Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-01-20
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one dirty hand over the other, did as
he was requested with manifest unwiI-
1ngness. With an intensity of gaze
Dido glared at him steadily, and swept
her hands twice or thrice across his
face In a moment or so the tramp
was in a state Of catalepsy, and she
made use of his speIlbound intelIi-
gence to gain knowledge There was
something terrible in her powers being
thus exercised in the full sunlight
De debble-stick. Whar is it?"
In the house Of Major Jen In a
little room, on the wall, with swords
and axes"
AS he said this in monotonous tone
| Dido looked across the tree tops to
where the red roofs of "Ashantee''
showed themselves against blue July
sky. She shook her fist at the distant
house, and again addressed herself i'm
periously to Battersea, commanding
Tell ole Dido OBJ de debble- stick"
TT Is green, It'll a handle of gold,
and blue stones set into the gold"
Dido bent onward, and touched the
tramp on hls temples.
See widIn dat stick" she lnuttered,
eagerly. Il wish to see"
There is a bag in the handle" re-
peated Battersea, with an effort. I'm
der the bag a long needle" then, after
a pause, the needle is hollow"
rs der poison in de bag, In de hol-
low OBJ de needle ?"
mol" said Battersea, again. The
poison Is dried up!H
At this moment noise in the house
disturbed Dido, and with a pass or two
| she released Battersea from the hyp-
| motto spell He started, rubbed his
eyes, and looked drowsily at the tall
negress, who had resumed her impas-
sive attitude.
/ What have you been doing, Dido ?''
he asked, stupidity.
"Obi?" was the brief reply. You
hab told old Dido what she wish about
de debble-stick."
The devil stick" repeated the
tramp, in wide-eyed surprise. Il don't
know anything of It. DR.. Etwald met
me, and ses he, You go to Miss Dali
las and I ses, does and he ses,
You'll see Dido and ] ses, WILL and
he ses, Say to her Devil stick" an I
ses, Right yare sir But es to .znow-
ing
Dat nuffin!" said Dido, with lord
ly wave of her hand. II black; you
hab de black blood In youse also. l
mex you do Obi. Um!'
Whats Obi? What's you torkin'
OFF," asked Battersea, rather nervous
ly. An 'ow does you know / hev
black blood?"
obj say dat to me. Your mudder
black?"
| YAH" cried Battersea, derisfvely.
You're out of 1t. My mother white:
but my father" here he hesitated. and
| then esumed-'Yes, you're right, Dr.
do; my father was a negro A Seedee
| boy who was fireman on a liner"
Il hab seen dat" replied Dido, nod
ding her head. Black blood in youse.
an can do Obi on you. I send your
spirit to de house of Massa Jen! You
tell me OBJ de debble- stick. But 1 take
care OBJ you. Now git to de kitchen;
dere am food for you"
The old mans eyes frightened in an
ticipation of a feast, and he shuff1ed
off round the corner as quickly as his
age would allow him. Dido looked
after him for a moment, considering
the message he had brought from Dr..
Etwald, and then began to think of
| the devil
She knew very well what it was,
| for her grandmother had been carried
off as a slave from the west coast of
Africa, and knew all about Ashantee
sorcery and fetish rites. These she
| had repeated to her granddaughter, Di-
| do, with the result that Dido, cherish
| ing these recollections, knew exactly
| how to use the wand of sleep She had
| spoken about it to DR.. Etwald, quite
! ignorant that Jen kept one as a curios-
ity, and now Etwald had intimated
| through Battersea that he wished her
to do something in connection with the
stick. What that something might be,
| Dido, at the present moment, could not
guess.
She had exerted her magnetic and
hypnotic influence over Battersea, not
that she wished for detailed descrip-
| ton of the wand. for already she knew
| it's appearance, but because it might
| happen that it would be necessary to
use the tramp for certain purposes
connected with the discovery of Sc
crets. Dido exercised a strong infu-
ence over this weak old creature
Battersea was supposed to be a
| Christian; but the barbaric fluid in his
veins inclined him to the terrible gro
| tesqueness of African witchcraft, and
! Dido and her words stirred some dim
| instinct in his mind. The negress saw
that accident had placed in her way a
| helpless creature, who might be of use
| in her neCromantic business; there
| fore, by hypnotizfng him once or twice
she contrived to keep him within her
| power. All of which fantasy would
| have been denied by the average news
| paper reader, who cannot imagine such
/ things taking place in what he calls
| euphoniously Christian land. But
| this happened, Notwithstanding.
Having dismissed Battersea, the ne
| gress turned to seek Isabella. She was
| so devoted to her nursing that she
could hardly bear to be away from
| her; and since her infancy Isabella had
scarcely been absent an hour from her
strange attendant. The girl had gone
into the drawing room. where Mrs.
Dallas was still sleeping; and there
| relieved for the moment from the pry-
| ing eyes of the negress, she took a
| letter out of her pocket. 1t was from
Maurice, stating that he was coming
|
as he had something particular to say.
1t was now close upon the hour, and
Isabella was wondering how she could
| get rid Of Dido, whom she did not
wish to be present at the coming inter
view. The Unborn jealousy of the
woman, and her advocacy of DR.. Eft
wald's suit, made her an unpleasant
third at such a meeting; moreover
| Maurice instinctively disliked this sui
I len creature, and was never quite easy
/ in her presence.
| Finally, Isabella decided to slip
round back of the house and meet
Maurice at the gate. She put on
straw hat, and ran lightly away to see
| her lover. She passed out by side
door. danced like fairy across the
| intervening space of lawn, and slipped
| laughtngiy into the narrow path which
| wound through the wood to the ave-
nue. near the gates.