And I remembered the gun-fighters and bad men of my own Western land,
and was not perplexed at the way of the Thlinket-folk.
“In time,” Palitlum continued, “we came to Chief Niblack and the Skoots.
It was a feast great almost as the potlatch of Ligoun. There were we of the
Chilcat, and the Sitkas, and the Stickeens who are neighbors to the Skoots,
and the Wrangels and the Hoonahs. There were Sundowns and Tahkos
from Port Houghton, and their neighbors the Awks from Douglass
Channel; the Naass River people, and the Tongas from north of Dixon,
and the Kakes who come from the island called Kupreanoff. Then there
were Siwashes from Vancouver, Cassiars from the Gold Mountains,
Teslin men, and even Sticks from the Yukon Country.
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“It was a mighty gathering. But first of all, there was to be a meeting of
the chiefs with Niblack, and a drowning of all enmities in quass. The
Russians it was who showed us the way of making quass, for so my father
told me,—my father, who got it from his father before him. But to this
quass had Niblack added many things, such as sugar, flour, dried apples,
and hops, so that it was a man’s drink, strong and good. Not so good as
‘Three Star,’ O Hair-Face, yet good.
“This quass-feast was for the chiefs, and the chiefs only, and there was a
score of them. But Ligoun being very old and very great, it was given that
I walk with him that he might lean upon my shoulder and that I might ease
him down when he took his seat and raise him up when he arose. At the
door of Niblack’s house, which was of logs and very big, each chief, as
was the custom, laid down his spear or rifle and his knife. For as thou
knowest, O Hair-Face, strong drink quickens, and old hates flame up, and
head and hand are swift to act. But I noted that Ligoun had brought two
knives, the one he left outside the door, the other slipped under his
blanket, snug to the grip. The other chiefs did likewise, and I was troubled
for what was to come.
“The chiefs were ranged, sitting, in a big circle about the room. I stood at
Ligoun’s elbow. In the middle was the barrel of quass and by it a slave to
serve the drink. First, Niblack made oration, with much show of friendship
and many fine words. Then he gave a sign, and the slave dipped a gourd
full of quass and passed it to Ligoun, as was fit, for his was the highest
rank.
“Ligoun drank it, to the last drop, and I gave him my strength to get on his
feet so that he, too, might make oration. He had kind speech for the many
tribes, noted the greatness of Niblack to give such a feast, counselled for
peace as was his custom, and at the end said that the quass was very good.
“Then Niblack drank, being next of rank to Ligoun, and after him one
chief and another in degree and order. And each spoke friendly words and
said that the quass was good, till all had drunk. Did I say all ? Nay, not all,
O Hair-Face. For last of them was one, a lean and cat-like man, young of
face, with a quick and daring eye, who drank darkly, and spat forth upon
the ground, and spoke no word.
“To not say that the quass was good were insult; to spit forth upon the
ground were worse than insult. And this very thing did he do. He was
known for a chief over the Sticks of the Yukon, and further naught was
known of him.
“As I say, it was an insult. But mark this, O Hair-Face: it was an insuit, not
to Niblack the feast-giver, but to the man chiefest of rank who sat among
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those of the circle. And that man was Ligoun. There was no sound. All
eyes were upon him to see what he might do. He made no movement. His
withered lips trembled not into speech; nor did a nostril quiver, nor an
eyelid droop. But I saw that he looked wan and gray, as I have seen old
men look of bitter mornings when famine pressed, and the women wailed
and the children whimpered, and there was no meat nor sign of meat. And
as the old men looked, so looked Ligoun.
“There was no sound. It were as a circle of the dead, but that each chief
felt beneath his blanket to make sure, and that each chief glanced to his
neighbor, right and left, with a measuring eye. I was a stripling the things I
had seen were few; yet I knew it to be the moment one meets but once in
all a lifetime.
“The Stick rose up, with every eye upon him, and crossed the room till he
stood before Ligoun.
“‘I am Opitsah, the Knife,’ he said.
“But Ligoun said naught, nor looked at him, but gazed unblinking at the
ground.
“‘You are Ligoun,’ Opitsah said. ‘You have killed many men. I am still
alive.’
“And still Ligoun said naught, though he made the sign to me and with my
strength arose and stood upright on his two feet. He was as an old pine,
naked and gray, but still a-shoulder to the frost and storm. His eyes were
unblinking, and as he had not heard Opitsah, so it seemed he did not see
him.
“And Opitsah was mad with anger, and danced stiff-legged before him, as
men do when they wish to give another shame. And Opitsah sang a song
of his own greatness and the greatness of his people, filled with bad words
for the Chilcats and for Ligoun. And as he danced and sang, Opitsah threw
off his blanket and with his knife drew bright circles before the face of
Ligoun. And the song he sang was the Song of the Knife.
“And there was no other sound, only the singing of Opitsah, and the circle
of chiefs that were as dead, save that the flash of the knife seemed to draw
smouldering fire from their eyes. And Ligoun, also, was very still. Yet did
he know his death, and was unafraid. And the knife sang closer and yet
closer to his face, but his eyes were unblinking and he swayed not to right
or left, or this way or that.
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“And Opitsah drove in the knife, so, twice on the forehead of Ligoun, and
the red blood leaped after it. And then it was that Ligoun gave me the sign
to bear up under him with my youth that he might walk. And he laughed
with a great scorn, full in the face of Opitsah, the Knife. And he brushed
Opitsah to the side, as one brushes to the side a low-hanging branch on the
trail and passes on.
“And I knew and understood, for there was but shame in the killing of
Opitsah before the faces of a score of greater chiefs. I remembered the
Law, and knew Ligoun had it in mind to kill by the Law. And who,
chiefest of rank but himself, was there but Niblack? And toward Niblack,
leaning on my arm, he walked. And to his other arm, clinging and striking,
was Opitsah, too small to soil with his blood the hands of so great a man.
And though the knife of Opitsah bit in again and again, Ligoun noted it
not, nor winced. And in this fashion we three went our way across the
room, Niblack sitting in his blanket and fearful of our coming.
“And now old hates flamed up and forgotten grudges were remembered.
Lamuk, a Kake, had had a brother drowned in the bad water of the
Stickeen, and the Stickeens had not paid in blankets for their bad water, as
was the custom to pay. So Lamuk drove straight with his long knife to the
heart of Klok-Kutz the Stickeen. And Katchahook remembered a quarrel
of the Naass River people with the Tongas of north of Dixon, and the chief
of the Tongas he slew with a pistol which made much noise. And the
blood-hunger gripped all the men who sat in the circle, and chief slew
chief, or was slain, as chance might be. Also did they stab and shoot at
Ligoun, for whoso killed him won great honor and would be unforgotten
for the deed. And they were about him like wolves about a moose, only
they were so many they were in their own way, and they slew one another
to make room. And there was great confusion.
“But Ligoun went slowly, without haste, as though many years were yet
before him. It seemed that he was certain he would make his kill, in his