Master Potts."
"Has any one been with you?" asked the lady, uneasily.
"Ay, the reeve of the forest," replied Nowell. "He told us you would be with us presently, and would make fair offers to us."
"And he told us also why you would make them, madam," added Potts, in an insolent and menacing tone; "he told us you would make a merit of doing what you could not help-that your power had gone from you-that your works of darkness would be destroyed-and that, in a word, you were abandoned by the devil, your master."
"He deceived you," replied Mistress Nutter. "I have made you the offer out of pure good-will, and you can reject it or not, as you please. All I stipulate, if you do accept it, is, that you pledge me your word not to bring any charge of witchcraft against me."
"Do not give the pledge," whispered a voice in the ear of the magistrate.
"Did you speak?" he said, turning to Potts.
"No, sir," replied the attorney, in a low tone; "but I thought you cautioned me against-"
"Hush!" interrupted Nowell; "it must be the reeve. We cannot comply with your request, madam," he added, aloud.
"Certainly not," said Potts. "We can make no bargain with an avowed witch. We should gain nothing by it; on the contrary, we should be losers, for we have the positive a.s.surance of a gentleman whom we believe to be upon terms of intimacy with a certain black gentleman of your acquaintance, madam, that the latter has given you up entirely, and that law and justice may, therefore, take their course. We protest against our unlawful detention; but we give ourselves small concern about it, as Sir Ralph a.s.sheton, who will be advised of our situation by Parson Holden, will speedily come to our liberation."
"Yes, we are now quite easy on that score, madam," added Nowell; "and to-morrow we shall have the pleasure of escorting you to Lancaster Castle."
"And your trial will come on at the next a.s.sizes, about the middle of August," said Potts, "You have only four months to run."
"That is indeed my term," muttered the lady. "I shall not tarry to listen to your taunts," she added, aloud. "You may possibly regret rejecting my proposal."
So saying, she quitted the room.
As she returned to the hall, Nicholas awoke.
"What a devil of a storm!" he exclaimed, stretching himself and rubbing his eyes. "Zounds! that flash of lightning was enough to blind me, and the thunder wellnigh splits one"s ears."
"Yet you have slept through louder peals, Nicholas," said Mistress Nutter, coming up to him. "Richard has not returned from his mission, and I must go myself to Malkin Tower. In my absence, I must entrust you with the defence of my house."
"I am willing to undertake it," replied Nicholas, "provided no witchcraft be used."
"Nay, you need not fear that," said the lady, with a forced smile.
"Well, then, leave it to me," said the squire; "but you will not set out till the storm is over?"
"I must," replied Mistress Nutter; "there seems no likelihood of its cessation, and each moment is fraught with peril to Alizon. If aught happens to me, Nicholas-if I should-whatever mischance may befall me-promise me you will stand by her."
The squire gave the required promise.
"Enough, I hold you to your word," said Mistress Nutter. "Take this parchment. It is a deed of gift, a.s.signing this mansion and all my estates to her. Under certain circ.u.mstances you will produce it."
"What circ.u.mstances? I am at a loss to understand you, madam," said the squire.
"Do not question me further, but take especial care of the deed, and produce it, as I have said, at the fitting moment. You will know when that arrives. Ha! I am wanted."
The latter exclamation had been occasioned by the appearance of an old woman at the further end of the hall, beckoning to her. On seeing her, Mistress Nutter immediately quitted the squire, and followed her into a small chamber opening from this part of the hall, and into which she retreated.
"What brings you here, Mother Chattox?" exclaimed the lady, closing the door.
"Can you not guess?" replied the hag. "I am come to help you, not for any love I bear you, but to avenge myself on old Demdike. Do not interrupt me. My familiar, Fancy, has told me all. I know how you are circ.u.mstanced. I know Alizon is in old Demdike"s clutches, and you are unable to extricate her. But I can, and will; because if the hateful old hag fails in offering up her sacrifice before the first hour of day, her term will be out, and I shall be rid of her, and reign in her stead. To-morrow she will be on her way to Lancaster Castle. Ha! ha! The dungeon is prepared for her-the stake driven into the ground-the f.a.gots heaped around it. The torch has only to be lighted. Ho! Ho!"
The Ride Through the Murky Air.
"Shall we go to Malkin Tower?" asked Mistress Nutter, shuddering.
"No; to the summit of Pendle Hill," rejoined Mother Chattox; "for there the girl will be taken, and there only can we secure her. But first we must proceed to my hut, and make some preparations. I have three scalps and eight teeth, taken from a grave in Goldshaw churchyard this very day. We can make a charm with them."
"You must prepare it alone," said Mistress Nutter; "I can have nought to do with it."
