The Newtown bee., 1900-12-07

some extent, her a.wers. Al her sharp remonstrance the owner laughed deris- lively, considering her olly helpless old woman. His jeering laughter reused all Hannah Cranra's wrath. With strangely flashing eyes and in voice tense in it's pas sionate vindictiveness, she cried, with out. tretched. 0menacing arm.
 My curse upon you and my curse upon your crop."
 Then che turned hauehtily and left potato top in the field lay prone and
 black and dead, struck by a sudden
 terrible and withering blight. Not one
 tuber matured. Later the man came to
 her and apologized for his rudeness and offered to recon pense her for the damage done by his cattle in her garden. Whether he did tbis for conscience' sake or because he feared Hannah Cranna, I cannot say. However, the rext year he planted the field with corn. Re was one
 day passing her house when she aceosted
 him.
 "You will have fine crop of corn this year." she said; ''go to the lot at 10 o'clock tonight and you will see." Curiosity led him to do as she bade him. Shortly before 10 the corn seemed to be affected by some mysterious il flu
 ence. It wss . quiet night, oppreslve
 even, but suddenly a subdued yet decided
 rustling was heard throughout the field. Louder and clearer rose the strange sound until 1t became pleasing cadence. Then the man noticed something that was wonderful and unaccountable. He of corn near him, astonished, dumb. founded. for the stalks were visibly growing. The growth was so rapid 1t could be seen and heard. In an hour the
 corn had grown from IS to 20 inches
 taller. Then out from it's midst appeared Hannah Cranna.
 "Always remember," said she, in a
 shrill voice and with . cackling laugh, ''that as others do to me, even so do I to
 ha hal"
 Then she disappeared in the surround
 ing gl om. The yield of corn from that field that year was sbnor nally prolific,
 each stalk maturing from eight to 10 large, perfect ears. The owner always insisted that it was solely owing to the subserviency of the forces of Nature to
 the influence of mysterious Hannah Cranna.
 After this her fame spread rapidly and many weird tales were told, many un-
 doubtedly the product of vivid imagina-
 tion. InterestiI z though many of these A.P@OO0UAo soAoo 0A0S VI oAoAA AS AVA0
 them and COL foe ourselves strictly to
 those which are authentic, vouched for in every instance by people of undoubted integrity and credibility, for this is . veTaclous narrative. almost statistical in
 fts adherence to facts as either actually seen or thoroughly understood by those to whom the writer is indebted for the
 information given-persons thoroughly cognizant of the circum stances surround. ing each incident to which we shall
 allude. Uncanny though some of them may seem 1t must ever be borne in mlnd
 that Hannah Cranna was weird, un-
 cauny creature, whose strange power
 and it's source was totally unsolvable then, and is still, even with all our pres- ent boasted scientific know ledge.
 The next exhibition of her mysterious power was not without it's humorous side.
 At that time the present road from Upper to Lower Stepnev was In process of con- struction, the bulk of travel being over
 the road leading by the witch's home. Late one afterno just at twilight, Theodore Beach and Isaac Nichols, prcsp 'rous, jovial farmers, came along