The Witch-Finder

Front matter

THE WITCH-FIXDER THE WITCH-FINDER KY T. PELLATT LONDON SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE Frinted by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co At the Ballantyne Press CONTENTS CHAP. r-AGt: I. IN WHICH THE READER MEETS WITH A VERY PRETTY PAIR OF VILLAINS I II. THE GIANT'S CAVE II III. THE TRIAL 17 IV. HOW FRANK CAME TO BROUGHTON . . . 30 V. FRANK AND HARRY COME TO KNOW EACH OTHER 39 VI. THE STAG-HUNT, AND WHAT CAME OF IT . . 50 VII. FRANK HEARS A SECRET 65 VIII. HOW FRANK FOUND THE GIANT'S CAVE . . 75 IX. THE LITTLE BLIND GOD 89 X. HOW BADGER SETTLED UPON A NEW PLAN TO ENRICH HIMSELF 97 XL THE RESCUE 106 XII. HOW FRANK CAME TO OXFORD . . . -119 XIII. THE ASSIZES 1 24 XIV. GUILTY, OR NOT GUILTY 1 32 XV. IN WHICH MISTRESS PRISSY THINKS OF GETTING MARRIED I38 v CONTENTS VI CHAP. PACE XVI. A BOLD BID FOR LIBERTY 1 43 XVII.

IN WHICH THE WHITE WOMAN BEGINS TO STIU HERSELF AGAIN I 53 XVIII. THE FLIGHT FROM OXFORD, AND WHAT CAME OF IT 158 XIX. JUSTICE COMES AT LAST 1 66 XX. EDGEHILL BATTLE 177 XXI. AFTER THE BATTLE

Chapter I In Which The Reader Meets With

A VERY PRETTY PAIR OF VILLAINS The witch-finder, John Badger, was a lean little man with a bony face sharp at the corners. His features looked as if they had been cut out of some hard wood and then covered over with yellow parchment; his ears, which were very big, stuck out from his head and were so limp that they flapped and wobbled when his old mare began to trot. Strange ears, you will say, and perhaps you have never seen flapping ears ; but Master Badger had them — nay, folks said that when he was angry he would lay his ears back against his head like a terrier dog. Witch-finding was his profession, and so great was his popularity at this time that his journeys through England were a sort of royal progress. He was no tyro at his busi ness, he went from place to place pursuing his wicked craft on a regular settled plan ; he sent letters to the magistrates of those towns he intended to visit, undertaking to clear the place of witches at so much a head.

A contract was signed and sealed before he began his search, and woe betide any poor old dame who was charged with the evil eye or had A a gobber tooth, or even only a bent back and quavering voice. And now, after a journey through the eastern counties which had been most profitable to his pocket, he had come as far west as Banbury, intending to travel thence to Oxford. When it had got abroad that he was coming to Banbury, there had been no small stir amongst the merchants and hucksters who carried on the prosperous wool trade for which the town was famous ; they were most of them of that way of thinking which afterwards obtained the name of Puritan. A good Puritan in those days had a rare nose for a witch, and Badger had been so well put upon the scent that there were no less than three poor women shut up in the town gaol, though the villain had only been in the place a few hours, awaiting their trial on the next day.

The witch-finder had taken up his quarters at the Rein deer Inn, which stands in the Parson's Street, and he was sitting in a little parlour called the tipstaffs room, wiping his brow and by turns taking great gulps from a pewter tankard that stood before him on the table. For though the nights were cold the days were hot and close, and Master Badger had been hoiting and sweating up and down all the morning in search of his prey. And now, as he drank, he brought a greasy little leathern case out of his pocket, and taking up a quill from the table, began to add up his gains. "Three witches at eighteen shillings apiece," he muttered to himself, " three witches in six hours, 'tis nine shillings an hour. Trade is good in Ban bury, yes, trade is very good ; thou wilt have thy carriage and outriders soon, John Badger, yea, a carriage and out riders to do thy bidding, instead of one miserable fellow like this scurvy Crumpet.

The chuckle-headed knave, why does he not return ? I have caught three witches while he has been after one." And the witch-finder began to mumble deep oaths against the sloth of his servant, whom he had sent after a reputed witch who lived along the Broughton Road. He was roused from his muttering by the noise of a throng of people coming along the Parson's Street from the western end. He ran to the door and looked out ; three or four burly fellows, waving great cudgels, led the mob, and as they drew near Badger saw that Crumpet was at the head of them. The fellow was evidently in liquor, for he was reeling and staggering along the street, shouting at the top of his voice, " John Badger against the devil ! down with the witches ! " and such like cries, mingled with foul oaths and snatches of a drunken song.