"True-true-I had forgotten," cried the hag, with a chuckling laugh-"you are no longer one of us. Well, then, I will do it alone. But come with me. You will not object to mount upon my broomstick. It is the only safe conveyance in this storm of the devil"s raising. Come-away!"
And she threw open the window and sprang forth, followed by Mistress Nutter.
Through the murky air, and borne as if on the wings of the wind, two dark forms are flying swiftly. Over the tops of the tempest-shaken trees they go, and as they gain the skirts of the thicket an oak beneath is shivered by a thunderbolt. They hear the fearful crash, and see the splinters fly far and wide; and the foremost of the two, who, with her skinny arm extended, seems to direct their course, utters a wild scream of laughter, while a raven, speeding on broad black wing before them, croaks hoa.r.s.ely. Now the torrent rages below, and they see its white waters tumbling over a ledge of rock; now they pa.s.s over the brow of a hill; now skim over a dreary waste and dangerous mora.s.s. Fearful it is to behold those two flying figures, as the lightning shows them, bestriding their fantastical steed; the one an old hag with hideous lineaments and distorted person, and the other a proud dame, still beautiful, though no longer young, pale as death, and her loose jetty hair streaming like a meteor in the breeze.
The ride is over, and they alight near the door of a solitary hovel. The raven has preceded them, and, perched on the chimney top, flies down it as they enter, and greets them with hoa.r.s.e croaking. The inside of the hut corresponds with its miserable exterior, consisting only of two rooms, in one of which is a wretched pallet; in the other are a couple of large chests, a crazy table, a bench, a three-legged stool, and a spinning-wheel. A caldron is suspended above a peat fire, smouldering on the hearth. There is only one window, and a thick curtain is drawn across it, to secure the inmate of the hut from prying eyes.
Mother Chattox closes and bars the door, and, motioning Mistress Nutter to seat herself upon the stool, kneels down near the hearth, and blows the turf into a flame, the raven helping her, by flapping his big black wings, and uttering a variety of strange sounds, as the sparks fly about. Heaping on more turf, and shifting the caldron, so that it may receive the full influence of the flame, the hag proceeds to one of the chests, and takes out sundry small matters, which she places one by one with great care on the table. The raven has now fixed his great talons on her shoulder, and chuckles and croaks in her ear as she pursues her occupation. Suddenly a piece of bone attracts his attention, and darting out his beak, he seizes it, and hops away.
"Give me that scalp, thou mischievous imp!" cries the hag, "I need it for the charm I am about to prepare. Give it me, I say!"
But the raven still held it fast, and hopped here and there so nimbly that she was unable to catch him. At length, when he had exhausted her patience, he alighted on Mistress Nutter"s shoulder, and dropped it into her lap. Engrossed by her own painful thoughts, the lady had paid no attention to what was pa.s.sing, and she shuddered as she took up the fragment of mortality, and placed it upon the table. A few tufts of hair, the texture of which showed they had belonged to a female, still adhered to the scalp. Mistress Nutter regarded it fixedly, and with an interest for which she could not account.
After sharply chiding the raven, Mother Chattox put forth her hand to grasp the prize she had been robbed of, when Mistress Nutter checked her by observing, "You said you got this scalp from Goldshaw churchyard. Know you ought concerning it?"
"Ay, a good deal," replied the old woman, chuckling. "It comes from a grave near the yew-tree, and not far from Abbot Cliderhow"s cross. Old Zachariah Worms, the s.e.xton, digged it up for me. That yellow skull had once a fair face attached to it, and those few dull tufts were once bright flowing tresses. She who owned them died young; but, young as she was, she survived all her beauty. Hollow cheeks and hollow eyes, wasted flesh, and cruel cough, were hers-and she pined and pined away. Folks said she was forespoken, and that I had done it. I, forsooth! She had never done me harm. You know whether I was rightly accused, madam."
"Take it away," cried Mistress Nutter, hurriedly, and as if struggling against some overmastering feeling. "I cannot bear to look at it. I wanted not this horrible reminder of my crimes."
"This was the reason, then, why Ralph stole the scalp from me," muttered the hag, as she threw it, together with some other matters, into the caldron. "He wanted to show you his sagacity. I might have guessed as much."
"I will go into the other room while you make your preparations," said Mistress Nutter, rising; "the sight of them disturbs me. You can summon me when you are ready."
"I will, madam," replied the old hag, "and you must control your impatience, for the spell requires time for its confection."
Mistress Nutter made no reply, but, walking into the inner room, closed the door, and threw herself upon the pallet. Here, despite her anxiety, sleep stole upon her, and though her dreams were troubled, she did not awake till Mother Chattox stood beside her.
"Have I slept long?" she inquired.