MOUNT RAINIER 



" But he troubled himself little with staring about ; 

 up he looked, for the summit was at hand. To win 

 that summit was wellnigh the attainment of his hopes, 

 if Tamanoiis were true ; and that, with the flush of 

 morning ardor upon him, he could not doubt. There, 

 in a spot Tamanoiis had revealed to him, was hiaqua, 

 hiaqua that should make him the richest and greatest 

 of all the Squallyamish. 



"The chill before sunrise was upon him as he reached 

 the last curve of the dome. Sunrise and he struck the 

 summit together. Together sunrise and he looked 

 over the glacis. They saw within a great hollow all 

 covered with the whitest of snow, save at the centre, 

 where a black lake lay deep in a well of purple rock. 



"At the eastern end of this lake was a small, irregu- 

 lar plain of snow, marked by three stones like monu- 

 ments. Towards these the miser sprang rapidly, with 

 full sunshine streaming after him over the snows. 



"The first monument he examined with keen looks. 

 It was tall as a giant man, and its top was fashioned 

 into the grotesque likeness of a salmon's head. He 

 turned from this to inspect the second. It was of 

 similar height, but bore at its apex an object in shape 

 like the regular flame of a torch. As he approached, 

 he presently discovered that this was an image of the 

 kamas-bulb in stone. These two semblances of prime 

 necessities of Indian life delayed him but an instant, 

 and he hastened on to the third monument, which stood 

 apart on a perfect level. The third stone was capped 

 by something he almost feared to behold, lest it should 

 prove other than his hopes. Every word of Tamanoiis 

 had thus far proved veritable ; but might there not be 

 a bitter deceit at the last ? The miser trembled. 



"Yes, Tamanoiis was trustworthy. The third monu- 

 ment was as the old man anticipated. It was a stone 

 elk's head, such as it appears in earliest summer, when 

 the antlers are sprouting lustily under their rough 

 jacket of velvet. 



4 8 



