cle across the
kitchen floor, then he saw her surreptitiously put something into a tin
can before she presented herself at the foot of his bed.

"'Mandy," he said, anxious to break the silence, and distrusting that
subdued look of excitement in her eyes, "did you bring me dat possum,
lak you 'lowed you was gwine to?"

Her lips tightened.

"Yes, I got the possum, an' also some apples fer a dumplin'; but before
I lays a stick to the fire I'm goin' to say my say."

Gordon Lee looked at her with consternation. She stood at the foot of
his bed as if it wore a rostrum, and with an air of detached dignity
addressed him as if he had been the whole Order of the Sisters of the
Star.

"I done arrive' at a decision," she declared. "I arrive' at it in the
watches of the night. I'm goin' to cure you 'cordin' to yer lights an'
knowledge. I'm goin' to lif' that spell ef I has to purge my immortal
soul to do it."

"'Mandy," cried Gordon Lee, eagerly, "you mean to say you gwine to
remove the hoodoo?"

"I am," she said solemnly. "I'm goin' to draw out all yer miseries fer
the rest of yer life, _includin' of the cricket in yer leg_."

"'Mandy," he cried again fearfully, "you ain't gwine ter hurt me in no
way, is you?"

"Not effen you do as I tell you. But fust of all you got to take the
pledge of silence. Whatsomever takes place heah in this cabin to-night
ain't never to be revealed till the jedgment-day. Do you swear?"

The big negro, fascinated with the mystery, and deeply impressed with
his wife's manner, laid his hand on the Bible and solemnly took the
oath.

"Now," she continued impressively, "while I go in the kitchen an' git
the supper started, I want you to ease yerse'f outen the bed on to the
floor, an' lay with yer head to the north an' your han's outspread, an'
yer mind on the heabenly kingdom."

"Air you shore hit ain't gwine hurt me?" again he queried.

"Not if you do 'zactly like I say. Besides," she added dryly, "if it
comes to the worst, ain't you ready an' waitin' to go!"

"Yas," agreed Gordon Lee; "but I ain't fixin' to go till I's sent fer."

It took not only time, but courage, for him to follow the prescribed
directions. He had for a long time cherished the belief that any
exertion would prove fatal; but the prospect of having the hoodoo
removed, together with a lively curiosity as to what means Amanda would
employ to remove it, spurred him to persist despite groans, wheezes,
and ejaculations.

Onc