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was certain that Pickle would never have suspected 

 him of such a crime, if a third person had not put 

 it into his head. There is a negro on my estate 

 called Adam, who has been long and strongly sus- 

 pected of having connections with Obeah men. 

 When Edward was quite young, he was under this 

 fellow's superintendence, and he now assured me, 

 that Adam had not only endeavoured to draw him 

 into similar practices, but had even pressed him 

 very earnestly to lay a magical egg under the door 

 of a book-keeper whose conduct had been ob- 

 noxious. Edward had positively refused: from 

 that moment his superintendent, from being his 

 protector, had become his enemy, had shown him 

 spite upon every occasion; and he it was, he had 

 no doubt, who, for the purpose of injuring him, 

 had put this foolish notion into Pickle's head. 



Upon enquiry it appeared, that on the very morn- 

 ing succeeding Pickle's entering the hospital, this 

 suspected man had gone there also, on pretence of 

 sickness, and had remained there to watch the in- 

 valid ; although it was so evident that nothing was 

 the matter with him, that the doctor had frequently 

 ordered him to the field, but the man had always 

 found means for evading the order. The first 

 thing that we now did was to turn him out of the 

 sick-house, neck and heels ; I then took Edward 

 with me to Pickle's bedside, where the former told 

 his brother-in-law, that if he had ever done any 

 thing to offend him, he heartily begged his pardon ; 



