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Updated: February 23, 2025
Arrkroo was amongst them, eating sparingly, as is the habit with the native doctors, and no doubt thinking what he was going to do to-morrow when he boned the hated white man. Everybody looked up when Stobart came into the firelight. One or two of the men saw the irna and called out, and at once the whole tribe was on its feet in alarm. Arrkroo saw it also and shook with fear.
Inch by inch Stobart worked his way nearer, till he heard the words and saw what the native doctor was doing. There was a small pointed bone, called an irna, about eight inches long, sticking upright in the sand. At one end was a knob of hardened gum from spinifex grass, and a long string made of the hair of a lubra was attached to it.
The man was stooping over the irna and muttering: "Okinchincha quin appani ilchi ilchi-a." He said this three times, moved the irna to a new place, and then began a new curse: "Purtulinga apina-a intaapa inkirilia quin appani intarpakala-a." This went on for some time and then Arrkroo got up and walked away, leaving the irna in the ground.
Arrkroo was afraid to kill Stobart openly, therefore he had prepared powerful magic and was going to "bone" him. Stobart guessed this, and took the chance of showing his power over the native doctor. He caught hold of the irna by the string, pulled it out of the sand, and walked back to the camp with it. The men were all feasting round the fire.
The string frizzled instantly, the knob of spinifex melted and flared up, and the bone was soon reduced to white powder. The Dance of Death Arrkroo, the Hater, had failed again. Stobart had openly triumphed over him by burning his deadly irna. The native feared this white man, but hated him more than he feared him, and was more than ever resolved to bring about his death.
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