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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3774-h.zip b/3774-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3fc90aa --- /dev/null +++ b/3774-h.zip diff --git a/3774-h/3774-h.htm b/3774-h/3774-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5dd4619 --- /dev/null +++ b/3774-h/3774-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4795 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Eskimo Twins + +Author: Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Posting Date: March 10, 2009 [EBook #3774] +Release Date: February, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESKIMO TWINS *** + + + + +Produced by Lynn Hill. Dedicated to Miriam Kilmer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE ESKIMO TWINS +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Lucy Fitch Perkins +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" COLSPAN="2"> +<A HREF="#intro">INTRODUCTION—THE ESKIMO TWINS</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE TWINS GO COASTING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE TWINS GO FISHING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE SNOW HOUSE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE FEAST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE REINDEER HUNT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE WOMAN-BOATS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE VOYAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE SUMMER DAY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" COLSPAN="2"> +<A HREF="#suggest">SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS</A> +</TD> +</TR> +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="intro"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE ESKIMO TWINS +</H1> + +<BR> + +<P> +This is the true story of Menie and Monnie and their two little dogs, +Nip and Tup. +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie are twins, and they live far away in the North, near +the very edge. +</P> + +<P> +They are five years old. +</P> + +<P> +Menie is the boy, and Monnie is the girl. But you cannot tell which is +Menie and which is Monnie,—not even if you look ever so hard at their +pictures! +</P> + +<P> +That is because they dress alike. +</P> + +<P> +When they are a little way off even their own mother can't always tell. +And if she can't, who can? +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes the twins almost get mixed up about it themselves. And then +it is very hard to know which is Nip and which is Tup, because the +little dogs are twins too. +</P> + +<P> +Nobody was surprised that the little dogs were twins, because dogs +often are. +</P> + +<P> +But everybody in the whole village where Menie and Monnie live was +simply astonished to see twin babies! +</P> + +<P> +They had never known of any before in their whole lives. +</P> + +<P> +Old Akla, the Angakok, or Medicine Man of the village, shook his head +when he heard about them. He said, "Such a thing never happened here +before. Seals and human beings never have twins! There's magic in this." +</P> + +<P> +The name of the twins' father was Kesshoo. If you say it fast it sounds +just like a sneeze. +</P> + +<P> +Their mother's name was Koolee. Kesshoo and Koolee, and Menie and +Monnie, and Nip and Tup, all live together in the cold Arctic winter in +a little stone hut, called an "igloo." +</P> + +<P> +In the summer they live in a tent, which they call a "tupik." The +winters are very long and cold, and what do you think! They have one +night there that is four whole months long! +</P> + +<P> +For four long months, while we are having Thanksgiving, and Christmas, +and even Lincoln's Birthday, the twins never once see the sun! +</P> + +<P> +But at last one day in early spring the sun comes up again out of the +sea, looks at the world for a little while, and then goes out of sight +again. Each day he stays for a longer time until after a while he +doesn't go out of sight at all! +</P> + +<P> +Then there are four long months of daylight when there is never any +bedtime. Menie and Monnie just go to sleep whenever they feel sleepy. +</P> + +<P> +Although many Eskimos think twins bring bad luck, Kesshoo and Koolee +were very glad to have two babies. +</P> + +<P> +They would have liked it better still if Monnie had been a boy, too, +because boys grow up to hunt and fish and help get food for the family. +</P> + +<P> +But Kesshoo was the best hunter and the best kyak man in the whole +village. So he said to Koolee, "I suppose there must be girls in the +world. It is no worse for us than for others." +</P> + +<P> +So because Kesshoo was a brave fisherman and strong hunter, and because +Koolee was clever in making clothing and shoes out of the skins of the +animals which he brought home, the twins had the very best time that +little Eskimo children can have. +</P> + +<P> +And that is quite a good time, as you will see if you read all about it +in this book. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I. THE TWINS GO COASTING +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWINS GO COASTING +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +One spring morning, very early, while the moon still shone and every +one else in the village was asleep, Menie and Monnie crept out of the +dark entrance of their little stone house by the sea. +</P> + +<P> +The entrance to their little stone house was long and low like a +tunnel. The Twins were short and fat. But even if they were short they +could not stand up straight in the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +So they crawled out on all fours. Nip and Tup came with them. Nip and +Tup were on all fours, too, but they had run that way all their lives, +so they could go much faster than the twins. They got out first. +</P> + +<P> +Then they ran round in circles in the snow and barked at the moon. When +Menie and Monnie came out of the hole, Tup jumped up to lick Monnie's +face. He bumped her so hard that she fell right into the snowbank by +the entrance. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie didn't mind a bit. She just put her two fat arms around Tup, and +they rolled over together in the snow. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie had on her fur suit, with fur hood and mittens, and it was hard +to tell which was Monnie and which was Tup as they tumbled in the snow +together. +</P> + +<P> +Pretty soon Monnie picked herself up and shook off the snow. Then Tup +shook himself, too. Menie was rolling over and over down the slope in +front of the little stone house. His head was between his knees and his +hands held his ankles, so he rolled just like a ball. +</P> + +<P> +Nip was running round and round him and barking with all his might. +They made strange shadows on the snow in the moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie called to Menie. Menie straightened himself out at the bottom of +the slope, picked himself up and ran back to her. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we play?" said Monnie. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's get Koko, and go to the Big Rock and slide downhill," said Menie. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Monnie. "You run and get your sled." +</P> + +<P> +Menie had a little sled which his father had made for him out of +driftwood. No other boy in the village had one. Menie's father had +searched the beach for many miles to find driftwood to make this sled. +</P> + +<P> +The Eskimos have no wood but driftwood, and it is so precious that it +is hardly ever used for anything but big dog sledges or spears, or +other things which the men must have. +</P> + +<P> +Most of the boys had sleds cut from blocks of ice. Menie's sled was +behind the igloo. He ran to get it, and then the twins and the +pups—all four—started for Koko's house. +</P> + +<P> +Koko's house was clear at the other end of the village. But that was +not far away, for there were only five igloos in the whole town. +</P> + +<P> +First there was the igloo where the twins lived. Next was the home of +Akla, the Angakok, and his two wives. Then there were two igloos where +several families lived together. Last of all was the one where Koko and +his father and mother and baby brother lived. +</P> + +<P> +Koko was six. He was the twins' best friend. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +The air was very still. There was not a sound anywhere except the +barking of the pups, the voices of Menie and Monnie, and the creaking +sound of the snow under their feet as they ran. +</P> + +<P> +The round moon was sailing through the deep blue sky and shining so +bright it seemed almost as light as day. +</P> + +<P> +There was one window in each igloo right over the tunnel entrance, and +these windows shone with a dull yellow light. +</P> + +<P> +In front of the village lay the sea. It was covered with ice far out +from shore. Beyond the ice was the dark water out of which the sun +would rise by and by. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing else to be seen in all the twins' world. There were +no trees, no bushes even; nothing but the white earth, the shadows of +the rocks and the snow-covered igloos, the bright windows, and the moon +shining over all. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie soon reached Koko's igloo. Menie and Nip got there +first. Monnie came puffing along with Tup just a moment after. +</P> + +<P> +Then the twins dropped on their hands and knees in front of Koko's hut, +and stuck their heads into the tunnel. Nip and Tup stuck their heads +in, too. +</P> + +<P> +They all four listened. There was not a sound to be heard except loud +snores! The snores came rattling through the tunnel with such a +frightful noise that the twins were almost scared. +</P> + +<P> +"They sleep out loud, don't they?" whispered Monnie. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's wake them up," Menie whispered back. +</P> + +<P> +Then the twins began to bark. "Ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi," just like +little dogs! +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup began to yelp, too. The snores and the yelps met in the +middle of the tunnel and the two together made such a dreadful sound +that Koko woke up at once. When he heard four barks he knew right away +that it must be the twins and the little dogs. +</P> + +<P> +So he stuck his head into the other end of the tunnel and called, "Keep +still. You'll wake the baby! I'll be there in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +Very soon Koko popped out of the black hole. He was dressed in a fur +suit and mittens just like the twins. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +IV. +</H4> + +<P> +The three children went along together toward the Big Rock. Monnie rode +on the sled, and Menie and Koko pulled it. The Big Rock was very +straight up and down on one side, and long and slanting on the other. +The twins were going to coast down the slanting side. +</P> + +<P> +They climbed to the top, and Menie had the first ride. He coasted down +on his stomach with his little reindeer-skin kamiks (shoes) waving in +the air. +</P> + +<P> +Next Koko had a turn. What do you think he did? He stood straight up on +the sled with the leather cord in his hand, and slid down that way! But +then, you see, he was six. +</P> + +<P> +When Monnie's turn came she wanted to go down that way, too. But Menie +said, "No. You'd fall off and bump your nose! You have hardly any nose +as it is, and you'd better save it!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have as much nose as you have, anyway," said Monnie. +</P> + +<P> +"Mine is bigger! I'm a boy!" said Menie. +</P> + +<P> +Koko measured their noses with his finger. +</P> + +<P> +"They are just exactly alike," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie turned hers up at Menie and said, "What did I tell you?" +</P> + +<P> +Menie never said another word about noses. He just changed the subject. +He said, "Let's all slide down at once." +</P> + +<P> +Koko and Menie sat down on the sled. Monnie sat on Menie. Then they +gave a few hitches to the sled and off they went. +</P> + +<P> +Whiz! How they flew! +</P> + +<P> +The pups came running after them. In some places where it was very +slippery the pups coasted, too! But they did not mean to. They did not +like it. The sled was almost at the end of the slide when it struck a +piece of ice. It flew around sideways and spilled all the children in +the snow. +</P> + +<P> +Just then Nip and Tup came sliding along behind them. They couldn't +stop, so there they all were in a heap together, with the dogs on top! +</P> + +<P> +Menie rolled over and sat up in the snow. He was holding on to the end +of his nose. "Iyi, iyi!" he howled, "I bumped my nose on a piece of +ice!" +</P> + +<P> +Monnie sat up in the snow, too. She pointed her fur mitten at Menie's +nose and laughed. "Don't you know you haven't much nose?" she said. +"You ought to be more careful of it!" +</P> + +<P> +Koko kicked his feet in the air and laughed at Menie, and the little +dogs barked. Menie thought he'd better laugh, too. He had just let go +of his nose to begin when all of a sudden the little dogs stopped +barking and stood very still! +</P> + +<P> +Their hair stood up on their necks and they began to growl! +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, the dogs see something," said Menie. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie and Koko stopped laughing and listened. They could not hear +anything. They could not see anything. Still Nip and Tup growled. The +twins and Koko were children of brave hunters, so, although they were +scared, they crept very quietly to the side of the Big Rock and peeped +over. +</P> + +<P> +Just that minute there was a dreadful growl! "Woof!" It was very loud, +and very near, and down on the beach a shadow was moving! It was the +shadow of a great white BEAR! +</P> + +<P> +He was looking for fish and was cross because everything was frozen, +and he could not find any on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +The moment they saw him, the twins and Koko turned and ran for home as +fast as ever their short legs could go! They did not even stop to get +the precious sled. They just ran and ran. +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup ran, too, with their ears back and their little tails stuck +straight out behind them! +</P> + +<P> +If they had looked back, they would have seen the bear stand up on his +hind legs and look after them, then get down on all fours and start +toward the Big Rock on a run. +</P> + +<P> +But neither the children nor the little dogs looked back! They just ran +with all their might until they reached the twins' igloo. Then they all +dived into the tunnel like frightened rabbits. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +V. +</H4> + +<P> +When they came up in the one little room of the igloo at the other end +of the tunnel Kesshoo and Koolee were just crawling out of the warm fur +covers of their bed. Menie and Monnie and Koko and the little dogs all +began to talk at once. +</P> + +<P> +The moment the twins' father and mother heard the word—bear—they +jumped off the sleeping-bench and began to put on their clothes. +</P> + +<P> +They both wore fur trousers and long kamiks, with coats of fur, so they +looked almost as much alike in their clothes as the twins did in theirs. +</P> + +<P> +The mother always wore her hair in a topknot on top of her head, tied +with a leather thong. But now she wanted to make the bear think she was +a man, too, so she pulled it down and let it hang about her face, just +as her husband did. +</P> + +<P> +In two minutes they were ready. Then the father reached for his lance, +the mother took her knife, and they all crawled out of the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +The father went first, then the mother, then the three children and the +pups. At the opening of the tunnel the father stopped, and looked all +around to see if the bear were near. +</P> + +<P> +The dogs in the village knew by this time that some strange animal was +about, and the moment Kesshoo came out into the moonlight and started +for the Big Rock, all the dogs ran, too, howling like a pack of wolves. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo shouted back to his wife, "There really is a bear! I see him by +the Big Rock; call the others." +</P> + +<P> +So she sent Monnie into the igloo of the Angakok, and Menie and Koko +into the next huts. She herself screamed, "A bear! A bear!" into the +tunnel of Koko's hut. +</P> + +<P> +The people in the houses had heard the dogs bark and were already +awake. Soon they came pouring out of their tunnels armed with knives +and lances. The women had all let down their hair, just as the twins' +mother did. Each one carried her knife. +</P> + +<P> +They all ran toward the Big Rock, too. Far ahead they could see the +bear, and the dogs bounding along, and Kesshoo running with his lance +in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +Then they saw the dogs spring upon the bear. The bear stood up on his +hind legs and tried to catch the dogs and crush them in his arms. But +the dogs were too nimble. The bear could not catch them. +</P> + +<P> +When Kesshoo came near, the bear gave a great roar, and started for +him. The brave Kesshoo stood still with his lance in his hand, until +the bear got quite near. Then he ran at the bear and plunged the lance +into his side. The lance pierced the bear's heart. He groaned, fell to +the ground, rolled over, and was still. +</P> + +<P> +Then how everybody ran! Koko's mother had her baby in her hood, where +Eskimo mothers always carry their babies. She could not run so fast as +the others. The Angakok was fat, so he could not keep up, but he +waddled along as fast as he could. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry, hurry," he called to his wives. "Bespeak one of his hind legs +for me." +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie and Koko had such short legs they could not go very +fast either, so they ran along with the Angakok, and Koko's mother, and +Nip and Tup. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the bear they found all the other people crowded +around it. Each one stuck his fingers in the bear's blood and then +sucked his fingers. This was because they wanted all bears to know how +they longed to kill them. As each one tasted the blood he called out +the part of the bear he would like to have. +</P> + +<P> +The wives of the Angakok cried, "Give a hind leg to the Angakok." +</P> + +<P> +"The kidneys for Koko," cried Koko's mother when she stuck in her +finger. "That will make him a great bear-hunter when he is big." +</P> + +<P> +"And I will have the skin for the twins' bed," said their mother. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo promised each one the part he asked for. An Eskimo never keeps +the game he kills for himself alone. Every one in the village has a +share. +</P> + +<P> +The bear was very large. He was so large that though all the women +pulled together they could not drag the body back to the village. The +men laughed at them, but they did not help them. +</P> + +<P> +So Koolee ran back for their sledge and harnesses for the dogs. Koko +and Menie helped her catch the dogs and hitch them to the sledge. +</P> + +<P> +It took some time to catch them for the dogs did not want to work. They +all ran away, and Tooky, the leader of the team, pretended to be sick! +Tooky was the mother of Nip and Tup, and she was a very clever dog. +While Koolee and Koko and Menie were getting the sledge and dog-team +ready, the rest of the women set to work with their queer crooked +knives to take off the bear's skin. The moon set, and the sky was red +with the colors of the dawn before this was done. +</P> + +<P> +At last the meat was cut in pieces and Kesshoo and Koko's father held +the dogs while the women heaped it on the sledge. The dogs wanted the +meat. They jumped and howled and tried to get away. +</P> + +<P> +When everything was ready, Koolee cracked the whip at the dogs. Tooky +ran ahead to her place as leader, the other dogs began to pull, and the +whole procession started back to the village, leaving a great red stain +on the clean white snow where the bear had been killed. +</P> + +<P> +Last of all came the twins and Koko. They had loaded the bear's skin on +Menie's sled. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a woman's work to pull the meat home. We men just do the hunting +and fishing," Menie said to Koko. They had heard the men say that. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we found the bear," Koko answered. "Monnie can pull the skin +home." +</P> + +<P> +And though Monnie had found the bear just as much as they had, she +didn't say a word. She just pulled away on the sled, and they all +reached the igloo together just as the round red sun came up out of the +sea, and threw long blue shadows far across the fields of snow. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II. KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +The first thing that was done after they got the sledge back to the +village was to feed the dogs. The dogs were very hungry; they had +smelled the fresh meat for a long time without so much as a bite of it, +and they had had nothing to eat for two whole days. They jumped about +and howled again and got their harnesses dreadfully tangled. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo unharnessed them and gave them some bones, and while they were +crunching them and quarreling among themselves, Koolee crawled into the +igloo and brought out a bowl. The bowl was made of a hollowed-out +stone, and it had water in it. +</P> + +<P> +"This is for a charm," said Koolee. "If you each take a sip of water +from this bowl my son will always have good luck in spying bears!" +</P> + +<P> +She passed the bowl around, and each person took a sip of the water. +When Menie's turn came he took a big, big mouthful, because he wanted +to be very brave, indeed, and find a bear every week. But he was in too +much of a hurry. The water went down his "Sunday-throat" and choked +him! He coughed and strangled and his face grew red. Koolee thumped him +on the back. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a poor beginning for a great bear-hunter," she said. +</P> + +<P> +Everybody laughed at Menie. Menie hated to be laughed at. He went away +and found Nip and Tup. They wouldn't laugh at him, he knew. He thought +he liked dogs better than people anyway. +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup were trying to get their noses into the circle with the +other dogs, but the big dogs snapped at them and drove them away, so +Menie got some scraps and fed them. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Koolee stood by the sledge and divided the meat among her +neighbors. First she gave one of the hind legs to the wives of the +Angakok, because he always had to have the best of everything. She gave +the kidneys to Koko's mother. To each one she gave just the part she +had asked for. When each woman had been given her share, Kesshoo took +what was left and put it on the storehouse. +</P> + +<P> +The storehouse wasn't really a house at all. It was just a great stone +platform standing up on legs, like a giant's table. The meat was placed +on the top of it, so the dogs could not reach it, no matter how high +they jumped. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +When the rest of the meat was taken care of, Koolee took the bear's +head and carried it into the igloo. +</P> + +<P> +All the people followed her. Then Koolee did a queer thing. She placed +the head on a bench, with the nose pointing toward the Big Rock, +because the bear had come from that direction. Then she stopped up the +nostrils with moss and grease. She greased the bear's mouth, too. +</P> + +<P> +"Bears like grease," she said. "And if I stop up his nose like that +bears will never be able to smell anything. Then the hunters can get +near and kill them before they know it." You see Koolee was a great +believer in signs and in magic. All the other people were too. +</P> + +<P> +She called to the twins, "Come here, Menie and Monnie." +</P> + +<P> +The twins had come in with the others, but they were so short they were +out of sight in the crowd. They crawled under the elbows of the grown +people and stood beside Koolee. +</P> + +<P> +"Look, children," she said to them, "your grandfather, who is dead, +sent you this bear. He wants you to send him something. In five days +the bear's spirit will go to the land where your grandfather's spirit +lives. What would you like to have the bear's spirit take to your +grandfather for a gift?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send him the little fish that father carved for me out of bone," +said Menie. He squirmed through the crowd and got it from a corner of +his bed and brought it to his mother. She put it on the bear's head. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie gave her a leather string with a lucky stone tied to it. Koolee +put that on the bear's head too. +</P> + +<P> +Then she said, "There! In five days' time the bear's spirit will give +the shadows of these things to your grandfather. Then we can eat the +head, but not until we are sure the bear's spirit has reached the home +of the Dead." +</P> + +<P> +"That is well," the Angakok said to the twins, when Koolee had +finished. "Your grandfather will be pleased with your presents, I know. +Your grandfather was a just man. I knew him well. He always paid great +respect to me. Whenever he brought a bear home he gave me not only a +hind leg, but the liver as well! I should not be surprised if he sent +the bear this way, knowing how fond I am of bear's liver." +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok placed his hand on his stomach and rolled up his eyes. "But +times are not what they once were," he went on. "People care now only +for their own stomachs! They would rather have the liver themselves +than give it to the Angakok! They will be sorry when it is too late." +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head and heaved a great sigh. Koolee looked at Kesshoo. +She was very anxious. Kesshoo went out at once to the storehouse. He +climbed to the top and got the liver. +</P> + +<P> +By this time all the people had crawled out of the igloo again, and +were ready to carry home their meat. Kesshoo ran to the Angakok and +gave him the bear's liver. The Angakok handed it to one of his wives to +carry. The other one already had the bear's leg. He said to Kesshoo, +"You are a just man, like your father. I know the secrets of the sun, +moon, and stars. You know your duty! You shall have your reward." He +looked very solemn and waddled away toward his igloo with the two wives +behind him carrying the meat. All the rest of the people followed after +him and went into their own igloos. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III. THE TWINS GO FISHING +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWINS GO FISHING +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<P> +When the people had all gone away, Menie and Monnie sat down on the +side of the sledge. Nip and Tup were busy burying bones in the snow. +The other dogs had eaten all they wanted to and were now lying down +asleep in the sun, with their noses on their paws. +</P> + +<P> +Everything was still and cold. It was so still you could almost hear +the silence, and so bright that the twins had to squint their eyes. In +the air there was a faint smell of cooking meat. +</P> + +<P> +Menie sniffed. "I'm so hungry I could eat my boots," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"There are better things to eat than boots," Monnie answered. "What +would you like best of everything in the world if you could have it?" +</P> + +<P> +"A nice piece of blubber from a walrus or some reindeer tallow," said +Menie. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," Monnie cried. "That isn't half as good as reindeer's stomach, +or fishes' eyes! Um-m how I love fishes' eyes! I tell you, Menie, let's +get something to eat and then go fishing, before the sun goes down!" +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Menie. "Let's see if Mother won't give us a piece of +bear's fat! That is almost as good as blubber or fishes' eyes." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +They dived into the igloo. Their mother was standing beside the oil +lamp, putting strands of dried moss into the oil. This lamp was their +only stove and their only light. It didn't look much like our stoves. +It was just a piece of soapstone, shaped something like a clamshell. It +was hollowed out so it would hold the oil. All along the shallow side +of the pan there were little tendrils of dried moss, like threads. +These were the wicks. +</P> + +<P> +Over the fire pan there was a rack, and from the rack a stone pan hung +down over the lamp flame. It was tied by leather thongs to the rack. In +the pan a piece of bear's meat was simmering. The fire was not big +enough to cook it very well, but there was a little steam rising from +it, and it made a very good smell for hungry noses. +</P> + +<P> +"We're hungry enough to eat our boots," Menie said to his mother. +</P> + +<P> +"You must never eat your boots; you have but one pair!" his mother +answered. She pinched Menie's cheek and laughed at him. +</P> + +<P> +Then she cut two chunks of fat from a piece of bear's meat which lay on +the bench. She gave one to each of the twins. "Eat this, and soon you +can have some cooked meat," she said. "It isn't quite done yet." +</P> + +<P> +"We don't want to wait for the cooked meat," cried Monnie. "We want to +go fishing before the sun is gone. Give us more fat and we'll eat it +outside." +</P> + +<P> +"You may go fishing if your father will go with you and cut holes for +you in the ice," said her mother. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee cut off two more pieces of fat. The twins took a piece in each +hand. Then their mother reached down their own little fishing rods, +which were stuck in the walls of the igloo. The twins had bear's meat +in both hands. They didn't see how they could manage the fishing rods +too. +</P> + +<P> +But Menie thought of a way. "I'll show you how," he said to Monnie. He +held one chunk of meat in his teeth! In his left hand he held the +fishing rod, in his right he carried the other piece of meat! +</P> + +<P> +Monnie did exactly what Menie did, and then they crawled down into the +tunnel. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +The twins had some trouble getting out of the tunnel because both their +hands were full. And besides the fishing rods kept getting between +their legs. When they got outside they both took great bites of the +bear's fat. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo was hanging the dogs' harnesses up on a tall pole, where the +dogs could not get them. The pole was eight feet long, and it was made +of the tusk of a narwhal. The harnesses were made of walrus thongs and +the dogs would eat them if they had a chance. That was the reason +Kesshoo hung them out of reach. The twins ran to their father at once. +They began to tell him that they wanted to go fishing right away before +the sun went down but their mouths were so full they couldn't get the +words out! +</P> + +<P> +"Mm-m-m-m," Menie began, chewing with all his might! +</P> + +<P> +Then Monnie did a shocking thing! She swallowed her meat whole, she was +in such hurry! It made a great lump going down her throat! It almost +choked her. But she shut her eyes, jerked her head forward, and got it +down! +</P> + +<P> +"Will you make two holes in the ice for us to fish through?" she said. +She got the words out first! Then she took another bite of meat. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you got your lines ready, and anything for bait?" asked their +father. +</P> + +<P> +By this time Menie had swallowed his mouthful too. He said, "We can +take a piece of bear's meat for bait. The lines and hooks are ready." +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo looked at the lines. The rods were very short. They were made +of driftwood with a piece of bone bound to the end by tough thongs. +</P> + +<P> +There was a hole in the end of the bone, and through this hole the line +was threaded. The line was made of braided reindeer thongs. On the end +of the line was a hook carved out of bone. +</P> + +<P> +"Your lines are all right," said Kesshoo. "Come along." +</P> + +<P> +He led the way down to the beach. The twins came tumbling after him, +and I am sorry to tell you they gobbled their meat all the way! After +the twins came Nip and Tup. The ice was very thick. Kesshoo and the +twins and the pups walked out on it quite a distance from the shore. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo cut two round holes in the ice. One was for Menie and one for +Monnie. The holes were not big enough for them to fall into. +</P> + +<P> +By this time the twins had eaten all their meat except some small +pieces which they saved for bait. They each put a piece of meat on the +hook. Then they squatted down on their heels and dropped the hooks into +the holes. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo went back to the village, and left them there. "Don't stay out +too long," he called back to them. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +IV. +</H4> + +<P> +The twins sat perfectly still for a long time. Nip sat beside Menie, +and Tup sat beside Monnie. It grew colder and colder. The sun began to +drop down toward the sea again. At last it rested like a great round +red wheel right on the Edge of the World! +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, slowly it sank until only a little bit of the red rim showed; +then that too was gone. Great splashes of red color came up in the sky +over the place where it had been. +</P> + +<P> +Still the twins sat patiently by their holes. It grew darker and +darker. The colors faded. The stars began to twinkle, but the twins did +not move. Nip and Tup ran races on the ice, and rolled over each other +and barked. +</P> + +<P> +At last—all of a sudden—there was a fearful jerk on Monnie's line! It +took her by surprise. The little rod flew right out of her hands! +Monnie flung herself on her stomach on the ice and caught the rod just +as it was going down the hole! She held on hard and pulled like +everything. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe I've caught a whale," she panted. +</P> + +<P> +But she never let go! She got herself right side up on the ice, +somehow, and pulled and pulled on her line. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me pull him in!" cried Menie. He tried to take her rod. +</P> + +<P> +"Get away," screamed Monnie. "I'll pull in my own fish." +</P> + +<P> +Menie danced up and down with excitement, still holding his own rod. +The pups danced and barked too. Monnie never looked at any of them. She +kept her eyes fixed on the hole and pulled. +</P> + +<P> +At last she shrieked, "I've got him, I've got him!" And up through the +hole came a great big codfish! +</P> + +<P> +My! how he did flop around on the ice! Nip and Tup were scared. They +ran for home at the first flop. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go home now," said Monnie. "I want to show my fine big fish to +Mother." +</P> + +<P> +But Menie said, "Wait a little longer till I catch one! I'll give you +one eye out of my fish if you will." +</P> + +<P> +Monnie waited. She put another piece of meat on her hook and dropped it +again into the hole. After a while she said, "You can keep your old eye +if you get it. It's so dark the fish can't see to get themselves caught +anyway. I'm cold. I'm going home." +</P> + +<P> +Menie got up very slowly and pulled up his line. +</P> + +<P> +As they turned toward the shore, Monnie cried out, "Look, look! The sky +is on fire!" It looked like it, truly! +</P> + +<P> +Great white streamers were flashing from the Edge of the World, clear +up into the sky! They danced like flames. Sometimes they shot long +banners of blue or green fire up to the very stars. Overhead the sky +shone red as blood. The stars seemed blotted out. +</P> + +<P> +The twins had seen many wonderful things in the sky, but never such +color as this. Their eyes grew as round and big and popping as those of +Monnie's codfish, while they watched the long banners join themselves +into a great waving curtain of color that hung clear across the heavens. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it? Oh, what is it?" they gasped. They were too astonished to +move, and they were a good deal frightened, too. They never knew the +sky could act like that. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie felt her black hair rise under her little fur hood. She seized +Menie's coat. "Do you suppose the world is going to be burned up?" she +said. +</P> + +<P> +Just then they heard a voice calling, "Menie, Monnie, where are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here we are," they answered. Their teeth were chattering with cold and +fright, and they ran up the slope and flung themselves into their +mother's arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mother, what is the matter with the sky?" they gasped. +</P> + +<P> +Then Koolee looked up too. The long streamers were still flinging +themselves up toward the red dome overhead. +</P> + +<P> +We call this the "aurora," or "northern lights," and know that +electricity causes it, but the twins' mother couldn't know that. She +told them just what had been told her when she was a little girl. +</P> + +<P> +She said, "That is the dance of the Spirits of the Dead! Haven't you +ever seen it before?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not like this," said the twins. "This is so big, and so red!" +</P> + +<P> +"The sky is not often so bright," said Koolee. "Some say it is the +spirits of little children dancing and playing together in the sky! +They will not hurt you. You need not be afraid. See how they dance in a +ring all around the Edge of the World! They look as if they were having +fun." +</P> + +<P> +"It goes around the Edge of the World just like the flames around our +lamp," said Menie. "Maybe it's the Giants' lamp!" +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie believed in Giants. So did their mother. They thought +the Giants lived in the middle of the Great White World, where the snow +never melts. +</P> + +<P> +The thought of the Giants scared them all. The twins gave the fish to +their mother, and then they all three scuttled up the snowy slope +toward the bright window of their igloo just as fast as they could go. +When they got inside they found some hot bear's meat waiting for them, +and Monnie had both the eyes from her fish to eat. But she gave one to +Menie. +</P> + +<P> +When they were warmed and fed, they pulled off their little fur suits, +crawled into the piles of warm skins on the sleeping bench, and in two +minutes were sound asleep. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV. THE SNOW HOUSE +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SNOW HOUSE +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +It is very hard to tell what day it is, or what hour in the day, in a +place where the days and nights are all mixed up, and where there are +no clocks. +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie had never seen a clock in their whole lives. If they +had they would have thought it was alive, and perhaps would have been +afraid of it. +</P> + +<P> +But people everywhere in the world get sleepy, so the Eskimos sometimes +count their time by "sleeps." Instead of saying five days ago, they say +"five sleeps" ago. +</P> + +<P> +The night after the bear was killed it began to snow. The wind howled +around the igloo and piled the snow over it in huge drifts. +</P> + +<P> +The dogs were buried under it and had to be dug out, all but Nip and +Tup. They stayed inside with the twins and slept in their bed. +</P> + +<P> +The twins and their father and mother were glad to stay in the warm hut. +</P> + +<P> +At last the snow stopped, the air cleared, and the twins and Kesshoo +went out. Koolee stayed in the igloo. +</P> + +<P> +She sat on her sleeping bench upon a pile of soft furs. A bear's skin +was stretched up on the wall behind her. She had a cozy nest to work in. +</P> + +<P> +The lamp stood on the bench beside her. She was making a beautiful new +suit for Menie. It was made of fawn-skin as soft as velvet, and the +hood and sleeves were trimmed with white rabbit's fur. +</P> + +<P> +Her thimble was made of ivory, and her needle too. Her thread was a +fine strip of hide. There was a bunch of such thread beside her. +</P> + +<P> +Soon Kesshoo came in, bringing with him a dried fish and a piece of +bear's meat, from the storehouse. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee looked up from her sewing. "Isn't it five sleeps since you +killed the bear?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo counted on his fingers. "Yes," he said, "it is five sleeps." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it is time to eat the bear's head," said Koolee. "His spirit is +now with our fathers." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not have a feast?" said Kesshoo. "There hasn't been any fresh meat +in the village since the bear was killed, and I don't believe the rest +have had anything to eat but dried fish. We have plenty of bear's meat +still." +</P> + +<P> +Koolee hopped down off the bench and put some more moss into the lamp. +</P> + +<P> +"You bring in the meat," she said, "and tell the twins to go to all the +igloos and invite the people to come at sunset." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," Kesshoo answered, and he went out at once to the +storehouse to get the meat. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +When he came out of the tunnel, Kesshoo found the twins trying to make +a snow house for the dogs. They weren't getting on very well. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo could make wonderful snow houses. He had made a beautiful one +when the first heavy snows of winter had come, and the family had lived +in it while Koolee finished building the stone igloo. The twins had +watched him make it. It seemed so easy they were sure they could do it +too. Kesshoo said, "If you will run to all the igloos and tell the +people to come at sunset to eat the bear's head, I will help you build +the snow house for the dogs." +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie couldn't run. Nobody could. The snow was too deep. +They went in every step above their knees. But they ploughed along and +gave their message at each igloo. +</P> + +<P> +Everybody was very glad to come, and Koko said, "I'll come right now +and stay if you want me to." +</P> + +<P> +"Come along," said the twins. +</P> + +<P> +They went back to their own house, kicking the snow to make a path. +Koko went with them. The snow was just the right kind for a snow house. +It packed well and made good blocks. +</P> + +<P> +While the twins were away giving the invitations, Kesshoo carried great +pieces of bear's meat into the house. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee put in the cooking pan all the meat it would hold, and kept the +blaze bright in the lamp underneath to cook it. +</P> + +<P> +Then Kesshoo took his long ivory knife and went out to help the twins +with the snow house, as he had promised. +</P> + +<P> +"See, this is the way," he said to them. +</P> + +<P> +He took an unbroken patch of snow where no one had stepped. He made a +wide sweep of his arm and marked a circle in the snow with his knife. +</P> + +<P> +The circle was just as big as he meant the house to be. Then he cut out +blocks of snow from the space inside the circle. He placed these big +blocks of snow around the circle on the line he had marked with his +knife. +</P> + +<P> +When he got the first row done Menie said, "I can do that! Let me try." +</P> + +<P> +He took the knife and cut out a block. It wasn't nice and even like his +father's blocks. +</P> + +<P> +"That will never do," his father said. "Your house will tumble down +unless your blocks are true." +</P> + +<P> +He made the sides of the block straight by cutting off some of the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"Now all the other blocks in this row must be just like this one," he +said. Koko tried next. His block was almost right the first time. But +then, as I have told you before, Koko was six. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie tried the next one. I am sorry to say hers wouldn't do at all. +It was dreadfully crooked. They took turns. Menie cut a new block while +Koko placed the last one on the snow wall. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo had to put on the top blocks to make the roof. Neither Koko nor +Menie could do it right, though they tried and tried. It is a very hard +thing to do. When the blocks were all laid up and the dome finished, +Kesshoo said, "Now, Monnie can help pack it with snow." +</P> + +<P> +Monnie got the snow shovel. The snow shovel was made of three flat +pieces of wood sewed together with leather thongs. It had an edge of +horn sewed on with thongs, too. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie threw loose snow on the snow house and spatted it down with the +back of the shovel. +</P> + +<P> +While she was doing this, Menie and Koko built a tunnel entrance for +the dogs just like the big one on the stone house. +</P> + +<P> +They worked so hard they were warm as toast, though it was as cold as +our coldest winter weather; and when it was all finished Menie ran +clear over it just to show how strong and well built it was. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +When the snow house was all ready, Menie called the three big dogs. +Tooky was the leader, and the three dogs together were Kesshoo's sledge +team. Tooky was a hunting dog too. +</P> + +<P> +When Menie called the dogs, the dogs thought they were going to be +harnessed, so they hid behind the igloo and pretended they didn't hear. +Koko and Menie followed them, but the moment they got near, the dogs +bounded away. They went round to the front of the igloo and ran into +the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee was just turning the meat in the pan with a pointed stick. There +was a piece of bear's meat lying on the bench. +</P> + +<P> +The dogs smelled the meat. They stuck their heads into the room, and +when Koolee's back was turned, Tooky stole the meat! +</P> + +<P> +Just then Koolee turned around. She saw Tooky. She shrieked, "Oh, my +meat, my meat!" and whacked Tooky across the nose with the snow stick! +</P> + +<P> +But Tooky was bound to have the meat. She ran out of the tunnel with it +in her mouth, just as Menie and Koko got round to the front of the +igloo once more. +</P> + +<P> +"I-yi! I-yi!" they screamed, "Tooky's got the meat!" Kesshoo caught up +his dog-whip and came running from the storehouse. +</P> + +<P> +The other two dogs wanted the meat too. They flew at Tooky and snarled +and fought with her to get it. +</P> + +<P> +Then Koolee's head appeared in the tunnel hole! Tooky was crouching in +the snow in front of the tunnel, trying to fight off the other two dogs +and guard the meat at the same time. +</P> + +<P> +She wasn't doing a thing with her tail, but she was very busy with all +the rest of her. Her tail was pointed right toward the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +The moment she saw it Koolee seized the tail with both hands and jerked +it like everything! Tooky was so surprised she yelped. And when she +opened her mouth to yelp, of course she dropped the meat. +</P> + +<P> +Just at that instant Kesshoo's whip lash came singing about the ears of +all three dogs. +</P> + +<P> +"Snap, snap," it went. They jumped to get out of the way of the lash. +</P> + +<P> +Then Koolee leaped forward and snatched the meat from under their +noses, and scuttled back with it into the tunnel before you could say +Jack Robinson. +</P> + +<P> +It is dangerous to snatch meat away from hungry dogs. If Kesshoo hadn't +been slashing at them with his whip, and if Menie and Koko hadn't been +screaming at them with all their might, so the dogs were nearly +distracted, Koolee might have been badly bitten. +</P> + +<P> +Just then Monnie came up with some dried fish. She threw one of the +fish over in front of the snow house. +</P> + +<P> +The dogs saw it and leaped for it. Then she threw another into the snow +hut itself. They went after that. She fed them all with dried fish +until they were so full they curled up in the snow house and went to +sleep. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V. THE FEAST +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FEAST +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +The moment the sun had gone out of sight all the people in the village +came pouring out of their tunnels on their way to the feast at +Kesshoo's house. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo's house was so small that it seemed as if all the people could +not possibly get into it. +</P> + +<P> +But the Eskimos are used to crowding into very small spaces, indeed. +Sometimes a man and his wife and all his children will live in a space +about the size of a big double bed. +</P> + +<P> +First the Angakok came out of his igloo, looking fatter than ever. The +Angakok always found plenty to eat somehow. Both his wives were thin. +Their faces looked like baked apples all brown and wrinkled. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached Kesshoo's house, the Angakok went into the tunnel +first. +</P> + +<P> +Now I can't tell you whether he had grown fatter during the five days, +or whether the entrance had grown smaller, but this much I know: the +Angakok got stuck! He couldn't get himself into the room no matter how +much he tried! He squirmed and wriggled and twisted, until his face was +very red and he looked as if he would burst, but there he stayed. +</P> + +<P> +Other people had crawled into the tunnel after him. His two wives were +just behind. Everybody got stuck, of course, because no one could move +until the Angakok did. He was just like a cork in the neck of a bottle. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo and Koolee and the twins and Nip and Tup were all in the igloo. +When they saw the Angakok's face come through the hole they thought, of +course, the rest of him would come too. But it didn't, and the Angakok +was mad about it. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't they build igloos the way they used to?" he growled. "Every +year the tunnels get smaller and smaller! Am I to remain here forever?" +he went on. "Why doesn't somebody help me?" +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo and Koolee seized him under his arms. They pulled and pulled. +The two wives pushed him from behind. +</P> + +<P> +"I-yi! I-yi!" screamed the Angakok. "You will scrape my skin off!" +</P> + +<P> +He kicked out behind with his feet. His wives backed hastily, to get +out of the way. That made them bump into Koko's mother who was just +behind them. Her baby was in her hood, and when she backed, the baby's +head was bumped on the roof of the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +The baby began to roar. In the tunnel it sounded like a clap of +thunder. The wives of the Angakok and Koko's mother all began to talk +at once, and with that and the baby's crying I suppose there never was +a tunnel that held so much noise. It all came into the igloo, and it +sounded quite frightful. The twins crept into the farthest corner of +the sleeping bench and watched their father and mother and the Angakok, +with their eyes almost popping out of their heads. +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup thought they would help a little, so they jumped off the +bench; and barked at the Angakok. You see, they didn't know he was a +great medicine man. They thought maybe he ought not to be there at all. +</P> + +<P> +Nip even snapped at the Angakok's ear! +</P> + +<P> +That made the Angakok more angry than ever. He reached into the room, +seized Nip with one hand and flung him up on to the sleeping bench. Nip +lit on top of Menie. Nip was very much surprised, and so was Menie. +</P> + +<P> +Now, whether the jerk he gave in throwing Nip did it or not, I cannot +say, but at that instant Kesshoo and Koolee both gave a great pull in +front. At the same moment the two wives gave a great push behind, and +the next moment after that, there was the Angakok, still red, and still +angry, sitting on the edge of the sleeping bench in the best place near +the fire! +</P> + +<P> +Then his two wives came crawling through. The Angakok looked at them as +if he thought they had made him stick in the tunnel, and had done it on +purpose, too. The wives scuttled up on to the sleeping bench, and got +into the farthest corner of it as fast as they could. +</P> + +<P> +The women and children always sat back on the bench at a feast. +</P> + +<P> +When Koko's mother came in, the baby was still crying. She climbed up +on to the bed with him, and Menie and Monnie showed him the pups and +that made the baby laugh again. +</P> + +<P> +As fast as they came in, the women and children packed themselves away +on the sleeping bench. The men sat along the edge of it with their feet +on the floor. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +The smell of food soon made everybody cheerful. When at last they were +all crowded into the room, Koolee placed the bear's head and other pans +of meat on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +Then she crawled back on to the bench with the other women. +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok was the first one to help himself. He reached down and took +a large chunk of meat. He held it up to his mouth and took hold of the +end with his teeth. Then he sawed off a huge mouthful with his knife. +</P> + +<P> +It looked as if he would surely cut off the end of his nose too, but he +didn't. +</P> + +<P> +When the men had all helped themselves, pieces of meat were handed out +to the women and children. +</P> + +<P> +Soon they were all eating as if their lives depended on it. And now I +think of it, their lives did depend on it, to be sure! I will not speak +about their table manners. In fact, they hadn't any to speak of! They +had nothing to eat with the meat—not even salt—but it was a great +feast to them for all that, and they ate and ate until every scrap was +gone. +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok grew better natured every minute. By the time he had eaten +all he could hold he was really quite happy and benevolent! He clasped +his hands over his stomach and smiled on everybody. +</P> + +<P> +The women chattered in their corner of the sleeping-bench, and Koolee +showed Koko's mother the new fur suit trimmed with white rabbit's skin +that she was making for Menie. And Koko's mother said she really must +make one for Koko just like it. +</P> + +<P> +The twins and Koko talked about a trap to catch hares which they meant +to made as soon as the long days began again, and the baby went to +sleep on a pile of furs in the corner. Menie fed the pups with some of +his own meat, and gave them each a bone. Nip and Tup buried their bones +under the baby and then went to sleep too. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +After a while the Angakok turned his face to the wall, as he always did +when he meant to tell a story or sing a song. Then he said, "Listen, my +children!" He called everybody—even the grown up people—his children! +Everybody listened. They always listened when the Angakok spoke. +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok knew the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. He had told +them so many times! The people believed it, and it may be that the +Angakok really believed it himself, though I have some doubt about that. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, my children," said the Angakok, "and I will tell you wonderful +things. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a world beneath the sea! You catch glimpses of that world +yourselves in calm summer weather, when the water is still, and you +know that I speak the truth! +</P> + +<P> +"Then you can see the shadows of rocks and islands and glaciers in the +smooth water. Far below you see blue sky and white clouds. That is the +calm world in which the Spirits of the Dead live. I have visited that +underworld, many times, I have talked there with the spirits of your +ancestors." +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok paused and looked around to see if every one was paying +attention. Then he went on with his story. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember how two springs ago there were so few walruses and +seals along the coast that you nearly died for lack of food and oil?" +he said. "My children, it was I who brought the seals and walruses back +to you! Without my efforts you might all have starved! +</P> + +<P> +"I will tell you of the perils of a fearful journey which I undertook +for your sakes. Then you will see what you owe to the skill and +faithfulness of your Angakok!" +</P> + +<P> +All the people looked very solemn, and nodded their heads. The Angakok +went on. +</P> + +<P> +"You must know that in the depths of the underworld, far beyond the +beautiful abode of the Spirits of the Dead, lives the Old Woman of the +Sea! +</P> + +<P> +"There she sits forever and forever beside a monstrous lamp. Underneath +the lamp is a great saucer to catch the oil which drips from it. +</P> + +<P> +"In that saucer there are whole flocks of sea-birds swimming about! All +the animals that live in the sea—the whales and walruses, the codfish +and the seals—swarm in the saucer of the Old Woman of the Sea. That is +where they all come from. Sometimes the Old Woman of the Sea keeps all +the creatures in the saucer. Then there are no seal or fish or walrus +along our coasts, and there is hunger among the innuit (human beings). +</P> + +<P> +"At the time of my journey she had kept all the creatures for so long a +time in her saucer that you and many others were nearly dead for lack +of food." +</P> + +<P> +"It was then that I prepared myself for the perils of this journey to +the underworld. I called my Tornak, or guiding spirit, to lead my +steps. Without his Tornak an Angakok can do nothing. The Tornak came at +once in answer to my call. He took me by the hand, and we plunged down +into the water. First we passed through the beautiful World of Spirits, +where it is always summer. This part of the way was quite pleasant, but +on the farther side of that world we came to a fearful abyss. It could +be crossed only on a large slippery wheel, as slippery as ice." +</P> + +<P> +"I mounted this wheel and was whirled across the chasm. No sooner had I +reached the other side than new terrors came upon me. I had to pass by +great cauldrons of boiling oil, in which seals were swimming about." +</P> + +<P> +"A misstep would have sent me plunging into the boiling oil, and you +would have lost your Angakok forever!" +</P> + +<P> +The thought of this was so dreadful that the Angakok paused and wiped +his eyes. Then he went on again with his story. +</P> + +<P> +"However, with great courage I kept upon my way until at last I saw the +Old Woman's house! A deep gulf lay between us and her dwelling, and +outside it stood a great dog with bloody jaws. This dog guards the +entrance, and he sleeps only for a single moment, once in a very great +while." +</P> + +<P> +"For six days I and my Tornak waited there for the dog to sleep. At +last on the seventh day he closed his eyes! Instantly the Tornak seized +my hand and drew me across the bridge which spanned the chasm. This +bridge was as narrow as a single thread." +</P> + +<P> +"When we were safely across the bridge we passed the sleeping dog and +boldly entered the Old Woman's house. The Old Woman is terrible to look +upon! Her hand is the size of a large walrus, and her teeth like the +rocks along the coast!" The Angakok dropped his voice to a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"However, when she looked upon me she trembled!" he said. "She saw at +once that I possessed great power, and was a great Angakok. I spoke to +her flattering words. Then I told her of the hunger of my children!" +</P> + +<P> +"I begged that she would send the seal and walrus and sea-birds to our +coast at once. But she had no mind to yield to my requests. Then I +stormed and threatened." The Angakok's voice grew louder. "The walls +shook with the thunder of my voice! At last I seized her by the hair! I +tipped over the saucer with my foot! My great power prevailed against +the mighty sorceress!" +</P> + +<P> +"The seal and walrus swam away. The birds flew into the air and were +gone. I had conquered the Old Woman of the Sea! My children were +saved!" The Angakok was silent for a moment. Then he spoke again in a +natural voice. +</P> + +<P> +"When I opened my eyes in my own igloo again," he said, "the famine was +already over. Flocks of sea-birds were flying overhead. The sea swarmed +with fish, and with walrus and seal. Every one along the whole coast +was happy. Ask yourselves—is it not so?" +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok seemed very much pleased with himself, and he looked about, +as if he expected every one else to be pleased with him too. All the +people were filled with wonder at his great power. They began to talk +among themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I remember the famine well," said Koko's father. "I was away up +the coast that season. Several died in our village for lack of food." +</P> + +<P> +Other men remembered things about other times when food had been scarce. +</P> + +<P> +"It is lucky," they said to each other, "that here we have a great +Angakok who understands all the secrets of the World and who can save +us from such dreadful things." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +IV. +</H4> + +<P> +At last Kesshoo said, "Will you tell us, great Angakok, how you make +these wonderful journeys?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you really wish to know?" asked the Angakok. "If you do, I will +summon my guiding spirits to tell you, but they will speak only in the +darkness." +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo took the lamp at once and put it out in the tunnel. Then he +placed a thick musk-ox hide over the entrance, so that not a single ray +of light came into the room. The darkness could almost be felt. +Everybody sat very still and listened. +</P> + +<P> +Soon a heavy body was heard to strike the floor with a dull thud, and a +strange voice said, "Who calls me?" +</P> + +<P> +Another voice said, "You are called, mighty spirits, to tell these +children of the labors of their Angakok." +</P> + +<P> +Then began all sorts of strange noises, as of different persons +speaking. All the voices sounded much like the Angakok's, and they all +said what a great medicine man the Angakok was, and how every one in +the village must be sure to do what he told them to! +</P> + +<P> +At last the Angakok himself spoke, in his own voice. "I will tell you +how I make these strange journeys," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"My body is now lying on the floor at your feet. Now I begin to rise. +You cannot see me. You cannot touch me. Now I am floating about your +heads, now I am touching the roof! I can go wherever I please! Nothing +can stop me! I know the secret places of the sun, moon, and stars. I +can fly through the roof and go at once to the moon, if I wish to." +</P> + +<P> +Then the voice was still. Nobody moved or spoke. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie had gone to sleep in the corner of the bed, but Koko and Menie +were still awake. They had listened to every word about the Old Woman +of the Sea, and how the Angakok traveled to the moon. +</P> + +<P> +You know I told you before that Koko was six. He wanted to know all +about things. So he spoke right out in the dark, when every one else +was still. +</P> + +<P> +He said, "Mother, if the Angakok can go anywhere he wants to, why +couldn't he get out of the tunnel?" +</P> + +<P> +Koko's mother tried to hush him up. "Sh, sh," she said, and put her +hand over his mouth. At least she thought she did, but she made a +mistake in the dark and put her hand over Menie's mouth instead! +</P> + +<P> +Menie tried to say, "I never said a word," but he could only make queer +sounds, because Koko's mother's hand was tight on his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +Of course Koko didn't know his mother was trying to keep him still, so +he said again, "Why is it, mother?" +</P> + +<P> +Koko's mother heard Koko's voice speaking just as plainly as ever +though she was sure she had her hand over his mouth! She was frightened. +</P> + +<P> +"Magic! magic!" she screamed. "Bring the light! Koko is bewitched! I +have my hand over his mouth, yet you hear that he talks as plainly as +ever!" +</P> + +<P> +Koko tried to say, "Your hand isn't over my mouth," and Menie tried to +say, "It's over mine!" but he could only say, "M-m-m," because she held +on so tight! +</P> + +<P> +Koko's mother was making so much noise herself that she wouldn't have +heard what either one said anyway. The baby woke up and whimpered. Nip +and Tup woke up and barked like everything. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo got the light from the tunnel as quickly as he could, and set +it on the bench. Then every one saw what was the matter! They all +laughed—all but Menie and the Angakok. The Angakok said to Koko's +father, "You'd better look after that boy. He is disrespectful to me. +That is a bad beginning!" +</P> + +<P> +Koko's father was ashamed of him. He said, "Koko is so small!" +</P> + +<P> +But the Angakok said, "Koko is six. He is old enough to know better." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +V. +</H4> + +<P> +Everybody was so glad to see the light again that they all began to +talk at once. +</P> + +<P> +Some one said to Kesshoo, "Tell us about the long journey to the south +you took once long ago." +</P> + +<P> +Then everybody else listened, while Kesshoo told about how once he had +taken his dog sledge with a load of musk-ox and seal skins on it far +down the coast and how at last he had come to a little settlement where +the houses were all made of wood, if they would believe it! +</P> + +<P> +He told them that in the bay before the village there was a boat as big +as the Big Rock itself. It had queer white wings, and the wind blew on +these wings and made the boat go! +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo had been out in a kyak to see it. He had even paddled all round +it. The men on the great boat had fair hair, and one of them, the chief +man of all, had bought some of Kesshoo's skins and one of his dogs. The +man was a great chief. His name was Nansen. +</P> + +<P> +This great chief had told Kesshoo that he was going to take a sledge +and go straight into the inland country where the Giants live! He said +he was going to cross the great ice! No man had ever done that since +the world began. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo thought probably the great chief had been eaten by the Giants, +but he did not know surely, because he had never been back there since +to find out. And to be sure, if he had been eaten by Giants, no one +ever would know about it anyway. +</P> + +<P> +Then Kesshoo showed them all a great knife that the white chief had +given him, in exchange for a sealskin, and two steel needles that he +had sent to Koolee. Koolee kept the needles in a little ivory case all +by themselves. +</P> + +<P> +She always carried the case in her kamik, so it would not be lost. She +could do wonderful sewing with the needles. Koolee was very proud of +her sewing. No one else in the whole village could sew so well, because +they had not such good needles to do it with. Koolee used them only for +her very finest work. +</P> + +<P> +At last the Angakok said, "It is time to go home." He called to his +wives. They climbed down off the bench. +</P> + +<P> +That started the others. One after another they put on their upper +garments, which they had taken off in the warm igloo, said good bye, +and popped down into the tunnel. Last of all came the Angakok's turn. +</P> + +<P> +Then Kesshoo and Koolee and the Angakok's wives all began to look very +anxious. The Angakok looked a little worried himself. If he had stuck +coming in, what would happen now after he had eaten so much! +</P> + +<P> +He got down on his hands and knees, and looked at the hole. He had +taken off his thick fur coat when he came in. Now he took off his +undercoat, and his thick fur trousers! He gave them to his wives. +</P> + +<P> +Then he stretched himself out just as long as he possibly could and +slowly hitched himself down into the tunnel, groaning all the way. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo and Koolee and the wives waited until his feet disappeared, and +they heard him scraping along through the tunnel. Then they breathed a +great sigh of relief, and the two wives popped down after him. +</P> + +<P> +The last Kesshoo and Koolee heard of the Angakok, was a kind of muffled +roar when a piece of ice fell from the top of the tunnel on to his bare +back. +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie and the pups were already sound asleep in their corner +of the bench when their father and mother fixed the lamp for the night +and crawled in among the fur robes beside them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI. THE REINDEER HUNT +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE REINDEER HUNT +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +The day after the feast it was still very cold, but there were signs of +spring in the air. When Menie went out to feed the dogs, he saw a flock +of ravens flying north, and Koko saw some sea-birds on the same day. +</P> + +<P> +Two days after that, when the twins and Koko were all three playing +together on the Big Rock, they saw a huge iceberg float lazily by. +</P> + +<P> +It had broken away from a glacier, farther north, and was drifting +slowly toward the Southern Sea. It gleamed in the sun like a great ice +palace. +</P> + +<P> +One morning the air was thick with fog. When Kesshoo saw the fog he +said, "This would be a great day to hunt reindeer." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let me go with you!" cried Menie. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie knew better than to ask. She knew very well she would never be +allowed to go. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo thought a little before he answered. Then he said, "If Koko's +father will go, too, you and Koko may both go with us. You are pretty +small to go hunting, but boys cannot begin too early to learn." +</P> + +<P> +Menie was wild with joy. He rushed to Koko's house and told him and his +father what Kesshoo had said. +</P> + +<P> +When he had finished, Koko's father said at once, "Tell Kesshoo we will +go." +</P> + +<P> +It was not long before they were ready to start. Kesshoo had his great +bow, and arrows, and a spear. He also had his bird dart. Koko's father +had his bow and spear and dart, too. Menie had his little bow and +arrows. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo put a harness on Tooky and tied the end of Tooky's harness +trace around Menie's waist. Koko's father had brought his best dog, +too, and Koko was fastened to the end of that dog's harness in the same +way. +</P> + +<P> +Then the four hunters started on their journey—Menie and Koko driving +the dogs in front of them. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie stood on the Big Rock and watched them until they were out of +sight in the fog. Nip and Tup were with her. They wanted to go as much +as Monnie did and she had hard work to keep them from following after +the hunters. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +Kesshoo knew very well where to look for the reindeer. He led the way +up a steep gorge where the first green moss appeared in the spring. +They all four walked quietly along for several miles. +</P> + +<P> +When they got nearly to the head of the gorge, Kesshoo stopped. He said +to the boys, "You must not make any noise yourselves, and you must not +let the dogs bark. If you do there will be no reindeer today." +</P> + +<P> +The boys kept very still, indeed. The dogs were good hunting dogs. They +knew better than to bark. +</P> + +<P> +They walked on a little farther. Then Kesshoo came very near the others +and spoke in a low voice. He said, "We are coming to a spot where there +are likely to be reindeer. The wind is from the south. If we keep on in +this direction, the reindeer will smell us. We must go round in such a +way that the wind will carry the scent from them to us, not from us to +them." +</P> + +<P> +They turned to the right and went round to the north. They had gone +only a short distance in this direction, when they found fresh reindeer +tracks in the snow. The dogs began to sniff and strain at their +harnesses. +</P> + +<P> +"They smell the game," whispered Kesshoo. "Hold on tight! Don't let +them run." +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Koko held the dogs back as hard as they could. Kesshoo and +Koko's father crept forward with their bows in their hands. The fog was +so thick they could not see very far before them. +</P> + +<P> +They had gone only a short distance, when out of the fog loomed two +great gray shadows. Instantly the two men dropped on their knees and +took careful aim. +</P> + +<P> +The reindeer did not see them. They did not know that anything was near +until they felt the sting of the hunters' arrows. One reindeer dropped +to the earth. The other was not killed. He flung his head in the air +and galloped away, and they could hear the thud, thud, of his hoofs +long after he had disappeared in the fog. +</P> + +<P> +The moment the dogs heard the singing sound of the arrows, they bounded +forward. Koko and Menie were not strong enough to hold them back, and +they could not run fast enough to keep up with them. So they just +bumped along behind the dogs! Some of the time they slid through the +snow. +</P> + +<P> +The snow was rough and hard, and it hurt a good deal to be dragged +through it as if they were sledges, but Eskimo boys are used to bumps, +and they knew if they cried they might scare the game, so they never +even whimpered. +</P> + +<P> +It was lucky for them that they had not far to go. When they came +bumping along, Kesshoo and Koko's father laughed at them. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be in such a hurry," they called. "There's plenty of time!" +</P> + +<P> +They unbound the traces from Menie and Koko and hitched the dogs to the +body of the reindeer. Then they all started back to the village with +Koko's father driving the dogs. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the fog lifted and the sky grew clear. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie was playing with her doll in the igloo, when she heard Tooky +bark. She knew it was Tooky at once. She and Koolee both plunged into +the tunnel like mice down a mouse hole. Nip and Tup were ahead of them. +</P> + +<P> +Outside they found Koko's mother and the baby. Koolee called to her, +and she called to the wives of the Angakok, who were scraping a bear's +skin in the snow. +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok's wives, and Koko's mother and her baby, and Koolee, and +Monnie, and Nip and Tup all ran to meet the hunters, and you never saw +two prouder boys than Koko and Menie when they showed the reindeer to +their mothers. +</P> + +<P> +The mothers were proud of their young hunters, too. Koolee said, "Soon +we shall have another man in our family." +</P> + +<P> +When they were quite near the village again, they met the Angakok. He +had been trying to catch up with them and he was out of breath from +running. He looked at them sternly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you call me?" he panted. +</P> + +<P> +His wives looked frightened and didn't say a word. Nobody else said +anything. The Angakok glared at them all for a moment. Then he poked +the reindeer with his fingers to see if it was fat and said to the men, +"Which portion am I to have?" +</P> + +<P> +"Would you like the liver?" asked Kesshoo. He remembered about the +bear's liver, you see. +</P> + +<P> +But the Angakok looked offended. "Who will have the stomach?" he said. +"You know very well that the stomach is the best part of a reindeer." +</P> + +<P> +"Take the stomach, by all means, then," said Kesshoo, politely. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee and Monnie looked very much disappointed. They wanted the +stomach dreadfully. +</P> + +<P> +But the Angakok answered, "Since you urge me, I will take the stomach. +I had a dream last night, and in the dream I was told by my Tornak that +today I should feed upon a reindeer's stomach, given me by one of my +grateful children. When you think how I suffered to bring food to you, +I am sure you will wish to provide me with whatever it seems best that +I should have." +</P> + +<P> +He stood by while Kesshoo and Koko's father skinned the reindeer and +cut it in pieces. Then he took the stomach and disappeared into his +igloo—with his face all wreathed in smiles. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was very lucky for the twins that their father was such a brave and +skillful kyak man. You will see the reason why, when I tell you the +story of the day Menie and Koko went hunting alone on the ice. +</P> + +<P> +One April morning Kesshoo was working on his kyak to make sure that it +was in perfect order for the spring walrus hunting. Koko and Menie +watched him for a long time. Monnie was with Koolee in the hut. +</P> + +<P> +By and by Koko said to Menie, "Let's go out on the ice and hunt for +seal-holes." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Menie. "You take your bow and arrows and I'll take my +spear. Maybe we shall see some little auks." +</P> + +<P> +Koko had a little bow made of deer's horns, and some bone arrows, and +Menie had a small spear which his father had made for him out of +driftwood. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you!" said Menie. "Let's go hunting just the way father +does! You do the shooting and I'll do the spearing! Won't everybody be +surprised to see us bring home a great load of game? I shall give +everything I get to my mother." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to hunt birds and seal-holes too," Koko answered. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo was very busy fixing the fastening of his harpoon, and he did +not hear what they said. +</P> + +<P> +The two boys went to their homes for their weapons, and then ran out on +the ice. Nobody knew where they were. Of course, Nip and Tup went along. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +All the way over the ice they looked for seal-holes. It takes sharp +eyes to find them, for seal-holes are very small. +</P> + +<P> +You see, the mother seals try to find the safest place they can to hide +their babies, and this is the way they do it: +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the ice begins to freeze in the autumn, the seals gnaw holes +in it to reach the air, and they keep these holes open all winter. It +freezes so fast in that cold country that they have to be busy almost +every minute all through the winter breaking away the ice there. They +get their sleep in snatches of a minute or so at a time, and between +their naps they clear the ice from their breathing holes. +</P> + +<P> +There is usually a deep layer of snow over the ice. Each mother seal +hollows out a little igloo under the snow, around her breathing hole, +and leaves a tiny hole in the top of it, so her baby can have plenty of +fresh air and be hidden from sight at the same time. +</P> + +<P> +The mother seal leaves the baby in the snow house, and she herself +dives through the hole and swims away. Every few minutes she comes back +to breathe, and to see that her baby is safe. +</P> + +<P> +It was the tiny hole in the top of the seal's snow house that Menie and +Koko hoped to find. +</P> + +<P> +The days had grown quite long by this time and there was fog in the +air. Once in a while there would be a loud crackling noise. +</P> + +<P> +"The ice is beginning to break," Koko said. "Don't you hear it pop? My +father says he thinks the warm weather will begin early this year." +</P> + +<P> +They had gone some distance out on the ice, when suddenly Menie said, +"Look! Look there!" He pointed toward the north. There not far from +shore was a flock of sea-birds, resting on the ice. +</P> + +<P> +"Just let me get a shot at them!" cried Koko. "You stay here and hold +on to the dogs! Nip and Tup haven't any sense at all about game! +They'll only scare them." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +Koko ran swiftly and quietly towards the birds. Menie sat on the ice +and watched him and held Nip and Tup, one under each arm. When Koko got +quite near the birds, he took careful aim and let fly an arrow at them. +</P> + +<P> +It didn't hit any of the birds, but it frightened them. They flew up +into the air and away to the north and alighted farther on. Koko +followed them. +</P> + +<P> +All at once Menie heard a queer little sound. It went "Plop-plop-plop," +and it sounded very near. Nip and Tup sniffed, and began to growl and +nose around on the ice. +</P> + +<P> +Menie knew what the queer noise meant, for his father had told him all +about seal hunting. It meant that a seal-hole was near, and that a seal +had come up to breathe. It was the seal that made the "plopping" noise. +</P> + +<P> +Menie tried to keep the dogs still, but they wouldn't be kept still. +They ran round with their noses on the snow, giving little anxious +whines, and short, sharp barks. +</P> + +<P> +The "plop-plop" stopped. The seal had gone down under the ice, but +Menie meant to find the hole. He went out quite near the open water in +his search. At last, just beyond a hummock of ice, he saw it! He crept +carefully up to it. +</P> + +<P> +He lay down on his stomach and peeped into the hole to see what it was +like. He could not see a thing! +</P> + +<P> +Then he stuck his lance down. His lance touched something soft that +wiggled! Menie stood up. He was so excited that he trembled. He knew he +had found a seal-hole with a live seal in the snow house! +</P> + +<P> +With all his strength he struck his lance down through the snow. The +snow house fell in and Menie fell with it, but he kept hold of his +lance. The end of the lance was buried in the snow, but it was moving. +Menie knew by this that he had stuck it into the seal! +</P> + +<P> +He lay still and kept fast hold of his lance, and pressed down on it +with all his might. +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup were crazy with excitement. They jumped round and barked +and tried to dig a hole in the snow with their forefeet. +</P> + +<P> +At last the spear stopped wiggling. Then Menie carefully dug the snow +away. There lay a little white seal! It was too young to swim away with +its mother. That was why such a small boy as Menie had been able to +kill it. +</P> + +<P> +He dragged it out on the ice. He was so excited and so busy he did not +notice how near he was to the open water. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +IV. +</H4> + +<P> +All of a sudden there was a loud cracking noise, and Menie felt the ice +moving under him! He looked back. There was a tiny strip of blue water +between him and the shore! +</P> + +<P> +The strip grew wider while he looked at it! Menie knew that he was +adrift on an ice raft, and he was terribly frightened. Nip and Tup +cuddled close to him and whined with fear. +</P> + +<P> +Menie understood perfectly well that he might be carried far out to sea +and never come back any more. He put his hands to his mouth and yelled +with all his might! +</P> + +<P> +Koko was still following the birds, and did not hear Menie's cries. +Menie could see him running up the beach after the birds, and he could +see his father working over his kyak near his home. +</P> + +<P> +He even saw Monnie come out of the tunnel and go to watch her father at +his work. They seemed very far away, and every moment the distance +between them and the raft grew greater. +</P> + +<P> +Menie screamed again and again. At the third scream he saw his father +straighten up, shade his eyes with his hand, and look out to sea. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," Menie thought. "What if he shouldn't see me!" He shouted louder +than ever! He waved his arms! He even pinched the tails of Nip and Tup +and made them bark. Then he saw his father wave his hand and dive into +the tunnel. +</P> + +<P> +In another instant he was out again and pulling on his skin coat. Then +he took the kyak on his shoulders and ran with it to the beach. Monnie +and Koolee came running after him. +</P> + +<P> +They were doing the screaming now! Every one in the village heard the +screams and came running down to the beach, too. +</P> + +<P> +When Menie saw his father coming with the kyak, he wasn't afraid any +more, for he was sure his father would save him. He wasn't even afraid +about the cakes of ice that were floating in the water, though there is +nothing more dangerous than to go out in a kyak among ice floes. One +bump from a floating cake of ice is enough to upset any boat, and I +don't like to think of what might happen if a kyak should get between +two big cakes of ice. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo ran with his kyak as far as he could on the ice. Then he got in +and fitted the bottom of his skin jacket over the kyak hole and +carefully slid himself into the open water. +</P> + +<P> +Once in the water, how his paddle flew! +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to Menie as if his father would never reach him! He sat very +still on the ice pan with the dead seal beside him, and Nip and Tup +huddled up against him. +</P> + +<P> +At last Kesshoo came near enough so he could make Menie hear everything +he said. "Menie," he cried, "if you do exactly what I tell you to, I +can save you. +</P> + +<P> +"I will throw you my harpoon. You must drive it way down into the ice. +Then by the harpoon line I will tow your ice pan back toward shore. +When we get to the big ice I will find a place for you to land. +</P> + +<P> +"You must be ready, and when I give the word jump from your ice raft on +to the solid ice." +</P> + +<P> +Then Kesshoo threw his harpoon, and Menie drove it into the ice with +all his might. Slowly Kesshoo drew the line taut, turned his kyak +round, and started for the shore. The journey out had been dangerous, +but the journey back was much more so, for Kesshoo could not dodge the +floating ice nearly so well. He had to pick his way carefully through +the clearest water he could find. Very cautiously they moved toward +shore. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +V. +</H4> + +<P> +They were getting quite near the place where the ice had broken with +Menie, when suddenly, right near them, they saw the head and great, +round eyes of a seal! It was the seal mother. +</P> + +<P> +She had come back to find her breathing hole and her baby. +</P> + +<P> +The moment Kesshoo saw her he seized his dart, which lay in its place +on top of his kyak, and threw it with all his might at the seal. +</P> + +<P> +The seal dived down into the sea, but a bladder full of air was +attached to the line on the dart, and this bladder floated on the +water, so Kesshoo could tell by watching it just where the seal was. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo knew he had struck the seal, and although he was already towing +the ice raft, he was determined to bring home the big seal, too! +</P> + +<P> +He called to Menie. "Sit still and wait until I come for you." +</P> + +<P> +Then he quickly cut the harpoon line by which he was towing the ice +raft, and set it adrift again. As soon as he was free he paddled away +after the bladder, which was now bobbing along over the water at some +little distance from the boat. +</P> + +<P> +Menie sat perfectly still and watched his father. Kesshoo reached the +bladder and began to pull on the line, but just at that moment the big +seal turned round and swam right under the kyak! +</P> + +<P> +In a second the kyak turned bottom side up in the water! Menie +screamed. The people watching on the shore gave a great howl, and +Koko's father started up the beach after his own kyak. +</P> + +<P> +He thought perhaps Kesshoo could not manage both the ice raft and the +seal, and he meant to go to help him. +</P> + +<P> +But in one second Kesshoo was right side up again. No water could get +into the kyak because Kesshoo's skin coat was drawn tight over the hole +in the deck, and Kesshoo was in the coat! +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo often turned somersaults in the water in that way. Sometimes he +even did it for fun! He said afterward that he could have turned the +boat right side up again with just his nose, without using either his +paddle or his arms, if only his nose had been a little bigger, and +though he meant this for a joke, the twins believed that he really +could do it. +</P> + +<P> +The moment he was right side up again, Kesshoo gave chase once more to +the bladder. The seal was very weak now, and Kesshoo knew that it would +soon come to the surface and float and that then he could tow it in. +</P> + +<P> +He had not long to wait. The bladder bobbed about for a while and then +was still. Kesshoo drew up the line, and paddled back to the ice raft, +towing the big seal after him. +</P> + +<P> +"Catch this," he said to Menie. He threw him the end of the line. "Wind +the line six times round the harpoon," he said, "and hold tight to the +end of it." +</P> + +<P> +Menie did as he was told. Then Kesshoo tied together the two ends of +the harpoon line, which he had cut, and began to tow the ice raft back +to share again. +</P> + +<P> +Menie kept tight hold of the other line and towed the seal! +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo paddled slowly and carefully along, until at last there was +only a little strip of water between the kyak and the solid ice. +</P> + +<P> +But how in the world could Menie get across that strip of water to +safety? +</P> + +<P> +The kyak was between him and the solid ice, and Menie could not +possibly get into the kyak. Neither could he swim. But Kesshoo knew a +way. +</P> + +<P> +He came up closer to the solid ice. Then he gave a great sweep with his +paddle and lifted his kyak right up on to it. He sprang out, and, +seizing the harpoon line, pulled Menie's raft close up to the edge of +the firm ice. +</P> + +<P> +Menie was still holding tight to the line that held the big seal. +Kesshoo threw him another line. Menie caught the end of it. +</P> + +<P> +"Now tie the big seal's line fast to that," Kesshoo said. Menie was a +very small boy, but he knew how to tie knots. He did just what his +father told him to. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said his father, "pull up the harpoon." Menie did so. "Tie the +harpoon line to the little seal." Menie did that. "Now throw the +harpoon to me," commanded Kesshoo. +</P> + +<P> +Menie threw it with all his might. His father caught it, and stood on +the firm ice, holding in his hands the line that the big seal was tied +to, and the harpoon, with its line fastened to the little seal. +</P> + +<P> +"Now hold on to the little seal, and I will pull you right up against +the solid ice, and when I say 'Jump,' you jump," said Kesshoo. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly and very, carefully he pulled, until the raft grated against the +solid ice. +</P> + +<P> +"Jump!" shouted Kesshoo. +</P> + +<P> +Menie jumped. The ice raft gave a lurch that nearly sent him into the +water, but Kesshoo caught him and pulled him to safety. +</P> + +<P> +A great shout of joy went up from the shore, and Menie was glad enough +to shout too when he felt solid ice under his feet once more! +</P> + +<P> +While he helped his father pull in the little seal, all the people came +running out on to the ice to meet them, but Kesshoo sent back every one +except Koko's father. He was afraid the ice might break again with so +many people on it. Koko's father helped pull the big seal out of the +water and over the ice to the beach. +</P> + +<P> +Menie dragged his own little seal after him by the harpoon line, and +when he came near the beach, the people all cried out, "See the great +hunter with his game!" And Koolee was so glad to see Menie and so proud +of her boy that she nearly burst with joy! +</P> + +<P> +"I knew the charm would work," she cried. "Not only does he spy +bears—he kills seals! And he only five years old!" +</P> + +<P> +She put her arms around him and pressed her flat nose to his. That's +the Eskimo way of kissing. +</P> + +<P> +Menie tried to look as if he killed seals and got carried away on an +ice pan every day in the week, but inside he felt very proud, too. +</P> + +<P> +When Kesshoo and Koko's father came up with the big seal, Koolee and +the other women dragged it to the village, where it was skinned and cut +up. Every one had a piece of raw blubber to eat at once, and the very +first piece went to Menie. +</P> + +<P> +While they were eating it, Koko came back. He had gone so far up the +shore hunting little auks that he hadn't seen a thing that had +happened. And he hadn't killed any little auks either. +</P> + +<P> +Koko felt that things were very unequally divided in this world. He +wanted to kill a seal and get lost on a raft and be a hero too. +</P> + +<P> +But Koolee gave him a large piece of blubber, and that made him feel +much more cheerful again. He just said to Monnie, "If I had been with +Menie, this never would have happened! I should not have let him get so +near the edge of the ice! But then, you know, I am six, and he is only +five, so, of course, he didn't know any better." +</P> + +<P> +Everybody in the village had seal meat that night, and the Angakok had +the head, which they all thought was the best part. He said he didn't +feel very well, and his Tornak had told him nothing would cure him so +quickly as a seal's head. So Koolee gave it to him. +</P> + +<P> +The skin of the little white seal Koolee saved and dressed very +carefully. She chewed it, all over, on the wrong side, and sucked out +all the blubber, and made it soft and fine as velvet; and when that was +done, she made out of it two beautiful pairs of white mittens for the +twins. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII. THE WOMAN-BOATS +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE WOMAN-BOATS +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +During the long, dark hours of the winter Kesshoo found many pleasant +things to do at home. He was always busy. He carved a doll for Monnie +out of the ivory tusk of a walrus. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie named the doll Annadore, and she loved it dearly. Koolee dressed +Annadore in fur, with tiny kamiks of sealskin, and Monnie carried her +doll in her hood, just the way Koko's mother carried her baby. +</P> + +<P> +For Menie, his father made dog harnesses out of walrus hide. He made +them just the right size for Nip and Tup. +</P> + +<P> +Menie harnessed the little dogs to his sled. Then he and Monnie would +play sledge journeys. Annadore would sit on the sled all wrapped in +furs, while Menie drove the dogs, and Monnie followed after. +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup did not like this play very well, and they didn't always go +where they were told to. Once they dashed right over the igloo and +spilled Annadore off. +</P> + +<P> +Annadore rolled down one side of the igloo, while Nip and Tup galloped +down the other. Annadore was buried in the snow and had to be dug out, +so it was quite a serious accident, you see, but Nip and Tup did not +seem to feel at all responsible about it. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo made knives and queer spoons out of bone or ivory for Koolee, +and for himself he made new barbs for his bladder-dart, new bone hooks +for fishlines, and all sorts of things for hunting. +</P> + +<P> +He made salmon spears, and bird darts, and fishlines, and he ornamented +his weapons with little pictures or patterns. He carved two frogs on +the handle of his snow knife, and scratched the picture of a walrus on +the blade. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes Koolee carved things, too, but most of the time she was busy +making coats or kamiks, or chewing skins to make them soft and fine for +use in the igloo; or to cover the kyaks, or to make their summer tent. +</P> + +<P> +Once during the winter the whole family went thirty miles up the coast +by moonlight to visit Koolee's brother in another village. They went +with the dog sledge, and it took them two days. +</P> + +<P> +They had meat and blubber with them and plenty of warm skins, and when +they got tired, Kesshoo made a snow house for them to rest in. The +twins thought this was the best fun of all. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +When spring came on, there were other things to do. As the days grew +longer, the ice in the bay cracked and broke into small pieces and +floated away. +</P> + +<P> +The water turned deep blue, and danced in the sunlight, and ice floated +about in it. Often there were walrus on these ice-pans. +</P> + +<P> +The twins sometimes saw their huge black bodies on the white ice, and +heard their hoarse barks. Then all the men in the village would rush +for their kyaks and set out after the walrus. +</P> + +<P> +The men were brave and enjoyed the dangerous sport, but the women used +to watch anxiously until they saw the kyaks coming home towing the +walrus behind them. +</P> + +<P> +Then they would rush down to the shore, help pull the kyaks up on the +beach, where they cut the walrus in pieces and divided it among the +families of the hunters. +</P> + +<P> +When the snow had melted on the Big Rock, hundreds of sea-birds made +their nests there and filled the air with their cries. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes Kesshoo went egg hunting on the cliff, and sometimes he set +traps there for foxes, and he helped Menie and Koko make a little trap +to catch hares. There was plenty to do in every season of the year. +</P> + +<P> +At last the nights shortened to nothing at all. The long day had begun. +The stone but, which they had found so comfortable in winter, seemed +dark and damp now. +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie remembered the summer days when they did not have to +dive down through a hole to get into their house, so Menie said to +Monnie one day, "Let's go and ask father if it isn't time to put up the +tents." +</P> + +<P> +They ran out to find him. He was down on the beach talking with Koko's +father and the other men of the village. +</P> + +<P> +On the beach were two very long boats. The men were looking them over +carefully to see if they were water tight. +</P> + +<P> +Koko was with the men. When he saw the twins coming, he tore up the +slope to meet them, waving his arms and shouting, "They're getting out +the woman-boats! They're getting out the woman-boats!" +</P> + +<P> +This was glorious news to the twins. They ran down to the beach with +Koko as fast as their legs could carry them. +</P> + +<P> +They got there just in time to hear Koko's father say to Kesshoo, "I +think it's safe to start. The ice is pretty well out of the bay, and +the reindeer will be coming down to the fiords after fresh moss." +</P> + +<P> +All the men listened to hear what Kesshoo would say, and the twins +listened, too, with all their ears. +</P> + +<P> +"If it's clear, I think we could start after one more sleep," said +Kesshoo. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +The twins didn't wait to hear any more. They flew for home, and dashed +down the tunnel and up into the room. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee was gathering all the knives and spoons and fishing-things and +sewing things, and dumping them into a large musk-ox hide which was +spread on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +The musk-ox hide covered the entrance hole. The first thing Koolee knew +something thumped the musk-ox skin on the under side, and the knives +and thimbles and needle cases and other things flew in all directions. +Up through the hole popped the faces of Menie and Monnie! +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mother," they shouted. "We're going off on the woman-boats! After +only one more sleep, if it's pleasant! Father said so!" +</P> + +<P> +Koolee laughed. "I know it!" she said. "I was just packing. You can +help me. There's a lot to do to get ready." +</P> + +<P> +The twins were delighted to help. They got together all their own +treasures—the sled, and the fishing rods, the dog harnesses, and +Annadore, and bound them up with walrus thongs. All but Annadore. +Annadore rode in Monnie's hood as usual. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee gathered all her things together again and wrapped them in the +musk-ox hide. She took down the long narwhal tusks that the dog +harnesses were hung on. +</P> + +<P> +These were the tent poles. She and the twins carried all these things +to the beach. The men stayed on the beach and packed the things away in +the boats. The other women brought down their bundles from their +igloos. There was room for everything in the two big boats. +</P> + +<P> +Only the skins were left on the sleeping bench in the hut. When +everything else was ready, Koolee and the twins went up on top of the +igloo. +</P> + +<P> +They pulled the moss and dirt out of the chinks between the stones that +made the roof, and then Koolee pulled up the stones themselves and let +them fall over to one side. This left the roof open to the sky. +</P> + +<P> +"What makes you do that?" Menie asked. +</P> + +<P> +"So the sun and rain can clean house for us," said Koolee. +</P> + +<P> +Everybody else in the village got ready in the same way. +</P> + +<P> +At last Kesshoo came up from the beach and said to Koolee, "Let us have +some meat and a sleep and then we will start. Everything is ready. The +boats are packed and it looks as if the weather would be clear." +</P> + +<P> +Koolee brought out some walrus meat and blubber for supper, though it +might just as well be called breakfast, for there was no night coming, +and the twins ate theirs sitting on the roof of the igloo with their +feet hanging down inside. +</P> + +<P> +Once Menie's feet kicked his father's head. It was an accident, but +Kesshoo reached up and took hold of Menie's foot and pulled him down on +to the sleeping bench and rolled him over among the skins. +</P> + +<P> +"Crawl in there and go to sleep," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Monnie let herself down through the roof by her hands and crept in +beside Menie. Then Kesshoo and Koolee wrapped themselves in the warm +skins and lay down, too. +</P> + +<P> +It took Menie and Monnie some time to go to sleep, for they could look +straight up through the roof at the sky, and the sky was bright and +blue with little white clouds sailing over it. Besides, they were +thinking about the wonderful things that would happen when they should +wake up. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX. THE VOYAGE +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE VOYAGE +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +When the twins awoke, the sun was shining as brightly as ever, and Nip +and Tup were barking at them through the hole in the roof. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo and Koolee were gone! +</P> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie were frightened. They were afraid they were left +behind. They sat up in bed and howled! +</P> + +<P> +In a moment Koolee's face looked down at them through the roof. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +"We thought we were left," wailed Monnie! +</P> + +<P> +"As if I could leave you behind!" cried Koolee. +</P> + +<P> +She laughed at them. "Hand up the skins to me," she said. She reached +her arm down the hole and pulled out all the skins from the bed as fast +as the twins gave them to her. +</P> + +<P> +Then she put her head down into the opening and looked all around. "We +haven't left a thing," she said; "come along." +</P> + +<P> +The twins couldn't climb out through the roof, though they wanted to, +so they went out by the tunnel, and helped their mother carry the skins +to the beach. +</P> + +<P> +All the people in the village and all the dogs were there before them. +The great woman-boats were packed, the kyaks of the men waited beside +them in a row on the beach, with their noses in the water. +</P> + +<P> +The dogs barked and raced up and down the beach, the babies crowed, and +the children shouted for joy. Even the grown people were gay. They +talked in loud tones and laughed and made jokes. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +At last Kesshoo shouted, "All ready! In you go!" He told each person +where to sit. +</P> + +<P> +He put the Angakok in one boat to steer. He put Koko's father in the +other. +</P> + +<P> +In Koko's father's boat he placed Koko and his mother and the baby, +Koolee and the twins, the pups, all three dogs, and four of the women +who lived in the other igloos. So you see it was quite a large boat. +</P> + +<P> +In the Angakok's boat he placed his two wives, and all the rest of the +women and children and dogs. The women took up the paddles. One end of +the boat was partly in the water when they got in. The men gently +pushed it farther out until it floated. +</P> + +<P> +Then the men got into their kyaks at the water's edge, fastened their +skin coats over the rims, and paddled out into deep water. +</P> + +<P> +At last, when all the boats, big and little, were afloat, Kesshoo +called out, "We are going north. Follow me." +</P> + +<P> +The women obeyed the signal of Koko's father and the Angakok. The +paddles dipped together into the water. The great boats moved! They +were off! +</P> + +<P> +The children all sat together in the bottom of the boat, but the twins +and Koko were big enough to see over the sides. While the babies played +with the dogs, they were busy watching the things that passed on the +shores. Soon they passed the Big Rock with little auks and puffins +flying about it. They could see the red feet of the puffins, and a blue +fox sitting on the top of the rock, waiting for a chance to catch a +bird. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Big Rock hid the village from sight. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H4> + +<P> +Beyond the Big Rock the country was all new to the twins and Koko. They +looked into narrow bays and inlets as the boat moved along, and saw +green moss carpeting the sunny slopes in sheltered places. +</P> + +<P> +They could even see bright flowers growing in the warm spots which +faced the sun. The sky was blue overhead. The water was blue below. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the green slopes they could see the bare hillsides crowned with +the white ice cap which never melts, and streams of water dashing down +the hillsides and pouring themselves into the waters of the bay. +</P> + +<P> +When they had gone a good many miles up the coast, Kesshoo waved his +hand and pointed to a strange sight on the shore. +</P> + +<P> +There was a great river of ice! They could see where it came out of a +hollow place between two hills. It looked just like a river, only it +was frozen solid, and the end of it, where it came into the sea, was +broken off like a great wall of ice, and there were cakes of ice +floating about in the water. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there was a cracking sound. Menie had heard that sound before. +It was the same sound that he had heard when he went seal-hole hunting +and got carried away on the ice raft. Menie didn't like the sound +anymore. It scared him! +</P> + +<P> +Right after the cracking noise Kesshoo's voice shouted, "Row farther +out! Follow me!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned his kyak straight out to sea. All the other boats followed. +</P> + +<P> +They had gone only about half a mile when suddenly there was a loud +crick-crick-CRACK as if a piece of the world had broken off, and then +there was a splash that could be heard for miles, if there had been any +one to hear it. +</P> + +<P> +The end of the glacier, or ice river, had broken off and fallen down +into the water! It had made an iceberg! +</P> + +<P> +The splash was so great that in a moment the waves it made reached the +boats. The boats rocked up and down on the water and bounced about like +corks. +</P> + +<P> +The twins and Koko thought this was great fun, but the Angakok didn't +like it a bit. One wave splashed over him, and some of the water went +down his neck. +</P> + +<P> +All the grown people knew that if they hadn't rowed quickly away from +shore when Kesshoo called they might have been upset and drowned. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +IV. +</H4> + +<P> +When the waves made by the iceberg had calmed down again, Kesshoo +paddled round among the boats. +</P> + +<P> +He said, "I think we'd better land about a mile above here. There's a +stream there, and perhaps we can get some salmon for our dinner." +</P> + +<P> +He led the way in his kyak, and all the other boats followed. They kept +out of the path of the iceberg, which had already floated some distance +from the shore, and it was not long before they came to a little inlet. +</P> + +<P> +Kesshoo paddled into it and up to the very end of it, where a beautiful +stream of clear water came dashing down over the rocks into the sea. +</P> + +<P> +The hills sloped suddenly down to the shore. The sun shone brightly on +the green slopes, and the high cliffs behind shut off the cold north +winds. It was a little piece of summer set right down in the valley. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how beautiful!" everybody cried. +</P> + +<P> +The boats were soon drawn up on the beach, the women and children +tumbled out, and then began preparations for dinner. +</P> + +<P> +The women got out their cooking pots, and Koolee set to work to make a +fireplace out of three stones. +</P> + +<P> +They had blubber and moss with them, but how could they get a fire? +They had no matches. They had never even heard of a match. +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok sat down on the beach. He had some little pieces of dry +driftwood and some dried moss. +</P> + +<P> +He held one end of a piece of driftwood in a sort of handle which he +pressed against his lips. The other end was in a hollow spot in another +piece of wood. +</P> + +<P> +The Angakok rolled one driftwood stick round and round in the hollow +spot of the other. He did this by means of a bow which he pulled from +one side to the other. This made the stick whirl first one way, then +back again. Soon a little smoke came curling up round the stick. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee dropped some dried moss on the smoking spot. Suddenly there was +a little blaze! +</P> + +<P> +She fed the little flame with more moss, and then lighted the moss on +the stones of the fireplace. She put a soapstone kettle filled with +water over the fire, and soon the kettle was boiling. +</P> + +<P> +While all this was going on down on the beach, the men took their +salmon spears and went up the river, and Koko and the twins went with +them. +</P> + +<P> +The wives of the Angakok went to find moss to feed the fire. They +brought back great armfuls of it, and put it beside the fireplace. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee was the cook. She stayed on the beach and looked after the +babies and the dogs, and the fire. Everything was ready for dinner, +except the food! +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the men had found a good place where there were big stones in +the river. They stood on these stones with their spears in their hands. +There were hundreds of salmon in the little stream. The salmon were +going up to the little lake from which the river flowed. +</P> + +<P> +When the fish leaped in the water, the men struck at them with their +fish spears. There were so many fish, and the men were so skillful that +they soon had plenty for dinner. +</P> + +<P> +They strung them all on a walrus line and went back to the beach. +Koolee popped as many as she could into her pot to cook, but the men +were so hungry they ate theirs raw, and the twins and Koko had as many +fishes' eyes to eat as they wanted, for once in their lives. +</P> + +<P> +When everybody had eaten as much as he could possibly hold, the babies +were rolled up in furs in the sand and went to sleep. The Angakok lay +down on the sand in the sunshine with his hands over his stomach and +was soon asleep, too. +</P> + +<P> +The men sat in a little group near by, and Menie and Koko lay on their +stomachs beside Kesshoo. +</P> + +<P> +The women had gone a little farther up the beach. The air was still, +except for the rippling sound of the water, the distant chatter of the +women, the snores of the Angakok, and the buzzing of mosquitoes! +</P> + +<P> +For quite a long time everybody rested. Menie and Koko didn't go to +sleep. They were having too much fun. They played with shells and +pebbles and watched the mosquitoes buzzing over the Angakok's face. +There were a great many mosquitoes, and they seemed to like the +Angakok. At last one settled on his nose, and bit and bit. Menie and +Koko wanted to slap it, but, of course, they didn't dare. They just had +to let it bite! +</P> + +<P> +All of a sudden the Angakok woke up and slapped it himself. He slapped +it harder than he intended to. He looked very much surprised and quite +offended about it. He sat up and looked round for his wives, as if he +thought perhaps they had something to do with it. But they were at the +other end of the beach. The Angakok yawned and rubbed his nose, which +was a good deal swollen. +</P> + +<P> +Just then Kesshoo spoke, "I think we shall look a long time before we +find a better spot than this to camp," he said. "Here are plenty of +salmon. We can catch all we need to dry for winter use, right here. +There must be deer farther up the fiord. What do you say to setting up +the tents right here?" +</P> + +<P> +When Kesshoo said anything, the others were pretty sure to agree, +because Kesshoo was such a brave and skillful man that they trusted his +judgment. +</P> + +<P> +All the men said, "Yes, let us stay." +</P> + +<P> +Then the Angakok said, "Yes, my children, let us stay! While you +thought I was asleep here on the sand I was really in a trance. I +thought it best to ask my Tornak about this spot, and whether we should +be threatened here by any hidden danger. My Tornak says to stay!" +</P> + +<P> +This settled the matter. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell the women," said Kesshoo. Koko's father went over to the place +where the women and children were. +</P> + +<P> +"Get out the tent poles," he called to them. "Here's where we stay." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +V. +</H4> + +<P> +The women jumped up and ran to the woman-boats. They got out the long +narwhal tusks, and the skins, and set them down on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me," Koolee called to the twins. She gave them each a long +tent pole to carry. She herself carried the longest pole of all, and a +pile of skins. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee led the way up the green slope to a level spot overlooking the +stream and the bay. It was beside some high rocks, and there were +smaller stones all about. +</P> + +<P> +There was a flat stone that she used for the sleeping bench. When the +poles were set up and securely fastened, she got the tent skins and +covered the poles. +</P> + +<P> +She put on one layer of skin with the hair inside and over that another +covering of skin with the fur side out. She sewed the skins together +over the entrance with leather thongs and left a flap for a door. +</P> + +<P> +Then she placed stones around the edge of the tent covering to keep the +wind from blowing it away. She piled the bed skins on the rock, and +their summer house was ready. +</P> + +<P> +The twins brought the musk-ox hides, with all their treasures in them, +and the cooking pots and knives and household things from the beach, +while Koolee made the fireplace in the tent. +</P> + +<P> +She made the fireplace by driving four sticks into the ground and +lashing them together to make a framework. +</P> + +<P> +She hung the cooking kettle by straps from the four corners. Under the +kettle on a flat stone she placed the lamp. Then the stove was ready. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall cook out of doors most of the time," she said to the twins, +"but in rainy weather we shall need the lamp." +</P> + +<P> +It was only a little while before there was a whole new village ready +to live in, with plenty of fish and good fresh water right at hand. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +VI. +</H4> + +<P> +Menie and Monnie were happy in their new home. They climbed about on +the rock and found a beautiful cave to play in. They gathered flowers +and shells and colored stones and brought them to their mother. +</P> + +<P> +Then later they went for more fish with the men, and Kesshoo let them +stand on the stones and try to spear the fish just the way the men did. +</P> + +<P> +Menie caught one, and Koko caught one, but Monnie had no luck at all. +"Anyway, I caught a codfish once," Monnie said, to comfort herself. +</P> + +<P> +In two hours everything was as settled about the camp as if they had +lived there a week, and every one was hungry again. Hungriness and +sleepiness came just as regularly as if they had had nights and clocks +both, to measure time by. +</P> + +<P> +When the food was ready, Kesshoo called "Ujo, ujo," which meant "boiled +meat," and everybody came running to the beach. +</P> + +<P> +The men sat in one circle, the women and children in another. Pots of +boiled fish were set in the middle of the circles, and they all dipped +in with their fingers and took what they wanted. +</P> + +<P> +When everybody had eaten, the children played on the beach. They +skipped stones and danced and played ball, and their mothers played +with them. +</P> + +<P> +The men had their fun, too. They sat in their circle, told stories, and +played games which weren't children's games, and the Angakok sang a +song, beating time on a little drum. All the men sang the chorus. +</P> + +<P> +By and by, Koolee saw Monnie's head nodding. So she said to the twins, +"Come, children, let's go up to the tent." +</P> + +<P> +She took their hands and led them up the slope. +</P> + +<P> +"We're not sleepy," the twins declared. +</P> + +<P> +"I am," said Koolee, "and I want you with me." +</P> + +<P> +They went into the tent, which was not so light as it was out of doors +in the bright sunlight. Then they undressed, crawled in among the +deerskins, and were soon sound asleep, all three of them. After a while +Kesshoo came up from the beach and went to sleep too. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X. THE SUMMER DAY +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SUMMER DAY +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +The summer days flew by, only one really shouldn't say days at all, but +summer day. For three whole bright months it was just one daylight +picnic all the time! +</P> + +<P> +The people ate when they were hungry and slept when they were sleepy. +The men caught hundreds of salmon, and the women split them open and +dried them on the rocks for winter use. The children played all day +long. +</P> + +<P> +The men hunted deer and musk-ox and bears up in the hills and brought +them back to camp. They hunted game both by land and by sea. There was +so much to eat that everybody grew fatter, and as for the Angakok, he +got so very fat that Koko said to Menie, "I don't believe we can ever +get the Angakok home in the woman-boat! He's so heavy he'll sink it! I +think it would be a good plan to tie a string to him and tow him back +like a walrus!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Menie. "Maybe he would shrink some if we soaked him well. +Don't you know how water shrinks the walrus hide cords that we tie +around things when we want them to hold tight together?" +</P> + +<P> +It was lucky for Menie and Koko that nobody heard them say that about +the Angakok. It would have been thought very disrespectful. +</P> + +<P> +When the game grew scarce, or they got tired of camping in one spot +everything was piled into their boats again, and away they went up the +coast until they found another place they liked better. Then they would +set up their tents again. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes they came to other camps and had a good time meeting new +people and making new friends. +</P> + +<P> +At last, late in August, the sun slipped down below the edge of the +World again. It stayed just long enough to fill the sky with wonderful +red and gold sunset clouds, then it came up again. The next night there +was a little time between the sunset sky and the lovely colors of the +sunrise. +</P> + +<P> +The next night was longer still. Each day grew colder and colder. Still +the people lingered in their tents. They did not like to think the +pleasant summer was over, and the long night near. +</P> + +<P> +But at last Kesshoo said, "I think it is time to go back to winter +quarters. The nights are fast growing longer. The snow may be upon us +any day now. I don't know of a better place to settle than the village +where we spent last winter. The igloos are all built there ready to use +again. What do you say? Shall we go back there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, let us go back," they all said. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H4> + +<P> +The very next day they started. The boats were heavily loaded with +dried fish, there were great piles of new skins heaped in the +woman-boats, and every kyak towed a seal. +</P> + +<P> +For days they traveled along the coast, stopping only for rest and +food. The twins and Koko sat in the bottom of the boat with the dogs, +and listened to the regular dip of the paddles, to the cries of the +sea-birds as they flew away toward the south, and to the chatter of the +women. These were almost the only sounds they heard, for the silence of +the Great White World was all about them. They talked together in low +voices and planned all the things they would do when the long night was +really upon them once more. +</P> + +<P> +When at last they came in sight of the Big Rock, they felt as if they +had reached home after a very long journey. +</P> + +<P> +Koko stood up in the boat and pointed to it. "See," he cried, "there's +the Big Rock where we found the bear!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Monnie said, "and where we slid downhill." +</P> + +<P> +"And I see where I got caught on the ice raft," Menie shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down," said Koko's mother. "You'll tip the boat and spill us all +into the water." +</P> + +<P> +Koko sat down; the boat glided along through the water, nearer and +nearer, until at last they came round the Big Rock, and there, just as +if they had not been away at all, lay the whole village of five igloos, +looking as if it had gone to sleep in the sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +The big boats waited until the men had all paddled to the shore and +beached their kyaks, then they were drawn carefully up on to the sand, +and every one got out. The beach at once became a very busy place. The +men pulled the walruses and seals out of the water and took care of the +boats, while the women set up the tents, cut the meat into big pieces +for storage, and carried all their belongings to the tents. +</P> + +<P> +Although the village looked just the same, other things looked quite +different. Nip and Tup were big dogs by this time. They ran away up the +beach with Tooky and the other dogs the moment they were out of the +boats. They did not stay with the twins all the time now, as they used +to do. The twins were much bigger, too. Koolee looked at them as they +helped her carry the tent-skins up from the beach, and said to them, +"My goodness, I must make my needles fly! Winter is upon us and your +clothes are getting too small for you! You must have new things right +away." The twins thought this was a very good idea. They liked new +clothes as well as any one in the world. +</P> + +<P> +Koolee set up the tent beside their old igloo, and there they lived +while the men of the village went out every day in their kyaks for seal +and walrus, or back into the hills after other game to store away for +food during the long winter. The women scraped and cured the skins and +cut up the meat and packed it away as fast as the men could kill the +game and bring it home. +</P> + +<P> +Each day it grew colder, and each night was longer than the last, until +one short September day there came a great snow storm! It snowed all +day long, and that night the wind blew so hard that Koolee and the +twins nearly froze even among the fur covers of their bed, and when +morning came they found themselves nearly buried under a great drift. +</P> + +<P> +That very day Koolee put the stones over the roof of the igloo once +more, and the twins helped her fill in the chinks with moss and earth, +and cover it with a heavy layer of snow, patted down with the snow +shovel, until everything was snug and tight again. +</P> + +<P> +Then they moved in. By the next day all the igloos in the village were +in use, and when night came their windows shone with the light of the +lamps, just as they had so many months before. +</P> + +<P> +Nip and Tup slept outside with Tooky now, in a snow house which Kesshoo +had built for them. Menie and Monnie missed them, but Koolee said, "You +are getting so big now you must begin to do something besides play with +puppies. Monnie must learn to sew, and Menie must help Father with +feeding the dogs and looking after their harnesses, and driving the +sledge." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe Father will teach you both to carve fine things out of ivory +this winter! Monnie will soon need her own thimble and needles. They +must be made. And she can help me clean the skins and suck out the +blubber, and prepare them for being made into clothes!" +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me! what a lot there is to do to keep clothes on our backs and +food in our mouths! The Giants are always waiting before the igloo and +we must work very hard to keep them outside!" +</P> + +<P> +She did not mean real giants. She meant that Hunger and Want are always +waiting to seize the Eskimo who does not work all the time to supply +food for himself and his family. She meant that Menie must learn to be +a brave strong hunter, afraid of nothing on sea or land, and that +Monnie must learn to do a woman's work well, or else the time would +come when they would be without food or shelter or clothing, and the +fierce cold would soon make an end of them. +</P> + +<P> +It was lucky they got into the warm igloo just when they did, for the +winter had come to stay. The bay froze over far out from shore, and the +white snow covered the igloos so completely that if it had not been for +the windows, and for people moving about out of doors, no one could +have told that there was any village there. +</P> + +<P> +The Last Day of all was so short that Menie and Monnie and Koko saw the +whole of it from the top of the Big Rock! They had gone up there in the +gray twilight that comes before the sunrise to build a snow house to +play in. They had been there only a little while when the sky grew all +rosy just over the Edge of the World. The color grew stronger and +stronger until the little stars were all drowned in it and then up came +the great round red face of the sun itself! The children watched it as +it peered over the horizon, threw long blue shadows behind them across +the snow, and then sank slowly, slowly down again, leaving only the +flaming colors in the sky to mark the place where it had been. They +waved their hands as it slipped out of sight. "Good bye, old Sun," they +shouted, "and good bye, Shadow, too! We shall be glad to see you both +when you come back again." +</P> + +<P> +Then, because the wind blew very cold and they could see a snow cloud +coming toward them from the Great White World where the Giants lived, +the children ran together down the snowy slope toward the bright +windows of their homes. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="suggest"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS +</H3> + +<P> +To arouse the children's interest and thus to make the reading of this +story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested that at the +outset the children be allowed to look at the pictures in the book in +order to get acquainted with "Menie" and "Monnie" and with the scenes +illustrating their home life and surroundings. +</P> + +<P> +During the reading, point out the North Pole, Greenland, etc., on a map +of the world or on a globe, and tell the children something about the +many years of effort before Peary succeeded in reaching his goal; also +about the work of subsequent explorers in this part of the world, and +around the South Pole as well. Thus this supplementary reading material +may be connected with the work in geography. +</P> + +<P> +The text is so simply written that the second grade child can read it +without much or any preparation. It may be well to have the children +read it first in a study period in order to work out the pronunciation +of the more difficult words. But many classes will be able to read it +at sight, without the preparatory study. The possibilities in the story +for dramatization and for language and constructive work will be +immediately apparent. +</P> + +<P> +In connection with the reading of the book, teachers should tell to the +children stories describing Eskimo life, and the experiences of +explorers and pioneers in the North. Grenfell's Adrift on an Ice-Pan is +suitable, for example. Holbrook's Northland Heroes and Schultz's +Sinopah, the Indian Boy, while not belonging to the land of the +Eskimos, contain stories of allied interest. Let the children bring to +class pictures of scenes in the North, clipped from magazines and +newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +The unique illustrations in The Eskimo Twins should be much used, both +in the reading of the story and in other ways. Children will enjoy +sketching some of them; their simple treatment makes them especially +useful for this purpose. +</P> + +<P> +The book is printed on paper which will take watercolor well, and where +the books are individually owned some of the sketches could be used for +coloring in flat washes. They also afford suggestions for action +sketching by the children. +</P> + +<P> +An excellent oral language exercise would be for the children, after +they have read the story, to take turns telling the story from the +illustrations; and a good composition exercise would be for each child +to select the illustration that he would like to write upon, make a +sketch of it, and write the story in his own words. +</P> + +<P> +These are only a few of the many ways that will occur to resourceful +teachers for making the book a valuable as well as an enjoyable +exercise in reading. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESKIMO TWINS *** + +***** This file should be named 3774-h.htm or 3774-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/3774/ + +Produced by Lynn Hill. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Eskimo Twins + +Author: Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Posting Date: March 10, 2009 [EBook #3774] +Release Date: February, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESKIMO TWINS *** + + + + +Produced by Lynn Hill. Dedicated to Miriam Kilmer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +THE ESKIMO TWINS + + +by + +Lucy Fitch Perkins + + + + +INTRODUCTION--THE ESKIMO TWINS + + I. THE TWINS GO COASTING + II. KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + III. THE TWINS GO FISHING + IV. THE SNOW HOUSE + V. THE FEAST + VI. THE REINDEER HUNT + VII. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES + VIII. THE WOMAN-BOATS + IX. THE VOYAGE + X. THE SUMMER DAY + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + + + + +THE ESKIMO TWINS + + +This is the true story of Menie and Monnie and their two little dogs, +Nip and Tup. + +Menie and Monnie are twins, and they live far away in the North, near +the very edge. + +They are five years old. + +Menie is the boy, and Monnie is the girl. But you cannot tell which is +Menie and which is Monnie,--not even if you look ever so hard at their +pictures! + +That is because they dress alike. + +When they are a little way off even their own mother can't always tell. +And if she can't, who can? + +Sometimes the twins almost get mixed up about it themselves. And then +it is very hard to know which is Nip and which is Tup, because the +little dogs are twins too. + +Nobody was surprised that the little dogs were twins, because dogs +often are. + +But everybody in the whole village where Menie and Monnie live was +simply astonished to see twin babies! + +They had never known of any before in their whole lives. + +Old Akla, the Angakok, or Medicine Man of the village, shook his head +when he heard about them. He said, "Such a thing never happened here +before. Seals and human beings never have twins! There's magic in this." + +The name of the twins' father was Kesshoo. If you say it fast it sounds +just like a sneeze. + +Their mother's name was Koolee. Kesshoo and Koolee, and Menie and +Monnie, and Nip and Tup, all live together in the cold Arctic winter in +a little stone hut, called an "igloo." + +In the summer they live in a tent, which they call a "tupik." The +winters are very long and cold, and what do you think! They have one +night there that is four whole months long! + +For four long months, while we are having Thanksgiving, and Christmas, +and even Lincoln's Birthday, the twins never once see the sun! + +But at last one day in early spring the sun comes up again out of the +sea, looks at the world for a little while, and then goes out of sight +again. Each day he stays for a longer time until after a while he +doesn't go out of sight at all! + +Then there are four long months of daylight when there is never any +bedtime. Menie and Monnie just go to sleep whenever they feel sleepy. + +Although many Eskimos think twins bring bad luck, Kesshoo and Koolee +were very glad to have two babies. + +They would have liked it better still if Monnie had been a boy, too, +because boys grow up to hunt and fish and help get food for the family. + +But Kesshoo was the best hunter and the best kyak man in the whole +village. So he said to Koolee, "I suppose there must be girls in the +world. It is no worse for us than for others." + +So because Kesshoo was a brave fisherman and strong hunter, and because +Koolee was clever in making clothing and shoes out of the skins of the +animals which he brought home, the twins had the very best time that +little Eskimo children can have. + +And that is quite a good time, as you will see if you read all about it +in this book. + + + + +I. THE TWINS GO COASTING + +THE TWINS GO COASTING + +I. + + +One spring morning, very early, while the moon still shone and every +one else in the village was asleep, Menie and Monnie crept out of the +dark entrance of their little stone house by the sea. + +The entrance to their little stone house was long and low like a +tunnel. The Twins were short and fat. But even if they were short they +could not stand up straight in the tunnel. + +So they crawled out on all fours. Nip and Tup came with them. Nip and +Tup were on all fours, too, but they had run that way all their lives, +so they could go much faster than the twins. They got out first. + +Then they ran round in circles in the snow and barked at the moon. When +Menie and Monnie came out of the hole, Tup jumped up to lick Monnie's +face. He bumped her so hard that she fell right into the snowbank by +the entrance. + +Monnie didn't mind a bit. She just put her two fat arms around Tup, and +they rolled over together in the snow. + +Monnie had on her fur suit, with fur hood and mittens, and it was hard +to tell which was Monnie and which was Tup as they tumbled in the snow +together. + +Pretty soon Monnie picked herself up and shook off the snow. Then Tup +shook himself, too. Menie was rolling over and over down the slope in +front of the little stone house. His head was between his knees and his +hands held his ankles, so he rolled just like a ball. + +Nip was running round and round him and barking with all his might. +They made strange shadows on the snow in the moonlight. + +Monnie called to Menie. Menie straightened himself out at the bottom of +the slope, picked himself up and ran back to her. + +"What shall we play?" said Monnie. + +"Let's get Koko, and go to the Big Rock and slide downhill," said Menie. + +"All right," said Monnie. "You run and get your sled." + +Menie had a little sled which his father had made for him out of +driftwood. No other boy in the village had one. Menie's father had +searched the beach for many miles to find driftwood to make this sled. + +The Eskimos have no wood but driftwood, and it is so precious that it +is hardly ever used for anything but big dog sledges or spears, or +other things which the men must have. + +Most of the boys had sleds cut from blocks of ice. Menie's sled was +behind the igloo. He ran to get it, and then the twins and the +pups--all four--started for Koko's house. + +Koko's house was clear at the other end of the village. But that was +not far away, for there were only five igloos in the whole town. + +First there was the igloo where the twins lived. Next was the home of +Akla, the Angakok, and his two wives. Then there were two igloos where +several families lived together. Last of all was the one where Koko and +his father and mother and baby brother lived. + +Koko was six. He was the twins' best friend. + + +II. + +The air was very still. There was not a sound anywhere except the +barking of the pups, the voices of Menie and Monnie, and the creaking +sound of the snow under their feet as they ran. + +The round moon was sailing through the deep blue sky and shining so +bright it seemed almost as light as day. + +There was one window in each igloo right over the tunnel entrance, and +these windows shone with a dull yellow light. + +In front of the village lay the sea. It was covered with ice far out +from shore. Beyond the ice was the dark water out of which the sun +would rise by and by. + +There was nothing else to be seen in all the twins' world. There were +no trees, no bushes even; nothing but the white earth, the shadows of +the rocks and the snow-covered igloos, the bright windows, and the moon +shining over all. + + +III. + +Menie and Monnie soon reached Koko's igloo. Menie and Nip got there +first. Monnie came puffing along with Tup just a moment after. + +Then the twins dropped on their hands and knees in front of Koko's hut, +and stuck their heads into the tunnel. Nip and Tup stuck their heads +in, too. + +They all four listened. There was not a sound to be heard except loud +snores! The snores came rattling through the tunnel with such a +frightful noise that the twins were almost scared. + +"They sleep out loud, don't they?" whispered Monnie. + +"Let's wake them up," Menie whispered back. + +Then the twins began to bark. "Ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi," just like +little dogs! + +Nip and Tup began to yelp, too. The snores and the yelps met in the +middle of the tunnel and the two together made such a dreadful sound +that Koko woke up at once. When he heard four barks he knew right away +that it must be the twins and the little dogs. + +So he stuck his head into the other end of the tunnel and called, "Keep +still. You'll wake the baby! I'll be there in a minute." + +Very soon Koko popped out of the black hole. He was dressed in a fur +suit and mittens just like the twins. + + +IV. + +The three children went along together toward the Big Rock. Monnie rode +on the sled, and Menie and Koko pulled it. The Big Rock was very +straight up and down on one side, and long and slanting on the other. +The twins were going to coast down the slanting side. + +They climbed to the top, and Menie had the first ride. He coasted down +on his stomach with his little reindeer-skin kamiks (shoes) waving in +the air. + +Next Koko had a turn. What do you think he did? He stood straight up on +the sled with the leather cord in his hand, and slid down that way! But +then, you see, he was six. + +When Monnie's turn came she wanted to go down that way, too. But Menie +said, "No. You'd fall off and bump your nose! You have hardly any nose +as it is, and you'd better save it!" + +"I have as much nose as you have, anyway," said Monnie. + +"Mine is bigger! I'm a boy!" said Menie. + +Koko measured their noses with his finger. + +"They are just exactly alike," he said. + +Monnie turned hers up at Menie and said, "What did I tell you?" + +Menie never said another word about noses. He just changed the subject. +He said, "Let's all slide down at once." + +Koko and Menie sat down on the sled. Monnie sat on Menie. Then they +gave a few hitches to the sled and off they went. + +Whiz! How they flew! + +The pups came running after them. In some places where it was very +slippery the pups coasted, too! But they did not mean to. They did not +like it. The sled was almost at the end of the slide when it struck a +piece of ice. It flew around sideways and spilled all the children in +the snow. + +Just then Nip and Tup came sliding along behind them. They couldn't +stop, so there they all were in a heap together, with the dogs on top! + +Menie rolled over and sat up in the snow. He was holding on to the end +of his nose. "Iyi, iyi!" he howled, "I bumped my nose on a piece of +ice!" + +Monnie sat up in the snow, too. She pointed her fur mitten at Menie's +nose and laughed. "Don't you know you haven't much nose?" she said. +"You ought to be more careful of it!" + +Koko kicked his feet in the air and laughed at Menie, and the little +dogs barked. Menie thought he'd better laugh, too. He had just let go +of his nose to begin when all of a sudden the little dogs stopped +barking and stood very still! + +Their hair stood up on their necks and they began to growl! + +"Hark, the dogs see something," said Menie. + +Monnie and Koko stopped laughing and listened. They could not hear +anything. They could not see anything. Still Nip and Tup growled. The +twins and Koko were children of brave hunters, so, although they were +scared, they crept very quietly to the side of the Big Rock and peeped +over. + +Just that minute there was a dreadful growl! "Woof!" It was very loud, +and very near, and down on the beach a shadow was moving! It was the +shadow of a great white BEAR! + +He was looking for fish and was cross because everything was frozen, +and he could not find any on the beach. + +The moment they saw him, the twins and Koko turned and ran for home as +fast as ever their short legs could go! They did not even stop to get +the precious sled. They just ran and ran. + +Nip and Tup ran, too, with their ears back and their little tails stuck +straight out behind them! + +If they had looked back, they would have seen the bear stand up on his +hind legs and look after them, then get down on all fours and start +toward the Big Rock on a run. + +But neither the children nor the little dogs looked back! They just ran +with all their might until they reached the twins' igloo. Then they all +dived into the tunnel like frightened rabbits. + + +V. + +When they came up in the one little room of the igloo at the other end +of the tunnel Kesshoo and Koolee were just crawling out of the warm fur +covers of their bed. Menie and Monnie and Koko and the little dogs all +began to talk at once. + +The moment the twins' father and mother heard the word--bear--they +jumped off the sleeping-bench and began to put on their clothes. + +They both wore fur trousers and long kamiks, with coats of fur, so they +looked almost as much alike in their clothes as the twins did in theirs. + +The mother always wore her hair in a topknot on top of her head, tied +with a leather thong. But now she wanted to make the bear think she was +a man, too, so she pulled it down and let it hang about her face, just +as her husband did. + +In two minutes they were ready. Then the father reached for his lance, +the mother took her knife, and they all crawled out of the tunnel. + +The father went first, then the mother, then the three children and the +pups. At the opening of the tunnel the father stopped, and looked all +around to see if the bear were near. + +The dogs in the village knew by this time that some strange animal was +about, and the moment Kesshoo came out into the moonlight and started +for the Big Rock, all the dogs ran, too, howling like a pack of wolves. + +Kesshoo shouted back to his wife, "There really is a bear! I see him by +the Big Rock; call the others." + +So she sent Monnie into the igloo of the Angakok, and Menie and Koko +into the next huts. She herself screamed, "A bear! A bear!" into the +tunnel of Koko's hut. + +The people in the houses had heard the dogs bark and were already +awake. Soon they came pouring out of their tunnels armed with knives +and lances. The women had all let down their hair, just as the twins' +mother did. Each one carried her knife. + +They all ran toward the Big Rock, too. Far ahead they could see the +bear, and the dogs bounding along, and Kesshoo running with his lance +in his hand. + +Then they saw the dogs spring upon the bear. The bear stood up on his +hind legs and tried to catch the dogs and crush them in his arms. But +the dogs were too nimble. The bear could not catch them. + +When Kesshoo came near, the bear gave a great roar, and started for +him. The brave Kesshoo stood still with his lance in his hand, until +the bear got quite near. Then he ran at the bear and plunged the lance +into his side. The lance pierced the bear's heart. He groaned, fell to +the ground, rolled over, and was still. + +Then how everybody ran! Koko's mother had her baby in her hood, where +Eskimo mothers always carry their babies. She could not run so fast as +the others. The Angakok was fat, so he could not keep up, but he +waddled along as fast as he could. + +"Hurry, hurry," he called to his wives. "Bespeak one of his hind legs +for me." + +Menie and Monnie and Koko had such short legs they could not go very +fast either, so they ran along with the Angakok, and Koko's mother, and +Nip and Tup. + +When they reached the bear they found all the other people crowded +around it. Each one stuck his fingers in the bear's blood and then +sucked his fingers. This was because they wanted all bears to know how +they longed to kill them. As each one tasted the blood he called out +the part of the bear he would like to have. + +The wives of the Angakok cried, "Give a hind leg to the Angakok." + +"The kidneys for Koko," cried Koko's mother when she stuck in her +finger. "That will make him a great bear-hunter when he is big." + +"And I will have the skin for the twins' bed," said their mother. + +Kesshoo promised each one the part he asked for. An Eskimo never keeps +the game he kills for himself alone. Every one in the village has a +share. + +The bear was very large. He was so large that though all the women +pulled together they could not drag the body back to the village. The +men laughed at them, but they did not help them. + +So Koolee ran back for their sledge and harnesses for the dogs. Koko +and Menie helped her catch the dogs and hitch them to the sledge. + +It took some time to catch them for the dogs did not want to work. They +all ran away, and Tooky, the leader of the team, pretended to be sick! +Tooky was the mother of Nip and Tup, and she was a very clever dog. +While Koolee and Koko and Menie were getting the sledge and dog-team +ready, the rest of the women set to work with their queer crooked +knives to take off the bear's skin. The moon set, and the sky was red +with the colors of the dawn before this was done. + +At last the meat was cut in pieces and Kesshoo and Koko's father held +the dogs while the women heaped it on the sledge. The dogs wanted the +meat. They jumped and howled and tried to get away. + +When everything was ready, Koolee cracked the whip at the dogs. Tooky +ran ahead to her place as leader, the other dogs began to pull, and the +whole procession started back to the village, leaving a great red stain +on the clean white snow where the bear had been killed. + +Last of all came the twins and Koko. They had loaded the bear's skin on +Menie's sled. + +"It's a woman's work to pull the meat home. We men just do the hunting +and fishing," Menie said to Koko. They had heard the men say that. + +"Yes, we found the bear," Koko answered. "Monnie can pull the skin +home." + +And though Monnie had found the bear just as much as they had, she +didn't say a word. She just pulled away on the sled, and they all +reached the igloo together just as the round red sun came up out of the +sea, and threw long blue shadows far across the fields of snow. + + + + +II. KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +I. + + +The first thing that was done after they got the sledge back to the +village was to feed the dogs. The dogs were very hungry; they had +smelled the fresh meat for a long time without so much as a bite of it, +and they had had nothing to eat for two whole days. They jumped about +and howled again and got their harnesses dreadfully tangled. + +Kesshoo unharnessed them and gave them some bones, and while they were +crunching them and quarreling among themselves, Koolee crawled into the +igloo and brought out a bowl. The bowl was made of a hollowed-out +stone, and it had water in it. + +"This is for a charm," said Koolee. "If you each take a sip of water +from this bowl my son will always have good luck in spying bears!" + +She passed the bowl around, and each person took a sip of the water. +When Menie's turn came he took a big, big mouthful, because he wanted +to be very brave, indeed, and find a bear every week. But he was in too +much of a hurry. The water went down his "Sunday-throat" and choked +him! He coughed and strangled and his face grew red. Koolee thumped him +on the back. + +"That's a poor beginning for a great bear-hunter," she said. + +Everybody laughed at Menie. Menie hated to be laughed at. He went away +and found Nip and Tup. They wouldn't laugh at him, he knew. He thought +he liked dogs better than people anyway. + +Nip and Tup were trying to get their noses into the circle with the +other dogs, but the big dogs snapped at them and drove them away, so +Menie got some scraps and fed them. + +Meanwhile Koolee stood by the sledge and divided the meat among her +neighbors. First she gave one of the hind legs to the wives of the +Angakok, because he always had to have the best of everything. She gave +the kidneys to Koko's mother. To each one she gave just the part she +had asked for. When each woman had been given her share, Kesshoo took +what was left and put it on the storehouse. + +The storehouse wasn't really a house at all. It was just a great stone +platform standing up on legs, like a giant's table. The meat was placed +on the top of it, so the dogs could not reach it, no matter how high +they jumped. + + +II. + +When the rest of the meat was taken care of, Koolee took the bear's +head and carried it into the igloo. + +All the people followed her. Then Koolee did a queer thing. She placed +the head on a bench, with the nose pointing toward the Big Rock, +because the bear had come from that direction. Then she stopped up the +nostrils with moss and grease. She greased the bear's mouth, too. + +"Bears like grease," she said. "And if I stop up his nose like that +bears will never be able to smell anything. Then the hunters can get +near and kill them before they know it." You see Koolee was a great +believer in signs and in magic. All the other people were too. + +She called to the twins, "Come here, Menie and Monnie." + +The twins had come in with the others, but they were so short they were +out of sight in the crowd. They crawled under the elbows of the grown +people and stood beside Koolee. + +"Look, children," she said to them, "your grandfather, who is dead, +sent you this bear. He wants you to send him something. In five days +the bear's spirit will go to the land where your grandfather's spirit +lives. What would you like to have the bear's spirit take to your +grandfather for a gift?" + +"I'll send him the little fish that father carved for me out of bone," +said Menie. He squirmed through the crowd and got it from a corner of +his bed and brought it to his mother. She put it on the bear's head. + +Monnie gave her a leather string with a lucky stone tied to it. Koolee +put that on the bear's head too. + +Then she said, "There! In five days' time the bear's spirit will give +the shadows of these things to your grandfather. Then we can eat the +head, but not until we are sure the bear's spirit has reached the home +of the Dead." + +"That is well," the Angakok said to the twins, when Koolee had +finished. "Your grandfather will be pleased with your presents, I know. +Your grandfather was a just man. I knew him well. He always paid great +respect to me. Whenever he brought a bear home he gave me not only a +hind leg, but the liver as well! I should not be surprised if he sent +the bear this way, knowing how fond I am of bear's liver." + +The Angakok placed his hand on his stomach and rolled up his eyes. "But +times are not what they once were," he went on. "People care now only +for their own stomachs! They would rather have the liver themselves +than give it to the Angakok! They will be sorry when it is too late." + +He shook his head and heaved a great sigh. Koolee looked at Kesshoo. +She was very anxious. Kesshoo went out at once to the storehouse. He +climbed to the top and got the liver. + +By this time all the people had crawled out of the igloo again, and +were ready to carry home their meat. Kesshoo ran to the Angakok and +gave him the bear's liver. The Angakok handed it to one of his wives to +carry. The other one already had the bear's leg. He said to Kesshoo, +"You are a just man, like your father. I know the secrets of the sun, +moon, and stars. You know your duty! You shall have your reward." He +looked very solemn and waddled away toward his igloo with the two wives +behind him carrying the meat. All the rest of the people followed after +him and went into their own igloos. + + + + +III. THE TWINS GO FISHING + +THE TWINS GO FISHING + +I. + + +When the people had all gone away, Menie and Monnie sat down on the +side of the sledge. Nip and Tup were busy burying bones in the snow. +The other dogs had eaten all they wanted to and were now lying down +asleep in the sun, with their noses on their paws. + +Everything was still and cold. It was so still you could almost hear +the silence, and so bright that the twins had to squint their eyes. In +the air there was a faint smell of cooking meat. + +Menie sniffed. "I'm so hungry I could eat my boots," he said. + +"There are better things to eat than boots," Monnie answered. "What +would you like best of everything in the world if you could have it?" + +"A nice piece of blubber from a walrus or some reindeer tallow," said +Menie. + +"Oh, no," Monnie cried. "That isn't half as good as reindeer's stomach, +or fishes' eyes! Um-m how I love fishes' eyes! I tell you, Menie, let's +get something to eat and then go fishing, before the sun goes down!" + +"All right," said Menie. "Let's see if Mother won't give us a piece of +bear's fat! That is almost as good as blubber or fishes' eyes." + + +II. + +They dived into the igloo. Their mother was standing beside the oil +lamp, putting strands of dried moss into the oil. This lamp was their +only stove and their only light. It didn't look much like our stoves. +It was just a piece of soapstone, shaped something like a clamshell. It +was hollowed out so it would hold the oil. All along the shallow side +of the pan there were little tendrils of dried moss, like threads. +These were the wicks. + +Over the fire pan there was a rack, and from the rack a stone pan hung +down over the lamp flame. It was tied by leather thongs to the rack. In +the pan a piece of bear's meat was simmering. The fire was not big +enough to cook it very well, but there was a little steam rising from +it, and it made a very good smell for hungry noses. + +"We're hungry enough to eat our boots," Menie said to his mother. + +"You must never eat your boots; you have but one pair!" his mother +answered. She pinched Menie's cheek and laughed at him. + +Then she cut two chunks of fat from a piece of bear's meat which lay on +the bench. She gave one to each of the twins. "Eat this, and soon you +can have some cooked meat," she said. "It isn't quite done yet." + +"We don't want to wait for the cooked meat," cried Monnie. "We want to +go fishing before the sun is gone. Give us more fat and we'll eat it +outside." + +"You may go fishing if your father will go with you and cut holes for +you in the ice," said her mother. + +Koolee cut off two more pieces of fat. The twins took a piece in each +hand. Then their mother reached down their own little fishing rods, +which were stuck in the walls of the igloo. The twins had bear's meat +in both hands. They didn't see how they could manage the fishing rods +too. + +But Menie thought of a way. "I'll show you how," he said to Monnie. He +held one chunk of meat in his teeth! In his left hand he held the +fishing rod, in his right he carried the other piece of meat! + +Monnie did exactly what Menie did, and then they crawled down into the +tunnel. + + +III. + +The twins had some trouble getting out of the tunnel because both their +hands were full. And besides the fishing rods kept getting between +their legs. When they got outside they both took great bites of the +bear's fat. + +Kesshoo was hanging the dogs' harnesses up on a tall pole, where the +dogs could not get them. The pole was eight feet long, and it was made +of the tusk of a narwhal. The harnesses were made of walrus thongs and +the dogs would eat them if they had a chance. That was the reason +Kesshoo hung them out of reach. The twins ran to their father at once. +They began to tell him that they wanted to go fishing right away before +the sun went down but their mouths were so full they couldn't get the +words out! + +"Mm-m-m-m," Menie began, chewing with all his might! + +Then Monnie did a shocking thing! She swallowed her meat whole, she was +in such hurry! It made a great lump going down her throat! It almost +choked her. But she shut her eyes, jerked her head forward, and got it +down! + +"Will you make two holes in the ice for us to fish through?" she said. +She got the words out first! Then she took another bite of meat. + +"Have you got your lines ready, and anything for bait?" asked their +father. + +By this time Menie had swallowed his mouthful too. He said, "We can +take a piece of bear's meat for bait. The lines and hooks are ready." + +Kesshoo looked at the lines. The rods were very short. They were made +of driftwood with a piece of bone bound to the end by tough thongs. + +There was a hole in the end of the bone, and through this hole the line +was threaded. The line was made of braided reindeer thongs. On the end +of the line was a hook carved out of bone. + +"Your lines are all right," said Kesshoo. "Come along." + +He led the way down to the beach. The twins came tumbling after him, +and I am sorry to tell you they gobbled their meat all the way! After +the twins came Nip and Tup. The ice was very thick. Kesshoo and the +twins and the pups walked out on it quite a distance from the shore. + +Kesshoo cut two round holes in the ice. One was for Menie and one for +Monnie. The holes were not big enough for them to fall into. + +By this time the twins had eaten all their meat except some small +pieces which they saved for bait. They each put a piece of meat on the +hook. Then they squatted down on their heels and dropped the hooks into +the holes. + +Kesshoo went back to the village, and left them there. "Don't stay out +too long," he called back to them. + + +IV. + +The twins sat perfectly still for a long time. Nip sat beside Menie, +and Tup sat beside Monnie. It grew colder and colder. The sun began to +drop down toward the sea again. At last it rested like a great round +red wheel right on the Edge of the World! + +Slowly, slowly it sank until only a little bit of the red rim showed; +then that too was gone. Great splashes of red color came up in the sky +over the place where it had been. + +Still the twins sat patiently by their holes. It grew darker and +darker. The colors faded. The stars began to twinkle, but the twins did +not move. Nip and Tup ran races on the ice, and rolled over each other +and barked. + +At last--all of a sudden--there was a fearful jerk on Monnie's line! It +took her by surprise. The little rod flew right out of her hands! +Monnie flung herself on her stomach on the ice and caught the rod just +as it was going down the hole! She held on hard and pulled like +everything. + +"I believe I've caught a whale," she panted. + +But she never let go! She got herself right side up on the ice, +somehow, and pulled and pulled on her line. + +"Let me pull him in!" cried Menie. He tried to take her rod. + +"Get away," screamed Monnie. "I'll pull in my own fish." + +Menie danced up and down with excitement, still holding his own rod. +The pups danced and barked too. Monnie never looked at any of them. She +kept her eyes fixed on the hole and pulled. + +At last she shrieked, "I've got him, I've got him!" And up through the +hole came a great big codfish! + +My! how he did flop around on the ice! Nip and Tup were scared. They +ran for home at the first flop. + +"Let's go home now," said Monnie. "I want to show my fine big fish to +Mother." + +But Menie said, "Wait a little longer till I catch one! I'll give you +one eye out of my fish if you will." + +Monnie waited. She put another piece of meat on her hook and dropped it +again into the hole. After a while she said, "You can keep your old eye +if you get it. It's so dark the fish can't see to get themselves caught +anyway. I'm cold. I'm going home." + +Menie got up very slowly and pulled up his line. + +As they turned toward the shore, Monnie cried out, "Look, look! The sky +is on fire!" It looked like it, truly! + +Great white streamers were flashing from the Edge of the World, clear +up into the sky! They danced like flames. Sometimes they shot long +banners of blue or green fire up to the very stars. Overhead the sky +shone red as blood. The stars seemed blotted out. + +The twins had seen many wonderful things in the sky, but never such +color as this. Their eyes grew as round and big and popping as those of +Monnie's codfish, while they watched the long banners join themselves +into a great waving curtain of color that hung clear across the heavens. + +"What is it? Oh, what is it?" they gasped. They were too astonished to +move, and they were a good deal frightened, too. They never knew the +sky could act like that. + +Monnie felt her black hair rise under her little fur hood. She seized +Menie's coat. "Do you suppose the world is going to be burned up?" she +said. + +Just then they heard a voice calling, "Menie, Monnie, where are you?" + +"Here we are," they answered. Their teeth were chattering with cold and +fright, and they ran up the slope and flung themselves into their +mother's arms. + +"Oh, Mother, what is the matter with the sky?" they gasped. + +Then Koolee looked up too. The long streamers were still flinging +themselves up toward the red dome overhead. + +We call this the "aurora," or "northern lights," and know that +electricity causes it, but the twins' mother couldn't know that. She +told them just what had been told her when she was a little girl. + +She said, "That is the dance of the Spirits of the Dead! Haven't you +ever seen it before?" + +"Not like this," said the twins. "This is so big, and so red!" + +"The sky is not often so bright," said Koolee. "Some say it is the +spirits of little children dancing and playing together in the sky! +They will not hurt you. You need not be afraid. See how they dance in a +ring all around the Edge of the World! They look as if they were having +fun." + +"It goes around the Edge of the World just like the flames around our +lamp," said Menie. "Maybe it's the Giants' lamp!" + +Menie and Monnie believed in Giants. So did their mother. They thought +the Giants lived in the middle of the Great White World, where the snow +never melts. + +The thought of the Giants scared them all. The twins gave the fish to +their mother, and then they all three scuttled up the snowy slope +toward the bright window of their igloo just as fast as they could go. +When they got inside they found some hot bear's meat waiting for them, +and Monnie had both the eyes from her fish to eat. But she gave one to +Menie. + +When they were warmed and fed, they pulled off their little fur suits, +crawled into the piles of warm skins on the sleeping bench, and in two +minutes were sound asleep. + + + + +IV. THE SNOW HOUSE + +THE SNOW HOUSE + +I. + + +It is very hard to tell what day it is, or what hour in the day, in a +place where the days and nights are all mixed up, and where there are +no clocks. + +Menie and Monnie had never seen a clock in their whole lives. If they +had they would have thought it was alive, and perhaps would have been +afraid of it. + +But people everywhere in the world get sleepy, so the Eskimos sometimes +count their time by "sleeps." Instead of saying five days ago, they say +"five sleeps" ago. + +The night after the bear was killed it began to snow. The wind howled +around the igloo and piled the snow over it in huge drifts. + +The dogs were buried under it and had to be dug out, all but Nip and +Tup. They stayed inside with the twins and slept in their bed. + +The twins and their father and mother were glad to stay in the warm hut. + +At last the snow stopped, the air cleared, and the twins and Kesshoo +went out. Koolee stayed in the igloo. + +She sat on her sleeping bench upon a pile of soft furs. A bear's skin +was stretched up on the wall behind her. She had a cozy nest to work in. + +The lamp stood on the bench beside her. She was making a beautiful new +suit for Menie. It was made of fawn-skin as soft as velvet, and the +hood and sleeves were trimmed with white rabbit's fur. + +Her thimble was made of ivory, and her needle too. Her thread was a +fine strip of hide. There was a bunch of such thread beside her. + +Soon Kesshoo came in, bringing with him a dried fish and a piece of +bear's meat, from the storehouse. + +Koolee looked up from her sewing. "Isn't it five sleeps since you +killed the bear?" she said. + +Kesshoo counted on his fingers. "Yes," he said, "it is five sleeps." + +"Then it is time to eat the bear's head," said Koolee. "His spirit is +now with our fathers." + +"Why not have a feast?" said Kesshoo. "There hasn't been any fresh meat +in the village since the bear was killed, and I don't believe the rest +have had anything to eat but dried fish. We have plenty of bear's meat +still." + +Koolee hopped down off the bench and put some more moss into the lamp. + +"You bring in the meat," she said, "and tell the twins to go to all the +igloos and invite the people to come at sunset." + +"All right," Kesshoo answered, and he went out at once to the +storehouse to get the meat. + + +II. + +When he came out of the tunnel, Kesshoo found the twins trying to make +a snow house for the dogs. They weren't getting on very well. + +Kesshoo could make wonderful snow houses. He had made a beautiful one +when the first heavy snows of winter had come, and the family had lived +in it while Koolee finished building the stone igloo. The twins had +watched him make it. It seemed so easy they were sure they could do it +too. Kesshoo said, "If you will run to all the igloos and tell the +people to come at sunset to eat the bear's head, I will help you build +the snow house for the dogs." + +Menie and Monnie couldn't run. Nobody could. The snow was too deep. +They went in every step above their knees. But they ploughed along and +gave their message at each igloo. + +Everybody was very glad to come, and Koko said, "I'll come right now +and stay if you want me to." + +"Come along," said the twins. + +They went back to their own house, kicking the snow to make a path. +Koko went with them. The snow was just the right kind for a snow house. +It packed well and made good blocks. + +While the twins were away giving the invitations, Kesshoo carried great +pieces of bear's meat into the house. + +Koolee put in the cooking pan all the meat it would hold, and kept the +blaze bright in the lamp underneath to cook it. + +Then Kesshoo took his long ivory knife and went out to help the twins +with the snow house, as he had promised. + +"See, this is the way," he said to them. + +He took an unbroken patch of snow where no one had stepped. He made a +wide sweep of his arm and marked a circle in the snow with his knife. + +The circle was just as big as he meant the house to be. Then he cut out +blocks of snow from the space inside the circle. He placed these big +blocks of snow around the circle on the line he had marked with his +knife. + +When he got the first row done Menie said, "I can do that! Let me try." + +He took the knife and cut out a block. It wasn't nice and even like his +father's blocks. + +"That will never do," his father said. "Your house will tumble down +unless your blocks are true." + +He made the sides of the block straight by cutting off some of the snow. + +"Now all the other blocks in this row must be just like this one," he +said. Koko tried next. His block was almost right the first time. But +then, as I have told you before, Koko was six. + +Monnie tried the next one. I am sorry to say hers wouldn't do at all. +It was dreadfully crooked. They took turns. Menie cut a new block while +Koko placed the last one on the snow wall. + +Kesshoo had to put on the top blocks to make the roof. Neither Koko nor +Menie could do it right, though they tried and tried. It is a very hard +thing to do. When the blocks were all laid up and the dome finished, +Kesshoo said, "Now, Monnie can help pack it with snow." + +Monnie got the snow shovel. The snow shovel was made of three flat +pieces of wood sewed together with leather thongs. It had an edge of +horn sewed on with thongs, too. + +Monnie threw loose snow on the snow house and spatted it down with the +back of the shovel. + +While she was doing this, Menie and Koko built a tunnel entrance for +the dogs just like the big one on the stone house. + +They worked so hard they were warm as toast, though it was as cold as +our coldest winter weather; and when it was all finished Menie ran +clear over it just to show how strong and well built it was. + + +III. + +When the snow house was all ready, Menie called the three big dogs. +Tooky was the leader, and the three dogs together were Kesshoo's sledge +team. Tooky was a hunting dog too. + +When Menie called the dogs, the dogs thought they were going to be +harnessed, so they hid behind the igloo and pretended they didn't hear. +Koko and Menie followed them, but the moment they got near, the dogs +bounded away. They went round to the front of the igloo and ran into +the tunnel. + +Koolee was just turning the meat in the pan with a pointed stick. There +was a piece of bear's meat lying on the bench. + +The dogs smelled the meat. They stuck their heads into the room, and +when Koolee's back was turned, Tooky stole the meat! + +Just then Koolee turned around. She saw Tooky. She shrieked, "Oh, my +meat, my meat!" and whacked Tooky across the nose with the snow stick! + +But Tooky was bound to have the meat. She ran out of the tunnel with it +in her mouth, just as Menie and Koko got round to the front of the +igloo once more. + +"I-yi! I-yi!" they screamed, "Tooky's got the meat!" Kesshoo caught up +his dog-whip and came running from the storehouse. + +The other two dogs wanted the meat too. They flew at Tooky and snarled +and fought with her to get it. + +Then Koolee's head appeared in the tunnel hole! Tooky was crouching in +the snow in front of the tunnel, trying to fight off the other two dogs +and guard the meat at the same time. + +She wasn't doing a thing with her tail, but she was very busy with all +the rest of her. Her tail was pointed right toward the tunnel. + +The moment she saw it Koolee seized the tail with both hands and jerked +it like everything! Tooky was so surprised she yelped. And when she +opened her mouth to yelp, of course she dropped the meat. + +Just at that instant Kesshoo's whip lash came singing about the ears of +all three dogs. + +"Snap, snap," it went. They jumped to get out of the way of the lash. + +Then Koolee leaped forward and snatched the meat from under their +noses, and scuttled back with it into the tunnel before you could say +Jack Robinson. + +It is dangerous to snatch meat away from hungry dogs. If Kesshoo hadn't +been slashing at them with his whip, and if Menie and Koko hadn't been +screaming at them with all their might, so the dogs were nearly +distracted, Koolee might have been badly bitten. + +Just then Monnie came up with some dried fish. She threw one of the +fish over in front of the snow house. + +The dogs saw it and leaped for it. Then she threw another into the snow +hut itself. They went after that. She fed them all with dried fish +until they were so full they curled up in the snow house and went to +sleep. + + + + +V. THE FEAST + +THE FEAST + +I + + +The moment the sun had gone out of sight all the people in the village +came pouring out of their tunnels on their way to the feast at +Kesshoo's house. + +Kesshoo's house was so small that it seemed as if all the people could +not possibly get into it. + +But the Eskimos are used to crowding into very small spaces, indeed. +Sometimes a man and his wife and all his children will live in a space +about the size of a big double bed. + +First the Angakok came out of his igloo, looking fatter than ever. The +Angakok always found plenty to eat somehow. Both his wives were thin. +Their faces looked like baked apples all brown and wrinkled. + +When they reached Kesshoo's house, the Angakok went into the tunnel +first. + +Now I can't tell you whether he had grown fatter during the five days, +or whether the entrance had grown smaller, but this much I know: the +Angakok got stuck! He couldn't get himself into the room no matter how +much he tried! He squirmed and wriggled and twisted, until his face was +very red and he looked as if he would burst, but there he stayed. + +Other people had crawled into the tunnel after him. His two wives were +just behind. Everybody got stuck, of course, because no one could move +until the Angakok did. He was just like a cork in the neck of a bottle. + +Kesshoo and Koolee and the twins and Nip and Tup were all in the igloo. +When they saw the Angakok's face come through the hole they thought, of +course, the rest of him would come too. But it didn't, and the Angakok +was mad about it. + +"Why don't they build igloos the way they used to?" he growled. "Every +year the tunnels get smaller and smaller! Am I to remain here forever?" +he went on. "Why doesn't somebody help me?" + +Kesshoo and Koolee seized him under his arms. They pulled and pulled. +The two wives pushed him from behind. + +"I-yi! I-yi!" screamed the Angakok. "You will scrape my skin off!" + +He kicked out behind with his feet. His wives backed hastily, to get +out of the way. That made them bump into Koko's mother who was just +behind them. Her baby was in her hood, and when she backed, the baby's +head was bumped on the roof of the tunnel. + +The baby began to roar. In the tunnel it sounded like a clap of +thunder. The wives of the Angakok and Koko's mother all began to talk +at once, and with that and the baby's crying I suppose there never was +a tunnel that held so much noise. It all came into the igloo, and it +sounded quite frightful. The twins crept into the farthest corner of +the sleeping bench and watched their father and mother and the Angakok, +with their eyes almost popping out of their heads. + +Nip and Tup thought they would help a little, so they jumped off the +bench; and barked at the Angakok. You see, they didn't know he was a +great medicine man. They thought maybe he ought not to be there at all. + +Nip even snapped at the Angakok's ear! + +That made the Angakok more angry than ever. He reached into the room, +seized Nip with one hand and flung him up on to the sleeping bench. Nip +lit on top of Menie. Nip was very much surprised, and so was Menie. + +Now, whether the jerk he gave in throwing Nip did it or not, I cannot +say, but at that instant Kesshoo and Koolee both gave a great pull in +front. At the same moment the two wives gave a great push behind, and +the next moment after that, there was the Angakok, still red, and still +angry, sitting on the edge of the sleeping bench in the best place near +the fire! + +Then his two wives came crawling through. The Angakok looked at them as +if he thought they had made him stick in the tunnel, and had done it on +purpose, too. The wives scuttled up on to the sleeping bench, and got +into the farthest corner of it as fast as they could. + +The women and children always sat back on the bench at a feast. + +When Koko's mother came in, the baby was still crying. She climbed up +on to the bed with him, and Menie and Monnie showed him the pups and +that made the baby laugh again. + +As fast as they came in, the women and children packed themselves away +on the sleeping bench. The men sat along the edge of it with their feet +on the floor. + + +II. + +The smell of food soon made everybody cheerful. When at last they were +all crowded into the room, Koolee placed the bear's head and other pans +of meat on the floor. + +Then she crawled back on to the bench with the other women. + +The Angakok was the first one to help himself. He reached down and took +a large chunk of meat. He held it up to his mouth and took hold of the +end with his teeth. Then he sawed off a huge mouthful with his knife. + +It looked as if he would surely cut off the end of his nose too, but he +didn't. + +When the men had all helped themselves, pieces of meat were handed out +to the women and children. + +Soon they were all eating as if their lives depended on it. And now I +think of it, their lives did depend on it, to be sure! I will not speak +about their table manners. In fact, they hadn't any to speak of! They +had nothing to eat with the meat--not even salt--but it was a great +feast to them for all that, and they ate and ate until every scrap was +gone. + +The Angakok grew better natured every minute. By the time he had eaten +all he could hold he was really quite happy and benevolent! He clasped +his hands over his stomach and smiled on everybody. + +The women chattered in their corner of the sleeping-bench, and Koolee +showed Koko's mother the new fur suit trimmed with white rabbit's skin +that she was making for Menie. And Koko's mother said she really must +make one for Koko just like it. + +The twins and Koko talked about a trap to catch hares which they meant +to made as soon as the long days began again, and the baby went to +sleep on a pile of furs in the corner. Menie fed the pups with some of +his own meat, and gave them each a bone. Nip and Tup buried their bones +under the baby and then went to sleep too. + + +III. + +After a while the Angakok turned his face to the wall, as he always did +when he meant to tell a story or sing a song. Then he said, "Listen, my +children!" He called everybody--even the grown up people--his children! +Everybody listened. They always listened when the Angakok spoke. + +The Angakok knew the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. He had told +them so many times! The people believed it, and it may be that the +Angakok really believed it himself, though I have some doubt about that. + +"Listen, my children," said the Angakok, "and I will tell you wonderful +things. + +"There is a world beneath the sea! You catch glimpses of that world +yourselves in calm summer weather, when the water is still, and you +know that I speak the truth! + +"Then you can see the shadows of rocks and islands and glaciers in the +smooth water. Far below you see blue sky and white clouds. That is the +calm world in which the Spirits of the Dead live. I have visited that +underworld, many times, I have talked there with the spirits of your +ancestors." + +The Angakok paused and looked around to see if every one was paying +attention. Then he went on with his story. + +"Do you remember how two springs ago there were so few walruses and +seals along the coast that you nearly died for lack of food and