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Smith
went
to
the
extent
of
some
experimental
digging
,
but
was
deterred
by
lack
of
success
--
or
perhaps
by
fear
of
possible
success
.
It
is
interesting
to
speculate
on
what
the
persistent
and
revengeful
Weeden
would
have
done
had
he
been
ashore
at
the
time
.
By
the
autumn
of
1770
Weeden
decided
that
the
time
was
ripe
to
tell
others
of
his
discoveries
;
for
he
had
a
large
number
of
facts
to
link
together
,
and
a
second
eye-witness
to
refute
the
possible
charge
that
jealousy
and
vindictiveness
had
spurred
his
fancy
.
As
his
first
confidant
he
selected
Capt.
James
Mathewson
of
the
Enterprise
,
who
on
the
one
hand
knew
him
well
enough
not
to
doubt
his
veracity
,
and
on
the
other
hand
was
sufficiently
influential
in
the
town
to
be
heard
in
turn
with
respect
.
The
colloquy
took
place
in
an
upper
room
of
Sabin
's
Tavern
near
the
docks
,
with
Smith
present
to
corroborate
virtually
every
statement
;
and
it
could
be
seen
that
Capt.
Mathewson
was
tremendously
impressed
.
Like
nearly
everyone
else
in
the
town
,
he
had
had
black
suspicions
of
his
own
anent
Joseph
Curwen
;
hence
it
needed
only
this
confirmation
and
enlargement
of
data
to
convince
him
absolutely
.
At
the
end
of
the
conference
he
was
very
grave
,
and
enjoined
strict
silence
upon
the
two
younger
men
.
He
would
,
he
said
,
transmit
the
information
separately
to
some
ten
or
so
of
the
most
learned
and
prominent
citizens
of
Providence
;
ascertaining
their
views
and
following
whatever
advice
they
might
have
to
offer
.
Secrecy
would
probably
be
essential
in
any
case
,
for
this
was
no
matter
that
the
town
constables
or
militia
could
cope
with
;
and
above
all
else
the
excitable
crowd
must
be
kept
in
ignorance
,
lest
there
be
enacted
in
these
already
troublous
times
a
repetition
of
that
frightful
Salem
panic
of
less
than
a
century
before
which
had
first
brought
Curwen
hither
.
The
right
persons
to
tell
,
he
believed
,
would
be
Dr.
Benjamin
West
,
whose
pamphlet
on
the
late
transit
of
Venus
proved
him
a
scholar
and
keen
thinker
;
Rev.
James
Manning
,
President
of
the
College
which
had
just
moved
up
from
Warren
and
was
temporarily
housed
in
the
new
King
Street
schoolhouse
awaiting
the
completion
of
its
building
on
the
hill
above
Presbyterian
Lane
;
ex-Governor
Stephen
Hopkins
,
who
had
been
a
member
of
the
Philosophical
Society
at
Newport
,
and
was
a
man
of
very
broad
perceptions
;
John
Carter
,
publisher
of
the
Gazette
;
all
four
of
the
Brown
brothers
,
John
,
Joseph
,
Nicholas
,
and
Moses
,
who
formed
the
recognized
local
magnates
,
and
of
whom
Joseph
was
an
amateur
scientist
of
parts
;
old
Dr.
Jabez
Bowen
,
whose
erudition
was
considerable
,
and
who
had
much
first-hand
knowledge
of
Curwen
's
odd
purchases
;
and
Capt.
Abraham
Whipple
,
a
privateersman
of
phenomenal
boldness
and
energy
who
could
be
counted
on
to
lead
in
any
active
measures
needed
.
These
men
,
if
favorable
,
might
eventually
be
brought
together
for
collective
deliberation
;
and
with
them
would
rest
the
responsibility
of
deciding
whether
or
not
to
inform
the
Governor
of
the
Colony
,
Joseph
Wanton
of
Newport
,
before
taking
action
.
The
mission
of
Capt.
Mathewson
prospered
beyond
his
highest
expectations
;
for
whilst
he
found
one
or
two
of
the
chosen
confidants
somewhat
skeptical
of
the
possible
ghastly
side
of
Weeden
's
tale
,
there
was
not
one
who
did
not
think
it
necessary
to
take
some
sort
of
secret
and
co-ordinated
action
.
Curwen
,
it
was
clear
,
formed
a
vague
potential
menace
to
the
welfare
of
the
town
and
Colony
;
and
must
be
eliminated
at
any
cost
.
Late
in
December
1770
a
group
of
eminent
townsmen
met
at
the
home
of
Stephen
Hopkins
and
debated
tentative
measures
.
Weeden
's
notes
,
which
he
had
given
to
Capt.
Mathewson
,
were
carefully
read
;
and
he
and
Smith
were
summoned
to
give
testimony
anent
details
.
Something
very
like
fear
seized
the
whole
assemblage
before
the
meeting
was
over
,
though
there
ran
through
that
fear
a
grim
determination
which
Capt.
Whipple
's
bluff
and
resonant
profanity
best
expressed
.
They
would
not
notify
the
Governor
,
because
a
more
than
legal
course
seemed
necessary
.
With
hidden
powers
of
uncertain
extent
apparently
at
his
disposal
,
Curwen
was
not
a
man
who
could
safely
be
warned
to
leave
town
.