The witch-finder, from his coign of vantage on the step, could see that the crowd were surrounding a woman ; at first he clapped his hands and chuckled, but, as they drew near, a sudden and marvellous change came upon him. First he stared and made as if to spring out into the road ; then he drew back and started to run into his little room ; then he stopped suddenly in the passage, crept back, half shut the door that opened upon the street, and peered out from behind it. Here he could safely see without being observed him self, and, with a look in which disappointment and fear were equally mingled, he watched the noisy swaying pro cession as it passed by the door. His eyes were fixed upon the centre figure, the woman whom his servant was bringing in ; as she passed close by the door he shut it tight, as if to shut out the sight of her, then he fell to swearing in so horrible a manner that he seemed like one possessed.

"The keech ! the scullion ! the froth-head ! this is not the woman that I sent him after; she was over eighty years of age. This surely must be the White Woman of Broughton ; I suppose the country folk led him on to her cave instead of to Mother Pearce's cottage." The witch-finder slunk back to his room, swearing at his ill luck ; like many others who followed his cowardly craft, he was himself soaked in superstitions, and avoided all those women whom he believed to be real witches, attacking only the weak and helpless He had heard of this woman before, and understood that she was a real witch, most skilful in the black arts, and so he was mightily afraid of her. But now that she was brought in, he must prosecute her ; if he were to connive at her escape, that would be even more dangerous, for the magistrates might accuse him also of witchcraft.

Dare he prosecute her ? He sat on in his room wondering how to get out of this strait, and cursing his ill fortune, till presently the shadows of the evening began to creep across the pavement, and he saw the landlord closing the great gates of the inn yard. Then he went softly forth, and threading quietly the unfrequented streets of the town, made his way to the prison. The warder at the gate knew him and let him pass. He went straight to the cell where the witches were confined. Outside the door Crumpet sat upon a bench snoring off his debauch. The witch-finder stirred him with his staff and shook him roughly by the shoulder. Crumpet opened his sleepy eyes and asked gruffly what was wanted with him, but in a moment he recognised his master and stood up. " Harkee, thou blockhead," said Badger.

" Go in yonder, and fetch me out the woman thou has just brought in. I must examine her before to-morrow morning." Crumpet took a great key from his cloak, opened the door and dragged forth the woman, whose arms were bound behind her with a piece of rough cord. The row of cells in the town gaol opened into a long narrow room, at the further end of which was a small chamber where it was the custom to examine the prisoners. Though it was summer there was a fire upon the hearth, for it was here the warders cooked their supper, and the place was intolerably hot. Into this room Badger led the way, and was presently followed by Crumpet, dragging the woman behind him. The rascal carried two long steel bodkins pointed like needles, for it was with these devilish weapons that poor creatures suspected of witchcraft were tortured by men like Crumpet, who went by the name of prickers ; it being their business to find the witch's mark, which folks believed could always be discovered, if you only pricked them long enough.

Badger looked at his servant as if he would have killed him, but he suppressed his wrath, and only said : " Go thou out, I must examine her alone," and thrusting him outside, he locked the door and stood with his back against it. An oil-lamp stood upon the table, shedding its flickering rays across the chamber. It was a strange scene ; on the one side of the light was the witch-finder, whose small stock of courage was now almost out, crouching against the door, and shading his eyes with his hand to get a better sight of his unwelcome quarry ; on the other side stood the figure of a woman whom no one, having once seen, could ever forget. She was gaunt and lean, but of a great stature ; her hair, which had been dishevelled in the hunt, spread itself in huge black flecks and coils about her face ; beneath one of her eyes was a ghastly open cut, from which the blood was still dripping ; her cheek bones stood out, and in the hollows of her cheeks lay dark shadows, that made her face look like a skull.

But what rendered her appearance so terrible was the gleam of her deep-set eyes ; they were fixed in so fierce and fiery a stare, that Badger turned away when he caught her gaze, and began to fumble with the key as if he would go out. But the woman stopped him. " John Badger," she said in a hoarse voice, " what meaneth this folly ? I heard of thy coming, but I took no heed. I thought I knew thee ; I thought thou didst let such as me alone. I was told by Dame Marlow of Manningtree that thou wast no fool, thus to risk thy own life. Thou knowest Dame Marlow, dost thou not?'' " I do," said Badger, and at this name he seemed to shrink into a smaller compass. " Yea, I know her," he continued in a whisper; "it was she who first taught me my trade." " Did she ever speak to thee of me ? did she ever speak of the White Woman of Broughton ?

