Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-09-27

club wigwam. where the costumes are
kept after the dance.
1t was on the night following the
annual dance Of last Winter that my
tenure of Office as witchcraft doctor to
| the CARACAS reached q crisis. l had
been admitted to the mems lodge.
where the sacred costumes lay on the
! floor at the back next to the matched
wall. SQuatting on the ground around
the smoking fires. cutting out arrow
and spear points or weaving orna-
| mental braids for their club handles.
the men were drinking and mutterins
20 themselves. 1t was ghostly scene,
wreathed in smoke from the fires and
from the warriors pipes.
Having for days past begged and
bribed in vain for the sacred costumes,
l had this evening finally instructed
my half-civilized guide, Joti fox. to
make his way secretly in canoe up
the river inlet that came close to the
back of the wigNam, and to call thrice
like a night bird when he was ready.
Then. while ! created some sort of
diversion, he was to reach through the
matched wall. pull out the costumes,
and slip off down the river with them
hiding them where we could later pick
them up on our way out.
The diversion / had promised was
opportunity created for me. Shortly
after I heard Jotis signal and while !
was still debating what to do next, so
as not to attach suspicion to myself
when the theft was discovered, I heard
a cultural exclamation and saw all
heads turn toward the milky blue
moonlight in the arched doorway.
There, silhouetted against the mystic
light, was the naked figure of a young
.1Nl.
sin of peeking into the clubhouse
where the sacred costumes lay.
Instantly there was concerted rush
for the door and l conspicuously Joined
1t. The fleeing girl was captured,
marched off to the pagi's wigwam and
left imprisoned under guard, while the
warriors returned. nutterlng savagely,
as il something really sinister had
happened. And when they got back
the costumes We're gone.
Then pandemonium did break loose.
The discredited medicine man was
called upon In this crisis, TO which my
services were not deemed adequate,
and in the solemn council that fol
lowed he saw his chances to get even
with me.
He had come forth in all the weird
glory Of his magic working outfit. adj
vancing into the freight with a shut
fling dance step. to which the nodding
feathers OF his headdress kept time.
His straight, black hair was pulled
forward over his face and his eyes
burned through It with a Wild CLEAN.
All over his painted body We're daubed
downy feathers mixed with crumbled
egg shells OF many colors that glis-
tened in the silvery moonlight.
Through his lower lips was stuck a
carved bone and from each ear lobe
protruded a stick ornamented at the
end with feathers and a wild pigs
tooth. Around his wrists and ankles
he wore fuzzy bands of wild cotton,
dyed red, and in his hand he ratified
the long gourd, painted and feathered.
which served as his divining rod.
The childish Indian warriors seemed
to be deeply impressed by his mum
bling buffoonery. but to me it was
merely strange curiosity, until l per
ceived what the old fellow was driv-
ing at.
Every now and then as he danced
his gourd seemed to fly uncontrolla-
bly, out Of his hand and it invariably
landed rattling at my feet. Squatting
on their launches. with spears
clutched upright in their hands. the
Cara jas took 1t all in with awe. Here
was the good. old reliable brand of
tribal magic regaining its hold over
them. as 1t had swayed their ancestors
for generations.