“The men—they are very much upset?”
Hernandez nodded.
“They are, Mr. Condon,” he replied in perfect English, thanks to a States education. “They are whispering that there is a curse upon the plantation; that you are the cause of it; that the spirits are displeased with you, and I don’t know what else. They——”
Hernandez hesitated. Then:
“Why, they are even beginning to blame you for the death of that man found in the river, although they don’t know, as we do, that someone shot him.”
Condon frowned. “Somehow I suspect as much. But you are sure your information—what you tell me is correct?”
Hernandez nodded. “I am positive of it. Further than that I feel that I have discovered what is behind it all. You know you told me a week ago to look into it——”
“Yes?”
“It is voodooism. A witch doctor who lives in the jungle is behind the trouble here. And a white man is behind the witch doctor!”