The Subtle Art Of Sorcery

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 286, 3 December 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

The Subtle Art Of Sorcery

Long Short Story

AS Jonas Powder, the Bear Lake free trader, abstractedly waited on a bevy of giggling squaws his dark face was shrouded in a pall of gloom wholly incompatible with the lavishly-stocked shelves and the general aura of prosperity so unmistakably manifest about the place. One sensed instantly, however, from the tensity of his manner, that his was no ordinary worry such as might be occasioned by a business slump or anything of similar nature. Here was a strong man in the grip of a great fear. 'I iii'ro Mill oxi-ted a hint, "f grr.it pin -Kill -trongth it one glanced rut-rely ■i '■ the man* broad sturdv l''gs and eiiormous hand-. but one could tiiiiik ih>! mini expected inoniPiit.n ;lv to h" < t ruck flown b\ «oine ill\ i- i 1.1 <■ hand; I" I"' dealt a (loath blow by Horn.' uii'omlinl.ii.ii! force ol rii|i»i iia t lira 1 origin. I hi- was pri'i-i.Hfl_v what .I'iiias did \|.•■, •t. |(, « ,i- tho penally he would have 111 pay t.,r thwarting the plans of Klea. tin' m.i li'ioiM medicine man. t'ir Klea, old. w i/ene,| ami evil-visaged as he win, had become emotionally a iva re of l.'o-o-.Mai y at a time when *he w ,i*» changing Irnin a skinny, bn-hful iidrill'm-eiit in ,i maidi'ii of \■>-arrestin" li'J I J re with a 'l.i con-cioimno-s of '"•r charm-. He wat-h-d tho mota-moipho-is with inered 111 it \ . He .-aw ungainly a nglen beeomo pha-ant. rmi--1 "HI - '"id hollow chocks till out and eolour beautifully with tiie blushing knowledge of enhaneed do-ira hi Ii t v. and while scii-uou* lights flared in his'boadv eyes hi h aged heart beeauie siiddenl'v voting mid ft I Ip« 1 with po*««*»«ive desire*. Hn derided to take this lovolv creature for hi* own, 'I lien Jonns appeared on tho Rrene and by force of virile rhariutor and im j*el.lioiih eourtsllip *wppt Rose-Mary into I both love and wedlock. I

"Poor Jonas," sighed the people at Wrigley when the news was carried by moccasin telegraph to Klea's former stronghold. "He won't live long now; Klca is sure to make some powerful medicine which will cause hia death just »» lie so often did among our own people before we handed together and drove him from us." Tn a seething ruge the old sorcerer himself faced Jonas with blazing eye* and said; "You have stolen from me the ower of my life, but you shall pay dearly for your theft, for I shall cominline with evil spirits and with their ihit l° W a medicine of such strength torture*" w , l m,fT, ' r tho most terrible rturos and die within a year. Mark ."a* hand with the Intention of con S ! m y " ,r>pir !f r Klp »'* «vil visage ! 1 I l "' t quality In the smoulder, ng depth* of 'those bendy eyes hnn a moment, * indecision and arrested ' swinging pel in |„ mid-arc. In that moment's iudcision Jona* Powder became ». doomed man. Having once registered contact, Klea's glittering eye* held Jonas in relentlem hi* T !!',? ! nn " rmo " t crannies of lis mind, instilled there the definite knowledge that ho was sh certain to die os though ho were listening to a court jjudge pronounce death sentence. Gone from Jonas' rnirid now wa« every vestige of cold logic a* taught by hi, white father. In its rttend was a, tumult of superstitious fear and blind, unquestioning _ belief in the medicine. man's omnipotence. This was the stronger heritage of his Indian mother. Bred in him through her, nn<l taught to liirn by her, was the knowledge mi I understanding of Indian medicine which rendered hint susceptible to its magic workings for good nr evil. For a while, after the Hr.-L shock had worn off, Joiih* almost forgot the threat hanging over him in the morn tangible happinese of wedded life and 111 the

attention demanded by hi* fur trade. As hU allotted year shrank to a few nioiithn, the unpleasant thought forced .'-■■lf with e v or-increasing per.-i-t ••me 11 1""i his unwilling mind. He couid not hear the thought of parting from RoseM.l i v.

