THE PIPES OF VICTORY 101

sing the war-songs. If I could only find the magic
reeds! Then, perhaps, I could make music such as no
Haida but Quahl has ever heard, and my heart would
be happy.”

Just then a wood-mouse with a squeak of fright ran
into a hole beneath Kagan’s feet. The crippled lad
looked quickly down and saw a great gnarled root
rising above the hole.

“Tt is an omen,” Kagan thought instantly, noticing

the root upon which he was sitting. “See, the root is
twisted even as my leg is! It is so high above the
ground that there must once have been a hollow space
beneath it. Perhaps this is the very place where Kinna
hid the box!”

Kneeling, he pulled away the dead leaves and moss
and loam that filled the space beneath the twisted
root. His heart was beating fast as he worked; his
hands were trembling. Something told him that he
had discovered the hiding-place of the magic reeds.
And he was right! There beneath the root was the
cedar box that Quahl had made for his brother so
long ago! Within the box, which the root had pro-