The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1896-06-25
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TRICKS OF A vENTRILoaUIsT.
A Samoan wild Boy Thought He
Was Possessed by a Spirit.

a sdNtDan Win bOg nOu8"t ~
Was Possessed by q Spirit.
Early the other afternoon we heard
that Sina's foot was very bad, and
soon after hat we could have heard
her cries as far away as the front
balcony. I think Sina enjoys being
i'll, and makes as much of 1t as she
possibly can; but all the same it was
painful to hear the cries; and there is
no doubt she vas at least very I'M
comfortable. l went up twice to the
little room behind the stable, and
found her lying on the floor, with
Tall and Fauna and Talolo all hold
ing on different bits of her. l gave
her an opiate; but whenever she was
about to go to sleep one of these silly
people would be shaking her, or talk
ing in her ear, and then she would be-
gin to kick about again and scream.
Palema and Aunt Maggie took horse
and went down to Apia after the doc
tor. Right on their heels off went
Mitaele on Musu to fetch Tauilo, Talo-
los mother. So here was all the
island in a hustle owe Sina's foot. No
doctor came, but he told us what to
put on. When l went up at night to
the little room, l found TauilO there
and the whole plantation boxed into
the place like little birds in a nest.
They We're sitting on the bed, they
| were sitting on the table, the foor
was full of them, and the place as
close as the engine-room of a steamer.
IT, thn ,,,iI11n low Gina nbnJlt thrnn
| parts asleep with opium; two able
bodied work boys were pulling at her
arms, and whenever she closed her
eyes calling her by name, and talking
in her ear. l really didn't know what
would become of the girl before morn
ing. Whether or not she mad been
very ill before, this vas the way to
make her so, and when n of the
work boys woke her up again. l spoke
to him very sharply, and told Tauilo
she must put a stop to it.
Now I suppose this was what put it
into Tauilo's head to do what she did
next. You remember Tauilo, and what
a fine, tall, strong, Madame Lafarge
sort of person she is? And you know
how much afraid the natives are of
the evil spirits in the wood, and 10Y
they think all sickness comes from
them? Up stood Tauilo. and addressed
the spirit: in Sina's foot, and scolded
it, and the spirit answered and prom
Used to be a good boy and go away.
| do not feel so much afraid of the
demons after this. 1t was Fauna
told me about it. l was going out in
to the pantry after ~sOdawater, and
found her with a lantern drawing
water from the tank. bad spirit he
no nv, - che fold ~ .srT1,ot,s Srst-
rate said l. do you know what
the name of that spirit was? His
name was ~tautala (talking)."
"Oh, no!.' she said; Ibis name is
Tu."
You might have knocked me down
with q straw. How on earth do you
know that?" I asked.
Hear him tell Tauilo.". she said.
AS soon as l heard that, l began to
suspect Mrs. Tauilo was a little bit of
q ventriloquist; and initiating as well
as | could the sort of voice they make,
asked her if The bad spirit did not
talk like that. Fauna was very
much surprised, and told me that was
just his voice.
Well, that was a very good business
for the evening. The people all went
away because the demon was gone
away, and the circus was over, and
Sina was allowed to sleep. But the
trouble came after. There had been
an evil spirit in that room n his
name was TIL. No one could say when
he might come back again; they all
voted it was tn much; and now Talolo
and Sina have had to be lodged in the
soldier room. AS for the little Don
by the stable, there it stands empty:
~ ic fno small tn NAV SolHiorc in and
| do not see what we can do with it,
except to have II nice brass name
plate engraved in Sydney, or in "Fris-
co." and stuck upon the door of it:
Mr.. Tu. So you see that ventriloquism
has it's bad side as well az its good
sides; and | don't know that | want
any more yentrilOquists on this plan
taticn. We shall have TIL in the cook
house next, and then Tu in Lafaele's.
and Tu in the workman's cottage; and
the end of it all will be that we shall
have to take the Tamaitai's room for
the kitchen, and my room for the boys
sleeping house, and we shall all have
to go out and camp under umbrellas.
Well, where you are, there may be
schoolmasters. but there is no such
thing as Mr.. tn.
Now. it's all very we'll that these
big people should be frightened out of
their wits by an old wife talking with
her mouth shut; that is one of the
things we happen to know about. All
the old women in the world might
talk with their mouths shut. and not
brighten you or me, but there are
plenty of other things that brighten
us badly. And if we only knew about
them. perhaps we would find them no
more worthy to be feared than an old
woman talking with her mouth shut.
And the names of some of these things
are Death, and Pain, and Sorrow
Robert Louis St~evensOn's Letters ito
Il Boy" in the st. Nicholas.
Ti1 and Run-A New Game for the
Early Spring.
Tip and run is the name of 4 game
our English cousins are Just learning,
both boys and girls. 1t resembles
cricket, so some one says, as a carica-
. ture resembles it's original.
1t is a game to play early in the
spring, before cricket or tennis can be
thought of, and it has this advantage
over golf, that it can be played on
lawns or garden plots without damage
to the turf.
Tip and run involves much exercise
of Il rather severe kind.