oil?" +he said. "My children, it was I who brought the seals and walruses back +to you! Without my efforts you might all have starved! + +"I will tell you of the perils of a fearful journey which I undertook +for your sakes. Then you will see what you owe to the skill and +faithfulness of your Angakok!" + +All the people looked very solemn, and nodded their heads. The Angakok +went on. + +"You must know that in the depths of the underworld, far beyond the +beautiful abode of the Spirits of the Dead, lives the Old Woman of the +Sea! + +"There she sits forever and forever beside a monstrous lamp. Underneath +the lamp is a great saucer to catch the oil which drips from it. + +"In that saucer there are whole flocks of sea-birds swimming about! All +the animals that live in the sea--the whales and walruses, the codfish +and the seals--swarm in the saucer of the Old Woman of the Sea. That is +where they all come from. Sometimes the Old Woman of the Sea keeps all +the creatures in the saucer. Then there are no seal or fish or walrus +along our coasts, and there is hunger among the innuit (human beings). + +"At the time of my journey she had kept all the creatures for so long a +time in her saucer that you and many others were nearly dead for lack +of food." + +"It was then that I prepared myself for the perils of this journey to +the underworld. I called my Tornak, or guiding spirit, to lead my +steps. Without his Tornak an Angakok can do nothing. The Tornak came at +once in answer to my call. He took me by the hand, and we plunged down +into the water. First we passed through the beautiful World of Spirits, +where it is always summer. This part of the way was quite pleasant, but +on the farther side of that world we came to a fearful abyss. It could +be crossed only on a large slippery wheel, as slippery as ice." + +"I mounted this wheel and was whirled across the chasm. No sooner had I +reached the other side than new terrors came upon me. I had to pass by +great cauldrons of boiling oil, in which seals were swimming about." + +"A misstep would have sent me plunging into the boiling oil, and you +would have lost your Angakok forever!" + +The thought of this was so dreadful that the Angakok paused and wiped +his eyes. Then he went on again with his story. + +"However, with great courage I kept upon my way until at last I saw the +Old Woman's house! A deep gulf lay between us and her dwelling, and +outside it stood a great dog with bloody jaws. This dog guards the +entrance, and he sleeps only for a single moment, once in a very great +while." + +"For six days I and my Tornak waited there for the dog to sleep. At +last on the seventh day he closed his eyes! Instantly the Tornak seized +my hand and drew me across the bridge which spanned the chasm. This +bridge was as narrow as a single thread." + +"When we were safely across the bridge we passed the sleeping dog and +boldly entered the Old Woman's house. The Old Woman is terrible to look +upon! Her hand is the size of a large walrus, and her teeth like the +rocks along the coast!" The Angakok dropped his voice to a whisper. + +"However, when she looked upon me she trembled!" he said. "She saw at +once that I possessed great power, and was a great Angakok. I spoke to +her flattering words. Then I told her of the hunger of my children!" + +"I begged that she would send the seal and walrus and sea-birds to our +coast at once. But she had no mind to yield to my requests. Then I +stormed and threatened." The Angakok's voice grew louder. "The walls +shook with the thunder of my voice! At last I seized her by the hair! I +tipped over the saucer with my foot! My great power prevailed against +the mighty sorceress!" + +"The seal and walrus swam away. The birds flew into the air and were +gone. I had conquered the Old Woman of the Sea! My children were +saved!" The Angakok was silent for a moment. Then he spoke again in a +natural voice. + +"When I opened my eyes in my own igloo again," he said, "the famine was +already over. Flocks of sea-birds were flying overhead. The sea swarmed +with fish, and with walrus and seal. Every one along the whole coast +was happy. Ask yourselves--is it not so?" + +The Angakok seemed very much pleased with himself, and he looked about, +as if he expected every one else to be pleased with him too. All the +people were filled with wonder at his great power. They began to talk +among themselves. + +"Yes, I remember the famine well," said Koko's father. "I was away up +the coast that season. Several died in our village for lack of food." + +Other men remembered things about other times when food had been scarce. + +"It is lucky," they said to each other, "that here we have a great +Angakok who understands all the secrets of the World and who can save +us from such dreadful things." + + +IV. + +At last Kesshoo said, "Will you tell us, great Angakok, how you make +these wonderful journeys?" + +"Do you really wish to know?" asked the Angakok. "If you do, I will +summon my guiding spirits to tell you, but they will speak only in the +darkness." + +Kesshoo took the lamp at once and put it out in the tunnel. Then he +placed a thick musk-ox hide over the entrance, so that not a single ray +of light came into the room. The darkness could almost be felt. +Everybody sat very still and listened. + +Soon a heavy body was heard to strike the floor with a dull thud, and a +strange voice said, "Who calls me?" + +Another voice said, "You are called, mighty spirits, to tell these +children of the labors of their Angakok." + +Then began all sorts of strange noises, as of different persons +speaking. All the voices sounded much like the Angakok's, and they all +said what a great medicine man the Angakok was, and how every one in +the village must be sure to do what he told them to! + +At last the Angakok himself spoke, in his own voice. "I will tell you +how I make these strange journeys," he said. + +"My body is now lying on the floor at your feet. Now I begin to rise. +You cannot see me. You cannot touch me. Now I am floating about your +heads, now I am touching the roof! I can go wherever I please! Nothing +can stop me! I know the secret places of the sun, moon, and stars. I +can fly through the roof and go at once to the moon, if I wish to." + +Then the voice was still. Nobody moved or spoke. + +Monnie had gone to sleep in the corner of the bed, but Koko and Menie +were still awake. They had listened to every word about the Old Woman +of the Sea, and how the Angakok traveled to the moon. + +You know I told you before that Koko was six. He wanted to know all +about things. So he spoke right out in the dark, when every one else +was still. + +He said, "Mother, if the Angakok can go anywhere he wants to, why +couldn't he get out of the tunnel?" + +Koko's mother tried to hush him up. "Sh, sh," she said, and put her +hand over his mouth. At least she thought she did, but she made a +mistake in the dark and put her hand over Menie's mouth instead! + +Menie tried to say, "I never said a word," but he could only make queer +sounds, because Koko's mother's hand was tight on his mouth. + +Of course Koko didn't know his mother was trying to keep him still, so +he said again, "Why is it, mother?" + +Koko's mother heard Koko's voice speaking just as plainly as ever +though she was sure she had her hand over his mouth! She was frightened. + +"Magic! magic!" she screamed. "Bring the light! Koko is bewitched! I +have my hand over his mouth, yet you hear that he talks as plainly as +ever!" + +Koko tried to say, "Your hand isn't over my mouth," and Menie tried to +say, "It's over mine!" but he could only say, "M-m-m," because she held +on so tight! + +Koko's mother was making so much noise herself that she wouldn't have +heard what either one said anyway. The baby woke up and whimpered. Nip +and Tup woke up and barked like everything. + +Kesshoo got the light from the tunnel as quickly as he could, and set +it on the bench. Then every one saw what was the matter! They all +laughed--all but Menie and the Angakok. The Angakok said to Koko's +father, "You'd better look after that boy. He is disrespectful to me. +That is a bad beginning!" + +Koko's father was ashamed of him. He said, "Koko is so small!" + +But the Angakok said, "Koko is six. He is old enough to know better." + + +V. + +Everybody was so glad to see the light again that they all began to +talk at once. + +Some one said to Kesshoo, "Tell us about the long journey to the south +you took once long ago." + +Then everybody else listened, while Kesshoo told about how once he had +taken his dog sledge with a load of musk-ox and seal skins on it far +down the coast and how at last he had come to a little settlement where +the houses were all made of wood, if they would believe it! + +He told them that in the bay before the village there was a boat as big +as the Big Rock itself. It had queer white wings, and the wind blew on +these wings and made the boat go! + +Kesshoo had been out in a kyak to see it. He had even paddled all round +it. The men on the great boat had fair hair, and one of them, the chief +man of all, had bought some of Kesshoo's skins and one of his dogs. The +man was a great chief. His name was Nansen. + +This great chief had told Kesshoo that he was going to take a sledge +and go straight into the inland country where the Giants live! He said +he was going to cross the great ice! No man had ever done that since +the world began. + +Kesshoo thought probably the great chief had been eaten by the Giants, +but he did not know surely, because he had never been back there since +to find out. And to be sure, if he had been eaten by Giants, no one +ever would know about it anyway. + +Then Kesshoo showed them all a great knife that the white chief had +given him, in exchange for a sealskin, and two steel needles that he +had sent to Koolee. Koolee kept the needles in a little ivory case all +by themselves. + +She always carried the case in her kamik, so it would not be lost. She +could do wonderful sewing with the needles. Koolee was very proud of +her sewing. No one else in the whole village could sew so well, because +they had not such good needles to do it with. Koolee used them only for +her very finest work. + +At last the Angakok said, "It is time to go home." He called to his +wives. They climbed down off the bench. + +That started the others. One after another they put on their upper +garments, which they had taken off in the warm igloo, said good bye, +and popped down into the tunnel. Last of all came the Angakok's turn. + +Then Kesshoo and Koolee and the Angakok's wives all began to look very +anxious. The Angakok looked a little worried himself. If he had stuck +coming in, what would happen now after he had eaten so much! + +He got down on his hands and knees, and looked at the hole. He had +taken off his thick fur coat when he came in. Now he took off his +undercoat, and his thick fur trousers! He gave them to his wives. + +Then he stretched himself out just as long as he possibly could and +slowly hitched himself down into the tunnel, groaning all the way. + +Kesshoo and Koolee and the wives waited until his feet disappeared, and +they heard him scraping along through the tunnel. Then they breathed a +great sigh of relief, and the two wives popped down after him. + +The last Kesshoo and Koolee heard of the Angakok, was a kind of muffled +roar when a piece of ice fell from the top of the tunnel on to his bare +back. + +Menie and Monnie and the pups were already sound asleep in their corner +of the bench when their father and mother fixed the lamp for the night +and crawled in among the fur robes beside them. + + + + +VI. THE REINDEER HUNT + +THE REINDEER HUNT + +I. + + +The day after the feast it was still very cold, but there were signs of +spring in the air. When Menie went out to feed the dogs, he saw a flock +of ravens flying north, and Koko saw some sea-birds on the same day. + +Two days after that, when the twins and Koko were all three playing +together on the Big Rock, they saw a huge iceberg float lazily by. + +It had broken away from a glacier, farther north, and was drifting +slowly toward the Southern Sea. It gleamed in the sun like a great ice +palace. + +One morning the air was thick with fog. When Kesshoo saw the fog he +said, "This would be a great day to hunt reindeer." + +"Oh, let me go with you!" cried Menie. + +Monnie knew better than to ask. She knew very well she would never be +allowed to go. + +Kesshoo thought a little before he answered. Then he said, "If Koko's +father will go, too, you and Koko may both go with us. You are pretty +small to go hunting, but boys cannot begin too early to learn." + +Menie was wild with joy. He rushed to Koko's house and told him and his +father what Kesshoo had said. + +When he had finished, Koko's father said at once, "Tell Kesshoo we will +go." + +It was not long before they were ready to start. Kesshoo had his great +bow, and arrows, and a spear. He also had his bird dart. Koko's father +had his bow and spear and dart, too. Menie had his little bow and +arrows. + +Kesshoo put a harness on Tooky and tied the end of Tooky's harness +trace around Menie's waist. Koko's father had brought his best dog, +too, and Koko was fastened to the end of that dog's harness in the same +way. + +Then the four hunters started on their journey--Menie and Koko driving +the dogs in front of them. + +Monnie stood on the Big Rock and watched them until they were out of +sight in the fog. Nip and Tup were with her. They wanted to go as much +as Monnie did and she had hard work to keep them from following after +the hunters. + + +II. + +Kesshoo knew very well where to look for the reindeer. He led the way +up a steep gorge where the first green moss appeared in the spring. +They all four walked quietly along for several miles. + +When they got nearly to the head of the gorge, Kesshoo stopped. He said +to the boys, "You must not make any noise yourselves, and you must not +let the dogs bark. If you do there will be no reindeer today." + +The boys kept very still, indeed. The dogs were good hunting dogs. They +knew better than to bark. + +They walked on a little farther. Then Kesshoo came very near the others +and spoke in a low voice. He said, "We are coming to a spot where there +are likely to be reindeer. The wind is from the south. If we keep on in +this direction, the reindeer will smell us. We must go round in such a +way that the wind will carry the scent from them to us, not from us to +them." + +They turned to the right and went round to the north. They had gone +only a short distance in this direction, when they found fresh reindeer +tracks in the snow. The dogs began to sniff and strain at their +harnesses. + +"They smell the game," whispered Kesshoo. "Hold on tight! Don't let +them run." + +Menie and Koko held the dogs back as hard as they could. Kesshoo and +Koko's father crept forward with their bows in their hands. The fog was +so thick they could not see very far before them. + +They had gone only a short distance, when out of the fog loomed two +great gray shadows. Instantly the two men dropped on their knees and +took careful aim. + +The reindeer did not see them. They did not know that anything was near +until they felt the sting of the hunters' arrows. One reindeer dropped +to the earth. The other was not killed. He flung his head in the air +and galloped away, and they could hear the thud, thud, of his hoofs +long after he had disappeared in the fog. + +The moment the dogs heard the singing sound of the arrows, they bounded +forward. Koko and Menie were not strong enough to hold them back, and +they could not run fast enough to keep up with them. So they just +bumped along behind the dogs! Some of the time they slid through the +snow. + +The snow was rough and hard, and it hurt a good deal to be dragged +through it as if they were sledges, but Eskimo boys are used to bumps, +and they knew if they cried they might scare the game, so they never +even whimpered. + +It was lucky for them that they had not far to go. When they came +bumping along, Kesshoo and Koko's father laughed at them. + +"Don't be in such a hurry," they called. "There's plenty of time!" + +They unbound the traces from Menie and Koko and hitched the dogs to the +body of the reindeer. Then they all started back to the village with +Koko's father driving the dogs. + +Soon the fog lifted and the sky grew clear. + +Monnie was playing with her doll in the igloo, when she heard Tooky +bark. She knew it was Tooky at once. She and Koolee both plunged into +the tunnel like mice down a mouse hole. Nip and Tup were ahead of them. + +Outside they found Koko's mother and the baby. Koolee called to her, +and she called to the wives of the Angakok, who were scraping a bear's +skin in the snow. + +The Angakok's wives, and Koko's mother and her baby, and Koolee, and +Monnie, and Nip and Tup all ran to meet the hunters, and you never saw +two prouder boys than Koko and Menie when they showed the reindeer to +their mothers. + +The mothers were proud of their young hunters, too. Koolee said, "Soon +we shall have another man in our family." + +When they were quite near the village again, they met the Angakok. He +had been trying to catch up with them and he was out of breath from +running. He looked at them sternly. + +"Why didn't you call me?" he panted. + +His wives looked frightened and didn't say a word. Nobody else said +anything. The Angakok glared at them all for a moment. Then he poked +the reindeer with his fingers to see if it was fat and said to the men, +"Which portion am I to have?" + +"Would you like the liver?" asked Kesshoo. He remembered about the +bear's liver, you see. + +But the Angakok looked offended. "Who will have the stomach?" he said. +"You know very well that the stomach is the best part of a reindeer." + +"Take the stomach, by all means, then," said Kesshoo, politely. + +Koolee and Monnie looked very much disappointed. They wanted the +stomach dreadfully. + +But the Angakok answered, "Since you urge me, I will take the stomach. +I had a dream last night, and in the dream I was told by my Tornak that +today I should feed upon a reindeer's stomach, given me by one of my +grateful children. When you think how I suffered to bring food to you, +I am sure you will wish to provide me with whatever it seems best that +I should have." + +He stood by while Kesshoo and Koko's father skinned the reindeer and +cut it in pieces. Then he took the stomach and disappeared into his +igloo--with his face all wreathed in smiles. + + + + +VII. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES + +WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES + +I. + + +It was very lucky for the twins that their father was such a brave and +skillful kyak man. You will see the reason why, when I tell you the +story of the day Menie and Koko went hunting alone on the ice. + +One April morning Kesshoo was working on his kyak to make sure that it +was in perfect order for the spring walrus hunting. Koko and Menie +watched him for a long time. Monnie was with Koolee in the hut. + +By and by Koko said to Menie, "Let's go out on the ice and hunt for +seal-holes." + +"All right," said Menie. "You take your bow and arrows and I'll take my +spear. Maybe we shall see some little auks." + +Koko had a little bow made of deer's horns, and some bone arrows, and +Menie had a small spear which his father had made for him out of +driftwood. + +"I'll tell you!" said Menie. "Let's go hunting just the way father +does! You do the shooting and I'll do the spearing! Won't everybody be +surprised to see us bring home a great load of game? I shall give +everything I get to my mother." + +"I'm going to hunt birds and seal-holes too," Koko answered. + +Kesshoo was very busy fixing the fastening of his harpoon, and he did +not hear what they said. + +The two boys went to their homes for their weapons, and then ran out on +the ice. Nobody knew where they were. Of course, Nip and Tup went along. + + +II. + +All the way over the ice they looked for seal-holes. It takes sharp +eyes to find them, for seal-holes are very small. + +You see, the mother seals try to find the safest place they can to hide +their babies, and this is the way they do it: + +As soon as the ice begins to freeze in the autumn, the seals gnaw holes +in it to reach the air, and they keep these holes open all winter. It +freezes so fast in that cold country that they have to be busy almost +every minute all through the winter breaking away the ice there. They +get their sleep in snatches of a minute or so at a time, and between +their naps they clear the ice from their breathing holes. + +There is usually a deep layer of snow over the ice. Each mother seal +hollows out a little igloo under the snow, around her breathing hole, +and leaves a tiny hole in the top of it, so her baby can have plenty of +fresh air and be hidden from sight at the same time. + +The mother seal leaves the baby in the snow house, and she herself +dives through the hole and swims away. Every few minutes she comes back +to breathe, and to see that her baby is safe. + +It was the tiny hole in the top of the seal's snow house that Menie and +Koko hoped to find. + +The days had grown quite long by this time and there was fog in the +air. Once in a while there would be a loud crackling noise. + +"The ice is beginning to break," Koko said. "Don't you hear it pop? My +father says he thinks the warm weather will begin early this year." + +They had gone some distance out on the ice, when suddenly Menie said, +"Look! Look there!" He pointed toward the north. There not far from +shore was a flock of sea-birds, resting on the ice. + +"Just let me get a shot at them!" cried Koko. "You stay here and hold +on to the dogs! Nip and Tup haven't any sense at all about game! +They'll only scare them." + + +III. + +Koko ran swiftly and quietly towards the birds. Menie sat on the ice +and watched him and held Nip and Tup, one under each arm. When Koko got +quite near the birds, he took careful aim and let fly an arrow at them. + +It didn't hit any of the birds, but it frightened them. They flew up +into the air and away to the north and alighted farther on. Koko +followed them. + +All at once Menie heard a queer little sound. It went "Plop-plop-plop," +and it sounded very near. Nip and Tup sniffed, and began to growl and +nose around on the ice. + +Menie knew what the queer noise meant, for his father had told him all +about seal hunting. It meant that a seal-hole was near, and that a seal +had come up to breathe. It was the seal that made the "plopping" noise. + +Menie tried to keep the dogs still, but they wouldn't be kept still. +They ran round with their noses on the snow, giving little anxious +whines, and short, sharp barks. + +The "plop-plop" stopped. The seal had gone down under the ice, but +Menie meant to find the hole. He went out quite near the open water in +his search. At last, just beyond a hummock of ice, he saw it! He crept +carefully up to it. + +He lay down on his stomach and peeped into the hole to see what it was +like. He could not see a thing! + +Then he stuck his lance down. His lance touched something soft that +wiggled! Menie stood up. He was so excited that he trembled. He knew he +had found a seal-hole with a live seal in the snow house! + +With all his strength he struck his lance down through the snow. The +snow house fell in and Menie fell with it, but he kept hold of his +lance. The end of the lance was buried in the snow, but it was moving. +Menie knew by this that he had stuck it into the seal! + +He lay still and kept fast hold of his lance, and pressed down on it +with all his might. + +Nip and Tup were crazy with excitement. They jumped round and barked +and tried to dig a hole in the snow with their forefeet. + +At last the spear stopped wiggling. Then Menie carefully dug the snow +away. There lay a little white seal! It was too young to swim away with +its mother. That was why such a small boy as Menie had been able to +kill it. + +He dragged it out on the ice. He was so excited and so busy he did not +notice how near he was to the open water. + + +IV. + +All of a sudden there was a loud cracking noise, and Menie felt the ice +moving under him! He looked back. There was a tiny strip of blue water +between him and the shore! + +The strip grew wider while he looked at it! Menie knew that he was +adrift on an ice raft, and he was terribly frightened. Nip and Tup +cuddled close to him and whined with fear. + +Menie understood perfectly well that he might be carried far out to sea +and never come back any more. He put his hands to his mouth and yelled +with all his might! + +Koko was still following the birds, and did not hear Menie's cries. +Menie could see him running up the beach after the birds, and he could +see his father working over his kyak near his home. + +He even saw Monnie come out of the tunnel and go to watch her father at +his work. They seemed very far away, and every moment the distance +between them and the raft grew greater. + +Menie screamed again and again. At the third scream he saw his father +straighten up, shade his eyes with his hand, and look out to sea. + +"Oh," Menie thought. "What if he shouldn't see me!" He shouted louder +than ever! He waved his arms! He even pinched the tails of Nip and Tup +and made them bark. Then he saw his father wave his hand and dive into +the tunnel. + +In another instant he was out again and pulling on his skin coat. Then +he took the kyak on his shoulders and ran with it to the beach. Monnie +and Koolee came running after him. + +They were doing the screaming now! Every one in the village heard the +screams and came running down to the beach, too. + +When Menie saw his father coming with the kyak, he wasn't afraid any +more, for he was sure his father would save him. He wasn't even afraid +about the cakes of ice that were floating in the water, though there is +nothing more dangerous than to go out in a kyak among ice floes. One +bump from a floating cake of ice is enough to upset any boat, and I +don't like to think of what might happen if a kyak should get between +two big cakes of ice. + +Kesshoo ran with his kyak as far as he could on the ice. Then he got in +and fitted the bottom of his skin jacket over the kyak hole and +carefully slid himself into the open water. + +Once in the water, how his paddle flew! + +It seemed to Menie as if his father would never reach him! He sat very +still on the ice pan with the dead seal beside him, and Nip and Tup +huddled up against him. + +At last Kesshoo came near enough so he could make Menie hear everything +he said. "Menie," he cried, "if you do exactly what I tell you to, I +can save you. + +"I will throw you my harpoon. You must drive it way down into the ice. +Then by the harpoon line I will tow your ice pan back toward shore. +When we get to the big ice I will find a place for you to land. + +"You must be ready, and when I give the word jump from your ice raft on +to the solid ice." + +Then Kesshoo threw his harpoon, and Menie drove it into the ice with +all his might. Slowly Kesshoo drew the line taut, turned his kyak +round, and started for the shore. The journey out had been dangerous, +but the journey back was much more so, for Kesshoo could not dodge the +floating ice nearly so well. He had to pick his way carefully through +the clearest water he could find. Very cautiously they moved toward +shore. + + +V. + +They were getting quite near the place where the ice had broken with +Menie, when suddenly, right near them, they saw the head and great, +round eyes of a seal! It was the seal mother. + +She had come back to find her breathing hole and her baby. + +The moment Kesshoo saw her he seized his dart, which lay in its place +on top of his kyak, and threw it with all his might at the seal. + +The seal dived down into the sea, but a bladder full of air was +attached to the line on the dart, and this bladder floated on the +water, so Kesshoo could tell by watching it just where the seal was. + +Kesshoo knew he had struck the seal, and although he was already towing +the ice raft, he was determined to bring home the big seal, too! + +He called to Menie. "Sit still and wait until I come for you." + +Then he quickly cut the harpoon line by which he was towing the ice +raft, and set it adrift again. As soon as he was free he paddled away +after the bladder, which was now bobbing along over the water at some +little distance from the boat. + +Menie sat perfectly still and watched his father. Kesshoo reached the +bladder and began to pull on the line, but just at that moment the big +seal turned round and swam right under the kyak! + +In a second the kyak turned bottom side up in the water! Menie +screamed. The people watching on the shore gave a great howl, and +Koko's father started up the beach after his own kyak. + +He thought perhaps Kesshoo could not manage both the ice raft and the +seal, and he meant to go to help him. + +But in one second Kesshoo was right side up again. No water could get +into the kyak because Kesshoo's skin coat was drawn tight over the hole +in the deck, and Kesshoo was in the coat! + +Kesshoo often turned somersaults in the water in that way. Sometimes he +even did it for fun! He said afterward that he could have turned the +boat right side up again with just his nose, without using either his +paddle or his arms, if only his nose had been a little bigger, and +though he meant this for a joke, the twins believed that he really +could do it. + +The moment he was right side up again, Kesshoo gave chase once more to +the bladder. The seal was very weak now, and Kesshoo knew that it would +soon come to the surface and float and that then he could tow it in. + +He had not long to wait. The bladder bobbed about for a while and then +was still. Kesshoo drew up the line, and paddled back to the ice raft, +towing the big seal after him. + +"Catch this," he said to Menie. He threw him the end of the line. "Wind +the line six times round the harpoon," he said, "and hold tight to the +end of it." + +Menie did as he was told. Then Kesshoo tied together the two ends of +the harpoon line, which he had cut, and began to tow the ice raft back +to share again. + +Menie kept tight hold of the other line and towed the seal! + +Kesshoo paddled slowly and carefully along, until at last there was +only a little strip of water between the kyak and the solid ice. + +But how in the world could Menie get across that strip of water to +safety? + +The kyak was between him and the solid ice, and Menie could not +possibly get into the kyak. Neither could he swim. But Kesshoo knew a +way. + +He came up closer to the solid ice. Then he gave a great sweep with his +paddle and lifted his kyak right up on to it. He sprang out, and, +seizing the harpoon line, pulled Menie's raft close up to the edge of +the firm ice. + +Menie was still holding tight to the line that held the big seal. +Kesshoo threw him another line. Menie caught the end of it. + +"Now tie the big seal's line fast to that," Kesshoo said. Menie was a +very small boy, but he knew how to tie knots. He did just what his +father told him to. + +"Now," said his father, "pull up the harpoon." Menie did so. "Tie the +harpoon line to the little seal." Menie did that. "Now throw the +harpoon to me," commanded Kesshoo. + +Menie threw it with all his might. His father caught it, and stood on +the firm ice, holding in his hands the line that the big seal was tied +to, and the harpoon, with its line fastened to the little seal. + +"Now hold on to the little seal, and I will pull you right up against +the solid ice, and when I say 'Jump,' you jump," said Kesshoo. + +Slowly and very, carefully he pulled, until the raft grated against the +solid ice. + +"Jump!" shouted Kesshoo. + +Menie jumped. The ice raft gave a lurch that nearly sent him into the +water, but Kesshoo caught him and pulled him to safety. + +A great shout of joy went up from the shore, and Menie was glad enough +to shout too when he felt solid ice under his feet once more! + +While he helped his father pull in the little seal, all the people came +running out on to the ice to meet them, but Kesshoo sent back every one +except Koko's father. He was afraid the ice might break again with so +many people on it. Koko's father helped pull the big seal out of the +water and over the ice to the beach. + +Menie dragged his own little seal after him by the harpoon line, and +when he came near the beach, the people all cried out, "See the great +hunter with his game!" And Koolee was so glad to see Menie and so proud +of her boy that she nearly burst with joy! + +"I knew the charm would work," she cried. "Not only does he spy +bears--he kills seals! And he only five years old!" + +She put her arms around him and pressed her flat nose to his. That's +the Eskimo way of kissing. + +Menie tried to look as if he killed seals and got carried away on an +ice pan every day in the week, but inside he felt very proud, too. + +When Kesshoo and Koko's father came up with the big seal, Koolee and +the other women dragged it to the village, where it was skinned and cut +up. Every one had a piece of raw blubber to eat at once, and the very +first piece went to Menie. + +While they were eating it, Koko came back. He had gone so far up the +shore hunting little auks that he hadn't seen a thing that had +happened. And he hadn't killed any little auks either. + +Koko felt that things were very unequally divided in this world. He +wanted to kill a seal and get lost on a raft and be a hero too. + +But Koolee gave him a large piece of blubber, and that made him feel +much more cheerful again. He just said to Monnie, "If I had been with +Menie, this never would have happened! I should not have let him get so +near the edge of the ice! But then, you know, I am six, and he is only +five, so, of course, he didn't know any better." + +Everybody in the village had seal meat that night, and the Angakok had +the head, which they all thought was the best part. He said he didn't +feel very well, and his Tornak had told him nothing would cure him so +quickly as a seal's head. So Koolee gave it to him. + +The skin of the little white seal Koolee saved and dressed very +carefully. She chewed it, all over, on the wrong side, and sucked out +all the blubber, and made it soft and fine as velvet; and when that was +done, she made out of it two beautiful pairs of white mittens for the +twins. + + + + +VIII. THE WOMAN-BOATS + +THE WOMAN-BOATS + +I. + + +During the long, dark hours of the winter Kesshoo found many pleasant +things to do at home. He was always busy. He carved a doll for Monnie +out of the ivory tusk of a walrus. + +Monnie named the doll Annadore, and she loved it dearly. Koolee dressed +Annadore in fur, with tiny kamiks of sealskin, and Monnie carried her +doll in her hood, just the way Koko's mother carried her baby. + +For Menie, his father made dog harnesses out of walrus hide. He made +them just the right size for Nip and Tup. + +Menie harnessed the little dogs to his sled. Then he and Monnie would +play sledge journeys. Annadore would sit on the sled all wrapped in +furs, while Menie drove the dogs, and Monnie followed after. + +Nip and Tup did not like this play very well, and they didn't always go +where they were told to. Once they dashed right over the igloo and +spilled Annadore off. + +Annadore rolled down one side of the igloo, while Nip and Tup galloped +down the other. Annadore was buried in the snow and had to be dug out, +so it was quite a serious accident, you see, but Nip and Tup did not +seem to feel at all responsible about it. + +Kesshoo made knives and queer spoons out of bone or ivory for Koolee, +and for himself he made new barbs for his bladder-dart, new bone hooks +for fishlines, and all sorts of things for hunting. + +He made salmon spears, and bird darts, and fishlines, and he ornamented +his weapons with little pictures or patterns. He carved two frogs on +the handle of his snow knife, and scratched the picture of a walrus on +the blade. + +Sometimes Koolee carved things, too, but most of the time she was busy +making coats or kamiks, or chewing skins to make them soft and fine for +use in the igloo; or to cover the kyaks, or to make their summer tent. + +Once during the winter the whole family went thirty miles up the coast +by moonlight to visit Koolee's brother in another village. They went +with the dog sledge, and it took them two days. + +They had meat and blubber with them and plenty of warm skins, and when +they got tired, Kesshoo made a snow house for them to rest in. The +twins thought this was the best fun of all. + + +II. + +When spring came on, there were other things to do. As the days grew +longer, the ice in the bay cracked and broke into small pieces and +floated away. + +The water turned deep blue, and danced in the sunlight, and ice floated +about in it. Often there were walrus on these ice-pans. + +The twins sometimes saw their huge black bodies on the white ice, and +heard their hoarse barks. Then all the men in the village would rush +for their kyaks and set out after the walrus. + +The men were brave and enjoyed the dangerous sport, but the women used +to watch anxiously until they saw the kyaks coming home towing the +walrus behind them. + +Then they would rush down to the shore, help pull the kyaks up on the +beach, where they cut the walrus in pieces and divided it among the +families of the hunters. + +When the snow had melted on the Big Rock, hundreds of sea-birds made +their nests there and filled the air with their cries. + +Sometimes Kesshoo went egg hunting on the cliff, and sometimes he set +traps there for foxes, and he helped Menie and Koko make a little trap +to catch hares. There was plenty to do in every season of the year. + +At last the nights shortened to nothing at all. The long day had begun. +The stone but, which they had found so comfortable in winter, seemed +dark and damp now. + +Menie and Monnie remembered the summer days when they did not have to +dive down through a hole to get into their house, so Menie said to +Monnie one day, "Let's go and ask father if it isn't time to put up the +tents." + +They ran out to find him. He was down on the beach talking with Koko's +father and the other men of the village. + +On the beach were two very long boats. The men were looking them over +carefully to see if they were water tight. + +Koko was with the men. When he saw the twins coming, he tore up the +slope to meet them, waving his arms and shouting, "They're getting out +the woman-boats! They're getting out the woman-boats!" + +This was glorious news to the twins. They ran down to the beach with +Koko as fast as their legs could carry them. + +They got there just in time to hear Koko's father say to Kesshoo, "I +think it's safe to start. The ice is pretty well out of the bay, and +the reindeer will be coming down to the fiords after fresh moss." + +All the men listened to hear what Kesshoo would say, and the twins +listened, too, with all their ears. + +"If it's clear, I think we could start after one more sleep," said +Kesshoo. + + +III. + +The twins didn't wait to hear any more. They flew for home, and dashed +down the tunnel and up into the room. + +Koolee was gathering all the knives and spoons and fishing-things and +sewing things, and dumping them into a large musk-ox hide which was +spread on the floor. + +The musk-ox hide covered the entrance hole. The first thing Koolee knew +something thumped the musk-ox skin on the under side, and the knives +and thimbles and needle cases and other things flew in all directions. +Up through the hole popped the faces of Menie and Monnie! + +"Oh, Mother," they shouted. "We're going off on the woman-boats! After +only one more sleep, if it's pleasant! Father said so!" + +Koolee laughed. "I know it!" she said. "I was just packing. You can +help me. There's a lot to do to get ready." + +The twins were delighted to help. They got together all their own +treasures--the sled, and the fishing rods, the dog harnesses, and +Annadore, and bound them up with walrus thongs. All but Annadore. +Annadore rode in Monnie's hood as usual. + +Koolee gathered all her things together again and wrapped them in the +musk-ox hide. She took down the long narwhal tusks that the dog +harnesses were hung on. + +These were the tent poles. She and the twins carried all these things +to the beach. The men stayed on the beach and packed the things away in +the boats. The other women brought down their bundles from their +igloos. There was room for everything in the two big boats. + +Only the skins were left on the sleeping bench in the hut. When +everything else was ready, Koolee and the twins went up on top of the +igloo. + +They pulled the moss and dirt out of the chinks between the stones that +made the roof, and then Koolee pulled up the stones themselves and let +them fall over to one side. This left the roof open to the sky. + +"What makes you do that?" Menie asked. + +"So the sun and rain can clean house for us," said Koolee. + +Everybody else in the village got ready in the same way. + +At last Kesshoo came up from the beach and said to Koolee, "Let us have +some meat and a sleep and then we will start. Everything is ready. The +boats are packed and it looks as if the weather would be clear." + +Koolee brought out some walrus meat and blubber for supper, though it +might just as well be called breakfast, for there was no night coming, +and the twins ate theirs sitting on the roof of the igloo with their +feet hanging down inside. + +Once Menie's feet kicked his father's head. It was an accident, but +Kesshoo reached up and took hold of Menie's foot and pulled him down on +to the sleeping bench and rolled him over among the skins. + +"Crawl in there and go to sleep," he said. + +Monnie let herself down through the roof by her hands and crept in +beside Menie. Then Kesshoo and Koolee wrapped themselves in the warm +skins and lay down, too. + +It took Menie and Monnie some time to go to sleep, for they could look +straight up through the roof at the sky, and the sky was bright and +blue with little white clouds sailing over it. Besides, they were +thinking about the wonderful things that would happen when they should +wake up. + + + + +IX. THE VOYAGE + +THE VOYAGE + +I. + + +When the twins awoke, the sun was shining as brightly as ever, and Nip +and Tup were barking at them through the hole in the roof. + +Kesshoo and Koolee were gone! + +Menie and Monnie were frightened. They were afraid they were left +behind. They sat up in bed and howled! + +In a moment Koolee's face looked down at them through the roof. + +"What's the matter?" she said. + +"We thought we were left," wailed Monnie! + +"As if I could leave you behind!" cried Koolee. + +She laughed at them. "Hand up the skins to me," she said. She reached +her arm down the hole and pulled out all the skins from the bed as fast +as the twins gave them to her. + +Then she put her head down into the opening and looked all around. "We +haven't left a thing," she said; "come along." + +The twins couldn't climb out through the roof, though they wanted to, +so they went out by the tunnel, and helped their mother carry the skins +to the beach. + +All the people in the village and all the dogs were there before them. +The great woman-boats were packed, the kyaks of the men waited beside +them in a row on the beach, with their noses in the water. + +The dogs barked and raced up and down the beach, the babies crowed, and +the children shouted for joy. Even the grown people were gay. They +talked in loud tones and laughed and made jokes. + + +II. + +At last Kesshoo shouted, "All ready! In you go!" He told each person +where to sit. + +He put the Angakok in one boat to steer. He put Koko's father in the +other. + +In Koko's father's boat he placed Koko and his mother and the baby, +Koolee and the twins, the pups, all three dogs, and four of the women +who lived in the other igloos. So you see it was quite a large boat. + +In the Angakok's boat he placed his two wives, and all the rest of the +women and children and dogs. The women took up the paddles. One end of +the boat was partly in the water when they got in. The men gently +pushed it farther out until it floated. + +Then the men got into their kyaks at the water's edge, fastened their +skin coats over the rims, and paddled out into deep water. + +At last, when all the boats, big and little, were afloat, Kesshoo +called out, "We are going north. Follow me." + +The women obeyed the signal of Koko's father and the Angakok. The +paddles dipped together into the water. The great boats moved! They +were off! + +The children all sat together in the bottom of the boat, but the twins +and Koko were big enough to see over the sides. While the babies played +with the dogs, they were busy watching the things that passed on the +shores. Soon they passed the Big Rock with little auks and puffins +flying about it. They could see the red feet of the puffins, and a blue +fox sitting on the top of the rock, waiting for a chance to catch a +bird. + +Then the Big Rock hid the village from sight. + + +III. + +Beyond the Big Rock the country was all new to the twins and Koko. They +looked into narrow bays and inlets as the boat moved along, and saw +green moss carpeting the sunny slopes in sheltered places. + +They could even see bright flowers growing in the warm spots which +faced the sun. The sky was blue overhead. The water was blue below. + +Beyond the green slopes they could see the bare hillsides crowned with +the white ice cap which never melts, and streams of water dashing down +the hillsides and pouring themselves into the waters of the bay. + +When they had gone a good many miles up the coast, Kesshoo waved his +hand and pointed to a strange sight on the shore. + +There was a great river of ice! They could see where it came out of a +hollow place between two hills. It looked just like a river, only it +was frozen solid, and the end of it, where it came into the sea, was +broken off like a great wall of ice, and there were cakes of ice +floating about in the water. + +Suddenly there was a cracking sound. Menie had heard that sound before. +It was the same sound that he had heard when he went seal-hole hunting +and got carried away on the ice raft. Menie didn't like the sound +anymore. It scared him! + +Right after the cracking noise Kesshoo's voice shouted, "Row farther +out! Follow me!" + +He turned his kyak straight out to sea. All the other boats followed. + +They had gone only about half a mile when suddenly there was a loud +crick-crick-CRACK as if a piece of the world had broken off, and then +there was a splash that could be heard for miles, if there had been any +one to hear it. + +The end of the glacier, or ice river, had broken off and fallen down +into the water! It had made an iceberg! + +The splash was so great that in a moment the waves it made reached the +boats. The boats rocked up and down on the water and bounced about like +corks. + +The twins and Koko thought this was great fun, but the Angakok didn't +like it a bit. One wave splashed over him, and some of the water went +down his neck. + +All the grown people knew that if they hadn't rowed quickly away from +shore when Kesshoo called they might have been upset and drowned. + + +IV. + +When the waves made by the iceberg had calmed down again, Kesshoo +paddled round among the boats. + +He said, "I think we'd better land about a mile above here. There's a +stream there, and perhaps we can get some salmon for our dinner." + +He led the way in his kyak, and all the other boats followed. They kept +out of the path of the iceberg, which had already floated some distance +from the shore, and it was not long before they came to a little inlet. + +Kesshoo paddled into it and up to the very end of it, where a beautiful +stream of clear water came dashing down over the rocks into the sea. + +The hills sloped suddenly down to the shore. The sun shone brightly on +the green slopes, and the high cliffs behind shut off the cold north +winds. It was a little piece of summer set right down in the valley. + +"Oh, how beautiful!" everybody cried. + +The boats were soon drawn up on the beach, the women and children +tumbled out, and then began preparations for dinner. + +The women got out their cooking pots, and Koolee set to work to make a +fireplace out of three stones. + +They had blubber and moss with them, but how could they get a fire? +They had no matches. They had never even heard of a match. + +The Angakok sat down on the beach. He had some little pieces of dry +driftwood and some dried moss. + +He held one end of a piece of driftwood in a sort of handle which he +pressed against his lips. The other end was in a hollow spot in another +piece of wood. + +The Angakok rolled one driftwood stick round and round in the hollow +spot of the other. He did this by means of a bow which he pulled from +one side to the other. This made the stick whirl first one way, then +back again. Soon a little smoke came curling up round the stick. + +Koolee dropped some dried moss on the smoking spot. Suddenly there was +a little blaze! + +She fed the little flame with more moss, and then lighted the moss on +the stones of the fireplace. She put a soapstone kettle filled with +water over the fire, and soon the kettle was boiling. + +While all this was going on down on the beach, the men took their +salmon spears and went up the river, and Koko and the twins went with +them. + +The wives of the Angakok went to find moss to feed the fire. They +brought back great armfuls of it, and put it beside the fireplace. + +Koolee was the cook. She stayed on the beach and looked after the +babies and the dogs, and the fire. Everything was ready for dinner, +except the food! + +Meanwhile the men had found a good place where there were big stones in +the river. They stood on these stones with their spears in their hands. +There were hundreds of salmon in the little stream. The salmon were +going up to the little lake from which the river flowed. + +When the fish leaped in the water, the men struck at them with their +fish spears. There were so many fish, and the men were so skillful that +they soon had plenty for dinner. + +They strung them all on a walrus line and went back to the beach. +Koolee popped as many as she could into her pot to cook, but the men +were so hungry they ate theirs raw, and the twins and Koko had as many +fishes' eyes to eat as they wanted, for once in their lives. + +When everybody had eaten as much as he could possibly hold, the babies +were rolled up in furs in the sand and went to sleep. The Angakok lay +down on the sand in the sunshine with his hands over his stomach and +was soon asleep, too. + +The men sat in a little group near by, and Menie and Koko lay on their +stomachs beside Kesshoo. + +The women had gone a little farther up the beach. The air was still, +except for the rippling sound of the water, the distant chatter of the +women, the snores of the Angakok, and the buzzing of mosquitoes! + +For quite a long time everybody rested. Menie and Koko didn't go to +sleep. They were having too much fun. They played with shells and +pebbles and watched the mosquitoes buzzing over the Angakok's face. +There were a great many mosquitoes, and they seemed to like the +Angakok. At last one settled on his nose, and bit and bit. Menie and +Koko wanted to slap it, but, of course, they didn't dare. They just had +to let it bite! + +All of a sudden the Angakok woke up and slapped it himself. He slapped +it harder than he intended to. He looked very much surprised and quite +offended about it. He sat up and looked round for his wives, as if he +thought perhaps they had something to do with it. But they were at the +other end of the beach. The Angakok yawned and rubbed his nose, which +was a good deal swollen. + +Just then Kesshoo spoke, "I think we shall look a long time before we +find a better spot than this to camp," he said. "Here are plenty of +salmon. We can catch all we need to dry for winter use, right here. +There must be deer farther up the fiord. What do you say to setting up +the tents right here?" + +When Kesshoo said anything, the others were pretty sure to agree, +because Kesshoo was such a brave and skillful man that they trusted his +judgment. + +All the men said, "Yes, let us stay." + +Then the Angakok said, "Yes, my children, let us stay! While you +thought I was asleep here on the sand I was really in a trance. I +thought it best to ask my Tornak about this spot, and whether we should +be threatened here by any hidden danger. My Tornak says to stay!" + +This settled the matter. + +"Tell the women," said Kesshoo. Koko's father went over to the place +where the women and children were. + +"Get out the tent poles," he called to them. "Here's where we stay." + + +V. + +The women jumped up and ran to the woman-boats. They got out the long +narwhal tusks, and the skins, and set them down on the beach. + +"Come with me," Koolee called to the twins. She gave them each a long +tent pole to carry. She herself carried the longest pole of all, and a +pile of skins. + +Koolee led the way up the green slope to a level spot overlooking the +stream and the bay. It was beside some high rocks, and there were +smaller stones all about. + +There was a flat stone that she used for the sleeping bench. When the +poles were set up and securely fastened, she got the tent skins and +covered the poles. + +She put on one layer of skin with the hair inside and over that another +covering of skin with the fur side out. She sewed the skins together +over the entrance with leather thongs and left a flap for a door. + +Then she placed stones around the edge of the tent covering to keep the +wind from blowing it away. She piled the bed skins on the rock, and +their summer house was ready. + +The twins brought the musk-ox hides, with all their treasures in them, +and the cooking pots and knives and household things from the beach, +while Koolee made the fireplace in the tent. + +She made the fireplace by driving four sticks into the ground and +lashing them together to make a framework. + +She hung the cooking kettle by straps from the four corners. Under the +kettle on a flat stone she placed the lamp. Then the stove was ready. + +"We shall cook out of doors most of the time," she said to the twins, +"but in rainy weather we shall need the lamp." + +It was only a little while before there was a whole new village ready +to live in, with plenty of fish and good fresh water right at hand. + + +VI. + +Menie and Monnie were happy in their new home. They climbed about on +the rock and found a beautiful cave to play in. They gathered flowers +and shells and colored stones and brought them to their mother. + +Then later they went for more fish with the men, and Kesshoo let them +stand on the stones and try to spear the fish just the way the men did. + +Menie caught one, and Koko caught one, but Monnie had no luck at all. +"Anyway, I caught a codfish once," Monnie said, to comfort herself. + +In two hours everything was as settled about the camp as if they had +lived there a week, and every one was hungry again. Hungriness and +sleepiness came just as regularly as if they had had nights and clocks +both, to measure time by. + +When the food was ready, Kesshoo called "Ujo, ujo," which meant "boiled +meat," and everybody came running to the beach. + +The men sat in one circle, the women and children in another. Pots of +boiled fish were set in the middle of the circles, and they all dipped +in with their fingers and took what they wanted. + +When everybody had eaten, the children played on the beach. They +skipped stones and danced and played ball, and their mothers played +with them. + +The men had their fun, too. They sat in their circle, told stories, and +played games which weren't children's games, and the Angakok sang a +song, beating time on a little drum. All the men sang the chorus. + +By and by, Koolee saw Monnie's head nodding. So she said to the twins, +"Come, children, let's go up to the tent." + +She took their hands and led them up the slope. + +"We're not sleepy," the twins declared. + +"I am," said Koolee, "and I want you with me." + +They went into the tent, which was not so light as it was out of doors +in the bright sunlight. Then they undressed, crawled in among the +deerskins, and were soon sound asleep, all three of them. After a while +Kesshoo came up from the beach and went to sleep too. + + + + +X. THE SUMMER DAY + +THE SUMMER DAY + +I. + + +The summer days flew by, only one really shouldn't say days at all, but +summer day. For three whole bright months it was just one daylight +picnic all the time! + +The people ate when they were hungry and slept when they were sleepy. +The men caught hundreds of salmon, and the women split them open and +dried them on the rocks for winter use. The children played all day +long. + +The men hunted deer and musk-ox and bears up in the hills and brought +them back to camp. They hunted game both by land and by sea. There was +so much to eat that everybody grew fatter, and as for the Angakok, he +got so very fat that Koko said to Menie, "I don't believe we can ever +get the Angakok home in the woman-boat! He's so heavy he'll sink it! I +think it would be a good plan to tie a string to him and tow him back +like a walrus!" + +"Yes," said Menie. "Maybe he would shrink some if we soaked him well. +Don't you know how water shrinks the walrus hide cords that we tie +around things when we want them to hold tight together?" + +It was lucky for Menie and Koko that nobody heard them say that about +the Angakok. It would have been thought very disrespectful. + +When the game grew scarce, or they got tired of camping in one spot +everything was piled into their boats again, and away they went up the +coast until they found another place they liked better. Then they would +set up their tents again. + +Sometimes they came to other camps and had a good time meeting new +people and making new friends. + +At last, late in August, the sun slipped down below the edge of the +World again. It stayed just long enough to fill the sky with wonderful +red and gold sunset clouds, then it came up again. The next night there +was a little time between the sunset sky and the lovely colors of the +sunrise. + +The next night was longer still. Each day grew colder and colder. Still +the people lingered in their tents. They did not like to think the +pleasant summer was over, and the long night near. + +But at last Kesshoo said, "I think it is time to go back to winter +quarters. The nights are fast growing longer. The snow may be upon us +any day now. I don't know of a better place to settle than the village +where we spent last winter. The igloos are all built there ready to use +again. What do you say? Shall we go back there?" + +"Yes, let us go back," they all said. + + +II. + +The very next day they started. The boats were heavily loaded with +dried fish, there were great piles of new skins heaped in the +woman-boats, and every kyak towed a seal. + +For days they traveled along the coast, stopping only for rest and +food. The twins and Koko sat in the bottom of the boat with the dogs, +and listened to the regular dip of the paddles, to the cries of the +sea-birds as they flew away toward the south, and to the chatter of the +women. These were almost the only sounds they heard, for the silence of +the Great White World was all about them. They talked together in low +voices and planned all the things they would do when the long night was +really upon them once more. + +When at last they came in sight of the Big Rock, they felt as if they +had reached home after a very long journey. + +Koko stood up in the boat and pointed to it. "See," he cried, "there's +the Big Rock where we found the bear!" + +"Yes," Monnie said, "and where we slid downhill." + +"And I see where I got caught on the ice raft," Menie shouted. + +"Sit down," said Koko's mother. "You'll tip the boat and spill us all +into the water." + +Koko sat down; the boat glided along through the water, nearer and +nearer, until at last they came round the Big Rock, and there, just as +if they had not been away at all, lay the whole village of five igloos, +looking as if it had gone to sleep in the sunshine. + +The big boats waited until the men had all paddled to the shore and +beached their kyaks, then they were drawn carefully up on to the sand, +and every one got out. The beach at once became a very busy place. The +men pulled the walruses and seals out of the water and took care of the +boats, while the women set up the tents, cut the meat into big pieces +for storage, and carried all their belongings to the tents. + +Although the village looked just the same, other things looked quite +different. Nip and Tup were big dogs by this time. They ran away up the +beach with Tooky and the other dogs the moment they were out of the +boats. They did not stay with the twins all the time now, as they used +to do. The twins were much bigger, too. Koolee looked at them as they +helped her carry the tent-skins up from the beach, and said to them, +"My goodness, I must make my needles fly! Winter is upon us and your +clothes are getting too small for you! You must have new things right +away." The twins thought this was a very good idea. They liked new +clothes as well as any one in the world. + +Koolee set up the tent beside their old igloo, and there they lived +while the men of the village went out every day in their kyaks for seal +and walrus, or back into the hills after other game to store away for +food during the long winter. The women scraped and cured the skins and +cut up the meat and packed it away as fast as the men could kill the +game and bring it home. + +Each day it grew colder, and each night was longer than the last, until +one short September day there came a great snow storm! It snowed all +day long, and that night the wind blew so hard that Koolee and the +twins nearly froze even among the fur covers of their bed, and when +morning came they found themselves nearly buried under a great drift. + +That very day Koolee put the stones over the roof of the igloo once +more, and the twins helped her fill in the chinks with moss and earth, +and cover it with a heavy layer of snow, patted down with the snow +shovel, until everything was snug and tight again. + +Then they moved in. By the next day all the igloos in the village were +in use, and when night came their windows shone with the light of the +lamps, just as they had so many months before. + +Nip and Tup slept outside with Tooky now, in a snow house which Kesshoo +had built for them. Menie and Monnie missed them, but Koolee said, "You +are getting so big now you must begin to do something besides play with +puppies. Monnie must learn to sew, and Menie must help Father with +feeding the dogs and looking after their harnesses, and driving the +sledge." + +"Maybe Father will teach you both to carve fine things out of ivory +this winter! Monnie will soon need her own thimble and needles. They +must be made. And she can help me clean the skins and suck out the +blubber, and prepare them for being made into clothes!" + +"Dear me! what a lot there is to do to keep clothes on our backs and +food in our mouths! The Giants are always waiting before the igloo and +we must work very hard to keep them outside!" + +She did not mean real giants. She meant that Hunger and Want are always +waiting to seize the Eskimo who does not work all the time to supply +food for himself and his family. She meant that Menie must learn to be +a brave strong hunter, afraid of nothing on sea or land, and that +Monnie must learn to do a woman's work well, or else the time would +come when they would be without food or shelter or clothing, and the +fierce cold would soon make an end of them. + +It was lucky they got into the warm igloo just when they did, for the +winter had come to stay. The bay froze over far out from shore, and the +white snow covered the igloos so completely that if it had not been for +the windows, and for people moving about out of doors, no one could +have told that there was any village there. + +The Last Day of all was so short that Menie and Monnie and Koko saw the +whole of it from the top of the Big Rock! They had gone up there in the +gray twilight that comes before the sunrise to build a snow house to +play in. They had been there only a little while when the sky grew all +rosy just over the Edge of the World. The color grew stronger and +stronger until the little stars were all drowned in it and then up came +the great round red face of the sun itself! The children watched it as +it peered over the horizon, threw long blue shadows behind them across +the snow, and then sank slowly, slowly down again, leaving only the +flaming colors in the sky to mark the place where it had been. They +waved their hands as it slipped out of sight. "Good bye, old Sun," they +shouted, "and good bye, Shadow, too! We shall be glad to see you both +when you come back again." + +Then, because the wind blew very cold and they could see a snow cloud +coming toward them from the Great White World where the Giants lived, +the children ran together down the snowy slope toward the bright +windows of their homes. + + +THE END + + + + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + +To arouse the children's interest and thus to make the reading of this +story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested that at the +outset the children be allowed to look at the pictures in the book in +order to get acquainted with "Menie" and "Monnie" and with the scenes +illustrating their home life and surroundings. + +During the reading, point out the North Pole, Greenland, etc., on a map +of the world or on a globe, and tell the children something about the +many years of effort before Peary succeeded in reaching his goal; also +about the work of subsequent explorers in this part of the world, and +around the South Pole as well. Thus this supplementary reading material +may be connected with the work in geography. + +The text is so simply written that the second grade child can read it +without much or any preparation. It may be well to have the children +read it first in a study period in order to work out the pronunciation +of the more difficult words. But many classes will be able to read it +at sight, without the preparatory study. The possibilities in the story +for dramatization and for language and constructive work will be +immediately apparent. + +In connection with the reading of the book, teachers should tell to the +children stories describing Eskimo life, and the experiences of +explorers and pioneers in the North. Grenfell's Adrift on an Ice-Pan is +suitable, for example. Holbrook's Northland Heroes and Schultz's +Sinopah, the Indian Boy, while not belonging to the land of the +Eskimos, contain stories of allied interest. Let the children bring to +class pictures of scenes in the North, clipped from magazines and +newspapers. + +The unique illustrations in The Eskimo Twins should be much used, both +in the reading of the story and in other ways. Children will enjoy +sketching some of them; their simple treatment makes them especially +useful for this purpose. + +The book is printed on paper which will take watercolor well, and where +the books are individually owned some of the sketches could be used for +coloring in flat washes. They also afford suggestions for action +sketching by the children. + +An excellent oral language exercise would be for the children, after +they have read the story, to take turns telling the story from the +illustrations; and a good composition exercise would be for each child +to select the illustration that he would like to write upon, make a +sketch of it, and write the story in his own words. + +These are only a few of the many ways that will occur to resourceful +teachers for making the book a valuable as well as an enjoyable +exercise in reading. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESKIMO TWINS *** + +***** This file should be named 3774.txt or 3774.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/3774/ + +Produced by Lynn Hill. Dedicated to Miriam Kilmer. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + +This Etext was produced for Project Gutenberg by Lynn Hill +hill_lynn@hotmail.com + +Dedicated to Miriam Kilmer, who generously +loaned the book to be produced for PG. + + + + + +THE ESKIMO TWINS + +by Lucy Fitch Perkins + + + + +INTRODUCTION - THE ESKIMO TWINS + +I. THE TWINS GO COASTING + +II. KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +III. THE TWINS GO FISHING + +IV. THE SNOW HOUSE + +V. THE FEAST + +VI. THE REINDEER HUNT + +VII. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES + +VIII. THE WOMAN-BOATS + +IX. THE VOYAGE + +X. THE SUMMER DAY + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + + + + +THE ESKIMO TWINS + + +This is the true story of Menie and Monnie and their two little +dogs, Nip and Tup. + +Menie and Monnie are twins, and they live far away in the North, +near the very edge. + +They are five years old. + +Menie is the boy, and Monnie is the girl. But you cannot tell +which is Menie and which is Monnie, - not even if you look ever +so hard at their pictures! + +That is because they dress alike. + +When they are a little way off even their own mother can't always +tell. And if she can't, who can? + +Sometimes the twins almost get mixed up about it themselves. And +then it is very hard to know which is Nip and which is Tup, +because the little dogs are twins too. + +Nobody was surprised that the little dogs were twins, because +dogs often are. + +But everybody in the whole village where Menie +and Monnie live was simply astonished to see twin +babies! + +They had never known of any before in their whole lives. + +Old Akla, the Angakok, or Medicine Man of the village, shook his +head when he heard about them. He said, "Such a thing never +happened here before. Seals and human beings never have twins! +There's magic in this." + +The name of the twins' father was Kesshoo. If you say it fast it +sounds just like a sneeze. + +Their mother's name was Koolee. Kesshoo and Koolee, and Menie and +Monnie, and Nip and Tup, all live together in the cold Arctic +winter in a little stone hut, called an "igloo." + +In the summer they live in a tent, which they call a "tupik." The +winters are very long and cold, and what do you think! They have +one night there that is four whole months long! + +For four long months, while we are having Thanksgiving, and +Christmas, and even Lincoln's Birthday, the twins never once see +the sun! + +But at last one day in early spring the sun comes up again out of +the sea, looks at the world for a little while, and then goes out +of sight again. Each day he stays for a longer time until after a +while he doesn't go out of sight at all! + +Then there are four long months of daylight when there is never +any bedtime. Menie and Monnie just go to sleep whenever they feel +sleepy. + +Although many Eskimos think twins bring bad luck, Kesshoo and +Koolee were very glad to have two babies. + +They would have liked it better still if Monnie had been a boy, +too, because boys grow up to hunt and fish and help get food for +the family. + +But Kesshoo was the best hunter and the best kyak man in the +whole village. So he said to Koolee, "I suppose there must be +girls in the world. It is no worse for us than for others." + +So because Kesshoo was a brave fisherman and strong hunter, and +because Koolee was clever in making clothing and shoes out of the +skins of the animals which he brought home, the twins had the +very best time that little Eskimo children can have. + +And that is quite a good time, as you will see if you read all +about it in this book. + + +I. THE TWINS GO COASTING + +THE TWINS GO COASTING + +I. + +One spring morning, very early, while the moon still shone and +every one else in the village was asleep, Menie and Monnie crept +out of the dark entrance of their little stone house by the sea. + +The entrance to their little stone house was long and low like a +tunnel. The Twins were short and fat. But even if they were short +they could not stand up straight in the tunnel. + +So they crawled out on all fours. Nip and Tup came with them. Nip +and Tup were on all fours, too, but they had run that way all +their lives, so they could go much faster than the twins. They +got out first. + +Then they ran round in circles in the snow and barked at the +moon. When Menie and Monnie came out of the hole, Tup jumped up +to lick Monnie's face. He bumped her so hard that she fell right +into the snowbank by the entrance. + +Monnie didn't mind a bit. She just put her two fat arms around +Tup, and they rolled over together in the snow. + +Monnie had on her fur suit, with fur hood and mittens, and it was +hard to tell which was Monnie and which was Tup as they tumbled +in the snow together. + +Pretty soon Monnie picked herself up and shook off the snow. Then +Tup shook himself, too. Menie was rolling over and over down the +slope in front of the little stone house. His head was between +his knees and his hands held his ankles, so he rolled just like a +ball. + +Nip was running round and round him and barking with all his +might. They made strange shadows on the snow in the moonlight. + +Monnie called to Menie. Menie straightened himself out at the +bottom of the slope, picked himself up and ran back to her. + +"What shall we play?" said Monnie. + +"Let's get Koko, and go to the Big Rock and slide downhill," said +Menie. + +"All right," said Monnie. "You run and get your sled." + +Menie had a little sled which his father had made for him out of +driftwood. No other boy in the village had one. Menie's father +had searched the beach for many miles to find driftwood to make +this sled. + +The Eskimos have no wood but driftwood, and it is so precious +that it is hardly ever used for anything but big dog sledges or +spears, or other things which the men must have. + +Most of the boys had sleds cut from blocks of ice. Menie's sled +was behind the igloo. He ran to get it, and then the twins and +the pups -all four- started for Koko's house. + +Koko's house was clear at the other end of the village. But that +was not far away, for there were only five igloos in the whole +town. + +First there was the igloo where the twins lived. Next was the +home of Akla, the Angakok, and his two wives. Then there were two +igloos where several families lived together. Last of all was the +one where Koko and his father and mother and baby brother lived. + +Koko was six. He was the twins' best friend. + + +II. + +The air was very still. There was not a sound anywhere except the +barking of the pups, the voices of Menie and Monnie, and the +creaking sound of the snow under their feet as they ran. + +The round moon was sailing through the deep blue sky and shining +so bright it seemed almost as light as day. + +There was one window in each igloo right over the tunnel +entrance, and these windows shone with a dull yellow light. + +In front of the village lay the sea. It was covered with ice far +out from shore. Beyond the ice was the dark water out of which +the sun would rise by and by. + +There was nothing else to be seen in all the twins' world. There +were no trees, no bushes even; nothing but the white earth, the +shadows of the rocks and the snow-covered igloos, the bright +windows, and the moon shining over all. + + +III. + +Menie and Monnie soon reached Koko's igloo. Menie and Nip got +there first. Monnie came puffing along with Tup just a moment +after. + +Then the twins dropped on their hands and knees in front of +Koko's hut, and stuck their heads into the tunnel. Nip and Tup +stuck their heads in, too. + +They all four listened. There was not a sound to be heard except +loud snores! The snores came rattling through the tunnel with +such a frightful noise that the twins were almost scared. + +"They sleep out loud, don't they?" whispered Monnie. + +"Let's wake them up," Menie whispered back. + +Then the twins began to bark. "Ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi," just +like little dogs! + +Nip and Tup began to yelp, too. The snores and the yelps met in +the middle of the tunnel and the two together made such a +dreadful sound that Koko woke up at once. When he heard four +barks he knew right away that it must be the twins and the little +dogs. + +So he stuck his head into the other end of the tunnel and called, +"Keep still. You'll wake the baby! I'll be there in a minute." + +Very soon Koko popped out of the black hole. He was dressed in a +fur suit and mittens just like the twins. + + +IV. + +The three children went along together toward the Big Rock. +Monnie rode on the sled, and Menie and Koko pulled it. The Big +Rock was very straight up and down on one side, and long and +slanting on the other. The twins were going to coast down the +slanting side. + +They climbed to the top, and Menie had the first ride. He coasted +down on his stomach with his little reindeer-skin kamiks (shoes) +waving in the air. + +Next Koko had a turn. What do you think he did? He stood straight +up on the sled with the leather cord in his hand, and slid down +that way! But then, you see, he was six. + +When Monnie's turn came she wanted to go down that way, too. But +Menie said, "No. You'd fall off and bump your nose! You have +hardly any nose as it is, and you'd better save it!" + +"I have as much nose as you have, anyway," said Monnie. + +"Mine is bigger! I'm a boy!" said Menie. + +Koko measured their noses with his finger. + +"They are just exactly alike," he said. + +Monnie turned hers up at Menie and said, "What did I tell you?" + +Menie never said another word about noses. He just changed the +subject. He said, "Let's all slide down at once." + +Koko and Menie sat down on the sled. Monnie sat on Menie. Then +they gave a few hitches to the sled and off they went. + +Whiz! How they flew! + +The pups came running after them. In some places where it was +very slippery the pups coasted, too! But they did not mean to. +They did not like it. The sled was almost at the end of the slide +when it struck a piece of ice. It flew around sideways and +spilled all the children in the snow. + +Just then Nip and Tup came sliding along behind them. They +couldn't stop, so there they all were in a heap together, with +the dogs on top! + +Menie rolled over and sat up in the snow. He was holding on to +the end of his nose. "Iyi, iyi!" he howled, "I bumped my nose on +a piece of ice!" + +Monnie sat up in the snow, too. She pointed her fur mitten at +Menie's nose and laughed. "Don't you know you haven't much nose?" +she said. "You ought to be more careful of it!" + +Koko kicked his feet in the air and laughed at Menie, and the +little dogs barked. Menie thought he'd better laugh, too. He had +just let go of his nose to begin when all of a sudden the little +dogs stopped barking and stood very still! + +Their hair stood up on their necks and they began to growl! + +"Hark, the dogs see something," said Menie. + +Monnie and Koko stopped laughing and listened. They could not +hear anything. They could not see anything. Still Nip and Tup +growled. The twins and Koko. were children of brave hunters, so, +although they were scared, they crept very quietly to the side of +the Big Rock and peeped over. + +Just that minute there was a dreadful growl! "Woof!" It was very +loud, and very near, and down on the beach a shadow was moving! +It was the shadow of a great white BEAR! + +He was looking for fish and was cross because everything was +frozen, and he could not find any on the beach. + +The moment they saw him, the twins and Koko turned and ran for +home as fast as ever their short legs could go! They did not even +stop to get the precious sled. They just ran and ran. + +Nip and Tup ran, too, with their ears back and their little tails +stuck straight out behind them! + +If they had looked back, they would have seen the bear stand up +on his hind legs and look after them, then get down on all fours +and start toward the Big Rock on a run. + +But neither the children nor the little dogs looked back! They +just ran with all their might until they reached the twins' +igloo. Then they all dived into the tunnel like frightened +rabbits. + +V. + +When they came up in the one little room of the igloo at the +other end of the tunnel Kesshoo and Koolee were just crawling out +of the warm fur covers of their bed. Menie and Monnie and Koko +and the little dogs all began to talk at once. + +The moment the twins' father and mother heard the word -bear- +they jumped off the sleeping-bench and began to put on their +clothes. + +They both wore fur trousers and long kamiks, with coats of fur, +so they looked almost as much alike in their clothes as the twins +did in theirs. + +The mother always wore her hair in a topknot on top of her head, +tied with a leather thong. But now she wanted to make the bear +think she was a man, too, so she pulled it down and let it hang +about her face, just as her husband did. + +In two minutes they were ready. Then the father reached for his +lance, the mother took her knife, and they all crawled out of the +tunnel. + +The father went first, then the mother, then the three children +and the pups. At the opening of the tunnel the father stopped, +and looked all around to see if the bear were near. + +The dogs in the village knew by this time that some strange +animal was about, and the moment Kesshoo came out into the +moonlight and started for the Big Rock, all the dogs ran, too, +howling like a pack of wolves. + +Kesshoo shouted back to his wife, "There really is a bear! I see +him by the Big Rock; call the others." + +So she sent Monnie into the igloo of the Angakok, and Menie and +Koko into the next huts. She herself screamed, "A bear! A bear!" +into the tunnel of Koko's hut. + +The people in the houses had heard the dogs bark and were already +awake. Soon they came pouring out of their tunnels armed with +knives and lances. The women had all let down their hair, just as +the twins' mother did. Each one carried her knife. + +They all ran toward the Big Rock, too. Far ahead they could see +the bear, and the dogs bounding along, and Kesshoo running with +his lance in his hand. + +Then they saw the dogs spring upon the bear. The bear stood up on +his hind legs and tried to catch the dogs and crush them in his +arms. But the dogs were too nimble. The bear could not catch +them. + +When Kesshoo came near, the bear gave a great roar, and started +for him. The brave Kesshoo stood still with his lance in his +hand, until the bear got quite near. Then he ran at the bear and +plunged the lance into his side. The lance pierced the bear's +heart. He groaned, fell to the ground, rolled over, and was +still. + +Then how everybody ran! Koko's mother had her baby in her hood, +where Eskimo mothers always carry their babies. She could not run +so fast as the others. The Angakok was fat, so he could not keep +up, but he waddled along as fast as he could. + +"Hurry, hurry," he called to his wives. "Bespeak one of his hind +legs for me." + +Menie and Monnie and Koko had such short legs they could not go +very fast either, so they ran along with the Angakok, and Koko's +mother, and Nip and Tup. + +When they reached the bear they found all the other people +crowded around it. Each one stuck his fingers in the bear's blood +and then sucked his fingers. This was because they wanted all +bears to know how they longed to kill them. As each one tasted +the blood he called out the part of the bear he would like to +have. + +The wives of the Angakok cried, "Give a hind leg to the Angakok." + +"The kidneys for Koko," cried Koko's mother when she stuck in her +finger. "That will make him a great bear-hunter when he is big." + +"And I will have the skin for the twins' bed," said their mother. + +Kesshoo promised each one the part he asked for. An Eskimo never +keeps the game he kills for himself alone. Every one in the +village has a share. + +The bear was very large. He was so large that though all the +women pulled together they could not drag the body back to the +village. The men laughed at them, but they did not help them. + +So Koolee ran back for their sledge and harnesses for the dogs. +Koko and Menie helped her catch the dogs and hitch them to the +sledge. + +It took some time to catch them for the dogs did not want to +work. They all ran away, and Tooky, the leader of the team, +pretended to be sick! Tooky was the mother of Nip and Tup, and +she was a very clever dog. While Koolee and Koko and Menie were +getting the sledge and dog-team ready, the rest of the women set +to work with their queer crooked knives to take off the bear's +skin. The moon set, and the sky was red with the colors of the +dawn before this was done. + +At last the meat was cut in pieces and Kesshoo and Koko's father +held the dogs while the women heaped it on the sledge. The dogs +wanted the meat. They jumped and howled and tried to get away. + +When everything was ready, Koolee cracked the whip at the dogs. +Tooky ran ahead to her place as leader, the other dogs began to +pull, and the whole procession started back to the village, +leaving a great red stain on the clean white snow where the bear +had been killed. + +Last of all came the twins and Koko. They had loaded the bear's +skin on Menie's sled. + +"It's a woman's work to pull the meat home. We men just do the +hunting and fishing," Menie said to Koko. They had heard the men +say that. + +"Yes, we found the bear," Koko answered. "Monnie can pull the +skin home." + +And though Monnie had found the bear just as much as they had, +she didn't say a word. She just pulled away on the sled, and they +all reached the igloo together just as the round red sun came up +out of the sea, and threw long blue shadows far across the fields +of snow. + + +II. KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +I. + +The first thing that was done after they got the sledge back to +the village was to feed the dogs. The dogs were very hungry; they +had smelled the fresh meat for a long time without so much as a +bite of it, and they had had nothing to eat for two whole days. +They jumped about and howled again and got their harnesses +dreadfully tangled. + +Kesshoo unharnessed them and gave them some bones, and while they +were crunching them and quarreling among themselves, Koolee +crawled into the igloo and brought out a bowl. The bowl was made +of a hollowed-out stone, and it had water in it. + +"This is for a charm," said Koolee. "If you each take a sip of +water from this bowl my son will always have good luck in spying +bears!" + +She passed the bowl around, and each person took a sip of the +water. When Menie's turn came he took a big, big mouthful, +because he wanted to be very brave, indeed, and find a bear every +week. But he was in too much of a hurry. The water went down his +"Sunday-throat" and choked him! He coughed and strangled and his +face. grew red. Koolee thumped him on the back. + +"That's a poor beginning for a great bear-hunter," she said. + +Everybody laughed at Menie. Menie hated to be laughed at. He went +away and found Nip and Tup. They wouldn't laugh at him, he knew. +He thought he liked dogs better than people anyway. + +Nip and Tup were trying to get their noses into the circle with +the other dogs, but the big dogs snapped at them and drove them +away, so Menie got some scraps and fed them. + +Meanwhile Koolee stood by the sledge and divided the meat among +her neighbors. First she gave one of the hind legs to the wives +of the Angakok, because he always had to have the best of +everything. She gave the kidneys to Koko's mother. To each one +she gave just the part she had asked for. When each woman had +been given her share, Kesshoo took what was left and put it on +the storehouse. + +The storehouse wasn't really a house at all. It was just a great +stone platform standing up on legs, like a giant's table. The +meat was placed on the top of it, so the dogs could not reach it, +no matter how high they jumped. + + +II. + +When the rest of the meat was taken care of, Koolee took the +bear's head and carried it into the igloo. + +All the people followed her. Then Koolee did a queer thing. She +placed the head on a bench, with the nose pointing toward the Big +Rock, because the bear had come from that direction. Then she +stopped up the nostrils with moss and grease. She greased the +bear's mouth, too. + +"Bears like grease," she said. "And if I stop up his nose like +that bears will never be able to smell anything. Then the hunters +can get near and kill them before they know it." You see Koolee +was a great believer in signs and in magic. All the other people +were too. + +She called to the twins, "Come here, Menie and Monnie." + +The twins had come in with the others, but they were so short +they were out of sight in the crowd. They crawled under the +elbows of the grown people and stood beside Koolee. + +"Look, children," she said to them, "your grandfather, who is +dead, sent you this bear. He wants you to send him something. In +five days the bear's spirit will go to the land where your +grandfather's spirit lives. What would you like to have the +bear's spirit take to your grandfather for a gift?" + +"I'll send him the little fish that father carved for me out of +bone," said Menie. He squirmed through the crowd and got it from +a corner of his bed and brought it to his mother. She put it on +the bear's head. + +Monnie gave her a leather string with a lucky stone tied to it. +Koolee put that on the bear's head too. + +Then she said, "There! In five days' time the bear's spirit will +give the shadows of these things to your grandfather. Then we can +eat the head, but not until we are sure the bear's spirit has +reached the home of the Dead." + +"That is well," the Angakok said to the twins, when Koolee had +finished. "Your grandfather will be pleased with your presents, I +know. Your grandfather was a just man. I knew him well. He always +paid great respect to me. Whenever he brought a bear home he +gave me not only a hind leg, but the liver as well! I should not +be surprised if he sent the bear this way, knowing how fond I am +of bear's liver." + +The Angakok placed his hand on his stomach and rolled up his +eyes. "But times are not what they once were," he went on. +"People care now only for their own stomachs! They would rather +have the liver themselves than give it to the Angakok! They will +be sorry when it is too late." + +He shook his head and heaved a great +sigh. Koolee looked at Kesshoo. She was +very anxious. Kesshoo went out at once +to the storehouse. He climbed to the top +and got the liver. + +By this time all the people had crawled out of the igloo again, +and were ready to carry home their meat. Kesshoo ran to the +Angakok and gave him the bear's liver. The Angakok handed it to +one of his wives to carry. The other one already had the bear's +leg. He said to Kesshoo, "You are a just man, like your father. I +know the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. You know your duty! +You shall have your reward." He looked very solemn and waddled +away toward his igloo with the two wives behind him carrying the +meat. All the rest of the people followed after him and went into +their own igloos. + + +III. THE TWINS GO FISHING + +THE TWINS GO FISHING + +I. + +When the people had all gone away, Menie and Monnie sat down on +the side of the sledge. Nip and Tup were busy burying bones in the +snow. The other dogs had eaten all they wanted to and were now +lying down asleep in the sun, with their noses on their paws. + +Everything was still and cold. It was so still you could almost +hear the silence, and so bright that the twins had to squint +their eyes. In the air there was a faint smell of cooking meat. + +Menie sniffed. "I'm so hungry I could eat my boots," he said. + +"There are better things to eat than boots," Monnie answered. +"What would you like best of everything in the world if you could +have it?" + +"A nice piece of blubber from a walrus or some reindeer tallow," +said Menie. + +"Oh, no," Monnie cried. "That isn't half as good as reindeer's +stomach, or fishes' eyes! Um-m how I love fishes' eyes! I tell +you, Menie, let's get something to eat and then go fishing, +before the sun goes down!" + +"All right," said Menie. "Let's see if Mother won't give us a +piece of bear's fat! That is almost as good as blubber or fishes' +eyes." + + +II. + +They dived into the igloo. Their mother was standing beside the +oil lamp, putting strands of dried moss into the oil. This lamp +was their only stove and their only light. It didn't look much +like our stoves. It was just a piece of soapstone, shaped +something like a clamshell. It was all lowed out so it would +hold the oil. All along the shallow side of the pan there were +little tendrils of dried moss, like threads. These were the +wicks. + +Over the fire pan there was a rack, and from the rack a stone pan +hung down over the lamp flame. It was tied by leather thongs to +the rack. In the pan a piece of bear's meat was simmering. The +fire was not big enough to cook it very well, but there was a +little steam rising from it, and it made a very good smell for +hungry noses. + +"We're hungry enough to eat our boots," Menie said to his mother. + +"You must never eat your boots; you have but one pair!" his +mother answered. She pinched Menie's cheek and laughed at him. + +Then she cut two chunks of fat from a piece of bear's meat which +lay on the bench. She gave one to each of the twins. "Eat this, +and soon you can have some cooked meat," she said. "It isn't +quite done yet." + +"We don't want to wait for the cooked meat," cried Monnie. "We +want to go fishing before the sun is gone. Give us more fat and +we'll eat it outside." + +"You may go fishing if your father will go with you and cut holes +for you in the ice," said her mother. + +Koolee cut off two more pieces of fat. The twins took a piece in +each hand. Then their mother reached down their own little +fishing rods, which were stuck in the walls of the igloo. The +twins had bear's meat in both hands. They didn't see how they +could manage the fishing rods too. + +But Menie thought of a way. "I'll show you how," he said to +Monnie. He held one chunk of meat in his teeth! In his left hand +he held the fishing rod, in his right he carried the other piece +of meat! + +Monnie did exactly what Menie did, and then they crawled down +into the tunnel. + + +III. + +The twins had some trouble getting out of the tunnel because both +their hands were full. And besides the fishing rods kept getting +between their legs. When they got outside they both took great +bites of the bear's fat. + +Kesshoo was hanging the dogs' harnesses up on a tall pole, where +the dogs could not get them. The pole was eight feet long, and it +was made of the tusk of a narwhal. The harnesses were made of +walrus thongs and the dogs would eat them if they had a chance. +That was the reason Kesshoo hung them out of reach. The twins ran +to their father at once. They began to tell him that they wanted +to go fishing right away before the sun went down but their +mouths were so full they couldn't get the words out! + +"Mm-m-m-m," Menie began, chewing with all his might! + +Then Monnie did a shocking thing! She swallowed her meat whole, +she was in such hurry! It made a great lump going down her +throat! It almost choked her. But she shut her eyes, jerked her +head forward, and got it down! + +"Will you make two holes in the ice for us to fish through?" she +said. She got the words out first! Then she took another bite of +meat. + +"Have you got your lines ready, and anything for bait?" asked +their father. + +By this time Menie had swallowed his mouthful too. He said, "We +can take a piece of bear's meat for bait. The lines and hooks are +ready." + +Kesshoo looked at the lines. The rods were very short. They were +made of driftwood with a piece of bone bound to the end by tough +thongs. + +There was a hole in the end of the bone, and through this hole +the line was threaded. The line was made of braided reindeer +thongs. On the end of the line was a hook carved out of bone. + +"Your lines are all right," said Kesshoo. "Come along." + +He led the way down to the beach. The twins came tumbling after +him, and I am sorry to tell you they gobbled their meat all the +way! After the twins came Nip and Tup. The ice was very thick. +Kesshoo and the twins and the pups walked out on it quite a +distance from the shore. + +Kesshoo cut two round holes in the ice. One was for Menie and one +for Monnie. The holes were not big enough for them to fall into. + +By this time the twins had eaten all their meat except some small +pieces which they saved for bait. They each put a piece of meat +on the hook. Then they squatted down on their heels and dropped +the hooks into the holes. + +Kesshoo went back to the village, and left them there. "Don't +stay out too long," he called back to them. + + +IV. + +The twins sat perfectly still for a long time. Nip sat beside +Menie, and Tup sat beside Monnie. It grew colder and colder. The +sun began to drop down toward the sea again. At last it rested +like a great round red wheel right on the Edge of the World! + +Slowly, slowly it sank until only a little bit of the red rim +showed; then that too was gone. Great splashes of red color came +up in the sky over the place where it had been. + +Still the twins sat patiently by their holes. It grew darker and +darker. The colors faded. The stars began to twinkle, but the +twins did not move. Nip and Tup ran races on the ice, and rolled +over each other and barked. + +At last -all of a sudden- there was a fearful jerk on Monnie's +line! It took her by surprise. The little rod flew right out of +her hands! Monnie flung herself on her stomach on the ice and +caught the rod just as it was going down the hole! She held on +hard and pulled like everything. + +"I believe I've caught a whale," she panted. + +But she never let go! She got herself right side up on the ice, +somehow, and pulled and pulled on her line. + +"Let me pull him in!" cried Menie. He tried to take her rod. + +"Get away," screamed Monnie. "I'll pull in my own fish." + +Menie danced up and down with excitement, still holding his own +rod. The pups danced and barked too. Monnie never looked at any +of them. She kept her eyes fixed on the hole and pulled. + +At last she shrieked, "I've got him, I've got him!" And up +through the hole came a great big codfish! + +My! how he did flop around on the ice! Nip and Tup were scared. +They ran for home at the first flop. + +"Let's go home now," said Monnie. "I want to show my fine big +fish to Mother." + +But Menie said, "Wait a little longer till I catch one! I'll give +you one eye out of my fish if you will." + +Monnie waited. She put another piece of meat on her hook and +dropped it again into the hole. After a while she said, "You can +keep your old eye if you get it. It's so dark the fish can't see +to get themselves caught anyway. I'm cold. I'm going home." + +Menie got up very slowly and pulled up his line. + +As they turned toward the shore, Monnie cried out, "Look, look! +The sky is on fire!" It looked like it, truly! + +Great white streamers were flashing from the Edge of the World, +clear up into the sky! They danced like flames. Sometimes they +shot long banners of blue or green fire up to the very stars. +Overhead the sky shone red as blood. The stars seemed blotted +out. + +The twins had seen many wonderful things in the sky, but never +such color as this. Their eyes grew as round and big and popping +as those of Monnie's codfish, while they watched the long banners +join themselves into a great waving curtain of color that hung +clear across the heavens. + +"What is it? Oh, what is it?" they gasped. They were too +astonished to move, and they were a good deal frightened, too. +They never knew the sky could act like that. + +Monnie felt her black hair rise under her little fur hood. She +seized Menie's coat. "Do you suppose the world is going to be +burned up?" she said. + +Just then they heard a voice calling, "Menie, Monnie, where are +you?" + +"Here we are," they answered. Their teeth were chattering with +cold and fright, and they ran up the slope and flung themselves +into their mother's arms. + +"Oh, Mother, what is the matter with the sky?" they gasped. + +Then Koolee looked up too. The long streamers were still flinging +themselves up toward the red dome overhead. + +We call this the "aurora," or "northern lights," and know that +electricity causes it, but the twins' mother couldn't know that. +She told them just what had been told her when she was a little +girl. + +She said, "That is the dance of the Spirits of the Dead! Haven't +you ever seen it before?" + +"Not like this," said the twins. "This is so big, and so red!" + +"The sky is not often so bright," said Koolee. "Some say it is +the spirits of little children dancing and playing together in +the sky! They will not hurt you. You need not be afraid. See how +they dance in a ring all around the Edge of the World! They look +as if they were having fun." + +"It goes around the Edge of the World just like the flames around +our lamp," said Menie. "Maybe it's the Giants' lamp!" + +Menie and Monnie believed in Giants. So did their mother. They +thought the Giants lived in the middle of the Great White World, +where the snow never melts. + +The thought of the Giants scared them all. The twins gave the +fish to their mother, and then they all three scuttled up the +snowy slope toward the bright window of their igloo just as fast +as they could go. When they got inside they found some hot bear's +meat waiting for them, and Monnie had both the eyes from her fish +to eat. But she gave one to Menie. + +When they were warmed and fed, they pulled off their little fur +suits, crawled into the piles of warm skins on the sleeping +bench, and in two minutes were sound asleep. + + +IV. + +THE SNOW HOUSE + +THE SNOW HOUSE + +I. + +It is very hard to tell what day it is, or what hour in the day, +in a place where the days and nights are all mixed up, and where +there are no clocks. + +Menie and Monnie had never seen a clock in their whole lives. If +they had they would have thought it was alive, and perhaps would +have been afraid of it. + +But people everywhere in the world get sleepy, so the Eskimos +sometimes count their time by "sleeps." Instead of saying five +days ago, they say "five sleeps" ago. + +The night after the bear was killed it began to snow. The wind +howled around the igloo and piled the snow over it in huge +drifts. + +The dogs were buried under it and had to be dug out, all but Nip +and Tup. They stayed inside with the twins and slept in their +bed. + +The twins and their father and mother were glad to stay in the +warm hut. + +At last the snow stopped, the air cleared, and the twins and +Kesshoo went out. Koolee stayed in the igloo. + +She sat on her sleeping bench upon a pile of soft furs. A bear's +skin was stretched up on the wall behind her. She had a cozy nest +to work in. + +The lamp stood on the bench beside her. She was making a +beautiful new suit for Menie. It was made of fawn-skin as soft as +velvet, and the hood and sleeves were trimmed with white rabbit's +fur. + +Her thimble was made of ivory, and her needle too. Her thread was +a fine strip of hide. There was a bunch of such thread beside +her. + +Soon Kesshoo came in, bringing with him a dried fish and a piece +of bear's meat, from the storehouse. + +Koolee looked up from her sewing. "Isn't it five sleeps since you +killed the bear?" she said. + +Kesshoo counted on his fingers. "Yes," he said, "it is five +sleeps." + +"Then it is time to eat the bear's head," said Koolee. "His +spirit is now with our fathers." + +"Why not have a feast?" said Kesshoo. "There hasn't been any +fresh meat in the village since the bear was killed, and I don't +believe the rest have had anything to eat but dried fish. We have +plenty of bear's meat still." + +Koolee hopped down off the bench and put some more moss into the +lamp. + +"You bring in the meat," she said, "and tell the twins to go to +all the igloos and invite the people to come at sunset." + +"All right," Kesshoo answered, and he went out at once to the +storehouse to get the meat. + + +II. + +When he came out of the tunnel, Kesshoo found the twins trying to +make a snow house for the dogs. They weren't getting on very +well. + +Kesshoo could make wonderful snow houses. He had made a beautiful +one when the first heavy snows of winter had come, and the family +had lived in it while Koolee finished building the stone igloo. +The twins had watched him make it. It seemed so easy they were +sure they could do it too. Kesshoo said, "If you will run to all +the igloos and tell the people to come at sunset to eat the +bear's head, I will help you build the snow house for the dogs." + +Menie and Monnie couldn't run. Nobody could. The snow was too +deep. They went in every step above their knees. But they +ploughed along and gave their message at each igloo. + +Everybody was very glad to come, and Koko said, "I'll come right +now and stay if you want me to." + +"Come along," said the twins. + +They went back to their own house, kicking the snow to make a +path. Koko went with them. The snow was just the right kind for a +snow house. It packed well and made good blocks. + +While the twins were away giving the invitations, Kesshoo carried +great pieces of bear's meat into the house. + +Koolee put in the cooking pan all the meat it would hold, and +kept the blaze bright in the lamp underneath to cook it. + +Then Kesshoo took his long ivory knife and went out to help the +twins with the snow house, as he had promised. + +"See, this is the way," he said to them. + +He took an unbroken patch of snow where no one had stepped. He +made a wide sweep of his arm and marked a circle in the snow with +his knife. + +The circle was just as big as he meant the house to be. Then he +cut out blocks of snow from the space inside the circle. He +placed these big blocks of snow around the circle on the line he +had marked with his knife. + +When he got the first row done Menie said, "I can do that! Let me +try." + +He took the knife and cut out a block. It wasn't nice and even +like his father's blocks. + +"That will never do," his father said. "Your house will tumble +down unless your blocks are true." + +He made the sides of the block straight by cutting off some of +the snow. + +"Now all the other blocks in this row must be just like this +one," he said. Koko tried next. His block was almost right the +first time. But then, as I have told you before, Koko was six. + +Monnie tried the next one. I am sorry to say hers wouldn't do at +all. It was dreadfully crooked. They took turns. Menie cut a new +block while Koko placed the last one on the snow wall. + +Kesshoo had to put on the top blocks to make the roof. Neither +Koko nor Menie could do it right, though they tried and tried. It +is a very hard thing to do. When the blocks were all laid up and +the dome finished, Kesshoo said, "Now, Monnie can help pack it +with snow." + +Monnie got the snow shovel. The snow shovel was made of three +flat pieces of wood sewed together with leather thongs. It had an +edge of horn sewed on with thongs, too. + +Monnie threw loose snow on the snow house and spatted it down +with the back of the shovel. + +While she was doing this, Menie and Koko built a tunnel entrance +for the dogs just like the big one on the stone house. + +They worked so hard they were warm as toast, though it was as +cold as our coldest winter weather; and when it was all finished +Menie ran clear over it just to show how strong and well built it +was. + + +III. + +When the snow house was all ready, Menie called the three big +dogs. Tooky was the leader, and the three dogs together were +Kesshoo's sledge team. Tooky was a hunting dog too. + +When Menie called the dogs, the dogs thought they were going to +be harnessed, so they hid behind the igloo arid pretended they +didn't hear. Koko and Menie followed them, but the moment they +got near, the dogs bounded away. They went round to the front of +the igloo and ran into the tunnel. + +Koolee was just turning the meat in the pan with a pointed stick. +There was a piece of bear's meat lying on the bench. + +The dogs smelled the meat. They stuck their heads into the room, +and when Koolee's back was turned, Tooky stole the meat! + +Just then Koolee turned around. She saw Tooky. She shrieked, "Oh, +my meat, my meat!" and whacked Tooky across the nose with the +snow stick! + +But Tooky was bound to have the meat. She ran out of the tunnel +with it in her mouth, just as Menie and Koko got round to the +front of the igloo once more. + +"I-yi! I-yii" they screamed, "Tooky's got the meat!" Kesshoo +caught up his dog-whip and came running from the storehouse. + +The other two dogs wanted the meat too. They flew at Tooky and +snarled and fought with her to get it. + +Then Koolee's head appeared in the tunnel hole! Tooky was +crouching in the snow in front of the tunnel, trying to fight off +the other two dogs and guard the meat at the same time. + +She wasn't doing a thing with her tail, but she was very busy +with all the rest of her. Her tail was pointed right toward the +tunnel. + +The moment she saw it Koolee seized the tail with both hands and +jerked it like everything! Tooky was so surprised she yelped. And +when she opened her mouth to yelp, of course she dropped the +meat. + +Just at that instant Kesshoo's whip lash came singing about the +ears of all three dogs. + +"Snap, snap," it went. They jumped to get out of the way of the +lash. + +Then Koolee leaped forward and snatched the meat from under their +noses, and scuttled back with it into the tunnel before you could +say Jack Robinson. + +It is dangerous to snatch meat away from hungry dogs. If Kesshoo +hadn't been slashing at them with his whip, and if Menie and Koko +hadn't been screaming at them with all their might, so the dogs +were nearly distracted, Koolee might have been badly bitten. + +Just then Monnie came up with some dried fish. She threw one of +the fish over in front of the snow house. + +The dogs saw it and leaped for it. Then she threw another into +the snow hut itself. They went after that. She fed them all with +dried fish until they were so full they curled up in the snow +house and went to sleep. + + +V. THE FEAST + +THE FEAST + +The moment the sun had gone out of sight all the people in the +village came pouring out of their tunnels on their way to the +feast at Kesshoo's house. + +Kesshoo's house was so small that it seemed as if all the people +could not possibly get into it. + +But the Eskimos are used to crowding into very small spaces, +indeed. Sometimes a man and his wife and all his children will +live in a space about the size of a big double bed. + +First the Angakok came out of his igloo, looking fatter than +ever. The Angakok always found plenty to eat somehow. Both his +wives were thin. Their faces looked like baked apples all brown +and wrinkled. + +When they reached Kesshoo's house, the Angakok went into the +tunnel first. + +Now I can't tell you whether he had grown fatter during the five +days, or whether the entrance had grown smaller, but this much I +know: the Angakok got stuck! He couldn't get himself into the +room no matter how much he tried! He squirmed and wriggled and +twisted, until his face was very red and he looked as if he would +burst, but there he stayed. + +Other people had crawled into the tunnel after him. His two wives +were just behind. Everybody got stuck, of course, because no one +could move until the Angakok did. He was just like a cork in the +neck of a bottle. + +Kesshoo and Koolee and the twins and Nip and Tup were all in the +igloo. When they saw the Angakok's face come through the hole +they thought, of course, the rest of him would come too. But it +didn't, and the Angakok was mad about it. + +"Why don't they build igloos the way they used to?" he growled. +"Every year the tunnels get smaller and smaller! Am I to remain +here forever?" he went on. "Why doesn't somebody help me?" + +Kesshoo and Koolee seized him under his arms. They pulled and +pulled. The two wives pushed him from behind. + +"I-yi! I-yi!" screamed the Angakok. "You will scrape my skin +off!" + +He kicked out behind with his feet. His wives backed hastily, to +get out of the way. That made them bump into Koko's mother who +was just behind them. Her baby was in her hood, and when she +backed, the baby's head was bumped on the roof of the tunnel. + +The baby began to roar. In the tunnel it sounded like a clap of +thunder. The wives of the Angakok and Koko's mother all began to +talk at once, and with that and the baby's crying I suppose there +never was a tunnel that held so much noise. It all came into the +igloo, and it sounded quite frightful. The twins crept into the +farthest corner of the sleeping bench and watched their father +and mother and the Angakok, with their eyes almost popping out of +their heads. + +Nip and Tup thought they would help a little, so they jumped off +the bench; and barked at the Angakok. You see, they didn't know +he was a great medicine man. They thought maybe he ought not to +be there at all. + +Nip even snapped at the Angakok's ear! + +That made the Angakok more angry than ever. He reached into the +room, seized Nip with one hand and flung him up on to the +sleeping bench. Nip lit on top of Menie. Nip was very much +surprised, and so was Menie. + +Now, whether the jerk he gave in throwing Nip did it or not, I +cannot say, but at that instant Kesshoo and Koolee both gave a +great pull in front. At the same moment the two wives gave a +great push behind, and the next moment after that, there was the +Angakok, still red, and still angry, sitting on the edge of the +sleeping bench in the best place near the fire! + +Then his two wives came crawling through. The Angakok looked at +them as if he thought they had made him stick in the tunnel, and +had done it on purpose, too. The wives scuttled up on to the +sleeping bench, and got into the farthest corner of it as fast as +they could. + +The women and children always sat back on the bench at a feast. + +When Koko's mother came in, the baby was still crying. She +climbed up on to the bed with him, and Menie and Monnie showed +him the pups and that made the baby laugh again. + +As fast as they came in, the women and children packed themselves +away on the sleeping bench. The men sat along the edge of it with +their feet on the floor. + + +II. + +The smell of food soon made everybody cheerful. When at last they +were all crowded into the room, Koolee placed the bear's head and +other pans of meat on the floor. + +Then she crawled back on to the bench with the other women. + +The Angakok was the first one to help himself. He reached down +and took a large chunk of meat. He held it up to his mouth and +took hold of the end with his teeth. Then he sawed off a huge +mouthful with his knife. + +It looked as if he would surely cut off the end of his nose too, +but he didn't. + +When the men had all helped themselves, pieces of meat were +handed out to the women and children. + +Soon they were all eating as if their lives depended on it. And +now I think of it, their lives did depend on it, to be sure! I +will not speak about their table manners. In fact, they hadn't +any to speak of! They had nothing to eat with the meat -not even +salt- but it was a great feast to them for all that, and they ate +and ate until every scrap was gone. + +The Angakok grew better natured every minute. By the time he had +eaten all he could hold he was really quite happy and benevolent! +He clasped his hands over his stomach and smiled on everybody. + +The women chattered in their corner of the sleeping-bench, and +Koolee showed Koko's mother the new fur suit trimmed with white +rabbit's skin that she was making for Menie. And Koko's mother +said she really must make one for Koko just like it. + +The twins and Koko talked about a trap to catch hares which they +meant to made as soon as the long days began again, and the baby +went to sleep on a pile of furs in the corner. Menie fed the pups +with some of his own meat, and gave them each a bone. Nip and Tup +buried their bones under the baby and then went to sleep too. + + +III. + +After a while the Angakok turned his face to the wall, as he +always did when he meant to tell a story or sing a song. Then he +said, "Listen, my children!" He called everybody -even the grown +up people- his children! Everybody listened. They always listened +when the Angakok spoke. + +The Angakok knew the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. He had +told them so many times! The people believed it, and it may be +that the Angakok really believed it himself, though I have some +doubt about that. + +"Listen, my children," said the Angakok, "and I will tell you +wonderful things. + +"There is a world beneath the sea! You catch glimpses of that +world yourselves in calm summer weather, when the water is still, +and you know that I speak the truth! + +"Then you can see the shadows of rocks and islands and glaciers +in the smooth water. Far below you see blue sky and white clouds. +That is the calm world in which the Spirits of the Dead live. I +have visited that underworld, many times, I have talked there +with the spirits of your ancestors." + +The Angakok paused and looked around to see if every one was +paying attention. Then he went on with his story. + +"Do you remember how two springs ago there were so few walruses +and seals along the coast that you nearly died for lack of food +and oil?" he said. "My children, it was I who brought the seals +and walruses back to you! Without my efforts you might all have +starved! + +"I will tell you of the perils of a fearful journey which I +undertook for your sakes. Then you will see what you owe to the +skill and faithfulness of your Angakok!" + +All the people looked very solemn, and nodded their heads. The +Angakok went on. + +"You must know that in the depths of the underworld, far beyond +the beautiful abode of the Spirits of the Dead, lives the Old +Woman of the Sea! + +"There she sits forever and forever beside a monstrous lamp. +Underneath the lamp is a great saucer to catch the oil which +drips from it. + +"In that saucer there are whole flocks of sea-birds swimming +about! All the animals that live in the sea -the whales and +walruses, the codfish and the seals- swarm in the saucer of the +Old Woman of the Sea. That is where they all come from. Sometimes +the Old Woman of the Sea keeps all the creatures in the saucer. +Then there are no seal or fish or walrus along our coasts, and +there is hunger among the innuit (human beings). + +"At the time of my journey she had kept all the creatures for so +long a time in her saucer that you and many others were nearly +dead for lack of food." + +"It was then that I prepared myself for the perils of this +journey to the underworld. I called my Tornak, or guiding spirit, +to lead my steps. Without his Tornak an Angakok can do nothing. +The Tornak came at once in answer to my call. He took me by the +hand, and we plunged down into the water. First we passed through +the beautiful World of Spirits, where it is always summer. This +part of the way was quite pleasant, but on the farther side of +that world we came to a fearful abyss. It could be crossed only +on a large slippery wheel, as slippery as ice." + +"I mounted this wheel and was whirled across the chasm. No sooner +had I reached the other side than new terrors came upon me. I had +to pass by great cauldrons of boiling oil, in which seals were +swimming about." + +"A misstep would have sent me plunging into the boiling oil, and +you would have lost your Angakok forever!" + +The thought of this was so dreadful that the Angakok paused and +wiped his eyes. Then he went on again with his story. + +"However, with great courage I kept upon my way until at last I +saw the Old Woman's house! A deep gulf lay between us and her +dwelling, and outside it stood a great dog with bloody jaws. This +dog guards the entrance, and he sleeps only for a single moment, +once in a very great while." + +"For six days I and my Tornak waited there for the dog to sleep. +At last on the seventh day he closed his eyes! Instantly the +Tornak seized my hand and drew me across the bridge which spanned +the chasm. This bridge was as narrow as a single thread." + +"When we were safely across the bridge we passed the sleeping dog +and boldly entered the Old Woman's house. The Old Woman is +terrible to look upon! Her hand is the size of a large walrus, +and her teeth like the rocks along the coast!" The Angakok +dropped his voice to a whisper. + +"However, when she looked upon me she trembled!" he said. "She +saw at once that I possessed great power, and was a great +Angakok. I spoke to her flattering words. Then I told her of the +hunger of my children!" + +"I begged that she would send the seal and walrus and sea-birds +to our coast at once. But she had no mind to yield to my +requests. Then I stormed and threatened." The Angakok's voice +grew louder. "The walls shook with the thunder of my voice! At +last I seized her by the hair! I tipped over the saucer with my +foot! My great power prevailed against the mighty sorceress!" + +"The seal and walrus swam away. The birds flew into the air and +were