THE MAGIC ARROW 169

For a moment he hesitated, his fear of the moun-
tain spirits almost too great to be overcome. Then
the thought of his father’s delight in such great riches
gave him courage and he broke off more crystals and
thrust them into a bag he made by tying up one of
the marten skins he was wearing. When the skin was
full he broke the bowstring from his bow and tied
the bundle securely, fastening it and the precious
arrow securely to his body, so that, no matter what
happened, his valuable burden would not be lost.

Slowly, carefully, he made his way along the steep
slope that lay between the cave and the wooded ridge
beyond, slipping, sliding on the narrow trail, some-
times jumping from rock to rock like the mountain-
goats that used this rough pathway. He had almost
reached the thicket of dwarf spruces ahead, when he
heard a terrific crash high up on the ridge above, and
a sliding mass of ice and snow thundered down the
slope and past him.

Luckily for Kadonah, he was not directly in the
path of the avalanche. But a moment later he was
struck by one of the rocks that came bounding down
in the wake of the slide, and injured so badly that
he rolled helplessly into a clump of stunted trees far
down the mountainside.

It was Thaimshim himself who, fearing for the
safety of the young chief, flew frantically back and
forth until he discovered Kadonah lying in the thicket
of low cedars which had saved him from certain