" " Ay truly, she did," said Badger, who was now visibly frightened and almost whimpering. "Dost thou think," said the woman, and she walked round the table and stood towering over him, her tall form overtopping him by a head and shoulders, " dost thou think thou canst pit thyself against me or Dame Marlow or any of our league ? Fool ! remember the fate of Elias Noble ; he was a cleverer man than thou." Badger knew Noble well enough : he was a witch-finder who had been found dead in a ditch near Oxford soon after he had caused a woman named Elkin to be tried for witchcraft, and the wretched man, now quite panic stricken, cried out : " It was all a mistake, an oversight ; this pricker who took thee was sent after another woman. Oh, what shall I do ! what shall I do ! " The miserable villain already saw himself in the power of the witches, and wrung his hands in an agony of despair.

" Thou blockhead," said the witch in a contemptuous tone, " stop whimpering and listen ; thou shalt be spared this time, for I can find a way of escape without bringing any suspicion upon thee, only get me the keys." " I dare not." " Undo this foul rope then, and let me stanch my wound, and listen to what I have to tell thee ; " and she began to speak in gentler tones, for she saw it would be no use to frighten him any further. Badger obeyed her without a word, and, as soon as they were seated, he pulled a bottle from his pocket and silently passed it across to her. She drank a little of the liquor, and then leaning over the table began to speak in low tones scarce above a whisper. " If thou wilt do as I tell thee I can escape hence with no danger to thee at all, and, if thou wilt help me in this matter, I can put thee into a way of getting more money in a vveek than thou canst earn at this wretched business of witch-finding in twenty years."

Badger pricked up his ears at this, and the witch continued : — " Last month an old lawyer in this town came by night to consult me at Broughton. He has died since then, never mind how, and I have obtained possession of certain secret papers which he brought to show me. In these papers it is set forth and clearly proved that a boy, who is coming to live at Broughton Castle, to be educated there before he enters upon his estate, is no lawful heir to that property which is now considered his. I have the true heiress shut up safe with me, living as my serving wench." "Well," said the witch-finder, 'Svhat is this to me?" "What is it? I have thought out a plan, by which I can turn all this to such good account that I and those who help me need trouble no more for money or this world's goods for the rest of their days.

But I want a helper. There is no one here I can trust. Help me to get out of this place, and thou shalt share with me." Badger's eyes glistened with greed, and for a moment he forgot his fears, but only for a moment. When he spoke again it was in the same whining, cringing tone : — "How can I help thee, good mother? I say again I dare not get the key. I can no more trust this scurvy fellow Crumpet than I can the turnkeys of the prison." The witch pondered a moment, and then told Badger to pass her the bottle. As he did so she thrust her hands into the folds of the white stomacher that was wound round her, and pulled out a small phial, from which she poured some dark liquid into the bottle. " Now," she whispered, as soon as this was done, " bind me again, then call in thy man and get thee gone ; thou mayst leave the rest to me."

Badger did as she told him, binding her hands in such a manner that she could free herself without much trouble. Then he called in the pricker, who was snoring outside. It was already far on in the night when he crept out of the prison and passed through the silent streets to the inn. Crumpet was now left alone with the witch, and the rascal gazed with gloating eyes upon his victim. She had struck him when he had captured her in the morning, and all the wicked and cruel passions of his brute nature had been aroused within him. "Ha, ha!" he said, grinding his teeth as he moved about the room, " ha, ha ! my fine Mistress Whitefrock, you struck me to-day and broke one of my teeth ; my mouth still smarts, it still smarts, do you hear?" He moved stealthily about the room, stirred the fire into a blaze and thrust one of the steel bodkins into the red hot embers ; then he trimmed the lamp, and, taking out his knife, he slit up the sleeve of the witch's gown and laid bare her arm.

" Here is a good soft place for the first prick," said the wretch, and he took the bodkin out of the fire and thrust it into her arm. As the flesh crackled and shrank she bit her lips in agony, but made no sign or cry. Crumpet was making ready for another prick, when he caught sight of the bottle that Badger had left upon the table. " Ha ! here's luck to you, mistress," he said, and, putting it to his lips, he took a deep draught. " Good liquor," he muttered, "but it hath a queer taste." He moved towards the table to put down the bottle. As he did so he staggered and fell heavily on the floor ; the powerful drug that the witch had mingled with the drink mastered his senses, and he lay where he fell, subdued by an overpowering stupor.