H' l had another ami even greater rea.on for wanting to live; lie had I hilip, hi- -i\ sear-old .-on bv his fir.-; wire. Ho-e-.\|ary was wonderful, and ii" loved her, but. after all. <-he \va- onlv a woman. I'hilip was ditrerent; he wa'a son. a growing man, tiie 11 *_• ji r of • Jonas' life and the pivot of hi- nmliiti..n. Jonas wanted to live to *ee i'iiiiip grow I•« _ m.i niiood patterned after h i m-•■"! t ami gain recognition a- the stronge-t man in t lie nort ii.

I!o«e-Ma ry sought. t.. 1.01-ter h>w ailing courage, but iier effort- were [ ititullv half-hearted beeau-e of iier ou n beiief in the legendary miracles wrought by medicine men.

Now the year w,n almo-t up. .in.l waile donas moved about like a jittery automaton responding to tho -ijiiavv'iei|iiest tor three yard- of calico or a tin of baking powder his mind was tilled with the memory of la-t night's disquieting and reali-ti: dream.

In this dream he -ponied to lie |or-t in a heavy blaek fog. Klea. tin' old medicine man, was somewhere in it -in\i-ible! Jona*. could feel the evil hatred of hipresence—cold, oruel. menacing—could hear him laugh in fiendi-h glee; utter taunting boast- about gaining of Rose-Mary after his duath. He raged

ByChick and Mary Ferguson

about seeking to come to grips with bis tormenting enemy, but when he lunged in the direction of hie enemy's voice his griping arm* encountered" only in;: — cold, dense, foreboding. Once, thinking lie glimpsed the old medicine man's wizened face through a rift in the fog, he lashed out with a vicious blow. His first came into forcible contact with the log- wall, and Jonas wakened to the realisation that it had been only a dream. While Jonas now unobtrusively rubbed his bruiefcd knuckles and let his thoughts run to wild conjectures concerning t he dream's evil omen little Philip was out playing with a group of Indian boys, all somewhat older than himself. In their ramblings one of the lads stumbled over a large metal keg, partially concealed by low bushes. Experiment proved that the screw cap could be removed and that the can was filled with a fine-grained black substance. Black powder! Probablydropped off a packer's load and kicked under the concealing bushes to be retrieved at a later date for his own use. A tiny bit of the powder was poured out on a largo flat stone, and one of the older boys applied a lighted match. The result was a most gratifying "whoosh" and a miniature aheet of orange flame and smoke. More and somewhat larger charges were touched off with corresponding eueceea. The lads were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Then one of the boys got a- bright idea, "Instead of wasting time burning the powder in such tiny drib*, why not touch off the whole keg, just to see how much 'whoosh' and fire and smoke it will make?" "Fine," seconded another lad, "only let's put it in a hole and pile dirt on top like saw the white men do." Everyone thought that a grand idea. Who would apply the match this time? Some of the older boy* entertained certain misgivings concerning the safety of such procedure, but none dared show cowardice. For several moments no one spoke up as a volunteer. Then the boy who first thought of setting off all the

powder at once again camc fo the for* with a happy ,-olution. "Little Philip," lit' said, didn't get a chance to light any of ; !ic little lire-?, r+o we will let him light thU f>iir »nc. while the rest of 11 go hack a vav so we can see how high the tire and smoke goes."

Tho women'- chattel ing finldenlr ■\ .i - ilrov* nod by tho dull, reverberating. boom of exploding Idaek I powd-r. Tiie sturdy log building shook j.i- with ague. Tin kettles and pans rattled and tell from their place of suspension on the hewn joists. Minor a;'. .<."S -lid crashing from shelves, and heavy objects raiijed Upon the roof. A jagged piece of stone crashed through a window and slithered across the floor, spinning like a teetotum. iiut even before the fragment came to a re-t again-t the counter Jonas was oil hU way out the door. Rose-Mary joined him a.-, lie pas.-ed the kitchen, "and together they raced toward tho group of frightened boys huddled in horror--trirkeii inaction half-way to the landI ini-. Little Philip was not among them, j "W'h»re's I'hilip?'' shouted Jonas. " I h'-ro. said out of tho boy-, pjinting toward tiie scene of explo-ion. Jon,is heart welled uj> to choke him .i<- lie stunbilled up tiie incline towar<l the pit of destruction to -ee what would be found. It wasn't much. Ko-e-Mary led him. weeping like a child, from the scene of di-aster. He heard again Klea's taunting voice boa-ting that he would have Rose-Mary alter Jonas' death. The mere thougiit of the hideous •>ld medicine mane claw-like fingers touching his beautiful Rose-Mary sent iiim into a paroxysm of rage. His eves "napped fire. His lips drew into a hard line. The cords in his neck stood out like taut cables and his huge hands <1 on bled into hard, battering fist#. la that moment his anger was a terrible thing. With the spring of a panther he darted for the door. Rose-Mary put out a detaining hand. He merclv briialied her hand away an<l rushed on without answering, seeing red. He would fight—kill old Klea! Xot to save himself—it was too late for that—but for his lovely wife.

