s tooth to be
the same that had belonged to her husband, the Shaman shook his head
doubtfully. Then it was handed from one to another of a number of lesser
Shamans and chiefs for inspection. Suddenly one of these dropped it to
the floor, and, when search was made, it could not be found.

Phil was furious at the impudence of this trick. Even Serge was
indignant, while Jalap Coombs said it was just what might be expected
from land sharks and pirates.

The Shaman insisted that the tooth was not lost, but had disappeared of
its own accord. If it were not the same fur-seal's tooth that belonged
to their tribe in former years, it would not be seen again. If it were,
it would appear within a few days attached to a hideously carved
representation of Hutle, the thunder-bird that stood in one of
Kloh-kutz's houses, now used as a place for incantation.

"We don't care anything about all that!" exclaimed Phil, when this was
translated to him. "Tell him he can do as he pleases with the tooth, so
long as he gives us the canoe we have bargained for."

To this the Shaman replied that they should surely have a canoe as soon
as the tooth proved its genuineness by reappearing. In the mean time, if
they were in such a hurry to get away that they did not care to wait, he
had a very fine canoe that he would let them have at once in exchange
for their guns and their dogs. "You may tell him that we will wait,"
replied Phil, grimly, "but you need not tell him what is equally true
that we shall only wait until we find a chance to help ourselves to the
best canoe and take French leave."

So they waited, though very impatiently, in Klukwan for nearly a week,
during which time Phil had ample opportunities for studying Chilkat
architecture and totem poles. The houses of the village were all built
of heavy hewn planks set on end. They had bark or plank roofs, with a
square opening in each for the egress of smoke. Many of them had glass
windows and ordinary doors; but in others the doors were placed so high
from the ground as to be reached by ladders on both outside and inside.
The great totem poles that stood before every house were ten, twenty, or
thirty feet tall, and covered with heraldic carvings from bottom to top.

During this time of waiting the Shaman made repeated offers to sell the
strangers a canoe, all of which were indignantly declined. That they did
not appropriate one to their own use was for the very simple reason that
all, exce