his horses' two ears, and a fifth on a staff which a man riding with him carried in his hand. These supernatural candles gave as much light as the sun at mid-day, and the man with the staff was so terrified that he fell dead on his own threshold. Also, Fian was seen to run in mad helter-skelter after a cat. When asked why he hunted the animal, he replied. that Satan wanted all the cats he could lay hands on to cast into the sea for the purpose of raising storms to bring shipwreck and death.
On such monstrous charges as these, brought by the "High and Mighty Prince James," to whom the authorised version of our English Bible is still dedicated and supported by the fanatically pious Presbyterian clergy, John Fian was arraigned. Educated and self-respecting man that he was, he would confess nothing. But, under the edict of the pious Christian King, to whom the Bible is dedicated, and who, with his own royal hand, wrote a book on witchcraft, John Fian, to force him to confess, was put to the torture. First the inquisitors tied a rope slackly round his head, between which and his head they inserted a strong stick, about the length of a man's forearm, and they cruelly twisted round this stick, tightening the rope at every turn, till the skull was crushed in upon the brain. For a whole hour they persisted in this fiendish cruelty, at every turn of the stick calling upon the tortured man to confess; but, even to evade unspeakable agony, no word of confession escaped from his lips. Then they took their blood-stained rope, that had cut through the scalp to the bone, from the head of the resolute sufferer, and tried, by fair means and by wheedling and coaxing, to get him to confess himself guilty of their now inconceivably monstrous charge. Their cozening was no more successful than their twisting of the bloody rope-John Fian would not utter one word of confession. The inquisitors held a conference, and resolved to try the torture again.
Weak, pale, agonised, but still resolute and unflinching, John Fian was seated upon a bench with each leg and foot placed in a narrow and strong iron box that reached up to the knee. A huge wedge was placed loosely between each leg and the inside of each box, and a strong man, with his coat off and his sleeves to his elbows, and leaning upon a heavy hammer, stood near, and ready