Could Not Kill Him •Jonas reached the landing; righted and slid a canoe into the water. In the act of stepping in a sobering thought occurred to him. If he killed old Klea by violent means it would be murder. For that offence the Mounted Police would come and get him. It was not fear of death that deterred him now, for-Jonas knew his doom wan sealed and he would soon die, anyway— old Klea had already shown his power by causing the death of little Philip— but he had a violent abhorrence to dancing at the end of a hangman's rope. It was no way for a brave and respectable man to die. \et he had to save Hose-Mary from Klea. He thought of the old medicine man's fingers caressing her velvety skin and flared hotter than ever. A dozen plans entered his head, took form, and were rejected. "It will not do to kill Klea by violence and get hanged for it." ke said. "If I only knew how to make th« right kind of medicine . . A few minntes later Rose-Mary, hearing someone in the store, entered to find Jonas busy selecting various article*, from the shelves. • Her brow wrinkled in perplexity as her saddened eyes caught the grim purposefulnese of hit swift movement*. There were a great many articles, and it was with a keen and knowing eye that he made each choice. He laid out tobacco—lota of tobacco, both plug and package—and matches; he selected the largest and fattest slab of bacon, a tin of lard, a carton of loaf sugar and many packages of tea; with strong fingere ruthlessly ripped from the bolt a generou* yard of red finecloth— and followed with many yarda of less

expensive goods of brilliant hue. A shiny new kettle, a frying pan, a knife, a trail axe, a dozen traps, a bundle of lisli nets with backing and a scarlet "four-point" blanket joined the other articles. To cap it all Jonas added a rifle and ammunition. "Jonas! What are you doing?" she demanded.

Jonas whirled in startled surprise. "I'll have to l»ave ron—for a while," he said, a strange huskineas of voice betraying his emotion. "I've a plan, and, on ruy mother's side, an uncle living near Fort Good Hope. He is a medicine m »n._ I am going to take these things to him as gifts—and tell him about Klea's persecution and evil boasts. I will ask him to respond to the ties of blood relationship and the jealousy of medicine men by saving you from Klea." Rote-Mary nodded. Old Klea was to get a taste of his own medicine. Her

Jonas was smart. Who would ever point a finger of suspicion at him if Klea suddenly succumbed to some mysterious ailment, or met an apparently accidental death?

Arms of coppery velvet tightened around his neck. "You do love me a great deal, don't you, Jonas?''

It was the cool, semi-twilight of cubArctic night. The light canoe with its carpro of precious gifts snuggled close against the crude landing place. Jonas, balancing easily in its centre, steadied the cranky little craft with one hand on the log dock. His free arm slipped about Rose-Mary's slender waist, drew her close. Their lips—his firm, hers warm— met And clung. Next instant the little craft went skimming out over the smooth expanse of dark water gleaming dully in the light of a pale oval moon.

To Jonaa it was a race against time— with his lissom* young wife as stake. The course was to take him the length of the swift-running Bear River and far down the mighty Mackenzie, through the Sans Sault Rapid* and the Ramparts, to within the shadow of the Arctic Circle.

4 fortnight later Jonas, gaunt and emaciated almost beyond recognition, eased the little canoe in at _the familiar landing place. Rose-Mary, apprised of hi« coming by the shouts of several Indian boys, hurried down to meet him His debilitated appearance shocked her. Jonas squeezed her tight with the assurance : "I'm all right. I only need a little rc*t—it has been a hard trip." When Rose-Mary made to prepare a hot supper Jonas halted her. "Don't bother," he said. "I'm not a bit hungry. I'm just tired and would rather have sleep than food."

