It was a lone cottage, and, but for the smoke which Mr. Morley saw
issuing from the chimney, might have escaped his notice in the dim
twilight: it consisted of several rooms, covering a considerable space,
but they were all on the ground-floor. The house was commonly built, the
rooms entering one into the other, without having any passages between
them. There were several doors in the walls, by which a person could
enter or escape, if necessary, and puzzle his pursuers. On entering the
outer room, by the principal entrance-door, Mr. Morley perceived an old
woman sitting at a table, on which were the remains of a substantial
meal, and a good supply of liquor in a small wooden barrel or keg. The
woman had just filled a jug from the barrel, and seemed about to carry
it to some other part of the house; but on the entrance of the gentlemen
she placed it on the table. She was a tall large-boned woman, with a
commanding appearance, and looked as if she was accustomed to be obeyed;
and yet there was an expression of low cunning in her countenance which
was not at all pleasant, and which made strangers feel uncomfortable and
suspicious. She was believed in the neighbourhood to be a witch, and
people went to her to have their fortunes told, and she very often told
them true, for she had her secret spies about as well as "The Maister";
but, from want of education, her prophecies were seldom so startling or
so well or plausibly expressed as his were. It was generally believed
that they were connected in business, and that they played into each
other's hands, although no one had ever seen them together.