How Tom rode a Gossipping.

Tom heard of a company of women that would meet at the place a house-warming, to welcome one of the house. These women had formerly abused Tom, and now he thought to be even with them, so he goes to an apothecary's shop, buys a pound of purging comfits, and puts them in a cake with other spices, and dresses himself in women's apparel, and gets a horse and a pannel, and to the house he comes, knocks at the door, and asked the maid, whether there were many women, came a house-warming? The maid said, Not yet: I pray says Tom, take this cake, and if I come not at the meeting, let them eat it and be merry; for I must go to a woman that is ready to lie down, and away he goes. The women came, and wondered what woman it should be that left that cake; some of them supposed that it was some midwife: They staid a while, and the person they expected to be with them not coming, they fell to their meat, and at last to the cake. But it was not long in their bellies before it began to work, so that one must go to stool, another to vometing, and all of them were so sick, that the smell of them perfumed the house, and the breath of them was so strong, that none could endure it: In which time Tom shifts himself into man's apparel, and with a staff in his hand, came where his gossips were, and hearing them groaning all the house over, opened the door and asked them what was the matter? They answered, they were all poisoned. Marry, quoth Tom, I hope not, if you please to let me have a horse, I will ride to Mr. Doctor's and fetch an antidote to expel the poison. Take my horse, quoth one; take my horse, said another; or mine, said a third. Well, well, said Tom, I will take one. And into the stable he goes, and takes three horses, and to the doctor's he rides, and told him, that all the people of such a house had eaten something that hindred them from going to stool; and prayed him that he would without delay, carry them some Glysters; and that they had sent a horse for him and another for his man. The doctor, greedy of money, hasted thither with his glyster-pipes as fast as the horses could carry him and his man; but the doctor no sooner came into the house, but he smell'd there was no need of glysters. In the mean time Tom told not only all he met with, that there were such women met to be merry at such a place; and not only they, but all the women of the house were poisoned but went likewise to their husbands, and told them the like; so that all the people thereabouts repaired thither; which made the women so ashamed, that they knew not which way to look, because all that saw them judged they were drunk; so that instead of comforting them, which they expected, they fell a reviling them; the women also fell to scolding among themselves, and would have fought, had not their husbands parted them, by carrying them home.