Page:Ossendowski - The Shadow of the Gloomy East.djvu/51

Rh twinkling of an eye, there blazed out greenish, phosphoric flames. Then again they came and vanished. The sounds abruptly died away. A sudden blast made tongues of flame flicker up near the ceiling, and then all was dark and silent as if a heavy black curtain was drawn. The shaman remained lifeless and did not answer the doctor's repeated questions if he might light the lamp.

He did so at last and approached the prostrate figure. The shaman was lying with closed eyes and compressed lips, a thin streak of blood issuing from his nostrils and deep furrows round his mouth.

We lifted him up and put him on a chair. He opened his eyes heavily and whispered: "Brandy!"

The doctor poured out a cup from his hunters' flagon. The shaman gulped it down, his teeth chattering upon the glass, stretched his limbs, and rose from the chair.

"It didn't come off to-day. &hellip; They came, but kept at a distance &hellip; and refused to approach."

After a while he left.

My friend the doctor patted my shoulder and said:

"It is better to shoot wild ducks and grouse than to invoke spirits. Set your mind at rest, my boy! This is no wizardry. Monotonous sounds and movements are all excellent devices of hypnotism. But we must hurry up with the cartridges. Open the bag with hailshot No. 3."

This was my first encounter with a shaman-koldun.