During all that autumn, until the very beginning of winter, there were enemies around them. They were never free from them.
Then the man whose sister had been killed up the inlet from Kloo could not get a canoe. By and by Ginᴀ′skilas[8] lent him a 5-fathom canoe without thwarts fastened in it. And he and his younger brother finished it. After they had finished it he (Ginᴀ′skilas) changed his mind [about lending it]. And Alder called out to his younger brother: “Kꜝwi′dᴀña-i,[9] cut off the cedar limbs from the canoe at once. If he says a word against it I will kill him.” He then cut them off. They took no notice of it. And he could not get a canoe.
All winter no one took a step anywhere. By and by one of them went out to sea for something, yet came back safely. They saw that spring was already beginning to come on. Then Alder and Grandson went to Skidegate to war together.
Those who remained behind felt that the earth was different. The ground shook, and the thunder rolled directly over them, and there were landslides. A woman of Those-born-at-Qꜝā′dᴀsg̣o, Woman-too-dirty-to-be-touched,[10] owned four large clam shells, duck feathers, and duck grease. She laid them (the clam shells) down and put the duck grease into them. She put duck feathers along the edges. She sat talking to them: “Be careful, your duck grease might spill.” And it stopped. She believed it was stopped by her actions.[11]
The warriors arrived at Skidegate. Then they all (those left behind) got ready to move at the same time. They had their canoes loaded and anchored at the mouth of the creek. By and by, all started off together. That day they encamped at Xō′tdjix̣oa′s.[12] That night they remained awake. Amasa′n and his family acted as sentinels.
The day after that they went off again. And, after they had moved on for a while, they camped at Sqē′ługîts. The two who had gone to fight were also away. And, after having escaped from confinement, they ate anything, having mussels and things in the woods for provisions.
Ginᴀ′skilas then went out to examine a peninsula opposite the camping place. And a woman of Those-born-at-Qꜝā′dᴀsg̣o, West-coast-clouds, and a slave also went out. And, as they went along, they met the [two returning] warriors. Two scalps hung out of the stern of the canoe. And they told her how they killed them.
“We found Skidegate empty. But still we did not go into the houses.” Then they came back [to the canoes]. They concealed their canoes at the seaward end of Skidegate. Afterward they went to look at Skidegate. They found there sixty boxes of grease, stowed away. They then broke them open with an ax. And the one whose sister’s head had been cut off, while she was still alive, in the same way cut off the heads of four youths who came after devilfishes. [[421]]
And she went along before the fighters shouting. From the place where Ginᴀ′skilas had gone to make an examination some came along. And she shouted: “Ix̣iâ′⁺! Alder and Grandson found the town of Skidegate empty. Their canoes are full.” She went toward a large canoe coming toward her, telling the news. When she came near she recognized Gᴀ′nx̣oat’s[13] canoe, named Sea-gull canoe.[14] She at once paddled the canoe around, and they escaped to land. Alder and Grandson also landed there.
And Grandson’s canoe was carried away by the wind. But before the Skidegate people arrived Kī′dja-i[15] swam over to the canoe which was drifting away. And he did not care for the canoe, but he took the two scalps and swam ashore with them. He moved backward, sitting down with the two scalps in his mouth. “Now, Gîtî′ns,[16] I am glad to meet you.”