The following dialogue is a spin-off from Stories from American History by Myrtis Mixon.
As the story goes...A witch hunt started in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, a community of Puritans--a very conservative religious group. Some young girls amused themselves by listening to stories about witches and black magic told to them by a servant-woman, Tituba, from the Caribbean Islands. Tituba told their fortunes and brought them some fun. But when the adults found out about some of the things the girls did, the girls were afraid of getting in trouble. In order to save themselves, the girls started pointing at other women and calling them witches. It was believed that one of the girls, Abigail, could recognize witches. Abigail was the leader and the other girls did what she told them to do. The girls - Abigail, Ann, and Mercy - testified against others in court. They made up stories about the other people, saying that they were witches. Some men were also accused of being witches, and even some dogs were accused. Before it was over, 200 people had been accused of whtchcraft--141 were put in jail, and 19 people and 2 dogs were executed.
This is a conversation between Abigail and Mercy. The woman Mercy works for, Goodwife Kary, has been accused of witchcraft by Ann Putnam and her mother. Abigail wants Mercy to say that Goody Kary is a witch. |