Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1898-01-05


with an indifferent iDtOnat3On:
Il suppose, Ina'am, she viii be Ike al
the others. and not believe word ] say,
80 what's the use Of troubling herr
aOn the contrary. believe in you
fully. Bereniee." / said.
The girl turned quickly toward me,
and putting her two shapely hands on
my shoulders. looked me in the face
with her dog-like eyes. She seemed en-
deayoring 10 discover whether l Was In
/ Jest or IN earnest. II was quite time
before she spoke; at length she said:
do you believe in Julius Caesar and
George Smith. misseey'
Il am sure shall DO so when ! know
who they are" / answered.
They are my duppies."
oh
do you want to know bow | came
10 swallow them2
why. Of course"
Let US 90 out on the porch and hear
the story" said Mrs. Latham. This
room is sitting"
We went out and watched the blaz-
! ing sun 20 down in q tropical kpleDdor
of red and gold behind the blue bill in
front Of Us, as we listened TO Bere-
nice's tale.
At first she was too agitated 10 COM
mence 1t. She walked up and down In
front of us, declaring that Julius Gaze
sar and George Smith objected TO her
sitting. | drew out little satchel that
| carried with me certain gray pow
/ der and placed it on her tongue. This
had the effect Of steadying her nerves,
and she began talking In quite "a
tlonal manner.
Julius Caesar was the baby son OF
Mark Antony and Cleopatra, that lived
| In the cabin al the foot of tn. hill. He
died six months ago, and on the third
day after his death a lot of us boys and
girls went to keep the duppy out Of the
house. At midnight we were very tired.
We had tapped the sheet for an hour
without seeing anything. 1t was now
agreed that each of US In turn should
act az watcher. We drew lots, and the
/ lot fell on me. Soon ! was the only
one awake in the whole crowd. The
room was very warm, and ] sat by the
window. There was a tree close to it,
and | noticed q movement In the
/ branch nearest me. l fixed my eyes
on the branch and saw n little gray
owl that kept hopping nearer and near
er the window. It's eyes were fiery, and
kind of glued themselves on to mine,
and still 1t hoped nearer and nearer.
| Presently 1t got between the moon and
me, and | saw right through It, The
moon was shining through the little
gray OWL Then l knew what 1t was,
and opened my mouth to scream, but
/ before | could do so 1t few right in, and
was down my throat in jlffyw
She paused in such agitation that it
| was impossible to laugh at her story,
absurd though 1t was.
George Smith died soon after, and |
swallowed him In the form of a cat,'
she went on presently. "They fought
| right away, and ! have dreadful times.
oh. missee"-here the poor girl wiped
her eyes with the corner of her apron
Il do have dreadful times And II /
don't get up and walk about directly
they begin fighting, have n fit and
stay In 1t TIL they are tired out. Do
you think you can cure me?"
YES" said /, with a confidence did
not altogether feel; whereupon the poor
girl humbly kissed the hem of my dress
In token of her gratitude.
Berenice, despite her hue, was very
beautiful. She resembled an ebony
statue of Hebe. 1t was dreadful to
think that so perfectly formed a body
should be numbered with such ludic-
rously diseased mind.
Whether rightly or not, I diagnosed
the ease as one of acute dyspepsia, and
determined TO treat 1t as such.
''Berenice," said |, at will take some
time to cure you, as Julius Caesar and
George Smith will no doubt obstinate
ly contest my efforts to dlslodge them,
but in the end think | shall succeed"
A rapturous look of JOY overspread
her countenance, and she commenced
to slowly revolve, In kind of rhyth-
mic dance, down the narrow garden
path. 1t was weird sight to see her
graceful, statuesque figure swaying In
the moonlight. Her mother began to
sob Historically, whether for Joy at her
daughters prospective release. or grief
at her present eccentric conduct, |
could not tell. Probably she did not
know herself, for these black people are
so emotional that they are stirred up
by every breath OF feeling, as the bos.