202 THE BIG CANOE

The slave lad, however, was not the only one whom
Kilko and his companions tormented. The chiefs son
went out of his way to play tricks on poor old Shim,
but he did all his mischief secretly and at a safe dis-
tance from camp, for the Haidas held the Foolish
One in great respect in spite of his infirmity. He was
only Shim the Foolish One, but he was loved by all
the men of the tribe, who thought there was magic in
his uncanny knowledge of the weather and many
other things.

One day Kilko and his friends came upon the Fool-
ish One far from the encampment and saw a chance
to torment him. Jumping on the little old man, they
bound him and dragged him down among the rocks
on the beach, where they placed the pinching claws
of crabs on his nose and ears and toes. On his chest
they put a small devil-fish, then left him in the path
of the advancing tide.

It was Teka who found the Foolish One there—
wet and cold, crying with fear, and helpless, with the
rising tide already around his waist. The slave boy
quickly cut the thongs that bound poor Shim and
pulled him up on the beach. He rubbed the old man’s
limbs and made Shim comfortable in front of a drift-
wood fire which he built beside a big rock. Then he
brought water from a brook and food from the en-
campment, and soon the Foolish One was as well as
ever, though still trembling with fright and babbling
of crabs and devil-fish.