inner bark of the willow-tree were woven so closely that they would hold
water, and Teddy never tired of watching her weave the gay colours in and
out, nor of seeing the wonderful patterns grow. Tahgeah would take them
to the mainland when she had enough made, and sell them to the travellers
from the States. Meantime Tah-ge-ah himself was very, very busy carving
the totem-pole for his new home, for Tanana was a chieftain's daughter,
and he, too, was of high caste, and their totem must be carved and stand
one hundred feet high beside their door, lest they be reproached.

Ted also enjoyed seeing old Kala-kash carve, for he was the finest carver
among the Indians, and it was wonderful to see him cut strange figures
out of bone, wood, horn, fish-bones, and anything his gnarled old fingers
could get hold of, and he would carve grasshoppers, bears, minnows,
whales, sea-gulls, babies, or idols. He made, too, a canoe for Ted, a
real Alaskan dugout, shaping the shell from a log and making it soft by
steam, filling the hole with water and throwing in red-hot stones. The
wood was then left to season, and Ted could hardly wait patiently until
sun and wind and rain had made his precious craft seaworthy. Then it was
painted with paint made by rubbing a certain rock over the surface of a
coarse stone and the powder mixed with oil or water.

At last it was done, a shapely thing, more beautiful in Ted's eyes than
any launch or yacht he had ever seen at home. His canoe had a carved
stern and a sharp prow which came out of the water, and which had carved
upon it a fine eagle. Kalakash had not asked Ted what his totem was, but
supposing that the American eagle on the buttons of the boy's coat was
his emblem, had carved the rampant bird upon the canoe as the boy's
totem. Ted learned to paddle and to fish, never so well as Kalitan, of
course, for he was born to it, but still he did very well, and enjoyed
it hugely.

Happily waned the summer days, and then came the time of the berry dance,
which Kalitan had spoken of so often that Ted was very anxious to see it.

The salmon-berry was fully ripe, a large and luscious berry, found in two
colours, yellow and dark red. Besides these there were other small
berries, maruskins, like the New England dewberries, huckleberries, and
whortleberries.

"We have five kinds of berries on our island," said Kalitan. "All good.
The birds, flying from the mainland, first brought the seeds, and our
berries gr