Chapter II The Giant's Ca Ve

It was not till she was quite sure that the drug had done its work that the witch freed herself from the rope. It was her turn now. She drew the key from Crumpet's pocket and locked the door. Her nostrils quivered, her eyes gleamed with hate and triumph ; stealthily, like some beast of the desert, she crept towards the unlucky wretch, who lay in a heap upon the floor. The stillness of midnight was upon the place. The fire, which Crumpet had stirred for a moment into a blaze, had died down to a few dull ashes ; the lamp was flickering and spluttering with its last drops of oil. but the terrible deed which she had settled to do made her shun even its dying rays, and, as she picked up the long thin bodkin that Crumpet had left untouched, she blew out the light. She ran her finger down the smooth steel and felt the point.

" A little enough weapon," she said to herself, "but 'tis long enough and sharp enough for what I've got to do." She crept on her hands and knees round the table to the place where Crumpet lay. His cloak was unfastened, and tearing away the dirty shirt beneath it, she laid bare his chest. Then she felt for a moment with her fingers I r about his left side. She knew as well as the cleverest leech where to find the right spot. In a twinkling she had thrust the thin cold steel through his heart. As if it would reveal the horrid thing which she had done, the fire, which was now almost out, suddenly shot forth a bright tongue of flame. In the quick spasms of death Crumpet's body jerked itself forward, the eyes opened, the jaw dropped, and the murdered man sat upright, staring with glazed eyeballs and gaping mouth at her who had done the deed.

She shuddered and turned away. Hardened as she was in crime, the ghostly stillness and the terrible figure in front of her made her tremble ; the mark of Cain was upon her. But it was only for a moment that she shrank away. She then hastily exchanged clothes with the dead man. Crumpet was a slim fellow, and for a woman of her strength he was no impossible burden. She picked him up, unlocked the door, and strode forth. The warder at the outer gate was asleep. She roused him and gruffly bade him open. " This woman hath been pricked too much," she said, imitating a man's voice, which she could do well enough ; " I must take her to the inn and restore her for to-morrow's trial." It was still black night when she stepped into the street with her ghastly burden upon her shoulders. Some fifty or sixty yards from the prison was a small archway leading to the court of the town-hall.

In the shadow of this arch way she set down the body, propping it up against the wall. Then she hastened towards the inn. It was her purpose to arouse Badger ; but there was no need for this, for he had been unable to sleep, and suspect- THE GIANT'S CAVE 13 ing that she might find her way to him, he had let himself out and was pacing up and down the pavement in front of the inn gates. As she put her hand upon his shoulder he started, for the night was so dark that he had not perceived her approach. " It is I, the White Woman," she said. " Ask no questions, but do as I bid thee. What is the hour?" " A quarter before one." " Then we have time enough and to spare for our work. Is the inn door open ? " "It is." "Guide me, then, through it into the yard." He obeyed her, and the two went softly through the passage into the stables.

Two or three horses were in the stalls. The White Woman took a flint and steel from her pocket, and taking down the ostler's lantern which hung by the door, she lighted it. "What dost thou gape at?" she hissed, as Badger started back when he beheld her apparel. " Take a light and find a trap and harness while I bring out a horse." " We shall wake the ostler." " What matter if we do ? do as I bid thee." Like a man in a dream Badger obeyed her, and in a few minutes one of the horses was harnessed to a light cart that stood in the yard. Swiftly she took the lantern and opened the great gates that were barred on the inside. She made a sign to Badger to jump up into the trap beside her, and in a few minutes they were driving down the street towards the town-hall. When she reached the archway she jumped down, and after a moment Badger felt the thud of something heavy that was pitched into the cart.

The distance from Banbury to Broughton is between three and four miles. As they drove forward along the Broughton Road, the heavy clouds which had hitherto obscured the moon suddenly began to clear, and revealed the landscape. Neither spoke till they reached a point in the road about two miles from the town-cross. Here the witch brought the horse to a standstill and jumped down. On their left a broad green lane, the entrance to which was shrouded by trees, stretched away in a southern direc tion towards the village of Boddicote ; to their right the ground was covered with scrub and hawthorn trees and brushwood, broken here and there by large hillocks and deep hollows surrounded by trees. As they stood in the road, Badger broke the silence for the first time. " I see the trick ; thou hast drugged Crumpet and changed clothes with him : 'tis clever enough and safe enough for thee, but I am a fool to be out here.

