River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-04-09

you ENlHS W posS uls Joos poso ~ "h
den whar / BET Mas Ned tolc you to
CO. go on, an femme lone"
"Uncle Humphrey" said Edward,
"there is nothing whatever to be afraid
of, and you must set the rest an example.
Come"
Uncle Humphrey obeyed, but as he did
so he turned his head and rolled-or, as
the negroes say, l0ailed-his eyes at Mar
tina in o manner which convinced her,
whatever her doubts in other matters per-
tanning TO theology, that there is such a
thing as future punishment. The old
fellow advanced, and under direction OF
the great High Priest poured some of the
contents of the bottle on the powder in
dicated to him, and il remained white.
"Thang Gord" he exclaimed with a
feryency which left no doubt of his sim
cerity, and FASTENED away.
Two or three others followed with a
similar result. Then came Mercy, the
housemaid, aud as her trembling fingers
poured the liquid forth, behold the pow.
der changed and turned to black The
commotion was Undesirable, and Mercy
was about to have nervous fit when DR..
Rutherford, fixing his eyes on her, said in
tone Of command, "Be quiet-be per-
fectly quiet, and in two hours | will de-.
stroy the spell. Go over there ana sit
down."
She trottod to seat under one of the
trees.
One or two more took their turn, among
them Nanny, but the powders remained
xuls m \ haA arI Nt N.
pronounce her 'witched, because she was
SO old and loved her so; | could not
bear that she should be frightened. You
should have seen her when she found that
she was safe. The still, old limbs became
supple, and the terrified countcnance full
of Joy, and the dear ridiculous old thing
threw her arms up in the air, and
laughed, and cried, and shouted, and
praised God, and knocked off her turban,
and burst open her apron-strings, and re-
fused to be 1 ted ill the doctor ordered
her to be removed from the scene Of ac-
ton. The idea Of retiring to the seclu-
sion of her cabin while all this was going
on was simply preposterous, and Nanny
at once exhibited the soothing effect of
the suggestion; so the play proceeded.
More white powders. Then Apollo's
turned black, and, poor fellow when it
did so, he might have been god or a
demon, or anything else you never saw,
for his face looked little like that Of hui
man being, giving you the impression only
of wildly-roling eyeballs, and greatwhite
teeth glistening in CHASTITY, feeble, al
most idiotc grin.
Edward went up to him and laid his
hand Oh his shoulder THAT'S all right.
my boy. Well have you straight in no
time, and you will be the best man at the
shucklng tomorrow night"
| More white powders. Then came Wash,
great big Wash and, when his powder
changed, what do you suppose he did
Well, he just tainted outright.
The remaining powders retaining their
color, and Wash having been restored to
consciousness, DR.. Rutherford directed
J him to clump of chinquapin bushes near
the ''big gate at the entrance of the
plantation. There he would find
fiat stone. Beneath this stone he would
find thirteen grains of molding corn and
some goats hair. These he was to bring.
back with him. Under the first rail near
the same gate Mercy would find dead
frog witt ITS eyes torn out, and across the
road in the hollow of stump Apollo was
to look for niuskrat's tail and weasel's
paw. They went off reluctantly, the en-
tire corps de plantation following, and
soon they all came scampering back,
trampling down the oX-eyed daisies and
amming each other against the corners
, of the rail fence, for, sure enough, the
witch's treasures had been found, but not
a soul dared to touch them. DR.. Ruther-
ford sternly ordered them back, but all
hands hung fire, and their countenances
evinced resistance of such stubborn
character thai Edward at once volunteer
ed to go with them. Then il was all right
and presently returned the most laugh.
BILE procession that was ever seen-Wash
with his arms ut right angles, bearing his
grains of molding corn on burdock leaf
which he held at as great distance as
the size of the leaf and the length
Of his arms would admit, his
neck craned out, and his eyes
so glued to the uncanny corn that he
stumbled over every stick and stone that
lay in his path; Mercy next, with ludi
crous solemnity, bearing her unsightly
burden on the end Of a corR.stalk; ApOl-
10 last, his weasel's paw and muslirat's
tail deposited in the toe of an old brogan
which he had found by the roadside,
brown, and wrinkled, and stiff, with
hole in the side, and the ears curled back,
and which he had hung b. the heel to
long, crooked stick. On they came, the
crowd around them following at irregular
distances, surging back and forth, adj
yancing or retreating as they were urged
by curiosity or repealed by fear.
1t was now getting dark, so DR.. Ruth.
erford, having had the table removed,
brought forth three large plates filled
with different colored powders. On one
he placed Mercy's frog, on another
Wash corn, and on the third the musk.
rats tail and weasel's paw taken from
Apollo's shoe. Then we all waited in
silence while with his hands behind him
he STROBE solemnly back and forth in
front of the three plates. At length the
bees had ceased to hum; the cattle had
come home of themselves. and could be
heard lowing in the distance the many
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