248 THE BIG CANOE

Not until then did Kali sit down before the large
pattern board her father had painted, and begin
work upon the blanket that was to restore her to a
place of honor in her own tribe and win the admira-
tion of the young chief. After that she worked steadily
and carefully day after day. Slowly the blanket grew.
There were no knots, no uneven places, no ragged
edges.

Week after week, month after month, the blanket
grew daily beneath her loving fingers. Never was such
a blanket as this one. Some whispered that the princess
was too indolent, too careless, too light of heart to
finish such a task, but they were wrong. They did not
know of the young chief’s message.

As the months passed, their wonder grew, for
never before had any one worked as Kali worked
upon this blanket, without rest—without food also,
except what Bidal brought her from time to time and
coaxed her to eat.

During the last weeks of winter she worked harder
than ever, often weaving late into the night beside the
fire. At last, however, with a sigh of relief and satis-
faction, she tied her mark upon the deep full fringe
of the finished blanket. Never again in her life was
she to hear words that sounded so sweet to her ears
as the praise of her father and mother and the con-
gratulations of the entire tribe.

“Tt is the finest blanket ever made in our village,”