THE ANCIENT ONE 51

of sunshine. Nor could I remain there with him, to
become a blood brother, as he suggested, for I was
always longing for the sound of the wind in the trees
behind Quasset; for the smell of spruce and cedar and
other growing things; for olachen grease and berries,
halibut and salmon, and red lean meat; for warm
sunshine in summer, for rains and fog in winter. I
longed most of all for the companionship of my own
people, for the language and customs and songs of
my own tribe.

Sadly I left Loo and his people there upon that
barren shore and paddled swiftly southward over a
calm and sunlit sea. Past floes of drifting ice cakes I
paddled safely; through narrow channels of open
water between the ice-fields I carefully made my way;
and before winter arrived I was far from that icy
land.

When I reached the place where I had left my fa-
ther’s canoe, I found it safely hidden in the shallow
cave beneath the cliff, like an old friend waiting for
me. Quickly I pulled it out upon the beach and gazed
with delight upon the canoe chest and baskets, upon
the pillow and fishing equipment and other articles
with which my mother had provided me so long be-
fore. From that moment, though I knew that many
weeks must pass before I could possibly look upon
the totem poles of Quasset, and that there were many
dangers yet to be overcome, I felt that I was almost
home.