The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1888-12-14

Win nsny 5ncns starring 9yes anu o<oo
Der lips. trembling over the awful
word .v0udo So did Cesar,
cronched Gloss 70 his master feet. biz
mor>el OF tnil clear out Of sight, and
shrinking in his hide a. n he we're try
ing 20 get out Of IL Strange. even In
= moment Of supreme expectation. how
trivial details will strike the eye. II
seemed % me my game had never left
the hidcous face Of old Venus. yet all
these things flashed on me. and in the
same instant was looking hxcdly at
her.
She drew close TO the fire and cast
into il various articles drawn one BY
one from bag. mumbling and NUT
tering and working her wrinkled jaws
a. she lccred 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 ]
could dimiy 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 could make nothing.
And now a strange thing happened
The whole marsh seemed in motion
The cory soil on which / stood shook
like a mold Of jelly The shiny water
before me heaved as II 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 a brief. desperate struggle,
fierce CALCULATIONS. threats. curses,
prayers. heart-piercing screams; then
| . splashing and crunching and tearing
that seemed 70 rive the very ground.
think ! must have lost conscious
ness from sheer excess Of terror, for
| the next thing / remember was hold
ing on to Isaac with might and main.
and we were both shaking as II with a
frst-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 trce-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 Of such mysterious hor-
rors-
| = De good Marster erbovc hab mus
~ on usr' groaned Ike. as soon rs he
dared speak did cher der blessed
sun shine on stitch anoder caper,
'clar' ter gracious. young marse. q
ebry possum en- der woods WIS ter
conglormerate roun' me dis mint n
60 down on dey bar knees. wild der
fat des err tickIin' down dey sides. fun
ter beg me ter ketch EN-. / wouldn'
stay anoder mint in dis ere dcblish
swamp. No. sab; der ent nummo'
'possum huntin' en- Cocodri swamp fur
dis chile; not ef he neber tas' nummo'
'possum tell he jine de kingdom
comc.-
..what scas il. Uncle Ike? Oh
what could that horrible thing have
been?"
s.Nlarse Harry. il war de debbil
She's We dem's horned and bredded
sinners. chile. il war de berry ole Sam
hese'f! He done mex err cla'r sweep
out yon'er." with q backward sweep
OF his arm toward the swamp. IN
'spects ef 'twant e. done bin ter bah
tizin' er munt ergo las Sunday. Sam
nd kerried We dem on m Cesar. too
Babtizin's great fur sinners sho'. n
brungs de sperrit out'n er cullud gem
mans buzzum cla'r ez 'lasscs m
| water
| Twas much exercised in mind as u
whether l should confide nv nocturnal
adventure to any one. and 80 seek tc
elucidase its mysteries. But Ike
| ANW N.Y.,