I He smiled a wan, tired smile and, extending what had once been the strongest arm in the Far North, drew her raven black head down and pressed upon her warm lips a kisa somehow poignantly wistful. "It's all right, Roee-Mary," he said in a voice so low it was hardly audible. "You needn't worry about old Klea any more. I saw my uncle at Good Hope. He is, as I told you, a great medicine man. He promised to make a medicine so potent that should Klea even attempt to harm you he will be destroyed as quickly ae a frightened beaver dives beneath the water. So don't you worry, dear one; my uncle has promised!" Impulsively Rose-Mary leaned over and whispered a treasured secret into his ear. A new light of gladness leaped into his dark eyes. His emaciated fingers found and tightened over her soft hand.

"I hope it's a t>oy." he breathed in a • low voice that sounded like a prayer, t Then, with a contented sigh, he fell t asleep. A faint smile, as of satisfaction r commingled with a stern duty well per- >• formed, lingered to wreathe his shrunken features. 2 A f licking sob caught in Rose-Mary's throat and her fi/ie eyes suddenly tilled . to overflowing with hot tears of love for ' the husband she knew would never ; awake. , Had a city coroncr been present he r would, no doubt, have given a verdict ' of: '"Death from starvation and over- ■ exhaustion." But. had the coroner been ; a northerner, and therefore familiar with the strange and illogical mental twists common to the aborigines of the Far North, and cognisant of the barest par- ' ticulars concerning old Klea's threat, his i finding would as certainly have been: "•Death from a curious combination of grief over the loss of a cherished eon. together with exhaustion and selfimposed starvation due to a peculiar inherent mental state common among Indians of the Far North, which, following the malignant threat of a medicine man enemy to bring about his death within a given period of time, called the deceased to believe in the inevitability of his impending death with such fervour as actually to culminate in realitv." Psychology of Death And this second coroner would have been right. For Jonas in most things not only thought with the mind of an Indian; ho reacted to the meagre Christian teaching of his white father by believing as devoutly as any fullblood in the omnipotence of the medicine man's magic sorcery and in all the weird superstitions of the red men. And in the Par North it is hot uncommon for a strong, healthy Indian to interpret as an evil omen portending his death some trivial happening; and then proceed to commit slow suicide by a tortuous process of partial starvation and a morbid conviction that it would be useless to try to continue living in the face of an omen decreeing death. White men realised that Jonaa' death was the result of his own exercising of an inverted will power, born of superstition, which denied the right to continue living. But to the Indians, unreasoning belief in the infallibility of omens was but strengthened—the uncanny magic power of their medicine men again proven. Against the advTce* of relatives and friends Rose-Mary refused to sell the trading post and return to her parents' home to live. "Xo,my place is here," she said, her lovely eyes glowing with a new soft light ' of incipient motherhood. "In early spring my son will be born—l know it will be a son, and his name will be Jonas—so I must keep the trading poet going until he is old enough to take charge. It is what his father would have wanted." Her action was, when one considers the gregarious habits of northern natives, an example of rare courage. It was not too pleasant living alone and trying to run the post, but Rose-Mary was guided by the determination of a great love. Restlessly she moved to a window overlooking the bay and for long minutes stood drinking in the vista's splendour. It was mid-afternoon of a rapidly shortening autumn day.

