THE TALKING DOLL 229

rapid, and none of our enemies dared to pass that
way. During all those years of prosperity the famous
Talking Doll was the secret magic of my family,
handed down from father to son since those days
of Thaimshim, long ago. Because of this, I, who
am now a slave, know the magic that made it pos-
sible for the Talking Doll to utter those strange baby
sounds. I alone, O Chief, can make you another
doll that shall look and talk exactly like the one
destroyed; one that shall bear within its body this
piece of charred wood—all that is leit of Thaimshim’s
doll—so that the new one shall also possess the
magic that has long been sacred in our tribe. This
will I do, O Chief, if you will purchase Oala and
me and take us to the islands of the Haidas where
all the people are happy, they say—even the slaves.”

It happened that the Haida chief was wise and
just, and he respected loyalty and courage wher-
ever he saw it, even in a slave. In his heart, he
knew that he had done wrong to think of separat-
ing the twins, for twins above all others were favored
and protected by the supernatural ones. Moreover,
these twins were not ordinary slaves; they were the
children of a great chief.

While the chief pondered, there was deep silence
inside the drafty dwelling. The cedar matting flapped
and rattled in the wind, and swirling smoke clouds
blew back down through the smoke hole and drifted
slowly around the room. Beside the fire, Oala stood