killed?" I asked, as he rejoined me in the
outside laboratory. "What did Collette mean by her frightened cry of the
'voodoo sign'?"

The incident had made a marked impression on me and I had been unable
quite to arrive at any sensible explanation.

"Of course, you know that voodoo means literally anything that inspires
fear," remarked Kennedy after a moment's thought. "The god of voodoo is
the snake. I cannot say now what it was that she feared. But to see the
eyeballs turn green is uncanny, isn't it?"

"I should say so," I agreed. "But is that all?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't believe it is. Hayti is the hotbed of
voodoo worship. The cult has inaugurated a sort of priesthood--often a
priest and a priestess, called 'papaloi' and 'mammaloi'--papa and mamma,
probably with a corruption of the French word, 'roi,' king. They are, as
it were, heads of the community, father and mother, king and queen. Some
of the leading men of the communities in the islands of the Caribbean
are secret voodoists and leaders. Just what is going on under the
surface in this case, I cannot even hazard a guess. But there is some
deviltry afoot."

Just then the telephone rang and Craig answered it.

"It was from Burke," he said as he hung up the receiver. "Confidential
agents of his have been about. No one from the ship seems to have been
down to see Forsythe, but Forsythe has had people over at the ship.
Burke says someone is sending off great bunches of messages to
Hayti--he thinks the powerful wireless apparatus of the _Haytien_ is
being used."

For a moment Kennedy stood in the center of the laboratory, thinking.
Then he appeared to make up his mind to something.

"Has that taxicab gone?" he asked, opening a cabinet from which he took
several packages.

I looked out of the window. The ambulance had gone back, but the driver
of the car had evidently waited to call up his office for instructions.
I beckoned to him, and together Kennedy and I placed the packages in the
car.

Thus we were able quickly to get back again to the wharf where the
_Haytien_ was berthed. Instead of going aboard again, however, Kennedy
stopped just outside, where he was not observed and got out of the car,
dismissing it.

In the office of the steamship company, he sought one of the employes
and handed him a card, explaining that we were aiding Burke in the case.
The result of the parley was that Kennedy succeeded in getting to the
roof of the covered p