246 THE BIG CANOE

it seemed to her that the loss of the young chief and
the severity of her punishment were more than she
could bear.

Then one day, just before they left the Nass, Bidal
came bearing a message. There was a smile on her
lips and her eyes were shining with pleasure.

“T have a message from the young chief, O Prin-
cess!”’ she began eagerly. “A short while ago a slave
came along the beaches from the Haida encampment
and spoke to one of the slaves left in payment for
your blanket. As soon as he had departed, this one
came to me with a message from the young chief.
‘Tell the Princess,’ he said, ‘that, through the negli-
gence of one of my slaves, her beautiful blanket was
burned the night I purchased it. Because of this, I
am filled with sorrow and I can be comforted only
by another blanket woven by her hand. Tell her that
I shall come to purchase this other one next spring at
olachen time.”

At this Kali’s heart sang. Once again the sun shone
brightly upon the waters; once again she heard the
birds singing gaily in the trees and saw the beauty
in all things. The blanket was burned! She was sure
the young chief had destroyed it purposely, so that
no one else should look upon it and witness her shame.
Wise and kind above all others was this young chief.
Best of all, he had sent word that he would wait until
the following spring for another blanket worthy to
be shown to his tribe.