"Then how do you know she murdered her husband?"
"Jes' a minute, Boss, jes' a minute! Yo' done got me all frustrated. Yo' done axe so many questions—an' axe dem so fas.'"
"All right, Joshua," laughed Forrester. "You tell the story your own way."
"As Ah was sayin', Boss, she done murdah her husban.' Nobody done see her do it, an' de polisman dat wen' huntin' roun' nebber foun' nuthin'. She said her husban' jes' run away. But we-all knows she done kill him, 'cause eber since he been missin' he done hant dat tree."
There was a slight pause as Joshua collected his wits. After the previous warning Forrester remained silent until the colored man was ready to go on with his story.
"One Sunday night, mah wife an' me come by yere on our way from church. An awful still night, Boss, an' ter'ble dark. When we got jes' yere, we heered a noise—click, click, click—jes' like dat. Den we heered cuss words—blasphemin' de Lawd something ter'ble. Den we heered mo' click, click. An' after dat—sighs. We don't wait to heah no mo', Boss. We jes' runned home an' got our heads under de cobers—quick! Marthy's awful fat, Boss, but mah goodness, how dat woman can run!
"Nex' mo'nin' Ah says to Marthy: What yo'all t'ink dat was we heered las' night?
"'Joshua,' she says, 'don't you know what dat was? Dat was dat Jamaica niggah woman's husban' diggin' his own grave! Dey such bad peopull de Lawd done sen' him away an' he had to come back yere an' dig a hole for hisself.'
"Eber since den, Boss, folks has heered funny t'ings aroun' dat tree. Sighin's, an' chain rattlin's, an groans. An' some folks say dey done seen funny lights floatin' roun'. Tain't no men gettin' dat money, Boss—no suh. It's de hant of dat Jamaica niggah woman's man gettin' money to gib to de debil! Boss, dere's lots of polismen done come from de city an' watch dat tree. Dey neber seen or heered nuthin'—but in de mo'nin' de money was gone! Dat means hants sure, Boss."
Forrester stood for a moment, gazing thoughtfully across the roadway. He was sure that he had unearthed something worth while by allowing this colored man to talk. Whether the man actually believed what he had told Forrester, or was just repeating a prearranged story, which someone had instructed him to tell, Forrester could not now determine. One thing was certain, however. Several singular and suspicious people did live near this tree. He made up his mind to investigate the colored woman who was reported to be living back in the woods, and also, at the first opportunity, to secure information regarding the young woman who was taking such an interest in the tree.