Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/142

 ! . Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

Heaven is whiter than any snow, Heaven is whiter than any snow, Who fell in the colley well?

"Yes, ma'am," replied Satan, rather taken aback. " That 's right." Then he continued : —

What is deeper than any well ? What is deeper than any well ? Who fell in the colley well ?

Maritta replied in the same strain : —

Hell is deeper than any well, Hell is deeper than any well, Who fell in the colley well ?

Again the Evil One took up his strain : —

What is greener than any grass ? What is greener than any grass ? Who fell in the colley well?

Maritta lifted her voice a third time : —

Poison is greener than any grass, Poison is greener than any grass, Who fell in the colley well ?

Greatly confounded at her answers, the Evil One stamped his feet in such a manner that smoke and sparks flew upward, and an odor of sulphur filled the room. Then turning on his heels he cried to the mother that he had left a note under the doorsteps with the Devil's own riddle on it.

A thousand or more acres of green corn grew about the house; and the Devil, pulling it all up by the roots, carried it in his hands, tore the roof off the mansion, and raising a fearful storm, disap- peared in it. When the storm had abated, the mountains around about were all levelled to the ground. After the panic caused by his wonderful conjuring had subsided, the mother bethought herself of the note, and when found it read as follows : —

Nine little white blocks into a pen, One little red block rolled over them.

None could guess it save Maritta, who said it meant the teeth and tongue.

Elizabeth Johnston Cooke. Macon, Ga.

Note. — The above story was told me by " Old William," my negro gardener, in New Orleans. He said that he was born, and mostly brought up, in Martinique — although he had lived many years in Louisiana. He spoke, quite well for a negro, English, French, and Spanish, and was altogether a "character." He claimed to know a great many similar stories.

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