there, tamanous had revealed to him, was hiaqua--hiaqua that should
make him the greatest and richest of his tribe. He looked down and saw
a hollow covered with snow, save at the centre, where a black lake lay
deep in a well of purple rock, and at one end of the lake were three
large stones or monuments. Down into the crater sprang the miser, and
the morning sunshine followed him. He found the first stone shaped like
a salmon head; the second like a kamas root, and the third, to his
great joy, was the carven image of an elk's head. This was his own
tamanous, and right joyous was he at the omen, so taking his elk-horn
pick he began to dig right sturdily at the foot of the monument. At the
sound of the very first blow he made, thirteen gigantic otters came out
of the black lake and, sitting in a circle, watched him. And at every
thirteenth blow they tapped the ground with their tails in concert The
miser heeded them not, but labored lustily for hours. At last,
overturning a thin scale of rock, he found a square cavity filled to
the brim with hiaqua.

"He was a millionaire.

"The otters retired to a respectful distance, recognizing him as a
favorite of Tamanous.

"He reveled in the treasure, exulting. Deep as he could plunge his arm,
there was still more hiaqua below. It was strung upon elk sinews, fifty
shells on a string. But he saw the noon was passed, so he prepared to
depart. He loaded himself with countless strings of hiaqua, by fifties
and hundreds, so that he could scarcely stagger along. Not a string did
he hang on the tamanous of the elk, or the salmon, or the kamas--not
one--but turned eagerly toward his long descent. At once all the otters
plunged back into the lake and began to beat the waters with their tails;