Those two brothers would trust no one to help them,
but one by one, in the long summer evenings, they moved each of
those stones; I believe the servants thought they were crazed, but
they could explain with some truth that they wanted to clear up the
disputed points as to the architecture, as indeed they succeeded in
doing.
They had, however, nearly given up, having reached the original
pavement and disinterred the piscina of the side altar, also a
beautiful coffin lid with a floriated cross; when, in a kind of
hollow, Martyn lit upon the rotten remains of something silken,
knotted together. It seemed to have enclosed a bundle. There were
some rags that might have been a change of clothing, also a Prayer-
book, decayed completely except the leathern covering, inside which
was the startling inscription, 'Margaret Winslow, her booke; Lord,
have mercy on a miserable widow woman.' There was also a thick
leathern roll, containing needles, pins, and scissors, entirely
corroded, and within these a paper, carefully folded, but almost
destroyed by the action of damp and the rust of the steel, so that
only thus much was visible. 'I, Margaret Winslow, being of sound
mind, do hereby give and bequeath--'
Then came stains that defaced every line, till the extreme end,
where a seal remained; the date 1707 was legible, and there were
some scrawls, probably the poor lady's signature, and perhaps that
of witnesses.
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