Omaha daily bee., 1888-12-27
They Are Said to Play All Sorts of
Curious Franks.
STORY OF THE RIVAL SISTERS.
How They ouarrcled over a Lover
and Both Got Crooked Nccks-
The Strange Adventure
of Jake Sawyer.
Tales of WitChCran.

believers i'll witchCraft and ghosts.
Among the mountain folks aud in set
Elements some distance from railroads,
curious tales are told by the natives
about the wonderful power of witches
and the frequent appearance of ghosts
or "ha'nts' rs they are termed. These
people are firmly convinced that a
great deal of magic exists in horse
shoes, witch bones, the hind foot of a
rabbit and u number of contrivances
used to counteract the power Of ''peo-
pie who cast spells" On man assorted
that his black COW had been put under
"A spell and thus caused to below loudly
during the night. Another told in
good faith how an e~nvious neighbor
had bewitched his team and made them
vicious and balky.
A story is related about two sisters
who fell in love with the same man.
Jealousy was aroused and the young
frequently INDUCED in severe
| quarrels. One day an old woman, II
| stranger in the neighborhood, happened
to over hear them addressing each other
in terms far from sisterly. She raised
her hands and pronounced an invoca-
ton. The moment the words left her
lips the heads of h two young women
fell over on their left shoulders and be-
came fixed in that position. The old
instantly disappeared. For sew
eral months the sisters remained in the
unpleasant fix described. They were so
thoroughly occupied with their individ-
ual troubles that they had no time to
quarrel. One day the elder sister saw II
little black goat t%rotting past the house.
Her witch Done or some other charm re-
vealed that it was the witch. She
| seized a fire shovel and ran after the
goat, beating it over the head with the
shovel. Her own head Immediately as
sumed its proper position, while the
| goat suddenly vanished. y short time
afterward, her sister, also, recovered.
a young lady in the n~eighborhood
was greatly fascinated by the powers of
an old woman who was reputed to be
able to predict or cause the death OF
stock of all kinds, also to fOrctell the
sickness of people. She applied to the
old lady and begged to be taught the
secret of her magic and prescience.
The old lady of course objected, but the
young woman importuned her so persist
emily hat she at last consented. 1t was
arranged that the young woman should
call at the old lady's house early on the
| l LIZ llolhlISs w llol
presented herself she was ush-
cred into a little back room.
The chamber was occupied by
a big, well-dressed, fine looking gentle
man who was seated in a high chair
near the center of the room. In q cry
humble manner the ola lady presented
the young woman, at the same time in
forming her that she must DO every
thing required by the fine looking man.
First she was told to place her left hand
under the sole of her left foot, while her
| While in that position. she was in
| structed to say: "All between my two
hands belongs to my God.' Instead of
repeating the oath literally, the young
woman declared: "All between my two
hands belongs to my Almighty God"
The instant she uttered the 'almighty'
the man suddenly sprang up and disap-
peared through the ceiling, believing
like a steer and leaving behind a trail of
fire and smoke. 1t is almost needless to
remark hat the young admirer of
witchcraft failed to gain the secret.
Among the numerous ghost stories
related for indisputable facts, the ad-
venture of Jake Sawyer seems to be
about the best. A lonely road near the
small town of st. Paul, about thirty
miles north of Ozark, was reported to
have been frequented by ''han'ts" for a
number of years. Late travellers along
the road had heard strange, unearthly
cries in the air, but they were usually
too badly frightened to investigate the
matter thoroughly. Upon several occa- |
sionsa big, headless dog had been seen
trotting along the road. Once or twice
it had sprahg up behind a belated horse
man, but disappeared upon being
struck. Jake Sawyer came into the
neighborhood to each school. He had
heard about the terrible ghosts, but de-
clared emphatically that he had no
faith in them. One evening, just about
SHUTDOWN, he CHANGED to be passing
along the haunted road on horseback.
He noticed a woman a short distance
ahead of him on foot. She was clad in
II coarse blue dress, with n shawl over
her head and heavy shoes on her feet.
Jake thought little about the matter, as
women of her appearance were quite
common in that part of the country.
Presently, as he came up by her side he
noticed that her shoes made no tracks
in the sandy roadbed. He spoke but
she offered no reply. A second ques-
ton met with the same obstinate 81.
lence on the part of the Woman. Then
Jake urged his horse into a trot but the
woman kept even with the animal. |
From II trot he sprang into a gallop, but
in spite Of the increase in speed
the m could not be left
behind and Jake reached over and
struck at her with Il heavy riding whip,
but it passed through her body as if it
had been a shadow. AT the instant he
raised his arm for n second blow the
woman sprang up behind him. To use
his own expression, Jake would have
prayed, but he was SO fearfully fright
ened that he couldn't" Under the in
huence of some unaccountable power
Jake reigned his horse down to a walk.
The woman sprang around in front OF
him and held on to the pommel Of his
saddle. To his horror he saw that her
throat was cut to the center, while her
face was perfectly white. She began
to speak and besought Jake TO
hear her story. About twenty
five years ago, she, with her mother
and two brothers, lived in u little
log cabin near the present site of st.
Paul. The boys went to the war. One
evening, as she was walking along the
road they were then trayersing she was
suddenly overtaken by five men. She
was taken into the timber where one
man held her mead back while another
cut her throat. Her body was buriedi in
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