The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-03-17

mission in furtherance Of that end in the
mother country.
Mrs. walcot bridled up. and Matthias.
reddening. answered stifiy. "Fhank you.
doctor, but I can manage my own business
without the intervention of strangers. 1
need no reminder of my duty. A sea cap
tain is scarcely the person to institute in
luiries-of this nature"
perhaps not, :" assented the doctor dryly,
Sith a peculiar smile. as he took his depar-
turs, much like one who has but done hall
his e-rand.
Had their voices waited TO Cufy through
the open easement, that he should quit the
Jasmine &c was pruning by the plr+ico TO
hurry 10 the avenue /? Wheeler or not, he
stopped the pony under sha los OF lie 'a-se
'rees, and whispered earnestly and myste-i-
pasiy;
d Hawley, you good man; you LIB ole
massa. Him spirit angry; all de Corbyn
spirits angry. Last night Dinah dream-
dream Of Massa Charlie. lie wet an white
upon the STEPS; he ask to come in. and
Massa Walcot shut the door-an' death
come in insteadi Doctor, dere lie nulder
Co-byn somewhere, an Massa Waleot no try
to find him; an spirits berry angry. cuify
work Obeah charm tonight, to keep de evil
doom froln dc black boys and girls DAT Tub
ole Massa Corbynl"
. f" would advise you TO nave nothing to
10 with Obeah, CuTy. II may breed ILL.,
feeling and do mischief said the doctor. as
Gully ioosened his hold of the reins. and
Sambo cracked his whip.
T., r-l.-. II.n " -1L z-. A.
Hall itself. close by a mountain strcamlet
which ran down to join the river. was a
bubbling. boiling spring. The spot was
lonely and sequestered, Swallowed by the
palmetto AMI the manchinccl. Gourds and
squashes trailed along the grornd and hid
the iguana, the green lizard, and the spot
ted toad. No pineapple or banana grew be-
side it; no seaside grape spread its branch
Is low to the ground, hanging thick and
ruddy clusters under every branch, glossy
with leaves Of green but all that was dark
or rank grew there.
1t was a dismal spot. Yet hither dusky
forms came stealthily in the middle of the
night to watch and share with CufTy in the
dread rites Of Obeah incarnation. To his
.cllovs he was known as a MandiDgo priest,
and the hold he had on their superstitious
Souls was strong aud terrible. His hut was
near at hand, and in this weird corner of
the plantation had he been wont to concoct
healing balms, philtres, and the yet more
potent obeah, whose spell. wrought in
secret, was supposed to work in secret, and
set human skill and precaution at de-
fiarcc.
Dinah was there-a fitting priesters of
these mysteries-and Dan and Scipio, and
Chloe and Classy, with others whose names
are rnrecorded.
There was a fissure in the ground close
TO the boiling spring. To this Cuffy applied
alight, and instantly a jet of fame shot up.
and the poor dupes bowed down TO the fire.
spirit. From a hollow tree was produced
an iron pot. Half filling this from the boil
ing spring. it WINS suspended On a triangle
of sticks over the natural naphtha fame.
and the weird rites began.
There WAS a low monotonous cbast in n
strange tongue, a dance around .esfe seeth-
ing pot, which in the lurid light was half
demcniac; and Cufy, swaying-to and fro,
muttered words unknown even TO his con-
federates, rs one by one he threw into the
pot snake-wood from the trumpet-tree, sap
from the deadly manchiHeel, asnake cucum-
Der, the poisonous sandbox leaves and rings,
n living lizard and a toad, a turtles egg,
the roo5 of the cat's-blood plant. a bat, q
young owlet, a dead mans hair, pernicious
scum from Long Pond. and other vcnomous
ingredients with and without a name.
It was q horrible compounds deadly
poison ; audas it dubbed in the pot, white
teeth and eyes CLEANED out from midnight
faces, hideous from their own imagin-
ings.
The charm wrought ont, the mixture
poured into a calabash bottle and closely
stopped, the refuse buried in the ground,
the pot restored to the hollow tree, the
magic fame cxtinguished with wet sand,
Cufy dismissed his impish brood to their
hutz, and bore away his revolving decoction,
to be buried the ensuing night under the
threshold of the Hall. The doom hanging
over Corbyn would then fall upon the fated
mortals who should step across it first and
thus. Obeah satisfied, his followers would be
protected.
Be sure there were early risers among the
initiated, and sharp eyes to watch the
threshold under ban, and warn of unwary
footsteps.
Mr.. William Walcot was the first to leave
the house but months went by, and still
he came and went healthily and haughtily,
in spite of Obeah; and he was more fire.
quently at the Hall than either his father
or Stephen liked. the Folly being his home
proper. The father considered thai VIII
interfered too much on the plantation, to
the neglect and detriment of his shipping
agency; while Steve, aware ofthe compara
tive proximity of the Hall to the Parsonage,
regarded him as a dangerous rival.
The fact was that the elder of the twain
had determined most fraternally to "cut
his brother out" of the favor of Miss VOL
ferstone. if the ~clergyman's rich and lovely
ward had any leaning in that direction,
and altogether comported himself as If ne
were his father's natural and certain suc-
cessor on the estate.
Bat Mrs. Walcot sickened; an inexpli-
cable disease, which caused her owerlinbst to
swell painfully. marred her enjoyment. and
made her splendid mansion little better
than a prison, although stately Augusta
.Tolferstone and lively Mary Fulton came
like stnbeams now and AGAIN To briobten II