The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-02-08

as good as yours or mine, is the only
white person l ever knew who attend
ed 4 Dominican yoodoo rite and lived
If his presence had become known. his
life would have gone out in half Il min
ute.
\ murder had been committed among
| the negroes in the locality where he
was visiting a French friend of great
influence. The murderer disappeared.
i Tie negroes decided to hold Il vO0d0O
| incubation and make him come back.
! The French traveller heard Of it. He is
of very dark complexion and. little
blacken"d up. could easily pass for d
negro. His friend helped him to dis
guise himself in a garment similar to
those worn by the voOdooiSts. This
garment WAS white cotton robe. At
8 O'Clock at night the negroes assem-
bled on the bank of a creek. They had
With them q fife and drum. and the fife
shrjeked and the drum pounded out
horrible noises Oh the night air. The
weird black faces and white robes
lighted lip by torches, the internal
noise Of the fife and drum, made a
scene one might imagine transferred
from tlle lower regions
The first task was for the whole
party. led by the yooloo priests. to
walk backward up the creek bank to
its fountain head. spring.
Into the spring the priests wadetl and
began uncanmy lamentations The
Frenchman understood their language
and discovered they were calling on
the devil to aid them in bringing the
murderer back. When the demon in
fiuence failed to manifest. they became
angry and demanded it more vocifer-
ouSly and violently.
At last they really were possessed
obsessed, rather, by some strange in
tluence. Their antics began, and they
were something incredible. Either the
Frenchman saw or else he was hyp-
Noticed into believing be saw the high
priest spring straight up out of that
water twenty feet in the air. The
hypnotic theory seems hardly possible
since be was not voodoo devotee and
the priests did not know of his pres
ence. At length priests and privates
went off into contortionS more eXtraOr-
binary and frightful than anything a
professional could achieve. Suddenly a
live goat was brought on the scene At
the moment the high priests unnat-
ural energy was dashed to its highest
he leaped from the water and whrled
a naked sword around and around his
head. When it had got sufficient impe-
tus at one blow he struck off with it
the goats head. The voodooists gath
cred close and drank its warm blood.
At this moment the E'renchman. with
the lively sensibilities of his race, had
the greatest difficulty to keep from
falling fainting of his horse The
priest next directed his followers each
to fix his mind powerfully on the MUIR
derer, with the demand that be should
appear. They apparently understand
the power of mind better than any
western mental SCIENTIST does Each
man had dipped a jug of water from
the witch spring and, carrying it upon
his head. with his mind fixed on the
demand that the murderer should
come forth, started the return j0urnpy.
The whole party marched backwa to
the hut where they first rendeZvoused
The water was to drink the health of
the murderer in while they called on
him TO appear. They said presently he
appeared, though the FTenchmHn. not
knowing him. could not swear to that.
AS the wOrshjpers mingled white rum
with the witch water they
drank. the scene shortly resolved itself
into wild orgy, from which the
Frenchman wisely stole away. That
he got off alive and undetected shows
the devil does not know everything. or
at least if he does he does not always
reveal II TO his lissiIales4
I'll 81 al Ia Il Is 81