Miss Mink's Soldier and Other Stories

								

done worked on lizards in de laigs, but I nebber had no 'casion to treat
a cricket in de laig. Looks lak de cricket is a more persistent animal
dan de lizard. 'Sides, ez I signify afore, dis heah case ob yourn ain't
no ordinary case."
"Why--why ain't it?" Gordon Lee stammered apprehensively.
Aunt Kizzy lifted a bony black hand, and shook her turbaned head
ominously.
"Dey's two kinds ob hoodoos," she said, "de libin' an' de daid. De daid
ones is de easiest to lift, 'ca'se dey answers to charms; but nobody can
lift a libin' hoodoo 'ceptin' de one dat laid hit on. I been a-steddyin'
an' a-steddyin', an' de signs claim dat dis heah hoodoo ob yourn ain't
no daid hoodoo."
By this time the whites of Gordon Lee's eyes were largely in evidence,
and he raised himself fearfully on his elbow.
"Aunt Kizzy," he whispered hoarsely, "how am I gwine to fin' out who 't
is done conjured me?"
"By de sign ob seben," she answered mysteriously. "I's gwine home an'
work hit out, den I come back an' tell yer. Ef my 'spicions am true, dat
dis heah is a libin' hoodoo, de only power in de earth to tek it off
am ter git er bigger trick an' lay on de top ob hit. I'm gwine home now,
an' I'll be back inside de hour."
That night when Amanda returned home she found Gordon Lee preoccupied
and silent. He ate gingerly of the tempting meal she prepared, and
refused to have his bed straightened before he went to sleep.
"Huccome you put yer pillow on the floor?" she asked.
"I ain't believin' in feathers," he answered sullenly; "dey meks me heah
things."
In vain Amanda tried to cheer him; she recounted the affairs of the day;
she gave him all the gossip of the Order of the Sisters of the Star. He
lay perfectly stolid, his horizontal profile resembling a mountain-range
the highest peak of which was his under lip.
Finally Amanda's patience wore thin.
"Whut's the matter with you, Gordon Lee Surrender Jones?" she demanded.
"Whut you mean by stickin' out yer lip lak a circus camel?"
Now that the opportunity for action had come, he feared to take
advantage of it. Amanda, small as she was, looked firm and determined,
and he knew by experience that he was no match for her.
"'Tain't fer you to be astin' me whut's de matter," he began
significantly. "De glove's on de other han'."
"Whut you 'sinuatin', nigger?" cried Amanda, now thoroughly roused.
"I's tired layin' heah under dis heah spell," complained Gordon Lee. "I
knowed all 'long 'twas a hoodoo, but I neber 'spicioned till to-day who
was 'sponsible fer hit. Aunt Kizzy tried de test, an', 'fore de Lawd,
hit p'inted powerful' near home."
Amanda sank into the one rocking-chair the cabin boasted, and dropped
her hands in her lap. Her anger had given place for the moment to sheer
amazement.
"Well, if this ain't the beatenest thing I ever heard tell of in all my
born days! Do you mean to say that that honery old cross-eyed nigger
Kizzy had the audacity to set up before my fire, in my house, an' tell