And the third whispered:
"She is as the hungry hill spirit who feasts upon the entrails of the dead. Yea, she carrieth off the souls of the children. Ioh! Iooh!"
Their voices rose in a maniacal cry of terror and denunciation.
Annadoah rose. Clasping her hands, she demanded piteously:
"Why . . . sayest ye this of me?"
And they shrieked:
"Thou stealest souls! By the angakoq shalt thou be accursed!"
"No, no! No, no!" the girl pleaded, falling on her knees and weeping.
Although they suddenly ceased their reviling, hearing outside the barking of dogs, the women thereafter in secret often assembled together; there were ominous whisperings; and each time a child died visits were paid to the angakoq, and the unseen powers were invoked to bring misfortune to Annadoah.
Outside the silenced women detected the barking of dogs approaching the village from the distance. They heard the excited calls of tribesmen and the chatter of other women. One by one they crept from the igloo. A strange light in her eyes, Annadoah followed.