d her that she never again spoke
to Joe, nor allowed him to make her shoes, though this last was more
from fear than vindictiveness. For Shoe Joe was suspected of being a
trick negro, and of possessing the power so to trick his work as to
cause the death of any one wearing his products. Nothing was
productive of more evil upon a plantation than was the existence upon
it of a "Trick" or "Goomer" negro; and so insidious was their
influence, and so secret their machinations, that, though suspected,
it was impossible to prove anything, for, although detested by their
fellows, fear kept the latter silent. Nothing would cause such abject
terror as the discovery of an odd-looking bundle, wrapped and wrapped
with strands of horse-hair, secreted beneath the steps, or laid in an
accustomed path. Instantly after such a discovery the person for whom
it was meant would begin to pine away, and, unless some counter spell
were discovered, death would ensue. These occurrences, fortunately,
were rare, but if the thing once took root upon a plantation, it
wrought much evil in various ways. Joe was suspected of these evil
practices, and, though a wonderfully capable man at all kinds of work,
and a most accomplished courtier, was always looked upon with
suspicion. His death was sudden, and the people firmly believed that
he had made a compact with the devil, that the term had expired, and
that Satan had met him in the woods and broken his neck. He was a
tall, finely formed man, as black as ebony, and his movements always
reminded me of a serpent.

Negroes, even in these days of school education, retain many of their
superstitions, though ashamed to own it. One of their beliefs was that
the word _you_ meant the devil's wife, and it was insulting to address
any one by that word. To one another it was always _yinna_. So marked
was this custom that the negroes of that section were known as the
yinna negroes. This word, though, was never used toward their
superiors, who were invariably addressed in the third person. Manuel
was rather a common name among them; there were always two or three
Manuels upon every plantation, and one was always called "Hoodie
Manuel." No one could ever discover what this meant; perhaps they did
not know themselves, though I am rather inclined to think that it was
a superstitious observance, understood, perhaps, only by a select few.
I think it must have had some sort of significance, as it was never
omitted. As soon