there are at least fifteen different accounts of mary beth 's voodoo altar , on which she burned incense and candles of various colors , and to which she added plaster saints from time to time but no account tells us precisely where this altar was ( it is interesting to note that no black servant ever questioned about this altar would utter one word about it ) some of the other stories we have are very fanciful it was told to us several times , for instance , that mary beth did n't just dress like a man , she turned into a man when she went out in her suit , with her cane and hat and she was strong enough at such times to beat off any other man who assaulted her .