Only a few feet away a woman was sitting watching her, a very old woman with short-cropped white hair and faded, almost colorless eyes set deep in an incredibly wrinkled face.

Those thin stooped shoulders, that tattered gray shawl --this was the queer woman from Blackbird Pond-- Hannah Tupper, the witch! The girl stared, horror- struck, at the odd-shaped scar on the woman's fore- head. Was it the devil's mark?

..... soft husky voice....

Her eyes, almost lost in the folds of leathery wrinkles, had a humorous gleam. A toothless smile crinkled her cheeks.

Whatever this queer little woman might be, she was certainly harmless, and unexpectedly appealing.