Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-23
in his little cateche to tho nearest pclico

station. and returned with three men,-
one Il French creole, one an Irishman,
and the third English. When we ex-
planned the circumstances to them they
smiled in a superior n and said:
"Youn never find it out, whatever it is;
it has been practiced in several parts of
the island before, and quite lately, too.
Some weeks ago we were sent for to
Savanna for the same cause. The in
habitants left the house and we staid
there alone on the alert for three DAYS,
and, though we watched steadily night
and day, tho very glass globes of the
lamps were broken in the room where
we were sitting; we saw the stones fall
and heard the sound rs they struck the
outside roof, but never once saw
any appearance of even a crack in the
ceiling. and left the place without hav-
ing found out any thing"
This was not satisfactory; but it was a
little reassuring, in the long hours be-
fore [ fell asleep, to hear the police
pacing up and down the veranda, or
when their steps ceased, to know, by the
t~ell-tale scent of their cigarettes through
the open window, that they were not
slumbering. / had meant to keep the
stone l picked up as a memcnto of the
incident. and had put it in my rooms;
but fearing that such an uncanny object
might take to capering about my prem
Uses at the witching hour of midnight I
opened my window and deposited it out
side.
The police left next morning, as they
said it was quite useless to remain. G..
and his cousins had to be in Port Louis
daily from ten in the morning till five
O'Clock, so my sister and / were left to
face the %terrors, which, however, didnot
look half so great by day as by night.
My sister would not ask q question, nor
listen when the servants volunteered
details, but my curiosity, which is con-
siderable, overcame my terror. and l
kept going backward and forward to the
servants quarters to mark the progress
Of affairs so as to report them faithfully
to G. in the evening.
l discovered that the principal vic
tins of the missiles were the cooks two
sons, bright little fellows of eight and
ten years of age. Wherever they were
the stones fell thickest-in the avenue,
among the trees, in thoir own hut, or
in the detached kitchen. On mention
Ing this circumstance to my brother he
Immediately sent for Manuel, told him
to punish his children at once, and make
them understand that he would have no
more of this tomfoolery going on and
ordered them to be shut in s. room all
night. and "a guardian placed at the
door to watch. / was quite aghast at
this summary and, as I thought, cruel
behavior, but 1 only attempted q faint
remonstrance, and made up my mind
toa'escrve the rest of my exciting adj
ventures for Il more sympathetic ear.
Next morning the guardian declined
to watch tho children any longer, as a
stone had left a large lump on his own
forehead.
II shall stop this" said the now
angry master of the household.
Accordingly Manuals boys were dis
patched to the school at Rosehill, some
two miles off, with a note to the school
master, asking him to receive them as
boarders for a few weeks. We heard
nothing further for tw%enty-four hours,
when the boys and a polite note were
simultaneously handed back, to say
them any longer, as since the arrival Of
Ills young fhhlGuiS HIS OWL uCdu IlIu
been nearly broken by q mysterious
stone coming through the roof, which,
however, remained intact. Next day,
after my brother had gone to town, I
was in my bedroom when I heard the
patter of naked feet on the veranaa out
side my open window, and piteous cries
for "grande Ma'amselle," as they al
ways called me from my height. I ran
to the window to find ten or eleven
clamorous creatures crying, wring.ng
their hands, Manuel in their midst, a
sobbing child in either hand, telling me
in accents of despair that whenever the
children seated themselves to eat a dish
of rice an invisible hand seized and
flung the dish some three feet Off, scat
tering the rice all around; aud that as
he and their mother We're beside them
they heard the click, click, Of a pair of
scissors, and the children's beautiful
silky hair was lying on the ground,
shorn off in Jagged, uneven masses.
The two boys were in a great state Of
terror, sobb:ng and trembling, their
father the image of misery and wretch
edness. I consoled them as bcstI could;
tried to laugh away their fears, albeit
my Wi were increasing; and desiring
Diuman to bring me q bunch of ba-
nanas. I fell the little ones out of my
own hand at the window.
In order to be able to %corfute my
brothers ideas as to the completely, if
not active agency, of the boys, | armed
myself with a large umbrella, and talk
ing the children with me, l repaired to
their own hut--a regular cease" filthy,
malodorous. but the excitement of my
own ervoa system was such that l
would have gone through a good deal to
find out the origin of the mystery.
1t was a day of intense heat, but l
stood in that baking, reekihg hut
where all there was in the way Of beds
were some filthy looking mats; where
old clothes hung on the begrimed walls,
and where the only air was admitted by
high, narrow windows-with the two
small culprits before me, their only at
tire little shirts and nankeen trousers.
I thought if they threw up the-stoncs by
any quick movement [ could not fail to
see the motion of their hands; ten min