gone. I had conquered the Old Woman of the Sea! My children +were saved!" The Angakok was silent for a moment. Then he spoke +again in a natural voice. + +"When I opened my eyes in my own igloo again," he said, "the +famine was already over. Flocks of sea-birds were flying +overhead. The sea swarmed with fish, and with walrus and seal. +Every one along the whole coast was happy. Ask yourselves -is it +not so?" + +The Angakok seemed very much pleased with himself, and he looked +about, as if he expected every one else to be pleased with him +too. All the people were filled with wonder at his great power. +They began to talk among themselves. + +"Yes, I remember the famine well," said Koko's father. "I was +away up the coast that season. Several died in our village for +lack of food." + +Other men remembered things about other times when food had been +scarce. + +"It is lucky," they said to each other, "that here we have a +great Angakok who understands all the secrets of the World and +who can save us from such dreadful things." + + +IV. + +At last Kesshoo said, "Will you tell us, great Angakok, how you +make these wonderful journeys?" + +"Do you really wish to know?" asked the Angakok. "If you do, I +will summon my guiding spirits to tell you, but they will speak +only in the darkness." + +Kesshoo took the lamp at once and put it out in the tunnel. Then +he placed a thick musk-ox hide over the entrance, so that not a +single ray of light came into the room. The darkness could almost +be felt. Everybody sat very still and listened. + +Soon a heavy body was heard to strike the floor with a dull thud, +and a strange voice said, "Who calls me?" + +Another voice said, "You are called, mighty spirits, to tell +these children of the labors of their Angakok." + +Then began all sorts of strange noises, as of different persons +speaking. All the voices sounded much like the Angakok's, and +they all said what a great medicine man the Angakok was, and how +every one in the village must be sure to do what he told them to! + +At last the Angakok himself spoke, in his own voice. "I will tell +you how I make these strange journeys," he said. + +"My body is now lying on the floor at your feet. Now I begin to +rise. You cannot see me. You cannot touch me. Now I am floating +about your heads, now I am touching the roof! I can go wherever I +please! Nothing can stop me! I know the secret places of the sun, +moon, and stars. I can fly through the roof and go at once to the +moon, if I wish to." + +Then the voice was still. Nobody moved or spoke. + +Monnie had gone to sleep in the corner of the bed, but Koko and +Menie were still awake. They had listened to every word about the +Old Woman of the Sea, and how the Angakok traveled to the moon. + +You know I told you before that Koko was six. He wanted to know +all about things. So he spoke right out in the dark, when every +one else was still. + +He said, "Mother, if the Angakok can go anywhere he wants to, why +couldn't he get out of the tunnel?" + +Koko's mother tried to hush him up. "Sh, sh," she said, and put +her hand over his mouth. At least she thought she did, but she +made a mistake in the dark and put her hand over Menie's mouth +instead! + +Menie tried to say, "I never said a word," but he could only make +queer sounds, because Koko's mother's hand was tight on his +mouth. + +Of course Koko didn't know his mother was trying to keep him +still, so he said again, "Why is it, mother?" + +Koko's mother heard Koko's voice speaking just as plainly as ever +though she was sure she had her hand over his mouth! She was +frightened. + +"Magic! magic!" she screamed. "Bring the light! Koko is +bewitched! I have my hand over his mouth, yet you hear that he +talks as plainly as ever!" + +Koko tried to say, "Your hand isn't over my mouth," and Menie +tried to say, "It's over mine!" but he could only say, "M-m-m," +because she held on so tight! + +Koko's mother was making so much noise herself that she wouldn't +have heard what either one said anyway. The baby woke up and +whimpered. Nip and Tup woke up and barked like everything. + +Kesshoo got the light from the tunnel as quickly as he could, and +set it on the bench. Then every one saw what was the matter! They +all laughed -all but Menie and the Angakok. The Angakok said to +Koko's father, "You'd better look after that boy. He is +disrespectful to me. That is a bad beginning!" + +Koko's father was ashamed of him. He said, "Koko is so small!" + +But the Angakok said, "Koko is six. He is old enough to know +better." + + +V. + +Everybody was so glad to see the light again that they all began +to talk at once. + +Some one said to Kesshoo, "Tell us about the long journey to the +south you took once long ago." + +Then everybody else listened, while Kesshoo told about how once +he had taken his dog sledge with a load of musk ox and seal skins +on it far down the coast and how at last he had come to a little +settlement where the houses were all made of wood, if they +would believe it! + +He told them that in the bay before the village there was a boat +as big as the Big Rock itself. It had queer white wings, and the +wind blew on these wings and made the boat go! + +Kesshoo had been out in a kyak to see it. He had even paddled all +round it. The men on the great boat had fair hair, and one of +them, the chief man of all, had bought some of Kesshoo's skins +and one of his dogs. The man was a great chief. His name was +Nansen. + +This great chief had told Kesshoo that he was going to take a +sledge and go straight into the inland country where the Giants +live! He said he was going to cross the great ice! No man had +ever done that since the world began. + +Kesshoo thought probably the great chief had been eaten by the +Giants, but he did not know surely, because he had never been +back there since to find out. And to be sure, if he had been +eaten by Giants, no one ever would know about it anyway. + +Then Kesshoo showed them all a great knife that the white chief +had given him, in exchange for a sealskin, and two steel needles +that he had sent to Koolee. Koolee kept the needles in a little +ivory case all by themselves. + +She always carried the case in her kamik, so it would not be +lost. She could do wonderful sewing with the needles. Koolee was +very proud of her sewing. No one else in the whole village could +sew so well, because they had not such good needles to do it +with. Koolee used them only for her very finest work. + +At last the Angakok said, "It is time to go home." He called to +his wives. They climbed down off the bench. + +That started the others. One after another they put on their +upper garments, which they had taken off in the warm igloo, said +good bye, and popped down into the tunnel. Last of all came the +Angakok's turn. + +Then Kesshoo and Koolee and the Angakok's wives all began to look +very anxious. The Angakok looked a little worried himself. If he +had stuck coming in, what would happen now after he had eaten so +much! + +He got down on his hands and knees, and. looked at the hole. He +had taken off his thick fur coat when he came in. Now he took off +his undercoat, and his thick fur trousers! He gave them to his +wives. + +Then he stretched himself out just as long as he possibly could +and slowly hitched himself down into the tunnel, groaning all the +way. + +Kesshoo and Koolee and the wives waited until his feet +disappeared, and they heard him scraping along through the +tunnel. Then they breathed a great sigh of relief, and the two +wives popped down after him. + +The last Kesshoo and Koolee heard of the Angakok, was a kind of +muffled roar when a piece of ice fell from the top of the tunnel +on to his bare back. + +Menie and Monnie and the pups were already sound asleep in their +corner of the bench when their father and mother fixed the lamp +for the night and crawled in among the fur robes beside them. + + +VI. THE REINDEER HUNT + +THE REINDEER HUNT + +I. + +The day after the feast it was still very cold, but there were +signs of spring in the air. When Menie went out to feed the dogs, +he saw a flock of ravens flying north, and Koko saw some sea +birds on the same day. + +Two days after that, when the twins and Koko were all three +playing together on the Big Rock, they saw a huge iceberg float +lazily by. + +It had broken away from a glacier, farther north, and was +drifting slowly toward the Southern Sea. It gleamed in the sun +like a great ice palace. + +One morning the air was thick with fog. When Kesshoo saw the fog +he said, "This would be a great day to hunt reindeer." + +"Oh, let me go with you!" cried Menie. + +Monnie knew better than to ask. She knew very well she would +never be allowed to go. + +Kesshoo thought a little before he answered. Then he said, "If +Koko's father will go, too, you and Koko may both go with us. You +are pretty small to go hunting, but boys cannot begin too early +to learn." + +Menie was wild with joy. He rushed to Koko's house and told him +and his father what Kesshoo had said. + +When he had finished, Koko's father said at once, "Tell Kesshoo +we will go." + +It was not long before they were ready to start. Kesshoo had his +great bow, and arrows, and a spear. He also had his bird dart. +Koko's father had his bow and spear and dart, too. Menie had his +little bow and arrows. + +Kesshoo put a harness on Tooky and tied the end of Tooky's +harness trace around Menie's waist. Koko's father had brought his +best dog, too, and Koko was fastened to the end of that dog's +harness in the same way. + +Then the four hunters started on their journey - Menie and Koko +driving the dogs in front of them. + +Monnie stood on the Big Rock and watched them until they were out +of sight in the fog. Nip and Tup were with her. They wanted to go +as much as Monnie did and she had hard work to keep them from +following after the hunters. + + +II. + +Kesshoo knew very well where to look for the reindeer. He led the +way up a steep gorge where the first green moss appeared in the +spring. They all four walked quietly along for several miles. + +When they got nearly to the head of the gorge, Kesshoo stopped. +He said to the boys, "You must not make any noise yourselves, and +you must not let the dogs bark. If you do there will be no +reindeer today." + +The boys kept very still, indeed. The dogs were good hunting +dogs. They knew better than to bark. + +They walked on a little farther. Then Kesshoo came very near the +others and spoke in a low voice. He said, "We are coming to a +spot where there are likely to be reindeer. The wind is from the +south. If we keep on in this direction, the reindeer will smell +us. We must go round in such a way that the wind will carry the +scent from them to us, not from us to them." + +They turned to the right and went round to the north. They had +gone only a short distance in this direction, when they found +fresh reindeer tracks in the snow. The dogs began to sniff and +strain at their harnesses. + +"They smell the game," whispered Kesshoo. "Hold on tight! Don't +let them run." + +Menie and Koko held the dogs back as hard as they could. Kesshoo +and Koko's father crept forward with their bows in their hands. +The fog was so thick they could not see very far before them. + +They had gone only a short distance, when out of the fog loomed +two great gray shadows. Instantly the two men dropped on their +knees and took careful aim. + +The reindeer did not see them. They did not know that anything +was near until they felt the sting of the hunters' arrows. One +reindeer dropped to the earth. The other was not killed. He flung +his head in the air and galloped away, and they could hear the +thud, thud, of his hoofs long after he had disappeared in the +fog. + +The moment the dogs heard the singing sound of the arrows, they +bounded forward. Koko and Menie were not strong enough to hold +them back, and they could not run fast enough to keep up with +them. So they just bumped along behind the dogs! Some of the time +they slid through the snow. + +The snow was rough and hard, and it hurt a good deal to be +dragged through it as if they were sledges, but Eskimo boys are +used to bumps, and they knew if they cried they might scare the +game, so they never even whimpered. + +It was lucky for them that they had not far to go. When they came +bumping along, Kesshoo and Koko's father laughed at them. + +"Don't be in such a hurry," they called. "There's plenty of time!" + +They unbound the traces from Menie and Koko and hitched the dogs +to the body of the reindeer. Then they all started back to the +village with Koko's father driving the dogs. + +Soon the fog lifted and the sky grew clear. + +Monnie was playing with her doll in the igloo, when she heard +Tooky bark. She knew it was Tooky at once. She and Koolee both +plunged into the tunnel like mice down a mouse hole. Nip and Tup +were ahead of them. + +Outside they found Koko's mother and the baby. Koolee called to +her, and she called to the wives of the Angakok, who were +scraping a bear's skin in the snow. + +The Angakok's wives, and Koko's mother and her baby, and Koolee, +and Monnie, and Nip and Tup all ran to meet the hunters, and you +never saw two prouder boys than Koko and Menie when they showed +the reindeer to their mothers. + +The mothers were proud of their young hunters, too. Koolee said, +"Soon we shall have another man in our family." + +When they were quite near the village again, they met the +Angakok. He had been trying to catch up with them and he was out +of breath from running. He looked at them sternly. + +"Why didn't you call me?" he panted. + +His wives looked frightened and didn't say a word. Nobody else +said anything. The Angakok glared at them all for a moment. Then +he poked the reindeer with his fingers to see if it was fat and +said to the men, "Which portion am I to have?" + +"Would you like the liver?" asked Kesshoo. He remembered about +the bear's liver, you see. + +But the Angakok looked offended. "Who will have the stomach?" he +said. "You know very well that the stomach is the best part of a +reindeer." + +"Take the stomach, by all means, then," said Kesshoo, politely. + +Koolee and Monnie looked very much disappointed. They wanted the +stomach dreadfully. + +But the Angakok answered, "Since you urge me, I will take the +stomach. I had a dream last night, and in the dream I was told by +my Tornak that today I should feed upon a reindeer's stomach, +given me by one of my grateful children. When you think how I +suffered to bring food to you, I am sure you will wish to provide +me with whatever it seems best that I should have." + +He stood by while Kesshoo and Koko's father skinned the reindeer +and cut it in pieces. Then he took the stomach and disappeared +into his igloo - with his face all wreathed in smiles. + + + +VII. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY +THEMSELVES + +WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES + +I. + +It was very lucky for the twins that their father was such a +brave and skillful kyak man. You will see the reason why, when I +tell you the story of the day Menie and Koko went hunting alone +on the ice. + +One April morning Kesshoo was working on his kyak to make sure +that it was in perfect order for the spring walrus hunting. Koko +and Menie watched him for a long time. Monnie was with Koolee in +the hut. + +By and by Koko said to Menie, "Let's go out on the ice and hunt +for sealholes." + +"All right," said Menie. "You take your bow and arrows and I'll +take my spear. Maybe we shall see some little auks." + +Koko had a little bow made of deer's horns, and some bone arrows, +and Menie had a small spear which his father had made for him out +of driftwood. + +"I'll tell you!" said Menie. "Let's go hunting just the way +father does! You do the shooting and I'll do the spearing! Won't +everybody be surprised to see us bring home a great load of game? +I shall give everything I get to my mother." + +"I'm going to hunt birds and seal holes too," Koko answered. + +Kesshoo was very busy fixing the fastening of his harpoon, and he +did not hear what they said. + +The two boys went to their homes for their weapons, and then ran +out on the ice. Nobody knew where they were. Of course, Nip and +Tup went along. + + +II. + +All the way over the ice they looked for seal holes. It takes +sharp eyes to find them, for seal holes are very small. + +You see, the mother seals try to find the safest place they can +to hide their babies, and this is the way they do it: + +As soon as the ice begins to freeze in the autumn, the seals gnaw +holes in it to reach the air, and they keep these holes open all +winter. It freezes so fast in that cold country that they have to +be busy almost every minute all through the winter breaking away +the ice there. They get their sleep in snatches of a minute or so +at a time, and between their naps they clear the ice from their +breathing holes. + +There is usually a deep layer of snow over the ice. Each mother +seal hollows out a little igloo under the snow, around her +breathing hole, and leaves a tiny hole in the top of it, so her +baby can have plenty of fresh air and be hidden from sight at the +same time. + +The mother seal leaves the baby in the snow house, and she +herself dives through the hole and swims away. Every few minutes +she comes back to breathe, and to see that her baby is safe. + +It was the tiny hole in the top of the seal's snow house that +Menie and Koko hoped to find. + +The days had grown quite long by this time and there was fog in +the air. Once in a while there would be a loud crackling noise. + +"The ice is beginning to break," Koko said. "Don't you hear it +pop? My father says he thinks the warm weather will begin early +this year." + +They had gone some distance out on the ice, when suddenly Menie +said, "Look! Look there!" He pointed toward the north. There not +far from shore was a flock of sea-birds, resting on the ice. + +"Just let me get a shot at them!" cried Koko. "You stay here and +hold on to the dogs! Nip and Tup haven't any sense at all about +game! They'll only scare them." + + +III. + +Koko ran swiftly and quietly towards the birds. Menie sat on the +ice and watched him and held Nip and Tup, one under each arm. +When Koko got quite near the birds, he took careful aim and let +fly an arrow at them. + +It didn't hit any of the birds, but it frightened them. They flew +up into the air and away to the north and alighted farther on. +Koko followed them. + +All at once Menie heard a queer little sound. It went "Plop-plop- +plop," and it sounded very near. Nip and Tup sniffed, and began +to growl and nose around on the ice. + +Menie knew what the queer noise meant, for his father had told +him all about seal hunting. It meant that a seal hole was near, +and that a seal had come up to breathe. It was the seal that made +the "plopping" noise. + +Menie tried to keep the dogs still, but they wouldn't be kept +still. They ran round with their noses on the snow, giving little +anxious whines, and short, sharp barks. + +The "plop-plop" stopped. The seal had gone down under the ice, +but Menie meant to find the hole. He went out quite near the open +water in his search. At last, just beyond a hummock of ice, he +saw it! He crept carefully up to it. + +He lay down on his stomach and peeped into the hole to see what +it was like. He could not see a thing! + +Then he stuck his lance down. His lance touched something soft +that wiggled! Menie stood up. He was so excited that he trembled. +He knew he had found a seal hole with a live seal in the snow +house! + +With all his strength he struck his lance down through the snow. +The snow house fell in and Menie fell with it, but he kept hold +of his lance. The end of the lance was buried in the snow, but it +was moving. Menie knew by this that he had stuck it into the +seal! + +He lay still and kept fast hold of his lance, and pressed down on +it with all his might. + +Nip and Tup were crazy with excitement. They jumped round and +barked and tried to dig a hole in the snow with their forefeet. + +At last the spear stopped wiggling. Then Menie carefully dug the +snow away. There lay a little white seal! It was too young to +swim away with its mother. That was why such a small boy as Menie +had been able to kill it. + +He dragged it out on the ice. He was so excited and so busy he +did not notice how near he was to the open water. + + +IV. + +All of a sudden there was a loud cracking noise, and Menie felt +the ice moving under him! He looked back. There was a tiny strip +of blue water between him and the shore! + +The strip grew wider while he looked at it! Menie knew that he +was adrift on an ice raft, and he was terribly frightened. Nip +and Tup cuddled close to him and whined with fear. + +Menie understood perfectly well that he might be carried far out +to sea and never come back any more. He put his hands to his +mouth and yelled with all his might! + +Koko was still following the birds, and did not hear Menie's +cries. Menie could see him running up the beach after the birds, +and he could see his father working over his kyak near his home. + +He even saw Monnie come out of the tunnel and go to watch her +father at his work. They seemed very far away, and every moment +the distance between them and the raft grew greater. + +Menie screamed again and again. At the third scream he saw his +father straighten up, shade his eyes with his hand, and look out +to sea. + +"Oh," Menie thought. "What if he shouldn't see me!" He shouted +louder than ever! He waved his arms! He even pinched the tails of +Nip and Tup and made them bark. Then he saw his father wave his +hand and dive into the tunnel. + +In another instant he was out again and pulling on his skin coat. +Then he took the kyak on his shoulders and ran with it to the +beach. Monnie and Koolee came running after him. + +They were doing the screaming now! Every one in the village heard +the screams and came running down to the beach, too. + +When Menie saw his father coming with the kyak, he wasn't afraid +any more, for he was sure his father would save him. He wasn't +even afraid about the cakes of ice that were floating in the +water, though there is nothing more dangerous than to go out in a +kyak among ice floes. One bump from a floating cake of ice is +enough to upset any boat, and I don't like to think of what might +happen if a kyak should get between two big cakes of ice. + +Kesshoo ran with his kyak as far as he could on the ice. Then he +got in and fitted the bottom of his skin jacket over the kyak +hole and carefully slid himself into the open water. + +Once in the water, how his paddle flew! + +It seemed to Menie as if his father would never reach him! He sat +very still on the ice pan with the dead seal beside him, and Nip +and Tup huddled up against him. + +At last Kesshoo came near enough so he could make Menie hear +everything he said. "Menie," he cried, "if you do exactly what I +tell you to, I can save you. + +"I will throw you my harpoon. You must drive it way down into the +ice. Then by the harpoon line I will tow your ice pan back toward +shore. When we get to the big ice I will find a place for you to +land. + +"You must be ready, and when I give the word jump from your ice +raft on to the solid ice." + +Then Kesshoo threw his harpoon, and Menie drove it into the ice +with all his might. Slowly Kesshoo drew the line taut, turned his +kyak round, and started for the shore. The journey out had been +dangerous, but the journey back was much more so, for Kesshoo +could not dodge the floating ice nearly so well. He had to pick +his way carefully through the clearest water he could find. Very +cautiously they moved toward shore. + + +V. + +They were getting quite near the place where the ice had broken +with Menie, when suddenly, right near them, they saw the head and +great, round eyes of a seal! It was the seal mother. + +She had come back to find her breathing hole and her baby. + +The moment Kesshoo saw her he seized. his dart, which lay in its +place on top of his kyak, and threw it with all his might at the +seal. + +The seal dived down into the sea, but a bladder full of air was +attached to the line on the dart, and this bladder floated on the +water, so Kesshoo could tell by watching it just where the seal +was. + +Kesshoo knew he had struck the seal, and although he was already +towing the ice raft, he was determined to bring home the big +seal, too! + +He called to Menie. "Sit still and wait until I come for you." + +Then he quickly cut the harpoon line by which he was towing the +ice raft, and set it adrift again. As soon as he was free he +paddled away after the bladder, which was now bobbing along over +the water at some little distance from the boat. + +Menie sat perfectly still and watched his father. Kesshoo reached +the bladder and began to pull on the line, but just at that +moment the big seal turned round and swam right under the kyak! + +In a second the kyak turned bottom side up in the water! Menie +screamed. The people watching on the shore gave a great howl, and +Koko's father started up the beach after his own kyak. + +He thought perhaps Kesshoo could not manage both the ice raft and +the seal, and he meant to go to help him. + +But in one second Kesshoo was right side up again. No water could +get into the kyak because Kesshoo's skin coat was drawn tight +over the hole in the deck, and Kesshoo was in the coat! + +Kesshoo often turned somersaults in the water in that way. +Sometimes he even did it for fun! He said afterward that he could +have turned the boat right side up again with just his nose, +without using either his paddle or his arms, if only his nose had +been a little bigger, and though he meant this for a joke, the +twins believed that he really could do it. + +The moment he was right side up again, Kesshoo gave chase once +more to the bladder. The seal was very weak now, and Kesshoo knew +that it would soon come to the surface and float and that then he +could tow it in. + +He had not long to wait. The bladder bobbed about for a while and +then was still. Kesshoo drew up the line, and paddled back to the +ice raft, towing the big seal after him. + +"Catch this," he said to Menie. He threw him the end of the line. +"Wind the line six times round the harpoon," he said, "and hold +tight to the end of it." + +Menie did as he was told. Then Kesshoo tied together the two ends +of the harpoon line, which he had cut, and began to tow the ice +raft back to share again. + +Menie kept tight hold of the other line and towed the seal! + +Kesshoo paddled slowly and carefully along, until at last there +was only a little strip of water between the kyak and the solid +ice. + +But how in the world could Menie get across that strip of water +to safety? + +The kyak was between him and the solid ice, and Menie could not +possibly get into the kyak. Neither could he swim. But Kesshoo +knew a way. + +He came up closer to the solid ice. Then he gave a great sweep +with his paddle and lifted his kyak right up on to it. He sprang +out, and, seizing the harpoon line, pulled Menie's raft close up +to the edge of the firm ice. + +Menie was still holding tight to the line that held the big seal. +Kesshoo threw him another line. Menie caught the end of it. + +"Now tie the big seal's line fast to that," Kesshoo said. Menie +was a very small boy, but he knew how to tie knots. He did just +what his father told him to. + +"Now," said his father, "pull up the harpoon." Menie did so. "Tie +the harpoon line to the little seal" Menie did that. "Now throw +the harpoon to me," commanded Kesshoo. + +Menie threw it with all his might. His father caught it, and +stood on the firm ice, holding in his hands the line that the big +seal was tied to, and the harpoon, with its line fastened to the +little seal. + +"Now hold on to the little seal, and I will pull you right up +against the solid ice, and when I say 'Jump,' you jump," said +Kesshoo. + +Slowly and very, carefully he pulled, until the raft grated +against the solid ice. + +"Jump!" shouted Kesshoo. + +Menie jumped. The ice raft gave a lurch that nearly sent him into +the water, but Kesshoo caught him and pulled him to safety. + +A great shout of joy went up from the shore, and Menie was glad +enough to shout too when he felt solid ice under his feet once +more! + +While he helped his father pull in the little seal, all the +people came running out on to the ice to meet them, but Kesshoo +sent back every one except Koko's father. He was afraid the ice +might break again with so many people on it. Koko's father helped +pull the big seal out of the water and over the ice to the beach. + +Menie dragged his own little seal after him by the harpoon line, +and when he came near the beach, the people all cried out, "See +the great hunter with his game!" And Koolee was so glad to see +Menie and so proud of her boy that she nearly burst with joy! + +"I knew the charm would work," she cried. "Not only does he spy +bears - he kills seals! And he only five years old!" + +She put her arms around him and pressed her flat nose to his. +That's the Eskimo way of kissing. + +Menie tried to look as if he killed seals and got carried away on +an ice pan every day in the week, but inside he felt very proud, +too. + +When Kesshoo and Koko's father came up with the big seal, Koolee +and the other women dragged it to the village, where it was +skinned and cut up. Every one had a piece of raw blubber to eat +at once, and the very first piece went to Menie. + +While they were eating it, Koko came back. He had gone so far up +the shore hunting little auks that he hadn't seen a thing that +had happened. And he hadn't killed any little auks either. + +Koko felt that things were very unequally divided in this world. +He wanted to kill a seal and get lost on a raft and be a hero +too. + +But Koolee gave him a large piece of blubber, and that made him +feel much more cheerful again. He just said to Monnie, "If I had +been with Menie, this never would have happened! I should not +have let him get so near the edge of the ice! But then, you know, +I am six, and he is only five, so, of course, he didn't know any +better." + +Everybody in the village had seal meat that night, and the +Angakok had the head, which they all thought was the best part. +He said he didn't feel very well, and his Tornak had told him +nothing would cure him so quickly as a seal's head. So Koolee +gave it to him. + +The skin of the little white seal Koolee saved and dressed very +carefully. She chewed it, all over, on the wrong side, and sucked +out all the blubber, and made it soft and fine as velvet; and +when that was done, she made out of it two beautiful pairs of +white mittens for the twins. + + + +VIII. THE WOMAN-BOATS + +THE WOMAN-BOATS + +I. + +During the long, dark hours of the winter Kesshoo found many +pleasant things to do at home. He was always busy. He carved a +doll for Monnie out of the ivory tusk of a walrus. + +Monnie named the doll Annadore, and she loved it dearly. Koolee +dressed Annadore in fur, with tiny kamiks of sealskin, and Monnie +carried her doll in her hood, just the way Koko's mother carried +her baby. + +For Menie, his father made dog harnesses out of walrus hide. He +made them just the right size for Nip and Tup. + +Menie harnessed the little dogs to his sled. Then he and Monnie +would play sledge journeys. Annadore would sit on the sled all +wrapped in furs, while Menie drove the dogs, and Monnie followed +after. + +Nip and Tup did not like this play very well, and they didn't +always go where they were told to. Once they dashed right over +the igloo and spilled Annadore off. + +Annadore rolled down one side of the igloo, while Nip and Tup +galloped down the other. Annadore was buried in the snow and had +to be dug out, so it was quite a serious accident, you see, but +Nip and Tup did not seem to feel at all responsible about it. + +Kesshoo made knives and queer spoons out of bone or ivory for +Koolee, and for himself he made new barbs for his bladder-dart, +new bone hooks for fishlines, and all sorts of things for +hunting. + +He made salmon spears, and bird darts, and fishlines, and he +ornamented his weapons with little pictures or patterns. He +carved two frogs on the handle of his snow knife, and scratched +the picture of a walrus on the blade. + +Sometimes Koolee carved things, too, but most of the time she was +busy making coats or kamiks, or chewing skins to make them soft +and fine for use in the igloo; or to cover the kyaks, or to make +their summer tent. + +Once during the winter the whole family went thirty miles up the +coast by moonlight to visit Koolee's brother in another village. +They went with the dog sledge, and it took them two days. + +They had meat and blubber with them and plenty of warm skins, and +when they got tired, Kesshoo made a snow house for them to rest +in. The twins thought this was the best fun of all. + + +II. + +When spring came on, there were other things to do. As the days +grew longer, the ice in the bay cracked and broke into small +pieces and floated away. + +The water turned deep blue, and danced in the sunlight, and ice +floated about in it. Often there were walrus on these ice-pans. + +The twins sometimes saw their huge black bodies on the white ice, +and heard their hoarse barks. Then all the men in the village +would rush for their kyaks and set out after the walrus. + +The men were brave and enjoyed the dangerous sport, but the women +used to watch anxiously until they saw the kyaks coming home +towing the walrus behind them. + +Then they would rush down to the shore, help pull the kyaks up on +the beach, where they cut the walrus in pieces and divided it +among the families of the hunters. + +When the snow had melted on the Big Rock, hundreds of sea birds +made their nests there and filled the air with their cries. + +Sometimes Kesshoo went egg hunting on the cliff, and sometimes he +set traps there for foxes, and he helped Menie and Koko make a +little trap to catch hares. There was plenty to do in every +season of the year. + +At last the nights shortened to nothing at all. The long day had +begun. The stone but, which they had found so comfortable in +winter, seemed dark and damp now. + +Menie and Monnie remembered the summer days when they did not +have to dive down through a hole to get into their house, so +Menie said to Monnie one day, "Let's go and ask father if it +isn't time to put up the tents." + +They ran out to find him. He was down on the beach talking with +Koko's father and the other men of the village. + +On the beach were two very long boats. The men were looking them +over carefully to see if they were water tight. + +Koko was with the men. When he saw the twins coming, he tore up +the slope to meet them, waving his arms and shouting, "They're +getting out the woman boats! They're getting out the woman +boats!" + +This was glorious news to the twins. They ran down to the beach +with Koko as fast as their legs could carry them. + +They got there just in time to hear Koko's father say to Kesshoo, +"I think it's safe to start. The ice is pretty well out of the +bay, and the reindeer will be coming down to the fiords after +fresh moss." + +All the men listened to hear what Kesshoo would say, and the +twins listened, too, with all their ears. + +"If it's clear, I think we could start after one more sleep," +said Kosshoo. + + +III. + +The twins didn't wait to hear any more. They flew for home, and +dashed down the tunnel and up into the room. + +Koolee was gathering all the knives and spoons and fishing-things +and sewing things, and dumping them into a large musk-ox hide +which was spread on the floor. + +The musk ox hide covered the entrance hole. The first thing +Koolee knew something thumped the musk ox skin on the under side, +and the knives and thimbles and needle cases and other things +flew in all directions. Up through the hole popped the faces of +Menie and Monnie! + +"Oh, Mother," they shouted. "We're going off on the woman boats! +After only one more sleep, if it's pleasant! Father said so!" + +Koolee laughed. "I know it!" she said. "I was just packing. You +can help me. There's a lot to do to get ready." + +The twins were delighted to help. They got together all their own +treasures - the sled, and the fishing rods, the dog harnesses, and +Annadore, and bound them up with walrus thongs. All but Annadore. +Annadore rode in Monnie's hood as usual. + +Koolee gathered all her things together again and wrapped them in +the musk ox hide. She took down the long narwhal tusks that the +dog harnesses were hung on. + +These were the tent poles. She and the twins carried all these +things to the beach. The men stayed on the beach and packed the +things away in the boats. The other women brought down their +bundles from their igloos. There was room for everything in the +two big boats. + +Only the skins were left on the sleeping bench in the hut. When +everything else was ready, Koolee and the twins went up on top of +the igloo. + +They pulled the moss and dirt out of the chinks between the +stones that made the roof, and then Koolee pulled up the stones +themselves and let them fall over to one side. This left the roof +open to the sky. + +"What makes you do that?" Menie asked. + +"So the sun and rain can clean house for us," said Koolee. + +Everybody else in the village got ready in the same way. + +At last Kesshoo came up from the beach and said to Koolee, "Let +us have some meat and a sleep and then we will start. Everything +is ready. The boats are packed and it looks as if the weather +would be clear." + +Koolee brought out some walrus meat and blubber for supper, +though it might just as well be called breakfast, for there was +no night coming, and the twins ate theirs sitting on the roof of +the igloo with their feet hanging down inside. + +Once Menie's feet kicked his father's head. It was an accident, +but Kesshoo reached up and took hold of Menie's foot and pulled +him down on to the sleeping bench and rolled him over among the +skins. + +"Crawl in there and go to sleep," he said. + +Monnie let herself down through the roof by her hands and crept +in beside Menie. Then Kesshoo and Koolee wrapped themselves in +the warm skins and lay down, too. + +It took Menie and Monnie some time to go to sleep, for they could +look straight up through the roof at the sky, and the sky was +bright and blue with little white clouds sailing over it. +Besides, they were thinking about the wonderful things that would +happen when they should wake up. + + + +IX. THE VOYAGE + +THE VOYAGE + +I. + +When the twins awoke, the sun was shining as brightly as ever, +and Nip and Tup were barking at them through the hole in the +roof. + +Kesshoo and Koolee were gone! + +Menie and Monnie were frightened. They were afraid they were left +behind. They sat up in bed and howled! + +In a moment Koolee's face looked down at them through the roof. + +"What's the matter?" she said. + +"We thought we were left," wailed Monnie! + +"As if I could leave you behind!" cried Koolee. + +She laughed at them. "Hand up the skins to me," she said. She +reached her arm down the hole and pulled out all the skins from +the bed as fast as the twins gave them to her. + +Then she put her head down into the opening and looked all +around. "We haven't left a thing," she said; "come along." + +The twins couldn't climb out through the roof, though they wanted +to, so they went out by the tunnel, and helped their mother carry +the skins to the beach. + +All the people in the village and all the dogs were there before +them. The great woman boats were packed, the kyaks of the men +waited beside them in a row on the beach, with their noses in the +water. + +The dogs barked and raced up and down the beach, the babies +crowed, and the children shouted for joy. Even the grown people +were gay. They talked in loud tones and laughed and made jokes. + + +II. + +At last Kesshoo shouted, "All ready! In you go!" He told each +person where to sit. + +He put the Angakok in one boat to steer. He put Koko's father in +the other. + +In Koko's father's boat he placed Koko and his mother and the +baby, Koolee and the twins, the pups, all three dogs, and four of +the women who lived in the other igloos. So you see it was quite +a large boat. + +In the Angakok's boat he placed his two wives, and all the rest +of the women and children and dogs. The women took up the +paddles. One end of the boat was partly in the water when they +got in. The men gently pushed it farther out until it floated. + +Then the men got into their kyaks at the water's edge, fastened +their skin coats over the rims, and paddled out into deep water. + +At last, when all the boats, big and little, were afloat, Kesshoo +called out, "We are going north. Follow me." + +The women obeyed the signal of Koko's father and the Angakok. The +paddles dipped together into the water. The great boats moved! +They were off! + +The children all sat together in the bottom of the boat, but the +twins and Koko were big enough to see over the sides. While the +babies played with the dogs, they were busy watching the things +that passed on the shores. Soon they passed the Big Rock with +little auks and puffins flying about it. They could see the red +feet of the puffins, and a blue fox sitting on the top of the +rock, waiting for a chance to catch a bird. + +Then the Big Rock hid the village from sight. + + +III. + +Beyond the Big Rock the country was all new to the twins and +Koko. They looked into narrow bays and inlets as the boat moved +along, and saw green moss carpeting the sunny slopes in sheltered +places. + +They could even see bright flowers growing in the warm spots +which faced the sun. The sky was blue overhead. The water was +blue below. + +Beyond the green slopes they could see the bare hillsides crowned +with the white ice cap which never melts, and streams of water +dashing down the hillsides and pouring themselves into the waters +of the bay. + +When they had gone a good many miles up the coast, Kesshoo waved +his hand and pointed to a strange sight on the shore. + +There was a great river of ice! They could see where it came out +of a hollow place between two hills. It looked just like a river, +only it was frozen solid, and the end of it, where it came into +the sea, was broken off like a great wall of ice, and there were +cakes of ice floating about in the water. + +Suddenly there was a cracking sound. Menie had heard that sound +before. It was the same sound that he had heard when he went seal- +hole hunting and got carried away on the ice raft. Menie didn't +like the sound anymore. It scared him! + +Right after the cracking noise Kesshoo's voice shouted, "Row +farther out! Follow me!" + +He turned his kyak straight out to sea. All the other boats +followed. + +They had gone only about half a mile when suddenly. there was a +loud crick-crick-CRACK as if a piece of the world had broken +off, and then there was a splash that could be heard for miles, +if there had been any one to hear it. + +The end of the glacier, or ice river, had broken off and fallen +down into the water! It had made an iceberg! + +The splash was so great that in a moment the waves it made +reached the boats. The boats rocked up and down on the water and +bounced about like corks. + +The twins and Koko thought this was great fun, but the Angakok +didn't like it a bit. One wave splashed over him, and some of the +water went down his neck. + +All the grown people knew that if they hadn't rowed quickly away +from shore when Kesshoo called they might have been upset and +drowned. + + +IV. + +When the waves made by the iceberg had calmed down again, Kesshoo +paddled round among the boats. + +He said, "I think we'd better land about a mile above here. +There's a stream there, and perhaps we can get some salmon for +our dinner." + +He led the way in his kyak, and all the other boats followed. +They kept out of the path of the iceberg, which had already +floated some distance from the shore, and it was not long before +they came to a little inlet. + +Kesshoo paddled into it and up to the very end of it, where a +beautiful stream of clear water came dashing down over the rocks +into the sea. + +The hills sloped suddenly down to the shore. The sun shone +brightly on the green slopes, and the high cliffs behind shut off +the cold north winds. It was a little piece of summer set right +down in the valley. + +"Oh, how beautiful!" everybody cried. + +The boats were soon drawn up on the beach, the women and children +tumbled out, and then began preparations for dinner. + +The women got out their cooking pots, and Koolee set to work to +make a fireplace out of three stones. + +They had blubber and moss with them, but how could they get a +fire? They had no matches. They had never even heard of a match. + +The Angakok sat down on the beach. He had some little pieces of +dry driftwood and some dried moss. + +He held one end of a piece of driftwood in a sort of handle which +he pressed against his lips. The other end was in a hollow spot +in another piece of wood. + +The Angakok rolled one driftwood stick round and round in the +hollow spot of the other. He did this by means of a bow which he +pulled from one side to the other. This made the stick whirl +first one way, then back again. Soon a little smoke came curling +up round the stick. + +Koolee dropped some dried moss on the smoking spot. Suddenly +there was a little blaze! + +She fed the little flame with more moss, and then lighted the +moss on the stones of the fireplace. She put a soapstone kettle +filled with water over the fire, and soon the kettle was boiling. + +While all this was going on down on the beach, the men took their +salmon spears and went up the river, and Koko and the twins went +with them. + +The wives of the Angakok went to find moss to feed the fire. They +brought back great armfuls of it, and put it beside the +fireplace. + +Koolee was the cook. She stayed on the beach and looked after the +babies and the dogs, and the fire. Everything was ready for +dinner, except the food! + +Meanwhile the men had found a good place where there were big +stones in the river. They stood on these stones with their spears +in their hands. There were hundreds of salmon in the little +stream. The salmon were going up to the little lake from which +the river flowed. + +When the fish leaped in the water, the men struck at them with +their fish spears. There were so many fish, and the men were so +skillful that they soon had plenty for dinner. + +They strung them all on a walrus line and went back to the beach. +Koolee popped as many as she could into her pot to cook, but the +men were so hungry they ate theirs raw, and the twins and Koko +had as many fishes' eyes to eat as they wanted, for once in their +lives. + +When everybody had eaten as much as he could possibly hold, the +babies were rolled up in furs in the sand and went to sleep. The +Angakok lay down on the sand in the sunshine with his hands over +his stomach and was soon asleep, too. + +The men sat in a little group near by, and Menie and Koko lay on +their stomachs beside Kesshoo. + +The women had gone a little farther up the beach. The air was +still, except for the rippling sound of the water, the distant +chatter of the women, the snores of the Angakok, and the buzzing +of mosquitoes! + +For quite a long time everybody rested. Menie and Koko didn't go +to sleep. They were having too much fun. They played with shells +and pebbles and watched the mosquitoes buzzing over the Angakok's +face. There were a great many mosquitoes, and they seemed to like +the Angakok. At last one settled on his nose, and bit and bit. +Menie and Koko wanted to slap it, but, of course, they didn't +dare. They just had to let it bite! + +All of a sudden the Angakok woke up and slapped it himself. He +slapped it harder than he intended to. He looked very much +surprised and quite offended about it. He sat up and looked round +for his wives, as if he thought perhaps they had something to do +with it. But they were at the other end of the beach. The Angakok +yawned and rubbed his nose, which was a good deal swollen. + +Just then Kesshoo spoke, "I think we shall look a long time +before we find a better spot than this to camp," he said. "Here +are plenty of salmon. We can catch all we need to dry for winter +use, right here. There must be deer farther up the fiord. What do +you say to setting up the tents right here?" + +When Kesshoo said anything, the others were pretty sure to agree, +because Kesshoo was such a brave and skillful man that they +trusted his judgment. + +All the men said, "Yes, let us stay." + +Then the Angakok said, "Yes, my children, let us stay! While you +thought I was asleep here on the sand I was really in a trance. I +thought it best to ask my Tornak about this spot, and whether we +should be threatened here by any hidden danger. My Tornak says to +stay!" + +This settled the matter. + +"Tell the women," said Kesshoo. Koko's father went over to the +place where the women and children were. + +"Get out the tent poles," he called to them. "Here's where we +stay." + + +V. + +The women jumped up and ran to the woman boats. They got out the +long narwhal tusks, and the skins, and set them down on the +beach. + +"Come with me," Koolee called to the twins. She gave them each a +long tent pole to carry. She herself carried the longest pole of +all, and a pile of skins. + +Koolee led the way up the green slope to a level spot overlooking +the stream and the bay. It was beside some high rocks, and there +were smaller stones all about. + +There was a flat stone that she used for the sleeping bench. When +the poles were set up and securely fastened, she got the tent +skins and covered the poles. + +She put on one layer of skin with the hair inside and over that +another covering of skin with the fur side out. She sewed the +skins together over the entrance with leather thongs and left a +flap for a door. + +Then she placed stones around the edge of the tent covering to +keep the wind from blowing it away. She piled the bed skins on +the rock, and their summer house was ready. + +The twins brought the musk ox hides, with all their treasures in +them, and the cooking pots and knives and household things from +the beach, while Koolee made the fireplace in the tent. + +She made the fireplace by driving four sticks into the ground and +lashing them together to make a framework. + +She hung the cooking kettle by straps from the four corners. +Under the kettle on a flat stone she placed the lamp. Then the +stove was ready. + +"We shall cook out of doors most of the time," she said to the +twins, "but in rainy weather we shall need the lamp." + +It was only a little while before there was a whole new village +ready to live in, with plenty of fish and good fresh water right +at hand. + + +VI. + +Menie and Monnie were happy in their new home. They climbed about +on the rock and found a beautiful cave to play in. They gathered +flowers and shells and colored stones and brought them to their +mother. + +Then later they went for more fish with the men, and Kesshoo let +them stand on the stones and try to spear the fish just the way +the men did. + +Menie caught one, and Koko caught one, but Monnie had no luck at +all. "Anyway, I caught a codfish once," Monnie said, to comfort +herself. + +In two hours everything was as settled about the camp as if they +had lived there a week, and every one was hungry again. +Hungriness and sleepiness came just as regularly as if they had +had nights and clocks both, to measure time by. + +When the food was ready, Kesshoo called "Ujo, ujo," which meant +"boiled meat," and everybody came running to the beach. + +The men sat in one circle, the women and children in another. +Pots of boiled fish were set in the middle of the circles, and +they all dipped in with their fingers and took what they wanted. + +When everybody had eaten, the children played on the beach. They +skipped stones and danced and played ball, and their mothers +played with them. + +The men had their fun, too. They sat in their circle, told +stories, and played games which weren't children's games, and the +Angakok sang a song, beating time on a little drum. All the men +sang the chorus. + +By and by, Koolee saw Monnie's head nodding. So she said to the +twins, "Come, children, let's go up to the tent." + +She took their hands and led them up the slope. + +"We're not sleepy," the twins declared. + +"I am," said Koolee, "and I want you with me." + +They went into the tent, which was not so light as it was out of +doors in the bright sunlight. Then they undressed, crawled in +among the deerskins, and were soon sound asleep, all three of +them. After a while Kesshoo came up from the beach and went to +sleep too. + + + +X. THE SUMMER DAY + +THE SUMMER DAY + +I. + +The summer days flew by, only one really shouldn't say days at +all, but summer day. For three whole bright months it was just +one daylight picnic all the time! + +The people ate when they were hungry and slept when they were +sleepy. The men caught hundreds of salmon, and the women split +them open and dried them on the rocks for winter use. The +children played all day long. + +The men hunted deer and musk ox and bears up in the hills and +brought them back to camp. They hunted game both by land and by +sea. There was so much to eat that everybody grew fatter, and as +for the Angakok, he got so very fat that Koko said to Menie, "I +don't believe we can ever get the Angakok home in the woman boat! +He's so heavy he'll sink it! I think it would be a good plan to +tie a string to him and tow him back like a walrus!" + +"Yes," said Menie. "Maybe he would shrink some if we soaked him +well. Don't you know how water shrinks the walrus hide cords that +we tie around things when we want them to hold tight together?" + +It was lucky for Menie and Koko that nobody heard them say that +about the Angakok. It would have been thought very disrespectful. + +When the game grew scarce, or they got tired of camping in one +spot everything was piled into their boats again, and away they +went up the coast until they found another place they liked +better. Then they would set up their tents again. + +Sometimes they came to other camps and had a good time meeting +new people and making new friends. + +At last, late in August, the sun slipped down below the edge of +the World again. It stayed just long enough to fill the sky with +wonderful red and gold sunset clouds, then it came up again. The +next night there was a little time between the sunset sky and the +lovely colors of the sunrise. + +The next night was longer still. Each day grew colder and colder. +Still the people lingered in their tents. They did not like to +think the pleasant summer was over, and the long night near. + +But at last Kesshoo said, "I think it is time to go back to +winter quarters. The nights are fast growing longer. The snow may +be upon us any day now. I don't know of a better place to settle +than the village where we spent last winter. The igloos are all +built there ready to use again. What do you say? Shall we go back +there?" + +"Yes, let us go back," they all said. + + +II. + +The very next day they started. The boats were heavily loaded +with dried fish, there were great piles of new skins heaped in +the woman boats, and every kyak towed a seal. + +For days they traveled along the coast, stopping only for rest +and food. The twins and Koko sat in the bottom of the boat with +the dogs, and listened to the regular dip of the paddles, to the +cries of the sea birds as they flew away toward the south, and to +the chatter of the women. These were almost the only sounds they +heard, for the silence of the Great White World was all about +them. They talked together in low voices and planned all the +things they would do when the long night was really upon them +once more. + +When at last they came in sight of the Big Rock, they felt as if +they had reached home after a very long journey. + +Koko stood up in the boat and pointed to it. "See," he cried, +"there's the Big Rock where we found the bear!" + +"Yes," Monnie said, "and where we slid downhill." + +"And I see where I got caught on the ice raft," Menie shouted. + +"Sit down," said Koko's mother. "You'll tip the boat and spill us +all into the water." + +Koko sat down; the boat glided along through the water, nearer +and nearer, until at last they came round the Big Rock, and +there, just as if they had not been away at all, lay the whole +village of five igloos, looking as if it had gone to sleep in the +sunshine. + +The big boats waited until the men had all paddled to the shore +and beached their kyaks, then they were drawn carefully up on to +the sand, and every one got out. The beach at once became a very +busy place. The men pulled the walruses and seals out of the +water and took care of the boats, while the women set up the +tents, cut the meat into big pieces for storage, and carried all +their belongings to the tents. + +Although the village looked just the same, other things looked +quite different. Nip and Tup were big dogs by this time. They ran +away up the beach with Tooky and the other dogs the moment they +were out of the boats. They did not stay with the twins all the +time now, as they used to do. The twins were much bigger, too. +Koolee looked at them as they helped her carry the tent-skins up +from the beach, and said to them, "My goodness, I must make my +needles fly! winter is upon us and your clothes are getting too +small for you! You must have new things right away." The twins +thought this was a very good idea. They liked new clothes as well +as any one in the world. + +Koolee set up the tent beside their old igloo, and there they +lived while the men of the village went out every day in their +kyaks for seal and walrus, or back into the hills after other +game to store away for food during the long winter. The women +scraped and cured the skins and cut up the meat and packed it +away as fast as the men could kill the game and bring it home. + +Each day it grew colder, and each night was longer than the last, +until one short September day there came a great snow storm! It +snowed all day long, and that night the wind blew so hard that +Koolee and the twins nearly froze even among the fur covers of +their bed, and when morning came they found themselves nearly +buried under a great drift. + +That very day Koolee put the stones over the roof of the igloo +once more, and the twins helped her fill in the chinks with moss +and earth, and cover it with a heavy layer of snow, patted down +with the snow shovel, until everything was snug and tight again. + +Then they moved in. By the next day all the igloos in the village +were in use, and when night came their windows shone with the +light of the lamps, just as they had so many months before. + +Nip and Tup slept outside with Tooky now, in a snow house which +Kesshoo had built for them. Menie and Monnie missed them, but +Koolee said, "You are getting so big now you must begin to do +something besides play with puppies. Monnie must learn to sew, +and Menie must help Father with feeding the dogs and looking +after their harnesses, and driving the sledge." + +"Maybe Father will teach you both to carve fine things out of +ivory this winter! Monnie will soon need her own thimble and +needles. They must be made. And she can help me clean the skins +and suck out the blubber, and prepare them for being made into +clothes!" + +"Dear me! what a lot there is to do to keep clothes on our backs +and food in our mouths! The Giants are always waiting before the +igloo and we must work very hard to keep them outside!" + +She did not mean real giants. She meant that Hunger and Want are +always waiting to seize the Eskimo who does not work all the time +to supply food for himself and his family. She meant that Menie +must learn to be a brave strong hunter, afraid of nothing on sea +or land, and that Monnie must learn to do a woman's work well, or +else the time would come when they would be without food or +shelter or clothing, and the fierce cold would soon make an, end +of them. + +It was lucky they got into the warm igloo just when they did, for +the winter had come to stay. The bay froze over far out from +shore, and the white snow covered the igloos so completely that +if it had not been for the windows, and for people moving about +out of doors, no one could have told that there was any village +there. + +The Last Day of all was so short that Menie and Monnie and Koko +saw the whole of it from the top of the Big Rock! They had gone +up there in the gray twilight that comes before the sunrise to +build a snow house to play in. They had been there only a little +while when the sky grew all rosy just over the Edge of the World. +The color grew stronger and stronger until the little stars were +all drowned in it and then up came the great round red face of +the sun itself! The children watched it as it peered over the +horizon, threw long blue shadows behind them across the snow, and +then sank slowly, slowly down again, leaving only the flaming +colors in the sky to mark the place where it had been. They waved +their hands as it slipped out of sight. "Good bye, old Sun," they +shouted, "and good bye, Shadow, too! We shall be glad to see you +both when you come back again." + +Then, because the wind blew very cold and they could see a snow +cloud coming toward them from the Great White World where the +Giants lived, the children ran together down the snowy slope +toward the bright windows of their homes. + + +THE END + + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + +To arouse the children's interest and thus to make the reading of +this story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested +that at the outset the children be allowed to look at the +pictures in the book in order to get acquainted with "Menie" and +"Monnie" and with the scenes illustrating their home life and +surroundings. + +During the reading, point out the North Pole, Greenland, etc., on +a map of the world or on a globe, and tell the children something +about the many years of effort before Peary succeeded in reaching +his goal; also about the work of subsequent explorers in this +part of the world, and around the South Pole as well. Thus this +supplementary reading material may be connected with the work in +geography. + +The text is so simply written that the second grade child can +read it without much or any preparation. It may be well to have +the children read it first in a study period in order to work out +the pronunciation of the more difficult words. But many classes +will be able to read it at sight, without the preparatory study. +The possibilities in the story for dramatization and for language +and constructive work will be immediately apparent. + +In connection with the reading of the book, teachers should tell +to the children stories describing Eskimo life, and the +experiences of explorers and pioneers in the North. Grenfell's +Adrift on an Ice-Pan is suitable, for example. Holbrook's +Northland Heroes and Schultz's Sinopah, the Indian Boy, while +not belonging to the land of the Eskimos, contain stories of +allied interest. Let the children bring to class pictures of +scenes in the North, clipped from magazines and newspapers. + +The unique illustrations in The Eskimo Twins should be much used, +both in the reading of the story and in other ways. Children will +enjoy sketching some of them; their simple treatment makes them +especially useful for this purpose. + +The book is printed on paper which will take watercolor well, and +where the books are individually owned some of the sketches could +be used for coloring in flat washes. They also afford suggestions +for action sketching by the children. + +An excellent oral language exercise would be for the children, +after they have read the story, to take turns telling the story +from the illustrations; and a good composition exercise would be +for each child to select the illustration that he would like to +write upon, make a sketch of it, and write the story in his own +words. + +These are only a few of the many ways that will occur to +resourceful teachers for making the book a valuable as well as an +enjoyable exercise in reading. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + diff --git a/old/sktwn10.zip b/old/sktwn10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbf0a69 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sktwn10.zip diff --git a/old/sktwn11.txt b/old/sktwn11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b48b43 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sktwn11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins +#4 in our series by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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THE SUMMER DAY + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + + + + +THE ESKIMO TWINS + + +This is the true story of Menie and Monnie and their two little +dogs, Nip and Tup. + +Menie and Monnie are twins, and they live far away in the North, +near the very edge. + +They are five years old. + +Menie is the boy, and Monnie is the girl. But you cannot tell +which is Menie and which is Monnie,--not even if you look ever +so hard at their pictures! + +That is because they dress alike. + +When they are a little way off even their own mother can't always +tell. And if she can't, who can? + +Sometimes the twins almost get mixed up about it themselves. And +then it is very hard to know which is Nip and which is Tup, +because the little dogs are twins too. + +Nobody was surprised that the little dogs were twins, because +dogs often are. + +But everybody in the whole village where Menie +and Monnie live was simply astonished to see twin +babies! + +They had never known of any before in their whole lives. + +Old Akla, the Angakok, or Medicine Man of the village, shook his +head when he heard about them. He said, "Such a thing never +happened here before. Seals and human beings never have twins! +There's magic in this." + +The name of the twins' father was Kesshoo. If you say it fast it +sounds just like a sneeze. + +Their mother's name was Koolee. Kesshoo and Koolee, and Menie and +Monnie, and Nip and Tup, all live together in the cold Arctic +winter in a little stone hut, called an "igloo." + +In the summer they live in a tent, which they call a "tupik." The +winters are very long and cold, and what do you think! They have +one night there that is four whole months long! + +For four long months, while we are having Thanksgiving, and +Christmas, and even Lincoln's Birthday, the twins never once see +the sun! + +But at last one day in early spring the sun comes up again out of +the sea, looks at the world for a little while, and then goes out +of sight again. Each day he stays for a longer time until after a +while he doesn't go out of sight at all! + +Then there are four long months of daylight when there is never +any bedtime. Menie and Monnie just go to sleep whenever they feel +sleepy. + +Although many Eskimos think twins bring bad luck, Kesshoo and +Koolee were very glad to have two babies. + +They would have liked it better still if Monnie had been a boy, +too, because boys grow up to hunt and fish and help get food for +the family. + +But Kesshoo was the best hunter and the best kyak man in the +whole village. So he said to Koolee, "I suppose there must be +girls in the world. It is no worse for us than for others." + +So because Kesshoo was a brave fisherman and strong hunter, and +because Koolee was clever in making clothing and shoes out of the +skins of the animals which he brought home, the twins had the +very best time that little Eskimo children can have. + +And that is quite a good time, as you will see if you read all +about it in this book. + + + + +I. THE TWINS GO COASTING + +THE TWINS GO COASTING + +I. + + +One spring morning, very early, while the moon still shone and +every one else in the village was asleep, Menie and Monnie crept +out of the dark entrance of their little stone house by the sea. + +The entrance to their little stone house was long and low like a +tunnel. The Twins were short and fat. But even if they were short +they could not stand up straight in the tunnel. + +So they crawled out on all fours. Nip and Tup came with them. Nip +and Tup were on all fours, too, but they had run that way all +their lives, so they could go much faster than the twins. They +got out first. + +Then they ran round in circles in the snow and barked at the +moon. When Menie and Monnie came out of the hole, Tup jumped up +to lick Monnie's face. He bumped her so hard that she fell right +into the snowbank by the entrance. + +Monnie didn't mind a bit. She just put her two fat arms around +Tup, and they rolled over together in the snow. + +Monnie had on her fur suit, with fur hood and mittens, and it was +hard to tell which was Monnie and which was Tup as they tumbled +in the snow together. + +Pretty soon Monnie picked herself up and shook off the snow. Then +Tup shook himself, too. Menie was rolling over and over down the +slope in front of the little stone house. His head was between +his knees and his hands held his ankles, so he rolled just like a +ball. + +Nip was running round and round him and barking with all his +might. They made strange shadows on the snow in the moonlight. + +Monnie called to Menie. Menie straightened himself out at the +bottom of the slope, picked himself up and ran back to her. + +"What shall we play?" said Monnie. + +"Let's get Koko, and go to the Big Rock and slide downhill," said +Menie. + +"All right," said Monnie. "You run and get your sled." + +Menie had a little sled which his father had made for him out of +driftwood. No other boy in the village had one. Menie's father +had searched the beach for many miles to find driftwood to make +this sled. + +The Eskimos have no wood but driftwood, and it is so precious +that it is hardly ever used for anything but big dog sledges or +spears, or other things which the men must have. + +Most of the boys had sleds cut from blocks of ice. Menie's sled +was behind the igloo. He ran to get it, and then the twins and +the pups--all four--started for Koko's house. + +Koko's house was clear at the other end of the village. But that +was not far away, for there were only five igloos in the whole +town. + +First there was the igloo where the twins lived. Next was the +home of Akla, the Angakok, and his two wives. Then there were two +igloos where several families lived together. Last of all was the +one where Koko and his father and mother and baby brother lived. + +Koko was six. He was the twins' best friend. + + +II. + +The air was very still. There was not a sound anywhere except the +barking of the pups, the voices of Menie and Monnie, and the +creaking sound of the snow under their feet as they ran. + +The round moon was sailing through the deep blue sky and shining +so bright it seemed almost as light as day. + +There was one window in each igloo right over the tunnel +entrance, and these windows shone with a dull yellow light. + +In front of the village lay the sea. It was covered with ice far +out from shore. Beyond the ice was the dark water out of which +the sun would rise by and by. + +There was nothing else to be seen in all the twins' world. There +were no trees, no bushes even; nothing but the white earth, the +shadows of the rocks and the snow-covered igloos, the bright +windows, and the moon shining over all. + + +III. + +Menie and Monnie soon reached Koko's igloo. Menie and Nip got +there first. Monnie came puffing along with Tup just a moment +after. + +Then the twins dropped on their hands and knees in front of +Koko's hut, and stuck their heads into the tunnel. Nip and Tup +stuck their heads in, too. + +They all four listened. There was not a sound to be heard except +loud snores! The snores came rattling through the tunnel with +such a frightful noise that the twins were almost scared. + +"They sleep out loud, don't they?" whispered Monnie. + +"Let's wake them up," Menie whispered back. + +Then the twins began to bark. "Ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi, ki-yi," just +like little dogs! + +Nip and Tup began to yelp, too. The snores and the yelps met in +the middle of the tunnel and the two together made such a +dreadful sound that Koko woke up at once. When he heard four +barks he knew right away that it must be the twins and the little +dogs. + +So he stuck his head into the other end of the tunnel and called, +"Keep still. You'll wake the baby! I'll be there in a minute." + +Very soon Koko popped out of the black hole. He was dressed in a +fur suit and mittens just like the twins. + + +IV. + +The three children went along together toward the Big Rock. +Monnie rode on the sled, and Menie and Koko pulled it. The Big +Rock was very straight up and down on one side, and long and +slanting on the other. The twins were going to coast down the +slanting side. + +They climbed to the top, and Menie had the first ride. He coasted +down on his stomach with his little reindeer-skin kamiks (shoes) +waving in the air. + +Next Koko had a turn. What do you think he did? He stood straight +up on the sled with the leather cord in his hand, and slid down +that way! But then, you see, he was six. + +When Monnie's turn came she wanted to go down that way, too. But +Menie said, "No. You'd fall off and bump your nose! You have +hardly any nose as it is, and you'd better save it!" + +"I have as much nose as you have, anyway," said Monnie. + +"Mine is bigger! I'm a boy!" said Menie. + +Koko measured their noses with his finger. + +"They are just exactly alike," he said. + +Monnie turned hers up at Menie and said, "What did I tell you?" + +Menie never said another word about noses. He just changed the +subject. He said, "Let's all slide down at once." + +Koko and Menie sat down on the sled. Monnie sat on Menie. Then +they gave a few hitches to the sled and off they went. + +Whiz! How they flew! + +The pups came running after them. In some places where it was +very slippery the pups coasted, too! But they did not mean to. +They did not like it. The sled was almost at the end of the slide +when it struck a piece of ice. It flew around sideways and +spilled all the children in the snow. + +Just then Nip and Tup came sliding along behind them. They +couldn't stop, so there they all were in a heap together, with +the dogs on top! + +Menie rolled over and sat up in the snow. He was holding on to +the end of his nose. "Iyi, iyi!" he howled, "I bumped my nose on +a piece of ice!" + +Monnie sat up in the snow, too. She pointed her fur mitten at +Menie's nose and laughed. "Don't you know you haven't much nose?" +she said. "You ought to be more careful of it!" + +Koko kicked his feet in the air and laughed at Menie, and the +little dogs barked. Menie thought he'd better laugh, too. He had +just let go of his nose to begin when all of a sudden the little +dogs stopped barking and stood very still! + +Their hair stood up on their necks and they began to growl! + +"Hark, the dogs see something," said Menie. + +Monnie and Koko stopped laughing and listened. They could not +hear anything. They could not see anything. Still Nip and Tup +growled. The twins and Koko were children of brave hunters, so, +although they were scared, they crept very quietly to the side of +the Big Rock and peeped over. + +Just that minute there was a dreadful growl! "Woof!" It was very +loud, and very near, and down on the beach a shadow was moving! +It was the shadow of a great white BEAR! + +He was looking for fish and was cross because everything was +frozen, and he could not find any on the beach. + +The moment they saw him, the twins and Koko turned and ran for +home as fast as ever their short legs could go! They did not even +stop to get the precious sled. They just ran and ran. + +Nip and Tup ran, too, with their ears back and their little tails +stuck straight out behind them! + +If they had looked back, they would have seen the bear stand up +on his hind legs and look after them, then get down on all fours +and start toward the Big Rock on a run. + +But neither the children nor the little dogs looked back! They +just ran with all their might until they reached the twins' +igloo. Then they all dived into the tunnel like frightened +rabbits. + +V. + +When they came up in the one little room of the igloo at the +other end of the tunnel Kesshoo and Koolee were just crawling out +of the warm fur covers of their bed. Menie and Monnie and Koko +and the little dogs all began to talk at once. + +The moment the twins' father and mother heard the word--bear--they +jumped off the sleeping-bench and began to put on their clothes. + +They both wore fur trousers and long kamiks, with coats of fur, +so they looked almost as much alike in their clothes as the twins +did in theirs. + +The mother always wore her hair in a topknot on top of her head, +tied with a leather thong. But now she wanted to make the bear +think she was a man, too, so she pulled it down and let it hang +about her face, just as her husband did. + +In two minutes they were ready. Then the father reached for his +lance, the mother took her knife, and they all crawled out of the +tunnel. + +The father went first, then the mother, then the three children +and the pups. At the opening of the tunnel the father stopped, +and looked all around to see if the bear were near. + +The dogs in the village knew by this time that some strange +animal was about, and the moment Kesshoo came out into the +moonlight and started for the Big Rock, all the dogs ran, too, +howling like a pack of wolves. + +Kesshoo shouted back to his wife, "There really is a bear! I see +him by the Big Rock; call the others." + +So she sent Monnie into the igloo of the Angakok, and Menie and +Koko into the next huts. She herself screamed, "A bear! A bear!" +into the tunnel of Koko's hut. + +The people in the houses had heard the dogs bark and were already +awake. Soon they came pouring out of their tunnels armed with +knives and lances. The women had all let down their hair, just as +the twins' mother did. Each one carried her knife. + +They all ran toward the Big Rock, too. Far ahead they could see +the bear, and the dogs bounding along, and Kesshoo running with +his lance in his hand. + +Then they saw the dogs spring upon the bear. The bear stood up on +his hind legs and tried to catch the dogs and crush them in his +arms. But the dogs were too nimble. The bear could not catch +them. + +When Kesshoo came near, the bear gave a great roar, and started +for him. The brave Kesshoo stood still with his lance in his +hand, until the bear got quite near. Then he ran at the bear and +plunged the lance into his side. The lance pierced the bear's +heart. He groaned, fell to the ground, rolled over, and was +still. + +Then how everybody ran! Koko's mother had her baby in her hood, +where Eskimo mothers always carry their babies. She could not run +so fast as the others. The Angakok was fat, so he could not keep +up, but he waddled along as fast as he could. + +"Hurry, hurry," he called to his wives. "Bespeak one of his hind +legs for me." + +Menie and Monnie and Koko had such short legs they could not go +very fast either, so they ran along with the Angakok, and Koko's +mother, and Nip and Tup. + +When they reached the bear they found all the other people +crowded around it. Each one stuck his fingers in the bear's blood +and then sucked his fingers. This was because they wanted all +bears to know how they longed to kill them. As each one tasted +the blood he called out the part of the bear he would like to +have. + +The wives of the Angakok cried, "Give a hind leg to the Angakok." + +"The kidneys for Koko," cried Koko's mother when she stuck in her +finger. "That will make him a great bear-hunter when he is big." + +"And I will have the skin for the twins' bed," said their mother. + +Kesshoo promised each one the part he asked for. An Eskimo never +keeps the game he kills for himself alone. Every one in the +village has a share. + +The bear was very large. He was so large that though all the +women pulled together they could not drag the body back to the +village. The men laughed at them, but they did not help them. + +So Koolee ran back for their sledge and harnesses for the dogs. +Koko and Menie helped her catch the dogs and hitch them to the +sledge. + +It took some time to catch them for the dogs did not want to +work. They all ran away, and Tooky, the leader of the team, +pretended to be sick! Tooky was the mother of Nip and Tup, and +she was a very clever dog. While Koolee and Koko and Menie were +getting the sledge and dog-team ready, the rest of the women set +to work with their queer crooked knives to take off the bear's +skin. The moon set, and the sky was red with the colors of the +dawn before this was done. + +At last the meat was cut in pieces and Kesshoo and Koko's father +held the dogs while the women heaped it on the sledge. The dogs +wanted the meat. They jumped and howled and tried to get away. + +When everything was ready, Koolee cracked the whip at the dogs. +Tooky ran ahead to her place as leader, the other dogs began to +pull, and the whole procession started back to the village, +leaving a great red stain on the clean white snow where the bear +had been killed. + +Last of all came the twins and Koko. They had loaded the bear's +skin on Menie's sled. + +"It's a woman's work to pull the meat home. We men just do the +hunting and fishing," Menie said to Koko. They had heard the men +say that. + +"Yes, we found the bear," Koko answered. "Monnie can pull the +skin home." + +And though Monnie had found the bear just as much as they had, +she didn't say a word. She just pulled away on the sled, and they +all reached the igloo together just as the round red sun came up +out of the sea, and threw long blue shadows far across the fields +of snow. + + + + +II. KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +KOOLEE DIVIDES THE MEAT + +I. + + +The first thing that was done after they got the sledge back to +the village was to feed the dogs. The dogs were very hungry; they +had smelled the fresh meat for a long time without so much as a +bite of it, and they had had nothing to eat for two whole days. +They jumped about and howled again and got their harnesses +dreadfully tangled. + +Kesshoo unharnessed them and gave them some bones, and while they +were crunching them and quarreling among themselves, Koolee +crawled into the igloo and brought out a bowl. The bowl was made +of a hollowed-out stone, and it had water in it. + +"This is for a charm," said Koolee. "If you each take a sip of +water from this bowl my son will always have good luck in spying +bears!" + +She passed the bowl around, and each person took a sip of the +water. When Menie's turn came he took a big, big mouthful, +because he wanted to be very brave, indeed, and find a bear every +week. But he was in too much of a hurry. The water went down his +"Sunday-throat" and choked him! He coughed and strangled and his +face grew red. Koolee thumped him on the back. + +"That's a poor beginning for a great bear-hunter," she said. + +Everybody laughed at Menie. Menie hated to be laughed at. He went +away and found Nip and Tup. They wouldn't laugh at him, he knew. +He thought he liked dogs better than people anyway. + +Nip and Tup were trying to get their noses into the circle with +the other dogs, but the big dogs snapped at them and drove them +away, so Menie got some scraps and fed them. + +Meanwhile Koolee stood by the sledge and divided the meat among +her neighbors. First she gave one of the hind legs to the wives +of the Angakok, because he always had to have the best of +everything. She gave the kidneys to Koko's mother. To each one +she gave just the part she had asked for. When each woman had +been given her share, Kesshoo took what was left and put it on +the storehouse. + +The storehouse wasn't really a house at all. It was just a great +stone platform standing up on legs, like a giant's table. The +meat was placed on the top of it, so the dogs could not reach it, +no matter how high they jumped. + + +II. + +When the rest of the meat was taken care of, Koolee took the +bear's head and carried it into the igloo. + +All the people followed her. Then Koolee did a queer thing. She +placed the head on a bench, with the nose pointing toward the Big +Rock, because the bear had come from that direction. Then she +stopped up the nostrils with moss and grease. She greased the +bear's mouth, too. + +"Bears like grease," she said. "And if I stop up his nose like +that bears will never be able to smell anything. Then the hunters +can get near and kill them before they know it." You see Koolee +was a great believer in signs and in magic. All the other people +were too. + +She called to the twins, "Come here, Menie and Monnie." + +The twins had come in with the others, but they were so short +they were out of sight in the crowd. They crawled under the +elbows of the grown people and stood beside Koolee. + +"Look, children," she said to them, "your grandfather, who is +dead, sent you this bear. He wants you to send him something. In +five days the bear's spirit will go to the land where your +grandfather's spirit lives. What would you like to have the +bear's spirit take to your grandfather for a gift?" + +"I'll send him the little fish that father carved for me out of +bone," said Menie. He squirmed through the crowd and got it from +a corner of his bed and brought it to his mother. She put it on +the bear's head. + +Monnie gave her a leather string with a lucky stone tied to it. +Koolee put that on the bear's head too. + +Then she said, "There! In five days' time the bear's spirit will +give the shadows of these things to your grandfather. Then we can +eat the head, but not until we are sure the bear's spirit has +reached the home of the Dead." + +"That is well," the Angakok said to the twins, when Koolee had +finished. "Your grandfather will be pleased with your presents, I +know. Your grandfather was a just man. I knew him well. He always +paid great respect to me. Whenever he brought a bear home he +gave me not only a hind leg, but the liver as well! I should not +be surprised if he sent the bear this way, knowing how fond I am +of bear's liver." + +The Angakok placed his hand on his stomach and rolled up his +eyes. "But times are not what they once were," he went on. +"People care now only for their own stomachs! They would rather +have the liver themselves than give it to the Angakok! They will +be sorry when it is too late." + +He shook his head and heaved a great +sigh. Koolee looked at Kesshoo. She was +very anxious. Kesshoo went out at once +to the storehouse. He climbed to the top +and got the liver. + +By this time all the people had crawled out of the igloo again, +and were ready to carry home their meat. Kesshoo ran to the +Angakok and gave him the bear's liver. The Angakok handed it to +one of his wives to carry. The other one already had the bear's +leg. He said to Kesshoo, "You are a just man, like your father. I +know the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. You know your duty! +You shall have your reward." He looked very solemn and waddled +away toward his igloo with the two wives behind him carrying the +meat. All the rest of the people followed after him and went into +their own igloos. + + + + +III. THE TWINS GO FISHING + +THE TWINS GO FISHING + +I. + + +When the people had all gone away, Menie and Monnie sat down on +the side of the sledge. Nip and Tup were busy burying bones in the +snow. The other dogs had eaten all they wanted to and were now +lying down asleep in the sun, with their noses on their paws. + +Everything was still and cold. It was so still you could almost +hear the silence, and so bright that the twins had to squint +their eyes. In the air there was a faint smell of cooking meat. + +Menie sniffed. "I'm so hungry I could eat my boots," he said. + +"There are better things to eat than boots," Monnie answered. +"What would you like best of everything in the world if you could +have it?" + +"A nice piece of blubber from a walrus or some reindeer tallow," +said Menie. + +"Oh, no," Monnie cried. "That isn't half as good as reindeer's +stomach, or fishes' eyes! Um-m how I love fishes' eyes! I tell +you, Menie, let's get something to eat and then go fishing, +before the sun goes down!" + +"All right," said Menie. "Let's see if Mother won't give us a +piece of bear's fat! That is almost as good as blubber or fishes' +eyes." + + +II. + +They dived into the igloo. Their mother was standing beside the +oil lamp, putting strands of dried moss into the oil. This lamp +was their only stove and their only light. It didn't look much +like our stoves. It was just a piece of soapstone, shaped +something like a clamshell. It was all lowed out so it would +hold the oil. All along the shallow side of the pan there were +little tendrils of dried moss, like threads. These were the +wicks. + +Over the fire pan there was a rack, and from the rack a stone pan +hung down over the lamp flame. It was tied by leather thongs to +the rack. In the pan a piece of bear's meat was simmering. The +fire was not big enough to cook it very well, but there was a +little steam rising from it, and it made a very good smell for +hungry noses. + +"We're hungry enough to eat our boots," Menie said to his mother. + +"You must never eat your boots; you have but one pair!" his +mother answered. She pinched Menie's cheek and laughed at him. + +Then she cut two chunks of fat from a piece of bear's meat which +lay on the bench. She gave one to each of the twins. "Eat this, +and soon you can have some cooked meat," she said. "It isn't +quite done yet." + +"We don't want to wait for the cooked meat," cried Monnie. "We +want to go fishing before the sun is gone. Give us more fat and +we'll eat it outside." + +"You may go fishing if your father will go with you and cut holes +for you in the ice," said her mother. + +Koolee cut off two more pieces of fat. The twins took a piece in +each hand. Then their mother reached down their own little +fishing rods, which were stuck in the walls of the igloo. The +twins had bear's meat in both hands. They didn't see how they +could manage the fishing rods too. + +But Menie thought of a way. "I'll show you how," he said to +Monnie. He held one chunk of meat in his teeth! In his left hand +he held the fishing rod, in his right he carried the other piece +of meat! + +Monnie did exactly what Menie did, and then they crawled down +into the tunnel. + + +III. + +The twins had some trouble getting out of the tunnel because both +their hands were full. And besides the fishing rods kept getting +between their legs. When they got outside they both took great +bites of the bear's fat. + +Kesshoo was hanging the dogs' harnesses up on a tall pole, where +the dogs could not get them. The pole was eight feet long, and it +was made of the tusk of a narwhal. The harnesses were made of +walrus thongs and the dogs would eat them if they had a chance. +That was the reason Kesshoo hung them out of reach. The twins ran +to their father at once. They began to tell him that they wanted +to go fishing right away before the sun went down but their +mouths were so full they couldn't get the words out! + +"Mm-m-m-m," Menie began, chewing with all his might! + +Then Monnie did a shocking thing! She swallowed her meat whole, +she was in such hurry! It made a great lump going down her +throat! It almost choked her. But she shut her eyes, jerked her +head forward, and got it down! + +"Will you make two holes in the ice for us to fish through?" she +said. She got the words out first! Then she took another bite of +meat. + +"Have you got your lines ready, and anything for bait?" asked +their father. + +By this time Menie had swallowed his mouthful too. He said, "We +can take a piece of bear's meat for bait. The lines and hooks are +ready." + +Kesshoo looked at the lines. The rods were very short. They were +made of driftwood with a piece of bone bound to the end by tough +thongs. + +There was a hole in the end of the bone, and through this hole +the line was threaded. The line was made of braided reindeer +thongs. On the end of the line was a hook carved out of bone. + +"Your lines are all right," said Kesshoo. "Come along." + +He led the way down to the beach. The twins came tumbling after +him, and I am sorry to tell you they gobbled their meat all the +way! After the twins came Nip and Tup. The ice was very thick. +Kesshoo and the twins and the pups walked out on it quite a +distance from the shore. + +Kesshoo cut two round holes in the ice. One was for Menie and one +for Monnie. The holes were not big enough for them to fall into. + +By this time the twins had eaten all their meat except some small +pieces which they saved for bait. They each put a piece of meat +on the hook. Then they squatted down on their heels and dropped +the hooks into the holes. + +Kesshoo went back to the village, and left them there. "Don't +stay out too long," he called back to them. + + +IV. + +The twins sat perfectly still for a long time. Nip sat beside +Menie, and Tup sat beside Monnie. It grew colder and colder. The +sun began to drop down toward the sea again. At last it rested +like a great round red wheel right on the Edge of the World! + +Slowly, slowly it sank until only a little bit of the red rim +showed; then that too was gone. Great splashes of red color came +up in the sky over the place where it had been. + +Still the twins sat patiently by their holes. It grew darker and +darker. The colors faded. The stars began to twinkle, but the +twins did not move. Nip and Tup ran races on the ice, and rolled +over each other and barked. + +At last--all of a sudden--there was a fearful jerk on Monnie's +line! It took her by surprise. The little rod flew right out of +her hands! Monnie flung herself on her stomach on the ice and +caught the rod just as it was going down the hole! She held on +hard and pulled like everything. + +"I believe I've caught a whale," she panted. + +But she never let go! She got herself right side up on the ice, +somehow, and pulled and pulled on her line. + +"Let me pull him in!" cried Menie. He tried to take her rod. + +"Get away," screamed Monnie. "I'll pull in my own fish." + +Menie danced up and down with excitement, still holding his own +rod. The pups danced and barked too. Monnie never looked at any +of them. She kept her eyes fixed on the hole and pulled. + +At last she shrieked, "I've got him, I've got him!" And up +through the hole came a great big codfish! + +My! how he did flop around on the ice! Nip and Tup were scared. +They ran for home at the first flop. + +"Let's go home now," said Monnie. "I want to show my fine big +fish to Mother." + +But Menie said, "Wait a little longer till I catch one! I'll give +you one eye out of my fish if you will." + +Monnie waited. She put another piece of meat on her hook and +dropped it again into the hole. After a while she said, "You can +keep your old eye if you get it. It's so dark the fish can't see +to get themselves caught anyway. I'm cold. I'm going home." + +Menie got up very slowly and pulled up his line. + +As they turned toward the shore, Monnie cried out, "Look, look! +The sky is on fire!" It looked like it, truly! + +Great white streamers were flashing from the Edge of the World, +clear up into the sky! They danced like flames. Sometimes they +shot long banners of blue or green fire up to the very stars. +Overhead the sky shone red as blood. The stars seemed blotted +out. + +The twins had seen many wonderful things in the sky, but never +such color as this. Their eyes grew as round and big and popping +as those of Monnie's codfish, while they watched the long banners +join themselves into a great waving curtain of color that hung +clear across the heavens. + +"What is it? Oh, what is it?" they gasped. They were too +astonished to move, and they were a good deal frightened, too. +They never knew the sky could act like that. + +Monnie felt her black hair rise under her little fur hood. She +seized Menie's coat. "Do you suppose the world is going to be +burned up?" she said. + +Just then they heard a voice calling, "Menie, Monnie, where are +you?" + +"Here we are," they answered. Their teeth were chattering with +cold and fright, and they ran up the slope and flung themselves +into their mother's arms. + +"Oh, Mother, what is the matter with the sky?" they gasped. + +Then Koolee looked up too. The long streamers were still flinging +themselves up toward the red dome overhead. + +We call this the "aurora," or "northern lights," and know that +electricity causes it, but the twins' mother couldn't know that. +She told them just what had been told her when she was a little +girl. + +She said, "That is the dance of the Spirits of the Dead! Haven't +you ever seen it before?" + +"Not like this," said the twins. "This is so big, and so red!" + +"The sky is not often so bright," said Koolee. "Some say it is +the spirits of little children dancing and playing together in +the sky! They will not hurt you. You need not be afraid. See how +they dance in a ring all around the Edge of the World! They look +as if they were having fun." + +"It goes around the Edge of the World just like the flames around +our lamp," said Menie. "Maybe it's the Giants' lamp!" + +Menie and Monnie believed in Giants. So did their mother. They +thought the Giants lived in the middle of the Great White World, +where the snow never melts. + +The thought of the Giants scared them all. The twins gave the +fish to their mother, and then they all three scuttled up the +snowy slope toward the bright window of their igloo just as fast +as they could go. When they got inside they found some hot bear's +meat waiting for them, and Monnie had both the eyes from her fish +to eat. But she gave one to Menie. + +When they were warmed and fed, they pulled off their little fur +suits, crawled into the piles of warm skins on the sleeping +bench, and in two minutes were sound asleep. + + + + +IV. + +THE SNOW HOUSE + +THE SNOW HOUSE + +I. + + +It is very hard to tell what day it is, or what hour in the day, +in a place where the days and nights are all mixed up, and where +there are no clocks. + +Menie and Monnie had never seen a clock in their whole lives. If +they had they would have thought it was alive, and perhaps would +have been afraid of it. + +But people everywhere in the world get sleepy, so the Eskimos +sometimes count their time by "sleeps." Instead of saying five +days ago, they say "five sleeps" ago. + +The night after the bear was killed it began to snow. The wind +howled around the igloo and piled the snow over it in huge +drifts. + +The dogs were buried under it and had to be dug out, all but Nip +and Tup. They stayed inside with the twins and slept in their +bed. + +The twins and their father and mother were glad to stay in the +warm hut. + +At last the snow stopped, the air cleared, and the twins and +Kesshoo went out. Koolee stayed in the igloo. + +She sat on her sleeping bench upon a pile of soft furs. A bear's +skin was stretched up on the wall behind her. She had a cozy nest +to work in. + +The lamp stood on the bench beside her. She was making a +beautiful new suit for Menie. It was made of fawn-skin as soft as +velvet, and the hood and sleeves were trimmed with white rabbit's +fur. + +Her thimble was made of ivory, and her needle too. Her thread was +a fine strip of hide. There was a bunch of such thread beside +her. + +Soon Kesshoo came in, bringing with him a dried fish and a piece +of bear's meat, from the storehouse. + +Koolee looked up from her sewing. "Isn't it five sleeps since you +killed the bear?" she said. + +Kesshoo counted on his fingers. "Yes," he said, "it is five +sleeps." + +"Then it is time to eat the bear's head," said Koolee. "His +spirit is now with our fathers." + +"Why not have a feast?" said Kesshoo. "There hasn't been any +fresh meat in the village since the bear was killed, and I don't +believe the rest have had anything to eat but dried fish. We have +plenty of bear's meat still." + +Koolee hopped down off the bench and put some more moss into the +lamp. + +"You bring in the meat," she said, "and tell the twins to go to +all the igloos and invite the people to come at sunset." + +"All right," Kesshoo answered, and he went out at once to the +storehouse to get the meat. + + +II. + +When he came out of the tunnel, Kesshoo found the twins trying to +make a snow house for the dogs. They weren't getting on very +well. + +Kesshoo could make wonderful snow houses. He had made a beautiful +one when the first heavy snows of winter had come, and the family +had lived in it while Koolee finished building the stone igloo. +The twins had watched him make it. It seemed so easy they were +sure they could do it too. Kesshoo said, "If you will run to all +the igloos and tell the people to come at sunset to eat the +bear's head, I will help you build the snow house for the dogs." + +Menie and Monnie couldn't run. Nobody could. The snow was too +deep. They went in every step above their knees. But they +ploughed along and gave their message at each igloo. + +Everybody was very glad to come, and Koko said, "I'll come right +now and stay if you want me to." + +"Come along," said the twins. + +They went back to their own house, kicking the snow to make a +path. Koko went with them. The snow was just the right kind for a +snow house. It packed well and made good blocks. + +While the twins were away giving the invitations, Kesshoo carried +great pieces of bear's meat into the house. + +Koolee put in the cooking pan all the meat it would hold, and +kept the blaze bright in the lamp underneath to cook it. + +Then Kesshoo took his long ivory knife and went out to help the +twins with the snow house, as he had promised. + +"See, this is the way," he said to them. + +He took an unbroken patch of snow where no one had stepped. He +made a wide sweep of his arm and marked a circle in the snow with +his knife. + +The circle was just as big as he meant the house to be. Then he +cut out blocks of snow from the space inside the circle. He +placed these big blocks of snow around the circle on the line he +had marked with his knife. + +When he got the first row done Menie said, "I can do that! Let me +try." + +He took the knife and cut out a block. It wasn't nice and even +like his father's blocks. + +"That will never do," his father said. "Your house will tumble +down unless your blocks are true." + +He made the sides of the block straight by cutting off some of +the snow. + +"Now all the other blocks in this row must be just like this +one," he said. Koko tried next. His block was almost right the +first time. But then, as I have told you before, Koko was six. + +Monnie tried the next one. I am sorry to say hers wouldn't do at +all. It was dreadfully crooked. They took turns. Menie cut a new +block while Koko placed the last one on the snow wall. + +Kesshoo had to put on the top blocks to make the roof. Neither +Koko nor Menie could do it right, though they tried and tried. It +is a very hard thing to do. When the blocks were all laid up and +the dome finished, Kesshoo said, "Now, Monnie can help pack it +with snow." + +Monnie got the snow shovel. The snow shovel was made of three +flat pieces of wood sewed together with leather thongs. It had an +edge of horn sewed on with thongs, too. + +Monnie threw loose snow on the snow house and spatted it down +with the back of the shovel. + +While she was doing this, Menie and Koko built a tunnel entrance +for the dogs just like the big one on the stone house. + +They worked so hard they were warm as toast, though it was as +cold as our coldest winter weather; and when it was all finished +Menie ran clear over it just to show how strong and well built it +was. + + +III. + +When the snow house was all ready, Menie called the three big +dogs. Tooky was the leader, and the three dogs together were +Kesshoo's sledge team. Tooky was a hunting dog too. + +When Menie called the dogs, the dogs thought they were going to +be harnessed, so they hid behind the igloo and pretended they +didn't hear. Koko and Menie followed them, but the moment they +got near, the dogs bounded away. They went round to the front of +the igloo and ran into the tunnel. + +Koolee was just turning the meat in the pan with a pointed stick. +There was a piece of bear's meat lying on the bench. + +The dogs smelled the meat. They stuck their heads into the room, +and when Koolee's back was turned, Tooky stole the meat! + +Just then Koolee turned around. She saw Tooky. She shrieked, "Oh, +my meat, my meat!" and whacked Tooky across the nose with the +snow stick! + +But Tooky was bound to have the meat. She ran out of the tunnel +with it in her mouth, just as Menie and Koko got round to the +front of the igloo once more. + +"I-yi! I-yii" they screamed, "Tooky's got the meat!" Kesshoo +caught up his dog-whip and came running from the storehouse. + +The other two dogs wanted the meat too. They flew at Tooky and +snarled and fought with her to get it. + +Then Koolee's head appeared in the tunnel hole! Tooky was +crouching in the snow in front of the tunnel, trying to fight off +the other two dogs and guard the meat at the same time. + +She wasn't doing a thing with her tail, but she was very busy +with all the rest of her. Her tail was pointed right toward the +tunnel. + +The moment she saw it Koolee seized the tail with both hands and +jerked it like everything! Tooky was so surprised she yelped. And +when she opened her mouth to yelp, of course she dropped the +meat. + +Just at that instant Kesshoo's whip lash came singing about the +ears of all three dogs. + +"Snap, snap," it went. They jumped to get out of the way of the +lash. + +Then Koolee leaped forward and snatched the meat from under their +noses, and scuttled back with it into the tunnel before you could +say Jack Robinson. + +It is dangerous to snatch meat away from hungry dogs. If Kesshoo +hadn't been slashing at them with his whip, and if Menie and Koko +hadn't been screaming at them with all their might, so the dogs +were nearly distracted, Koolee might have been badly bitten. + +Just then Monnie came up with some dried fish. She threw one of +the fish over in front of the snow house. + +The dogs saw it and leaped for it. Then she threw another into +the snow hut itself. They went after that. She fed them all with +dried fish until they were so full they curled up in the snow +house and went to sleep. + + + + +V. THE FEAST + +THE FEAST + + +The moment the sun had gone out of sight all the people in the +village came pouring out of their tunnels on their way to the +feast at Kesshoo's house. + +Kesshoo's house was so small that it seemed as if all the people +could not possibly get into it. + +But the Eskimos are used to crowding into very small spaces, +indeed. Sometimes a man and his wife and all his children will +live in a space about the size of a big double bed. + +First the Angakok came out of his igloo, looking fatter than +ever. The Angakok always found plenty to eat somehow. Both his +wives were thin. Their faces looked like baked apples all brown +and wrinkled. + +When they reached Kesshoo's house, the Angakok went into the +tunnel first. + +Now I can't tell you whether he had grown fatter during the five +days, or whether the entrance had grown smaller, but this much I +know: the Angakok got stuck! He couldn't get himself into the +room no matter how much he tried! He squirmed and wriggled and +twisted, until his face was very red and he looked as if he would +burst, but there he stayed. + +Other people had crawled into the tunnel after him. His two wives +were just behind. Everybody got stuck, of course, because no one +could move until the Angakok did. He was just like a cork in the +neck of a bottle. + +Kesshoo and Koolee and the twins and Nip and Tup were all in the +igloo. When they saw the Angakok's face come through the hole +they thought, of course, the rest of him would come too. But it +didn't, and the Angakok was mad about it. + +"Why don't they build igloos the way they used to?" he growled. +"Every year the tunnels get smaller and smaller! Am I to remain +here forever?" he went on. "Why doesn't somebody help me?" + +Kesshoo and Koolee seized him under his arms. They pulled and +pulled. The two wives pushed him from behind. + +"I-yi! I-yi!" screamed the Angakok. "You will scrape my skin +off!" + +He kicked out behind with his feet. His wives backed hastily, to +get out of the way. That made them bump into Koko's mother who +was just behind them. Her baby was in her hood, and when she +backed, the baby's head was bumped on the roof of the tunnel. + +The baby began to roar. In the tunnel it sounded like a clap of +thunder. The wives of the Angakok and Koko's mother all began to +talk at once, and with that and the baby's crying I suppose there +never was a tunnel that held so much noise. It all came into the +igloo, and it sounded quite frightful. The twins crept into the +farthest corner of the sleeping bench and watched their father +and mother and the Angakok, with their eyes almost popping out of +their heads. + +Nip and Tup thought they would help a little, so they jumped off +the bench; and barked at the Angakok. You see, they didn't know +he was a great medicine man. They thought maybe he ought not to +be there at all. + +Nip even snapped at the Angakok's ear! + +That made the Angakok more angry than ever. He reached into the +room, seized Nip with one hand and flung him up on to the +sleeping bench. Nip lit on top of Menie. Nip was very much +surprised, and so was Menie. + +Now, whether the jerk he gave in throwing Nip did it or not, I +cannot say, but at that instant Kesshoo and Koolee both gave a +great pull in front. At the same moment the two wives gave a +great push behind, and the next moment after that, there was the +Angakok, still red, and still angry, sitting on the edge of the +sleeping bench in the best place near the fire! + +Then his two wives came crawling through. The Angakok looked at +them as if he thought they had made him stick in the tunnel, and +had done it on purpose, too. The wives scuttled up on to the +sleeping bench, and got into the farthest corner of it as fast as +they could. + +The women and children always sat back on the bench at a feast. + +When Koko's mother came in, the baby was still crying. She +climbed up on to the bed with him, and Menie and Monnie showed +him the pups and that made the baby laugh again. + +As fast as they came in, the women and children packed themselves +away on the sleeping bench. The men sat along the edge of it with +their feet on the floor. + + +II. + +The smell of food soon made everybody cheerful. When at last they +were all crowded into the room, Koolee placed the bear's head and +other pans of meat on the floor. + +Then she crawled back on to the bench with the other women. + +The Angakok was the first one to help himself. He reached down +and took a large chunk of meat. He held it up to his mouth and +took hold of the end with his teeth. Then he sawed off a huge +mouthful with his knife. + +It looked as if he would surely cut off the end of his nose too, +but he didn't. + +When the men had all helped themselves, pieces of meat were +handed out to the women and children. + +Soon they were all eating as if their lives depended on it. And +now I think of it, their lives did depend on it, to be sure! I +will not speak about their table manners. In fact, they hadn't +any to speak of! They had nothing to eat with the meat--not even +salt--but it was a great feast to them for all that, and they ate +and ate until every scrap was gone. + +The Angakok grew better natured every minute. By the time he had +eaten all he could hold he was really quite happy and benevolent! +He clasped his hands over his stomach and smiled on everybody. + +The women chattered in their corner of the sleeping-bench, and +Koolee showed Koko's mother the new fur suit trimmed with white +rabbit's skin that she was making for Menie. And Koko's mother +said she really must make one for Koko just like it. + +The twins and Koko talked about a trap to catch hares which they +meant to made as soon as the long days began again, and the baby +went to sleep on a pile of furs in the corner. Menie fed the pups +with some of his own meat, and gave them each a bone. Nip and Tup +buried their bones under the baby and then went to sleep too. + + +III. + +After a while the Angakok turned his face to the wall, as he +always did when he meant to tell a story or sing a song. Then he +said, "Listen, my children!" He called everybody--even the grown +up people--his children! Everybody listened. They always listened +when the Angakok spoke. + +The Angakok knew the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. He had +told them so many times! The people believed it, and it may be +that the Angakok really believed it himself, though I have some +doubt about that. + +"Listen, my children," said the Angakok, "and I will tell you +wonderful things. + +"There is a world beneath the sea! You catch glimpses of that +world yourselves in calm summer weather, when the water is still, +and you know that I speak the truth! + +"Then you can see the shadows of rocks and islands and glaciers +in the smooth water. Far below you see blue sky and white clouds. +That is the calm world in which the Spirits of the Dead live. I +have visited that underworld, many times, I have talked there +with the spirits of your ancestors." + +The Angakok paused and looked around to see if every one was +paying attention. Then he went on with his story. + +"Do you remember how two springs ago there were so few walruses +and seals along the coast that you nearly died for lack of food +and oil?" he said. "My children, it was I who brought the seals +and walruses back to you! Without my efforts you might all have +starved! + +"I will tell you of the perils of a fearful journey which I +undertook for your sakes. Then you will see what you owe to the +skill and faithfulness of your Angakok!" + +All the people looked very solemn, and nodded their heads. The +Angakok went on. + +"You must know that in the depths of the underworld, far beyond +the beautiful abode of the Spirits of the Dead, lives the Old +Woman of the Sea! + +"There she sits forever and forever beside a monstrous lamp. +Underneath the lamp is a great saucer to catch the oil which +drips from it. + +"In that saucer there are whole flocks of sea-birds swimming +about! All the animals that live in the sea--the whales and +walruses, the codfish and the seals--swarm in the saucer of the +Old Woman of the Sea. That is where they all come from. Sometimes +the Old Woman of the Sea keeps all the creatures in the saucer. +Then there are no seal or fish or walrus along our coasts, and +there is hunger among the innuit (human beings). + +"At the time of my journey she had kept all the creatures for so +long a time in her saucer that you and many others were nearly +dead for lack of food." + +"It was then that I prepared myself for the perils of this +journey to the underworld. I called my Tornak, or guiding spirit, +to lead my steps. Without his Tornak an Angakok can do nothing. +The Tornak came at once in answer to my call. He took me by the +hand, and we plunged down into the water. First we passed through +the beautiful World of Spirits, where it is always summer. This +part of the way was quite pleasant, but on the farther side of +that world we came to a fearful abyss. It could be crossed only +on a large slippery wheel, as slippery as ice." + +"I mounted this wheel and was whirled across the chasm. No sooner +had I reached the other side than new terrors came upon me. I had +to pass by great cauldrons of boiling oil, in which seals were +swimming about." + +"A misstep would have sent me plunging into the boiling oil, and +you would have lost your Angakok forever!" + +The thought of this was so dreadful that the Angakok paused and +wiped his eyes. Then he went on again with his story. + +"However, with great courage I kept upon my way until at last I +saw the Old Woman's house! A deep gulf lay between us and her +dwelling, and outside it stood a great dog with bloody jaws. This +dog guards the entrance, and he sleeps only for a single moment, +once in a very great while." + +"For six days I and my Tornak waited there for the dog to sleep. +At last on the seventh day he closed his eyes! Instantly the +Tornak seized my hand and drew me across the bridge which spanned +the chasm. This bridge was as narrow as a single thread." + +"When we were safely across the bridge we passed the sleeping dog +and boldly entered the Old Woman's house. The Old Woman is +terrible to look upon! Her hand is the size of a large walrus, +and her teeth like the rocks along the coast!" The Angakok +dropped his voice to a whisper. + +"However, when she looked upon me she trembled!" he said. "She +saw at once that I possessed great power, and was a great +Angakok. I spoke to her flattering words. Then I told her of the +hunger of my children!" + +"I begged that she would send the seal and walrus and sea-birds +to our coast at once. But she had no mind to yield to my +requests. Then I stormed and threatened." The Angakok's voice +grew louder. "The walls shook with the thunder of my voice! At +last I seized her by the hair! I tipped over the saucer with my +foot! My great power prevailed against the mighty sorceress!" + +"The seal and walrus swam away. The birds flew into the air and +were gone. I had conquered the Old Woman of the Sea! My children +were saved!" The Angakok was silent for a moment. Then he spoke +again in a natural voice. + +"When I opened my eyes in my own igloo again," he said, "the +famine was already over. Flocks of sea-birds were flying +overhead. The sea swarmed with fish, and with walrus and seal. +Every one along the whole coast was happy. Ask yourselves--is it +not so?" + +The Angakok seemed very much pleased with himself, and he looked +about, as if he expected every one else to be pleased with him +too. All the people were filled with wonder at his great power. +They began to talk among themselves. + +"Yes, I remember the famine well," said Koko's father. "I was +away up the coast that season. Several died in our village for +lack of food." + +Other men remembered things about other times when food had been +scarce. + +"It is lucky," they said to each other, "that here we have a +great Angakok who understands all the secrets of the World and +who can save us from such dreadful things." + + +IV. + +At last Kesshoo said, "Will you tell us, great Angakok, how you +make these wonderful journeys?" + +"Do you really wish to know?" asked the Angakok. "If you do, I +will summon my guiding spirits to tell you, but they will speak +only in the darkness." + +Kesshoo took the lamp at once and put it out in the tunnel. Then +he placed a thick musk-ox hide over the entrance, so that not a +single ray of light came into the room. The darkness could almost +be felt. Everybody sat very still and listened. + +Soon a heavy body was heard to strike the floor with a dull thud, +and a strange voice said, "Who calls me?" + +Another voice said, "You are called, mighty spirits, to tell +these children of the labors of their Angakok." + +Then began all sorts of strange noises, as of different persons +speaking. All the voices sounded much like the Angakok's, and +they all said what a great medicine man the Angakok was, and how +every one in the village must be sure to do what he told them to! + +At last the Angakok himself spoke, in his own voice. "I will tell +you how I make these strange journeys," he said. + +"My body is now lying on the floor at your feet. Now I begin to +rise. You cannot see me. You cannot touch me. Now I am floating +about your heads, now I am touching the roof! I can go wherever I +please! Nothing can stop me! I know the secret places of the sun, +moon, and stars. I can fly through the roof and go at once to the +moon, if I wish to." + +Then the voice was still. Nobody moved or spoke. + +Monnie had gone to sleep in the corner of the bed, but Koko and +Menie were still awake. They had listened to every word about the +Old Woman of the Sea, and how the Angakok traveled to the moon. + +You know I told you before that Koko was six. He wanted to know +all about things. So he spoke right out in the dark, when every +one else was still. + +He said, "Mother, if the Angakok can go anywhere he wants to, why +couldn't he get out of the tunnel?" + +Koko's mother tried to hush him up. "Sh, sh," she said, and put +her hand over his mouth. At least she thought she did, but she +made a mistake in the dark and put her hand over Menie's mouth +instead! + +Menie tried to say, "I never said a word," but he could only make +queer sounds, because Koko's mother's hand was tight on his +mouth. + +Of course Koko didn't know his mother was trying to keep him +still, so he said again, "Why is it, mother?" + +Koko's mother heard Koko's voice speaking just as plainly as ever +though she was sure she had her hand over his mouth! She was +frightened. + +"Magic! magic!" she screamed. "Bring the light! Koko is +bewitched! I have my hand over his mouth, yet you hear that he +talks as plainly as ever!" + +Koko tried to say, "Your hand isn't over my mouth," and Menie +tried to say, "It's over mine!" but he could only say, "M-m-m," +because she held