“Quiet!” Ansell snapped. “We’re wasting too much time.” He looked at Myra severely,
“Young lady, you’re deliberately aggravating him. I warn you, I’m not standing much more of this.”
Myra laughed. “I’ll be good, poppa, honest I will,” she said, and patted his hand. “Now, tell me all about it.”
Ansell looked at her suspiciously. “You seem to forget that you can’t afford to be funny,” he said.
“Aw, skip it, Doc,” I broke in. “Why don’t you say what you want to say and stop nagging the girl?”
Ansell looked a little surprised, “I’m trying to, but there’re so many interruptions.”
I turned on Bogle, “Don’t interrupt the Doctor any more, Bud,” I said. He’s getting tired of it.”
“Yes,” Myra joined in. “Give that big mouth of yours a rest. We’re sick of the sound of your voice.”
Bogle was so surprised that he just sat in a heap, his eyes starting out of his head.
“Okay, Doc,” I said quickly, before Bogle could recover. “The floor’s all yours.”
“Do either of you believe in witchcraft?” Ansell asked.
Myra held up her hand. “I do,” she said. “How else do you explain our Samuel away?” Bogle took off his tie and tried to tear it in half. He was blue in the face with passion. He jerked and pulled at the tie, but it was too strong for him.
Myra said, “Let me,” and snatched the tie out of his hands. She cut it in half with a fruit knife and handed it back to him. “There you are, Sammy,” she said.
Bogle sat in a kind of stupor, staring at the tie. Then he dashed it to the ground.
“Miss Shumway!” Ansell exclaimed angrily. “Will you stop picking on Bogle?”
“Well, I was only trying to be helpful,” Myra said, her eyes wide in innocence. “He couldn’t manage to do it himself.”
“All right, all right,” I said hastily. “Why witchcraft? Who believes in witchcraft these days?”
Ansell looked at Bogle, satisfied himself that he was not going to have a fit and tried to collect his thoughts: “I don’t suppose you know much of the background of this country. I’ve lived here for over twenty years and I’ve seen some very odd things.”
“So have I,” Myra said, looking at Bogle.
“If you can’t stop this woman talking…” Ansell said to me furiously.
“Be good,” I said to Myra.
She lifted her shoulders.
“Go on,” I said. “Don’t worry about her.”
“If I’m to explain this at all,” Ansell said, rather hopelessly, “I wish you’d all listen. At one time there was a powerful secret society in this country who called themselves the Naguales. The members of this society were the witch doctors who bossed the Maya Indians. They are almost extinct now, but there’s a few of them who still practice in a little village not two hundred miles from here.”
“I’ve heard about ’em,” I said. “Aren’t they supposed to produce rain at a moment’s notice and change themselves into animals? You don’t believe that junk, do you?”
Ansell shook his head, “No, I don’t. I believe they have certain supernatural powers such as mass hypnotism, and in some rare cases they practice levitation, but that really doesn’t concern us. What I’m interested in is their herbal medicines. Have you ever heard of teopatli?”
I shook my head. “What is it? A drink?”
“It’s a sure cure for snake bite.”
While we were talking, Bogle sat with his head in his hands, in a kind of stupefied daze. He wasn’t causing any trouble, so we ignored him.
“How do you mean… a sure cure?” I prompted.
“Listen, young man, I’ve seen men die of snake bite. It’s a pretty nasty business. I’ve seen men of this little village pick up a coral snake and let it strike at them, and then put this ointment on. They feel no effects at all.”
“Probably they’ve drawn the poison before demonstrating,” I said sceptically.
Ansell shook his head. “I’ve given them a pretty thorough test. Rattle snakes, scorpions and coral snakes. Teopatli fixes any of these bites like lightning.”
“All right, where do we go from there?”
“I want to get the recipe from this Indian fella and I think Miss Shumway can get it for me.”
Myra stared at him. “Someone’s been out in
“Wouldn’t you like to put your feet up, poppa?”
“If you were a few years younger,” Ansell said, between his teeth, “I’d like to smack some manners into you!”
I knew just how he felt.
Myra giggled. “You’re not the only one who’s thought along those lines,” she said, shaking her head. “One of them did try it. They had to put four stitches in his face and give him a pension.”
“Take it easy,” I broke in. “What makes you think this baby could get the stuff and what would you do with it if you got it?”
Ansell calmed down. “People all over the world are getting bitten by snakes,” he explained.
“Teopatli really works. Properly marketed it’s worth a fortune. It would be an essential part of any traveller’s equipment. I could charge what I liked for it.”
I considered this. If the stuff was really a cure for any snake bite, then, of course, he had something. There was not only a fortune in it, but also a terrific news story.
“You’ve actually seen the stuff work?” I asked.
“Of course, I have.”
“What’s the difficulty? I mean why can’t you get hold of it.”
Ansell snorted. “Quinti won’t part. He’s this Indian fells I’m telling you about. For fifteen years I’ve been after him, but the old devil just grins at me.”
“Where do I come in on this?” Myra asked cautiously.
“I saw Quinti a couple of weeks ago,” Ansell said. “He tried to fox me as usual, but I put a lot of pressure on him and finally got him in a corner. He told me that soon he was going to die. But before he die, a Sun Virgin would come to him and take from him all his secrets. She would have great powers of magic, her hair would be like beaten gold and her skin like the frozen heights of lxtacchiuatl. It was just his way of putting me off, but now I’ve seen Miss Shumway, I guess we could frighten him into talking.”
Myra sat up. “You don’t want me to impersonate a Sun Virgin, do you?” she demanded.
“Why not?” Ansell asked, his eyes shining. “With your tricks, your looks and a little bluff, you could do it on your head.”
I leaned forward suddenly. “Where’s this village you’re talking about, Doc?” I asked.
“It’s ten miles from Pepoztlan.”
That gave me an idea, but I wanted time to think about it. “Listen, Doc,” I said. “Let Miss Shumway and me talk it over, will you? I think you’ve got an idea that’d make a great news story. It’d be fine publicity for you if you get the stuff, but I want to sort out the angles.”
Ansell got to his feet. “I’ll give you half an hour,” he said. “I take it that you won’t run out on me?”
“We’ll be here when you come back,” I told him.
“Hey!” Myra said. “Whose side are you on?”
I grinned at her. “Pipe down for a minute, will you?”
Bogle got to his feet after Ansell had shaken him. “Talk!” he said bitterly. “That’s all we do. We came out here so I could kick this dame’s teeth in and what happens? We sit around and talk! Now, we go away so
“Cheer up,” I said. “You’re getting so many wrinkles, before long you’ll have to screw your hat on.”
He glared at me, then turning on his heel, he slouched after Ansell. They crossed the square and disappeared into a beer parlour that stood at the corner.
I settled further, into my chair. “Well,” I said, “you can never tell, can you. How do you like being a Sun Virgin?”
Myra’s reply was unprintable.
