Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1888-03-21
TaR BHWITCnRD FLORIDA nUIR.

TnE BEWITCaRD FLORIDA MULE.
An Adventurs q : Lady with = Colsred
Ceajarer In Florida.
New York T~sibune.1
ITO tell the troof, miss, dat ar mewl
Am cunjured de- wus kind OF q way.
know what ] am speakin' oh, fur !
conjured dat mewl myself. reckon
yo' bought dat critter OBJ T. Jefferson
Smith: an / iis cunjured it arter he
bought it; an dat's de plain reason
whuffer he sell it; / fix de mewl SOS
won't go ont OBJ a walk. Amt dat
SOP
4.Its true, it never goes out Of q
walk I answered.
".Zackly SC. An it neber will was
the answer: and then the old woman
looked at me long and significantly be-
fore she repeated, AN it neber will.
After a moment she added: II say
now dat animile neber leave dis very
spot, p'raps; onless-' here she
gazed ct me again. 1 tried to say with
bold confidence that | would find a
conjure doctor somewhere.
When she heard these words she
chnckled and her face was worse to
look at than before. / was so desper.
ate that / struck Honest Ben once more,
with the same effect as at first.
What am yo' reckonin,' fur ter Gil
. cunjure doctor| inquired the old
woman.
AT this moment the steamer from
Palatka whistled, and / saw its white
shape gliding by on the river. l had a
~momentary temptation to throw myself
of my steed, abandon it to the woman,
rush down to the rivers edge, and
claim protection from the people on
that boat Instead OF perpetrating this
flight, however, / looked ut the witch
cravenly, and asked in q cowardly man.
Q what she meant by unless.
1t follers,' she said, dat dem as
cunjures kin oncunjure.'
Having said this she remained silent
to allow the remark to sink into my
mind.
IL confess l was somewhat Devil.
dered. / think the very sight of that
negro woman would have bewildered
any one with a spark of imagination,
aud my mule wouldn't bulge.
Il don't believe you can make my
mule go Home I said.
'Jis try me-.
Very we'll, will try you. What are
your terms
"I1l oncunjure dat mewl fol
81. 90 was the definite answer.
But l had no money with me and
told her sc. / promised, however,
that / would pay her to-day if the mule
came all right She told me that the
word Of a lady like me was exactly as
good as money. She also said that she
had been grieved that such a lady should
have been cheated into buying a con.
jured mule, aud she limited that by
payment of a small sum weekly /
should be able to keep Honest Ben in
o state that would render it impossible
for any other coniurer, no matter how
powerful, to have any effect upon him.
I declined to make those weekly pay.
ments, so you see i retained a small
portion of my senses After a little
p~alaver Of this kind l insisted upon the
immediate removal OF the spell. She
retired out OF sight, to perform the
necessary incantations, l suppose"
did the boy remain?" inquired
Ronald.
yes: l think he was behind me
somewhere. You need not he cynical.
Take the facts. After a short time the
witch came forward and announced
that he am oncunjured.' I shook the
lines. The mule darted forward pre-,
cisely as If somebody had stuck some
thing sharp into him from the rear. He
actually trotted a rod or 80. Then we
walked the rest of the way, as usual.
When I took the saddle from him ]
looked and found a small puncture that
had oozed a few drops of blood on one
Of his tanks. Now, you see I must
pay $l.@ to that rascally witch TO,
having a knife stuck in Honest Ben.
expect her after the money momentarily
I wish, instead of keeping my promise
we might tie her to q stake and burn
her"