Then Rose-Mary's keen eyes detected Movement, caught the scintillating flash of a wet paddle in the sunlight. A canoe was approaching from the far side of the bay. It bore a single occupant. '"That," mused Rose-Mary with quickening breath, "will be old Klea. No one else lives across there.*' Her feminine intuition gave warning of why the old sorcerer was coming. She knew that she should flee while there wa<s yet time, and seek safety in hiding. She knew that if she remained and faced the mesmeric stare of his beady serpentine eyes she could not help but yield to his will, just as surely as she knew she would kill him for it afterward. Yet, a« the canoe bearing this wizened object of her hatred and loatiling and fear drew nearer and nearer. she remained at her post by the window, held in hypnotic fascination by some inexplicable power stronger than her will. Xow the old medicine man was *but little more than half a mile from shore. Indian fashion he was sitting in the centre of a tiny birchbark rhythmically paddling in strokes of alternate pairs— two on the right side, and then two on the' left—slowly. Apparently the old rogue' was in no particular hurry. Then occurred * strange and most unusual thing. •> « Starting on the hillside, well behind tiie store, a tiny whirlwind swept with ever-increasing velocity and force toward t lie bay. When it passed the window from which Rose-Mary watched it was already attaining considerable power. Short pieces of boards and small objects were sucked up and hurled afar, lui size and power doubled and trebled and redoubled. At the landing it whirled an inverted freight canoe far into the air. spun it a time or two, and dropped it with a splintering crash upon the rockstrewn shore. Out across the T>ay it swept like a miniature typhoon, churning and sucking the placid water into a leaping, swirling white column which scintillated in the waning sunshine like a fountain of animated gems. Straight toward tlie oncoming canoe its course was directed.

Ro-e-Mary marvelled at the old sorcerer's strangely unobservant attitude. She wondered how he could fail to H'e that rushing fury, to hear the peculiar low swishing drone of its angrv approach. But perhaps his habitual >en?e of \ i^'ilance was temporarily dulled by thoughts of conquest. He even apj>eared utterly oblivious of the warning shouts of people on shore. Like an outraged Nemesis the monstrous whirlwind increased in violence as with terrific speed it bore down upon the unsuspecting canoeist. Just when his doom teemed certain Rose-Marv saw the old fellow's bent head jerk suddenly erect. For a single brief moment his wet paddle, glinting in the sunshine, hung absolutely motionless in mid-air. Though the distance was great, RoseMary almost fancied she detected a startled look of terror race over his wizened features. Then, galvanised into frenzied effort, the old medicine man brought the paddle downward in a sweeping thrust which sent his tiny craft skimming off at right angles to hi* original course. Sudden fear lent abnormal strength to his ageing arms. The shimmer of his wet paddle appeared almost to blend into a continuous flash of gleamin" sil

ver. The fragile little birchbark quivered and shook under the strain of those driving thrusts. Faster and faster it shot forward as the demoniacal whirlwind roared menacingly nearer. Threshing, foaming white water fell swiftly astern. The tiny canoe fairly leaped ahead with increasing speed under the urge of fear-ridden paddle strokes and. to the breathlessly watching young woman at the window, it finally seemed safely out of the danger line. A perceptible slackening in his panic-stricken efforts gave mute indication that old Klea, too, knew ±hat the race was won. But no! Like a puppet operated by invisible wires in the hands of Fate, the gyrating funnel of destruction veered sharply to the left, caught the birchbark dead centre, spun it half around while still in the water, crushing it like an egg-shell, then lifted the battered hulk and its occupant into -the air, whirling like a bauble. Higher and higher it spiralled both canoe and man. Then, suddenly tiring of its pawns, it cast them aside and continued on its course. For a breathless moment canoe and man seemed to hang suspended in midair as an integral unit. But it was for a moment only. Then a queer, grotesque form resembling a gigantic writhing spider separated from the canoe, twisted

slowly in the air two or three times, «ad fell like a plummet. A white getter shot upward like a spume of a striking projectile fired from a distant war. Its force spent, or its mission fulfilled, the giant whirlwind dwindle to nothingness far in the distance. waters in the bay, now crimson in the setting sun's golden glow, again smoothed and assumed a mirror-like glaze of tranquillity and peace. "Surely," thought Rose-Mary, "Pre been dreaming." But a glance at the debris-strewn yard; at the crushed and battered canoe lying on the rock*; at the bit of wreckage floating far out there on the peaceful water convinced her of it. reality. Rose-Mary breathed a deep sjwk relief and thanksgiving. Xo longer need she live in fear of Klea. For once the old scoundrel had met his master in the subtle art of sorcery. With the prodigality of thankfulness and a new-found courage inspired by tender lov e and sublime faith in the destined greatness of her coming son, Rose Mary entered the store and assembled heterogeneous articles dear to the heart of an Indian— i fts to be dispatched to her avenging uncle-in-law at far away Fort Good Hope