"May Ootah's body lie unburied! May he rot upon the earth! May the
ravens peck out his eyes! May a murderer drink his blood! May the
wolves eat his heart! May the spirit of the fog grow fat upon his
entrails! And may the spirits of his body scatter--as the clouds in
the wild _anore_ (winds) scatter! May his soul forever seek to find
its kindred spirits unavailingly and suffer in _Sila_, (throughout the
universe) forever!"

From under a pile of skins Sipsu, his chant subsiding, brought forth a
bundle. Opening it, he revealed a collection of old bones; there were
the bones of musk oxen, seals, walrus and smaller animals.

"Yah-hah-hah! I shall create a _tupilak_!" he crooned vindictively.
"I shall create a _tupilak_! And from the depths of the waters the
_tupilak_ shall see Ootah. Yah-hah-hah! I shall create a _tupilak_,
and from the hands of Sipsu it shall carry destruction to Ootah on the
sea. Yah-hah-hah!" He laughed crazily. Continuing his chant he
constructed of the bones a crude likeness to an animal skeleton. Over
this he sprinkled a handful of dried turf. Then, from beneath the
cover of his bed he brought a stone pot and from it poured a sluggish
red liquid over the strange object of his creation. This was a mixture
of clotted animal blood and water kept for such purposes of
conjuration. This done, he threw over the bones an aged sealskin.
Then he rose to his feet, and in a low voice uttered the secret
formulas whereby, in the depths of the sea, the result of his labor
should take the form of an artificial walrus.

Maisanguaq stood by, silent, evil exultation shining in his eyes.