In the Days of Witchcraft
A story of Puritan New England in the days of Cotton Mather. One morning Adam Radcliffe and his wife find an abandoned baby on their door-step, with a note telling them it is of gentle birth. Mrs. Radcliffe, an austere woman, is determined to have nothing to do with the child, which is declared by the wiseacres of the village to be of witch parentage; but Adam is tender hearted and succeeds in keeping the baby in the family. The child, named Anne, grows up to be a beautiful girl. A young cavalier by the name of Yorke visits the colony from England, with a letter of introduction to Radcliffe. Lady Beresford, a beautiful but unscrupulous noblewoman, in love with Yorke, follows him to New England. Yorke falls in love with Anne. To cause the separation of Yorke and Anne, Lady Beresford pretends to have been bewitched by Anne. Anne's foster mother, who has never been kind to her, sides with Lady Beresford and a formal accusation is brought against Anne. She is tried before Cotton Mather, and sentenced to the stake. At the last moment Yorke succeeds in rescuing her from the jail and escapes to England with her.
