Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-12-27

posts and watched her too. So did Ike
with ashy face, starting eyes and blno,
Der lips, trembling over the awiui
vord "youdoc!" So did Cesar.
crouched close to his masser's feet. his
morsel of q tail clear out # sight. and
shrinking in his hide as ifhe were try
ing to get out of it Strange. even IN
moment of supreme expectation, how
trivial details will strike the eye. 1t
seemed to me my gaze had never left
the hideous face of old Venus. yet all
these things flashed on me. spd in the
same instant was looking fixely at
her.
She drew close to the fire and cast
into it various articles drawn one BY
one from bag, mumbling and NUT
tering and working her wrinkled jaws
as she leered horribly at the couple
clasped close in each others arms.
Some of her ingredients must have
been more powerful than those she
had named, for a thick white smoke
poured out and spread over every
thing around. Through the mist I
could dimly distinguish the weird face
and form of the obeah woman with
her bare, black, skinny arm out
stretched, grasping a white wand
which she shook over the fire, pour
ing out shrill cries and words of sol
emn meaning l could make nothing.
And now a strange thing happened.
The whole marsh seemed in motion.
The oozy soil on which I stood shook
like mold of jelly. The Shiny water
before me heaved as if myriads of
huge creeping things were crawling
beneath its stagnant surface, and on
the further side of the mound some
thing dim, vast. shapeless and horrible
with a horror beyond words. rose slow
ly from the lagoon and climbed upon
the firm ground.
The voudoo woman pointed her
wand successfully toward the four
guards, and each left his post and
moved converging toward the spot
where the man and woman stood;
while the crawling horror climbed
and climbed, and grew even more
wondrous and vast. Then came the
sound of brief, desperate struggle,
fierce CALCULATIONS. threats. curses,
prayers, heart-piercing screams; then
a splashing and crunching and tearing
that seemed to rive the very ground.
think I must have lost conscious
ness from sheer excess of terror, for
the next thing remember I was hold
ing on to Isaac with might and main,
and we were both shaking as if with a
first-class ague. All was dark and
still around us. The light had van
ished. the swamp was quiet, and we
heard no sound but the tree-toads and
the distant boot of an owl. Whittier
had vanished the terrible drama we
had Witnessed and its actors? We
knew not, NOR did we greatly care; all
our thought >was to remove ourselves
from the scene ofsuch mysterious hor-
rors.
DE good Marsters erbove hab mus
sy on us!' groaned Ike, as soon as he
dared speak. Ibid cher der blessed
sun shine on stitch anoder caper! /
'clar' ter gracious, young marse Of
eb'ry 'possum en- der woods wus ter
conglormerate roun' me dis mint n
go down on dey bar knees, wild der
fat des err ticklin' down dey sides, fur
ter beg me ter ketch 'em, wouldn't
stay anoder mint in dis ere deblish
swamp. No, sab; der ent nummo'
'possum huntin' en- Cocodri swamp fur
dis chile; not eff he neber tas' nummo'
'possum tell he jine de kingdom
come"
"What sOas it, Uncle Ike? Oh!
what could that horrible thing have
been?"
"Marse Harry, it war de debbil!
Sho's we denis horned and bredded
sinners, chile. it war de berry ole Sam
hese'f! He done mex err CLAIR sweep
out yon'er," with backward sweep
of his arm toward the swamp. en- l
'spects eff 'twan't ez done bin ter bah
tizin' er munt ergo las Sunday. Sam
nd kerried We dem off n Cesar, too.
Babtizin's great fur sinners sho', n
brungs de sperrit out'n er cullud gem
mans buzzum cla'r ez 'lasses n
water"
was much exercised in mind as to
whether should confide my nocturnal
adventure to any one. and SO seek to
elucidate its mysteries. But Ike
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