Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-25
EPISODE XI.
THE WHITE WITCH

st1antatjon OF that Cuban gentleman.
sEho was known as Senior Arturio
eHrtis. The nearest railroad was a
lays ride into the south. the nearest
Enarort half that distance 70 tho west
Kards.
5 Kat was AN outpost OF cultivation as
j yell North OF Its titled fields there
: Mas naught but jungle. wellnEh
Etracklees. the rugged coastal range
(which shielded the tobacco plants from
NEitherinE northerly winds. then moro
S{ungle. then cane-brakes, mangrove
ESwamps and the open sea.
YEtIn this remote locality the planter
Dragged out his declining years i'll
s@retched. hounted loneliness \ man
abf little more than middle age. he had
4 futlived his wife and only child by
Ewo decades The grief caused by their
shntimely deaths stil Enawcd ut :he
#heart of this unhappy man. And since
be could not forget. he could not for
give the rest of tho world for tho
Joy II had of living. He had no social
life; his ne!chbors knew him only as
"a gaunt and haGGsrd figure vino. ON
the rare occasions wekn they saw him.
returned their salutations with grave
81 and distant bows. and rode on about
his business wrapped. in great
tcloak. In fold upon fold OF impenetrab!c
reserve,
81, Senior Ortiz rrospered, but sarncrcd
&no comfort OF his prosperity. Ills
great hacienda. that once had been
#noted for its hospitality, now never
knew the presence OF guest In n
u majority of its chambers the dust OF
Gyears rested und,sturbed. The PLATTER
lived In his fields. in the patio. in
s3etngle bedchn niber His STAFF OF house
nserSants had dwindled to one man
Aalone, devoted negro servant Pancho.
s$s3 To this last Senior Ortiz owed the
&terrors which OF late years had been
8Rdded to the misery OF his melan-
gcholy. 1t was Pancho who had induced
s. him to visit the Noodoo woman uf the
%northern hills.
us ~ Like all his kind n slave 10 super.
&etltton. the negro had hoped this
Greputed witch might work spell to
#charm away the sorrow that darkcned
&his masters days. The outcome had
been far otherwise. PerccivinS in the
miserable man a fruitful source OF in
come. the Foodoo priestcss had work. d
ScunninEly upon his fears without truth
or Scruple. until at length she had re-
auced his mind TO the level OF that OF
The mcanest, least literate black who
labored In his fields. He became the
bringing creature OF her will. the grim
suggestions she insiduously implanted
in his imagination took root there and
hourished amazingly. like some black
and noNious jungle OF hell's dominions.
He Went TO her almost daily for ad-
Vice: often he returned from her
abode shaken TO the marrow OF him
with namclesS dread.
Upon a certain midnight he sat alone
in the lonely patio OF his hacienda.
nursing the latest terror with which
the Noodoo woman had succeeded in
affecting him. l, was now seven days,
almost to the hour, since she had
prophesied the death OF Arturo Ortiz
fIt is the stranGest Thing how te-
nRciously they cling to life who have
nothing but unhappiness OF living.
s. This gentleman to whom life was no
I,nt lNny co ion ff &c
NAL days and haunted nights, feared
death unspeakably.
Over and over again his cnfeebled
mind rccreatcd the circumstances
which had attended upon that fatefui
prophecy
4 EnHe saw himself again sitting, as he
had sat, in the noisome hut of the Woo
i doc woman--a place OF utter darkness
save for the red glow Of a charcoal
fbrazier and the weird light that flick
erred up from Fl film Of alcohol III a
metal bowl.
E& ct IL true that Senior Ortiz believed
the bowl TO contain water, plain water.
magically ignitcd. hut 1t was none the
less alcohol
IS ~ That unear,hly blush glare. now
81 sstrong, now wan. illumined ntfully the
head and semi-naked torso Of the
..''witch," relieving them against back
&sGround OF restless SHADOWS.
Is She sat the far side OF the table
ION which rested the metal bowl. Her
45open eyes were rolled back exposing
scurled away. from ,Htr strong. white
EscIsnched teeth. through which came Il
sSdrone OF incantation. One hand
alcIutched AT her throat In the other
&tshe held a forked stick. between the
Hgprongs OF which there was caught u
Esba1l, the size OF mans FIST, OF black
S,ss.weol in which small white bones were
A5fiplaffted This the woman waved
Fislowly above The NIckerng flames.
Presently these last died out. lick
styng up the final drop 81 alcohol in the
STSowl There remained only a dull
sEg glow from the hrazicr.
~ The woman Sroancd and the flesh
kscfa Senior Ortiz crcpt. He chung TO tho
Estahle with both hands unable To stir
hf.bendinE teuscly forward. following hcI
Eevery gesture with fcbrile attention.
sfS Freeing nc ball Of wool from the
Sfforked stick. She dropped it TO the
Eftablc. and hnnt forward, alternately
EssJnurmuring unintc!!igible Eibberish 10
Nit and bending on car To catch 1t,
Esanswers..
I al She had in measure the trick 81
4 ssventriloquisnl When she ceased &c
gsepeak to the bah 81 wool her lips M
E1onger moved; hut sounds seemed tc
tiemanate from tho ball, which rocked
Inneasily on the table Is Il spoke"
5kSa Eventually she got no more re
sh5;6ponSeS. Inc la !! remained stubbornlS
fkssnute and movclcss the woman sal
btback, sighed profoundly and seemed
Ito emerge from a trance Her eye.
M etumed their normal position in he,
EFhead, though their look was Wild "a,
ktthey sought the face Of Senior Ortiz
"Voodoo." she told him In thrillinr
Says YOU are 10 dic''
~ when" faltered the terrified dupe
.tWhen I die" she told hm-"and a
SasI die--betWccn TWO suns"
sEs when VIII that be-
"Yoodoo would not teli--Noodoo sal,
$Sonly that our lives were linked. your
fs.and mine; between two suns were ",
Thorn, between two suns We de"
But what am ! 10 do?"
"Voodoo do not say. But !, is 70
&HEgou TO sec that ] am made content an
gaEkept In comfort, lacking nothing
EErnsy want. So that may live long
3Ssiuce, when ] 90. YOU follow me
lE$between two suns
NJ Since that day the Noodoo priestes
Efhad made great profit out Of Scno
ssOrtiz. He had given her much money