TA1TKJEY JFtACHEL; OR, THE FORTUNE TELLER : with some account of DUEAMS, OMENS, ft CONJURERS. 2? *»»£3^V*?>» j 1 ' Sold by HOWARD xsb EVAN'S CHARl>,No? I .r rb H^ T fSMir„P If . I .D ) ..„J J. H AT- 4»by ail BooVsellers tip HAZARD, Bath , Coun/ry. New5n,e »» WW B«*ew, in Town and ■ ■ PRICK ()\ ®M he>ntm to Shopke epers and //«,-;■/> cry, •t- ;'ENNY, or ;>,-r Lfundrvd. CitintD at Stationers ibaU - • TAWNEY RACHEL, ahPAWNEY RACHEL was the wife of Poaching jf-i* Giles. Tlieie seemed to be a conspiracy in Giles's whole family to maintain themselves by tricks and pilfering. Regular labour and honest industry did not suit their idle habits. They had a sort ot genius at finding out every unlawful means jto support a vagabond life. Rachel travelled the 'jcouiitry with a basket on her arm. She pretended to get her bread by selling laces, cabbage nets, bal- lads, and history books, and used to buy old H?gs and rabbit skins. Many honest people trade in these things, and 1 am sure 1 do not mean to sav a word against honest people let them trade in what they ml. But Rachel only made this traffic a pretence tor gettmg admittance into farmer's kitchens, in order to tell fortunes. t She was continually practising on the credulity to c IP a *a °° k advanta S e of their ignorance er- nt 1," • ^ them - Man y m ^cent per. ant has she caused to be suspected of a robbery lule she herself perhaps, was in league wki S n 'in > fi Uny a harmless maid h ^ she brought o ru > b y first COntriyi ught to |nd then pretending to foretel them. She ha'd n Q t 4 to be sure, the power of really foretelling thing* because she had no power of seeing into ffiturity. but she had the aft sometimes to bring them about according as she had foretold the^. So she j$ that credit for her wisdom which reaily flanged to ker wickedness. Rachel was also a famous interpreter of dreams, and could distinguish exactly be1 ; < en the fate of any two persons who happened to have a mole on the righr or the left cheek. She bad a punning way oi getting herself off when any of her p* ophe. cies failed. Wherj she explained a dream according to the natural appearance of things, and it did no! come to pass, then she would ;-et out of that scrape by saying that " this sort of dreams went by con- traries." Now of two very opposite things the chance is that one of them may turn out to be true; so in either case she kept up the cheat. Rachel, in one of her rambles, stopped at the house of Farmer Jenkins. She contrived to call "When she knew the 'master of the house was from bj-ae, which indeed was her usual way. She knocked at the door ; the maids being out a hay- making, Mrs. Jenkins went to opkn k herself.- Hachel asked her if she would please to let her light her ;: pe ? This was a common pretence, when she could find no other Way of getting into a house, While she was filling her pipe, she looked at Mrs, Jenkins and said, she could tell her some good for* tune. The farmer's wife, who was a very inoffen- sive, but a weak and superstitious -woman, was cu- rious to know what she meant. Rachel then looked about very carefully, and shutting the door with? mysterious air, asked her if she was sure nobody would hear them, This appearance of mystery 5 gas at once delightful and terrifying to Mrs. Jen- kins, who, with trembling agitation, bid the cun- ning woman speak out. 'Then,' said Rachel in a solemn whisper, /'there is to my certain knowledge a pot of money hid under one of the stones in your cellar."—-" Indeed," said Mrs. Jenkins, " it is im- possible, for now I think of it, I dreamt last night I was in prison for debt."— -"Did ycu indeed/' said Rachel, "that is quite surprising. Did you dream Jpbre twelve o'clock or after ? " — " O it was this morning, just before I awoke." — "Then I am sure ■ ;i k is true, for morning dreams always go by con- Jraries,'' cried Rachel. "How lucky it was you Ireamt it so late!" Mrs. Jenkins could hardly contain her joy, and asked how the money was to be come at, "There is but one way," said Rachel, "I must go into the cellar. I know by my art un- der which stone it lies, but I must not tell."— Then they both went down into the cellar, but Ra~ |fehel refused to point at the stone unless Mrs. Jen- kins would put five pieces of gold into a bason and do as she directed. The simple woman, instead of turning her out of doors for a cheat, did as she was bid. She put the guineas into a bason which she gave into Rachel's hand. Rachel strewed some white powder over the gold, metered some barba- rous words, and pretended to perform the black art. She then told Mrs. Jenkins to put the bason quietly down within the cellar; telling her that if |he ohered to look into it, or even to speak a word, the charm would be broken. She also directed her to ock the cellar door, and on no pretence to open % Z ^ U T \°\ ? y ~ d - ht hours - * If >" added ^he, II. , 0S y foliow these directions, then, by the fewer of my art, you wiU fintl the b ' e d 6 to the very stone under which the montfy lies hie? and a fine treasure it will be." Mrs. Jenkins, ^ believed every word the woman said, d id exactly as she was told, and Rachel took her leave with a handsome reward. When farmer Jenkins came home, lie desired his wife to draw him a cup of cider; this she put off doing so long that he began to be displeased. At last she begged he would drink a little beer instead, He insisted on knowing the reason, and when