A Village Ophelia and Other Stories by Anne Reeve Aldrich
page 63 of 94 (67%)
page 63 of 94 (67%)
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possessions, of the valor of his warriors, and above all of the great
wisdom and learning of his medicine-man, who was beyond all wizards, and upon whom witchcraft was powerless, and who prepared a poison for such of the chief's enemies as it was not expedient to openly destroy; and this poison, he explained to me, was of a secret and mysterious nature, and unknown to any other tribe. "My curiosity was somewhat aroused, and I questioned him, whereupon he told me that the drug, being tasteless, was given in food or drink, and that the victim was seized with a terrible and immeasurable sadness and depth of despair, in which life appeared too horrible to endure, and which the unfortunate always ended by seizing a weapon of some sort and killing himself; and the chief, being of an inquiring mind, had caused the poison to be administered to a man who was carefully guarded and allowed no weapon. "'And what did he do?' I queried, for the chief assured me that the drug itself did not produce death, but only caused an irresistible desire for it. "The chief did not reply in words, but with a meaning smile, pointed to a vein on his black wrist, and set his sharp, pointed teeth against it, in a way that was a reply. "I was anxious to see for myself, naturally, suspecting some hocus-pocus, so I ventured to be respectfully dubious. "The chief was in an amiable mood; he bade me visit his tent with my servant at moon-rise, and he would prove that this was no lie, but the truth. |
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