oice of thunder. His eyes were of the pale blue of the
deep waters, and his head was maned like that of a sea lion. And his
hair was yellow, like the straw of a southern harvest or the manila
rope yarns which sailormen plait.

'Of late years we had seen ships from afar, but this was the first to
come to the beach of Akatan. The feast was broken, and the women and
children fled to the houses, while we men strung our bows and waited
with spears in hand. But when the ship's forefoot smelled the beach the
strange men took no notice of us, being busy with their own work. With
the falling of the tide they careened the schooner and patched a great
hole in her bottom. So the women crept back, and the feast went on.

'When the tide rose, the sea wanderers kedged the schooner to deep
water and then came among us. They bore presents and were friendly; so
I made room for them, and out of the largeness of my heart gave them
tokens such as I gave all the guests, for it was my wedding day, and I
was head man in Akatan. And he with the mane of the sea lion was there,
so tall and strong that one looked to see the earth shake with the fall
of his feet. He looked much and straight at Unga, with his arms folded,
so, and stayed till the sun went away and the stars came out. Then he
went down to his ship. After that I took Unga by the hand and led her
to my own house. And there was singing and great laughter, and the
women said sly things, after the manner of women at such times. But we
did not care. Then the people left us alone and went home.

'The last noise had not died away when the chief of the sea wanderers
came in by the door. And he had with him black bottles, from which we
drank and made merry. You see, I was only a stripling, and had lived
all my days on the edge of the world. So my blood became as fire, and
my heart as light as the froth that flies from the surf to the cliff.
Unga sat silent among the skins in the corner, her eyes wide, for she
seemed to fear. And he with the mane of the sea lion looked upon her
straight and long. Then his men came in with bundles of goods, and he
piled before me wealth such as was not in all Akatan. There were guns,
both large and small, and powder and shot and shell, and bright axes
and knives of steel, and cunning tools, and strange things the like of
which I had never seen. When he showed me by sign that it was all mine,
I thought him a great man to be so free; but he showed me also that
Un