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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONER'S DIARY
credulity. Nor was he free from superstition himself. He would have been with the crowd, had the object of persecution been someone else. He did not have anything like a rational conviction to fall back upon as the unshakable line of defence against the onslaught of popular prejudice. He was thoroughly bewildered by the turn of events. It was too late to throw the accursed woman overboard which he would have done to extricate himself and his family from the intolerable situation. The only possible way out would be to leave the village, and go away beyond the reach of the gratuitous notoriety. But even that did not hold out any convincing promise. For, he was no longer sure that his wife was not what she was suspected to be. Superstition would not permit him to see that, as he was believed to be a wizard, though he was not, so might also be the case with his wife. If his wife was really a witch, and he had come to share the general fear, what was the use of going away ?
To take her alone would be to remain wedded to the misfortune. So long as the loadstone hung around his accursed neck, he was sure to sink, no matter where he went. On the other hand, the idea of leaving her behind was not appealing. He was not sure that she could be so easily got rid of. Fate had placed him in a position which had no way out. There was a more potent consideration which precluded the possi
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