ourselves of the fear of the warning--the death will occur just the
same.

On nearly all plantations there were some slaves who, trying to escape
work, hid themselves in the woods. [TR: original line: On nearly all
plantations there were some slaves who did not wish to work,
consequently, for this, or similar reasons, hid themselves in the
woods.] They smuggled food to their hiding place by night, and remained
away [HW: lost] in some instances, many months. Their belief in
witchcraft caused them to resort to most ridiculous means of avoiding
discovery. Phil told the story of a man who visited a conjurer to obtain
a "hand" for which he paid fifty dollars in gold. The symbol was a
hickory stick which he used whenever he was being chased, and in this
manner warded off his pursuers. The one difficulty in this procedure was
having to "set up" at a fork or cross roads. Often the fugitive had to
run quite a distance to reach such a spot, but when the stick was so
placed human beings and even bloodhounds lost his trail. With this
assistance, he was able to remain in the woods as long as he liked.

Snakes ware frequent visitor in the cabins of the "quarters". One
morning while Betty, a cook, was confined to bed, she sent for Mrs.
Towns to tell her that a snake had lain across her chest during the
previous night and had tried to get under the cover where her young baby
lay asleep. Mrs. Towns was skeptical about the size and activities of
the reptile but sent for several men to search the house. They had given
up the search when one chanced to glance above the sick woman's bed and
there lay the reptile on a shelf. The bed was roped and moved to another
part of the room and preparations made to shoot him. Quilts were piled
high on the bed so that the noise of the gun would not frighten the
baby. When all was ready Mrs. Towns asked the old man with the gun--