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Be f

150 THE BIG CANOE

ih t driftwood and canoes, from behind distant rocks, from
ae the gulls flying overhead! It shrieked in the Tsimshian
id tongue.

“T am Kali Koustli! I am the spirit of the pestilence!
I have visited the Haida village and all are lying dead
in the lodges. I am Kali Koustli, Spirit of the Pestilence.
EE The black bear is my slave. He will go among you and
7 bring you the sickness that I have visited upon the
Ta Haidas. He will kill you, one by one, or he will eat you,
bit by bit, as I command. I am Kali Kousili, greatest of
all the evil spirits!”

To complete the stunt, Skai threw a piece of candy
toward the horrified warriors and Tahn dropped down
upon all fours and ran after it, howling weirdly as he
had been taught to do. This was too much for Sebassa,
fierce warrior that he was.

“Tt is Kali Koustli!”’ he shouted, and raced back
toward the canoes, followed by all the others. Into
the boats they leaped, almost tipping them over in
their frantic haste to escape. Desperately they pushed
off and paddled swiftly across the cove in their mad
endeavor to escape from that horrible figure that pur-
sued them—that awful figure that shrieked after
them with many voices. Away they fled from the bear
slave that shrieked as no bear had ever been known to
shriek before—a bear that danced solemnly upon his
hind legs on the shingle! Away they fled from the
dreaded spirit of Kali Koustli, who, not content with
following them to the water’s edge, leaped upon the