Couldn't go an inch further, for
the fresh water was frozen solid. Halyards and blocks were that iced up
I didn't dare lower mainsail or jib. First I broached a pint of the
cargo raw, and then, leaving all standing, ready for the start, and with
a blanket around me, headed across the flat to the camp. No mistaking,
it was a grand layout. The Chilcats had come in a body--dogs, babies,
and canoes--to say nothing of the Dog-Ears, the Little Salmons, and the
Missions. Full half a thousand of them to celebrate Tilly's wedding, and
never a white man in a score of miles.
"Nobody took note of me, the blanket over my head and hiding my face, and
I waded knee deep through the dogs and youngsters till I was well up to
the front. The show was being pulled off in a big open place among the
trees, with great fires burning and the snow moccasin-packed as hard as
Portland cement. Next me was Tilly, beaded and scarlet-clothed galore,
and against her Chief George and his head men. The shaman was being
helped out by the big medicines from the other tribes, and it shivered my
spine up and down, the deviltries they cut.
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