The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-05

very, very Suall LII I'LL Inc DouuHtGSb uGptH q
heavenYr
"Yss, Mashka; bnt the soul OF one man car
be greater and nobler thsn all this endless
universe
She evidently did not exactly understand
what meant.
..Ihe poor man ls tired" she probably
Thought "he begins to wander,," and at c
turning Of the road, Mashka boldtEa bid me
good night
This night | wont home determined to gel
ut last h thorough rest. The doctor remain
at the hospital. After swallowing o. glass d
steumtnE hot tea Gavrilytch had prepared
for me, stepped out on this balcony To enjoy
once more the fresh night atr before going to
bed. The night was dark and CALM. That
absolute, mystic stiffness peculiar TO the sum.
mer nights OF the North prevailed every.
where. u sat down on garden .chelr anu
listened--5to what7 1 knew not. Not a. sound
came to trouble tho almeat awful stiffness
and still j waited and listened listened tc
silence.
strange, anxious feeling, somewhat sim
tlar to tha thrill experienced by nervous per
sons Oh listening tn ghost etnries at night,
came over one. The more reeistea this.
strange spell, the more completely 1t mastered
me. j heHd my hrenth; was &fraid to Elove
Thus ] 800 motloness, spell-Eeund, my own
pulse ringing In my cars, aH my faculties
turned nprbldty to ono purpose. to listen TO u
sound which did not come. As last 1t came;
somewhere III space between heaven and
earth. l sprang up, shivering M II with cold.
A nervous awe, doubtless attributable to tae
fafignaJ had undergone during tho last days,
cfept upon me, and remained standing, not
daring to move. For several minutes oil Wa#
still. Then again came that quaint, unnhrtt-
Nv moan. 1t sounded like the cry Of some
dying auilnal. Though coming from dis
lance, there were Wild discordant notes In
thnt sound which grated on the ear. and the
v,S,J1 Ia
A few moments later another sound, still
more horrible, still more discordant. ran
through the night-a sound as Of hundreds OF
knives rubbed against one another.
terminsd to wake up old GavriIytch and ask
him what he thought about these strange
noises bud Just stepped back into my room
when the door opened and GavrIlytch himself,
hastily and imperfectly clad In an old tnIap
(shsepskin), appeared.
II soc you are not yet In bed, barlp," hs re-
marked ina low tone. "Hhve you heard2'
'Yes: / was just going TO call you" | IN
swered. "What can thai be2"
~ knowl" exclaimed The veteran, with 81
mysterious wink. 1T Ia nothing good, you
may depend on IL; @ fiendish. u heather
But what Is IT," asked, impatiently.
"Its tho women and the girls, barin, who
are blowing out the Black Death. God grant
us Ill peace md good health this night, and
out In The night thirsting for blood and search
FLOWING out the Black Death r repeated.
rs IT possible that this horrible superstition
still cxists2'
Certainty. BARN. They are now out; you
have heard their yells.,'
"Gnvrllyteh,' / exclaimed, snatching up
my hat; II must soc that. let It's GO
The old man caught ms by the arm.
"SerAej Egorovitch = he said. In u solemn
a-ff hiIt / n,
you, take care! They are mad now, they are
ito longer women during this night, but
bloodthirsty witches. Take carel'
"Nonsensnl We shall find some sure hiding
place where we ean see oil without being
seen. Come"
lighted small blind lantern, which put
into my pocket In case OF nn emergency, and
went out Of the house, followed by Gavril-
yteh, who. though gruinbling, would not have
stayed behind for any price ! had often
cholera" but had never really believed In it's
actual existence. had heard Of u supersti-
tion prevailing among the peasants that by
dragging d plow around the village, la the
dead of night sort Of magic circle was
formed which was supposed to be proof
against the ravages OF the epidemic, and that
every living belng-beest Or rnan--showiDg 1t
or himself during the ceremony was to be
considered as the personiticntion of cholera
and alain On the spot. Would | really now
have the opportunity of witnessing the horri-
BILE witcheryi
We walked rapidly and silently through the
village. For D. few moments oil was silent.
Then again the same unearthly yellB l had
heard before arose, but louder and more dis
tinctly. We heard the voices Of the women,
wrought to the highest pitch human shrek
Is cnpable OF attaining. The sounds came
from hollow eastward Of the village.
Through this hollow o rough country road
ran, half concehled among bushes and under
wood. THIS road leading through the large
forest and along tho river side to the district
town, a5out fifteen miles distant, was rarely
used III summer, and was allowed to remain
In 81 shocking condition. a red glow on the
bushes along the road showed us that 1t was
along this road that the procession moved.
GavriIytch and | concealed ourselves In the
underwood, and lay waiting breathlessly for
the things to come.
The tiendish yells approached nearer and
nearer, the red glare became more Intense,
and at last, ut q turning Of the road about
twenty paces from whore we lay concealed,
the procession appeared III full view.
1t Is impossible for me to give an adequate
description of the quaint, horrible sight which
caught my eyes. The procession consisted Ut
some forty women and girls, each brhndlsning
dancing, turning around like deryI5he5 and
yelling out strange, sonseess 1icantatlons
from their foalning lips. Some OF them had
evidently already reached an ecstatfc eondt-
tiOn which rendered them inSenSibls 10 bOiliy
pain, for they threw themselves down on the
road, thumped their heads against the
sharp stones, and then jumped up
again bowling and dancing, their faces
with blood. This sight seemed
to add to the dernoniac fury OF the others;
several women began to strike themselves
and each other with the household iustru-
ments Of every description with which they
were armed; fire tongs, kitchen pans, dung
forks and such like. BY far the most striking
feature of the procession was, however, the
group which headed it. A young girl, with
her hair falling over her shoulders, completely
naked and bowed down under the weight OF q
horses harness, was dragging at q small
paw, aided by four old women, who, with tor
rifle yells, pulled at the woodwork Of the
pillow with one hand and brandished birch
rods with the other. The young girl broke
down under her load nearly every moment.
and screamed "Strike me, mothers, strike
me harderl That is good That gives me
strength" And the old witches struck with
all their might.
The procession moved on very slowly.
When 1t had at last come UP to our hiding
place. aud was able to distinguish the faces
OF the women, nearly every one OF whom |
knew personally, q strong temptation came