THE CEREMONIAL DRUM 181

As Yulan stared, with shivers racing up and down
his spine, the leading canoe turned in toward the
beach and the others quickly followed it through
the surf. Yulan saw many warriors leap out upon
the sand and draw the canoes far up on the shingle
exposed by the low tide; he saw them gather upon
the beach as if to talk together. Then they separated
and disappeared within the forest of tall cedars
which covered the narrow peninsula behind the head-
land and entirely encircled Quasset.

For a moment Yulan lay stunned by this terrible
thing he had seen; by his discovery of a war-party
stealing upon the village where all his people were
gathered in the guest house watching the peace cere-
mony. They would be surrounded and killed! Sud-
denly he heard the hoot of an owl, loud and clear.
The Niska chief, Klaidak, had spoken of an owl
as he was passing. This, then, must be a signal.
The warriors who had just landed were Niskas. They
were Klaidak’s men who had come to attack the vil-
lage when the Haidas were off their guard, not sus-
pecting treachery on the part of those who shared
in the ceremonies of the sacred swansdown. Not
within the memory of man had such a thing occurred!
“When the feast is over,’ Klaidak had said. That,
then, was the time set for the attack.

Tum, tum, tumpety-tum! The dance was still go-
ing on. The feast had not yet started. Yulan had time
to warn his people. He stared across the cove, toward