When he wakes and finds thee gone, the knave will be after me. He may be awake now." " He is awake," said the witch. " Awake ! what ? hath the drug so short a power ? then why didst thou bring me out ? " and Badger started to jump into the trap. But she laid hold of his arms and held him, staring him through and through with her piercing eyes. "Yea, he is awake," she hissed; "he has waked up by this time in a place where he shall never sleep again. Do not stand shaking there, thou white-livered coward ; thou art safe THE GIANT'S CAVE ■ ; enough — dead men tell no tales," and she pulled the body out of the trap and plunged into the brushwood. Badger followed her. She threaded her way through the hillocks and under the trees till she came to a little spinney some distance from the high - road.

Here she stopped and peered round to make sure they were quite alone, then, threading her way through the trees, she came to the edge of a hollow which resembled the others through which she had already passed, but it was much larger and deeper than any of them. She showed the witch-finder a narrow path by which they could descend to the bottom of it. As soon as they had descended, she made her way to a spot where was a small hole screened by a hawthorn bush. Badger guessed that this was the place known as the Giant's Cave ; he had often heard it spoken of by Dame Marlow and others. From time to time a rash countryman made bold to visit it ; but the place was knoYvn to few, and those who did know it kept clear of it. Strange rumours were abroad concerning the cave ; and it was certainly true that one or two who had tried to explore its recesses had disappeared, and had never been seen or heard of again.

Dragging the body after her, the witch crept through the hole, followed by Badger, who crawled close behind her on his hands and knees. They went forward fourteen or fifteen yards in total darkness, when she kindled a light and led the way down a passage at right angles to the one along which they were creeping. The passage presently opened into a large cave, towards the further end of which she dragged the body. Badger followed her, and saw that just in front of where she stopped a great gaping chasm opened itself. In another moment she had pitched her burden into it ; it struck the side once, and then fell far below with a dull thud. Close by stood a spade and barrel, from which the witch threw shovelful after shovelful of fine white dust into the deep pit in front of her. " That will burn up his bones, so that there will be little left in a few hours," she said ; " and now to business.

This boy that I told thee of is called Francis Ewellme. He comes to live with his uncle, the Lord Braye of Broughton Castle. Lord Braye also hath a son. It is my purpose to offer this girl, who is the real heiress to the estates, to him as a wife for his son, on condition that he signs a deed to pay thee on the day of the marriage, which it would well be worth his while to do, as his son would then become possessor of the Ewellme estates." " How old is the girl ? " " Fourteen years ; his son Harry is sixteen.'1 "And how can I help thee?" " Thus ; it would be useless for the deed to be made out in my name, for I could not get the money. If I pressed him, 'twould be no very great matter for his Lordship, if he was sufficiently put to it, to have me brought up before the magistrates, as I might have been to-morrow- But if thou art a party to the contract the money is safe. And thou darest not cheat me of my lawful share." And then she made Badger swear a terrible oath to stand by the agreement.

Chapter III The Trial

The next two days were busy ones for Badger. To bring the three women accused before the magistrates and have them committed for trial at the Oxford Assizes was a very simple matter. Their worships were as eager as Badger himself to secure a committal. But to get the prisoners safely conveyed to Oxford gaol and to collect his witnesses was a more difficult business. There was no time to lose, for the assizes were only three days off, and, without his pricker's help, the witch-finder had more than he could find time to do. He was further hindered by the warder who had been on duty on the night of the murder, and who proved him self a very troublesome fellow. He suspected foul play, and hated Badger, who was always proud and overbearing to those whom he considered beneath him. He would give no help, and when Badger threatened to report him, "Thou mayst report," he retorted, with an oath, "and then, when the magistrates send for me, perhaps I also may have something to tell them."

Badger felt somewhat uneasy at this speech. The fellow might know more than was convenient. In other matters, however, fortune smiled upon the "7 B witch-finder. The weather being very fine and the roads good, he brought his convoy to Oxford in one day ; there two prickers, whom the authorities had provided, were awaiting him at the gaol, and they were soon busy with the prisoners, who were never left night or day for a moment. For it was the practice to prevent those who were awaiting their trial for witchcraft from taking any sleep, in the hopes that they would be thus driven to confess their crimes, and in this manner it was easy to wring confessions from quite innocent women, who were goaded on by the horrible tortures of sleeplessness to confess to any inventions that their tormentors chose to put in their mouths.