"_Tell us a story about a hoodoo, Uncle Jonah,_"--
Andy had driven Tom and Jerry in from the upper pasture for Uncle
Jonah, who was forced to admit that Andy wasn't so bad a boy as he had
thought. It seemed a good time, therefore, to ask Uncle Jonah about the
hoodoo.
"What is the hoodoo, Uncle Jonah?" Hortense asked.
"How come yo' 'quire 'bout dat?" Uncle Jonah asked. "Ah dunno nuffin'
'bout no hoodoo."
"You said Tom and Jerry were hoodooed," said Andy and Hortense
together.
"Jes' foolish talk," said Uncle Jonah.
"Tell us a story about a hoodoo, Uncle Jonah," Hortense begged.
"Ah don' know nuffin' 'cept about Lijah Jones an' old Aunt Maria," said
he at last.
"Tell us that," said Andy and Hortense together.
Uncle Jonah put a coal from the fire in the palm of his hand, and while
Andy and Hortense watched breathlessly to see whether he would burn
himself, he slowly lighted his corncob pipe. Then he began.
* * * * *
One mawnin' dis yere Lijah Jones was a-traipsin' along when he met
Aunt Maria.
"Mawnin'," says Lijah, keerless like, "yo' been a hoodooin' any one
lately, Aunt Maria?"
Dis yere Aunt Maria, she got a bad name and Lijah know it. Aunt
Maria, she stopped an' looked kinder hard at Lijah.
"Huh," she says, "Don' yo' fool wid me, niggah."
Lijah, he step along faster, not sayin' nothin' but feelin' kinda
oneasy. He wisht he ain't said dem words.
Dat evenin' Lijah come back fum town wid some co'n meal an' a side
o' bacon. As he come thu the woods by Aunt Maria's cabin, he kinda
shivered 'cose it wuz gettin' late an' de owl wuz a-hootin'. Dey
wan't no light in Aunt Maria's cabin, but dey wuz a little fiah in
de back yah'd, an' Lijah, he seed some one a-stoopin' ovah it.
Lijah wuz dat curyus he crep' roun' de co'nah of de cabin an' stuck
his head out. Sho'nuf, dey wuz Aunt Maria a-stirrin' a big black
pot an' a-croonin' somefin' dat make Lijah tremmle lak a leaf. He
don' make out wat she say 'cept, "Hoodoo Lijah Jones."
Dat was 'nuf, an' Lijah, he crep' away quiet an' hurry home
thoughtful-like. He don' believe in no hoodoo, but he wuz oneasy.
Dat night he say nuffin' 'bout it to his wife, but he go to bed
early.
Bambye he wake up. Dey wuz a kinda noise goin' on by de ba'n, but
Lijah, he ain't got no likin' fo' to get up an' see wat's de
mattah. So he tu'n ovah, an' bambye he ain't heah no mo' noise, an'
he go to sleep ag'in.
In de mawnin' w'en he go to milk de cow, sho'nuf dey wuz a hawg
a-lyin' on its side, daid. Lijah, he scratch his haid an' tu'n de
hawg ovah wid his foot. He don' know what happened to it, but he
kinda s'picioned.
De nex' day w'en he wuz a-goin' down de road, 'long comes Aunt
Maria ag'in.
"Mawnin'," says Aunt Maria.
"Mawnin'," says Lijah, kinda scaihed-like.
Dat was all dey said. Aunt Maria, she laugh an' go 'long, an'
Lijah, he don' lak de soun'.
Dat night nuffin' happen, an' Lijah, he feel bettah. But de nex'
night Lijah wake up ag'in an' heah somefin', an' sho'nuf in de
mawnin' bof his mules wuz dat wo'n out lak dey been a-runnin' in de
mud all night, dat he cain't do no wuk wid 'em.
Lijah, he kinda desprit wid dis, an' so dat night he don' go to bed
but sit up an' hide in de ba'n. Sho'nuf, 'bout twelve o'clock 'long
comes somefin', an' quicker'n nothin' bof dem mules wuz out'n dey
stalls an' away down de road. Lijah, he reckon he seed somefin'
a-ridin' em, an' he know mighty well wat it wuz.
In de mawnin' bof de mules was back ag'in, wo'n out, wid dey eahs
droopin', and ag'in Lijah, he cain't do no wuk.
Dat night he don' set up 'cose 'tain't no use. But he wek' up
sudden an' heah somefin' a-sayin', "Go to de ole house by de swamp
and mebbe yo' fin' somefin'."
In de mawnin' he membah wat he heah an' he feel brave an' sco'nful,
but dat night he don' feel so brave 'cause he knowed 'bout dat
house. Nobody live in it but ha'nts, an' he don' like ha'nts nohow.
Howsomevah he made up his min' t'go, an' 'bout nightfall he fin'
his way to de ole house by de swamp. It mighty lonely deh and
Lijah, he tremmle a bit. He strike a match an' look 'roun'. On de
table dey wuz a lamp, an' Lijah, he light de lamp an' feel a heap
bettah.
Den he set deh a long time, an' all he heah wuz de hootin' of de
owls and de crickets a-chirpin' in de grass. Lijah, he drowse a
bit. Bambye he open his eyes an' deh, across de table, wuz a big
black cat a-settin' an' lookin' at him.
Lijah, he don' say nothin' an' de cat say nothin', jes' look outa'
his big green eyes. Bambye de lamp, it go down an' den it flame up
bright, an' Lijah, he look at de cat an' he think it biggah dan
befo'. De cat, it riz up and stretch an' it seem powahful big.
Lijah, he riz up, too.
"What fo' yo' goin'?" say de cat.
"Ah bleeged to go home," say Lijah, an' he out's thu dat doh
quicker'n nothin' wid de cat aftah him. Lijah, he run fo' his life.
Bambye he catched up wid a rabbit a-lopin' along.
"Outa' my way, rabbit," sez Lijah, "an' let somebody run wat kin
run."
An' all de time dat cat kep' right aftah him, an' he mos' feel its
claws on his back.
Lijah was nigh wo'n out w'en he come to his house. He opens the doh
quick an' slams it shut; den he heahs de cat a-scratchin' on de doh
an kinda' sniffin' 'bout, an' Lijah, he lays down on de bed plumb
wo'n out.
In de mawnin' he tell his wife all 'bout it. She sez nothin' fo' a
while but jes' set a-figgerin'. Den she sez, "Yo' one fool, niggah.
Go an' kill de bes' hawg an' cut him up. Den yo' take one side to
Aunt Maria an' be mighty perlite."
Lijah, he don' like dis nohow, but he done what his wife tole him.
He tote dat side of hawg to Aunt Maria, an' she smile wicked when
she see him comin'.
"I brung yo' a side of nice hawg what I jes' kill't," says he
perlite.
"I sho's mighty bleeged," sez Aunt Maria. "I kin use a bit of hawg
meat. An' how is yo' gittin' 'long?"
"Not very good," sez Lijah. "Ah don' seem to have no luck."
"Mebbe yo' luck will change," says Aunt Maria, smilin'-like.
An' sho'nuf, Lijah, he don' have no bad luck no mo'. But he wuz
allays perlite aftah dat, an' he don' say nothin' disrespectfu'
'bout hoodoos an' ha'nts.
* * * * *
Hortense sat thoughtfully.
"We don't know anybody to give anything to because of Tom and Jerry,"
said she.
Uncle Jonah moved uneasily.
"I reckon we jes' gotta wait an' see whut happens," said he. "I don'
know nothin' 'bout it, an' I ain't gwine mix up wid it. Yo' tek my
advice and keep clear uv 'em."