o ruffles,
Ever widening in a circle
Where the fishes leaped the surface.

Fishermen with song and laughter,
Waved farewell to wives and children,
Paddled off into the silence;
Then, without a sign of warning,
Gales arose and lashed the harbor
Till the waters writhed and tumbled,
Wave on wave, in thundering tumult;
And the Sea King, in his anger,
Dashed the boats, o'erturned and empty,
High upon the rocky seashore
At the feet of wailing women.

Queen Ah-we-a of the Fishers
Mourned the sorrows of her people;
Comforted the weeping widows;
Cared for all the little orphans.
Little wonder that her subjects
Loved the gentle Queen Ah-we-a.

Long the Queen in silence pondered
On the perils of her people.
Long she stood upon the headland
Where the wind-distorted cedars
Cling upon the rocky hillside.
Long she prayed to the Great Spirit
For his guidance and protection.
Long she prayed and watched and waited
Till the moon came up and silvered
All the sea, and cast the shadows
Of the cedars, weird and lonely.

From the harbor came the night winds
Robed in tinsel veils of vapors,
And they whispered in the branches
Of the cedar trees above her--
Whispered of the King, their master,
Whispered terms for ceasing warfare.

Ah-we-a heard the hard conditions,
Bowed her head as in submission.
On her face the resolution
For a sacrifice was graven--
For a sacrifice so noble
That the Spirit in the Heavens
Smiled and promised, in her absence,
To protect her Fisher people.

Morning dawned, with vapors brooding
On the silent glassy waters.
Queen Ah-we-a called her people
To the sandy shore, and standing
In her light canoe of deer skin,
Told them of her nightlong vigil.
'Now I go,' she said in parting,
'To the great boat of the Sea King,
There to plead that storms be banished,
Banished from our bay forever.
The Great Spirit will protect you
Till I come again to lead you.'
Then her paddle dipped the water,
And her light canoe of deer skin
Went into the fog and faded,
Faded to a shadow outline,
Then was gone into the silence.

Long and watchfully the people
Waited for the Queen Ah-we-a.
Then a great fea