at last he grew angry she told him all that had passed; and owned that as the pot of gold happened to be in the cider cellar, she did not dare to open the door, .3$ she was sure it would break the charm. " Anditj would be a pity you know," said she " to lose a good fortune for the sako of a draught of cider,") The farmer who was not so easily imposed upon; suspected a trick. He demanded the key, and' went and opened the cellar door; there he found the bason, and in it five round pieces of tin covered with powder. Mrs. Jenkins burst out a crying; but the farmer thought of nothing but getting a war- rant to apprehend the cunning woman. Indeed she well proved her claim to that nanne, when she in- sisted that the cellar door might be, kept locked till she had time to get out of reach of all pursuit. Poo** Sally Evans! I am sure she rued the day that ever she listened to a fortune teller ! Sally was as harmless a girl as ever churned a pound of butter; but Sally was ignorant and superstitious. She delighted in dream-books, and had consulted all the cunning women in the country to tell W whether the two moles on her cheek denoted thai she was to have two husbands, or only two children If she picked up an old horse-shoe going to chm _ was fcre that would be a lucky week. She sb black pudding without borrowing one TL Ta sonf old P wigs £ hang in the chimney, fiU y Relieving there were no other means f nreserve them from bursting. She would never 20 to bed on Midsummer-eve without stick* ■ up in her room the well-known plant called SSdsummer-men, as the bending of the leaves to thi right or to the left, would never fail to tell her whether Jacob, of whom we shall speak presently, was true or false. . She would rather go five miles about than pass near a church-yard at night Every seventh year she would not eat beans because they grew downward in the pod, instead of upward; and she would rather have gone with her gown open than have taken a pin of an old woman, tor fear of being bewitched. Poor Sally had so many unlucky days in her calendar, that a large portion of her tioie became of little use, because on these days §he did not dare set about any new work. And she would have refused the best offer in the country if made to her on a Friday, which she thought so unlucky a day that she often said what a pity it was that there was any Friday in the week. Sally had twenty pounds left her by her grandmother* She had long been courted by Jacob, a sober lad, with whom she lived fellow-servant at a creditably fanner's. Honest Jacob, like his namesake of old, thought it little to wait seven years to get this damsel to wife, because of the love he bore her, for Sully had promised to marry him when he could match her tweoty pounds with another of his own. 1 Now there was one Robert, a rambling, idle young gardener, who instead of sitting fown steadily 8 m one place, used to roam about tin: cc ; do odd jobs where he could get them. N. . 0l ders'ood any thing about him, except that htu a down-looking fellow, who baraa nobody k2 whence, and got hi,; bread nobody knew hcv-v ' ! i:ac ! 5 ! )eii . r, y |5 hi ? Packet. Robert, w.ho w J hraippened to hearof now in the neighbour h Sally Evans and her twenty pounds. He i mnie diately conceived a longmg desire for the latter, oo he went'to bis old friend Rachel, told her alii" had heard of Sally, and premised if she could brim about ? marriage between them, she should * shares in the monev. Rachel undertook the business. She set off :( the farm-house, and fell to singing one of her m<& enticing snugs just under the dairy window. Sally JW m struck with the pretty tune, which was un- happily used, as is too often the case, to set of some very loose words, that she jumped up, drop, ped (he skimming-dish into the cream, and ran out to buy the song. While she stooped down to mm. mage the basket for those songs which had the most tragical pictures, (for Sally had a tender heart, and delighted in whatever was mournful) Rachellookei pteifo$tly in he% face, and told her she knew by her tilt (hat she was born to good fortune, but advised her not to throw herself away. "These two moles on yourcheek, " added she, "shew you are in some danger. « Do they , denote husbands or chil oren ? "cried Sally, starting up and letting Fall the song of the Children in the Wood. — " Husbands," muuered JRachel. "Alas! poor Jacob! 5 ' said Sail) mournfully, ''then he will die first, won't her"- " Mum for that, " quoth the fortune-teller, "I 4 $ e y no .more," Sally was impatient, but the luriosity she discovered the most mystery Rachel Effected. At last she said, '? it you will cross my land with a piece of silver, I will tell you your for- lu ; w\ By the power of my rt I can do this three wavs; by cards, by the lines of your hand, or by Bmiingacup of tea -grounds; which will you haver" WQ, all! ail!" cried Sally, " looking up with re- ference to this sun burnt oracle of wisdom, who Bne.v no less than three different ways of diving 'Into Cue secrets of futurity. Alas! persons of bet- ter sense than Sally have been so taken in — the fcore is the pity i The poor girl said, she would run .