LEGENDS OF VANCOUVER

   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 

ashore,” he declared, striking out once more
to the middle of the channel.

“Do you dare disobey us,” they cried—"we,
the men of the Sagalie Tyee? We can turn
you into a fish. or a tree, or a stone for this;
do you dare disobey the Great Tyee?”

“I dare anything for the cleanliness and
purity of my coming child. I dare even the
Sagalie Tyee Himself, but my child must be
born to a spotless life.”

The four men were astounded. They con-
sulted together, lighted their pipes and sat in
council. Never had they, the men of the
Sagalie Tyee, been defied before. Now, for
the sake of a little unborn child, they were
ignored, disobeyed, almost despised. The
lithe young copper-colored body still dis-
ported itself in the cool waters; superstition
held that should their canoe, or even their
paddle blades, touch a human being their
marvellous power would be lost. The hand-
some young chief swam directly in their
course. They dared not run him down; if so,
they would become as other men. While they
yet counselled what to do, there floated from
out the forest a faint, strange, compelling
sound. They listened, and the young chief
ceased his stroke as he listened also. The
faint sound drifted out across the waters once
more. It was the cry of a little, little child.

14

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