"I was sitting right in this room at that table where the flowers are
today," said one mourner, "and she said to me: 'You have an enemy.
It is here on this card where you can see it plainly. But here is a
friend, a tall, light man, who will come between you and your enemy.
Put your trust in the tall, light man, but keep away from a dark man.
There is a dark-haired woman who pretends to be your friend, but lies
about you.'"
Compare that prediction of the oracle with this forecast of Daniel
Defoe's famous deaf and dumb predictor, Duncan Campbell.
"To Mme. S----h W----d; I see but one misfortune after the year of
1725. A black man, pretty tall and fat, seems to wish you no good.
Never tell your secrets to any such persons, and their malice cannot
hurt you."
And that warning wasn't original when Mme. S----h W----d called at
Duncan Campbell's lodging in London to learn what was what. No doubt
it could be traced beyond Delphi. That's almost as safe a guess as to
assume that Mme. S----h W----d was a Sarah Wood. She might have been a
Wedd or a Weld, but that is doubtful.