[…] Feare looseneth the Belly; because the Heat retiring inwards towards the Heart, the Gutts and other Parts are relaxed;

This is an extremely simple form of sortilege related to astragalomancy or astragyromancy (from the Greek astragalos, meaning vertebra, knucklebone), which began about 5,000 years ago.

By what “Circumstance, the miscreator” my plans were defeated, the reader will discover in the course of these volumes.

The hut was a bonus, though. It had an enclosed snowporch peppered with hooks and, on the bare board floor, a boot rack and a large, flat stone to serve as a makeshift meat store.