
audiobook
List of Illustrations
Chapter I A Meeting in the Forest
Chapter II Sir Jonathan’s Warning
Chapter III The Yellow Bird
Chapter IV In which Demons assault the Meeting-house
Chapter V The Coming of the Town Beadle
Chapter VI The Woman of Ipswich
Chapter VII The Trial of Deliverance
Chapter VIII The Last Witness
Chapter IX In which Abigail sees Deliverance
In the fading light of a primeval forest that borders early Salem, a shy young maid makes her way home, her modest linen cap and woolen stockings standing out against the wild trees. A chance meeting on a massive fallen log introduces a larger‑than‑life cavalier, his jeweled sword and plumed hat marking him as a figure of authority.
The maid mentions Goody Jones, a woman awaiting execution for witchcraft, and recounts eerie sightings—horses with plaited manes and an owl‑like shape that vanishes at night. The cavalier, seasoned by distant travels and familiar with plague, offers a warning wrapped in folk wisdom, urging the child to guard her conscience against unseen darkness.
The tale weaves the strict Puritan worldview with the lingering fear of witchcraft, painting a vivid picture of a community teetering on panic. Listeners are drawn into a world where every rustle in the woods might hide a secret, and innocence must navigate the shadows of early colonial hysteria.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (298K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Release date
2020-08-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1873–1956
A popular American writer of historical fiction and children's plays, she brought early American settings to life with lively storytelling and a clear sense of period detail. Her best-known books include tales set in Salem, Valley Forge, and colonial Virginia.
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