There was nothing that these friends would not do for each other. So great was their friendship that each was always finding ways to surprise and please the other.
At one time the raven was absent for two whole days.
"What can he be doing?" said the owl to herself. "I know he is planning some new surprise for me."
When, on the third day, the raven returned, the owl knew from his contented looks that the present must be unusually fine.
"It is something more than a beetle or a field-mouse this time," she thought. "Now what can I do for him? He is always so kind to me!"
Then the owl began to look about for something to do for her friend the raven.
On the shore near their home tree a huge whale had once been caught and cut up by the Eskimo hunters. Some of the bones still lay upon the sandy beach.
"Oh," said the owl, as she chanced upon these whalebones, "I know the very thing which will please my dear friend the raven!
"I will make for him a pair of beautiful whalebone boots! With them he can walk over the sharp rocks and the icy cliffs in comfort and safety!"
Thereupon the owl sat down in the sand and went to work. It was not long until the boots were finished. They were beautifully smooth and slender and graceful.