THE ANCIENT ONE 25

to cross the straits without mishap. Once across, I
can journey safely among the northern islands for
many days.”

With a stifled sob, Kinna turned away obediently
and plunged into the forest. After he had disappeared,
Quahl strode along another trail until he came to an
elevation from which he could look down upon his
father’s village with its long street of fine plank
houses following the curve of the beach; upon the
lines of totem and memorial poles, their bright colors
plainly visible in the sunlight; upon the fleet of long
graceful canoes drawn high upon the shingle well be-
yond the reach of the incoming tide; upon cove and
headland, sand-spit and forest. Quasset, the most fa-
mous village on the islands of the Haidas. His own
village, of which he was so proud; whose every house
and totem pole he loved!

In the front row of houses he could see the lodge
of his father, the chief, its huge totem and memorial
poles towering high above all the others. Many were
the happy days he had spent in that house; many were
the feasts and ceremonials he had witnessed there.
Before it lay the sunny beach and the sheltered cove
where every rock and driftwood snag, every pool and
sand-bar, called up pleasant memories. Beyond was
the headland where he had often climbed to sunlit
ledges and lain for hours, watching the gulls below.

These were the things he must leave behind, per-
haps forever, in order to prove himself worthy of his