Ammunition was too predous to waste, but Rolf was getting ready
to climb when Quonab said: "No, no; you must not. Once I saw
white man climb after the Kahk; it waited till he was near, then
backed down, lashing its tail. He put up his arm to save his
face. It speared his arm in fifty places and he could not save
his face, so he tried to get down, but the Kahk came faster,
lashing him; then he lost his hold and dropped. His leg was
broken and his arm was swelled up for half a year. They are very
poisonous. He nearly died."
"Well, I can at least chop him down," and Rolf took the axe.
"Wah!" Quonab said, "no; my father said you must not kill the
Kahk, except you make sacrifice and use his quills for household
work. It is bad medicine to kill the Kahk."
So the spiny one was left alone in the place he had so ably
fought for. But Skookum, what of him? He was set free at last.
To be wiser? Alas, no! before one hour he met with another
porcupine and remembering only his hate of the creature repeated
the same sad mistake, and again had to have the painful help,
without which he must certainly have died.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144