" He
uses the very words of the Indian who described the same thing to me.
And very recently in Philadelphia, in fact while I was writing the
preceding remarks, a spiritualist named Gordon performed the very same
trick. Having been detected, a full account of the manner of action
appeared in the Press of that city. It was done by a peculiar method of
stooping, and of concealing the stoop behind a skirt. It was a very odd
coincidence that the explanation should thus present itself while I was
seeking it.
This Shaman Eskimo trick was known to the Norsemen. In the Saga of
Thorstein it is said that Ogantun, a noted sorcerer, when stabbed at,
"thrust himself down into the ground, so that only the soles of his
feet could be seen;" and of Kol it was said that "he could pass through
the earth as well as walk upon it."
"Women are sometimes _m'teoulin_. There is one at Psesuk (Bar
Harbor) now, this summer. You have met her. She is ---'s wife.
[Footnote: I am acquainted with all the parties, but for obvious
reasons suppress their names.] If you offend her she can hurt you in
strange ways.
"She is a good doctor. Once she cured a man. When he got well he could
not pay her for the medicine. His name is Louis ---. She asked for her
money; she asked many times; she could not get it. He was going to the
woods, far away, to trap; he said he would pay her when he returned,
but she wanted it then.
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