Nameless
reprisals
might
ensue
,
and
even
if
the
sinister
creature
complied
,
the
removal
would
be
no
more
than
the
shifting
of
an
unclean
burden
to
another
place
.
The
times
were
lawless
,
and
men
who
had
flouted
the
King
's
revenue
forces
for
years
were
not
the
ones
to
balk
at
sterner
things
when
duty
impelled
.
Curwen
must
be
surprised
at
his
Pawtuxet
farm
by
a
large
raiding-party
of
seasoned
privateersmen
and
given
one
decisive
chance
to
explain
himself
.
If
he
proved
a
madman
,
amusing
himself
with
shrieks
and
imaginary
conversations
in
different
voices
,
he
would
be
properly
confined
.
If
something
graver
appeared
,
and
if
the
underground
horrors
indeed
turned
out
to
be
real
,
he
and
all
with
him
must
die
.
It
could
be
done
quietly
,
and
even
the
widow
and
her
father
need
not
be
told
how
it
came
about
.
While
these
serious
steps
were
under
discussion
there
occurred
in
the
town
an
incident
so
terrible
and
inexplicable
that
for
a
time
little
else
was
mentioned
for
miles
around
.
In
the
middle
of
a
moon-light
January
night
with
heavy
snow
underfoot
there
resounded
over
the
river
and
up
the
hill
a
shocking
series
of
cries
which
brought
sleepy
heads
to
every
window
;
and
people
around
Weybosset
Point
saw
a
great
white
thing
plunging
frantically
along
the
badly
cleared
space
in
front
of
the
Turk
's
Head
.
There
was
a
baying
of
dogs
in
the
distance
,
but
this
subsided
as
soon
as
the
clamor
of
the
awakened
town
became
audible
.
Parties
of
men
with
lanterns
and
muskets
hurried
out
to
see
what
was
happening
,
but
nothing
rewarded
their
search
.
The
next
morning
,
however
,
a
giant
,
muscular
body
,
stark
naked
,
was
found
on
the
jams
of
ice
around
the
southern
piers
of
the
Great
Bridge
,
where
the
Long
Dock
stretched
out
beside
Abbott
's
distill-house
,
and
the
identity
of
this
object
became
a
theme
for
endless
speculation
and
whispering
.
It
was
not
so
much
the
younger
as
the
older
folk
who
whispered
,
for
only
in
the
patriarchs
did
that
rigid
face
with
horror-bulging
eyes
strike
any
chord
of
memory
.
They
,
shaking
as
they
did
so
,
exchanged
furtive
murmurs
of
wonder
and
fear
;
for
in
those
stiff
,
hideous
features
lay
a
resemblance
so
marvelous
as
to
be
almost
an
identity
--
and
that
identity
was
with
a
man
who
had
died
full
fifty
years
before
.
Ezra
Weeden
was
present
at
the
finding
;
and
remembering
the
baying
of
the
night
before
,
set
out
along
Weybosset
Street
and
across
Muddy
Dock
Bridge
whence
the
sound
had
come
.
He
had
a
curious
expectancy
,
and
was
not
surprised
when
,
reaching
the
edge
of
the
settled
district
where
the
street
merged
into
the
Pawtuxet
Road
,
he
came
upon
some
very
curious
tracks
in
the
snow
.
The
naked
giant
had
been
pursued
by
dogs
and
many
booted
men
,
and
the
returning
tracks
of
the
hounds
and
their
masters
could
be
easily
traced
.
They
had
given
up
the
chase
upon
coming
too
near
the
town
.
Weeden
smiled
grimly
,
and
as
a
perfunctory
detail
traced
the
footprints
back
to
their
source
.
It
was
the
Pawtuxet
farm
of
Joseph
Curwen
,
as
he
well
knew
it
would
be
;
and
he
would
have
given
much
had
the
yard
been
less
confusingly
trampled
.
As
it
was
,
he
dared
not
seem
too
interested
in
full
daylight
.
Dr.
Bowen
,
to
whom
Weeden
went
at
once
with
his
report
,
performed
an
autopsy
on
the
strange
corpse
,
and
discovered
peculiarities
which
baffled
him
utterly
.
The
digestive
tracts
of
the
huge
man
seemed
never
to
have
been
in
use
,
whilst
the
whole
skin
had
a
coarse
,
loosely
knit
texture
impossible
to
account
for
.
Impressed
by
what
the
old
men
whispered
of
this
body
's
likeness
to
the
long-dead
blacksmith
Daniel
Green
,
whose
great-grandson
Aaron
Hoppin
was
a
supercargo
in
Curwen
's
employ
,
Weeden
asked
casual
questions
till
he
found
where
Green
was
buried
.
That
night
a
party
of
ten
visited
the
old
North
Burying
Ground
opposite
Herrenden
's
Lane
and
opened
a
grave
.
They
found
it
vacant
,
precisely
as
they
had
expected
.
Meanwhile
arrangements
had
been
made
with
the
post
riders
to
intercept
Joseph
Curwen
's
mail
,
and
shortly
before
the
incident
of
the
naked
body
there
was
found
a
letter
from
one
Jedediah
Orne
of
Salem
which
made
the
co-operating
citizens
think
deeply
.
Parts
of
it
,
copied
and
preserved
in
the
private
archives
of
the
Smith
family
where
Charles
Ward
found
it
,
ran
as
follows
.
