True Blue: Stirring Stories of Naval Academy Life — page 8: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

TRUE RLUE. - i * oe nate as ‘the yellow man,’ ‘the hoodoo,’ and other such fool- 4 ishness 7” The fellow’s eyes gave a quick, resentful spark, “Who told you it was foolishness?” he inquired steadily. “Drop that phase of it, then—but are you what I indi- cates” “Suppose I am ?” Then you was just now tn the company of three naval cadets 7” “Who told you so?” “Weren't you?” “It 1 was, young man, it is my own individual concern !” answered the fellow, and with a certain force that Clif foresaw he would not find it easy to break down. The fellow was probably a scamp, but he had nerve, temper and obstinacy, and really Clif had no right to challenge him against his will. tle bestowed a malignant look upon Clif, turned coolly and began talking to himself as if hé wished to Impress a stranger with a due sense of his importance as a “mystic.” “The spell of prophecy is upon me!” he muttered in a sepulchral tone, moving off and making outlandish ges- tures in the air. “Rot!” muttered Clif, nettled at being baffled. The occult is loose |” “I don’t know about that!” shouted Clif, abruptly, “but —the doggis:!”’ The animal in question bounded across the fence at just this juncture. Dropping’ all his dignity and assumed mysticism, the hoodoo made a bolt for safety in a decidedly human and ordinary manner. “Pshaw!" uttered Clif. half-smiling, ‘a regular mountebank not worth bothering about, any more than the cadets he may have incidentally run across and tried-to swindle out of a coin. Here Hannibal!” _ Clif put out his hands to stop the dusky attendant rush- ing pell-mell towards him. “Mistah Faraday !" he gasped, “wuss and wuss!” “What's worse, Hannibal?” insinuated Clif. . “It’s lost!” ‘s Fh a * 4 = « oll * ¥