Witchcrafting Poppet Found in Proctor's House.
A poppet was found in Proctor's house yesterday evening; it was reported that a long needle was found embedded in the poppet's belly. In addition, in the same evening, Abigail Williams pulled out a two-inch needle from her stomach. "I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps. I have found it, sir. And in the belly of the poppet a needle's stuck. I tell you true, I never warranted to see such proof of Hell!" said Cheever, the Clerk of the Court.
In a late night eight days after the cry out of witchcraft at the town of Salem, Massachusetts, there was a sudden shock silence in the low, dark and rather long common room of Proctor's house as Ezekiel Cheever, the new Clerk of the Court, and Marshal Herrick enter with the warrant for Elizabeth Proctor. Cheever was sent by the Court to arrest Elizabeth Proctor with a charge from Abigail Williams and had been instructed to search the house for poppets. The Proctors handed over the only one they have, the one Mary Warren has just given Elizabeth. Upon examination of the poppet, Cheever discovered a needle imbedded in it and became convinced of Elizabeth's guilt. They learned that Abigail had suddenly clutched her stomach that evening and pulled out a two-inch needle; she claimed that Elizabeth Proctor had been her assailant and testified that Elizabeth's familiar spirit pushed a needle into her at dinner that night. Mary Warren tells them how the poppet got into the house, and claims that she stuck the needle in it, but Hale questions whether or not her memory is accurate or supernatural. Elizabeth, upon hearing that Abigail has charged her with murder, called Abigail a murder who must be ripped out of the world. Cheever took this as further evidence of her guilt and insisted on her arrest. Proctor snatched the warrant out of Cheever's hand and ripped it. He said that the warrant is vengeance and he will not give his wife to vengeance.
