sTEVENsoNi WITCHCRAFT 397 



god he was to entertain. He lal>ored hard and long- each da}', for he 

 was so much despised for his poverty that few would aid him. During 

 his labors upon the improvement of his house, a favorite patient of 

 Nai'uchi's died; but he was not allowed to die in peace. He was inter- 

 rogated regarding the cause of his trouble and implicated the member 

 of the Sword swallowers above referred to, and while the invalid la}' 

 dying, the accused man was summoned and tried by the Bow priest- 

 hood in his presence. The accused declared he knew nothing of 

 witchcraft, but his judges pressed him to tell what he had done to 

 the sufferer. Finally, realizing that pleading innocence would be of 

 no avail, he declared that he injured the man b}' touching his throat 

 with the tips of his lingers, hoping by this statement to inspire the 

 jurors with his supernatural power and thus save himself from torture; 

 but he was condemned, and returned to his home to await the hour 

 of execution. 



Near midnight the writer was notified that this man was to be put 

 to death. It seemed too terrible to believe, and hastening from her 

 camp to the village she met Nai'uchi as he was returning from the 

 deathbed of his patient. The great theurgist and elder brother Bow 

 priest was urged to withdraw his verdict on the ground that he might 

 be mistaken. Since he was obdurate, he was told that the United 

 States Government would certainh' punish him. He retorted: " I am 

 }'our friend. Friends do not betray one another. Would 3'ou betray 

 me to the soldiers?" "1 have not said 1 would inform upon you," 

 was the reply; "I am too much 3^our friend to wish to see j'ou suffer." 

 "1 shall hang this wizard, even though I displease .you," he declared.^ 

 "I shall hang him though the United States Government put me in 

 prison for one month, six months, a year, or forever. He has killed 

 ni}' child, and he must die." The writei* and the theurgist soon reached 

 the house of the latter and stood b}^ a lamp attached to the wall of 

 the large living room. The light fell upon Nai'uchi's face and the 

 expression, usually so kind, was now set and stern. There was nothing 

 of rage expressed, only the firm determination of a man bent upon 

 doing his duty though he lost his life b}' the act. '" Do you care for 

 me at all?" asked the writer. "1 have told you I am your friend." 

 "Will you do one thing for me?" "Anything but what you have 

 just asked." "Iwish that you would delay hanging the man until 

 to-morrow night." "So that you can send to Fort Wingate and have 

 the soldiers come for me?" "No, I will not send for the soldiers, nor 

 will 1 inform anyone upon you." "Then, 1 will wait until to-morrow 

 night; but the wizard shall then be hanged." The position of the 

 writer was a delicate one. The man must be saved, but she must not 

 make an enemy of a tried friend and one of the meti most important 

 to her in her studies. All work was s.u.v;pended on the inipioveuient 

 of the house of the accused. On entering a miserable apartment on an 



