Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-06-23

woman in town who will 60 to sleep and
write names on paper, and I show Missy in
store room tomorrow morning"
"No, no, cook" said, "don't tdoanything
so silly as to waste money on a clairvOyant.
She can't tell. And don't suspect any of the
servants here. 1t is merely a mschevous
trick. l am very sorry for you, meanwhile,
but we will find it out by and by. | could
not lend you money for such purpose, and
you must not waste your own"
But the poor wretch was too miserable to
heed my remonstrances. The day following
we had to trust our cooking to one of the
boys, who were all becoming quite demor-
allied in the unusually exciting atmosphere
in which we lived, for Manuel had again
taken French leave and was absent all day.
Outwardly Indifferent, it was with thrill
of expectation | repaired to the store-room
next morning, when Manuel Immediately
closed the door, and, glancing tearfully all
around and out at the square grated win
dows, pushed paper into my hand, saying
in quick, low voice: "Missy, read that in
room. No tell nobody"
"Have you seen the clairvoyant:" | ask
momentary terror of perhaps seeing my
own name written on the paper.
eyes, missy. She go sleep she ask how
many servant then she tink long time;
then she say massa 60 to England soon-six
months two boys here want took leave dis
house. They try frghten him away. Mis-
sy, see?"
u ran across to my room and there read
a. he Of Sammy and another servant
the two who were subsequently retained
by G.'s partner as head servants)
TO say the least of it, the woman had not
made bad guess, and how she contrvedto
know my brothers intention of leaving
Mauritius I don't know. 1t was, in any
case, most curious coincidence.
The other servants, who knew or guessed
the mission on which Manuel had gone into
Port Louis, and suspected that he had told
me the result, scanned my face carefully
and questioned me as to my having found
any elucdation of the matter. But /
studiously concealed my knowledge, and
gave the paper back to Manuel, telling him
not to put too much faith in information OBJ
tanned in such manner, though if had
any suspicious in the matter, they certainly
pointed in the same direction. Manuel's, l
may say, had till now gone wide Of the
mark.
The molestation after this ceased for some
time, or occurred at rare intervals, but the
poor man had become so unnerved from ter
ror that he neglected his work, and finally
got his dismissal.
had returned to Europe before this hap
pened, but on leaving begged my sister to
keep me informed about the supernatural
affairs left behind, and she wrote and told
me that his prosecutor followed him to his
next situation, harrasscd him for some time
and then disappeared.
In talking over the matter with an Eng
lish woman who had spent nearly the whole
of long life in the island she said: ut is
most extraordinary thing, but worse cases
than this have come under my notice. a
young girl whom l know came out from
England here as a dressmaker. \ creole
youth fell in love with her and asked her
to marry him. She rejected him, and, mad
with rage, he resolved to compass her death.
Whether by herself or watched by careful
friends, this poor young thing woke in the
morning, her arms and body pinched, the
blue marks visible on her tender flesh, her
hair cut off close to her head, her food
snatched from her; needles passed through
her eyelids and tongue, and she pined and
died under the ceaseless and mysterious
powers against her."
l neither affirm nor deny the tale. |
merely tell it as it was told to me by an
English woman whose veracity l never
had any occasion to doubt. Another person
told me that on the island there resided
very evil man, Il Mozambique, who pos
sessed some power supposed to he allied
to socery or witchcraft, whose aid was fire.
quently invoked to bring disaster or death
on their enemies by revengeful persons.
The stone-throwing may have been-l
suppose must have been-sleight-of-hand
performed by some one, but it was cxtraor-
dinary that the discovery of the perpetrator
or the means by which he accomplished
his deeds should have eluded the careful
watch of my brother, his cousins, myself
most interested spectator-three policemen
and many other persons