"
Her mind brooded over the fairies and their strange ways with young human
mothers. She remembered the stories of changelings, and vowed to herself
that her own babe should never be out of sight. These reflections found no
adverse criticism in faith. The Bible was full of giants; and if no fairies
were mentioned therein, she had read nothing aimed against them. Presently
she prayed for the coming child. Her soul went with the words; and they
were addressed with vagueness as became her vague thoughts, half to Men
Scryfa, half to God, all in the name of Christ.
Going home again, after noon, Joan found a glen-ader, [Footnote:
_Glen-ader_--The cast skin of an adder. Once accounted a powerful
amulet, and still sometimes secretly preserved by the ignorant, as sailors
treasure a caul.] which circumstance is here mentioned to illustrate the
conflicting nature of those many forces still active in her mind. That they
should have coexisted and not destroyed each other is the point of most
peculiarity. But it seemed for a moment as though the girl had
intellectually passed at least that form of superstition embraced by
coveted possession of a glen-ader; for, upon finding the thing lying
extended like a snake's ghost, she hesitated before picking it up. The old
tradition, however, sucked in from a credulous parent with much similar
folly at a time when the mind accepts impressions most readily, was too
strong for Joan.
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