23 
September, 1919 
A tazza, or Italian carved 
dish of rock crystal 
mounted in silver gilt 
as a means of foretelling the 
future. I never look upon 
my little array of objects of 
carved crystal that I am not 
reminded that witchcraft in 
Salem may have been keyed 
to a startling pitch, but it 
could not have compared 
with the subtle profundity 
of those mystic myriads 
who, throughout the ages, 
have confessed to crystal- 
gazing. 
Crystal Gazing 
In our own community the 
perversity of the witcheous 
ones of colonial Massa¬ 
chusetts Bay had the glam¬ 
our somewhat removed from 
their memories, as conveyed 
to us in our school histories, 
by the contemporary prox¬ 
imity of old Miss Abeste- 
mia Nuggett who lived just 
back of the Methodist 
church on Calvin Street. In 
the very shade of that rigid 
institution Miss Nuggett 
practiced crystal-gazing, not 
clandestinely, but openly 
on her side porch in full 
view of passers-by. No 
other crime could be laid at 
her door, for she was an 
immaculate housekeeper, 
kept her tabby cat sleek and 
her flower -garden well 
weeded, and for every 
skimp cup of sugar she bor¬ 
rowed she returned one full 
to the brim. Moreover, Miss 
Nuggett’s gossip was in¬ 
variably of the recent sort 
that never made her conver¬ 
sation dull, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that she re¬ 
pressed, and occasionally 
suppressed, the more inti¬ 
mate minutiae that made the 
small-talk of some of the 
other ladies more feared 
than entertaining, or reli¬ 
able. 
ith Miss Nuggett crys¬ 
tal-gazing was as neatly 
done as her mending and 
darning; furthermore, she 
did not permit it to post¬ 
pone either. The same 
Methodist Church whose 
shadow kept her portulace 
Rock crystal chal¬ 
ice with metal base, 
of late 16 th Cen¬ 
tury Transylvanian 
fabrication 
The grotesque piper 
cruet is rock crystal 
executed in the late 
16th Century 
Crystal formed to 
represent Fujiyama, 
the famous Japanese 
mountain 
Tazza of carved 
rock crystal and sil¬ 
ver gilt, nth Cen¬ 
tury, from Nurem¬ 
berg 
Carved crystal porpoise, 
18 th Century Chinese. 
Bishop Collection 
fresh and gorgeous, counted 
Miss Nuggett a devoted 
member of its congregation, 
notwithstanding which fact 
she would continue to 
“gaze.” There on the side 
porch she would sit of an 
afternoon, so absorbed in 
the globe of pure crystal 
that rested on its metal 
Chinese standard, dragon 
in form. I do not believe 
Miss Nuggett ever took note 
of the dragon for she was 
known to be dreadfully 
frightened of caterpillars. 
If I have said that Miss 
Nuggett “practiced” crystal- 
gazing, I do not mean to 
imply that she practiced it 
on any one. In fact, ex¬ 
cept for the deed, she was 
completely reticent about the 
matter and never sought 
either adepts or to convince 
sceptics. It was common 
talk that she “saw” things, 
wonderful things, but just 
what, no one could say au- 
thoritively. If not inter¬ 
rupted by the postman, or 
by afternoon callers, Miss 
Nuggett would gaze on until 
five. Promptly with the 
striking of the sleepy-toned 
clock that droned in her 
sitting - room, she would 
turn indoors at five and 
start getting the evening 
meal. Into its box wmuld 
go the crystal ball, and no 
one ever knew its message, 
at least not until the sum¬ 
mer evening it w-as noticed 
that Miss Nuggett was still 
in her chair at half-past 
seven, the crystal globe be¬ 
fore her. 
Miss Nuggett’s Romance 
Mrs. Wynnicombe hur¬ 
ried over to see what was 
the matter. She spoke, but 
no answer came to her as 
she hurried up the porch 
steps. Miss Nuggett’s spirit 
had flown. They found a 
letter, yellow with age, 
folded and in the bottom of 
the box. John Hurleigh— 
they remembered the name. 
(Continued on page 78) 
