She flung herself down on the floor, she crept under the table, she shrieked, she said Goody Osburn was sticking pins in her, and wound up by going into convulsions." "What can it all mean ?--it is terrible," said Dulcibel.
"Well, the Doctor says she is suffering under an 'evil hand,' and the ministers have given their solemn opinion that she is bewitched; and brother Thomas and Sister Ann, and about all the rest of the family agree with them." "I am afraid it will go hard with those two old women," interposed Ellis Raymond.
"They will hang them as sure as they are tried," answered Joseph Putnam.
"Not that it makes much difference, for neither of them is much to speak of; but they have a right to a fair trial nevertheless, and they cannot get such a thing just now in Salem village.
"I can hardly believe there are such things as witches," said Dulcibel, "and if there are, I do not believe the good Lord would allow them to torment innocent children." "Oh, I don't know that it will do to say there are no witches," replied Joseph Putnam gravely.

"It seems to me we must give up the Bible if we say that.

For the Old Testament expressly commands that we must not suffer a witch to live; and it would be absurd to give such a command if there were no such persons as witches." "I suppose it must be so," admitted Dulcibel, with a deep sigh.
"And then again in the New Testament we have continual references to persons possessed with devils, and others who had familiar spirits, and if such persons existed then, why not now ?" "Oh, of course, it is so," again admitted Dulcibel with even a deeper sigh than before.
But even in that day, outside of the Puritan and other religious bodies, there were unbelievers; and Ellis Raymond had allowed himself to smile once or twice, unperceived by the others, during their conversation.
Thus we read in the life of that eminent jurist, the Honorable Francis North, who presided at a trial for witchcraft about ten years before the period of which we are writing, that he looked upon the whole thing as a vulgar delusion, though he said it was necessary to be very careful to conceal such opinions from the juries of the time, or else they would set down the judges at once as irreligious persons, and bring in the prisoners guilty.
"I am not so certain of it," said Ellis Raymond.
"How! What do you mean, Master Raymond ?" exclaimed Joseph Putnam; like all his family, he was orthodox to the bone in his opinions.
"My idea is that in the old times they supposed all distracted and insane people--especially the violent ones, the maniacs--to be possessed with devils." "Do you think so ?" queried Dulcibel in a glad voice, a light seeming to break in upon her.
"Well, I take it for granted that there were plenty of insane people in the old times as there are now; and yet I see no mention of them as such, in either the Old or the New Testament." "I never thought of that before; it seems to me a very reasonable explanation, does it not strike you so, Master Putnam ?" "So reasonable, that it reasons away all our faith in the absolute truthfulness of every word of the holy scriptures," replied Joseph Putnam sternly.

"Do you suppose the Evangelists, when they spoke of persons having 'familiar spirits,' and being 'possessed of devils,' did not know what they were talking about?
I would rather believe that every insane person now is possessed with a devil, and that such is the true explanation of his or her insanity, than to fly in the face of the holy scriptures as you do, Master Raymond." Dulcibel's countenance fell.

"Yes," she responded in reverential tones, "the holy Evangelists must know best.