“This won’t be a lecture, Ma’am Sib,” Cliff added. “But we want to show you something about voodoo that even you won’t guess about. If you can tell us how it’s done, we’ll be glad.”
She looked at him curiously.
Nicky, very serious, nodded to Tom who rose and walked slowly over to the window.
“It’s just a roundabout way to do her a favor,” Mr. Neale whispered to the mystified father Cliff was winking at. “There’s no harm.”
Tom was unostentatiously moving aside the curtain on a small chest of shelves in which various relics were stored.
Cliff came close to Ma’am Sib.
“Ever see anything like this before?” he asked. He laid on the table before the shriveled old crone a small, rude figure, cut out of stone, very much discolored, with its legs broken off, and having a hideous face and arms that stuck down without any hands to finish them off.
The old woman stared.
“Why—why—let me see! I know that—I seem to remember——”
“Oh, no,” laughed Nicky. “Don’t strain your memory, Ma’am Sib. That is one of the ancient Gods of an old Central American tribe. We got hold of it—well, never mind,” he did not wish to say they had found it in the despatch box with treasure, recovered later from the locker of the burned Libertad, and that they supposed the Spanish Inquisitors had taken it from the Indians. “It’s a powerful god.”
“I—I seem to see—” began the crone, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.
“Oh, no, you’re not as old as this god,” Cliff told her. “But it has strange powers and we are going to show them to you.” She shivered and drew back but Nicky smiled gaily at her.
“It won’t hurt you,” he said. “Now you stand it up in front of you—prop it against this book! Now, make a circle in the air in front of it, and then draw a circle around it with your index finger on your left hand, and then say—‘Abacca-abbaca-brab!’ three times and see what happens—it won’t hurt.”
The woman looked at Sam. He was grinning, but he nodded for her to do it. She hesitated and then, taking some bits of queer stuff from a bag she had, muttering some charm to protect herself from evil, she made the circles and muttered the words of Nicky’s fol-de-rol.
There came a thump, and a small bar of gold fell onto the table. Tom had flung it adroitly, of course, but she fixed her eyes and stared as if she would pop her eyes out.
“How—how—” she stammered.
“Want to know how it was done?” demanded Nicky.
“I’ll give you this gold if you tell me,” she said.
“I see,” began Tom.
“I know,” said Nicky.
“I’ll tell—” began Cliff. But suddenly all three saw that Mr. Neale, whom they had long before taught their secret signs, was making a sign which they all interpreted to mean, “Seeing All, I see nothing; Knowing All, I know nothing; Telling All, I tell nothing,” the oath of the Mystery Boys. Nicky grinned and nodded.
“This is it,” he said. “Once you made three clay figures of us and stuck their heads in the sun; they brought us good luck so we brought this god to give you some of it.”
And that was all she ever found out.
THE END
Mystery and Adventure Series for Boys
Here’s a Series of thrilling, exciting mystery stories by some of the best-known authors for Boys in this Country. Each volume is a separate story in itself; independent of any other volume in the Series.
Handsome Cloth Binding Attractive Colored Jackets
PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH
POSTAGE 10c. EXTRA
- TOM BLAKE’S MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURE. By Milton Richards
- BARRY DARE AND THE MYSTERIOUS BOX. By Gardner Hunting
- THE BLACK SKIMMER. By Philip Hart
- WRECK OF THE DAUNTLESS. By Philip Hart
- THE VALDMERE MYSTERY. By Milton Richards
- THE FLIGHT OF THE MYSTIC OWLS. By Philip Hart
- THE SECRET OF THE ARMOR ROOM. By Capwell Wyckoff
- ADVENTURES OF A PATRIOT. By Philip Hart
- DONALD PRICE’S VICTORY. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D.
- IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER. By Capwell Wyckoff
- THE MYSTERY AT LAKE RETREAT. By Capwell Wyckoff
- THE STRANGE TEEPEE. By Philip Hart
- THE MYSTERY OF EAGLE LAKE. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D.
Thrills and Adventure Aplenty!
The Mystery Boys Series
By VAN POWELL
Here are five great, red-blooded stories for Boys. Each volume is a story in itself and entirely independent of any other volume in the Series. If you like mystery and adventure in large doses, read THE MYSTERY BOYS SERIES.
Handsome Cloth Binding Attractive Colored Jackets
PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH
POSTAGE 10c. EXTRA
- THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE INCA GOLD
- THE MYSTERY BOYS AND CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE
- THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN SUN
- THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE CHINESE JEWELS
- THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE HINDU TREASURE
A. L. BURT COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
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Transcriber’s Note
- Silently corrected obvious typographical errors.
- Left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.