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7

"Sho nuff dey was sellin' all kinds er lil trinkets, an' medicines to
heal ev'ything fum ole age to to malaria-fluensa. Day was tellin' fortunes too.
An dat's what kotch me. Yessum, dey tole mine. Hit come pretty straight too. An'
dey only charge me fo'bits. Dey charge de others six bits dou' on account of dey
wasn't so important as me.

"De gipsy Chief an' I talk as one head to another, an' while us dispose
de topics of de times. I notice dat his lef' foot was swole, an' mighty red. He say
hit t'was de remains of a ole lockjack attack, an' dat he didn't hope fur to git no
better. Well, I tole him how to heal up dat 'fected foot. Yessum, I give him direct-
ions how to mix an' brew Jimson root, Pennyroyal leaves, sage, an' foxglove, an'
to soak his foot in dat till hits well ergin. I tole him hit couldn't fail, 'cause
hit never had. An' he was sho thankful. No'n, he didn't pay me nothin' - sactly, but
he taught me how to tell fortunes. An' I's been independent ever since.

"I quit loading orcas-ties, an' move to Montgomery, whar I open a lil
Shop as Herbdoster., Fortune-teller, an' Cunjure-man. I soon stop foolin' wid herbs
dou'. Dey wahn't nuff money in dat fur me. [illegible] won't pay but half dollar fur no
herb medicine. But dey'll spen' five or ten dollars fur to git somebody cunjured.
Dey'll go on payin' too, munt after munt, yer after yer fur to keep dat spell
fasten on some po'pussen what dey hates. I has cunjure cases dat's been runnin'
fifteen yers or mo', an' day ain't out yit. In fac' a good cunjure case never is
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