not  heard  the  stories  about  Procter  and  other
"  witches,"  was  not  agitated  and  could  plainly
see  that  there  was  only  a  maid  standing  at  the
door.  As  for  Bailey's  other  troubles  that  morn-
ing, we  may  believe  as  much  or  as  little  as  we
please  of  the  story  he  told.  We  know  now  that
there  was  not  a  particle  of  reality  in  it.  It  may
have  been  deliberate  falsehood,  or  it  may  have
been  the  effect  of  a  too  fervid  imagination.  Of
Procter's  family,  Benjamin,  the  oldest,  was  in
prison  with  his  parents  ;  and  his  sister  Sarah,
aged  sixteen,  William,  aged  eighteen,  Samuel,
aged  seven,  Abigail  between  three  and  four,  and
one  still  younger,  were  about  home.  William
was  sent  to  prison  three  days  later,  so  it  must
have  been  the  "little  maid,"  Abigail,  whom
Bailey  saw  standing  in  the  door  way.
Daniel  Elliott  testified  that  he  heard  one  of
the  accusing  girls  say  that  she  cried  out  against
Goodman  Procter  for  sport.  "The  girls  must
have  some  sport,"  she  is  said  to  have  added.^

Procter  and  his  wife  were  convicted,  and  sen-
tenced to  be  hanged.  Every  effort  possible  was
made  to  save  him  from  suffering  the  penalty.
John  Wise  and  thirty-one  old  neighbors  in  Ips-
wich signed  a  petition  in  his  behalf  to  the
court  of  assistants.     They  said  :

"  We  reckon  it  within  the  duties  of  our  charity,  that
teaches  us  to  do  as  we  would  he  done  hy,  to  offer  thus  much

2  Putnam's  Salem  Witchcraft  Explained,  449.
