When this was discussed in the village

When this was discussed in the villageOne of the villagers hadHydraulic power packhad a strange experience with Silas．One evening he hadlinear actuatordiscovered the weaver resting on a field gate，his eyes open but unseeing，and his body cold and hard，like a dead man's．After a few moments Silas appeared to wake up，said‘Good night’，and walked away．

When this was discussed in the village，some people thought that Silas had had a fit．But others，like Mr Macey，the church clerk，refused to accept a medical explanation．

‘No，he isn't ill，that weaver，'said old Mr Macey，shaking his head knowingly．‘If he had a fit，he'd fall down，wouldn't he？I think his soul flies out of his body sometimesHydraulic power packand that's why he looks so strange．He doesn't come to church，does he？And how does he know so much about medicines？You all re－member how he made Sally Oates better，when the doctor him-self could do no more for her．That's the devil's work，believe me！’

However，the housewives needed Silas to weave their linen，and they could find nothing wrong with his work．The years passed，and Raveloe villagers did not change their opinion of the weaver．At the end of fifteen years they said exactly the same things about him，but they believed them more strongly．They also said that he had saved up a lot of money since he had come to Raveloe．

Silas had come from a large town to the north of Raveloe．Here he had lived a very different life．Because he was one of a large number of weavers，he was not considered strange，and he belonged to an enthusiastic religious group．Hydraulic power packThey met every Sunday at the chapel in Light Street．Once，at a chapel meeting，Silas had become unconscious and had sat withoutlinear actuatormoving，hearing or seeing，for over an hour．This experience made him specially interesting to the rest of the group．