The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1898-01-06

lane that went zigzag fash
ion up a high mountain.
/ could not help admiring the pictur-
~esaueness of the tiny, flower decked
cabins which dotted the hillside here
and there, and noting that on every We
randa sat, or reclined, groups of laugh
ing negroes, l said to my friend:
Il feel inclined to envy these black
people when 1 see how lightly the trou-
bles of life seem to touch them, and to
ask myself if, after all, they, and not
we, are the favored children Of nature.
/ think, Julia, l should like to be a
negress just for one week, in order to
experience what it is to revel in unlim-
tied sunshine, and drink in the delights
of mere living"
My practical friend smiled at this out
burst Of sentiment.
IF Providence were to grant your
wish, YOU would return to civilization a
sadder and a wiser woman. During
your Transformation you would become
entangled in the trammelS Of such a
horribly grotesque superstition that it
is a question if you could ever after
ward entirely shake it off,"
ITO what do you allude?
ITO the negroes belief in duppies."
I'm what?"
"Duppies."
pray what are they?"
- duppy is the shadow of a dead
1870 Tho chodarr mind vnr1 Of tho
body, not of the soul, this having fed
to bliss or woe, as the case may be. The
duppy is brainless; it is transparent
and animated with silly malice toward
living people. For some unaccounta-
BILE reason u does not appear till the
third day after death. Then, at the
hour when the death took place, it
strives to enter its former home, and
it has to be frightened of by the wav-
ing of a white sheet at the doors and
windows of the cabin. A crowd assem-
bles for this purpose, and some mem
bers of it are sur to see the duppy.
There it u.s." they cry. Keep 1t out!
Keep it out!!' and then there is a vigor-
Gus Tapping of cotton cloth, and the
most awful groans you ever heard. If
once the thing enters the house the lit
tie hut becomes uninhabitable, hence
the many vacant shanties one comes
across in Jamaica. Just how long the
shadow hauntS the earth after the body
has returned to its original dust l could
never ascertain. Is it not terrible to
I. T. it, H. 4ls, (Nb~;san 1n-I c,,al
a belief can be so firmly rooted in the
native mind?"
1T is a most ridiculous superstition"
l answered. Il never heard of quite
such a nonsensical one"
1T does not seem funny for me at
ALL answered Julia Latham with a
very grave face, "but simply horrible.
And there is something about it even
worse than what 1 have told you, for
negroes with unbalanced minds some
times think they have swallowed dup
pies, and endure the most excruciating
tortures under the excitement Of this
idea"
Here / laughed aloud.
AOh, Julia" 1 exclaimed, "why do you
so impose on the credulity of your
friend as to tell me this very tall
story
IT assure you l am speaking the
trthh,'' she rejoined. ''These darkies
tHtMk the duppies are not only trans
pSrent but compressible, and under the
f9m of some small insect or reptile
they glide down a persons throat. But
since l perceive you are still incredu-
ious, | will take you to see a girl who
fancies she has swallowed two of these
eWIoshadows. Here, Themistocles,"
ertedtshe to a small ebony figure that
wMawBndering aimlessly about under
a palm tree, come and hold my horse
wHaAe ]. visit your mother"
Efeboy came forward, grinning, and
syaNing himself from the hips with
rhhhallsjous. appearance OF dislocatlon
StbtBhhk pure negro walks. Half
b0wsbbkqse. this sinuosity of motion In a
gatatsusesure, but a negro of pure
blood walks as II the upper part OF bis