on so tight! + +Koko's mother was making so much noise herself that she wouldn't +have heard what either one said anyway. The baby woke up and +whimpered. Nip and Tup woke up and barked like everything. + +Kesshoo got the light from the tunnel as quickly as he could, and +set it on the bench. Then every one saw what was the matter! They +all laughed--all but Menie and the Angakok. The Angakok said to +Koko's father, "You'd better look after that boy. He is +disrespectful to me. That is a bad beginning!" + +Koko's father was ashamed of him. He said, "Koko is so small!" + +But the Angakok said, "Koko is six. He is old enough to know +better." + + +V. + +Everybody was so glad to see the light again that they all began +to talk at once. + +Some one said to Kesshoo, "Tell us about the long journey to the +south you took once long ago." + +Then everybody else listened, while Kesshoo told about how once +he had taken his dog sledge with a load of musk ox and seal skins +on it far down the coast and how at last he had come to a little +settlement where the houses were all made of wood, if they +would believe it! + +He told them that in the bay before the village there was a boat +as big as the Big Rock itself. It had queer white wings, and the +wind blew on these wings and made the boat go! + +Kesshoo had been out in a kyak to see it. He had even paddled all +round it. The men on the great boat had fair hair, and one of +them, the chief man of all, had bought some of Kesshoo's skins +and one of his dogs. The man was a great chief. His name was +Nansen. + +This great chief had told Kesshoo that he was going to take a +sledge and go straight into the inland country where the Giants +live! He said he was going to cross the great ice! No man had +ever done that since the world began. + +Kesshoo thought probably the great chief had been eaten by the +Giants, but he did not know surely, because he had never been +back there since to find out. And to be sure, if he had been +eaten by Giants, no one ever would know about it anyway. + +Then Kesshoo showed them all a great knife that the white chief +had given him, in exchange for a sealskin, and two steel needles +that he had sent to Koolee. Koolee kept the needles in a little +ivory case all by themselves. + +She always carried the case in her kamik, so it would not be +lost. She could do wonderful sewing with the needles. Koolee was +very proud of her sewing. No one else in the whole village could +sew so well, because they had not such good needles to do it +with. Koolee used them only for her very finest work. + +At last the Angakok said, "It is time to go home." He called to +his wives. They climbed down off the bench. + +That started the others. One after another they put on their +upper garments, which they had taken off in the warm igloo, said +good bye, and popped down into the tunnel. Last of all came the +Angakok's turn. + +Then Kesshoo and Koolee and the Angakok's wives all began to look +very anxious. The Angakok looked a little worried himself. If he +had stuck coming in, what would happen now after he had eaten so +much! + +He got down on his hands and knees, and looked at the hole. He +had taken off his thick fur coat when he came in. Now he took off +his undercoat, and his thick fur trousers! He gave them to his +wives. + +Then he stretched himself out just as long as he possibly could +and slowly hitched himself down into the tunnel, groaning all the +way. + +Kesshoo and Koolee and the wives waited until his feet +disappeared, and they heard him scraping along through the +tunnel. Then they breathed a great sigh of relief, and the two +wives popped down after him. + +The last Kesshoo and Koolee heard of the Angakok, was a kind of +muffled roar when a piece of ice fell from the top of the tunnel +on to his bare back. + +Menie and Monnie and the pups were already sound asleep in their +corner of the bench when their father and mother fixed the lamp +for the night and crawled in among the fur robes beside them. + + + + +VI. THE REINDEER HUNT + +THE REINDEER HUNT + +I. + + +The day after the feast it was still very cold, but there were +signs of spring in the air. When Menie went out to feed the dogs, +he saw a flock of ravens flying north, and Koko saw some sea +birds on the same day. + +Two days after that, when the twins and Koko were all three +playing together on the Big Rock, they saw a huge iceberg float +lazily by. + +It had broken away from a glacier, farther north, and was +drifting slowly toward the Southern Sea. It gleamed in the sun +like a great ice palace. + +One morning the air was thick with fog. When Kesshoo saw the fog +he said, "This would be a great day to hunt reindeer." + +"Oh, let me go with you!" cried Menie. + +Monnie knew better than to ask. She knew very well she would +never be allowed to go. + +Kesshoo thought a little before he answered. Then he said, "If +Koko's father will go, too, you and Koko may both go with us. You +are pretty small to go hunting, but boys cannot begin too early +to learn." + +Menie was wild with joy. He rushed to Koko's house and told him +and his father what Kesshoo had said. + +When he had finished, Koko's father said at once, "Tell Kesshoo +we will go." + +It was not long before they were ready to start. Kesshoo had his +great bow, and arrows, and a spear. He also had his bird dart. +Koko's father had his bow and spear and dart, too. Menie had his +little bow and arrows. + +Kesshoo put a harness on Tooky and tied the end of Tooky's +harness trace around Menie's waist. Koko's father had brought his +best dog, too, and Koko was fastened to the end of that dog's +harness in the same way. + +Then the four hunters started on their journey--Menie and Koko +driving the dogs in front of them. + +Monnie stood on the Big Rock and watched them until they were out +of sight in the fog. Nip and Tup were with her. They wanted to go +as much as Monnie did and she had hard work to keep them from +following after the hunters. + + +II. + +Kesshoo knew very well where to look for the reindeer. He led the +way up a steep gorge where the first green moss appeared in the +spring. They all four walked quietly along for several miles. + +When they got nearly to the head of the gorge, Kesshoo stopped. +He said to the boys, "You must not make any noise yourselves, and +you must not let the dogs bark. If you do there will be no +reindeer today." + +The boys kept very still, indeed. The dogs were good hunting +dogs. They knew better than to bark. + +They walked on a little farther. Then Kesshoo came very near the +others and spoke in a low voice. He said, "We are coming to a +spot where there are likely to be reindeer. The wind is from the +south. If we keep on in this direction, the reindeer will smell +us. We must go round in such a way that the wind will carry the +scent from them to us, not from us to them." + +They turned to the right and went round to the north. They had +gone only a short distance in this direction, when they found +fresh reindeer tracks in the snow. The dogs began to sniff and +strain at their harnesses. + +"They smell the game," whispered Kesshoo. "Hold on tight! Don't +let them run." + +Menie and Koko held the dogs back as hard as they could. Kesshoo +and Koko's father crept forward with their bows in their hands. +The fog was so thick they could not see very far before them. + +They had gone only a short distance, when out of the fog loomed +two great gray shadows. Instantly the two men dropped on their +knees and took careful aim. + +The reindeer did not see them. They did not know that anything +was near until they felt the sting of the hunters' arrows. One +reindeer dropped to the earth. The other was not killed. He flung +his head in the air and galloped away, and they could hear the +thud, thud, of his hoofs long after he had disappeared in the +fog. + +The moment the dogs heard the singing sound of the arrows, they +bounded forward. Koko and Menie were not strong enough to hold +them back, and they could not run fast enough to keep up with +them. So they just bumped along behind the dogs! Some of the time +they slid through the snow. + +The snow was rough and hard, and it hurt a good deal to be +dragged through it as if they were sledges, but Eskimo boys are +used to bumps, and they knew if they cried they might scare the +game, so they never even whimpered. + +It was lucky for them that they had not far to go. When they came +bumping along, Kesshoo and Koko's father laughed at them. + +"Don't be in such a hurry," they called. "There's plenty of time!" + +They unbound the traces from Menie and Koko and hitched the dogs +to the body of the reindeer. Then they all started back to the +village with Koko's father driving the dogs. + +Soon the fog lifted and the sky grew clear. + +Monnie was playing with her doll in the igloo, when she heard +Tooky bark. She knew it was Tooky at once. She and Koolee both +plunged into the tunnel like mice down a mouse hole. Nip and Tup +were ahead of them. + +Outside they found Koko's mother and the baby. Koolee called to +her, and she called to the wives of the Angakok, who were +scraping a bear's skin in the snow. + +The Angakok's wives, and Koko's mother and her baby, and Koolee, +and Monnie, and Nip and Tup all ran to meet the hunters, and you +never saw two prouder boys than Koko and Menie when they showed +the reindeer to their mothers. + +The mothers were proud of their young hunters, too. Koolee said, +"Soon we shall have another man in our family." + +When they were quite near the village again, they met the +Angakok. He had been trying to catch up with them and he was out +of breath from running. He looked at them sternly. + +"Why didn't you call me?" he panted. + +His wives looked frightened and didn't say a word. Nobody else +said anything. The Angakok glared at them all for a moment. Then +he poked the reindeer with his fingers to see if it was fat and +said to the men, "Which portion am I to have?" + +"Would you like the liver?" asked Kesshoo. He remembered about +the bear's liver, you see. + +But the Angakok looked offended. "Who will have the stomach?" he +said. "You know very well that the stomach is the best part of a +reindeer." + +"Take the stomach, by all means, then," said Kesshoo, politely. + +Koolee and Monnie looked very much disappointed. They wanted the +stomach dreadfully. + +But the Angakok answered, "Since you urge me, I will take the +stomach. I had a dream last night, and in the dream I was told by +my Tornak that today I should feed upon a reindeer's stomach, +given me by one of my grateful children. When you think how I +suffered to bring food to you, I am sure you will wish to provide +me with whatever it seems best that I should have." + +He stood by while Kesshoo and Koko's father skinned the reindeer +and cut it in pieces. Then he took the stomach and disappeared +into his igloo--with his face all wreathed in smiles. + + + + +VII. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY +THEMSELVES + +WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MENIE AND KOKO WENT HUNTING BY THEMSELVES + +I. + + +It was very lucky for the twins that their father was such a +brave and skillful kyak man. You will see the reason why, when I +tell you the story of the day Menie and Koko went hunting alone +on the ice. + +One April morning Kesshoo was working on his kyak to make sure +that it was in perfect order for the spring walrus hunting. Koko +and Menie watched him for a long time. Monnie was with Koolee in +the hut. + +By and by Koko said to Menie, "Let's go out on the ice and hunt +for sealholes." + +"All right," said Menie. "You take your bow and arrows and I'll +take my spear. Maybe we shall see some little auks." + +Koko had a little bow made of deer's horns, and some bone arrows, +and Menie had a small spear which his father had made for him out +of driftwood. + +"I'll tell you!" said Menie. "Let's go hunting just the way +father does! You do the shooting and I'll do the spearing! Won't +everybody be surprised to see us bring home a great load of game? +I shall give everything I get to my mother." + +"I'm going to hunt birds and seal holes too," Koko answered. + +Kesshoo was very busy fixing the fastening of his harpoon, and he +did not hear what they said. + +The two boys went to their homes for their weapons, and then ran +out on the ice. Nobody knew where they were. Of course, Nip and +Tup went along. + + +II. + +All the way over the ice they looked for seal holes. It takes +sharp eyes to find them, for seal holes are very small. + +You see, the mother seals try to find the safest place they can +to hide their babies, and this is the way they do it: + +As soon as the ice begins to freeze in the autumn, the seals gnaw +holes in it to reach the air, and they keep these holes open all +winter. It freezes so fast in that cold country that they have to +be busy almost every minute all through the winter breaking away +the ice there. They get their sleep in snatches of a minute or so +at a time, and between their naps they clear the ice from their +breathing holes. + +There is usually a deep layer of snow over the ice. Each mother +seal hollows out a little igloo under the snow, around her +breathing hole, and leaves a tiny hole in the top of it, so her +baby can have plenty of fresh air and be hidden from sight at the +same time. + +The mother seal leaves the baby in the snow house, and she +herself dives through the hole and swims away. Every few minutes +she comes back to breathe, and to see that her baby is safe. + +It was the tiny hole in the top of the seal's snow house that +Menie and Koko hoped to find. + +The days had grown quite long by this time and there was fog in +the air. Once in a while there would be a loud crackling noise. + +"The ice is beginning to break," Koko said. "Don't you hear it +pop? My father says he thinks the warm weather will begin early +this year." + +They had gone some distance out on the ice, when suddenly Menie +said, "Look! Look there!" He pointed toward the north. There not +far from shore was a flock of sea-birds, resting on the ice. + +"Just let me get a shot at them!" cried Koko. "You stay here and +hold on to the dogs! Nip and Tup haven't any sense at all about +game! They'll only scare them." + + +III. + +Koko ran swiftly and quietly towards the birds. Menie sat on the +ice and watched him and held Nip and Tup, one under each arm. +When Koko got quite near the birds, he took careful aim and let +fly an arrow at them. + +It didn't hit any of the birds, but it frightened them. They flew +up into the air and away to the north and alighted farther on. +Koko followed them. + +All at once Menie heard a queer little sound. It went +"Plop-plop-plop," and it sounded very near. Nip and Tup sniffed, and +began to growl and nose around on the ice. + +Menie knew what the queer noise meant, for his father had told +him all about seal hunting. It meant that a seal hole was near, +and that a seal had come up to breathe. It was the seal that made +the "plopping" noise. + +Menie tried to keep the dogs still, but they wouldn't be kept +still. They ran round with their noses on the snow, giving little +anxious whines, and short, sharp barks. + +The "plop-plop" stopped. The seal had gone down under the ice, +but Menie meant to find the hole. He went out quite near the open +water in his search. At last, just beyond a hummock of ice, he +saw it! He crept carefully up to it. + +He lay down on his stomach and peeped into the hole to see what +it was like. He could not see a thing! + +Then he stuck his lance down. His lance touched something soft +that wiggled! Menie stood up. He was so excited that he trembled. +He knew he had found a seal hole with a live seal in the snow +house! + +With all his strength he struck his lance down through the snow. +The snow house fell in and Menie fell with it, but he kept hold +of his lance. The end of the lance was buried in the snow, but it +was moving. Menie knew by this that he had stuck it into the +seal! + +He lay still and kept fast hold of his lance, and pressed down on +it with all his might. + +Nip and Tup were crazy with excitement. They jumped round and +barked and tried to dig a hole in the snow with their forefeet. + +At last the spear stopped wiggling. Then Menie carefully dug the +snow away. There lay a little white seal! It was too young to +swim away with its mother. That was why such a small boy as Menie +had been able to kill it. + +He dragged it out on the ice. He was so excited and so busy he +did not notice how near he was to the open water. + + +IV. + +All of a sudden there was a loud cracking noise, and Menie felt +the ice moving under him! He looked back. There was a tiny strip +of blue water between him and the shore! + +The strip grew wider while he looked at it! Menie knew that he +was adrift on an ice raft, and he was terribly frightened. Nip +and Tup cuddled close to him and whined with fear. + +Menie understood perfectly well that he might be carried far out +to sea and never come back any more. He put his hands to his +mouth and yelled with all his might! + +Koko was still following the birds, and did not hear Menie's +cries. Menie could see him running up the beach after the birds, +and he could see his father working over his kyak near his home. + +He even saw Monnie come out of the tunnel and go to watch her +father at his work. They seemed very far away, and every moment +the distance between them and the raft grew greater. + +Menie screamed again and again. At the third scream he saw his +father straighten up, shade his eyes with his hand, and look out +to sea. + +"Oh," Menie thought. "What if he shouldn't see me!" He shouted +louder than ever! He waved his arms! He even pinched the tails of +Nip and Tup and made them bark. Then he saw his father wave his +hand and dive into the tunnel. + +In another instant he was out again and pulling on his skin coat. +Then he took the kyak on his shoulders and ran with it to the +beach. Monnie and Koolee came running after him. + +They were doing the screaming now! Every one in the village heard +the screams and came running down to the beach, too. + +When Menie saw his father coming with the kyak, he wasn't afraid +any more, for he was sure his father would save him. He wasn't +even afraid about the cakes of ice that were floating in the +water, though there is nothing more dangerous than to go out in a +kyak among ice floes. One bump from a floating cake of ice is +enough to upset any boat, and I don't like to think of what might +happen if a kyak should get between two big cakes of ice. + +Kesshoo ran with his kyak as far as he could on the ice. Then he +got in and fitted the bottom of his skin jacket over the kyak +hole and carefully slid himself into the open water. + +Once in the water, how his paddle flew! + +It seemed to Menie as if his father would never reach him! He sat +very still on the ice pan with the dead seal beside him, and Nip +and Tup huddled up against him. + +At last Kesshoo came near enough so he could make Menie hear +everything he said. "Menie," he cried, "if you do exactly what I +tell you to, I can save you. + +"I will throw you my harpoon. You must drive it way down into the +ice. Then by the harpoon line I will tow your ice pan back toward +shore. When we get to the big ice I will find a place for you to +land. + +"You must be ready, and when I give the word jump from your ice +raft on to the solid ice." + +Then Kesshoo threw his harpoon, and Menie drove it into the ice +with all his might. Slowly Kesshoo drew the line taut, turned his +kyak round, and started for the shore. The journey out had been +dangerous, but the journey back was much more so, for Kesshoo +could not dodge the floating ice nearly so well. He had to pick +his way carefully through the clearest water he could find. Very +cautiously they moved toward shore. + + +V. + +They were getting quite near the place where the ice had broken +with Menie, when suddenly, right near them, they saw the head and +great, round eyes of a seal! It was the seal mother. + +She had come back to find her breathing hole and her baby. + +The moment Kesshoo saw her he seized his dart, which lay in its +place on top of his kyak, and threw it with all his might at the +seal. + +The seal dived down into the sea, but a bladder full of air was +attached to the line on the dart, and this bladder floated on the +water, so Kesshoo could tell by watching it just where the seal +was. + +Kesshoo knew he had struck the seal, and although he was already +towing the ice raft, he was determined to bring home the big +seal, too! + +He called to Menie. "Sit still and wait until I come for you." + +Then he quickly cut the harpoon line by which he was towing the +ice raft, and set it adrift again. As soon as he was free he +paddled away after the bladder, which was now bobbing along over +the water at some little distance from the boat. + +Menie sat perfectly still and watched his father. Kesshoo reached +the bladder and began to pull on the line, but just at that +moment the big seal turned round and swam right under the kyak! + +In a second the kyak turned bottom side up in the water! Menie +screamed. The people watching on the shore gave a great howl, and +Koko's father started up the beach after his own kyak. + +He thought perhaps Kesshoo could not manage both the ice raft and +the seal, and he meant to go to help him. + +But in one second Kesshoo was right side up again. No water could +get into the kyak because Kesshoo's skin coat was drawn tight +over the hole in the deck, and Kesshoo was in the coat! + +Kesshoo often turned somersaults in the water in that way. +Sometimes he even did it for fun! He said afterward that he could +have turned the boat right side up again with just his nose, +without using either his paddle or his arms, if only his nose had +been a little bigger, and though he meant this for a joke, the +twins believed that he really could do it. + +The moment he was right side up again, Kesshoo gave chase once +more to the bladder. The seal was very weak now, and Kesshoo knew +that it would soon come to the surface and float and that then he +could tow it in. + +He had not long to wait. The bladder bobbed about for a while and +then was still. Kesshoo drew up the line, and paddled back to the +ice raft, towing the big seal after him. + +"Catch this," he said to Menie. He threw him the end of the line. +"Wind the line six times round the harpoon," he said, "and hold +tight to the end of it." + +Menie did as he was told. Then Kesshoo tied together the two ends +of the harpoon line, which he had cut, and began to tow the ice +raft back to share again. + +Menie kept tight hold of the other line and towed the seal! + +Kesshoo paddled slowly and carefully along, until at last there +was only a little strip of water between the kyak and the solid +ice. + +But how in the world could Menie get across that strip of water +to safety? + +The kyak was between him and the solid ice, and Menie could not +possibly get into the kyak. Neither could he swim. But Kesshoo +knew a way. + +He came up closer to the solid ice. Then he gave a great sweep +with his paddle and lifted his kyak right up on to it. He sprang +out, and, seizing the harpoon line, pulled Menie's raft close up +to the edge of the firm ice. + +Menie was still holding tight to the line that held the big seal. +Kesshoo threw him another line. Menie caught the end of it. + +"Now tie the big seal's line fast to that," Kesshoo said. Menie +was a very small boy, but he knew how to tie knots. He did just +what his father told him to. + +"Now," said his father, "pull up the harpoon." Menie did so. "Tie +the harpoon line to the little seal" Menie did that. "Now throw +the harpoon to me," commanded Kesshoo. + +Menie threw it with all his might. His father caught it, and +stood on the firm ice, holding in his hands the line that the big +seal was tied to, and the harpoon, with its line fastened to the +little seal. + +"Now hold on to the little seal, and I will pull you right up +against the solid ice, and when I say 'Jump,' you jump," said +Kesshoo. + +Slowly and very, carefully he pulled, until the raft grated +against the solid ice. + +"Jump!" shouted Kesshoo. + +Menie jumped. The ice raft gave a lurch that nearly sent him into +the water, but Kesshoo caught him and pulled him to safety. + +A great shout of joy went up from the shore, and Menie was glad +enough to shout too when he felt solid ice under his feet once +more! + +While he helped his father pull in the little seal, all the +people came running out on to the ice to meet them, but Kesshoo +sent back every one except Koko's father. He was afraid the ice +might break again with so many people on it. Koko's father helped +pull the big seal out of the water and over the ice to the beach. + +Menie dragged his own little seal after him by the harpoon line, +and when he came near the beach, the people all cried out, "See +the great hunter with his game!" And Koolee was so glad to see +Menie and so proud of her boy that she nearly burst with joy! + +"I knew the charm would work," she cried. "Not only does he spy +bears--he kills seals! And he only five years old!" + +She put her arms around him and pressed her flat nose to his. +That's the Eskimo way of kissing. + +Menie tried to look as if he killed seals and got carried away on +an ice pan every day in the week, but inside he felt very proud, +too. + +When Kesshoo and Koko's father came up with the big seal, Koolee +and the other women dragged it to the village, where it was +skinned and cut up. Every one had a piece of raw blubber to eat +at once, and the very first piece went to Menie. + +While they were eating it, Koko came back. He had gone so far up +the shore hunting little auks that he hadn't seen a thing that +had happened. And he hadn't killed any little auks either. + +Koko felt that things were very unequally divided in this world. +He wanted to kill a seal and get lost on a raft and be a hero +too. + +But Koolee gave him a large piece of blubber, and that made him +feel much more cheerful again. He just said to Monnie, "If I had +been with Menie, this never would have happened! I should not +have let him get so near the edge of the ice! But then, you know, +I am six, and he is only five, so, of course, he didn't know any +better." + +Everybody in the village had seal meat that night, and the +Angakok had the head, which they all thought was the best part. +He said he didn't feel very well, and his Tornak had told him +nothing would cure him so quickly as a seal's head. So Koolee +gave it to him. + +The skin of the little white seal Koolee saved and dressed very +carefully. She chewed it, all over, on the wrong side, and sucked +out all the blubber, and made it soft and fine as velvet; and +when that was done, she made out of it two beautiful pairs of +white mittens for the twins. + + + + +VIII. THE WOMAN-BOATS + +THE WOMAN-BOATS + +I. + + +During the long, dark hours of the winter Kesshoo found many +pleasant things to do at home. He was always busy. He carved a +doll for Monnie out of the ivory tusk of a walrus. + +Monnie named the doll Annadore, and she loved it dearly. Koolee +dressed Annadore in fur, with tiny kamiks of sealskin, and Monnie +carried her doll in her hood, just the way Koko's mother carried +her baby. + +For Menie, his father made dog harnesses out of walrus hide. He +made them just the right size for Nip and Tup. + +Menie harnessed the little dogs to his sled. Then he and Monnie +would play sledge journeys. Annadore would sit on the sled all +wrapped in furs, while Menie drove the dogs, and Monnie followed +after. + +Nip and Tup did not like this play very well, and they didn't +always go where they were told to. Once they dashed right over +the igloo and spilled Annadore off. + +Annadore rolled down one side of the igloo, while Nip and Tup +galloped down the other. Annadore was buried in the snow and had +to be dug out, so it was quite a serious accident, you see, but +Nip and Tup did not seem to feel at all responsible about it. + +Kesshoo made knives and queer spoons out of bone or ivory for +Koolee, and for himself he made new barbs for his bladder-dart, +new bone hooks for fishlines, and all sorts of things for +hunting. + +He made salmon spears, and bird darts, and fishlines, and he +ornamented his weapons with little pictures or patterns. He +carved two frogs on the handle of his snow knife, and scratched +the picture of a walrus on the blade. + +Sometimes Koolee carved things, too, but most of the time she was +busy making coats or kamiks, or chewing skins to make them soft +and fine for use in the igloo; or to cover the kyaks, or to make +their summer tent. + +Once during the winter the whole family went thirty miles up the +coast by moonlight to visit Koolee's brother in another village. +They went with the dog sledge, and it took them two days. + +They had meat and blubber with them and plenty of warm skins, and +when they got tired, Kesshoo made a snow house for them to rest +in. The twins thought this was the best fun of all. + + +II. + +When spring came on, there were other things to do. As the days +grew longer, the ice in the bay cracked and broke into small +pieces and floated away. + +The water turned deep blue, and danced in the sunlight, and ice +floated about in it. Often there were walrus on these ice-pans. + +The twins sometimes saw their huge black bodies on the white ice, +and heard their hoarse barks. Then all the men in the village +would rush for their kyaks and set out after the walrus. + +The men were brave and enjoyed the dangerous sport, but the women +used to watch anxiously until they saw the kyaks coming home +towing the walrus behind them. + +Then they would rush down to the shore, help pull the kyaks up on +the beach, where they cut the walrus in pieces and divided it +among the families of the hunters. + +When the snow had melted on the Big Rock, hundreds of sea birds +made their nests there and filled the air with their cries. + +Sometimes Kesshoo went egg hunting on the cliff, and sometimes he +set traps there for foxes, and he helped Menie and Koko make a +little trap to catch hares. There was plenty to do in every +season of the year. + +At last the nights shortened to nothing at all. The long day had +begun. The stone but, which they had found so comfortable in +winter, seemed dark and damp now. + +Menie and Monnie remembered the summer days when they did not +have to dive down through a hole to get into their house, so +Menie said to Monnie one day, "Let's go and ask father if it +isn't time to put up the tents." + +They ran out to find him. He was down on the beach talking with +Koko's father and the other men of the village. + +On the beach were two very long boats. The men were looking them +over carefully to see if they were water tight. + +Koko was with the men. When he saw the twins coming, he tore up +the slope to meet them, waving his arms and shouting, "They're +getting out the woman boats! They're getting out the woman +boats!" + +This was glorious news to the twins. They ran down to the beach +with Koko as fast as their legs could carry them. + +They got there just in time to hear Koko's father say to Kesshoo, +"I think it's safe to start. The ice is pretty well out of the +bay, and the reindeer will be coming down to the fiords after +fresh moss." + +All the men listened to hear what Kesshoo would say, and the +twins listened, too, with all their ears. + +"If it's clear, I think we could start after one more sleep," +said Kosshoo. + + +III. + +The twins didn't wait to hear any more. They flew for home, and +dashed down the tunnel and up into the room. + +Koolee was gathering all the knives and spoons and fishing-things +and sewing things, and dumping them into a large musk-ox hide +which was spread on the floor. + +The musk ox hide covered the entrance hole. The first thing +Koolee knew something thumped the musk ox skin on the under side, +and the knives and thimbles and needle cases and other things +flew in all directions. Up through the hole popped the faces of +Menie and Monnie! + +"Oh, Mother," they shouted. "We're going off on the woman boats! +After only one more sleep, if it's pleasant! Father said so!" + +Koolee laughed. "I know it!" she said. "I was just packing. You +can help me. There's a lot to do to get ready." + +The twins were delighted to help. They got together all their own +treasures--the sled, and the fishing rods, the dog harnesses, and +Annadore, and bound them up with walrus thongs. All but Annadore. +Annadore rode in Monnie's hood as usual. + +Koolee gathered all her things together again and wrapped them in +the musk ox hide. She took down the long narwhal tusks that the +dog harnesses were hung on. + +These were the tent poles. She and the twins carried all these +things to the beach. The men stayed on the beach and packed the +things away in the boats. The other women brought down their +bundles from their igloos. There was room for everything in the +two big boats. + +Only the skins were left on the sleeping bench in the hut. When +everything else was ready, Koolee and the twins went up on top of +the igloo. + +They pulled the moss and dirt out of the chinks between the +stones that made the roof, and then Koolee pulled up the stones +themselves and let them fall over to one side. This left the roof +open to the sky. + +"What makes you do that?" Menie asked. + +"So the sun and rain can clean house for us," said Koolee. + +Everybody else in the village got ready in the same way. + +At last Kesshoo came up from the beach and said to Koolee, "Let +us have some meat and a sleep and then we will start. Everything +is ready. The boats are packed and it looks as if the weather +would be clear." + +Koolee brought out some walrus meat and blubber for supper, +though it might just as well be called breakfast, for there was +no night coming, and the twins ate theirs sitting on the roof of +the igloo with their feet hanging down inside. + +Once Menie's feet kicked his father's head. It was an accident, +but Kesshoo reached up and took hold of Menie's foot and pulled +him down on to the sleeping bench and rolled him over among the +skins. + +"Crawl in there and go to sleep," he said. + +Monnie let herself down through the roof by her hands and crept +in beside Menie. Then Kesshoo and Koolee wrapped themselves in +the warm skins and lay down, too. + +It took Menie and Monnie some time to go to sleep, for they could +look straight up through the roof at the sky, and the sky was +bright and blue with little white clouds sailing over it. +Besides, they were thinking about the wonderful things that would +happen when they should wake up. + + + + +IX. THE VOYAGE + +THE VOYAGE + +I. + + +When the twins awoke, the sun was shining as brightly as ever, +and Nip and Tup were barking at them through the hole in the +roof. + +Kesshoo and Koolee were gone! + +Menie and Monnie were frightened. They were afraid they were left +behind. They sat up in bed and howled! + +In a moment Koolee's face looked down at them through the roof. + +"What's the matter?" she said. + +"We thought we were left," wailed Monnie! + +"As if I could leave you behind!" cried Koolee. + +She laughed at them. "Hand up the skins to me," she said. She +reached her arm down the hole and pulled out all the skins from +the bed as fast as the twins gave them to her. + +Then she put her head down into the opening and looked all +around. "We haven't left a thing," she said; "come along." + +The twins couldn't climb out through the roof, though they wanted +to, so they went out by the tunnel, and helped their mother carry +the skins to the beach. + +All the people in the village and all the dogs were there before +them. The great woman boats were packed, the kyaks of the men +waited beside them in a row on the beach, with their noses in the +water. + +The dogs barked and raced up and down the beach, the babies +crowed, and the children shouted for joy. Even the grown people +were gay. They talked in loud tones and laughed and made jokes. + + +II. + +At last Kesshoo shouted, "All ready! In you go!" He told each +person where to sit. + +He put the Angakok in one boat to steer. He put Koko's father in +the other. + +In Koko's father's boat he placed Koko and his mother and the +baby, Koolee and the twins, the pups, all three dogs, and four of +the women who lived in the other igloos. So you see it was quite +a large boat. + +In the Angakok's boat he placed his two wives, and all the rest +of the women and children and dogs. The women took up the +paddles. One end of the boat was partly in the water when they +got in. The men gently pushed it farther out until it floated. + +Then the men got into their kyaks at the water's edge, fastened +their skin coats over the rims, and paddled out into deep water. + +At last, when all the boats, big and little, were afloat, Kesshoo +called out, "We are going north. Follow me." + +The women obeyed the signal of Koko's father and the Angakok. The +paddles dipped together into the water. The great boats moved! +They were off! + +The children all sat together in the bottom of the boat, but the +twins and Koko were big enough to see over the sides. While the +babies played with the dogs, they were busy watching the things +that passed on the shores. Soon they passed the Big Rock with +little auks and puffins flying about it. They could see the red +feet of the puffins, and a blue fox sitting on the top of the +rock, waiting for a chance to catch a bird. + +Then the Big Rock hid the village from sight. + + +III. + +Beyond the Big Rock the country was all new to the twins and +Koko. They looked into narrow bays and inlets as the boat moved +along, and saw green moss carpeting the sunny slopes in sheltered +places. + +They could even see bright flowers growing in the warm spots +which faced the sun. The sky was blue overhead. The water was +blue below. + +Beyond the green slopes they could see the bare hillsides crowned +with the white ice cap which never melts, and streams of water +dashing down the hillsides and pouring themselves into the waters +of the bay. + +When they had gone a good many miles up the coast, Kesshoo waved +his hand and pointed to a strange sight on the shore. + +There was a great river of ice! They could see where it came out +of a hollow place between two hills. It looked just like a river, +only it was frozen solid, and the end of it, where it came into +the sea, was broken off like a great wall of ice, and there were +cakes of ice floating about in the water. + +Suddenly there was a cracking sound. Menie had heard that sound +before. It was the same sound that he had heard when he went seal-hole +hunting and got carried away on the ice raft. Menie didn't like the +sound anymore. It scared him! + +Right after the cracking noise Kesshoo's voice shouted, "Row +farther out! Follow me!" + +He turned his kyak straight out to sea. All the other boats +followed. + +They had gone only about half a mile when suddenly there was a +loud crick-crick-CRACK as if a piece of the world had broken +off, and then there was a splash that could be heard for miles, +if there had been any one to hear it. + +The end of the glacier, or ice river, had broken off and fallen +down into the water! It had made an iceberg! + +The splash was so great that in a moment the waves it made +reached the boats. The boats rocked up and down on the water and +bounced about like corks. + +The twins and Koko thought this was great fun, but the Angakok +didn't like it a bit. One wave splashed over him, and some of the +water went down his neck. + +All the grown people knew that if they hadn't rowed quickly away +from shore when Kesshoo called they might have been upset and +drowned. + + +IV. + +When the waves made by the iceberg had calmed down again, Kesshoo +paddled round among the boats. + +He said, "I think we'd better land about a mile above here. +There's a stream there, and perhaps we can get some salmon for +our dinner." + +He led the way in his kyak, and all the other boats followed. +They kept out of the path of the iceberg, which had already +floated some distance from the shore, and it was not long before +they came to a little inlet. + +Kesshoo paddled into it and up to the very end of it, where a +beautiful stream of clear water came dashing down over the rocks +into the sea. + +The hills sloped suddenly down to the shore. The sun shone +brightly on the green slopes, and the high cliffs behind shut off +the cold north winds. It was a little piece of summer set right +down in the valley. + +"Oh, how beautiful!" everybody cried. + +The boats were soon drawn up on the beach, the women and children +tumbled out, and then began preparations for dinner. + +The women got out their cooking pots, and Koolee set to work to +make a fireplace out of three stones. + +They had blubber and moss with them, but how could they get a +fire? They had no matches. They had never even heard of a match. + +The Angakok sat down on the beach. He had some little pieces of +dry driftwood and some dried moss. + +He held one end of a piece of driftwood in a sort of handle which +he pressed against his lips. The other end was in a hollow spot +in another piece of wood. + +The Angakok rolled one driftwood stick round and round in the +hollow spot of the other. He did this by means of a bow which he +pulled from one side to the other. This made the stick whirl +first one way, then back again. Soon a little smoke came curling +up round the stick. + +Koolee dropped some dried moss on the smoking spot. Suddenly +there was a little blaze! + +She fed the little flame with more moss, and then lighted the +moss on the stones of the fireplace. She put a soapstone kettle +filled with water over the fire, and soon the kettle was boiling. + +While all this was going on down on the beach, the men took their +salmon spears and went up the river, and Koko and the twins went +with them. + +The wives of the Angakok went to find moss to feed the fire. They +brought back great armfuls of it, and put it beside the +fireplace. + +Koolee was the cook. She stayed on the beach and looked after the +babies and the dogs, and the fire. Everything was ready for +dinner, except the food! + +Meanwhile the men had found a good place where there were big +stones in the river. They stood on these stones with their spears +in their hands. There were hundreds of salmon in the little +stream. The salmon were going up to the little lake from which +the river flowed. + +When the fish leaped in the water, the men struck at them with +their fish spears. There were so many fish, and the men were so +skillful that they soon had plenty for dinner. + +They strung them all on a walrus line and went back to the beach. +Koolee popped as many as she could into her pot to cook, but the +men were so hungry they ate theirs raw, and the twins and Koko +had as many fishes' eyes to eat as they wanted, for once in their +lives. + +When everybody had eaten as much as he could possibly hold, the +babies were rolled up in furs in the sand and went to sleep. The +Angakok lay down on the sand in the sunshine with his hands over +his stomach and was soon asleep, too. + +The men sat in a little group near by, and Menie and Koko lay on +their stomachs beside Kesshoo. + +The women had gone a little farther up the beach. The air was +still, except for the rippling sound of the water, the distant +chatter of the women, the snores of the Angakok, and the buzzing +of mosquitoes! + +For quite a long time everybody rested. Menie and Koko didn't go +to sleep. They were having too much fun. They played with shells +and pebbles and watched the mosquitoes buzzing over the Angakok's +face. There were a great many mosquitoes, and they seemed to like +the Angakok. At last one settled on his nose, and bit and bit. +Menie and Koko wanted to slap it, but, of course, they didn't +dare. They just had to let it bite! + +All of a sudden the Angakok woke up and slapped it himself. He +slapped it harder than he intended to. He looked very much +surprised and quite offended about it. He sat up and looked round +for his wives, as if he thought perhaps they had something to do +with it. But they were at the other end of the beach. The Angakok +yawned and rubbed his nose, which was a good deal swollen. + +Just then Kesshoo spoke, "I think we shall look a long time +before we find a better spot than this to camp," he said. "Here +are plenty of salmon. We can catch all we need to dry for winter +use, right here. There must be deer farther up the fiord. What do +you say to setting up the tents right here?" + +When Kesshoo said anything, the others were pretty sure to agree, +because Kesshoo was such a brave and skillful man that they +trusted his judgment. + +All the men said, "Yes, let us stay." + +Then the Angakok said, "Yes, my children, let us stay! While you +thought I was asleep here on the sand I was really in a trance. I +thought it best to ask my Tornak about this spot, and whether we +should be threatened here by any hidden danger. My Tornak says to +stay!" + +This settled the matter. + +"Tell the women," said Kesshoo. Koko's father went over to the +place where the women and children were. + +"Get out the tent poles," he called to them. "Here's where we +stay." + + +V. + +The women jumped up and ran to the woman boats. They got out the +long narwhal tusks, and the skins, and set them down on the +beach. + +"Come with me," Koolee called to the twins. She gave them each a +long tent pole to carry. She herself carried the longest pole of +all, and a pile of skins. + +Koolee led the way up the green slope to a level spot overlooking +the stream and the bay. It was beside some high rocks, and there +were smaller stones all about. + +There was a flat stone that she used for the sleeping bench. When +the poles were set up and securely fastened, she got the tent +skins and covered the poles. + +She put on one layer of skin with the hair inside and over that +another covering of skin with the fur side out. She sewed the +skins together over the entrance with leather thongs and left a +flap for a door. + +Then she placed stones around the edge of the tent covering to +keep the wind from blowing it away. She piled the bed skins on +the rock, and their summer house was ready. + +The twins brought the musk ox hides, with all their treasures in +them, and the cooking pots and knives and household things from +the beach, while Koolee made the fireplace in the tent. + +She made the fireplace by driving four sticks into the ground and +lashing them together to make a framework. + +She hung the cooking kettle by straps from the four corners. +Under the kettle on a flat stone she placed the lamp. Then the +stove was ready. + +"We shall cook out of doors most of the time," she said to the +twins, "but in rainy weather we shall need the lamp." + +It was only a little while before there was a whole new village +ready to live in, with plenty of fish and good fresh water right +at hand. + + +VI. + +Menie and Monnie were happy in their new home. They climbed about +on the rock and found a beautiful cave to play in. They gathered +flowers and shells and colored stones and brought them to their +mother. + +Then later they went for more fish with the men, and Kesshoo let +them stand on the stones and try to spear the fish just the way +the men did. + +Menie caught one, and Koko caught one, but Monnie had no luck at +all. "Anyway, I caught a codfish once," Monnie said, to comfort +herself. + +In two hours everything was as settled about the camp as if they +had lived there a week, and every one was hungry again. +Hungriness and sleepiness came just as regularly as if they had +had nights and clocks both, to measure time by. + +When the food was ready, Kesshoo called "Ujo, ujo," which meant +"boiled meat," and everybody came running to the beach. + +The men sat in one circle, the women and children in another. +Pots of boiled fish were set in the middle of the circles, and +they all dipped in with their fingers and took what they wanted. + +When everybody had eaten, the children played on the beach. They +skipped stones and danced and played ball, and their mothers +played with them. + +The men had their fun, too. They sat in their circle, told +stories, and played games which weren't children's games, and the +Angakok sang a song, beating time on a little drum. All the men +sang the chorus. + +By and by, Koolee saw Monnie's head nodding. So she said to the +twins, "Come, children, let's go up to the tent." + +She took their hands and led them up the slope. + +"We're not sleepy," the twins declared. + +"I am," said Koolee, "and I want you with me." + +They went into the tent, which was not so light as it was out of +doors in the bright sunlight. Then they undressed, crawled in +among the deerskins, and were soon sound asleep, all three of +them. After a while Kesshoo came up from the beach and went to +sleep too. + + + + +X. THE SUMMER DAY + +THE SUMMER DAY + +I. + + +The summer days flew by, only one really shouldn't say days at +all, but summer day. For three whole bright months it was just +one daylight picnic all the time! + +The people ate when they were hungry and slept when they were +sleepy. The men caught hundreds of salmon, and the women split +them open and dried them on the rocks for winter use. The +children played all day long. + +The men hunted deer and musk ox and bears up in the hills and +brought them back to camp. They hunted game both by land and by +sea. There was so much to eat that everybody grew fatter, and as +for the Angakok, he got so very fat that Koko said to Menie, "I +don't believe we can ever get the Angakok home in the woman boat! +He's so heavy he'll sink it! I think it would be a good plan to +tie a string to him and tow him back like a walrus!" + +"Yes," said Menie. "Maybe he would shrink some if we soaked him +well. Don't you know how water shrinks the walrus hide cords that +we tie around things when we want them to hold tight together?" + +It was lucky for Menie and Koko that nobody heard them say that +about the Angakok. It would have been thought very disrespectful. + +When the game grew scarce, or they got tired of camping in one +spot everything was piled into their boats again, and away they +went up the coast until they found another place they liked +better. Then they would set up their tents again. + +Sometimes they came to other camps and had a good time meeting +new people and making new friends. + +At last, late in August, the sun slipped down below the edge of +the World again. It stayed just long enough to fill the sky with +wonderful red and gold sunset clouds, then it came up again. The +next night there was a little time between the sunset sky and the +lovely colors of the sunrise. + +The next night was longer still. Each day grew colder and colder. +Still the people lingered in their tents. They did not like to +think the pleasant summer was over, and the long night near. + +But at last Kesshoo said, "I think it is time to go back to +winter quarters. The nights are fast growing longer. The snow may +be upon us any day now. I don't know of a better place to settle +than the village where we spent last winter. The igloos are all +built there ready to use again. What do you say? Shall we go back +there?" + +"Yes, let us go back," they all said. + + +II. + +The very next day they started. The boats were heavily loaded +with dried fish, there were great piles of new skins heaped in +the woman boats, and every kyak towed a seal. + +For days they traveled along the coast, stopping only for rest +and food. The twins and Koko sat in the bottom of the boat with +the dogs, and listened to the regular dip of the paddles, to the +cries of the sea birds as they flew away toward the south, and to +the chatter of the women. These were almost the only sounds they +heard, for the silence of the Great White World was all about +them. They talked together in low voices and planned all the +things they would do when the long night was really upon them +once more. + +When at last they came in sight of the Big Rock, they felt as if +they had reached home after a very long journey. + +Koko stood up in the boat and pointed to it. "See," he cried, +"there's the Big Rock where we found the bear!" + +"Yes," Monnie said, "and where we slid downhill." + +"And I see where I got caught on the ice raft," Menie shouted. + +"Sit down," said Koko's mother. "You'll tip the boat and spill us +all into the water." + +Koko sat down; the boat glided along through the water, nearer +and nearer, until at last they came round the Big Rock, and +there, just as if they had not been away at all, lay the whole +village of five igloos, looking as if it had gone to sleep in the +sunshine. + +The big boats waited until the men had all paddled to the shore +and beached their kyaks, then they were drawn carefully up on to +the sand, and every one got out. The beach at once became a very +busy place. The men pulled the walruses and seals out of the +water and took care of the boats, while the women set up the +tents, cut the meat into big pieces for storage, and carried all +their belongings to the tents. + +Although the village looked just the same, other things looked +quite different. Nip and Tup were big dogs by this time. They ran +away up the beach with Tooky and the other dogs the moment they +were out of the boats. They did not stay with the twins all the +time now, as they used to do. The twins were much bigger, too. +Koolee looked at them as they helped her carry the tent-skins up +from the beach, and said to them, "My goodness, I must make my +needles fly! Winter is upon us and your clothes are getting too +small for you! You must have new things right away." The twins +thought this was a very good idea. They liked new clothes as well +as any one in the world. + +Koolee set up the tent beside their old igloo, and there they +lived while the men of the village went out every day in their +kyaks for seal and walrus, or back into the hills after other +game to store away for food during the long winter. The women +scraped and cured the skins and cut up the meat and packed it +away as fast as the men could kill the game and bring it home. + +Each day it grew colder, and each night was longer than the last, +until one short September day there came a great snow storm! It +snowed all day long, and that night the wind blew so hard that +Koolee and the twins nearly froze even among the fur covers of +their bed, and when morning came they found themselves nearly +buried under a great drift. + +That very day Koolee put the stones over the roof of the igloo +once more, and the twins helped her fill in the chinks with moss +and earth, and cover it with a heavy layer of snow, patted down +with the snow shovel, until everything was snug and tight again. + +Then they moved in. By the next day all the igloos in the village +were in use, and when night came their windows shone with the +light of the lamps, just as they had so many months before. + +Nip and Tup slept outside with Tooky now, in a snow house which +Kesshoo had built for them. Menie and Monnie missed them, but +Koolee said, "You are getting so big now you must begin to do +something besides play with puppies. Monnie must learn to sew, +and Menie must help Father with feeding the dogs and looking +after their harnesses, and driving the sledge." + +"Maybe Father will teach you both to carve fine things out of +ivory this winter! Monnie will soon need her own thimble and +needles. They must be made. And she can help me clean the skins +and suck out the blubber, and prepare them for being made into +clothes!" + +"Dear me! what a lot there is to do to keep clothes on our backs +and food in our mouths! The Giants are always waiting before the +igloo and we must work very hard to keep them outside!" + +She did not mean real giants. She meant that Hunger and Want are +always waiting to seize the Eskimo who does not work all the time +to supply food for himself and his family. She meant that Menie +must learn to be a brave strong hunter, afraid of nothing on sea +or land, and that Monnie must learn to do a woman's work well, or +else the time would come when they would be without food or +shelter or clothing, and the fierce cold would soon make an end +of them. + +It was lucky they got into the warm igloo just when they did, for +the winter had come to stay. The bay froze over far out from +shore, and the white snow covered the igloos so completely that +if it had not been for the windows, and for people moving about +out of doors, no one could have told that there was any village +there. + +The Last Day of all was so short that Menie and Monnie and Koko +saw the whole of it from the top of the Big Rock! They had gone +up there in the gray twilight that comes before the sunrise to +build a snow house to play in. They had been there only a little +while when the sky grew all rosy just over the Edge of the World. +The color grew stronger and stronger until the little stars were +all drowned in it and then up came the great round red face of +the sun itself! The children watched it as it peered over the +horizon, threw long blue shadows behind them across the snow, and +then sank slowly, slowly down again, leaving only the flaming +colors in the sky to mark the place where it had been. They waved +their hands as it slipped out of sight. "Good bye, old Sun," they +shouted, "and good bye, Shadow, too! We shall be glad to see you +both when you come back again." + +Then, because the wind blew very cold and they could see a snow +cloud coming toward them from the Great White World where the +Giants lived, the children ran together down the snowy slope +toward the bright windows of their homes. + + +THE END + + + + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + +To arouse the children's interest and thus to make the reading of +this story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested +that at the outset the children be allowed to look at the +pictures in the book in order to get acquainted with "Menie" and +"Monnie" and with the scenes illustrating their home life and +surroundings. + +During the reading, point out the North Pole, Greenland, etc., on +a map of the world or on a globe, and tell the children something +about the many years of effort before Peary succeeded in reaching +his goal; also about the work of subsequent explorers in this +part of the world, and around the South Pole as well. Thus this +supplementary reading material may be connected with the work in +geography. + +The text is so simply written that the second grade child can +read it without much or any preparation. It may be well to have +the children read it first in a study period in order to work out +the pronunciation of the more difficult words. But many classes +will be able to read it at sight, without the preparatory study. +The possibilities in the story for dramatization and for language +and constructive work will be immediately apparent. + +In connection with the reading of the book, teachers should tell +to the children stories describing Eskimo life, and the +experiences of explorers and pioneers in the North. Grenfell's +Adrift on an Ice-Pan is suitable, for example. Holbrook's +Northland Heroes and Schultz's Sinopah, the Indian Boy, while +not belonging to the land of the Eskimos, contain stories of +allied interest. Let the children bring to class pictures of +scenes in the North, clipped from magazines and newspapers. + +The unique illustrations in The Eskimo Twins should be much used, +both in the reading of the story and in other ways. Children will +enjoy sketching some of them; their simple treatment makes them +especially useful for this purpose. + +The book is printed on paper which will take watercolor well, and +where the books are individually owned some of the sketches could +be used for coloring in flat washes. They also afford suggestions +for action sketching by the children. + +An excellent oral language exercise would be for the children, +after they have read the story, to take turns telling the story +from the illustrations; and a good composition exercise would be +for each child to select the illustration that he would like to +write upon, make a sketch of it, and write the story in his own +words. + +These are only a few of the many ways that will occur to +resourceful teachers for making the book a valuable as well as an +enjoyable exercise in reading. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext The Eskimo Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + diff --git a/old/sktwn11.zip b/old/sktwn11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f73d02 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sktwn11.zip |