■up s'.airs to her little box where she kept her mo- jfcoy tied up in a bit of an old glove, and would bring down a bright queen Ann's sixpence very crooked." " I am sure/ 7 added she, i( it is a lucky one, for it cured me of a very bad ague last spring, by only laying it nine nights under my pillow without speak- ing a word. But then you must know what gave ;the virtue to this sixpence was, that it had belonged to three young men of the name of John ; I am sure I had work enough to get it. But true it is, it cer- tainly cured me. It must be the sixpence, you know, for I am sure I did nothing else for my Sgue, except indeed taking some bitter stuiFevery three hours which the doctor called bark. To be sure I lost my ague soon after I rook it, but I am certain it was owing to the crooked sixpence and not-to the bark. And so, good woman, you may come in if you^will, for there is not a soul in the house but me.'' This was the very thing Rachel wanted to know, and very glad she was to learn it. |L ^ nlie Sally was above stairs untying her glove, Rachel slipped into the parlour, took a small silver i fromthe beauiet, and clapped it into her pocket. 10 -Sally run down lamenting that see had lost her six. pence, which she verily believed was owing to } lGr having put it into a left glove instead of a right one Hacbc! comforted her by saying, that if she gave her two plain ones instead, the charm would wort l ist as well, Simple Sally thought herself happy to be let off so easily, never calculating that a smooth shilling was worth two crooked sixpences, But this skill was a part of the black art in which Rachel excelled. She took the money and be^au to examine the lines of Sally's left hand. She bit her Vvhithered lips, shook her head and bade her poor dupe beware of a young man who had black hair, M No, indeed," cried Sally, all in a fright, ''you mean black eyes, for our Jacob has got brown hair, 'tis his eyes that are black." — "That is the very thing I was going to say," muttered Rachel, "j meant his eyes, though I said hair, for I know his hair is as brown as a chesnut, and his eyes as black as a sl©e." — i* So they are sure enough," cried Sally, " how in the world could you know that?"— forgetting that she herself had jus: told her so. And it is thus that these hags pick out of the credulous all which they afterwards pretend to reveal to them. " O, 1 know a pretty deal more than that," said Rachel, " but you must be aware of this man," — "Why so," cried Sally with great quickness, ''Because," answered Rachel, " you are fated to marry a man worth a hundred of him, who has blue eyes, light hair, and a stoop in his shoulders.*-* " No, indeed, but I can't," said Sally, " I have pro- mised Jacob, and Jacob 1 will marry."— " You can* not, child," returned Rachel, in a solemn tone; "it is out of ycur power, you arc faied to marry w grey eyes and light hair/^- y their fnllv ivd then complain there is no resisting it. — " What can 1 do r odij. i \uu Ltu that too," said Rachel. " Yoa must take a walk next Sunday afternoon to the church-yard, and the -.Jit man yon meet in a blue coat, with a large posy of pink?, and southern wood in his bosom, silting on » church yard wall, about seven o'clock, he will be the man."— n Provided/' said Sally, much dis* turbcil, " he has grey eyes and stoops." — lt G, to be •si^e," said Rachel " otherwise it is not the right man."—" But if 1 should mistake," said Sally, *' for two men may happen to have a coat and eyes of the same colour ?" — " To prevent that," replied Rachel, t( if it is the right man, the two first letters of bis name will be R. P. This man has got money beyond sea," — " O, I do not value his money," said Sally, with tears in her eyes, " for I love Jacob better than house or land ; but if 1 am fated to marry another, I can't help it; you know there is no struggling against my fate." Poor Sally thought of nothing and dreamt of no** tiling all the week but the bine coat and the grey capes. She made an hundred blunders at her wcr!:. She put her rennet into the butter-pan, instead T)f the cheese-tub. She gave the curd to the hogij and put the whey in the vats. She put her fettte knife out of her pocket for fear it should cut love, and would not stay in the kitchen it there was net an even number of people, lest it should break the charm. She grew cold and mysterious in her be- haviour to faithful Jacob, whom she trulv loved. 1:2 But the more she though!: of the fortune-tell*, * more she was convinced that brown h or a v ^ ' 7 es wer e hot what she was fated to faft therefore, thouyh she trembled to think W]!u could not be the man. ' Co On Sunday she was too uneasy to go to ehiij for poor Sally had never been taught, that her ! ing uneasy was only a Fresh reason why she 01J togo thither. She spent (he whole afternoon i n f little garret, dressing in ail her best. First on her red ribbon, which she had bought at J Lammas fair: then she recollected that red w\ sa unlucky colour, and changed it for a blue ribbon tiea in a true lover's knot; but suddenly called* mind that poor Jacob had bought this knot for he or a ..pedlar at the door, and that she bad promise! to wear it for his sake, her hear: smote her. andsS MnJ it by, sighing to thank that she was not fated to marry the man who hiA given it to her. When she had looked at herself twerny times in the * er of fortune -tellers ! there she saw him I there sat the very man ! his. hair as light as fkx, hWfevc > a-' I -re as butter milk, and his shoulders asfomvi as :t >ub. livery tittle agreed, to the very ^o^eo-;iv in h i c « waistcoat button- hole. At first, in- deed! she thoM:: at it had been sweet briar, and, glad td'iaUei at a