de
house, and sich. Dat am a question of faith. If dey has de true faith in
sich, it works. Otherwise, it won't.

"Some folks won't think for a minute of goin' without lodestone or de
salt and pepper mixture in de little sack, tied round dey neck. Some
wears de silver coin tied round dey neck. All sich am for to keep away
de effect of de evil power. When one have de faith in sich and dey
acc'dently lose de charm, dey sho' am miserable.

"An old darky dat has faith in lodestone for de charm told me de
'sperience he has in Atlanta once. He carryin' de hod and de fust thing
he does am drop some brick on he foot. De next thing, he foot slip as
him starts up de ladder and him and de bricks drap to de ground. It am
lucky for him it wasn't far. Jus' a sprain ankle and de boss sends him
home for de day. He am 'cited and gits on de street car and when de
conductor call for de fare, Rufus reaches for he money but he los' it
or fergits it at home. De conductor say he let him pay nex' time and
asks where he live. Rufus tells him and he say, 'Why, nigger, you is on
de wrong car.' Dat cause Rufus to walk further with de lame foot dan if
he started walkin' in de fust place. He thinks there mus' be something
wrong with he charm, and he look for it and it gone! Sho' 'nough, it am
los'. He think, 'Here I sits all day, and I won't make another move till
I gits de lodestone. When de chillen comes from school I sends dem to de
drugstore for some of de stone and gits fixed.'

"Now, now, I's been waitin' for dat one 'bout de black cat crossin' de
road, and, sho' 'nough, it come. Let me ask you one. How many people can
yous find dat likes to have de black cat cross in front of 'em? Dat's
right, no one likes dat. Let dis old cullud person inform yous dat it am
sho' de bad luck sign. It is sign of bad luck ahead, so turn back. Stop
what yous doin'.

"I's tellin' yous of two of many cases of failure to took warnin' from
de black cat. I knows a man call' Miller. His wife and him am takin' an
auto ride and de black cat cross de road and he cussed a little and goes
on. Den it's not long till he turns de corner and his wife falls out of
de car durin' de turn. When he goes back and picks her up, she am dead.

"Another fellow, call' Brown, was a-ridin' hossback and a black cat
cross de path, but he drives on. Well, its not long till him hoss
stumble and throw him off. De fall breaks his leg, so take a
warnin'--don't overlook de black cat. Dat am a