And Blackskin lay in bed and listened. Next, the chief found he was able to twist the other tree, and they shouted again, and the chief felt very proud and thought himself a great man. By and bye they came again to Blackskin and laid hold of his feet to drag him from his bed, laughing and saying as they did so:
'Your chief has pulled out that branch and twisted that tree. Why couldn't you?'
'To-morrow we will hunt the sea-lions,' said the young men to each other. And one of them added:
'I wonder which part of the canoe that great strong Blackskin will sleep in.'
'Why, in the bow, of course,' answered a boy, 'then he can land first and tear the sea-lions in two before any of us,' and they all laughed again. But Blackskin, though he heard, took no notice, as was his custom.
All that day the people visited the tree to look at the branch which the chief had pulled out, and in choosing the strongest men among them who had bathed with him in the sea, to hunt the sea-lions. The store of meat they had in the town was nearly exhausted, and it was time they collected more; but the island on which the animals lived was very slippery, and it was not easy for the men to climb over the rocks.
That night Blackskin took one more bath and then he went to his uncle's wife, who never made fun of him like the rest, and said:
'Will you give me a clean shirt and something for my hair?'
'Have you been bidden to the hunt?' asked the wife, and Blackskin made reply: