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diff --git a/old/67630-0.txt b/old/67630-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fe622bf..0000000 --- a/old/67630-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6120 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kak, the Copper Eskimo, by Vilhjalmur -Stefansson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Kak, the Copper Eskimo - -Authors: Vilhjalmur Stefansson - Violet Irwin - -Illustrator: George Richards - -Release Date: March 14, 2022 [eBook #67630] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KAK, THE COPPER ESKIMO *** - - - - - - KAK, - THE COPPER ESKIMO - - - - - [Illustration] - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS - ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO - - MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED - LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA - MELBOURNE - - THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. - TORONTO - - - - - [Illustration: THE BOYS STARED INTO HIS WHITE FACE - --(See Page 97)] - - - - - KAK, - THE COPPER ESKIMO - - BY - VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON - AND - VIOLET IRWIN - - _Illustrated by George Richards_ - - New York - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 1924 - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1924, - BY VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON AND VIOLET IRWIN - - Set up and printed. - Published August, 1924 - - _Printed in the United States of America by_ - THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK. - - - - - To - CONRAD DE WAAL, JR. - - - - -Contents - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE HOUSE THAT KAK BUILT 3 - - II. KAK’S HUNTING 35 - - III. STRANGERS 56 - - IV. BEARS 85 - - V. QUEER TALES 106 - - VI. SUMMER TRAVELS 125 - - VII. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF SUNLIGHT 147 - - VIII. INDIANS 178 - - IX. MISSING 204 - - X. HOMEWARD BOUND 231 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - THE BOYS STARED INTO HIS WHITE FACE Frontispiece - - IT WAS TOUGH WORK FOR A LAD 21 - - HE DASHED DOWN THE SPEAR WITH ALL HIS FORCE Facing page 43 - - TAPTUNA FLUNG HIMSELF INTO DEFENSIVE POSITION 61 - - “I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE!” 89 - - THE HUNTER COULD NOT BELIEVE HIS EYES Facing page 119 - - HE COULD BARELY SQUEEZE INTO HIS FATHER’S BOAT 137 - - HE STOOD WITH CHATTERING TEETH AND DRIPPING LOCKS 155 - - “GOOD GRACIOUS! DON’T KILL ME,” CRIED A FAMILIAR VOICE Facing Page 178 - - AN OLD SLANT-EYE DRESSED UP IN HIS ANCIENT COSTUME TO SHOW OFF 201 - - THE WHOLE PLACE SEEMED TO BE A MOVING RIVER OF DEER 221 - - KAK RUSHED FORWARD WITH HIS KNIFE READY 249 - - - - -KAK, THE COPPER ESKIMO - - - - -KAK, THE COPPER ESKIMO - - - - -CHAPTER I - -_The House That Kak Built_ - - -Kak was an Eskimo boy who lived in Victoria Island in Canada. He -belonged to the Copper Eskimos. This name does not refer in any way to -their complexions as “red Indians,” but is given because the people -make all their knives and implements out of copper. As far as looks -went Kak was quite ordinary--a short, muscular fellow, with brown hair -and gray eyes, and a skin about the color of white boys’ skins at the -end of the summer holidays when they are tanned. But his clothing was -very different from ours, being made entirely of fur. - -Kak was not counted a poor boy though he possessed very little. Eskimos -do not go in for possessions. They are a migratory people, always -moving from place to place, and so learn to get on with a small amount -of gear, as we do in camp life. Kak was contented and had no cares. He -never had to make up his mind whether to play with his meccano, or his -electric train, or his radio. He was entirely ignorant of such things -and yet not a bit dull. He found plenty of sport up there in the Arctic -to keep him merry and bright. First of all his parents owned so little -they were never worried about taking care of things; with nothing to do -but kill a few animals for food and fuel and clothes they were as gay -as children, always laughing and joking from morning to night. The boy -could scarcely remember a day that was not full of fun and laughter. - -In the winter they lived in a snow house. You would think it must be -cold inside a snow house but it was not, because their large lamp -burned in the house all the time and kept it cozy and warm; so warm -that Kak usually skinned off his coat and shirt as soon as he came -indoors. He did not come in often during the daylight, for he enjoyed -the cold outside, and he was a singularly independent lad, doing just -what he pleased. That is the Eskimo boys’ compensation for not having -toys: they are allowed to do as they like. In the morning Kak did not -get up till he wanted to. He did not have to wash his neck, nor mind -his table manners, nor go to school; and he was never, never sent to -bed. You see as there was only one room in the whole house the family -had to be jolly all together all the time. In the evenings when the -grown-up folks sat around telling stories and singing songs, Kak stayed -with them, and so did his little sister, Noashak. They sat up as long -as they possibly could, and when the sandman came and shut their eyes -in spite of them, they toppled over asleep wherever they were, and -somebody tucked them in between fur blankets. - -Kak, whose name means the top of anything or summit, as of a mountain, -was twelve years old when he built his first house by himself. It was a -horrible experience which he will remember all his life. - -The way to build a snow house is to cut big blocks the shape of -dominoes out of a hard snowdrift and set them up on edge in a circle, -leaning them inward a little toward the center. You must carve the -first block diagonally in half so that its back makes a hill for the -second row to run up on; and when you have started properly you can -keep on building one row above the next, going up and around like the -red and white on a barber pole, and always leaning them inward till -they just naturally meet at the top, where you sometimes poke a very -small hole for ventilation. The finished dwelling is a beehive of -snow--awfully cold snow which has frozen together safe and solid in a -surprisingly short time. Next you dig a long tunnel through the drift -and a hole in the floor of the house, and that is the way you go in and -out, like rabbits and foxes burrowing to their dens. - -A family will occupy this sort of house only about three weeks; for the -heat inside melts the snow walls, and as they cool off somewhat every -night they turn gradually to ice, and the house grows colder and colder -(for ice is much colder than snow) till the owners decide to have a -new one. A few houses are magnificent with windows, ice windows, which -being troublesome to make are carefully removed and placed in the next -house when it is built. Even if the Eskimos continue to live in the -same place they will build a new house every few weeks. When they are -too careless to bother about windows, plenty of light filters through -the white walls; and while the house is occupied the lamp is always -burning brightly inside. - -Kak did not live very long in his first house. He spent only one night -under its low dome, and felt very glad indeed that he did not have to -stay there a second night. The way of it was this: - -Taptuna, Kak’s father, was going seal hunting with a neighbor. These -neighbors, who were the only other people living within ten miles, -had used up all their supply of blubber. Now blubber is the fat part -of seals out of which drips the oil for the lamps, and as the lamp is -the Copper Eskimo’s only means of warming his house and cooking his -food, this was a serious situation. In his need the neighbor came to -borrow from Taptuna, and begged him to help hunt seals. Taptuna readily -agreed, for he was a kind-hearted man; so they started out early. But -seal hunting through the ice is slow and difficult, and the first day -they failed to get any. The next morning, however, while crossing a -sandspit, they discovered the remains of a dead whale, half buried in -drifted snow and earth. It must have been two years old at least, and -the bears and other animals had eaten most of the fat; but Taptuna -and Hitkoak hoped by cutting off parts of the outside flesh, which -would make good enough dog feed, to strike an ample supply of blubber -underneath. So they abandoned the hunt and fell on this free gift, -eager to get all they could and that at once, for sled tracks in the -snow showed other Eskimos knew about the prize. - -They worked all day, not stopping to drag the meat home but piling it -up chunk on chunk, only to find by evening that some crafty bear had -clawed under and scooped away the very store of blubber on which they -were counting. It meant they must hunt next morning and _must_ catch a -seal without fail. - -Both men hated to waste the heaps of frozen whale flesh which had given -them all the work they wanted to hack off with soft copper knives. -Copper will not make nearly so sharp a knife as steel. Taptuna and -Hitkoak, sweating after their labor, wished they had stopped about -noon, harnessed the dogs, and sledded home some of this good food. It -was too late now, and to-morrow they must hunt. Oil for the lamps was -more necessary than dog feed. Until they killed a seal the neighbor -would go on borrowing blubber from Taptuna, and it was already past -mid-winter so he had not much left for his own family. - -It looked as if their effort over the whale was going to be a dead -loss; but the older, wiser man promised to sleep on the question, and -next morning, when Guninana was boiling their breakfast, he said: - -“Kak, my boy, while I am watching the seal hole to-day, you may harness -both dogs to the sled and go to the carcass over yonder and bring -home some loads of whale flesh. The young bear I killed will not last -forever, eh? And it is well to lay in food while the laying’s good.” - -Had Kak been an English or American school-boy he would doubtless have -mumbled, “All right, dad,” and gone on eating his breakfast without -giving any visible sign of his thrill. But an Eskimo never learns to -disguise his feelings, so Kak grinned all over his round face and cried: - -“Bully! Bully! Me for it! Do you hear, Noashak? I’m to drive the team.” - -And he began to dance and jump about and was so delighted and excited -he quickly pulled on his fur shirt and his topcoat of reindeer skin, -and dashed out to pat young Sapsuk, his favorite dog, and tell him what -a fine day they were going to have together. - -His mother gazed fondly on her son’s brown head as it disappeared -through the hole in the floor. - -“Is it not too much for him?” she asked doubtfully. “Will the boy be -able to find his way?” - -“Yes, he will be able to do it just as well as I. Kak is a smart lad -and has plenty of sense; besides, they have only to follow the trail we -broke last night.” - -So Guninana, who thought her tall, active husband the best judge of -everything in the world, beamed on him and said no more. - -Kak was keeping up a fine game with the dogs. He was so overjoyed he -could hardly stand still a minute. This seemed the greatest event in -his whole life; not only had his father trusted him with a man-sized -job for the first time, but it was the very job he loved best. Kak -would rather harness both dogs to the light sled and drive like the -wind than do anything else in the whole Arctic. He was so proud of his -task and so anxious to do it all by himself, that he waited and put off -and dilly-dallied about starting till his father had gone. Of course -Taptuna observed this, but he understood. He thought: “The boy will be -tired anyway when he has fetched two loads, so there is plenty of time.” - -“Get busy, my lad. Kill meat while the light lasts,” he called for -farewell, and waving his harpoon toward the already crimsoned horizon, -trudged off leading the neighbor’s dog. - -Kak loitered yet a little gloating over the prospect of his ride. He -wanted golden shafts of light bathing yesterday’s trail which showed -now plain as an open lead. He wanted to be able to tear along. One fast -dash to the carcass would more than make up for delay, so he fiddled -with the dogs. - -“Have you not gone yet?” asked Guninana, surprised, when she came out -to examine her bearskin stretched on a frame to dry. - -“Just as soon as the sun rises, mother, I’ll be away like an arrow. -See, I am harnessing now,” Kak answered. - -He was, truly. He had begun to hitch each dog to its trace at the first -sound of her voice, and kept himself very busy about it. - -Like all real boys, Kak did not mind a lot of extra trouble in -making play out of his work. It was fun to pretend he must go on a -long journey alone; so he went to the tunnel, which also serves as -storehouse, and taking his father’s big snow knife, used to carve out -the blocks when building, he bound it securely on to one side of the -sled. - -“Whatever is that for?” asked Noashak, who was playing with the -neighbor girls, running up on top of the house and sliding down its -smooth curve. “What is the snow knife for?” - -“In case I decide to stop overnight,” said Kak, swelling with -importance. - -“Oh, pooh! Stay all night! Why you are only going to the whale carcass. -It is no distance at all! Daddy said you could easily make two trips in -daylight.” - -Kak flushed. “I shall make double that--I shall make four!” he -answered, hotly. “Watch me!” - -As he spoke the sun’s rim peeped above the long flat beach, streaking -the blue-gray world with vivid gold. As if at a signal Kak let go of -his team and sprang for the sled with a “Yi--yi--yip!” Instantly both -dogs bounded forward. They were off! - -The boy shouted, waved his arms, knocked his heels on the sleigh and -beat his gloved hands together with resounding thwacks for the sheer -pleasure of making a noise, as the two fresh pups raced their shadows -over the crusted snow. - -It was a wonderful ride to the whale. But once there Kak had to do some -hard work handling the big, rough pieces of frozen flesh and piling -them on the sled. Perhaps it was not a very large load when he called -time and headed the dogs home; still he felt satisfied with himself, -and was quite ready to put on airs; and the girls, who had been -mightily impressed by his glorious start, rushed to meet his return all -clamoring: - -“A ride! A ride!” - -“No, it is too heavy! We have much meat,” Kak swaggered. - -“But I want a ride! I will ride!” whined Noashak, who was a very -selfish, naughty little girl, and deserved to be spanked. Now she made -her brother angry. - -“Hold off there! Get off, I say! The dogs are too tired. They’re -panting. Look at Pikalu, how he puffs and blows.” - -“That’s your fault! You have run him too fast. I will tell father on -you.” - -Noashak was not a bit nice in a temper. She climbed up the back of the -load, and Kak cried to the other girls to pull her down, but they only -scampered away laughing; then he had to stop and go around and pull her -off himself. She kicked and slapped him and climbed up immediately they -started. Kak came and pulled her down again and again; but in the end -he had to let her ride because she screamed and yelled so. This sort of -welcome, repeated, delayed him a whole lot, yet he had brought his two -loads when the far edge of the ice floe dented the sun’s gleaming disk; -and after that he brought one more. It was good work for a boy. He felt -proud of himself and showed it, crowing over the girls. - -“You guessed two, eh? And I have got in three!” - -“Three! Bah! Three’s nothing! You said you could bring four,” Noashak -jeered. - -Now Kak did not like this at all. His male nature wanted to be admired -and praised, even if he had accomplished less than he had boasted. Her -unkindness made him feel like backing up his good opinion of himself. - -“Well, anyway, three’s a lot. It’s more than dad expected me to bring.” - -“Four!” bawled his tormentor. - -And “Four! Four!” sang the neighbor girls in chorus, going over -holus-bolus to his natural enemy. - -“You promised to bring four and you can’t do it. You’re afraid! You’re -afraid to go back again now!” adding an Eskimo taunt equivalent to -“Cowardy, cowardy custard!” - -They flouted him meanly, sticking out their tongues, stretching their -mouths with fingers in their cheeks, making faces at him over the -housetop. - -“Bears!” suddenly yelled Noashak. - -That was too much. It hit home. - -“I am not afraid!” Kak cried, outraged. “Who says I can’t do it?” - -He shot a half fearful glance at the sky. Daylight was slowly fading -but it would last for a short while, and his dogs looked jolly enough; -they had enjoyed more rest than running during their day’s work. If he -made one grand dash back to the carcass, and only stayed to load ever -so little meat, it would count the same. - -“I will do it,” the boy answered boldly. “Who dares to say I cannot -bring four loads? Hi there, Sapsuk! Hok, hok, Pikalu!” - -He swung his team around in a wide circle and dashed away without -waiting for comment from the astonished girls. - -“Kak!” cried his mother from the tunnel entrance. “Kak! It is too late!” - -But a breeze had sprung up blowing out of the west and whisked her -voice in the opposite direction. Anxiously she watched boy, dogs, and -sled dwindle to a small, black speck. - -“You will come inside now, child,” Guninana commanded, ill pleased; and -Noashak, humbled by her brother’s rash magnificence, and fearful of her -own part in it, obeyed. The neighbor girls ran home quickly. All at -once the flat snow landscape around the two snow houses lay empty and -deserted. - -By the time Kak reached the whale a rack of clouds had blown up -hastening the night. The earth and sky turned all one dark, cold -gray. Those other Eskimos, whom he had found cutting flesh earlier, -were gone; and wolves howled distantly gathering for a feed. At their -dismal cries Kak suddenly felt afraid. His hands shook so that he could -hardly lift the meat. He stopped and peered over his shoulder, trying -to see with his bright eyes through the thickening night. He did not -care a jot for wolves, they are cowards and will fly from a shout; but -Noashak’s last mean taunt burned in his mind. If a great white bear -were to prowl out of the gloom he knew it would go hard with him and -the dogs. His hands stiffened from fright and his skin grew clammy. -Another long, lone howl arose inland; it seemed to run right up his -spine. Kak fancied he saw a huge yellow blur moving beyond the carcass -and at that his hair felt as if it were rising under his fur hood. The -night turned blacker, the wind sighed icily, and fear overflowed him -like water. He dropped a ten-pound chunk of meat from his petrified -fingers and sprang for the sleigh calling his dogs: - -“Hok! Hok!” - -They were wild to be off home. At a single bound the team broke and -ran, with Kak racing after them, yelling at the top of his voice to -keep his courage up: “Yip--yip--yi!”--and mumbling charms his mother -had taught him to scare off evil. - -The dogs raced faster and faster; the howling of the wolves excited -them; the nearly empty sleigh flashed over the hard snow; and a -freshening wind behind drove the whole party on. Kak, thrilled by this -rush of freedom, soon forgot all his fears. He urged the team with -whistle and shout, yipping and yiing like a maniac or a real boy, till -suddenly the sled gave a lurch, turned upside down, and sent him flying -heels over head across its runners. The dogs, jerked back on their -traces, stopped abruptly, and Kak, who was buried neck and arms in a -drift before you could say Jack Robinson, picked himself up, dug the -snow out of his eyes and mouth, and dusted off his furry clothes. - -“Ouch! Bhoo! I say, old Sapsuk, where are we?” - -As if he perfectly understood the question Sapsuk sat down on his bushy -tail with his long, red tongue hanging out and his breath coming in -heavy pants, while Kak looked about him. They ought to have been very -nearly home; but the crazy driver could see no sign of the two little -white domes that were his father’s house and Hitkoak’s. At first he -failed to understand. The houses dropping out of sight seemed very odd -indeed. Of course dogs and people move about and get lost if you take -your eyes off them for five minutes; but a boy hardly expects his home -to behave in that ridiculous way. And yet, peering in every direction -as far as he could, which was not far on account of the darkness, Kak -did not see a sign of a house. Then gradually he began to know it was -not home that was lost, but himself and the dogs. His heart sank down, -down, down like a stone cast into the sea. He remembered how in his -panic to get away, followed by the reckless splendor of the run, he had -forgotten all about direction, had left it to the frantic team to keep -the trail. Examining the cause of their accident he felt sure there -could not be any ice as rough as this lying between the whale carcass -on the wind-swept sandspit and Taptuna’s home on the bay. They must -have gone far past the houses; or maybe dashed off on a wrong line -altogether. - -Goodness, how the wind blew, now he tried to stand against it! The -thought of returning into its teeth, slowly, painfully, following their -own track was enough to make a hero weep. Perhaps they would have to -go all the way back to the old whale before they picked up the true -course. But Kak did not cry. He laughed. You see he had run right away -from his fear: he really did not feel so upset as he should have done -over being lost in the middle of an Arctic night. Retracing their steps -seemed a perfectly simple and safe way of getting himself out of this -scrape--but he counted without the wind. Racing before it none of the -living things had guessed its strength. Now it beat upon them like a -blizzard. Overhead, the sky hung dark with clouds, and close to the -ground, where our boy had to bend to see their trail, the demon air -was whirling snow in eddies, gathering up particles as sharp as sand -to fling into his eyes. The dogs suffered also; but worse than these -discomforts was the storm’s effect. Tearing over the open ground, -grabbing a handful of snow here and scattering it there, that mighty -blast soon hid their track. The farther back they went the less and -less distinct it grew, till on the top of a small ice hill they lost it -altogether. Poor Kak hunted and hunted, coaxing his team, straining his -eyes for a glimpse of the house or the path. - -When he had done every possible thing and quite made up his mind -to abandon home, the boy felt relieved. Right down in the bottom -of his heart he was not a bit keen about returning to that haunted -neighborhood of dead meat. Wolves would have gathered there in numbers -by now. Kak shivered. Spending a night in the open at a temperature -of thirty-six below zero was not exactly inviting; still, he felt the -whale carcass for five minutes would have been far worse. He sat down -to think, hunched against the wind. A sealskin had been spread over -the rungs forming the top of the sleigh, and when he righted his gear -after the upset one piece of meat was found lying under it; the rest -had gone spinning across the ice into darkness and he did not bother -to hunt them up. Now this ridiculously small load reproached him, for -the dogs would be hungry. He remembered dropping that dandy, ten-pound -chunk in his crazy fear, and his face burned with shame over such -cowardice. What a blessing the girls would never know! Crouching there -he recollected wistfully his wrangling with Noashak that day, clear -back to its little beginning. Ah! The snow knife! - -With a rousing shout Kak leaped to his feet, and cut a caper before -turning to unlash the thong holding his bully, big knife. - -“In case I stay all night,” he had bravely boasted; so now he must act -up to the boast. - -“Right here I will build me a house!” the boy chuckled; and walked -over the ground, leading the dogs, till he found a drift. To his soft, -padding shoes this bank felt solid enough, but he did not dare to build -till he had fallen on his knees and tested it by plunging his knife in -here and there to make sure the snow was evenly packed. - -“Seems all firm,” Kak decided, battling to brush the icy particles out -of his eyes. With his face to the wind he cut his first blocks and -built them up in a circle around where they were cut; each chunk as it -came out lowered the floor a little and this helped considerably. But -it was tough work for a lad; his short arms could only lift and place -small pieces, which meant using ever so many more of them; still, he -stuck to it like a man and as he worked the job grew easier for the -rising walls of the house soon offered shelter from the cutting wind. - -[Illustration: IT WAS TOUGH WORK FOR A LAD.] - -By and by he felt ravenous and called “time” for supper. The dogs, -curled up on the snow with their faces buried under their paws, jumped -from their sleep and answered, “Here,” with tail-wagging expectation. -Kak tossed them morsels between bites. He enjoyed his meal of -two-year-old whale meat, its gamy flavor was as delicious to his taste -as pheasants seem to ours. The boy grew cheerier at every mouthful, -and laughed aloud when his favorite snapped fierce jaws on a good bit -thrown for Pikalu. Finally he sawed the chunk in halves and let the -animals finish it while he finished his work. - -Kak’s was a very small house. It had no tunnel at all and no proper -door--but why have a door when one does not want to go in and out? Kak -only wanted to get in. During the building he had been compelled to -cut a hole in the lower part of his wall so he could crawl out and get -more blocks; for there had not been quite enough material in the floor -to finish the roof. When all was ready he scrambled through this small -hole, pulled the dogs after him, and then closed it with a block he had -cut for that purpose. From the outside the architect had not been able -to see all the chinks in his house, but it was so dark inside every -least little one showed clearly against the night; so he filled his -mitts with soft snow and plastered them up. Then he spread the sealskin -from the sleigh over his floor. Now all was shipshape. But without door -or window they had no air. The boy made a little round hole in the -middle of his door-block, and another in the top of the roof, as he had -seen his father do, and at last, feeling utterly safe and tremendously -proud of himself, cuddled down with a large woolly beast on either -side of him, and was soon fast asleep. - -A long drawn thunder, followed by a tumbling, rending, grinding -vibration roused Kak from his dreams. He felt cold. It was apt to be -chilly at night if the lamp went out, so the boy sought his father’s -hefty form to snuggle into. Eskimo families all sleep in a row in one -big bed, and Kak’s place was beside his daddy. Drowsily he threw a hand -across to feel for him and rapped Pikalu on the nose. The dog growled. -Then his master woke up enough to find himself in his clothes and -remembered. - -Another rumble, more prolonged, more terrifying than the last, shook -the whole house. Kak rose on his elbow and listened. He could hear the -wind whistling around their shelter, while the smashing and bumping -never ceased. You would have come out all over in goose flesh and -popped your head under the blanket; but Kak only turned on his other -side and lay up closer to Sapsuk. The row outside was no more alarming -to him than taxicabs beneath your window, or a trolley car clanging -across rails, for well he knew its meaning; a gale had driven the -sea ice in on the landfast ice, and the two floes were grinding and -groaning and churning against each other, with bolts of thunder when -sometimes a great mass as big as a house toppled over another great -mass, and vibration like an earthquake as it slid off again. This sort -of show was fun to watch in the daytime, and nothing to be afraid of -at night when you were safely camped in your own house which you had -constructed all by yourself on the solid, landfast ice. - -But while the lost boy slept so peacefully his father and mother and -sister were very unhappy and anxious. - -The seal hunters had returned at dark, each dragging a fine, fat seal -and congratulating the other on a good day’s work. They parted with -jests and laughter outside Hitkoak’s place; and Taptuna strode on -cheerily to his own home. But before he had got within calling distance -he knew something was wrong; even in twilight he missed his sled’s -black bulk; and where were his dogs? They should have come bounding to -welcome him, wagging their tails, asking for friendly pats, jumping up, -frisking, romping. Instead of being the center of this lively scene the -little white roof of his house humped itself out of the white ground -like a solitary tomb. - -Taptuna wasted no time on the seal. Letting it lie he strode inside, -calling for Kak. Guninana raised an anxious face from over her cooking -pot and told the worst: - -“He has gone! That wild boy dashed off for one last load of whale meat -after the sky had turned gray. I called, ‘It is too late!’ but the dogs -were already galloping, the wind blowing--Kak did not hear.” - -“How long?” demanded Taptuna. - -“Long enough to be back now,” answered the mother shaking her head. -Then she spoke her haunting fear: “There are bears all around and he -carried neither spear nor bow.” - -Guninana was horribly afraid of bears, more afraid of a polar bear than -of anything else in the whole world. - -Without a word Taptuna turned to go. - -“You will eat first?” his wife pleaded, for she knew he had taken only -a piece of dried meat since morning. - -“I will have a drink of broth.” - -She hurried to give this to him in a horn cup, saying: “It would be -better to eat.” - -“The wind rises,” Taptuna replied, and there was no need for him to say -more. Pulling up his hood he disappeared through the low door. - -Guninana silently stirred the stew, and Noashak, completely subdued by -creeping fear, stole close to her mother’s side. - -Taptuna crossed to Hitkoak’s. He who had so freely given help with the -hunting, could now as freely ask for help. Very soon the neighbor’s -dogs were harnessed, and both men set out for the whale carcass. The -wind was rising. It howled louder and louder, and drove straight into -their faces, making the journey as harsh for them as for Kak and his -team, who were plodding back in the same direction, a mile or so out on -the ice, but hidden by darkness and whirling snow. - -At last Taptuna saw the whale bulking black on the sandspit. They -hurried on, watching thin shadows slink from its side at the noise of -their approach. It was evident wolves had been there in numbers, all -the ground around was trampled with their footsteps freshly sunk in the -freshly driven snow, but there were no sled tracks at all; therefore -the search party knew Kak must have started away before the wind began -to blow so fiercely. He must have lost the trail; he might be anywhere. -It would be madness to try to follow him through the stormy night. - -“We will need luck to get safely home ourselves,” Hitkoak said, -peering at their own drifted tracks; and Taptuna reluctantly agreed. -Nothing could be done till to-morrow; so they turned their backs to -the gale and were blown along watching every inch of the way; and -shouting--shouting--for the boy might be wandering close at hand. - -Sadly Kak’s father helped tether the dogs, and struggled to his own -house. He knew Guninana would have the lamp burning and her meat pot -on to boil; but he little expected the cheery manner with which she -greeted him. Her face was so many degrees less worried it seemed almost -smiling, and her eager words bubbled up like the fragrant bear stew. - -“He has the snow knife.” - -“What do you say?” - -“It is all right! Everything’s all right! Kak took with him your big -knife.” - -As Taptuna pulled off his great fur coats and hung his mittens near -the lamp to dry, Guninana excitedly told of their boy’s boast about -staying all night. Her telling made the story sound more purposeful -than Kak’s careless morning play, for Noashak had told it so. The child -was weeping for her brother lost in the driving snow, and as she wept -and feared, fear led her to remorse. She felt oh, so sorry about their -quarrel, and remembering its cause, suddenly the idle threat turned -to a promise. Now that Kak did not come back she knew he had really -intended staying away. She was awed by his independence; her mother -provoked and delighted. - -“He is a rash one, is our lad!” chuckled the little woman, slapping -her plump hands on her plump knees. - -“Kak has sense,” his father grunted between mouthfuls. “Since he -carries the snow knife we needn’t worry about their being cold -to-night. Let us go to bed quickly--I am as tired as any man on this -earth; and with the first streak of light we must be after him again.” - -So the remains of the family went to bed, all three in a row; and -Kak’s father was soon snoring; but his mother lay awake a long time, -wondering if her little boy really could manage to build a house all -by himself. Taptuna said he could--and Taptuna was generally right. -Presently she sighed and fell asleep, and the shrieking ice pack -troubled her no more than it did Kak, for Guninana was only afraid of -bears. - -Kak slept late. Excitement and wild driving tire a boy more than -he reckons, and he had done a full day’s work with the meat before -building his house. So he was not a bit ashamed when he opened one eye -to find strong yellow sunshine striking through the dome. He snuggled -down again only half conscious of having been disturbed by unexpected -noise. It sounded once more--knock, knock, knock. But the boy was -dreadfully sleepy. - -Knock--knock--knock. - -This could not be the grinding of ice nor the sob of wind, nor yet a -dog’s deep breathing. He opened both eyes and lay staring up. A band of -darkness danced across the roof. Something was outside--something large -and active! The boy gazed dumbly. What kind of an awful critter could -it be? His fancy leaped to bears. He lay petrified with fright. - -A soft thud followed. The shadow vanished, sunk to a spot. Kak nerved -himself to reach for the snow knife, his only weapon. Then a prolonged -squeak on a high note riveted his glance on the dark blot. He saw one -sharp claw thrust through. It moved rapidly. Having been shocked awake, -the boy was still too dazed to comprehend. He thought some ravenous, -strange animal must be breaking in on them. He was too scared to -scream, to move, even to rouse the dogs, till a lump of snow falling -from the roof saved him the trouble. Like a flash Sapsuk sprang to -fight Pikalu for the honor of meeting this attack. Panic ensued--a -regular good mix-up. The pups barked and scrambled and trod on each -other, and nipped and yelped and walked over poor Kak who, crowded -under the edge of his house anxiously eyeing the shadow, wished his -defenders had been ten times more savage. - -It is a wonder they did not knock the place down; for until a snow -house has had a fire in it to melt the inner surface, which quickly -freezes from the cold outside, and so forms a hard ice dome, it is a -very fragile sort of shelter. - -All at once the boy woke up and understood. He laughed at himself, -trying to curb the dogs between chuckles. A second later the door-block -fell in with a shower of soft snow, and his father’s head appeared. - -Taptuna joined in the laugh. “Stole a march on you, Kak! Ha-ha! This is -a fine house you have built, with no door. Lucky I happened along to -dig you out--eh? Down, Sapsuk!” - -“Dad!” - -Kak leaped up, cracked his head against Pikalu’s, and fell on his knees -with a howl, rubbing the place. Tears sprang to his eyes. Now that they -were safely found, all last night’s terrors, which he had so bravely -put aside, rushed over him. He was glad of an excuse to cry. Taptuna, -still in the doorway, jollied his son and pretended not to notice the -tears. - -“You sleep so late here you must sleep well--no worries at all? But -it was a grand scare you gave us yonder; going off to set up an -establishment for yourself without a word of warning. A fine place like -this, too!” - -“I didn’t go off to set up anything,” mumbled Kak. “We got lost.” - -“Lost! What? On that plain trail you had traveled all day?” - -“I--I thought there was a bear--and we whirled along.” - -“Ah, you take after your mother.” - -Kak blushed to the edge of his hood, and who can say how much farther? -For Guninana’s abject fear of polar bears was a standing joke in the -family. - -“Help me out! Help me out!” he cried, so as to change the subject. - -The dogs began to make a worse row than ever, for the inrushing cold -air carried a tantalizing smell of fresh seal meat which Taptuna had -brought along. They all looked so funny dashing about inside the funny -little house, Kak struggling among his team and trying to talk, while -legs, arms, feet, and heads shot in every direction, that his father -laughed and laughed and laughed! It would be a pity, he said, to spoil -the show by letting them out too soon. - -“No, no! Let us out. I want to go home,” begged the boy. - -“But what about this elegant house? You will not desert it at once?” -Taptuna teased. - -“Help! Help!” wailed Kak, with a break in his voice. - -So his father, seeing he was in earnest, backed away from the door; and -immediately the dogs tumbled out with Kak on top of them, all snowy -and furry and glad to be free. - -There was frozen fish for a picnic breakfast on the sled, with raw seal -for the dogs; and while they all four ate, Taptuna continued jollying -Kak about his new home. The boy did not mind now because he was in the -open air and having a good meal. Of course, being Eskimos, they thought -frozen fish a dandy breakfast even for a cold morning. Kak ate his -up to the last crumb, and it put him in such good humor that he was -willing to laugh at his house, and to own the tiny shelter did not look -much viewed from outside by critical eyes on a bright, sunny day. To -begin with, it was very low--more like a mushroom than a beehive, for -the top of the dome had sunk in a little from its own weight and not -being properly built; and it was far from round; and far from smooth; -and the crooked small blocks sat every which way. - -“But it did stand up!” its owner cried defensively. “And it was cozy -inside with the dogs, and saved us from the wind and the snow and -wolves and bears and being frozen. I had to try to make it!” - -“You did well, my son,” said Taptuna, suddenly growing serious. “And -the house is very good for a first effort, and in the dark, too. I’m -proud of you. Not only because you were able to build a house for -yourself, but because you had the right idea in an emergency; the -common sense to know what you needed and the pluck to go after it.” - -When his father praised him Kak felt the tears rush again to his eyes; -so all at once he began to be very busy harnessing the dogs. - -Now although Taptuna teased about the night’s adventure he was really -and truly bursting with pride over his clever son. He brought Guninana -and Hitkoak, at different times, to see the mushroom. Kak’s house -became famous. The story of how the boy had weathered that night -alone and sheltered his team from the gale was told and retold, till -he swaggered like a man on the strength of this great achievement. -His mother began to consult him about things instead of issuing -orders; while the neighbor girls and Noashak were filled with awe and -admiration. They never again dared to make faces or pull mouths at Kak; -and never doubted his most gorgeous boast. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -_Kak’s Hunting_ - - -One morning Kak wakened early and lay staring up at the snow ceiling. -It looked mysteriously large and gloomed, for Guninana was saving oil -and only a small light flamed in one corner of the large lamp, instead -of the broad blaze all along its edge. Faint shadows were cast on -the incurved roof by the family clothes hanging about. Kak, watching -them, peopled an imaginary world with grotesque, half-human forms. -The shadows stayed still but his thoughts danced. He was full of big -thoughts these days, and flashing ambitions. The superb elation of -his all-night adventure had died down somewhat; house building was no -longer tirelessly discussed by everybody; the story sank gradually into -neglect, and with it our hero’s importance. This did not suit Kak. -Applause had tickled his vanity. Having once tasted the pleasures of -fame he longed for them always, and burned to distinguish himself anew. - -The worst of it was, in order to thrill the family now he would have -to do something grander and nobler and mightier; and after that -excitement wore off--if he did achieve it--another still bigger deed -must follow, and so on and so forth until he would be an old, old man. -Fame and Romance set a terrific pace! Kak felt strangely small and -powerless considering this and watching the shadows. His spirits sank. - -It was chilly inside and very quiet; nothing stirred outside. Even the -dogs must be asleep. Such uncommon silence offered a truly wonderful -opportunity for an Eskimo boy to think; but Kak could not stay long on -the job. As soon as he noticed the cold he knew what was making him -downhearted; and so, jumping out of bed, he pulled on his fur shirt and -boots and trousers, and his rough topcoat, and crept into the tunnel. -Contrary to his habit he made no noise. Adventure is ever so much -more fun when it leads through stealth and secrecy, as all boys know. -Besides he did not want to wake Noashak and have her bawling after him. - -Once in the open air he commenced swinging his arms vigorously to make -his blood run, for dressing without the lamp was hardly pleasant. But -soon his body began to glow, and then he jumped on the sleigh and took -a look around. - -Wow! What a cold gray landscape! The whole world lay flat about him, -empty of forms or motion; while above in the sky dome, which looked -very much like their roof on a huge scale, instead of shadows the gayly -colored northern lights danced and dissolved. - -Kak’s spirits shot up like a rocket. - -“Hurrah!” he yelled, and instantly stifled the cheer so as not to rouse -their dogs. - -The beauty of the Arctic dawn was wonderful and had to be expressed. -Out there in the open he felt he could achieve. And this was going -to be a gorgeous day, a marvelous chance for doing things--but what -things? The boy balanced first on one leg and then on the other, -trying to decide. He took a turn standing on his hands and viewing the -world upside down. This helped, maybe because all the blood rushed -into his brain, I don’t know. You will have to try it for yourselves -sometime--anyway, when he swung on to his feet again, he had a big idea. - -Why should he not go a-hunting all day by himself? If he could catch a -seal it would make him a man. How Hitkoak’s eyes would snap with envy, -for he had no sons to help provide. Kak’s last exploit, fine as it was, -had lacked one notable feature--the joy of dragging the evidence home. -A boy cannot carry even a snow house about on his back like a snail, -so not one of the girls actually saw his famous building; and just -yesterday Noashak had been very saucy about it, suggesting the boasted -shelter was only a dug-out in the side of the drift. Now that sort of -sisterly slam must be stopped. Kak felt it was up to him. - -Urged by this need to do and to dare the boy stole into their tunnel, -which is also an Eskimo’s storehouse, and took from its place his -father’s harpoon with its stout rope of reindeer sinew, the ivory -bodkin used in sealing, a fox skin to keep his feet warm, and extra -lengths of thong. The last article showed his good sense. - -“I’m a small boy, after all,” he reasoned, “and not nearly so strong as -a man; and I’ve seen seals pull pretty hard. I’ll wrap this line around -my middle, tie it to the ice pick, and I don’t care if I catch a whale!” - -To kill a seal as Kak proposed doing is no easy matter. It takes -infinite patience and a whole lot of time. The lad expected to be away -hours and hours, so he gathered up some dried meat for his breakfast -and lunch; and gave Sapsuk a good feed before starting. Then, rather -alarmed by his own boldness, balancing the long harpoon firmly in one -hand, and holding the dog leash in the other, he started on his day’s -hunt. - -Kak knew the seals’ ways: he had often watched his father and the -neighbors catch them, and sometimes had been called upon to help. The -thrill of his present enterprise lay in doing it all alone. For that he -had started early before the family waked, and kept Sapsuk cowed with -harsh whispers while he was feeding. No one would know where they had -gone or what they were up to, until they came galloping over the ice, -bringing the seal behind them. - -Kak thought it immense fun to be off for a day with Sapsuk. The dog -was a good hunter; just as knowing about seals as Taptuna himself, and -absolutely necessary to the game. For since the seals live in the water -under the ice, and the ice is covered with several inches and sometimes -feet of snow, how could man or boy hope to find their tiny breathing -holes scattered about that vast, white plain? It was easy for Sapsuk. -He ran with his sharp nose close to the snow and sniffed and sniffed; -and as soon as he smelt seal he commenced to run around in circles, -scratching and pawing. Then his owner jerked him off quickly, lest he -scare the game, and having marked the spot, took doggie away to a safe -distance and tethered him on a jag or block of ice. - -So that you can thoroughly understand Kak’s horrible predicament -later, I want to explain what was going on below the ice as well as -what happened above. Seals are not like fish which can live in the -sea always. They have to come up into the air every little while to -breathe, just as you do after diving and swimming under water. While it -is summer, with all the ocean lying open, the seals have an easy time. -They can drop down to fish or climb out to sleep in the sun, and enjoy -all the best things of life without any trouble about it. But when -Jack Frost comes along and begins forming his shining roof over their -playgrounds, the poor animals have to look sharp. They _must_ breathe -air, and so they must keep holes open to breathe through. At first it -is simple. They just dash up below the thin ice and bunt a hole in it -with their heads. But Jack keeps on working; the ice grows thicker and -is soon too strong to be broken; and then the seal, instead of crashing -through in a minute, must gnaw and gnaw for hours, and keep on gnawing -to keep his precious hole from freezing over. As the ice thickens it -must gnaw all the quicker and all the harder. Sometimes in the middle -of winter, the ice freezes six or seven feet thick, and the poor seal -is still busy gnawing and gnawing and gnawing. - -Though these holes are only the size of a half dollar at the top they -must be large below, big enough for the animal’s entire body, so it can -swim up and poke its nose to the surface of the ice. The moment the -seal sticks his nose up for that long breath is the hunter’s single -chance of spearing him, so he has to look sharp. - -When Sapsuk had sniffed around in circles, settled his mind on one -spot, and raised a paw to dig, Kak grabbed the leash and hauled him off. - -“Too bad, old chap, to disappoint you,” he apologized, patting his -dog’s thick coat. Sapsuk’s being out of it was the worst part of -sealing. - -When he had consoled his favorite, Kak hurried back, dug away some of -the snow, and feeling about very carefully found the small hole. There -he placed his ivory bodkin sticking down through so that the seal would -bump its point as he swam up to breathe. Next he cut himself a block of -snow to sit on, and spread his fox skin under his feet. The boy took -his extra line, wrapped it firmly about his waist, and unfastening the -harpoon line from the ice pick on the upper end of the shaft, tied -these two thongs fast together. He twisted a couple of turns back -around near the pick so that the line would lie smoothly under his -hand, and settled patiently to watch his bodkin, very much as you watch -the float when you go fishing. There was no loafing or larking for Kak; -all the time he held the harpoon in his hand and kept himself alert, -ready if the ivory moved to strike down quickly and pierce the animal’s -snub nose. - -It sounds simple since the seal must come up for air. But seals are -clever as well as shy; each animal makes several breathing holes, and -a boy can watch only one; so if Sapsuk happened to find a place which -the seal had just left, Kak would be obliged to watch hours before its -owner returned. - -After catching his prize, the hunter holds on to his thong till he cuts -away the ice around the hole with his copper chisel and makes it large -enough to drag his victim out. This is the thrilling part. This is what -Kak counted on. Sitting all day long, watching, proved his mettle. The -boy was no quitter, but he had remained two hours in one place and -one position, and was terribly bored and aching for a run--a bit of a -change--excuse to move about. - -“It’s yell or bust!” he muttered. - -Feeling hungry he laid the harpoon down for a moment and got out his -package of dried meat. With this open on the ground beside him, he -lunched, snatching one hand away from duty long enough to put a piece -into his mouth, then taking firm hold again. While he ate he planned -deserting for a little game with Sapsuk. The more he thought of it, -the better a game seemed. Unconsciously he glanced toward his dog, -and at that moment the ivory pin began to tremble, its motion caused -by ripples in the water as a seal swam up. This was the hunter’s -warning--but his wits were elsewhere. He had almost decided to quit and -play when the bodkin suddenly jerked. Amid that world of tense inaction -its bob crashed like a trumpet call. Kak’s mind leaped. He dashed down -the spear with all his force. The thrill of it gave him twice his usual -strength and he struck as truly and a good deal harder than his father -or Hitkoak would have done. It is the sure aim and not the muscle which -counts. He knew at once he had hit his seal for he felt the knife sink -into its flesh. - -The startled animal pulled back, pulling the loose tip off the harpoon. -Instantly Kak reversed the shaft and drove the pick deep into the ice. -As the thong was around this, though not tied, it formed a sort of -anchor; and with it and the loop on his body the boy imagined himself -master of any situation. He seized the braided sinew as he had seen -Taptuna do, but it simply tore through his fingers. He could no more -hold against that terrific pull than turn a blizzard with his breath. -He yelled for help. Sapsuk’s was the only answering voice. Cold -perspiration bathed him. He was in an agony of excitement. The beast -would get away, such force must certainly snap the line. He would -lose his prize and with it his father’s best harpoon head. In a spasm -Kak saw his grand adventure ending in dire disgrace. To return home -empty-handed, having to confess he had been unable to hold his seal--it -was unthinkable! Spurred by the threatened shame he clutched madly, but -the throng whizzed away from him, faster than it takes to tell, and -snapped taut its length to the pick. It is impossible to get a good -grip on a thin tight line; Kak, undefeated, grabbed the harpoon shaft -and held on like fury. - -There was an instant’s lull below. The young hunter drew a deep breath -and braced himself. - -“Wolloping fishes! Who’d think a seal could pull so hard!” - -Our boy’s respect for his father and the men whom he saw landing their -catches right along had grown some. - -“Golly!” - -The thing came alive again with a twist and a plunge. It yanked like -a hundred dog-team. The sudden pull on the thong acted as a giant -catapult, whirled the pick out of the ice, the shaft from Kak’s hands, -and sent them flying. The hunter fell forward, recovered, surged to his -knees, saw his extra line a writhing serpent slip along the ice and -tried to catch it--vainly. A second later, with a sharp zip the rope -reached its limit and tightened about his waist like a vise, cutting -his flesh through two coats, jerking him violently on to his face. - -A wail of pain and dismay rang through the clear air. Sapsuk answered -with howls and barks. Kak felt like howling in chorus as he realized -how he was caught. All his strength on the line failed to ease its -pressure. And when the maddened animal dived the squeezing made him -gasp. - -The boy knew now this was no ordinary catch. It must be an ugrug, one -of the huge bearded seals, almost as big and powerful as a bear; the -knowledge gave him alternate thrills of delight and terror. He was torn -between pride over spearing an ugrug, with insane desire to do the -impossible and land the critter; and a mortal fear lest it should cut -him in two. Wildly he tugged at the thong with an idea of loosening -it sufficiently to squirm free. Let the monster take harpoon and all. -Taptuna would forgive the loss when he heard how narrowly his son had -escaped death. So Kak thought while the beast pulled; but when the -pain eased a little, ambition soared. The youthful hunter pictured his -reception if he strode home with the story of killing a bearded seal. -At first they would laugh and cry shame on him for telling whoppers; -then marvel open-mouthed, and finally believe when he proudly led his -father forth and showed the prize. - -For such a triumph Kak felt he would willingly give his life. At least -he felt so while the ugrug rested; when the brute plunged again he -bellowed: - -“Help! Help!” - -Foxes! How the thong cut. Incessantly the ugrug dived back and flung -about, trying to twist that horrible spear out of his nose; and up on -top of the snow each movement sawed and sawed poor Kak’s soft tummy. -The seal had him flat on his face now dragged right across the hole, -powerless, exhausted. He could not even lift his head high enough to -see over the rough ice. So long as that stout leather line held, Kak -was the ugrug’s prisoner; just as much a prisoner as if he had been -shut within four walls. - -Our hero was gifted with what we call presence of mind. As his father -had said: “The boy’s got sense.” Even in this dreadful plight he did -not lose his head and cry, or give up hope; but exercised his nimble -wits considering how he could best help himself. - -The sun was coming up, struggling against a fog; if it would only shine -out and warm his back Kak reckoned to withstand the cold, in spite of -that horrid thong lashing him to the icy floor under its snow blanket. - -He knew the family had slept till after daylight and when they woke -and saw his place empty they would think he had only gone a short -way and not bother till after breakfast. If his father missed the -harpoon he would guess their plan and be in no hurry to follow, since -squatting by a seal hole is a comparatively safe way to be lost. When -he did start to find them it was going to take him a long time, because -the boy and dog had made play of their hunting and run all around -on the wide field. The snow was exceptionally hard, wind-driven, so -their footprints would only show in drifted patches with gaps some of -them maybe a quarter of a mile wide. You can understand that between -criss-crossed tracks and no tracks and a thickening fog Taptuna’s game -of hare and hound would not be easy. - -Lying as he did, flat on his face, the boy could not do much to draw -attention. The idea of his father passing and neither of them knowing -it worried him, till with sudden joy he recollected Sapsuk. The dog -made a bold, dark mark. There was a good chance of Taptuna seeing -Sapsuk if he came near at all. Hitkoak, too, would probably be hunting. -With eyes riveted on his bodkin Kak had not noticed what was happening -behind him. Their neighbor might be sitting close by. At the thought he -tried to shout, but the snow muffled his voice; only his faithful pup -heard and barked reply. That sound filled Kak with hope. - -“Good dog! Good dog!” he cried. “Keep it up, old boy!” - -“Yap--yap--yap!” - -“Come on, old fellow. Come on!” - -Thus urged the tethered canine pranced and yelped, straining at his -leash, while Kak’s heart glowed. Barking would carry far through the -still air; and on the hunting ground such a racket could only mean -trouble. - -“Go it, old fellow!” he wheezed, almost smothered by snow. - -But all at once Sapsuk decided his master was only playing pranks on -him, and lay down sulking. - -“Good old doggie, good boy.” - -He would not answer even to Kak’s most wheedling tone; perhaps he did -not hear. - -The prisoner worked one arm loose and threw chunks of snow blindly in -the dog’s direction. No use! He could not hit him, and it was an old -game anyway. Then Kak had an inspiration. The remains of his lunch lay -open on the ground. He fumbled for a piece of meat, held it up and -waved it as teasingly as he could. Sapsuk understood that--wanted it. -Continuous barking followed. - -“Wof--wof--whooooooooof!” - -The pup thought his master a pretty mean fellow not to toss him that -one bite, and the boy’s arm ached. Still, their alarm rang out. - -The sun was about at its highest Kak judged, but obscured by fog. He -seemed to be growing colder and colder and more and more cramped. The -ugrug had been having the best of it for a long time. Nevertheless -the pain in his nose and the blood he had lost through the wound were -beginning to wear him out. He did not struggle so constantly, nor pull -so hard, nor plunge so deep at the end of the third hour, and often lay -quite still; but by then Kak felt too numb to move. He knew the fog had -lifted and could hear Sapsuk making that dismal noise which eventually -caught Taptuna’s ear and brought him on the run. Once freed the dog -dashed for his young master, while the Eskimo followed, not knowing -what to expect. - -It was a shock to see the boy stretched on his face so stiff and -lifeless. Taptuna could only believe Kak had fallen and broken a -leg--and frozen, perhaps, later. Trembling he sighed the boy’s name. - -“Dad,” murmured Kak. - -“He lives!” - -With a great shout the man leaped into the air clapping his hands; Kak -interrupted these transports of joy. - -“Dad--he’s got me.” - -“Got you? What does this mean--does the boy rave, is he in a trance?” - -But there was nothing spooky or unreal about Kak’s pride. “The ugrug,” -he said in an elated whisper, “round my waist.” - -Taptuna saw the thong then, thrust his arm under his son’s body and -pulled hard. For a second the huge seal, taken by surprise, allowed -himself to go with the pull. Sharp pain in his nose reminded him of -danger and set him battling again; but that moment’s delay was enough -for Taptuna to slack the noose and free Kak. - -The boy rolled over on the snow with a sobbing intake of breath; he -rose to his knees. - -“Pull, kid!” yelled his father, who needed no explanation once he had -felt the monster plunge. - -His voice squealed with desire to land this great prize, and Kak, -thrilled afresh, sprang into the fight. Of course the ugrug knew he was -beaten with a man’s hand on the line. His wound was very swollen and -sore, and hurt like anything when they twitched it. He gave a wollop or -two toward liberty, and bluffed at being almighty powerful, but little -by little he had to surrender and follow his nose up into the hole. - -Kak and Taptuna were already cautiously chopping the ice away at the -surface. Slowly the bearded monster rose below them. As the ugrug came -into the narrowest part of the hole it had no room to fight and its -struggles ceased. The leather line held. Frantically Kak chopped and -chopped with the stout copper ice chisel. The great bulk of the seal’s -body rose, slithered, rose again; their hands were almost on it. The -boy’s heart fluttered as he saw that gigantic creature which he had -fought and won. - -“Alone, my lad--alone! For it was practically over when I came. I have -only helped you land him,” Taptuna generously acknowledged when at -last, with wild heaving and grunting and groaning, the slippery beast -was drawn out and lay an inert mass at their feet. - -Kak’s nerves played him false then. He fell down on top of the seal and -cried like Noashak. - -“Tut, tut,” said his father, patting him on the back. “You’re cold and -tired and hungry--but you’re a man, Kak. You’ve got grit. Hanging on to -an ugrug!” - -“I couldn’t get away. I’d have let him go if he would have let me go. I -was afraid he’d pull me right through the ice,” blubbered Kak. - -Taptuna laughed. “He wasn’t strong enough for that, boy. A dozen of him -couldn’t do it--but you might have cut the thong.” - -“I--I never thought of it!” confessed the brave hunter, feeling no end -of a billy goat. “We would have lost the harpoon,” he added, as a sort -of excuse for sticking it out. - -His father chuckled. He wondered how long the hero would look -shamefaced after he met the girls and Guninana. - -But before they turned homeward with the story and its proof Kak was to -experience his crowning moment. When a hunter kills a bearded seal it -is the custom for him to stand up and signal to all the other hunters -within sight that they may come and share his prize. The boy was busy -loosing Sapsuk from the carcass when his father said: - -“You have forgotten something.” - -Kak had only once seen an ugrug caught. He looked questioningly at -Taptuna. - -“There is Hitkoak yonder. He has just settled down to watch his hole. -He has not caught anything to-day.” - -The Eskimo pointed southward, and then Kak flushed to his ears. “You, -father,” he stammered. - -“Not a bit of it! You got him.” - -The seal killer hesitated a moment, stepped on to his ugrug the better -to be seen, and extending his arms at right angles waved the news of -his wonderful catch. Hitkoak, far away, looked, rubbed his eyes, and -looked again. Surely that short figure could be no other than Kak. -What? Kak giving the signal for a bearded seal! - -Hitkoak gathered up spear and bodkin and commenced to run. - -Oh, the happy thrill of it as their neighbor gazed on the monster and -heard Kak’s tale; and the thrill when they arrived home, men and dogs -dragging the seal. Guninana’s wild laughter, the girls’ bulging eyes, -and Noashak’s awe, were all items to be noted and remembered, and -gloated over, and told and retold all his life long till Kak should be -an old, old man. Hitkoak’s wife, who was fat and lazy, came waddling -over to hear the story. She clapped soft hands, smiling at the big -supply of blubber; and they all took turns patting Kak’s shoulders and -asking him innumerable questions. Then they had a feast. Guninana made -blood soup for a second course at dinner. The boy liked it exceedingly -and drank a great deal, partly to hide his embarrassment, for they all -kept on exclaiming and telling him he was the bravest son imaginable. -Such unstinted praise nearly turned his head. - -They all sat in a circle talking, admiring, marveling. The lamp shone -brightly; the house grew hotter and hotter; Kak’s ears burned with -glory and bashfulness. He had pulled off his fur shirt on coming -inside, according to Eskimo custom, and the red mark where that cruel -thong had bound his body stood out like a ribbon of honor. - -“It is my son who is the hero,” chuckled Guninana, gently touching the -scar with her plump fingers. “But half grown--and he has already slain -his ugrug. The little man!” - -Kak did not care much about that little man business. It made him look -like a baby. Moreover, his mother was shedding tears of pride and -happiness down his back as she gazed at Hitkoak’s wife, who had no son. -Very quietly he moved around beside his father. - -He thought they would never have done with their questions. Honor -had thrilled him at first but now he felt sleepy. He was weary of -praise--the worst weariness in the world--and terribly tired. The -sandman and the warm soup worked together, undermining his dignity. The -boyish head nodded. He straightened up blinking fiercely once--twice. -No, it was no use. Kak felt more tired than he had ever felt -before--just exhausted. Suddenly he gave up, and right in the middle of -Hitkoak’s song toppled over fast asleep. - -Taptuna made room for him to lie, Guninana drew up a fur blanket, and -the excited company continued praising him far into the night, their -words of wonder and admiration mingling with our hero’s gentle snores. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -_Strangers_ - - -It is an unfortunate fact that we can gain nothing in this world -without having to make some return. Kak paid the price of his glory in -killing the ugrug when it came time to fill the family larder and the -lamp. He was now expected to lend a hand in all hunting expeditions. -Not that they needed more seals than Taptuna had always provided; -but with the boy along to guard a second hole the Eskimo could set a -double trap for his hidden victim, and sometimes save hours of watchful -waiting on the wind-swept ice. - -Kak no longer felt enthusiastic about the hunt. He had done his -noblest--had landed on the tiptop of achievement at one bound, and -lesser triumphs rather bored him. Hauling in the little fellows seemed -tame. He maintained a lofty attitude toward hunting in general and -small seals in particular. But of course he went with Taptuna. Kak was -above all things an ambitious boy, eager to be a man; and a real man’s -first concern is to hold up his end in duty as well as pleasure. So -off they would trudge together, father and son, shoulder to shoulder, -with one of the dogs trotting in front; search out their holes and -squat on the ice, a little way apart yet companionable in the silence, -till one or other of them saw his bodkin pop up, and speared his seal. -Then they would get together to land it, and the day’s work was done. - -This was in the morning of the year. You know in Kak’s country, not -only the days divide themselves into light and darkness, but the whole -year also. Spring and summer are light, autumn darkens, and Christmas -comes in a continual twilight. Kak liked the autumn and winter best. -To be sure, summer is cheerful. The sun never setting means daylight -goes on all the time, and daylight activities with it. Nobody keeps any -sort of regular hours. You sleep when you feel sleepy and eat whenever -food is set before you; and it is all rather fun. But it grows terribly -hot with the sun blazing over your head hour after hour for weeks. -Kak often felt very uncomfortable even in a single old fur shirt; and -if he took it off the pesky cloud of mosquitoes made life unbearable. -Traveling without sleds over the rough ground was exceedingly -difficult, too. So on the whole, he cared most for what we might call -the evening, when the sun hid itself below the horizon, and the days -were equal with the nights; when water froze and the snow fell gently, -and hunting grew more agreeable. Next, he liked the period of moon and -stars, or winter. Then the family settled into a comfortable snow house -somewhere on the shore ice. Having eaten their stores of dried meat and -oil during the fall, they were obliged to spear seals; but they did -very little other work, and spent most of their time sitting about the -lamp snug and warm, telling stories and singing songs. - -One day in the morning of the year with the sun well up, Kak and his -father went seal hunting. There were other hunters distant on the -ice, for by now several families had joined Taptuna and Hitkoak. Luck -continued poor. They had been sitting on snow blocks ever so long, the -boy almost falling asleep from boredom, when he chanced to look in his -daddy’s direction, and was turned to stone by what he saw. Beyond those -hunched shoulders, not so very far away, three men with a laden sled -and many dogs were approaching rapidly. - -Kak knew them for strangers at once. Their clothes were quite unlike -the clothes worn by his own people; nor were their dogs harnessed -each to a separate trace and spread fanlike, but one in front of the -other--an imposing string of more than six animals. He had never -dreamed anybody would drive more than three dogs on one sled. The -novel magnificence of it all took his breath. - -Fear and expectation leaped in the boy’s heart. Every Eskimo believes -there are bad Eskimos belonging to other tribes who are out to do him -no good; if these were bad Eskimos there would be a fight--a glorious -row with the odds all against them! Kak’s blood pounded in his veins, -for he saw another chance of distinguishing himself. Then he began to -consider those odds: a man and a boy and Sapsuk against three grown men -and ever so many dogs, and these strangers looked big husky fellows. -His knees knocked queerly. It would be worse than an ugrug or even a -bear--men are wickeder than beasts and cleverer--and if they took his -father by surprise.... No, no! That would never do. Kak understood -he must warn Taptuna; but he did not want to let the enemy know he -intended doing so lest they make a dash and get in first. - -Plucking his bodkin from the hole the boy commenced to work around -cautiously in his father’s direction; as he drew nearer, where he -could see the other’s face, he suddenly knew that Taptuna was already -watching the three men out on the ice; though he sat perfectly still -and pretended to be minding his own business. You see, Kak’s father -thought much more gravely of those odds against them and wanted to -avoid any chance of a quarrel; so he lay low--played ’possum till the -party should arrive. If they came peacefully, well and good; if they -showed fight--he was prepared. He darted a glance at Kak revealing this -plan, commanding him to be silent; and the lad froze where he stood. - -The strangers came on rapidly, stopped at a distance, looked long at -Taptuna, and bunched together for consultation; arguing, pointing at -the hunters, gesticulating excitedly. After a while one of the three -walked forward alone. - -The Eskimo stayed hunched over his fishing just like a rock on the -ice. Kak could see he was watching out of the corners of his eyes, -and holding himself ready. The boy smiled, for he knew his father a -desperate, clever fighter, equal to any man single-handed. - -On came the foreigner in his foreign clothes, walking confidently, -swaggering boldly, offering no peace sign nor suggestion of any such -thing. He acted as if he owned the earth. But when he was yet five -paces away Taptuna sprang lightly to his feet, and seizing his long -knife, flung himself into defensive position, while Sapsuk burst out -with loud barks: - -“Wow--woof--wow!” - -[Illustration: TAPTUNA FLUNG HIMSELF INTO DEFENSIVE POSITION.] - -The other dogs answered in half a dozen keys: “Yi--wow--yip--yap!” - -The stranger stopped suddenly. All his cocksureness oozed away. His -eyes stood out of his head and his breath came fast. Seeing the hunter -brandishing his knife and ready to spring made the traveler shake all -over. He looked more and more scared; he wanted to run back to his -friends, and began to talk very fast and very loudly. For this fellow -was an Eskimo also and quite as afraid of bad Eskimos as Kak’s own -people. Both men were terribly frightened. Taptuna started making -noises with his mouth; he thought this stranger might be a kind of -ghost or spirit that would bring trouble upon him unless he shooed the -trouble away by such noises. And the stranger thought Taptuna meant to -kill him, and hurried to explain, shouting his harmless intentions. So -they both kept on jabbering, and frightening each other more and more, -making talking sounds which neither one understood. Kak hugged himself, -thrilled to the backbone, and scolded Sapsuk; and Sapsuk barked and -barked; and the big fat seal that was knocking its nose on Taptuna’s -bodkin took alarm at the terrific row, and scooted back into the deep -ocean and so got clean away. But nobody had noticed his sign of life, -or knew he was there, and so nobody minded. - -By and by, through all the racket and commotion, it dawned on Taptuna -that the visitor was not a spirit but a real, live man who was talking -to him in real, human speech having understandable words sprinkled -through it. So he listened hard and presently made out the three -strangers were sight-seers who had come from a far land and meant no -harm to any one; and if they had omitted the peace sign it was only -because, not having been that way before, they were ignorant of the -customs. Then the traveler lifted his coat to show he had no knife, and -Kak watched his father feel him all over to make sure of it. - -When Taptuna showed he was satisfied the boy laughed aloud and dashed -forward, wild excitement dancing in his eyes, and a hundred questions -tumbling off his tongue. - -“Where are you going? Where have you come from? What are you called? -Oh, do, do tell us!” - -He thought this miles better than a fight. Now they could all talk. He -wanted to know about their far-away home. He wanted to hear it in a -single word. But Taptuna threw cold water over such enthusiasm. Eskimos -do not consider it polite to harry a stranger with questions. Kak’s -father cried: - -“Tut! Be off to your mother and say we have guests coming for dinner.” - -At that Kak, rather ashamed of his bad manners, went racing away to -carry his message. He was not afraid to leave Taptuna, for already the -hunters of the village, whose attention had been attracted by all the -noise, were running in from every side. Kak, romping on with Sapsuk, -madly yelled the news to those he met and they hurried up, knowing this -a great occasion. The stranger was escorted toward the group of houses -on the ice, the other men being allowed to follow with their dogs and -sleigh, but not to come any nearer, because Taptuna would not take the -responsibility of receiving these travelers without first consulting -his neighbors. As each seal hunter, carrying his sharp knife and spear, -joined the party, the stranger looked more and more scared. He could -understand much of their speech though, and began to feel better when -he heard himself and his friends spoken of as honest fellows who might -be welcomed without fear of treachery. - -Think what a tremendous event it was for these lonely folk in their -few small houses, in the midst of that vast, deserted snow field, -to receive a visit from a distinguished foreigner; for that is what -the leader of the party turned out to be. Two of the travelers were -Eskimos from far west on the north shore of Canada; and the other was -a white man who had come all the way from New York to learn what sort -of people lived on the tiptop of the world, and who had studied their -language so he could talk with them and really be friends. - -Kak had never seen a white man, but he had heard of them from other -tribes of Eskimos--Kablunat they were called. He did not think this -visitor deserved the name, for he was really not white at all, but -very much his own complexion, with blue eyes instead of gray, and the -same brownish hair. The lad was intensely disappointed. He had always -imagined a race of people glistening and shining like frosty snow; -and the grown-up folk felt very much the same. Hitkoak made him stand -beside this so-called “white man” to show how alike they were; and -Guninana laughed at her squat boy, for in his fur clothes Kak looked -about as broad as he was long. - -“You have the eyes and hair, son; but you will have to grow like a -young caribou before you can cut any figure in his country.” - -Ah, if she had known what a spur to Kak’s ambition those words were -to prove! “Cut a figure in his country!” He would never have thought -of such a thing himself; but from the moment his mother’s idle humor -planted the seed, that idea lay hidden in the bottom, inmost part, of -the boy’s soul. He would attach himself to this Kabluna, would make -himself useful, run messages, travel with him, hunt for him; and -perhaps, when they went away over the edge of the earth again, he might -be permitted to go along. Of course this scheme did not prance right -into his mind whole, it grew and developed during the stranger’s stay. - -For a while everybody was busy admiring their guests and getting -acquainted. - -The Kabluna wore fine fur clothes and carried under his arm a peculiar, -long implement made partly of wood and partly of metal. Kak was simply -dying to ask about this, to handle and examine it, only he would -not let himself go, because his father had already reproved him for -questioning. - -“Is it a spear?” he thought, peeping behind the stranger. “No--it can’t -be. There is no least sign of a knife.” - -He ached to understand the odd thing, but had to wait, for now -Hitkoak’s wife and the girls came running to be presented to the -visitors, and the whole community stood about, all talking at once, -with a deafening hubbub and babble and noise of barking dogs. Noashak, -who I have told you was a rude, spoiled, forward little girl, threw -herself on the strangers one after another; jumping up to touch their -faces, getting under their feet, clinging to their hands, and mauling -their clothes. They only laughed good-naturedly, which pleased -Guninana and sent her hurrying off to put her largest cooking pot over -the lamp. - -Hitkoak had invited one of the two Eskimos to stop in his house, the -other went elsewhere, while Taptuna entertained the white man. This -arrangement gave Kak much secret satisfaction, he was so thrilled by -desire to handle that long-nosed weapon. - -“When the Kabluna enters to eat he will put it on one side in the -tunnel, and that will be my chance,” the boy reasoned. But there was -no chance, for the stranger carefully placed his gun in a special -case strapped to one side of the sled, and covered it up closely; and -nobody, except perhaps naughty Noashak, would have dared to think of -opening that case. - -Kak’s heart sank into his boots. It took his sister’s diverting cries -of: “A feast! A feast! Blood soup!” to cheer him up. - -“Blood soup--wow!” - -Maybe that does not sound good to you, but Eskimos love it, and -Guninana could make the delicacy just right. Lips smacked, eyes -brightened, Taptuna and Kak hurried their guest inside; and almost -before he was clear of the tunnel Noashak hurled herself on him. Now -the Kabluna had come to live with them she claimed him for her own; -scrambled on to his knee, felt his bushy hair, tried to tickle him, -and pried out of his fingers a little box he had taken from among his -things on the sled when he put the gun away; such a curious little box, -full of many little straight pieces of wood, with red ends stuck on to -them like tiny bits of rock. Noashak was delighted. She opened the box -upside down and all the pieces fell out over the rug. - -“Now, now! Leave our visitor in peace!” her father cried; and Guninana, -squatting in front of her lamp, scolded mildly. - -But Noashak only laughed. She knew she might safely be as naughty as -she liked, for her parents never punished her. That is probably why she -was so very awful and a plague to everybody. - -In our country when a boy is really mischievous and bad his father -or mother or schoolmaster or somebody gets after him and gives him a -first-class, good whipping to drive the badness out. Unfortunately -Eskimos believe if they whip their children, or punish them at all, -they will drive not badness but goodness away from them--a sort of -guardian angel who brings the children luck and blessings. Of course -if either boy or girl is naughty enough to need to be whipped, it -is quite fair for the angel to pick up and go off; but the parents -naturally do not want this to happen, so they try to bluff the spirit -by not punishing at all. No matter how bad Noashak was, she never got a -whipping--but oh, how the neighbors hated her at times! - -Even the Kabluna thought her a bother when he saw all his matches -spilled on the rug. He began to gather them together carefully, for -there are no shops in Victoria Island where one can buy such things, -and it is very awkward to run out of matches when traveling in an -ice-cold country. Two articles the white man valued more than anything -else--the ammunition for his gun and his matches. However, since he was -a stranger, far away from home, and her father’s guest, and had come -so many miles to see these people, and wanted above all things to be -friends with them, he did not say one cross word nor even frown; but -took up a single little piece of wood, struck its rock end, and held -the fire out to Noashak. Now when the child saw this magic and felt -the hot flame she leaped away, hiding behind Taptuna, and would not -come near the visitor again; though the others crowded around full of -wonder. They had never seen a sulphur match. - -The Kabluna lighted another and another, explaining their convenience, -and finally allowed Kak to strike one and hold it blazing in his own -fingers. Thus encouraged, the boy blurted out his eager question: - -“That queer weapon you carried under your arm--what is it for?” - -The white man smiled. “You mean my rifle?” - -Kak never having heard the foreign word, rifle, looked puzzled. “The -thing with a long nose,” he explained. “The one you packed away on the -sled.” - -“Yes,” the Kabluna answered, while his kind blue eyes held Kak’s. “We -call it a rifle--it is for hunting. To-morrow I will show you how it -kills animals from a great distance.” - -The boy beamed. He liked this stranger; and the stranger liked him. He -had spotted Kak as a bright youngster during the first half hour, and -was willing to take some trouble and tell him stories of the far-away -country, wording them simply so they could be understood. Our everyday -life and surroundings are so strange to the Eskimos they could not -possibly conceive them from just hearing the names spoken. If you had -never seen a wheel you would find it difficult to think of a great, -puffing, railroad engine. These people had never seen wheels nor any -means of going about but the dog-drawn sleds, skin boats called kayaks, -and their own legs; so the white man did not talk about street cars or -telephones or automobiles, but described our homes built up and up, one -room on top of another, till they were six rooms high, and twice six -rooms high, occasionally even six times six rooms high. These Eskimos -cannot count above six, so this was his only way of conveying an idea -about the height of our tall buildings. - -Kak worked it out next morning with snow blocks. - -“Six times six rooms high!” he marveled, gazing at the pile. - -It seemed unbelievable. Why should anybody want to build up into the -air that way with all the open ground to spread on? He looked over his -flat, white world, stretching bare and vast north, east, south, and -west, and muttered: “Unbelievable!” - -Kak had heard many stories of their shamans, or medicine-men, going -to sleep and visiting the moon in their sleep, and seeing things -quite as extraordinary as houses six times six rooms high. None of -these, however, had fired him with a desire to follow. Now he tried -to imagine climbing up the outside of such a house to the very top, -pinching himself all the way to be sure he was awake. The notion made -him chuckle, but not loud enough to interrupt. He intended to be very -polite and hear more and more. So he sat quiet listening with his mouth -a little open and his eyes wide and round; and at the end of each tale, -while the others cried their amazement, he nodded, saying in his heart: - -“Some day I will travel to the Kabluna’s country and see these marvels -for myself.” - -They sat late over breakfast next morning listening to more queer talk, -till at last their neighbor roused them calling in the tunnel: - -“I am Hitkoak. I am coming in.” - -This is the polite way for an Eskimo to announce his visit. - -The other two strangers were already outside feeding the dogs and -waiting for their chief’s word as to what they were to do that day. -They called the Kabluna, Omialik, which really means Commander; but -Eastern Eskimos have no conception of one man being master over another -or employing him for wages. Such conditions do not exist among them. So -hearing this title they took it for his name, and all addressed him by -it. - -Hitkoak had discovered from his guest how anxious the explorer was to -meet with natives, and so he had formed the brilliant idea of escorting -the party to the nearest village which, he said, ought now to lie -about a day’s journey away on the shore of Victoria Island. Eskimos -are never quite sure where their towns are to be found, for even the -places have a way of packing up and moving off. When comfortable houses -can be built in a couple of hours, and each householder can carry all -his belongings on one sled, it is easiest, if the fishing or hunting -proves bad, just to move the whole village over to another site. -Generally so many sleighs moving make a very deep track which will not -be covered even by storms and blizzards for about three months, so that -if at first you do not find the place you want to reach, you follow on -and follow on until you overtake it. - -Omialik was immensely pleased with the idea of visiting a local town; -and instantly everybody wanted to go. Kak wanted to go. He itched to -go; but he did not clamor about it half so loudly as the girls. Hitkoak -put his foot down, saying it would never do for them all to flock over; -for so many women and children and dogs landing in to be fed might -embarrass their kinsmen; so after a hubbub of talk it was decided that -Taptuna, whose brother lived in the neighboring village, and who had -been there recently, should act as guide. Guninana was much better able -to take care of herself than the other women, and she had more food -laid by also. - -Kak listened with his whole soul to the ins and outs of this argument; -and when it was finished he literally threw himself on his father. - -“Let me go! Let me go, too! I must go--I can hunt, I can walk, I can -build houses. Oh, dad, do, do let me go with you!” - -“And who will take care of your mother?” - -“Noashak!” the boy cried fiercely, saying the first thing that rushed -into his head. - -That was a fine joke. They all laughed heartily. Now sometimes it is a -good sign to have one’s request laughed at, for it puts grown-ups into -a jolly humor; and again it is very bad, and means the thing is not -even to be considered seriously. Kak hardly knew what to make of his -parents’ amusement. He looked doubtfully from one to the other, and at -last turned beseeching eyes on the Kabluna. - -“If the boy can be spared, let him come,” said Omialik, and made Kak -his friend for life. - -Taptuna’s glance questioned his wife. - -“Yes, yes, certainly, let our brave hero go! Noashak will take care of -me very well.” Guninana’s sides shook with uncontrolled mirth. “I want -to hear all that happens up yonder anyway, and the lad’s stories will -be better than yours, Taptuna.” - -So it was agreed. Kak could not stay indoors with the excitement of his -great adventure surging in his veins; he had to go out and tear up and -down, and yell, and let off steam generally. - -Besides the glory and honor of arriving at the village in such -distinguished company, he would see his cousin, Akpek, who was his -own age and his best chum, and to whom he had long wanted to boast -about killing that ugrug. Kak knew Taptuna could not resist telling -of his son’s house-building and hunting to Uncle Kitirkolak; and he -anticipated the relations would all make a big fuss over him when they -heard the news. Akpek would have to pay him a lot of respect. - -They were not to start until next morning for the strangers, both -men and dogs, needed a good rest; and Kak thought he would never be -able to put in the time; however, this turned out to be one of the -most thrilling days of his life. Omialik did not forget his promise -about the rifle. He took the weapon from its case and allowed Kak to -examine it closely; hold it in his own hands; place it at his shoulder -and look, as directed, down the long nose. The boy could not at all -understand how it worked so their guest showed him. There being no wild -animals about he set up a stick, walked far away, raised the gun, and -sent a bullet through the wood from where he stood. The Eskimos were -not greatly impressed for they thought it magic. Their own shamans told -them constantly of strong spells which would kill animals unseen, and -carry people to the moon, and so forth. What really excited everybody -was the tremendous bang the gun made when it went off. Hitkoak’s wife -and the girls were so frightened they ran into their own house and -would not come out; and Noashak howled at the top of her lungs and kept -on howling till poor Guninana, who was pretty well scared herself, -begged the kind Kabluna not to do it again. - -He did do it again though, just once more, to satisfy Kak. And when Kak -learned it was not magic, and saw the small piece of metal which flew -out of the rifle straight to its mark, he was crazy to try it himself. - -“Oh, let me, let me, let me!” he teased, dancing up and down in a -frenzy of desire. “I only want to whang it off once--I’m sure I can hit -the stick.” - -The white man shook his head. “No you can’t, not at the first trial--no -one ever does. The fact is,” he explained, “I can only shoot this gun -off a certain number of times until I get back to my own country, -because I have only a certain number of bullets. We may need them all -to kill animals for food, so I dare not waste any more.” - -“Can they bang? Can they make holes in the stick?” Kak asked, pointing -to the strange Eskimos. - -“Yes, sometimes. The little fellow shoots pretty well.” - -“If he learned, I can learn!” - -This was not boast; the lad only felt very sure of himself and -intensely in earnest; so his friend answered seriously: - -“That is true. You can learn. But if you want to learn to shoot you -must come to Herschel Island where there are shops to buy bullets--and -it is a long, long way.” - -“I don’t care! I’ll go! I’d like first rate to see places and shops and -bullets. May I go along with you?” - -Our lad had yet to understand the words he used; but he was throbbing -with wild ambition; his gray eyes sparkled, and his perfect teeth -gleamed in a double row. He looked a volcano of enthusiasm. - -The white man laughed. “Wait, youngster! Wait! You go too fast for me. -To-morrow we will try out what kind of traveler you are.” - -That set the boy’s heart glowing with pride and hope. Well Kak knew he -could prove himself a man on the trail. Had he not been to the village -before; to fresh fishing grounds and new hunting grounds; indeed, half -over Victoria Island? For his father was a restless soul, always moving -from place to place and dragging Guninana and the children after him. - -“Huh, all right! It’s a bargain,” was the satisfied answer. - -Kak had a chance to prove his endurance next day for they struck from -deserted site to deserted site, going many miles around out of their -road in order to cling to the remnant of a faint track which would -surely lead where the people now were. They camped after dark and rose -early to find themselves in view of the town--a cluster of houses -looking from a distance like so many snow cakes you might have turned -out of a patty pan. Then Taptuna bade the strangers wait while he and -Kak raced ahead to announce them and tell the people they were friends. -Otherwise, if the dogs stirred and the Eskimos grew alarmed, they might -dash out and try to kill the whole party. - -Kak ran faster than his dad and reaching Kitirkolak’s home first -vanished out of sight. He did not have to go into an underground -tunnel, for this house was built with a doorway and a long shed leading -to it. - -“I am Kak,” he cried. “I am coming in,” and immediately popped his head -through the hole in the wall. - -His aunt rolled out of bed with three small children on top of her, -gasping: - -“Kak, you scamp! Bless the boy! How did he get here?” - -“I came on my two feet with father and three strangers, one of them is -a Kabluna----” He was panting from running and tried to tell everything -in a breath, and had to stop and puff. - -“Kabluna,” chorused the children without an idea of what it meant. - -Akpek was already scrambling into his trousers. Kak’s uncle raised -himself on one elbow and blinked sleepy eyes. “Is your father here?” he -asked. - -“Yes, and two strange Eskimos from far away, and Omialik from farther -away. They are all over yonder; and they have two more than six dogs -and much gear on their sled, and a long-nosed gun to kill animals, and -little wooden sticks which carry fire. He let me try them myself----” - -“Where is he?” yelled Akpek. “I want to try them!” - -“No, you can’t. He hasn’t any more to waste. If you want to learn to -shoot you must go to Herschel Island, and it’s far, far away--but I am -going sometime----” - -Aunt and uncle were hurrying into their clothes. Between boots and -coats they stopped to hear the boy’s fantastic talk, little of which -they understood. Akpek had but a single thought. - -“Where is he?” he demanded, all ready to go. - -“Come on and I’ll show him to you. They are waiting to be introduced. -But you needn’t be afraid--it’s all right! I know them. They are -friends of mine.” - -Kak swaggered out of the shed, followed by his cousin; and so it was -that Akpek came first of all his village to welcome the Kabluna. - -The rest of the company were not far behind. Taptuna had been dashing -from house to house telling his news; and soon all the men and boys -came rushing out, talking excitedly and asking questions; some of them -were even putting their clothes on as they came, which seems very odd -if you stop to think how cold it was! When they felt sure the strangers -were not bad Eskimos and did not intend to play them any tricks, they -all formed in a line and walked out to welcome them, holding their arms -above their heads and saying: - -“We are friendly. We carry no knives. Your coming has made us glad.” - -Omialik’s party copied this, and when the two lines met they began a -formal sort of introduction, each man telling his name to the others; -but Kak and Akpek, who had joined the village, grew tired of the -business and broke away, and that upset everything; so the people all -began to talk together. - -“Now what shall we do to celebrate?” asked Kitirkolak, who was a -leading man and anxious to give their visitors the kind of welcome -which they would best like. - -The Kabluna said Eskimos farther west danced when they felt glad; so -it was quickly decided to have a grand general dance. Immediately all -the men and boys ran off for their snow knives and began building a -magnificent house, large enough to hold about fifty people standing, -allowing space in the middle for the dancers. Then the girls ran for -their drums, and commenced to sing; and they all felt so glad and happy -they wanted to dance before the house was finished, though it only took -a couple of hours to build it. Think of being able to build a perfectly -beautiful dancing palace in a few hours! That is what can be done with -cold snow blocks. - -Kak had never before in his life enjoyed such a glorious time. The -excitement went on and on; it seemed as if it would never stop. The -villagers had also built a snow house for their guests to live in, and -when everybody was tired to death dancing, they went away to their -own homes; but Kak and his father stayed with Kitirkolak. The two -boys curled up in bed together and whispered and whispered to each -other long after the rest of the family were fast asleep. Kak had to -tell about killing the ugrug. He simply could not keep it in a minute -longer; and when Akpek chuckled from sheer disbelief, his cousin -exclaimed angrily: - -“Just you ask my father and see if it isn’t true!” - -“Oh, all right!” Akpek agreed, for he hated quarrels. “I’ll believe -it. I dare say you did spear the old ugrug; but anyway I’ve been in a -bear hunt where our best dog was killed; and if you’d been there you -would have run like the wind. Gee! It was some slaughter.” - -That shut Kak up for a minute. He was more afraid of bears than of -anything else in the world; but of course he did not want to admit that -any wild animal could scare him enough to make him run away. - -“When I get a gun,” he bragged, “I’d like to see any bear attack me. -Why, I’d just walk right up and stick the long nose into the bear’s -mouth and shoot it off, whang!--and where would your bear be then?” - -“Well, maybe you’ll have a chance, for there are lots of bears about,” -grunted Akpek as he turned over to go to sleep. - -Kak lay very still, but wide awake. This talk of bears upset him. -Suppose a bear were to come stalking about the house now, waking up the -dogs; and they all had to run out, not even waiting to put on their -clothes, and fight him off hand to hand. Oooch! The boy shivered. He -really was horribly afraid of bears, and he wished he could be a shaman -and have a powerful magic that would kill wild animals before they -appeared; instead of having to stand still till the beast came close, -or else creep nearer and nearer without letting the bear see you, and -so get a good crack at him--which the Kabluna said was the right way to -hunt with a gun. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -_Bears_ - - -The day following the dance all the villagers felt very tired; they -slept late, neglected to go hunting, and spent the time standing about -talking with the strangers, or escorting Omialik from house to house; -showing him their family belongings and clothes, their lamps and pots, -hunting implements, bows and arrows, spears and harpoons. He wanted to -take a number of these away with him to be placed in museums in New -York and other cities (where many of them are now, and where you can go -and see them if you care to) and the business of trading took a long -time. Moreover he asked a variety of questions about where they got the -stone for their lamps and the wood for their sleds, what sort of people -lived to the eastward, and so on and so forth. All their answers he -wrote down in a small book. - -Although the Eskimos think it impolite to ask questions, they were very -kind about answering. - -Now this sort of thing, while it was important to the white man, -promised a dreadfully dull day for two lively lads like Kak and Akpek. -So when they had hung around several hours waiting for action and -excitement they gave up, thoroughly disgusted, and decided to have some -fun of their own. - -“Let’s go out to the rough ice and play at climbing houses six times -six rooms high,” Kak suggested. - -If you stop to consider you will see this notion of climbing the -outside of a tall house was perfectly natural to an Arctic boy. Kak had -no conception of buildings with straight walls, for his winter home -was shaped like an old-fashioned beehive, and the proudest summer home -they ever attained was a tent. Besides he had never in his life seen a -stairway, and it is extremely difficult to imagine what you have never -seen. How could he think of climbing up inside a house by means of -stairs? But he had often scrambled on top of their snow dome to slide -down with the girls, or get a view of the surrounding country; and so -when he told Akpek of houses six times six rooms high, he had in mind -a huge pile of snow up the outside of which they would have to walk; -and the pressure ice, piled by the winter storms into ridges of great -blocks, chunk on chunk, was not such a poor imitation of this idea. - -Akpek was eager enough to go. That day he was glad to join in any game -suggested by his wonderful cousin; for Taptuna had not been able to -resist bragging about his son’s hunting, and the story of the ugrug -sounded quite different and terribly impressive when told among the -grown-ups. Hearing his father congratulate Kak, and his mother praise -him, made the other boy feel pretty small and mean about his boasting -of bear hunting the night before; and now he shyly endeavored to make -up to his chum for having doubted him. - -The boys started off shouting and running races, each anxious to get to -the rough ice first and claim the highest hummock for his house. This -was a dandy new play and a dandy place to play it. American boys would -doubtless have called the game “Castles” for the shining pinnacles -and spires of the ice blocks made splendid towers, and the whole mass -looked so handsome shimmering in bright sunshine under a cloudless sky, -its arms uplifted into the blue, and twinkling all over with a sort of -frosted Christmas card effect, it really deserved a magnificent name. -But Kak and Akpek had never heard of castles, nor indeed any building -finer than the dance hall of the day before, so they were quite content -to talk about playing at “high houses.” - -Bursts of speed and rollicking noise both stopped when they struck the -rough ice and needed their breath for climbing. From there they went -as quietly as hunters, till they had each crested the top of a large -cake; then rivalry broke loose. - -“I’m above you! Mine is the highest!” Kak cried exultantly, swinging -his sealskin boots over the edge of a precipice. But even while he -chortled in his glory, Akpek spied a higher peak, and swarming down -from his first choice without a word of warning, shinned up the second. - -“Yo-ho, there!” he crowed from what was really a daring, difficult -perch. “Who said you were on a high house? Look at me!” - -“Foxes!” yelled Kak, all his pride gone in a minute. “Come down out of -that. Don’t you know I’ve got to be on top because it’s my game!” - -But Akpek only jeered. - -Then our hero started up furiously to pull his cousin down; and Akpek -came laughing, for he was always good-natured, and although a tall lad -and a good climber, not at all sorry to be off that slippery ice arm. - -“Leave it alone,” he advised. “It’s a beggar!” - -“You believe I can climb it?” Kak asked. - -“Sure as life,” replied the other, feeling rather sheepish, for this -was a thrust at his behavior last night. “’Tain’t hard,” he added. - -“All right. So long as you don’t think I’m scared to try,” Kak answered -grandly. - -[Illustration: “I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE!”] - -So they called a truce and abandoned that ice pile for a more tempting, -bigger one lying farther out in the ridge. Of course they had to race -for it, and Kak, who felt he had been worsted on the last, ran swiftly -and climbed like a mountain goat up a wonderful tower which was cut -off flat on the top so he could stand erect, and even dance a step or -two and wave his arms. And when Akpek came in sight he was dancing up -there, singing something like: “I’m the king of the castle!” - -Akpek laughed at him, calling, “Hold on, I’m coming too,” and began to -climb with all his might. - -Kak refused to have company at first, pretending to be very angry, and -trying to shove him off. But the other boy said that was no kind of -game; he only liked sports where people could be jolly and friendly, -that dancing together was far nicer than fighting--think what a fine -time they had all enjoyed yesterday instead of rowing and killing each -other; so then Kak changed and helped him up, and they joined hands and -danced a silent sort of clog-dance out there on top of the towering ice -cake. - -Now while the boys were away on the ice the Kabluna grew tired of -looking at things and talking, and decided to go out alone for a walk -with his camera and his gun. He wanted to be prepared for anything, -either a good view or a wild animal--particularly the latter. For -although the Eskimos were very kind and generous and ready to entertain -these guests, feeding them and their dogs as long as the food lasted, -Omialik did not care to be dependent on the village. It is always a -good thing to hold up your own end in any situation. He knew the people -would respect him a great deal more if he were able to give them some -fresh meat, instead of having to take part of their supply. He started -across the ridge hoping to find a fat seal; and when he reached a good -crest sat down, took out his fieldglasses, and commenced to search very -carefully in every direction. He did not intend to kill the seal with -a spear as the Eskimos do, but hoped to be able to shoot one which -had crawled out on the ice to bask in the sunshine. Seals are fond of -coming up and lying about snoozing. As soon as the weather grows warm -they break away the ice from their holes, till these are large enough -for the owner to climb through; then Mr. Seal pokes up his head and -shoulders into the air, and working his flappers over the edge, hoists -himself out. - -While Omialik sat watching he happened to turn his glasses on to the -broken spire which Kak and Akpek had chosen for their dance. The lens -was so powerful it brought the boys right close up, so that the Kabluna -could see their funny, jolly faces; it made him almost hear their -laughter, and he laughed in chorus. That silent, awkward, pantomime -dance was as good as a play. Omialik said to himself: “I will take a -photograph of this, and when I get back to New York I can show the -American children what merry lads live up on the tiptop of the world.” - -He was much too far away to take a photograph at that minute, but he -knew Kak and Akpek would be good enough to go back and pose for him if -he could head them off on their way home. So he hurried down, thinking -no more about seals, and started in the boys’ direction. Once you get -into the rough ice it is like walking among mountains; you cannot judge -one valley from the next, nor guess what lies beyond each hummock. The -Kabluna could see his friends so long as they stayed up on their little -sky theater; but after they grew tired of the game and left, they were -entirely lost to him. Yet he kept on, for he was on the shore side -and they must be coming back soon; and when they got nearer he would -attract their attention by calling. - -In the middle of the dance Akpek thought of a joke he might play on his -cousin, so he said he felt hungry and that it was time to go home, and -his hands were cold; and although Kak tried his best to persuade him to -stay, he scrambled down from the tower. - -Well, of course, there was more room to dance with only one up on top. -Kak could not resist giving a final fling or two, and singing again: - -“I’m the king of the castle!” - -And while he was right in the middle of it Akpek looked up and shouted: - -“Bears! Bears!” - -Poor Kak! Every last ounce of blood dropped out of his heart. His song -broke on a high note. He missed a step and nearly fell. Akpek stood -still in an attitude of terror watching him come slithering and sliding -down, not caring how he came. And then that cruel boy doubled over and -nearly died from laughing because there were no animals at all; he had -only called out to frighten his cousin whose fear of bears was known to -everybody. - -When Kak discovered the trick that had been played on him he felt nasty -and said he was going home; and now Akpek could not persuade _him_ to -stay. The boys walked along silently trying to find a path between the -ice hummocks, and not enjoying themselves a bit. Nothing takes the -zest out of things like a quarrel. They felt tired from their day’s -climbing, and now only wanted to get home the shortest and easiest way. - -“Isn’t that Omialik?” Akpek asked brusquely, pointing to a figure -scrambling over the ridge with the sun shining full upon it. - -“Don’t know.” - -They could tell it was one of the strangers from his long, tailless -coat. - -“It is--it is!” Kak suddenly cried, brightening. “He’s got his gun. I -wish a bear would come so you could hear it bang off! You’d be scared -then.” - -“Scared--me!” - -The man disappeared behind an ice hummock. Akpek continued indignantly: -“Say, it takes more than a little puff of noise to scare me! What do -you think? Have we been deaf all winter while this ice ridge was piling -up here?” - -“That’s different--nobody minds ice screeching. The gun makes a -terrific bang like thunder, only worse. I tell you I wish we’d meet a -bear--almost.” - -The last word was hastily added as Kak realized the enormity of his -wish. He had an uneasy idea that when a lad wishes aloud he sometimes -gets his wish. Akpek’s next words did nothing to soothe him. - -“Well, I ain’t scared anyway, and you are.” - -“I’m not!” - -“You are too.” - -“Didn’t I kill an ugrug?” - -“That’s nothing to do with bears. I dare say you’d feel all hollow -inside if you saw one right now.” - -“So would you.” - -“I would not!” - -The boys continued to argue. They were passing through a small pocket -of level ice among lower cakes, while the Kabluna, who had just caught -a glimpse of them, ran up a neighboring valley in their direction. - -“You think you’re some hunter,” Kak insisted. “But what have you ever -done alone? Now I----” - -“Ah, cheese it!” his cousin laughed in great good humor. “I guess if we -saw a bear right here, without a dog, or a bow and arrow, or a spear or -anything, we’d both drop dead.” - -“Speak for yourself----” - -“Chrrrrrrrrr----!” - -The sound stabbing Kak’s sentence sounded much like a cat on a back -fence, only horribly loud and near. If you had heard it in the city you -might have taken it for the grinding of motor gears; or in the country -for an angry gander. To the Eskimos it meant but one thing. - -Both boys leaped about three feet off the ice, turned while leaping, -and came down the other way round face to face with a huge polar bear. -He was standing above them on the ridge, his massive front paws almost -near enough to reach out and knock them over. The beast’s small eyes -glistened; his yellow teeth showed under a curled lip below his sharp, -black nose; and his head swung from side to side as if he were asking -himself: - -“Which shall I eat first; or shall I tackle both at once?” - -The bear was hungry. Luck in catching seals had been poor lately and -the cousins looked to him like two juicy, big fellows. They had smelt -very good as he followed them up-wind, for Kak and Akpek had played -with dead seals while waiting in the village for the day’s fun to -begin; and when the pursuer actually saw them he could not refrain, in -his joy over a square meal, from giving that nasty bear laugh. It was a -fortunate thing for the boys that he felt so jolly. If he had only kept -quiet and pounced he would have made sure of one course anyway. - -The enemy seemed in no hurry. Hours and hours and hours and seconds he -stood gloating, while the boys, hypnotized by fear, stared into his -white face, which was not a bit whiter than their own. Goose flesh had -burst out all over them like a rash, every hair on their bodies felt as -if it were rising on end, their knees trembled, and their tongues stuck -to the roofs of their mouths. Kak did give one gurgle, a faint, choked -sound that hardly reached farther than the walls of their ice pocket. -It was living evidence of his stark terror but as a cry for help must -be counted out; yet Akpek, who was positively frozen stiff with fear, -lungs and throat and all, and quite incapable of making any sound or -moving hand or foot, was mean enough afterward to throw it up to Kak -that he yelled. - -Now the Kabluna was a mighty hunter. He had killed dozens and dozens -of white bears and grizzly bears and wolves and seals and all kinds of -beasts and wild birds; and he had trained both his eyes and his ears to -miss nothing when he was out in the open. That hard, trilling noise, -violently rasping the youngsters’ nerves, had reached him faintly while -climbing the other side of the ice ridge. In an instant he was tearing -forward, unslinging his gun from his shoulder as he ran. - -He saw the bear first--a yellow-white blot between the shimmering -snow-covered pile and the blue sky; then Kak’s wheeze of agony drew his -attention to the human prey below. - -Crack! - -The huge animal was gathering himself to spring when the bullet tearing -into his shoulder upset his calculations. He didn’t know what had hit -him; but he lost his balance and instead of landing on top of the boys -tumbled heels over head at their feet. That was the most frightful -moment of all, when they saw him coming and thought a thousand pounds -of white bear was bound to crash on to them. But the abruptness of it -broke his spell; Akpek and Kak were dashing to the Kabluna for shelter -before Mr. Polar Bear could scramble to his feet and make connections. - -The whole situation had reversed in a twinkling. The bear, from having -all the best of it, was now much the worst off. He was down and the -boys up. His fine seals had escaped, and a third strange animal, with -command of this queer, stinging, long-distance bite, was standing -aloft and just going to do it again. Dumbly the poor beast looked -up, measured his foe, and in mute fear turned to fly from there; but -as he turned Omialik’s rifle cracked again, and a bullet through his -side, entering his heart, put an end to all his hunger. He proved to -be a very poor, thin old bear and the hunter felt almost sorry to have -killed him; but the boys talked loud and fast, bubbling over with -excited thanks. - -“It is lucky I came along right then,” the white man scolded. “You -youngsters have no business to be so far out here alone, without -weapons or dogs.” - -He felt cross because it seemed too bad that such jolly kids should -take any chances on ending up as a bear’s supper. - -What to do next was now the question. Somebody must mount guard and -keep the foxes off their fresh meat--poor as it was it would feed the -dogs--and somebody must run quickly to the village, and send help out -to take the carcass home. A polar bear, which can be easily two or -three times the size of a lion, is often toted home by being turned -on its back and drawn along with a rope fastened through holes in its -lips and around the snout. But Omialik thought this would be too much -for his young companions over all that rough ice, so he allowed Akpek -to choose jobs. After some argument the boys decided to hurry on with -the news. Going ahead across the ridge was a terrible trial, for their -nerves had been shaken, but the village offered shelter in the end; and -certainly they would be safe much sooner than if they stayed out there -while Omialik walked over and the other folk returned. Besides, if any -more bears came about the white man could use his gun. - -With their hearts in their mouths and their glances constantly darting -here and there, front and back, sidewise and up and down the two lads -scrambled over ridges, helter-skelter, and rushed across level patches. -They did not hunt the easy path now but made straight for home, -guiding themselves by a range of high hills inland. Soon they clambered -down the final hummock, and went flying across the flat ice, shouting -their news long before anybody could hear: - -“The Kabluna has killed a bear!” - -“Omialik has shot a bear!” - -When the village woke up to what was being called it burst into violent -activity. Some of the men grabbed their large knives and started -at once out over the ice; others waited to fetch their dogs. Akpek -entertained a circle with a highly colored version of the whole affair; -but Kak turned back after the crowd which was following their freshly -made trail to where the hunter waited. He simply could not keep himself -away from the wonder of that gun. - -Omialik had been busy skinning and cutting his bear, so there was -nothing left for the Eskimos to do but quickly load up each with -a large piece on his back and start homeward. They made a strange -procession coming over the ridge, with these bumpy bundles on their -necks, dead-black against the burning sky; for the sun had set and reds -and golds flamed all round the wide horizon. The Kabluna walked last -carrying his long-nosed weapon. The people would not let him carry -anything else. They saw now he was a shaman with a powerful magic that -could kill a bear by pointing at it, and dear knows what else he could -do, so they wanted to make everything very agreeable for him. - -Only Kak and his father really understood about the bullets. The boy -trudged manfully along with his share of the bear meat, keeping close -to Taptuna; for when a lad has been face to face with a wild animal and -in peril of his life, somehow he feels desperately fond of his father. -After they were safely on the level road they began to talk about the -gun. - -“I’m going to learn to shoot,” Kak said in his most dogged voice. - -“What is the good of learning to shoot if you do not take your bow when -you go among the rough ice?” - -“I don’t want a bow--I mean shoot a gun.” - -Taptuna grunted. - -“I’ve got to go to Herschel Island and learn.... Shall I go to Herschel -Island?... When can I go to Herschel Island?” - -About five minutes elapsed between these questions, Kak taking his -father’s silence for consent. - -Then Taptuna spoke. “We’ll see,” was all he said, which, as you -doubtless understand, is a father’s speech when he does not know quite -what to say and cannot directly make up his mind. Presently he added: - -“It is too far for you to go alone. Your mother could not spare you -yet. But perhaps we might all travel south this summer.” - -“All of us!” Kak scouted the thought. “It would be heaps more fun to go -with the Kabluna! Who wants Noashak tagging along!” - -His father grunted and walked on silently, planning. A journey across -Coronation Gulf and inland to the headwaters of the Dease River would -be doubly profitable. The country there abounds in wood. Now wood is -very scarce where Kak was living. No trees grow on the southwest of -Victoria Island, and the prevailing winds combine with the currents in -the strait to carry most of the driftwood on to the mainland. Taptuna -had broken the runner on his large sled that winter, and had been -terribly put about to find material for a new one. But necessity is -the mother of invention in the Arctic as elsewhere--when you must do a -thing for yourself you find a way to do it. Eskimos are clever about -solving this sort of riddle. Taptuna mourned over the sled for a week -and then, needing it badly, set about repairs. Taking a musk-ox hide, -he soaked it in water, and folding it into the shape of a plank pressed -it flat and even. The next step was to carry it outdoors and let it -freeze. This of course it did in a very short time and as solid as any -kind of wood; so that Taptuna was able to hew out a sled runner exactly -as he would have cut one from timber. When this runner was put in place -you could hardly tell the difference between the two; but the new one -had a great fault. It would only serve during the cold season. When the -sun shone hotly and the snow thawed, the runner would thaw too and go -flop--the hide be no stiffer than the skins on their beds. - -Taptuna said, “We’ll see,” while he was remembering this broken sleigh, -and also that his whole family would need new clothes before next -winter. Guninana, like most ladies, had a preference in dress; she -considered deerskins the finest and softest for making garments--all -their coats, shirts and trousers--everything in fact except their -boots, which must be of stronger stuff; and they were sure to find -numbers of caribou about Dease River in the late summer when the skins -are at their best. - -Since he could kill two birds with one stone--that is, supply both -their acute needs on this trip, Taptuna decided to go. Kak was at first -very scornful. - -“Herschel Island or nothing!” he cried, and could only talk of his -disappointment. - -But later, when he learned that Omialik intended to spend part of the -summer at Dease River, and heard the grown-ups planning to meet at -Dismal Lake Ford, he decided father’s way was not so bad after all, -changed his tune completely, nearly burst with enthusiasm; and bragged -about the journey as a great adventure till he made Akpek frightfully -jealous. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -_Queer Tales_ - - -On the way home poor Kak walked right into some very bad luck. It was -standing with open arms waiting for him; but I think if he had paid a -little more heed to advice, he might have avoided the catastrophe. - -This is how it happened: - -The whole village got up early in the morning to say good-by to Omialik -and his Eskimos, and watch them start away to the southeast where they -intended to visit other tribes. As soon as this excitement was over -Taptuna prepared to take his leave. They would be a party of three, -for a friend called Okak, who also wanted to spend the summer at Dease -River, had asked permission to travel with them; and as it would be -pleasant to have another neighbor on the ice until they left, Taptuna -said: “Very well, come along now.” - -Kitirkolak and Akpek volunteered to accompany their relatives a short -distance; and this suggestion was hailed with delight. It made the -first leg of their homeward journey a sort of joy ride, instead of sad -departure. - -It was a glorious, sunshiny day, windless and warm for the time of -year. The dogs drew a light load, and with one man ahead to encourage -them and two for managing the sleigh, both boys were free to run as -they wished. Their road led south directly into the sun and seeing -this, Okak, who was a timid person and believed an ounce of prevention -worth several pounds of cure, put on his eye protectors at the start. -Eye protectors are worn to dim the great glare of the snow, otherwise -the light reflected from the whiteness all around is so fierce that -one’s eyes soon begin to smart and burn and water. These are the signs -of snowblindness, a very painful botheration. - -Taptuna soon called a halt to adjust his goggles (narrow pieces of -hollow wood with a slit for each eye about big enough to slip a silver -half dollar through) and Kak should have followed his example. But -he hated the things. You can easily understand they are not very -comfortable to use. They limit one’s vision to a small line, so in -order to see any object you have to look straight at it. Now in -following a freshly broken trail you must watch your step, and with -these goggles that means you can watch nothing but the path, which -takes all the shine out of the day. Wearing eye protectors has about -the same effect on a boy’s spirits that a muzzle has on a pup’s. -Neither Kak nor Akpek would put them on. This was less serious for -Akpek because he would only be out a short time, and did not have to -face the strain of a long journey over the snow. - -The cousins made great sport together, running races, playing leapfrog, -now breaking a road ahead with Kitirkolak or trotting along behind; Kak -boasting to his chum of all the fun he expected to have that summer. - -The day was so calm and the load so light the party moved at record -speed. It seemed hardly any time till Akpek’s father said they were -far enough from home and must turn back. Then they all stopped and got -together for a last good-by, and Okak noticed the boys’ uncovered eyes. -He spoke of it at once: - -“You’ll be sorry, mark my words! Snowblindness isn’t any fun. Oh, I -know you don’t feel it, nobody feels it till too late. Your eyes are -probably strained now.” - -“They are not!” - -Kak glared angrily at the speaker, and Akpek giggled which made his -cousin’s face flame scarlet. They were ready to call Okak a “fraid cat” -and a “funk.” Every one knew him for a nervous man, always fussing -about something, and laughed at him for it. He was afraid of new -places. It was on this account Taptuna put up with him on their journey -to the mainland. He felt sure the poor fellow would be too apprehensive -of trouble ever to go any place alone. Okak was scarcely a cheerful -companion. He showed anxiety at every turn, and was constantly worrying -for fear they would not kill seals, or catch fish, or get enough of -whatever game his people happened to be living on. The boys thought -him a regular old woman. Kak stuck his tongue out at Akpek to express -his utter scorn of this silliness about goggles; and determined to go -without them all day, “just to show him.” Probably if Okak had not been -so famous as a trouble hunter Taptuna would have taken the matter up; -as it was the parting from his brother, looking back, hand waving and -calling messages, drove the thing out of his head. - -Taptuna now chose the job of running in front and Okak managed the -sleigh, Kak lending a hand once in a while. The snow was mostly smooth, -the dogs fresh, the men in fine spirits--just the sort of morning -when it is a joy to be alive! Things went like a well-oiled machine; -and Kak would have reveled in every minute of the trip, had it not -been for Okak. All the time they were behind together he kept nagging -and nagging the boy to put on his “specs.” And, of course, the more -he nagged the more obstinate Kak grew, till at last he was so mad at -the man, he felt he would rather endure snowblindness than follow his -advice; and in a burst of temper threw his protectors away. - -Kak was young and had so far escaped this affliction. If he had guessed -how much it could hurt he would certainly have been goggled from the -word go. - -When they camped that night, even before they finished building the -house, he began to have qualms. Maybe Okak had been right about -“strain.” His lids felt queer, as if they had sand under them. He -winked but the sand would not go away. At supper time he was sure the -lamp smoked, and examined it carefully on the quiet. There were no -signs of smoke, yet his eyes smarted. Thankful for an excuse to shut -them he rolled into bed early, and got some rest; but toward morning -shooting pains awakened him, and these pains increased steadily till -his eyes ran water. Kak’s fighting spirit, backed by shame, prevented -him from complaining, though he lay suffering for hours. He pretended -sleepiness when the men got up and, working this bluff, managed to -loiter in the shelter of the house till the very last minute. - -The boy knew now he had been no end of a fool to throw his goggles -away. He hated to confess; dreaded Okak’s remarks and his father’s -displeasure; and hoped against hope to be able to travel and so avoid -all the fuss. By gritting his teeth he managed to start behind the -sleigh. The ache was excruciating. The vast snow field glistened and -twinkled with a million tiny diamonds where frost caught the sunlight, -and every one of them became a little white flame that leaped into -Kak’s eyes and burned there. He tried not to look, keeping his glance -down to the path; but for all his trying they would get into the left -eye. So after a while he shut it and used only the right. That proved -soothing, but it had the disadvantage of putting double strain on the -working eye. Now the right one commenced to smart so badly he was -obliged to shut it and keep it shut. He managed to follow with one -hand on the sled, opening the left eye every thirty seconds to peep at -the road. It was a very bleary, miserable business for both eyes were -running water. Kak tried to shake the drops off. He knew that he was in -serious trouble. What a crazy idiot he had been! He grew more and more -afraid to confess, and so pegged along the best he could, blinking and -winking his tears away, and suffering agony. - -Of course Okak caught him at it. He was bound to catch him, for he -expected this very thing. - -“Stop!” - -The word of command rang through the clear air. Taptuna turned swiftly. -The dogs stood panting, Kak hung his head. - -“Look at that silly child. Eyes like rivers and he will not use his -goggles!” Okak shrilled. - -The boy jerked his head up and tried to look straight at his father; -but it was no use, all the diamonds leaped into one furious white fire -blinding as the heart of a furnace. He screwed his lids in a spasm. - -“Put on your protectors this instant!” roared Taptuna. - -Then Kak had to confess, and his father was very, very angry. - -“What made you do such a stupid thing? Do you think it manly or brave? -It is not even sane! I am surprised at you--behaving like Noashak! And -now what are you going to wear? I cannot lead without mine--that would -only mean both of us being laid up.... Tut, tut!” - -“It isn’t so bad with them shut,” the sufferer answered. “If you drive -more slowly, I guess I can keep along here on this smooth ground.” - -Kak was about as ashamed as any boy of his age could well be, for his -father had said a nasty and a just thing when accusing him of behaving -like Noashak. In fact he was so ashamed that for a while he forgot how -badly his eyes hurt, or else pride made him able to pretend. They were -going slowly and with both hands on the sled he stumbled along somehow. -The pain grew worse and worse and floods of tears kept on running down -over his cheeks. He was not crying in the ordinary way. Tears come with -snowblindness. Your eyes are so sore that you simply cannot hold them -back. Poor Kak had every minute to wipe his face with his mitt; and -when he took one hand off the sled to do this he almost always tripped. -Then Okak would say: - -“There! Didn’t I tell you so? If you would mind older people a little -you might keep out of these troubles. But no--you are a willful boy and -you have got what you deserve. You are probably in for a severe attack; -and all because you would not listen to your Uncle Okak!” - -This sort of conversation went all wrong with Kak. He grew angrier and -angrier, and his eyes smarted worse every minute; the proof that Okak -was right making him angrier still. At last he could stand the twin -irritation no longer and barking out: - -“Oh, do shut up! Give a chap a rest!” He sat down in the road and began -to blub. - -“Stop!” - -Taptuna gave the word to his dogs and swung around. - -“You see how it turns out!” cried Okak. “Just as I told you.” - -He pointed to where Kak crouched, for the dogs had gone a short -distance before stopping. “If you had made him listen to me, friend, we -would have been flying along still.” - -Without a word Taptuna ran back to his son. - -“Is it as bad as that, my boy?” he asked kindly. Okak annoyed him with -his bossy I-told-you-so manner; he partly understood why Kak had thrown -away his goggles. - -Poor Kak was sitting in the snow with the tears streaming over his -face, feeling he had not a friend in the world. He expected to be -scolded, and the sound of his father’s voice was such a nice surprise -it broke him all up. Now he commenced to cry really. - -“I’ve got to get home, and I can’t see! I can’t go any further. I’ll -just have to sit here and freeze. I can’t stand this agony! I can’t get -home!... Boo-hoo.... I can’t bear it!” - -Don’t think Kak a great cry-baby. On other occasions he had proved -both brave and resourceful. Remember snowblindness is one of the most -painful afflictions possible. It is not really blindness in the sense -that you cannot see; but at its worst the eyes are so sore one dare not -open them even for a minute to look at anything, and so the sufferer -is practically blind. - -Taptuna saw at once that Kak’s eyes were in a bad way; but he did not -think telling him so would help. Okak had done sufficient croaking for -the whole journey; instead he said cheerfully: - -“Don’t you worry, old fellow, we’ll get you home all right. Buck up now -and take my arm and I’ll lead you to the sleigh. I can make a tent for -you on it so that you won’t even know the sun shines.” - -Then Kak stumbled to where Okak waited with the team, and his father -readjusted the load, making a comfortable little nest for him to lie -in; and finally covered him all over with a bearskin so it was almost -as dark as night. The air grew stifling hot under the fur rug, and his -legs were terribly cramped, the eyes pained and still ran quarts of -tears; but his father’s care was so precious to him after being such -a forlorn, stubborn, naughty outcast, that the boy really felt almost -happy, and kept as still as a mouse, while Sapsuk and Pikalu, going at -a steady walk, for the load was not so light now, covered the shining -miles. - -In this humble manner Kak returned from the journey on which he had -started so gloriously and with such splendid company. - -There is no cure for snowblindness; nothing to do but grin and bear -it. One sits in the house with one’s head covered and gradually the -pain goes away. Kak lay indoors with a blanket over his head for two -days and Guninana sat beside him all the time trying to amuse him, as -your mother does when you are ill. She was busy sewing, for as soon as -Taptuna told her about the summer trip, she knew the family must have -a good supply of water-boots, so she set to work making them from the -skins of small seals. It was Kak who did most of the talking, telling -every detail of their visit in the village. This pleased his mother. -While she sewed she asked questions, and more questions, for she saw -that thinking of his adventures helped to take the boy’s mind off his -pain. When Kak told Guninana the story of being chased by the polar -bear she was nearly scared out of her wits; and for a minute both were -so thrilled they forgot all about his trouble. - -Noashak, however, did not allow them to forget long. She would come and -stand beside Kak and ask: - -“How do you feel now? Are you crying so much? What is it like to keep -your head under the bedclothes all day? Can’t you see my shadow with -your eyes shut when I stand here by the lamp?” - -She meant it partly in kindness, but it always started the pain, and -Kak would cry: - -“Do stop talking! Do go away!” - -And Noashak because she was selfish and liked to tease would not go -away, but tried to crawl in beside him under the skin. - -Kak shoved her off and she began to howl; so Guninana had to contrive -quickly an errand to send her on just to get rid of her. - -“I think it would amuse Kak if we had a party to-night and told -stories,” she said. “You run, Noashak, and tell Hitkoak’s family and -Okak to come here after supper. We will see who can tell the best -story, and the one who tells the best will have a reward.” - -“What reward?” demanded the children in one breath. - -“One of the caribou tongues that the Kabluna gave us.” - -“Goody! Hurrah!” - -Caribou tongue is about the nicest thing Eskimos ever get to eat. The -white man had saved them and repaid hospitality with a treat--like -sending his hostess a box of candy. - -Noashak clapped her hands and ran to spread the news, leaving her poor -brother in peace. Then Kak said, “Mother, you’re a trump,” or the -nearest thing to it in Eskimo, which made Guninana smile all over her -face, for even parents like to know their trouble is appreciated. - -Fortunately Noashak got so interested in playing with the neighbor -girls she stayed over there, and did not return till they all arrived -calling from the tunnel: - -“We are Hitkoak and Kamik and Alannak and Katak and Noashak and Okak. -We are coming in.” - -Eskimos have difficult names and a child may be given twenty of them -like a foreign prince, but each person only uses one, without anything -to indicate the family relationship. - -This is the story Kamik told, and everybody agreed it took the prize. - -Once upon a time a young man was lying near a pond waiting for some -caribou to move away from a very open place where they had been -feeding, so that he might creep up on them and shoot them with his bow -and arrows. Instead of moving on the caribou lay down. At this the -hunter felt terribly disappointed for he knew it meant waiting ever so -much longer, and he was tired of waiting. He had just about decided to -give up and go and find other caribou in an easier position, when a -flock of wild geese flew over and settled on the edge of the pond. They -looked pretty fluttering down from the blue sky. The youth watched -them idly for a while, then he said to himself: - -[Illustration: THE HUNTER COULD NOT BELIEVE HIS EYES.] - -“Ah, I will have some of these geese to take home.” And he drew an -arrow out of his quiver. - -But before he had laid the arrow across the bow he saw a strange sight. -The geese began to take off their feathers. They took them off like -dresses, folded them up neatly and laid them on the shore; and as each -one laid aside her downy dress she turned into a beautiful girl, and -ran into the water and began to splash and swim about. - -The hunter could not believe his eyes. He rubbed them hard and looked -again. The girls were all in the water now having a good time. Was it -possible they had flown over like geese? He did not know what to make -of it, but finally he decided they were girls dressed up as geese, and -he thought to himself: - -“One trick deserves another; and here is a fine chance for me to play a -joke.” - -So he crept along very carefully without making the slightest noise -till he got near enough to suddenly leap up and rush and seize their -feathery dresses. When they saw him do this all the girls cried -out. But the hunter only laughed and ran away. Then they called and -called to him to come back and give them their clothes; they cried -and pleaded. And a great number of wild geese came flying overhead, -calling--calling. The sky was quite dark with them till the youth grew -afraid and ashamed and brought back their feathers. As he handed each -dress to its owner she slipped into it and was instantly a goose again, -and flew away to seaward with a flock of the wild birds. The hunter, -who couldn’t make it out at all, stood staring after each one; while -the girls who were left waited crying for their clothes, and wild wings -beat overhead. - -When it came to the last girl, she was so beautiful the youth decided -he could not let her go. - -She begged and prayed: “Oh, do let me fly away with my friends! Do let -me go--do let me go!” - -But the hunter said: “No. You are the most beautiful creature I have -ever seen, and you must stay and be my wife.” - -“I do not want to be your wife! I do not want to stay!” the poor girl -cried. - -But he would not let her go. So the last of the geese got tired waiting -for her and flew away. Then he took her to his house and she became his -wife. - -Now when the bird-girl had been the hunter’s wife for many months she -grew weary of living in the same spot. She longed to fly about in the -open sky, to hover and swoop and sail, and most of all to find her lost -companions; so she began to look for goose feathers, and when she found -any she took them carefully and hid them in her house. Of course her -husband knew nothing about this. While he was away hunting she used to -work sewing the feathers into a dress. And finally one day, when the -dress was finished, she carried it outside and put it on. At once her -powerful magic turned her into a goose, and she flew to seaward. - -That evening her husband returned joyfully, for he had killed three -caribou. He ran calling out the good news to make her happy. But when -he came into the house and found it empty and cold, all his gladness -turned to bitter grief; he sat down with his face in his hands and -cried. And the next morning early he went out and skinned his caribou, -brought home the meat, dried it, packed enough to feed him for a long -time, and started out to look for his wife. - -He walked and walked and walked over the rolling hills, but he -never saw anything of her at all. He looked in every pond and lake -and wandered by the rivers. When he saw geese black against the -sky he would crouch down quickly and call “Lirk-a-lik-lik-lik! -Lirk-a-lik-lik-lik!” for that sounds like the goose call, and he hoped -she might hear and relent and come back to live with him. But she never -came, and he never heard anything of her. - -One day the hunter’s travels brought him to a mighty river on the bank -of which sat a man making fish, adzing them out of pieces of wood and -throwing them into the water. Now this man was called Kayungayuk, and -he had a strong magic. You can believe it for the fish he made out of -the wood swam away as soon as he threw them into the water. - -The hunter, seeing this, thought: “Here is somebody who can help me.” -So he approached the stranger and said: “I am a poor man who is looking -for his wife.” - -But there was no reply. - -“Can you help me to find my wife?” he asked. - -The man continued cutting his fish out of pieces of wood and naming -them as he threw them in the water. “Be a seal,” he commanded a large -piece, and the wood turned into a seal and swam off. “Be a walrus,” he -said to the next, and it became a walrus. When he took up a handful of -chips they turned into salmon. “Be a whale,” he commanded his largest -model, and it turned into a whale. He made all the swimming things on -the flesh of which men live, and the hunter watched him. - -But after a while the watcher grew impatient and said: “I will pay you -if you will tell me where my wife is.” He urged the man to tell, and -the other did not even look up. Then the hunter offered to give him his -adze if he would tell him what had become of his wife. - -The man kept right on chopping, but now he mumbled to himself: -“Ulimaun. Ulimaun.” (Meaning “An adze, an adze.”) - -So the hunter felt encouraged, and opened his tool bag which was on the -ground beside him, took out his adze, and gave it to the man as a gift. - -And the man said: “Your wife is tired of being a goose, she has turned -back into a woman, and she is over there on the ice fishing--to the -west.” - -Now suddenly it was winter and there was ice on the river and over the -ice deep snow; but all this did not frighten the hunter for he knew -Kayungayuk’s magic was working; and he went into the river under the -ice, which was the quickest way. When one has magic and goes into the -water, one finds that the water does not reach to the bottom of the -river or sea. There is a space below over which the water stretches -like a tent roof--like the ice, only thicker. And so the hunter was -able to walk across the river bottom under the water and the ice. - -The young caribou hunter had never got over his habit of playing -tricks. Because of his wife’s being lost he had seemed very sad and -dull for a long time; but now he was going to get her back he turned -jolly again. As he walked across the bottom of the river underneath -where the people were fishing, he saw all their fish hooks hanging down -through the water, and he couldn’t resist giving each hook a little -tug like a fish biting--just to fool them up there. The people felt -the jerks and began hauling in their lines to catch the fish. Then the -hunter laughed and laughed. - -He came to his wife’s hook and gave it a little tug. But when she -hurried to pull in her fish, he caught the hook strongly with both -hands, and she pulled him up. - -Kamik finished abruptly, yet her audience seemed quite satisfied; -for when Eskimos come to the end of their yarns they stop, without -bothering to add our traditional phrase: “And they lived happy ever -after.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -_Summer Travels_ - - -As soon as Kak’s eyes were strong enough to stand sunlight he joined -his father and the other men in the great spring seal hunt. This is the -time of year when the Eskimos store seal oil for their next winter’s -supply, and killing sufficient animals to fill the bags with oil means -keeping at the hunting early and late. Taptuna was a provident man; -that is while the sun shone hotly on his bare head, making the sweat -run down his neck, he could still remember how winter felt; how dark it -was for hunting then, and how cold, and that the season would surely -come again. He and Guninana both felt happier about going south for the -summer when they knew that several full bags of oil were awaiting their -return. Which is much the same as our liking to have next winter’s coal -put into the cellar in April. - -An oil bag is made by skinning a seal through the mouth, commencing -at the lips and turning the skin backward over the head and neck and -body as one might turn a sock inside out. By leaving the flippers on -unskinned, openings are avoided, and the “poke” is tied at the mouth. -When they had made and filled enough bags Taptuna began to pack up. -This proved a simple business, for there were no trunks to put things -in, and awfully few things to put. Their best winter clothing, the -heaviest fur blankets, large cooking pots, wooden food platters, lamps, -and oil containers they could spare during the summer; but he was too -canny to leave anything behind on that exposed coast where bears prowl -continually, when it was possible to take the load with them and cache -it among the small islands of Coronation Gulf, which is one of the -safest places in the whole Arctic. Polar bears come into the gulf so -seldom that many middle-aged people who have spent their lives there -have never even seen one. - -The first stage of their journey promised anxious moments, for it -lay over the ice bridging the dangerous waters of Dolphin and Union -Straits. Through this twenty-mile channel, dividing Victoria Island -from the mainland, the current runs like a mill race. You doubtless -know that running water is always the last to freeze and the first -to thaw; the ice is never as thick here as in other places; and late -in the spring (it was now May) might not be any too strong to bear a -loaded sled. Breaking through the ice and taking a cold plunge into -the chilly water underneath is far from pleasant, even when the sun -remains shining nearly all night to dry by. Such accidents do happen, -however, and on the edge of a floe, where there is little danger except -from the wetting, may cause a lot of laughter as the unfortunate victim -is pulled out. But to go through into the straits was an entirely -different affair. That swiftly racing, cruel tide below would carry a -man like a chip, and whirl him instantly, with his first cry for help -on his lips, to the black doom of the airless ocean under the ice. - -Taptuna decided to travel by night for two reasons: not only would the -ice be better, but he was using his damaged sleigh with the musk-ox -runner, and had to be very careful that the sun’s rays did not beat on -it and thaw out the hide. Every morning when they stopped to camp and -sleep, it was his custom to bank snow around the frozen skin plank, so -that the summer warmth could not penetrate. He also laid skins on top -of the sleigh, making for it a sort of tent; and after sunrise he hung -these skins over the edge of the sunny side so that his faked runner -slid along in cool shade. - -The first stop was to be at Lambert’s Island in the middle of the -straits, which is a good camping place because of the driftwood there. -Rather than strike out over the ice at once the chief guide led his -party in a gentle diagonal from the coast. He walked ahead testing -their way every now and then with his pick. Sea ice is not like the -fresh-water ice we skate on; instead of being brittle it is elastic, -and gives the traveler warning when not strong enough to hold him by -bending as he walks over it. Guninana and Noashak came second, while -Kak drove the dogs; and Okak, very much scared by the whole adventure, -ambled along behind in what he considered the safest place; reasoning -that if the load went over the ice would surely be strong enough to -bear him. He had not the courage to try imagining what would happen if -the load broke through. - -Taptuna smiled at this anxiety. He had thought out a scheme for their -guidance and was quite sure it would work. At this time of year the -caribou migrate in bands from the mainland northward. One day, when -he was after seals, he had watched several of these picking their way -across the straits. They approached slowly in a very zigzag course, -but all got over without any accident so far as he could see. The -Eskimo said to himself: “Where they go we can go.” And now he led his -family east till they came to the fresh tracks of a good-sized band; -by following these to the island, and next evening picking up another -track to guide them to the mainland, they were able to cross without -any trouble at all. - -They camped again, and next afternoon, under a cloudy sky, made good -way past Cape Krusenstern. Taptuna welcomed the clouds; they saved him -from protecting his sled runner and afforded greater freedom in the -hours of travel. By morning the party had reached their little island, -made their cache, and were all ready for a good, long sleep. - -Everybody rolled out to dinner in wonderful spirits. With their load -lightened by half, traveling turned into a lark. A few hours over -this solid, smooth bay ice would bring them to Rae River--a pleasant -prospect. Guninana smiled, thinking how easy it would be there to go -out and get a nice breakfast of fish, and maybe a dinner of fish, and -after that a supper of fish in the Eskimo fashion; for these northern -folk generally live on one thing at a time, and that the game most -readily caught where they may happen to be. Taptuna relaxed, threw his -sense of responsibility to the winds and played tag with his children; -and Okak came back from a state of blanched fear to his natural color. - -Owing to these high jinks they were tired before starting, and it -proved to be quite a few miles to Rae River, for their island lay at -the outer edge of the group. On they toiled through the gathering -gloom, growing more and more weary. Noashak had long ago demanded a -ride and was sprawled out over the load, fast asleep. Even her mother -felt done. - -“We must be nearly there,” she sighed. - -“I can see the river now, beyond the rocks yonder,” Okak answered. - -“No rocks here!” grunted Taptuna. - -“Then what are those shadowy things?” - -Okak pointed, but the chief guide was too fed up with his friend’s -fancies to bother about them. - -“You are always frightening yourself with shadowy things,” Guninana -said. “Probably that river you see is a streak in the sky.” - -They walked on in silence after that till Kak suddenly stopped. - -“I see rocks,” he cried. “One--two--three.... Wolves and foxes! They’re -not rocks, they’re tents!” - -This was a most exciting discovery. No one had expected to find a -village at the river’s mouth, but they welcomed it with joy. People -camped here must be friendly, acquaintances by reputation anyhow. -News travels slowly in the north, but very surely. Everybody hears -everything sooner or later. Their jaded spirits soared in happy -anticipation as they hurried on. - -Dead silence greeted the party; not a sound nor a motion came from -those tents. Evidently the inhabitants had all gone to bed early on -account of the darkness. In this part of the country this time of year -it is broad daylight always during fair weather, and a cloudy evening -offers an excellent chance to catch up on one’s lost sleep. The only -signs of life about the village were the dogs. Some lay curled on the -ground following their masters’ example, and others prowled to and fro. -Eskimo dogs are the worst watch dogs in the world: no good at all on -the job. They never bark and they are generally chummy with travelers. -These dogs proved no exception to the rule. As soon as they smelled the -strangers they came out wagging their tails and making all sorts of -friendly advances; not giving so much as one little “wow” of warning. -If Taptuna and Okak had wanted to they could have crept into the tents -and killed everybody. - -Being awake and up and dressed the newcomers had decidedly the -advantage in position; and yet Okak was so crazy-frightened at the -thought of bad Eskimos, he trembled like an aspen and nagged to “Come -away.” Taptuna, laughing, strode on. - -“Visitors are here!” he called. “Visitors are here!” - -Still the people slept. - -Kak was already unharnessing. Being so tired he wanted to get ahead -with the work and reckoned on tired dogs behaving themselves. But -they were hungry dogs, too. Freed from his leash Sapsuk threw up -his nose and sniffed once. A strong smell of fresh fish, which he -loved, perfumed the air. He sniffed again and dashed up-wind toward -the source. Because he was going lickity-split up the wind, through -twilight, and paying very little heed to where he went, he landed -squarely on one of the sleeping village dogs before the stranger -got a whiff of him. It is hard to say which of the two was the more -surprised. However, there is no question which was the angrier. The -under cur gave a growl like a wolf, swung his long jaw around and bit -Sapsuk’s heel. - -Kak’s favorite was no pup to stand liberties. He let a squeal out of -him rousing all inhabitants, canine and human, and closed on his enemy. - -Dogs leaped from their dreams. Dogs whirled in on every side. They -barked now and bit, too. They rushed at each other and snarled and -snapped and pawed and nipped. Every dog is always spoiling for a fight. -They never waited to ask what it was about, but fell on the nearest -animal tooth and claw; while Sapsuk and the stranger in the middle -of the mix-up fought like demons. There was yapping and yowling and -growling enough for a menagerie gone mad. - -In about two seconds all the men came tumbling out half-dressed to -see what the row meant. The children followed naked. They don’t have -pajamas to sleep in, only fur blankets, and they just jumped up and ran -as they were, calling: - -“What’s the matter?” - -“Who is it?” - -“What’s struck ’em?” - -The more Puckish urged on the fight with: “Go it, Scruffy!” “Lick into -him, Taliak!” and cheers for their own side. - -You would have whistled your dog off, but Eskimos cannot whistle. It -is an unknown art up north; so the men threw themselves into the mêlée -and began hauling the beasts apart by main force. Never before was such -a tumult! Kak and Taptuna ran for Sapsuk, calling: “We’re friends! We -have no knives!” All the people talked at once and cried aloud while -the dogs snarled and snapped. The women yelled to the children: “Come -out of it! Come here!” trying to drag them from under their fathers’ -feet, till the children cried also; and Pikalu, still harnessed and -held by Guninana, split her ears with barking. - -It was a very unfortunate introduction, and all Kak’s fault. - -When they got the fight stopped and the infuriated animals tied up the -people had time to worry about themselves. The village was quite as -much frightened at these strangers dashing out of the twilight this -way as Okak was of the village. However, as soon as Taptuna found a -minute’s peace to announce himself they knew who he was and welcomed -the whole party. - -With everybody so excited there seemed no use trying to sleep; so the -visitors were escorted each to a different tent, and sat up the rest -of the night telling adventures and swapping yarns. Going to bed at -dawn was the same to them as sleeping in the night, for they had no -offices, or schools, or shops opening at any hour; there is no setting -clocks back, and no daylight-saving to make people get up early--the -sun attends to that himself in the Arctic summer. Sometimes, however, -he slacks on the job. Next morning he stayed behind the clouds, and it -must have been late afternoon when Kak struggled out to take a look -over their new world. - -Nobody was about. The village lay sleeping it off. Kak thought: “Now’s -the time to spear a few fish.” - -This open river offered so much better chance of getting them than -through the ice, work became sport. He waded in his waterproof boots, -dry and warm. Although it was spring, and hot while the sun shone, and -the river rushing to the gulf had swept the ice away from the shore at -its mouth, the stream still felt icy cold. Snow lay on the ground, a -few flakes sifted down out of the gray clouds, and the straits, as we -know, were frozen over. - -While Kak waded around with the water burbling above his ankles or up -to his knees, intent on his task and enjoying fair success, somebody -called out: - -“Say! That’s no way to catch fish!” - -Now Kak considered himself a pretty good fish spearer. Out of one -corner of his eye he had glimpsed this meddling stranger approaching -and the last jab or two had been made with a fine flourish in a desire -to show off. So the look he shot answering the taunt was far from -friendly. - -The boy on the river bank only laughed. He was enormously fat, a rare -sight among Eskimos, and Kak was so amused, once he got a straight look -at him, he forgot to be annoyed. Besides, the boy, instead of sending -black glances in return, kept on smiling. It is extremely difficult to -remain angry with people who smile. Remember this and try it sometimes. -In a minute Kak was smiling also, but when the boy called, “I can show -you a trick worth two of that!” it made him feel sore again, as if his -personal skill were being challenged. He jabbed viciously and pulled -out a big fish, just to establish his self-respect, and tossing it on -to the bank asked: - -“How’s that?” - -“Bully! But why ever don’t you set nets?” - -Copper Eskimos never use fish nets; Kak had never seen one. In fact he -scarcely understood what the stranger meant, and to cover his ignorance -he pretended not to hear. The fat boy raised his voice: - -“Say, why don’t you set nets? This looks too much like work for me! -You’ll be all day getting your breakfast. Come along down to the beach -and I’ll catch you some fish.” - -It sounded horribly boastful and patronizing, but the words stirred -Kak’s curiosity more than his pride; so caching his fish under a couple -of stones, he shouldered his spear and followed the stranger. - -[Illustration: HE COULD BARELY SQUEEZE INTO HIS FATHER’S BOAT.] - -Kommana, for that was the boy’s name, picked up a kayak from the shore -and turning it over his shoulder, as you would carry a canoe, brought -it to the water. Then he proceeded to get into it. The kayak is a long, -narrow boat completely decked with skin except for a round hole at the -middle large enough for the owner to sit in. This boy was so bulging -fat he could barely squeeze into his father’s boat, and he looked so -funny doing it, and made such silly faces at himself, Kak laughed -till the tears ran down his cheeks. He was secretly rather impressed -by Kommana, who was some years older than himself, and thought he had -never met anybody so independent. With everything shipshape the fat -boy pushed off and paddled to where a row of wooden floats strung -themselves across the river’s mouth. Here he stopped, pulled up a few -feet of fish net and commenced to empty it. The numbers and size of the -fish that came tumbling out made Kak open his eyes. - -Kommana let them all flop back into the water as if they were of no -value, and finally, when he had tired showing off, he grabbed a few, -strung them on a line, swung this over the side of his boat, and -paddled to shore. - -Kak ran to meet him crying: “Go on, go on! Why don’t you take them all?” - -His new friend only grinned. “Not on your life! I don’t work unless -I have to; I was just fooling to show you. Presently they will drag -the nets to shore and get the lot. Want these?” He held the catch out -to Kak, and while the other’s eyes were gloating over it, yawned and -stretched. “Guess I’ll go in and have a little more sleep. The village -will be waking up soon, and they’re so beastly active. So long! See you -again sometime.” - -Dismissed in this cool manner Kak went bounding back to his own camp. - -“Look! Look!” he cried, as he threw his mess of fish on the floor. -“I’ve seen the most marvelous thing!” And he began to tell in excited -gasps about the nets. “All these the boy took by merely putting his -hand into the water. We must have a net! We must buy a net right away.” - -Taptuna shook his head, and Guninana laughed. - -“I guess the old way will do us, son,” she said. “The way your fathers -did is a good enough way, don’t you think? And you such a wonder at it, -too!” - -But Kak was not to be silenced with compliments. “This is so quick,” he -insisted. “The fish swim into it while you sleep, and in the morning -you get them. It is no trouble at all.” - -“There’s plenty of work about setting a fish net,” his father objected. - -And Okak added: “Where there are several sharing together, look out for -quarrels.” - -But Kak would not be satisfied till Taptuna promised to go after -breakfast and watch the village clearing the nets. It really was -watching the village, for the whole place, all the men and nearly all -the women, turned out together. Their day’s job consisted in dragging -the nets and emptying them. Some worked in groups and some in families, -while hundreds of fish were piled and scattered on the beach, coldly -reflecting the wan sunlight struggling through a thick white fog. -Taptuna saw it all and was certainly impressed. But seeing and doing -are entirely different things with an Eskimo. They are what we call a -conservative people; that is, they stick to their old habits. They are -terribly conservative; Kak’s father was terribly conservative here. - -“This is an easy way,” he said, “but it looks to me common and stupid. -There is no skill about it. We cannot store fish on our travels; and we -will be able to provide with our spears all we need to eat.” - -Kak felt bitterly disappointed. He had hoped his father would trade for -a fish net and allow him to use it at Dease River. There was a sneaking -desire in his heart to show off before the Kabluna. However, at that -moment Kommana passed with a couple of dogs hitched to a sled and -turned his mind into other channels. - -“There’s my friend, dad.” - -Taptuna laughed. The ungainly figure waddling about in a ragged suit -of old skin clothes made him think of a mangy young musk-ox more than -anything else. “That fellow, eh? Well, he looks as if he ought to catch -his food by the pailful.” - -Kak doubled up with mirth. “Where are you off to?” he shouted between -gurgles. - -“Wood,” the animated mountain answered gloomily. - -“I’ll go along and help if we can have part of the load.” - -“Suits me. Follow on.” - -Kommana accepted this offer gladly, counting on Kak to fag while he -managed the dogs. Besides he loved company. It was rough going and hard -pulling at first; but when they got away from the river mouth they -turned on to the flat ice and ran about a mile; then they turned in -again to the beach. - -“All the best wood has been picked up nearer the river, and it is such -a beastly nuisance coming so far for it,” the fat boy explained as he -sat down on the sleigh to rest. - -“What do you want to rest for?” Kak demanded. “You’ve only just got out -of bed! Why, we haven’t started yet!” - -“Oh, well, I’m tired. I’m always pretty tired.” - -The stranger drew a bit of frozen fish out of his coat and began to -nibble. “Want some?” he asked; but Kak declined. He had come to gather -wood. Gathering wood amused him; it was not a job he had to do at home. - -“I’ll gather and you load,” he called. And soon a grand pile was flung -up beside the sled. - -The fat boy sat nibbling fish and giving orders: “There’s a fine log -yonder ... hoist it with a lever.... Yo-ho--she’s off!... See that -swell slab by the ice hummock.... No, don’t bring those dinky pieces, -they’re such a bother to load and unload, and you know I’m particular -about not doing any more light work than I have to.” - -Kak might have resented this sort of thing only the other boy laughed -and winked and made fun the whole time, and kept him laughing as well -as working. - -“Come and help me rest,” he suggested after a while. “You will be -getting overheated, kid.” - -That was true, and it is a bad thing to get overheated, so Kak sat down. - -“Beastly time of year!” Kommana grumbled. “Tell me what it’s like up -north in your island! Does it keep cool at all seasons?” - -“No--it’s hot in summer.” - -“Oh, gee! I do hate summer!” the fat boy groaned. “You’ll have a rotten -time going south. Nothing but flies, flies, flies, and your clothes -sticking to your body with heat as you get farther inland; and food -scarce on the prairies. Say, I wouldn’t walk across there, not if my -life depended on it!” - -“I shan’t mind,” Kak replied stoutly. “Omialik is to be at Dismal -Ford.” - -That made Kommana jump. He shot a keen glance at his companion, asking: -“Who?” - -“One of my friends--he’s a Kabluna.” - -Kak sounded so magnificent the other lad was suddenly faced with a -dilemma; whether to let his new friend score over him and brag, or -confess his own duplicity. As he had already reaped the pleasure of the -morning’s display he decided it would be most fun to prick Kak’s lofty -attitude, so he cried: - -“Hoh! The explorer--he’s been here! That’s where we got the fish nets. -I knew no more about fishing with nets a few days ago than you did last -night. He taught me how to make ’em, too.” - -Kak felt considerably dashed, but tried to recover his form by telling -how he intended to go to Herschel Island and learn to shoot. - -“It’s too far for me,” sighed Fatty. “Too much effort. The rest of the -village does all my hunting and keeps me in meat because of the bowls -and pails and plates I can chop from this very driftwood.” - -“Oh, can you!” said the younger boy, getting a new line on his -companion and more impressed than ever. - -“Yes, I can make the chips fly--but I won’t ever be anything of a -traveler myself. Still, I like to hear you talk. Tell me about that -ugrug you killed.” - -This request tickled Kak’s vanity and made his heart skip a beat. He -was going to tell about it anyway, but being asked so unexpectedly gave -him a thrill. - -“How did you know?” he managed to stammer. - -“Okak was at our house last night--he thinks you’re some pup! Say, -would you believe it! I got out of my bed early to go and see this -famous ugrug killer, and I--ha-ha!--I--ha-ha!--I found him spearing -little fishes!” - -Kommana thought this a tremendous joke and went off into peals of -laughter, holding his shaking sides. But Kak was hardly so pleased. To -change the subject he dashed right into the ugrug story and told it as -fast as he could; and after that he told about his house-building, and -then about the white bear. By the time all his stories were done it -was growing dark and Kommana said they had better leave the load. But -Kak would not hear of that, so he pitched in and piled, while the fat -fellow stood around and told him how, moving a stick now and again, -and patting the dogs. Finally when the load was up and they were ready -to start for home Kak had done all the work and all the entertaining, -and Kommana had only sharpened his wits and enjoyed life. On their way -back, however, he made Kak an offer. - -“If you’ll bring me a cracker-jack piece of spruce,” he said, “a real -good, wide slab to make a snow shovel, I’ll get my dad to give you one -of the pups out of our last litter.” - -Kak’s eyes sparkled. “Honor bright?” - -“Honor bright. They’re fine pups, too; but I’ve been looking for a -piece broad enough to make a shovel for three years.” - -“You’ve as good as got it in your hand,” the Copper Eskimo replied. -“I’ve been wanting a dog of my own for ever so long!” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -_Twenty-four Hours of Sunlight_ - - -“Whoops! Look at the sleigh, dad! Look at it for a wreck!” - -Kak stormed down on his father with these cheerful words as the latter -returned from fishing. - -The party had been delayed at Rae River, Noashak was feverish; she -lay on her bed for a week and took no interest in anything, while her -parents worried over her and over this hitch in their plans. If they -were held up long it was likely to place them in serious difficulty, -for they had to cross another large river before turning south on -the prairie, and with no boat to carry inland they must cross by the -bay ice at its mouth. Spring had begun in earnest here; the snow was -melting rapidly. Warm water pouring down every stream and rill and all -along the banks ran out over the ice and melting formed channels, which -flowed themselves like little rivers seeking their outlet by way of -the tide cracks. They ran in all directions, wearing away the softer -ice and leaving wet bumps and hummocks sticking up between. The tide -cracks, which are always found in ice near the shore and are caused, -as their name suggests, by the action of the tides, instead of being -several inches wide, were worn away to three or four feet. Hauling a -loaded sleigh across these and over this wet irregular surface was sure -to prove a pretty severe business. Guninana dare not start with a sick -child. - -A stubborn spell of glum and sulky weather setting in saved their -lives. Noashak recovered during the second week. She was able to be out -when a stiff wind, springing up in the night, at last blew the clouds -off, and allowed the sun to rise into a bare sky. It rose so early and -shone so long and so fiercely all the ice patches melted, and the snow -vanished as if by magic. Taptuna’s home-made, musk-ox runner began to -look ill about six o’clock. The little girl had watched it anxiously as -it grew softer and softer, and finally doubled down under the weight of -the frame and lay sodden and sad on the wet ground. - -“That’s your finish!” Kak promised. “You’ll have to leg it along now. -No more rides on top of the load--how will you like it, sis?” - -Noashak tossed her head. “I can’t walk--I am sick! Daddy’ll arrange -something,” she added confidently. - -Later she watched the faces of the older people gathered around the -useless sleigh. - -“Daddy, I can’t walk,” she wheedled, shoving her little hand into his. - -“Don’t you worry,” he said, pulling her ear affectionately while she -rubbed against him. “Kak and Kommana and I are going to fix up a runner -good enough to get us around the river mouth. Run, boy, and tell your -friend if he whirls in and helps he can have the old sled for his -trouble; we’ll cache it for him down the coast.” - -Kak darted off; Taptuna turned to the others. - -“I’ve had a look at the bay and we’ve got to leave to-night or give up. -One more day like this will mean open water all along the shore.” - -Kak soon came back bringing his chum. Kommana thought it a good -bargain, though the sleigh was very old; he agreed to do his bit and -for a wonder worked, boring holes vigorously till the sweat dripped -from his nose and chin. By supper time they had knocked up a substitute -runner and everything was packed and ready. After they had eaten, the -whole village turned out to see them off, with hearty good will and -pleased anticipation of their return with the first autumn snow. - -The journey started by a long slow drag over bare ground before the -ice bridged the open water from the Rae River and gave them a chance -to get out on to the bay. It was hard for everybody; the men and Kak -had to help the dogs pull, and Noashak walked with her mother’s hand. -Once they touched the ice however, Taptuna packed his small girl in -behind the load where a nest had been left for her and where she could -be kept dry. She did not find it very comfortable being hauled from -hummock to hummock with the men wading up to their knees, dragging -the sled out of one rill, over a bump of harder ice, and down across -another rill; always having to be careful it did not slip sidewise and -dump the passenger into a couple of feet of water. Still, it was better -than trying to walk on her short legs. They were all cheerful about -their trouble and had lots of fun, roaring with laughter when either -of the team slid off the ice into the water and had to swim for it, as -frequently happened, for Eskimo dogs are not very tall. - -Occasionally they found good going for a few miles when the thaw water -had all run off into some neighboring crack, and the surface was fairly -even and nearly dry. But after they passed the Richardson River and -tried to work nearer the shore, their difficulties increased every -minute. Taptuna began to be anxious; Okak was in a blue funk; and even -Guninana, the cheerful, cast many a glance at the brightening sky. If -they could not find an ice bridge to the shore before sunrise, their -chances of making it at the end of another long, sweltering, Arctic day -would be considerably less. At last they came to a stretch where the -ice did close in to the shore. - -“It’s rotten, absolutely rotten!” Okak almost wept. - -“We’ve got to try it just the same,” Taptuna said. - -He looked significantly eastward. The sky already crimsoned, the -weather promised hot and clear. Out on the gulf the sea ice, though -rough, was thick enough and safe enough; here shore water had eaten -it away above and below till it was dangerously thin. Taptuna gazed -longingly toward the land rising from the remains of a solid old -pressure ridge still lying on the beach firm and inviting. He felt -impelled to risk crossing--though he knew it was a risk for both -themselves and the sleigh. - -They debated the question; Okak was strongly negative. - -“Don’t try it, don’t try it! Let us go farther on--we may come to a -better bridge.” - -“And we may not find any at all. There is the Coppermine River south,” -Guninana answered. - -“That’s true.” Taptuna fell into a deep silence gazing carefully up and -down the coast. - -“This is as good as any place,” he decided. “I’m going to try. You and -Noashak had better come along with me; Kak can drive the dogs, and Okak -steady the sleigh behind.” - -“We’ll be drowned! We’ll certainly be drowned! Oh, what will become of -us?” moaned Okak. - -“We’ll be drowned!” piped Noashak. - -Amid this dismal chorus the three started picking their way to shore. -Noashak had to be lifted across all the deep places, and it took time, -yet the going was better than Taptuna expected. As soon as he had -landed the child safely on the old ridge he turned back to help with -the sleigh. - -Meantime Okak had persuaded Kak into crossing a little farther on where -the ice looked smoother, reasoning if it were smoother they could move -faster and so would be less likely to go through. Sound enough sense in -its way, if they had not happened to choose the thinnest part of the -whole bridge. Taptuna took in the position at a glance and watched, -horrified. He could see the ice bending under them, and dashed up -shore, followed by Guninana. The load had but one chance now--to keep -moving. - -“Come on, Kak!--ahead of the dogs!” he yelled. “Rush it. Okak, hold -back there--farther! Farther back! Right away from the sled!” - -Kak was in his element. His eyes snapped and his heart bounded. - -“Hok!--Hok!--Hok!” he cried to his team. Everybody broke in with yells -and cheers. - -The light sleigh went banging and bumping over the rough surface, -taking its chances, for Okak was too scared to be much good at his -office. His place behind had turned out the worst rather than the best, -yet he clung to it. Mad with fear at realizing he would be the last to -land, he kept pace with the team, flinging his weight on to ice already -strained and bending under the load. The feel of it bending drove him -daffy. He mixed up this quiet shore water with his recent dread of -the straits, saw himself going through to certain death, and lost the -remnant of his wits. Instead of holding back as Taptuna cried at him, -he pitched forward, clutching the only solid thing in sight. - -Kak landed with a flying jump. The runners were already half over on -firm ice, when a shriek of mortal terror rent the air. The jar of -Okak’s hands falling on the sleigh had been a last straw. Down went the -back end into the water with him clinging to it like a limpet. - -Taptuna understood his companion so well now he had foreseen this--was -expecting disaster. At the same instant Okak grabbed for the load he -grabbed for the dogs, and was hauling them on when Kak alighted. For a -moment the sleigh teetered on the edge of the solid ice; then Guninana -and the boy, screaming wildly, threw themselves each over a runner, -clung to them, pressed them down. That day’s hasty repairs tore away -with a splintering crash; but the chief guide had control by then. -Their combined weight heaved the stern out of the water with Okak still -aboard. He was blowing like a bow-head whale and quite insane from -fright. - -A long pull and a strong pull altogether with the dogs dragged their -neighbor and their goods to safety; and then Kak and his mother dropped -on the ground and laughed till they could laugh no more. Tennis -flannels and evening clothes are funny when sopping wet, but for real -class neither of them can hold a candle to a fur suit! Okak resembled -nothing on earth but a half drowned pup. He was a small man to begin -with, and the hair and hide of his loose garments now fitted like his -skin. He stood with chattering teeth and dripping locks, a sort of -human spigot, while his four friends made the welkin ring. - -“Ha--ha--ha--ha!” - -“He--he--he!” - -“Oh--ho--ho--ho!” - -[Illustration: HE STOOD WITH CHATTERING TEETH AND DRIPPING LOCKS.] - -Sight of the poor chap slopping around shivering and trying to pull -his wet shirt over his head at last touched a soft spot in Guninana’s -heart. She shut Taptuna up, gave Noashak a poke to make her stop, -and turned to Kak. - -“Go, you two, and gather driftwood. Don’t you see our walrus needs a -fire?” - -They dashed away with a chuckle and a shout, while Taptuna worked off -his humor unlashing the load. They would have to stay here a couple of -days to dry out their things, but that would be a rest for Noashak, -so no one minded. Kak built a dandy bonfire; his father lugged their -goods up on top of the bank into the sunshine. Okak, wearing borrowed -clothes, pitched the tent, and Guninana cooked breakfast. Considering -they were, in a sense, shipwrecked on a barren spot where none of them -had the least desire to linger, they made a wonderfully jolly camping -party of it. Okak got a good deal of teasing about his bath; but as he -was the best tempered man in the world, when not frightened or worried, -he laughed at himself, enjoyed their jokes, cracked others, and even -showed a slight spirit of vainglory over having done something to bring -him into such prominence. Kak marveled at this and stored it in his -memory for Akpek. - -“Wouldn’t it make a wolf laugh!” he said to his parents later. “Poor -old Okak doesn’t know he’s a joke!” - -“Perhaps it is better to be a joke than not to be noticed at all. -Every man cannot expect to excel in this publicity business as you do. -Okak has never been a hero,” Taptuna replied, winking at Guninana. - -Kak took the speech seriously, straightened up, threw out his chest, -and said in a patronizing tone: “No, and I guess he never will be.” - -The whole family burst into roars of laughter. - -When the boy found they were making fun of him he did not take it half -so well as Okak. He felt cheap and comic and knew he ought to laugh; -but he was angry instead of amused, and that made him feel mean; then -he was angrier still, so he went out and played with the dogs. - -The travelers turned in right away, and when they waked up, after a -long sleep, all the things they had laid out under the fierce sun were -bone-dry. Noashak, too, seemed none the worse for her rough journey. -She looked like a morning flower; and seeing these good signs, Taptuna -said they would continue at once. - -“Hurrah!” - -Kak cut a caper, jumped over Sapsuk’s back and then over Pikalu’s, -turned a handspring and mired down on the oozy ground. Despite the -pessimist he was all eagerness to explore that vast inland rolling -southward as far as the eye could see. Kommana’s horror of the prairie -found no echo in the boy’s soul. He was far too hardy to be upset by -the promise of a few difficulties. Poof! Mosquitoes and flies raged -everywhere at this time of year, and it was hot all over. Taptuna’s -family had so rarely suffered for food that Kak only half believed -in hunger, while wholly yielding to the lure of the unknown. This -country they were about to cross and invade held two great, romantic -possibilities--grizzly bears and Indians! Both thrilled him with terror -and anticipation. - -Since seeing Omialik kill the polar foe with his magic gun, Kak had -lost some of his respect for that deadly enemy. Still, bears are -bears, and everybody in the Arctic circle believes that a grizzly, -when angered, is the fiercest of this powerful family. Kak yearned and -dreaded to meet one of these big, brown bears. He could shut his eyes -and see the huge beast rearing up before him, twice his own height, -tawny-colored, shaggy, long-nosed, all teeth and claws and matted hair; -could see himself tackling the brute single-handed, plunging his knife -in under the foreleg.... Hunters do tackle them single-handed with a -knife; but Kak had once met a man whose eye had been clawed out by a -grizzly, and so at that point the vision usually faded in a wild surge -of funk. - -Indians were not so definite to the boy’s imagination. They fascinated -him more while frightening him quite as much. Eskimos are the natural -enemies of all Indians. For centuries the Mackenzie River Eskimos -maintained an aggressive attitude toward their red-skinned neighbors; -but with Kak’s people fear was divided half and half. The two races -rarely encountered each other. When the snow had disappeared, while -the lakes were still frozen, it was the Indians’ custom to cross on -the ice and make their yearly trading trip to the Hudson’s Bay post on -Great Bear Lake. So when the Eskimos arrived at Dease River most of the -Slavey Indians were three hundred miles away. Occasionally, however, -stray bands ran across each other with dire results. Stories of Indians -attacking tents in which Eskimos slept and killing them all had been -part of Kak’s education. The possibility of seeing Indians made the -second thrill of this amazing summer; while over all hung the certainty -of meeting Omialik again and learning a whole lot more about Kabluna. -At marching orders the boy went leaping and hurrahing around like a mad -thing; and supplied a pair of willing hands when it came to packing up. - -Their entire store of dried meat was put into saddlebags slung over the -dogs’ backs; and the tent poles were tied to the harness so that their -long ends dragged behind. This seems an awkward kind of load for poor -Sapsuk and Pikalu, but nobody expected to go more than about two miles -an hour, so it was easy for them to keep up with the party. Guninana -carried her cooking pots very carefully rolled in bedding skins, her -ulu (a little knife, like a chopping knife, for preparing food) and her -sewing kit. Taptuna and Okak carried their bows and arrows, their tool -bags, which were heavy, and some fragments of copper that might come in -handy for making new arrows to replace those lost in the hunt. Kak had -his bow and arrows, and to show what a man he was, insisted on carrying -the tent besides. They all wore their oldest clothes. Old clothes are -much the most comfortable at this time of year, for the hair being -rubbed off makes them cooler; also if they are gone into holes in -places, as Kak’s were, little breezes can trickle in and cool the skin; -when the thermometer stands at about a hundred degrees, cooling winds -are welcome. Unfortunately though, sunshine and hot weather bring -insects. Along with the little breezes mosquitoes come, “biz, biz, -biz,” and settle on the holes and bite like fury. - -“Ouch!” Kak would cry, clapping his hand on elbow or knee, and -desperately fanning the host away. - -Mosquitoes are not the worst pests in the Arctic either. They only -came poking their noses into the holes and biting him a few times on -that spot. Later on he would have to endure sand flies. Once these find -an opening and buzz into it they never go out again, but creep up the -arms and down the legs and crawl and itch till their victim dances in -agony. - -I want you to try to picture the party coming up over a crest of the -rolling prairie: the dogs clattering their awkward gear on either side, -the people, all in their loose, old, baggy clothes, all but Noashak -bending a little under their loads, and all swishing right and left, -left and right, with willow branches or loon skins at the cloud of -insects following them. - -“Swish, swish, swish.” “Biz, biz, biz, biz, biz.” “Swish.” “Biz, biz, -biz, biz.” “Swish, swish.” “Biz, biz, biz, biz, biz, biz.” - -So the chorus kept up from waking to sleeping, the army of flies -numbering about a million to one and getting quite the best of it. - -Kak trudged on manfully ahead of the others, keeping up with his -father; sometimes stopping to fit an arrow and take a shot at a bird -or small animal, and always with his eye open for the dreaded grizzly -bear. Game abounded. Taptuna killed a caribou right at the start and -they feasted on it, carrying the fresh meat with them. They were faring -well, yet the farther they went inland the hotter it grew, till -Guninana panted under her load of bedding as they toiled up a sharp -incline to pitch camp. Okak always insisted on choosing the highest -point for camping. - -“You never know when or from where the Indians may come!” he repeated -every evening; a speech that thrilled Kak, and made Taptuna smile, -though he humored it. - -“Much easier to spy out caribou from a hill,” he allowed. - -And Guninana sighed: “There may be a breeze on the high ground and that -will mean fewer mosquitoes.” - -So far they had found excellent camping places with plenty of loose -stones lying about to use as tent pegs weighting the flaps; and -quantities of heather for cooking; but the increasing heat made their -day’s march dreadfully tiresome and uncomfortable. At last it proved -too much even for Okak. - -“It’s sheer waste of effort to lug this extra food. We could go twice -as fast without,” he said, removing the heavy bags of dried meat from -Pikalu’s back. The poor dog laid himself on the ground panting. His -eyes were swollen almost shut and his feet lame from mosquito bites -all around where the hair joined the pad. The whole family gathered to -consider his plight. - -“Poor old fellow!” Kak stroked him gently. - -“Looks to me as if there was going to be plenty of game,” Okak -continued, “and if we cached this stuff here we could let the dogs run -light.” - -Taptuna stood plunged in deep thought. It was his wise and safe custom -to carry extra food across any region where scarcity had ever been -rumored; but on the other hand they were moving slowly, he did not want -to miss Omialik at the ford, and if the dogs petered out it would delay -them still further. Sapsuk was in better condition only because Kak had -taken care of him, swishing for his favorite as well as himself. Things -could not go on thus. The ease with which they were getting supplies -amazed him; and most of all he felt impressed by the fact of Okak’s -overcoming his habitual fears far enough to make such a suggestion. - -After considerable grave pondering the chief guide said: “That is a -good idea of yours, neighbor. We will cache the meat here for our -return journey. Pikalu and Sapsuk shall carry their poles and the fresh -game.” - -Unfortunately they dared not trust the bedding to the dogs, for in a -lake country such as they were crossing the animals constantly splash -into the water to cool off, and drag their saddlebags with them. - -All hands turned to gathering stones for the cache. They had a jolly -time there, cooking over a fire of heather, eating their food off the -rocks, and burning smudges to drive the pests away. Really it was a -camping party such as you would enjoy if you went into the wilds at the -same time of year. Only for them the sun just disappeared below the -horizon for a few minutes every twenty-four hours and it was always -bright daylight. - -They broke camp and started about ten o’clock at night in order to -have the coolest time for traveling. All were in high spirits and very -cheery. Kak with only his bow and arrows to handle felt like a king. -During the sun-lit night he shot several spermophile, small animals -something like prairie dogs, and bringing them home made him feel a -conqueror as well. - -They supped and breakfasted off Kak’s prize, nobody felt a bit badly -about not having more. Now they had decided to travel light, all they -wanted was just enough to eat, nothing to pack. Pikalu had recovered -some of his lost pep and the party were in splendid feather. - -“Push ahead! Push ahead!” they sang for slogan. - -“It won’t be any time till we join Omialik,” Kak chuckled. - -Taptuna hoped to get a caribou that day or the next, but he did not see -any; nor the following day either; nor the next after that. His eyes, -instead of peering alertly, now began to look strained. He rose early, -leaving Kak and Okak to break camp, and went off to stalk a possible -deer; watching closely all the way for hares, or birds or anything -eatable. The long, hot hours passed without bringing him luck. On he -trudged fiercely, morosely till he saw the party pitching their tent; -then he gave up and plodded slowly toward them. They rushed to meet him. - -“Nothing!” he cried, showing his empty hands. “We learn now this -country is tricky.” - -“Hadn’t we better turn back!” faltered Okak. - -“Too late! It’s too late for that! We’re dead sure there is no game -behind us at least three days’ journey--on ahead we may find something.” - -Taptuna was very blue; his low spirits frightened Okak and made Kak -feel sober. Guninana, bustling about, talked to cheer them all: - -“Nonsense! What’s the good of being so glum only because you haven’t -killed a caribou the last few days? See here, Noashak and I have dug a -grand bag of masu roots; we will have them boiled in no time and can go -to bed with full tummies.” - -But in spite of her efforts nobody looked happy. Masu is a sort of wild -parsnip, at its best hardly a nice supper, and not very sustaining for -hungry hunters. - -Okak was thoroughly scared by the situation, much too scared to sleep. -He felt he was to blame for having suggested caching their extra food; -so he stole out while the others rested and succeeded in snaring two -squirrels. You would never believe how small a squirrel is when it -has been skinned! And there were five of them, besides the dogs, to -breakfast off these two little fellows. Guninana got scarcely any, as -she gave most of her share to Noashak. They were hungry all day and had -to dine on three ptarmigans, small grouse, shot by Kak; for Taptuna was -still bent on fetching home something worth while. - -“Mark my words,” said Okak cheerlessly, “we are going to have to live -all summer on birds and squirrels and masu roots.” - -“Don’t be such a grouch,” Kak replied shortly. “I saw a hare to-day.” - -“Why didn’t you get him, son? Seeing isn’t eating!” - -Kak looked rather foolish. “Because,” he explained, “while I was -following the hare I saw a caribou run over the ridge, and I thought -he’d be grand to have, so I went for him. But he had seen me and he ran -and ran, and I followed till I was afraid I might lose you all; so -then I thought I’d come back after the hare--but he had skipped away.” - -“Tut, tut! You ought to have stuck to the hare, lad, and made sure of -him when we’re so short. A pot of boiled hare to-night would have been -first rate.” - -“Yes, wouldn’t it?” - -“Elegant!” - -Kak licked his lips and exchanged glances with his mother. Guninana’s -look said: “All the same, your father is hunting caribou when he might -be killing hares, he is wiser than his own words. I think you were -quite right.” And that made the boy feel happy again. - -They grew hungrier every day, and it grew hotter every day, and the -flies seemed to bite worse and worse. Kak was so busy hunting now he -could not look after Sapsuk, so the poor dog’s eyes and feet were -almost as bad as Pikalu’s. Strange to say Noashak behaved better -than anybody expected. She ate very little over her share, sometimes -Guninana or Taptuna spared her an extra bite, but on the whole she -fared like the rest and was no more cantankerous than usual. It was -Noashak, too, who raised the first cry of “Woods!” Since they could see -no break beyond the trees this was an alarm instead of their journey’s -welcome end. The forest spreads thickly east of Dismal Lake. They must -take their bearings afresh, turn and follow the straggling spruce till -the first great disk of shining water lay on their left. At sight of it -hope shot up like a rocket. One more night’s trek would bring them to -the ford, where Omialik and his magic gun promised food! - -That day they pitched their camp in a driving rain, built a big bonfire -in front of the tent, and dined off part of a sleeping rug. The old -caribou skin when boiled made a shockingly poor dinner but better -than nothing. No one wanted to repeat it for breakfast though; they -preferred to go without on the chance of finding something nicer. This -was the first time they had really gone empty. The three bowmen took -it stoically and separated for better hunting; while Guninana with a -tearful, hungry little girl and the famished dogs, tried to make a -straight course over the hills. The far shore running out between the -two lobes of the lake gave them direction. - -Now they had come so near Kak was all on fire to be the first to meet -the Kabluna. He raced through the strip of woods, neglecting to watch -for game, crashing over stones and under boughs, risking everything -to reach the shore. The white man had promised to wait by the ford, -and his party were sure to be there--sure! For Taptuna’s family had -traveled slowly the last two weeks. Half rations do not make either men -or animals feel particularly frisky, nor much like walking all day at -top speed under a boiling sun. - -When the ground began to drop toward the water and the trees thinned -Kak redoubled his efforts. Coming out suddenly on to the narrow channel -dotted with islands which joins the first and second parts of this -triple lake, he saw men up the beach and near the woods a tent, gave -one exultant whoop, and made for them. They in turn started, dropped -their work, and ran forward. - -“Omialik! Omialik!” gasped the breathless youngster. - -But he was doomed to disappointment. It was not Omialik himself, only -his Eskimos. - -“Where are the others? Have you any food?” they asked in one voice. - -“Not a bite,” Kak panted. “The rest are behind. I haven’t eaten since -sleeping!” - -“We’re pretty nearly starved ourselves but we can do better than that -for you. Come along, Kid!” Linking arms they escorted their visitor to -the tent, where they put before him a large bowl of cloudberries. These -are something like raspberries and they grow in Victorialand, but -strange to say, Kak had never eaten any, had never thought of tasting -them. - -“Are they good?” he asked suspiciously. - -“Fine! Eat all you want,” cried both men, and scooping up fingerfuls -stuffed them into their mouths. Kak was far too hungry for further -question; he ate the berries and enjoyed them. It was the same with -Noashak when she came; but Guninana refused to touch such food. To her -it seemed like eating grass out in a field. She had been walking over -those berries all her life and had never heard of anybody eating them, -and why should she begin now? - -The Kabluna’s Eskimos explained they had just arrived after a difficult -and luckless journey; and their master was hunting while they made -camp. They went one in either direction along the shore calling to -guide Taptuna and Okak. Presently Okak turned up with some squirrels, -and Taptuna with birds; and last of all came Omialik carrying a -backload of caribou meat. Then there was a great feast and much -rejoicing, and they sat up all night telling their experiences. Of -course it did not seem like sitting up all night because the sun was -shining the whole time and it continued broad day; but Omialik, who -carried a watch and never forgot to wind it, said they had been up all -night; and as it was nearly noon they had better go to bed and get some -sleep. - -All being strangers in that locality no one knew exactly where to find -the ford. Rumor said it ran from island to island, a ridge of high -bottom on which they might cross about waist-deep. After breakfast, -a substantial meal eaten at nine o’clock in the evening, the Kabluna -decided to look for it himself, while his men brought the rest of -the caribou from the woods, and Okak and Taptuna hunted. Kak gained -permission to help at the ford. It was about the hottest hour in the -ceaseless Arctic day, and the two started out in fine spirits, thinking -it would be no end of a lark wading in the cool lake while their -friends fought flies and sweated on the chase. - -With a loud laugh at their cleverness, Kak splashed into the water. -“Whoop! Huroo! This is the life!” - -The Kabluna picked a place where the shore eased off gradually, and -waded right out above his waist. - -“I’m coming with you,” yelled Kak. - -“No, don’t! Stay where you are. It’s too deep for you here.” - -In a few minutes Omialik was up to his neck. - -“Be careful--do be careful!” the boy pleaded, expecting to see his -companion go head under, and knowing it impossible to help. - -Kak was in a panic watching the other moving slowly around out there; -but after a while he grew more confident and began to search for -himself, walking slowly up and down, to and fro, hoping to strike the -shallow lead. - -The sun had gone behind clouds. Soon it commenced to rain. The joke -was on them! Wading in ice-water with a cold shower beating on your -head and trickling down your neck is not nearly so much fun as wading -when the thermometer on shore registers about a hundred degrees. Kak -wished now he had gone with the hunters, for they returned at the first -drop of rain, and were lying around, nice and warm and comfy inside -the tents, swapping yarns and having a good, cheery time. Of course -he could not desert Omialik--that was a base thought--and the white -man did not seem to have the least idea of going back on his cold, -miserable job. - -The Kabluna waded and waded waist-deep, and Kak waded and waded -waist-deep; speaking no word of complaint, for that would have meant -being instantly sent home. - -Once Omialik said: “The man who named this Dismal Lake was certainly -inspired.” - -Kak laughed. “I didn’t think so yesterday when I found your camp and -had my first taste of cloudberries.” - -They were standing side by side, the boy up to his armpits in water. -“When I have a rifle and a fish net and learn all kinds of things there -are to eat I’ll never be hungry, I expect,” he added thoughtfully. - -His friend applauded this: “That’s the idea, youngster! Make up your -mind to use the food you find around you, and there will be much less -chance of starvation.” - -Kak, who was paying more heed to the conversation than to where he -went, answered with a frightful gurgle and disappeared from sight. -Omialik made a lunge for him, missed, ducked under water, grabbed a -shadowy substance, and hauled it to the light and air. - -“For goodness’ sake, watch your step, child!” he exclaimed as they -shook the lake out of their eyes. “I don’t want you drowned on my -hands. Perhaps you’d better keep nearer to shore.” - -Kak, crestfallen and scared, made his slow way back to the beach and -in doing so came on a sound, level bottom. He turned to face about, -walking toward the nearest island, a step at a time, for he was now -far from his companion and he knew if his foot slipped into another -hole it would be the end of him. On he went, so engrossed in feeling -his careful way that he had been moving forward a long time before he -thought to look up. To his surprise he found himself out in the lake -beyond Omialik, and only waist-deep. The boy knew in a twinkling he was -on the ford and saw a fine chance to play a joke. Maybe you would not -feel like joking if your feet and legs were parked in a cold lake and -your head buffeted by driving rain; but the Eskimos love fun above all -things. The party had been a bit down on their luck lately, and Kak -felt the world owed him several laughs. So he squatted low with his -knees apart like a frog, his head and chin just showing on the surface, -and cried: - -“Omialik! Omialik!” - -The Kabluna looked around. “Come back!” he yelled fiercely, shocked -to see Kak taking such chances at that distance. He was not really -alarmed, for he thought the boy was only showing off. - -“I can’t!” Kak answered promptly, now with a wailing note. “I’m stuck. -Do please come and help me--help!” - -Impossible to turn a deaf ear to that cry! Omialik, who wanted to -look for the ford instead of rescuing folks every few minutes, said -something impatient under his breath and started toward Kak as quickly -as he could go. To his amazement the water instead of getting deeper -and deeper, grew shallower. “I’m walking right across the place,” he -muttered. “Drat that boy! I’ll just about lose it again.” But still -he kept on hurrying toward distress, while Kak splashed feebly once -and again to show what a bad way he was in. At last Omialik had almost -reached the drowning boy and the water continued only around his hips. - -He stopped, and said suddenly, “What’s the matter with you? You’re on -the ford!” - -Then Kak shot up to his full height, gave a great leap, and seizing his -companion’s shoulders, cried: - -“Fooled you! Fooled you! Sure we’re on the ford! I knew it all the -time!” - -The white man looked rather cross for a minute, but he laughed and said: - -“All right. I don’t mind being fooled like this any day. I guess you’ve -found the ford; we’ll mark the spot and go along and explore.” - -They both took hold of a long pole Omialik had been carrying and stuck -it into the bottom of the lake, driving it down firmly, so that it -stood alone with its top out; and then they walked ahead, feeling their -way, right across to the island. They marked the place when leaving the -water, started from the other side and waded to a second island and -so on. It was less difficult once they had found the direction, but -a cold enough job at best; and on arriving at the far shore they had -to turn around and wade back, marking their course with poles so that -it would be perfectly simple to find it next day when they all came to -cross over with their things. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -_Indians_ - - -Once across Dismal Lake their troubles were ended. The country now -abounded in game, and they traveled without haste or anxiety to the -headwaters of the Dease River where Eskimo hunting camps were scattered -on every hill. - -[Illustration: “GOOD GRACIOUS! DON’T KILL ME!” CRIED A FAMILIAR VOICE. - --(See page 216)] - -Taptuna and Guninana had known some of these families before and -they soon made friends with others, for this was entirely a friendly -gathering, everybody having come on the same peaceful mission--to cut -spruce and make wooden utensils. There was little need to be afraid of -bad Eskimos camped near by, or enemies lurking in the woods, so during -a whole month the people kept up a continuous party. The sun shone -steadily all the time; and without change from light to darkness, or -darkness to light, without clocks, or anything to remind them they -ought to stop talking or working or playing, the happy campers did -not stop until they got through with whatever occupied them. Kak and -his father would go off to cut a tree, and having felled it, start -hewing boards, and chop, and chop till the whole thing stood ready for -drying; and then they would discover they were frightfully tired and -hungry, and saunter home to eat and sleep. Maybe they had been away -sixteen hours, maybe twenty--nobody noticed and nobody cared. - -The men alternated this heavy work with hunting, for it was now August -and the caribou skins at their short-haired best, and Taptuna knew -he must obtain enough to make all their winter clothes. Scraping the -skins and sewing them kept Guninana busy; and Noashak amused herself -gathering berries, making wreaths of flowers, and trying to work. Once -she played with a party of other children, just arrived, for three days -and three nights without stopping to sleep--that is for as long as -three of our days and nights. The sun was shining, the world ringing -with their merry voices, more and more new friends kept coming to -stir up excitement, and they were all so supremely happy none of them -thought of ending the game. Would you ever want to stop play and rest -if the sun did not set you a good example by going to bed first? I -doubt it. Noashak was very tired and horribly cross at the end of the -party; she wriggled into the tent, dropped on the bed, and slept till -her mother thought she was never going to wake up. - -While Noashak was sleeping Kak enjoyed a great treat. His beloved -Omialik took him on a little hunting trip, only the two of them -together. It was the proudest event of the boy’s life. So far he had -not realized either of his ambitions: neither grizzly bear nor Indian -had crossed his path. However, on the second day of the outing, while -Omialik sat with his glasses carefully surveying the surrounding -country for a glimpse of game, Kak saw him stiffen to attention and -rivet his gaze on one spot. - -“What do you see over there?” the white man asked presently, handing -the glasses to his young companion. - -Kak focused them with eager fingers, conscious of the honor in being -thus consulted. “Men,” he answered, and his voice shook more than his -hands, for he knew what he saw. - -“Are they Eskimos?” - -“No, none of them--none of them!” Kak was trembling all over with -excitement so that he could hardly hold the glasses. - -Omialik took another look. “Might be my friend, Selby,” he muttered, -“but I don’t believe it is,” adding aloud to Kak: “Well, since we don’t -know what they are, shall we go and meet them and find out?” - -The Eskimo made a slight gurgling noise in his throat which he meant -for assent. His inherited instinct would have been to lie low, -allowing these intruders to pass unchallenged; but curiosity worked -up to foolhardy courage by his contact with the white man triumphed -over discretion. He wanted to meet them, his soul craved to meet them, -to observe them closely. The dread name of the enemy had not been -mentioned, but Kak knew. He wondered if he ought to warn the Kabluna -and thought: “Perhaps if I do Omialik won’t go any nearer.” Twice the -lad’s mouth opened to speak, and twice he shut it stubbornly. This was -the chance of a lifetime. Danger or no danger he would follow on--at -the worst Omialik had his magic gun. - -To Kak’s surprise his companion did not seem one whit afraid of the -three strangers. His approach showed no stealth. When they came to an -open place on top of the ridge he stood up, waved his arms, called, -and made signs for the other party to wait. Kak watched, hanging back -a little, and shaking in those stout sealskin shoes which Guninana had -made for him. He felt mightily relieved when the white man took his -glasses for another look at closer quarters. - -“Indians,” Omialik pronounced briefly. - -It was true then! Kak’s heart pounded. A queer feeling shot all over -him, up and down his spine from his hair to his heels. - -“Aren’t you--aren’t you scared?” he blurted out. - -The Kabluna turned, eyed him searchingly, and laughed. “Good gracious, -no! But of course if you are--if you feel jumpy, my boy, stay here and -I’ll come back for you.” - -The young hunter flushed. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything!” he cried, -and moved on in front. - -They struck across the valley at a wide angle calculated to head off -the strangers. Kak led boldly for the first mile; but long before the -parties actually met he had discovered an excuse and lagged behind. - -The Indians were not a bit what he expected. They all wore white -man’s clothes, and one of them talked fluently with Omialik. In vain -the boy’s nervous glances searched them for a feather or a scalp or -tomahawk, or any sign of their wild and wicked nature. How he wished he -could understand what was being said! While their comrade made speeches -the other two strangers sat down on a log. The Eskimo watched them out -of the corner of his eye. They were very dark-skinned, these men, and -had terribly fierce faces, heartless faces. He noted uneasily that -through all the conversation neither the Indian nor Omialik laughed -once. - -The Kabluna had been lucky with his hunting and was carrying deer -ribs; the Indians, it appeared, were not so fortunate. By and by -Omialik asked Kak to make a fire. Keeping his glance as much as -possible on the treacherous foe, the boy set about his job. But when -the fellows sitting down saw what he was doing, they offered to help. -It is difficult to remain afraid of any one willing to assist you in a -small domestic task. By the time they had a fire lit and the deer meat -turning on sticks before it everybody’s tremors were mostly gone. - -“Kak,” said Omialik, “the strangers are quite as much interested in you -as you are in them. This chap--Jimmie Muskrat is his name--tells me -they came away north, much farther north than they generally hunt, with -the hope of meeting Eskimos.” - -“Has he met any? Where has he met them?” asked Kak. - -The Kabluna translated. “And now you are going back again, so I suppose -you have seen Eskimos?” - -Jimmie looked sheepish and hastened to explain: “When we found their -tracks, so many of them all about here, we thought: ‘Three is a very -small party and perhaps, now we know where to find these dangerous -people another year, it would be better to return with the news, and -tell our story, rather than get into a fight and maybe remain silent -forever.’” - -Omialik kept his face perfectly grave while repeating this, and Kak -with a great effort managed to control his; but they both wanted to -burst out laughing. - -“Who is the story for? Who are you planning to tell?” - -“I’m coming to that,” Jimmie said. “You have been with this boy’s -people? You know them--you trust them?” - -“Many months,” Omialik answered. “I find them friendly.” And he winked -at Kak, saying: “They are scared to death of your tribe, old man.” - -The Eskimo simply had to chuckle then, so the Indians saw he was -friendly; Jimmie began a long story about how he was in the service of -Omialik’s friend, Selby, and Mr. Selby had asked him to look out for -the white man and help him in every possible way. - -Omialik translated this, too. - -“Whoops! Help _us_!” cried Kak, laughing uproariously, flinging himself -back and giving way to all the pent mirth he had been smothering. -It really was ridiculous for Jimmie Muskrat to talk patronizingly -of helping the white man at the very moment Omialik was feeding him -and his friends. But the Indians did not see the joke. They seemed -astonished at Kak’s performance, but reassured. They liked it--laughing -people do not kill you. After a while Jimmie plucked up courage to go -on. - -“And Mr. Selby said if I meet you and you know any Eskimos, will you be -a friend and introduce me to them; so that another year, when you are -not in these parts, I will be able to bring Mr. Selby among them.” - -Now this was a very likely message for one white man to send to another -in that remote and unexplored country. Omialik did not doubt for a -minute that every word of the story was true. Still, it troubled him. -He had learned to love the Eskimos, a simple and good-hearted people -living simple and true lives; he not only loved them, but he admired -them greatly for their many fine qualities. Having lived also with -redskins, he knew their faults. Indians are apt to whine when anything -goes wrong; they are always ready to break a bargain; they haggle for -more pay; they are afraid to venture out of their own territory, and -when on a trip make excuses to get home by worrying about their absent -friends--in fact, they have no backbone. The Eskimos show none of -these bad traits. You do not need to scold an Eskimo to make him do -his work. Quite the other way; never having been accustomed to hard -words, even as children, Eskimos will not stand reproof at all, which -is awkward if you happen to be dealing with a lazy man; but the Kabluna -liked it better than being cross all the time. He felt unhappy about -introducing Indians to his nice Eskimos for fear they might teach them -all their bad tricks, and wanted a minute to think it over. - -Omialik sat silent a long time considering, so long that Jimmie -commenced to look pretty mad. Indians are terribly touchy about their -dignity and take offense at many silly little trifles which we would -not mind at all. When the Kabluna noticed the stranger was getting -annoyed he began to talk to Kak, making it seem as if they consulted. - -“Do you think your father and mother and Okak would be willing to meet -these men?” he asked. - -“Meet them--where--how?” Kak was flabbergasted by the suggestion. - -“In the village--if we lead them there?” - -The boy answered instantly: “Okak will shoot at sight.” - -“Not if I warn him first. Not if they come as guests, surely?” - -To talk about receiving Indians as guests amazed the Eskimo; but he -understood from Omialik’s grave manner that the discussion was serious, -that he was being asked to speak for his whole tribe on an important -issue, so he frowned deeply and sat quiet thinking, trying to behave as -much like the Kabluna as he could. - -“Will they agree to meet them?” Omialik gently pressed his question. - -The boy being all mixed up in his mind spoke exactly as he felt: -“After they have met them they will agree to meet them but not before. -No--that sounds rubbish! I mean these Indians aren’t a bit like what we -think they are like. They don’t act like it, and they don’t look like -it--but of course they may be it all the time underneath.” - -“What do you think they are like?” Omialik asked curiously. - -“Dangerous, treacherous, bad.” - -Kak did not have to ponder that answer at all, it tripped off his -tongue like a well-learned charm; but he added in justice, as his -glance traveled from one dark face to another: “They don’t look it.” - -Meanwhile Jimmie and his companions had time to develop cold feet. -Seeing their proposal arouse so much argument made them think twice -about it also. They consulted, decided the adventure might prove -dangerous even under escort, and agreed to draw off. - -“It is only that your friend, Selby, told me to ask you--for us, we -would as soon not,” Muskrat whined. - -But his words, which were intended to excuse him, acted quite the wrong -way. Naturally Omialik liked to please his friend, a man does not have -so many friends up there in the north. - -“Since Selby wants it I agree,” he added. “We will start now, camp in -the woods, and to-morrow find a place for you to lie hidden while I -arrange the interview.” - -The white man had spoken and none dared to contradict. They joined -forces, traveling together many hours, during all of which time Kak -treated the strangers like comrades. But as soon as they stopped, and -the Indians withdrew to make their own camp, they became mysterious and -awful again in his imagination. He watched them moving about through -the glade; saw them pitch their tepee; saw the long shadows cast by -the midnight sun streaming over it; saw the three men enter. Then he -crept inside Omialik’s silk tent, but he did not feel like sleeping. -Impossible to forget that other camp standing a bare hundred paces -away harboring the deadly enemy! Those stories of how his people had -all been killed while they slept tormented the boy’s memory. His -nerves tingled with apprehension--he would not stoop to call the fever -fear--but all the same it drove him to suggesting that he and Omialik -might take turns on guard. - -The Kabluna thought this a roaring joke. “First rate!” he laughed. -“You will be watching here, old fellow, and the redskins will be -watching in their quarters, for they are about as scared as they find -comfortable, and while you are all watching I can feel perfectly safe, -and will have a thoroughly sound sleep.” - -Of course this kind of talk made Kak seem rather absurd, but it did not -entirely quiet his pulse. He knew somebody ought to watch; if Omialik -would not take turns he must just manage to stay on guard all alone. -He played foxy and pretended to go to bed, then lay awake staring at -the crack of light along the tent flap till his companion slept. The -regular breathing of a person asleep is an eerie sound even in broad -day; rising and falling through the twilight under their taffy-colored -cone, it roused all Kak’s alarm. He drew himself up to a sitting -position, grasped his knife in one hand, laid his bow ready by his -side, and steeled his nerves to combat. - -If it had been dark the boy would have stayed awake all night. But -sitting up in a gloomy tent with daylight filtering underneath, making -outside seem so much safer than inside, is poor meat for romance. There -was no sound anywhere. Spruce forest straggled for miles in endless -quiet. No wind stirred the heavy boughs; no rain pattered through on -to the carpeted ground. Once a rabbit scuttled across, sending shivers -up and down the watcher’s spine, but the ruffling sound died away and -nothing happened. Gradually Eskimo fears relaxed; Kak’s mind shed its -hereditary burden; he began to wonder at himself for going against -Omialik’s advice. - -“The Kabluna knows lots more about these things than I do,” the boy -murmured. He leaned over, gazing at his companion’s face; he considered -him wistfully. - -Omialik looked huge lying there in the tiny tent. He was certainly -powerful. He could run fifty miles beside the dog sleigh without -resting, this man; he could kill the fiercest animals by his strong -magic--Kak had seen him do it, and had been told the gun would quite -as easily kill people. He was a Kabluna. He lived with Eskimos and was -one of them, yet he talked to Indians like a blood brother. He was a -stranger to fear--and everybody loved and served him. “What does it?” -the boy wondered. “Gee! I wish I could grow up a strong, wonderful -fellow like him.” - -Kak pondered Omialik’s magic as he watched him sleeping helpless on -the ground. His hand stole over and gently touched the sleeper’s -head--a big head with its bushy mass of hair. “Omialik is so kind his -heart must be big also,” the lad mused, never guessing how his thought -impinged on the secret of the other’s power, for together great hearts -and great brains master their world. - -In the dim interior forms began to dance and blur. Kak’s own head -nodded. He jerked upright and grasped his knife; but presently his -muscles slacked. He nodded again. Then the Kabluna turned on one side -and the sound of his breathing ceased. All was silent. Kak’s head -bobbed right down, his chin rested on his chest and his shoulders -sagged against the tent. - -Omialik found him that way next morning, his knife grasped ready for -their mutual defense. And as the man of the big heart gazed at the -heroic youngster he decided it would not be too much trouble, some day, -to take such a faithful follower as far as Herschel Island. He kept -the plan a secret, though. Parking Indians and carrying the news home -promised sufficient excitement for the present. - -Noashak waked from her long sleep demanding food, so Guninana was busy -over the cooking pot when the hunters returned. - -“You will stay and eat?” she begged the white man; but all the time she -was putting choice pieces into her guest’s plate, both eyes and mind -were on her son. - -It is difficult for a boy to hoodwink his mother. Guninana knew at once -something was in the wind. “What can they have been up to?” she asked -herself; but kept still and waited, sure it would not be long before -the matter leaked out. - -Kak was simply bursting to tell. Never in his life had he experienced -such thrills as the waking to that day of strange companionship and -stealthy travel, culminating in the wild unreality of hiding Indians -a couple of miles from their village. Every soul he had met since -entering the camp seemed to look at him with probing eyes. “Suppose -they knew!” thought the boy, and his heart beat faster. The fact of -having seen their hereditary foe, of having spoken to Indians at all -was a great distinction, another feather to stick in his cap along with -the slain ugrug and his house-building. And on top of this, knowing -three of the terrible redskins were lying hidden among the trees so -near his own home was just too much to bear quietly. - -“I’ve got a secret,” he whispered to Guninana. - -“I see you have.” - -“Oh, mother! Take that back. I don’t show it--I mustn’t show it!” Kak -looked very stern. Guninana eyed him curiously. “I’m dying to tell -you,” he explained, “but it is Omialik’s secret.” - -“Then keep it, son. Prove you can be trusted.” - -“All very well talking so ordinary--but you don’t know what a buster -of a secret this is!” the boy replied. - -It was a buster. When Omialik called a family council and put the thing -before them Guninana screamed: - -“Indians! Have Indians here in camp--in our tents! No. No indeed! -Don’t you think I value my children’s lives? Noashak, where are you? -Keep close to the village to-day, child, there is danger in the woods. -Kak----” - -“You needn’t fuss about me,” her son answered. “I know that danger. I -know where it is--the exact spot. I’ve seen the danger. I had breakfast -with it this morning!” This was altogether too fine a chance, Kak could -not resist bragging. “Fact is,” he continued swaggering with his hands -on his hips, “it’s not nearly so dangerous a danger as you all think.” - -Guninana threw up her hands. - -“You tell me Indians aren’t dangerous! That you have eaten with -Indians! Taptuna, the boy is crazy. We will consult the shaman--he must -have been in the sun.” - -But Taptuna took his son’s magnificence quite calmly. “No, he is only -a little excited--elated. Breakfasting with danger would make any boy -over-proud.... So many strange things are happening now it is even -possible Indians might come among us for other reasons than to kill.... -Are they your friends?” he asked abruptly, turning to Omialik. - -“They come from my friends.” - -“What do they want?” - -“To know you; to trade with you.” - -“But we have never had anything to do with Indians!” Guninana broke in. -Entertaining Indians was the limit, far, far worse than being expected -to eat cloudberries. Before this Kabluna left he would have turned -their world upside down. - -“That is no reason why we need not meet them now,” Taptuna mildly -suggested. - -His family gazed at him in silent horror, unable to believe he actually -approved of taking such tremendous risks. Noashak had burrowed under -her mother’s arm for protection. All she understood of the talk was -that Indians lurked in the woods. Omialik sat quiet. Kak strutted in -the background. Then Okak rose to his feet. He had been struck dumb, -now he found speech. With blanched countenance and knocking knees he -faced them, but his voice rang out: - -“Listen, friends. We have had no good from these red men; our fathers -had no good from their fathers. Always when we come in contact, our -tribes and theirs, it is to destroy. We have killed their kin and they -have killed our kin; and now doubtless these strangers are plotting -to kill again. They cannot come with any but evil and treacherous -intentions, for their hearts are treacherous. They flatter us by smiles -and with soft sentences while knives are hidden in their clothing. They -will trade among us, you say? Yes, they will betray us, and kill the -whole tribe out of hand when the first chance offers. I tell you--all -Indians are bad Indians.” - -Okak’s terror winged his words. He felt himself the savior of his -people, delivering a solemn warning in a desperate crisis; and under -the influence of this noble emotion he made a very fine speech. The -harangue lasted about ten minutes and many families from other tents -gathered around to hear what was going on. They listened amazed; then -had to be taken into confidence. As soon as the village caught the -drift of this news hubbub broke loose. Some argued for the visit, some -against it, and some both ways at once. All went mad with excitement. -The only unchanging voices were Taptuna’s dignified support and Kak’s -persistent bragging. - -When the Eskimos heard Kak had already talked with Indians, camped with -them, journeyed with them, he became a center of interest. They pressed -on him a hundred questions and he expanded marvelously, giving them all -they wanted, letting his imagination run riot. But soon, in spite of -gorgeous tales and towering adventure, the dullest of them reasoned, -“If a mere lad does such things the red men cannot be so frightful -after all.” - -“Frightful! Huh, no!” cried the boy. “They’re too cowardly to be -frightful! Why, these three big fellows were afraid of me! They started -north to meet Eskimos and were scared to enter our camp after seeing -me.” - -Inherited fear could not stand up under such statements. Public opinion -grew bolder. It was finally voted the Indians might come to the village -if they agreed to leave their weapons behind. - -Taptuna announced the decision formally, standing where Okak had -stood. The Kabluna followed him with a short speech expressing his -satisfaction. And then he and his Eskimos and Kak set off to escort the -strangers from their hiding-place. - -You would imagine, after making the original suggestion himself, and -having traveled so far for this very purpose, Jimmie Muskrat and his -friends would have been sitting with their tongues hanging out waiting -for the summons. But not a bit of it. While the villagers were debating -the three Indians had allowed their fancy to water their fears and a -huge crop was grown. Half afraid the evening before and ready to draw -out, they were now in a crazy panic, determined nothing on earth could -make them take a step toward the Eskimo camp. So they jumped as one man -on the only excuse, that condition about leaving their weapons behind. - -“Why should we leave our weapons?” Jimmie demanded angrily. “It is -clear these people mean to get us unarmed among them and then to kill -us all! But I am too smart for their tricks. We are decided. We will -have no more to do with this meeting.” - -Omialik began to be very sorry he had mixed up in the affair, even -to oblige his friend, Selby. He reasoned with the Indians. But they -remained all very positive and very fierce; talking a lot in loud, -angry voices. - -The white man talked also. He explained to Kak and his followers how -Jimmie wanted to back out, and that he feared if the strangers did not -turn up the village would consider it a sign of treachery, would take -instant fright, and all rush away north to safety, leaving behind their -spruce boards and half-made sleds; and that Omialik would be blamed for -having brought a great loss and catastrophe on them. - -His own Eskimos agreed this was exactly what would happen, but they did -not see how the situation could be saved. They were helpless. - -“Dogs that won’t eat have to be made to eat,” Kak heard the Kabluna -mutter. And while he was still wondering what those strange words meant -he saw an awesome change. - -Omialik’s eyes grew gray and very cold. He spoke shortly in a hard -voice. He bade his Eskimos and Kak take each an Indian by the arm and -lead him forward. And when the strangers started to resist, he raised -his gun. All knew the import of that action. It was no bluff. The -magic gun was good for killing animals--and men, red men who would not -do what Omialik commanded. Kak shivered. He saw Jimmie Muskrat quail -before his master, saw him turn meekly and lead off, his companions -following. And he knew that his friend of the big heart was one to be -obeyed. - -Thus, two and two, with the Kabluna bringing up the rear, they marched -their frightened guests into the half-frightened village. But as soon -as the Eskimos saw the strangers they recovered spirit. It was as Kak -had tried to say: They would not consent to meet the Indians till they -had met them; then seeing their dreaded enemies in white man’s clothes, -quite ordinary and unlike their expectation, they lost every trace of -fear and behaved in a very friendly manner. - -The village gave a splendid supper of roasted caribou heads of which -Indians and Eskimos alike are very fond, and of masu, blood soup, -and other delicacies which the visitors had never tasted; and then, -everybody having been up for hours and hours, invited them into their -tents to sleep. This the Indians flatly refused. They were afraid to -separate and trust themselves among the different families, so they -told a whopper, and claimed it was their custom to sleep on the ground -by the fire. The hosts were much too polite to contradict, though they -thought this very odd indeed. Kak knew it was a lie, still he said -nothing. The boy saw that Omialik and his Eskimos were staying with the -red men and wanted to stay also. But keeping guard most of the previous -night and playing hero most of the day had worn him out. At a word from -Guninana he gave up, went to his bed, dropped on it, and slept like a -log. - -Next morning Jimmie invited the Eskimos to go down to the Indian camp -where they had smoked caribou meat and marrow-bones. Only a few of the -men, headed by Taptuna with his wife and a friend of hers, ventured to -accept; but those who did go were very glad, for the Indians treated -them royally and made a feast in one of their great lodges. After the -feast, an old slant-eye who happened to be among the company dressed up -in his ancient costume to show off. Everybody sat about conversing, -Muskrat always taking the lead while Omialik translated. Finally the -Indians bestowed some simple presents on their guests, and the party -turned homeward. - -The whole village could talk of nothing else but these visits. They -all felt so glad to know the Indians were not so wicked as they had -believed. Men and women went about with light hearts, for one of the -worst dangers of their southern trips to get wood had now been removed. -They need no longer tremble at the thought of being massacred in their -beds. Everybody talked Indian with enthusiasm--everybody but Okak. He -never varied one whit from the stand he had taken in his fine speech: -The redskins were enemies--bad men; and nothing good could come of -dealing with them. - -Taptuna used to laugh at his friend for this, poking fun at such -timidity. But quite suddenly, one day, he stopped laughing and poking -fun. After that when Okak began to talk about “bad Indians” the chief -scout sat by moodily making no remark, or exchanging glances with his -wife and son. - -[Illustration: AN OLD SLANT-EYE DRESSED UP IN HIS ANCIENT COSTUME TO -SHOW OFF.] - -The change hinged on a serious discovery. Omialik had gone down during -the summer to see his friend, Selby, who was camped below them on Great -Bear Lake, and returned with the disquieting news that Mr. Selby, -although he knew Jimmie Muskrat and his two companions, had never told -the Indian to look out for white men, nor to ask to be introduced to -Eskimos. Why, then, had Jimmie schemed to get into this settlement? Why -had he taken the northerners to his tribe? Nobody knew; nobody could -tell. The Kabluna thought it might only be for the glory of having done -something unusual. But Guninana shook her wise head. All her fear of -the treacherous enemy flowed back doubled on discovering this trick. - -“From lying to murder is but a step,” she moaned. “He who deceives in -one thing is faithless in all.” - -The family discussed the matter gravely in the privacy of their tent. -They argued it at length with Omialik; they deplored it alone. But all -agreed it was best not to tell Okak nor to alarm the village. - -“We will be moving away from here so soon,” Taptuna said. “Let us go -quietly.” - -“And let’s keep a sharp lookout before we go!” Kak added. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -_Missing_ - - -“Come here! Come here, Noashak! It is better that you stay here.” - -Guninana stood at the tent door. Her face, as always now, wore a shadow -of anxiety. She called, but Noashak would not mind. - -The child ran a little way to where her brother sat and creeping up -behind threw herself on him, clapping both her hands over his eyes so -that he could not see. - -“Get off!” - -Kak was busy making arrows. He had determined to have an extra good -supply for their northern trip across the prairie. “So I can shoot at -every bird and beast I see,” the boy proclaimed, adding in his heart, -“and maybe kill a grizzly bear.” He sat cross-legged on a mossy stone, -and at the moment his sister jumped on his back he was measuring an -arrow from his chin to his middle finger tip. Noashak’s sudden impact -drove the sharp end into his flesh. Kak turned on her angrily. - -“Why can’t you keep off me, kid! How is a fellow ever going to get -ready for a journey with you bothering ’round?” - -“I want you to come and play.” - -“Play! Can’t you see I’m busy--this is important work!” - -“But I want to play,” insisted the child. - -Kak was silent. - -“Brother, please be nice and play,” the little girl coaxed, looking at -him through her lashes, dropping her voice to a small murmur. - -She stood before him, winsome and pathetic, with her long hair hanging -in two braids over her shoulders and her hands clasped behind her back. -But the boy was gazing ruefully at his arrow. Her blow had broken it. - -“Get out,” he answered. “Can’t I ever have any peace? Leave me alone!” - -Noashak, who happened to be in one of her rare good moods and expected -everybody else to be good too, looked for a second as if she were going -to cry; then she turned swiftly. - -“I will play with the hares and marmots,” she said, “for I have no -brother and the children are all away.” - -With that she began to run. Her little brown legs twinkled over the -ground toward the thickest woods where spruce held out protecting -arms. Her clothes were of dappled fawnskin and once among the lichened -rocks and checkered shadows she was as completely hidden as a fawn. - -Kak replaced the broken part and trained his eye down the spliced -shaft. His conscience troubled him. “You might have played a game with -your little sister,” something seemed to say; and reason answered: “But -how is a chap ever to get a day’s work done?” He rubbed his sore chin -gingerly and measured the arrow again. Quite right. Yet he did not hold -it up for his mother’s approval as was his wont. Guninana had seen -that roughness; had looked at him reproachfully. The boy felt unhappy -and ashamed. He got up and walked away to the working place, where all -the wood he and his father had hewed stood drying. Taptuna was there -putting the finishing touches to his new sled. Mere sight of that -sleigh was enough to raise anybody’s spirits. - -“A beaut’!” Kak cried. “How Sapsuk and Pikalu will make it flash along.” - -The owner glanced up pleased and satisfied. “Yes. It’s a fine sleigh, -and I’m glad it’s done. Now just as soon as the snow comes we can be -off.” - -No need to explain why he wanted to get away quickly. The shadow -of anxiety on Guninana’s face was reflected in her husband’s. -“Unfortunately the snow is late this year; still, in a week or two we -can count on the first flurry.... Got to be in time for the trading at -Cape Bexley,” he added more cheerily. - -Kak brightened. “Golly! I’ve got some fine pieces for Kommana. Look -here!” He slapped a proprietary hand on one broad board cut from the -heart of the largest tree they had found. “The snow shovel I promised -him. That dog will be mine certainly if they show up at the Cape.” - -“Yours--eh? Who helped cut the tree; and who is going to feed the dog?” - -“Now, dad! We’ll go halves on him, of course, in working and -feeding--but he is to be mine, if we get him. It’s a promise--isn’t it -a promise? Say it’s a promise,” Kak teased. - -Taptuna laughed. “Oh, all right. I promise--if we get him. Lend a hand -here with this lacing, will you.” - -He gave the end of the long thong to Kak; and the boy, wreathed in -smiles, for he had just been granted one of his most cherished dreams, -pitched into work whole-heartedly. So the hours slipped by in pleasant -comradeship and Kak never once thought of that bunchy figure he had -watched running off to play with the hares and marmots. - -It was late in the season now. Their continuous Arctic day had passed. -The sun sank at midnight below the horizon leaving it dark for three or -four hours. About sundown Guninana came to the working place, her face -graver than before. - -“Have you seen Noashak?” she called from a distance; and Taptuna -without looking up called: - -“No. She has not been here!” - -“Then she is lost.” - -“How’s that!” Noashak’s father stopped work, straightened his long back -and gazed in astonishment at the speaker. - -Guninana had come close. She dropped on a stump wearily, looking at her -husband with troubled eyes, but addressing her son: “The child has not -been home since she ran to you, Kak. What did she want then? What did -she say?” - -Both turned for the reply and the lad’s glance fell before his father’s. - -“She went to play with the hares and marmots,” he muttered, kicking at -a root. - -“Into the woods--and you did not prevent her! Oh, son!” - -“Well, how was I to know----” Kak began impatiently, and stopped. For -he saw something in his parents’ faces that caught at his own heart. - -“Foxes, I never thought of it! I’ll go and hunt for her--I’ll call. -Don’t you worry, mother. I know all the places she plays in.” - -“I have hunted. I have called,” Guninana answered miserably. Then -roused herself to cry after the boy. “Don’t go too far. It’s growing -dark; and there is no sense in your being lost also.” - -Taptuna started at once in another direction, and between them they -beat the near woods calling “Noashak!” and calling to each other; -keeping in touch. Then, as the twilight deepened, his father ordered -Kak home. They both came in gloomy and fatigued and sat down without a -word. Okak had finished his supper and brought sticks to replenish the -fire. He was silent, observing. Taptuna accepted a horn of soup, but -Kak refused. Shame and self-reproach were eating at his heart. He had -hunted for Noashak in a fever of remorse, rushing up and down the woods -calling her name aloud; promising through set teeth all he would do for -her and be to her if she only came back alive. Now he threw himself -supperless by the fire and fell asleep. - -“Where is the little one?” Okak asked presently. “I have not seen her -with the other children to-day.” - -There was a noticeable pause; then Guninana answered, trying to make -her voice sound ordinary. “She went to play and has not come back yet.” - -“But the others are back long ago!” - -“She went into the woods.” - -Taptuna’s voice sounded rough for his proud soul was full of alarm -which he would have liked to keep from Okak. - -“Ah--into the woods--and she has not returned.” - -Each slow word was a knife twisted in their hearts. Dead silence -followed. It is not necessary to talk when all know what the others are -thinking. At last Okak broke out violently: - -“This is exactly what I expected! We had better rouse the village, -neighbor, and go in pursuit.” - -His use of that final strange word stabbed his belief home. - -“Nonsense!” protested Taptuna, but the familiar exclamation lacked -force. It seemed to drop away into darkness. Okak’s voice continued -harshly: - -“Ah, yes! You have been saying ‘Nonsense, nonsense’ to me all summer. -But now this is not such ‘nonsense’ if the Indians have taken Noashak. -And why should we suppose they haven’t got her? Has any child ever -strayed from the camp before? Not one! Certainly they have enough -intelligence to return if they are not prevented. And what else could -prevent her--who else but your precious red traders! It is fortunate if -they have only carried her away, and have not already taken her teeth -for their children’s toys and her hair as a decoration.” - -“Don’t!” Guninana cried shuddering. - -Though his speech was cruel she knew Okak as a faithful friend. He had -already put on his stoutest pair of boots and was selecting his best -arrows with trembling hands. - -“Where is Omialik?” he asked. - -“Hunting.” - -“It is as well for him that he is hunting!” - -This threat sounded so sinister the others were quite taken aback. They -had not expected blood and vengeance of the timid Okak. - -Seeing Taptuna hesitated the little man took another tone, urging: -“Come, neighbor, there is no time to lose. A volunteer party must start -for the Indian encampment at once.” - -When one person makes up his mind about anything so very positively, -he is apt to carry conviction to others. Taptuna did not know what to -think. Okak’s turning into a man of action was an uncanny business -in itself. It made him feel as you would feel if a statue on the -street corner suddenly came to life and commenced issuing orders. -Circumstances seemed to prove his fears and hatred just. They had held -the thought of Indians from the first, though unconfessed; and nothing -came to mind to overthrow their neighbor’s reasoning. Besides, both -realized that neither Okak nor the village knew the worst--the fact of -Jimmie Muskrat’s trickery. - -“Perhaps--perhaps! It will be better to go down and see--and be sure,” -Taptuna muttered. - -“Anything is better than nothing. Do _something_!” the mother moaned. - -At that her tall, competent husband turned and meekly followed his -fussy companion across the open ground to the mottled tents looking so -much like rocks under the pale radiance of the autumn moon. - -Kak awakened to the menace of an empty village, deserted work, his -mother’s grief, and the frightened faces of the women who had come to -sympathize. Okak’s accusations had convinced them. They told the boy -without a shadow of doubt that Noashak had been carried off by Indians -and the men were gone after her. All this tragedy springing out of his -one moment’s ill nature was more than Kak could stand. It seemed very -unfair. Nobody spoke a word of blame, but he felt they all knew it was -his fault, and unable to meet their looks he stole away and hid amid -the underbrush till the search party should return. - -When he heard them coming he crept out hopefully. But the worst news -was already leaping from lip to lip by the time he got home. They had -found the camp site but no campers. The remains of the lodges were -freshly deserted, and it was all too evident the Indians had run away -with their prize. Taptuna, nearly crazy, had insisted, against his -people’s advice, on immediate pursuit. He would have started alone -had not the Kabluna’s two Eskimos volunteered to go. The three were -following hot on the redskins’ trail. - -Kak revisited the underbrush and gave himself up to despair. He had -felt remorseful last night; now his heart sank into his very boots. -Omialik being away added the last drop of bitterness to the cup. This -distress was purely unselfish. Much as the boy longed for advice and -comfort, he really wanted his friend to come back and clear his own -good name. Women in the village were already telling how the white man -had been party to the whole plot; asking, “Aren’t his Eskimos glad for -an excuse to escape?” They said Omialik would never come again, would -never dare to show his face. This hurt Kak as nothing else could have -done. It was difficult to keep doubt out of his valiant little soul -when doubt seethed all around him. Of course he did not believe their -lies, but the sting and strain of loyalty which stands against the mob, -and the soreness which endurance leaves in the human heart are fierce -emotions for a child. Kak writhed in double torture; then gradually his -mood shifted from crushed humiliation to stern resolve. Since it was -his fault Noashak had fallen into the Indians’ hands, it was plainly -his duty to rescue her; and it was his privilege to defend Omialik--to -warn him. - -Lying on his back, staring up into the blue sky, Kak thought it all out -carefully. He would go after his sister. No need to waste time scouting -around by the deserted camp, he could strike boldly across country till -he reached the eastern end of Great Bear Lake, and once there he would -find Mr. Selby. If Mr. Selby proved friendly and asked the Indians -living about him to help, then Kak would be able to send a warning to -Omialik, for his friend must know his plans. - -Fired with ambition the boy crept back to their tent, made up a small -package of dried meat, took his bow and arrows--all his new ones -that he had been so eagerly laying aside for use on the homeward -journey--and stole away. - -Guninana sat among the neighbors in the largest tent, where a shaman -in a sort of trance, with wild contortions and weird words, sought -Noashak. Kak kept out of it. He did not want to be stopped and -questioned. “Mother will understand when she sees I have taken these -arrows,” he thought, as he ran on silent feet down the nearest path. -Kak too looked like a deer in his deerskin clothing. The trees held -out welcoming arms, and the rocks were mottled with grays and browns. -In a few minutes the wilderness swallowed him, leaving no trace. - -He struck boldly south. The forest consisted mostly of slender spruce -in scattered formation, so at first he made good progress. But when he -had gone perhaps six hours’ travel the woods grew denser; thick enough -to try both his strength and patience. He was thinking about making -camp, sitting down for a rest and a bite of food anyway, when a rustle -in the branches set his pulses throbbing. The forest lay still but not -silent; a light wind from the north, sighing continuously, swayed the -tapering tree tops; but this noise he heard was different from any wind -noises--a persistent rustling through the alders. It was sunset and -darkening here in the woods, and poor Kak, who had been like a lion a -moment before, felt all the courage oozing out of him. He fell on one -knee behind a log. The sound came nearer, grew unmistakable. Some large -body moved through the copse. The young hunter laid an arrow across his -bow and waited with every muscle taut. On it came, near--so near he -began to tremble for his safety. What if a grizzly bear loomed suddenly -out of the dusk above him! The boy knelt trembling, with distended eyes -riveted on that spot where the stealthy noise seemed to approach. - -“Whatever it is, it’s coming so close I can’t miss,” he thought, and -bent the bow. Swiftly the bushes parted, letting a dark mass tower over -him. It stood with its back to the waning light and might easily have -been an animal by its shaggy outline; but Kak saw. His muscles relaxed -in sickening reaction as the human form sprang at him over the log and -seized his arm. - -“Good gracious! Don’t kill me!” cried a familiar voice. - -“Omialik!” - -Two sorts of relief rang in that cry. The Kabluna was on his way -back--then they had all told lies, lies, lies! The boy’s sorrowing -heart rushed out to his friend, whom he had so nearly shot; he threw -himself into the white man’s arms and cried like a baby. - -“Why, Kak! Why, Kak! Were you lost? Were you scared?” - -Omialik repeated over and over as he patted the sobbing youngster: -“Brace up. It’s all right now. We’re not many hours from home. -Come--come! Brace up.” - -“It isn’t me,” cried the boy. “It’s Noashak. She’s been stolen by -Indians!” - -“What nonsense!” - -“That’s what dad said, but she’s gone just the same. The men went down -to the Indians’ camp to hunt for her; but the Indians are gone. And -you were gone too! The women are telling that you were in league with -Muskrat.” - -“Great Jehoshaphat!” - -This was startling news--bad news--bad enough to make the white man -want to hear it quite correctly. - -“They’ve been to the camp, you say, and found the Indians gone?” - -“Yes, and father is following with your Eskimos: the rest of the search -party came home.... It is all my fault Noashak’s lost. She ran away -into the woods because I was cross with her; so I thought I’d better -try and bring her back. And I was going to the lake to leave a message -with your Selby about how mad the village is, so--so that you wouldn’t -go there without your gun.” - -“You intended to warn me? That was kind.” - -Omialik’s eyes grew soft. One glance at his face was sufficient reward -for Kak. Look and words together acted like balm on the boy’s bruised -self-esteem. As he sat by his friend, eating dried meat and telling -him every detail of their scare, his spirits rose. It seemed possible -Noashak had never been near those deserted lodges--that they might -all have been wrong. And he was prepared to accept the white man’s -judgment when it came. - -“I don’t believe Muskrat had anything to do with this business. It -would be best, my lad, for you and me to return to the village and -set matters right there. If your father is not back--if they have no -news--we can start systematic search instead of running off on a wild -goose chase. Maybe the child is only lost. What made you so sure she -was stolen?” - -Kak thought hard. “The women told me so,” he answered. “And Okak told -them so. He was positive.” - -Omialik smiled. “Okak was always crazy-frightened of Indians.” - -“But what he said is true. Noashak would certainly come home from her -play unless something was keeping her. The kids never go far.” - -“Well, something else might have prevented her. Suppose she had fallen, -or----” - -“Don’t!” cried her brother in the same tone Guninana had used. “I’d -rather it was Indians than animals!” - -The boy found himself suddenly, vividly, plunged back into that -terrifying moment before Omialik appeared, when his courage oozed -out of him, his hair stirred on his head, and cold sweat started -from every pore. He tried to imagine his little sister so amazed, -surrounded, trapped by some wild beast of the woods--but it was too -awful. - -“Come on!” he cried, springing to his feet. “We’ve got to get ahead!” - -They had been talking a long time and it was now dark with a cloudy -sky. The white man’s instinct was to camp and wait for daylight. But -Kak urged him so to “Come along,” to “Try,” that he gave in against his -better judgment, and they began scrambling through the thick brush. It -was slow, heavy travel and after an hour’s effort, Omialik stopped. - -“No use, Kak, we are only losing our way and getting all mixed up. I -haven’t any idea which way we are heading. This seems a likely spot, -so far as one can feel, and I hear water. Let us camp and wait for -morning.” - -Kak was about ready to drop from fatigue and silently agreed. They -built a little fire for the night was cold, and ate some more dried -meat, drinking great refreshing draughts from the spring which -Omialik’s quick ear had not failed to note. - -“What is that strange smell?” asked the boy, sniffing the keen, autumn -wind. - -“Caribou, or I’m mistaken. My, but it’s strong! We must be close to an -enormous herd--the first caribou I have struck in three days, and it’s -so pitch-black I can’t see my hand before my face! What rotten luck!” - -“Well, I’m glad it is dark! I’m too tired for hunting,” Kak answered, -and throwing himself on a bed of moss, immediately slept. - -The young hunter awakened in the early morning of a quiet lowering -day. Caribou scent hung heavy in the still air. He noticed a strange -vibration through the ground, heard the thud and rustle of trotting -feet; sat up and shook his companion. - -Omialik rolled over sleepily, opened one eye, grew conscious also of -that odd trembling in the ground, opened the other eye, and lay staring -into the clouds. - -“Whatever is it? Do you feel--do you hear?” asked Kak in excited -whispers. “Yes, and I smell it too!” - -The Kabluna rose on one elbow. “Must be caribou traveling,” he said. “A -large band--an immense band!... Listen to the ripple of their feet.... -Wonderful! Let’s get out of here to some place where we can see.” - -[Illustration: THE WHOLE PLACE SEEMED TO BE A MOVING RIVER OF DEER.] - -He scrambled up and pushed through the copse, Kak following. It might -have been an eighth of a mile to where the trees thinned. There an -unbelievable sight met their eyes. Caribou were marching past in solid -columns, two, three, or more abreast. These columns were only a few -yards apart and extended as far as eye could see into the sparse woods. -The whole place seemed to be a moving river of deer. - -“I wonder how long it’s been going on,” the white man exclaimed. “My -word, I’m glad we wakened before they all passed! I wouldn’t have -missed this sight for anything!” - -They stood there a long time waiting, expecting the herd to peter out, -its spectacle coming to a sudden stop like a battalion marching by. But -the solid columns continued to pour on--the river flowed and flowed. - -“Marvelous!” sighed Omialik. - -“Perhaps we can get along through the woods,” Kak suggested; for the -fascination of the marching host paled a little when he recollected his -sister. The white man could not bear to tear himself away. This was -the grandest exhibition of the riches of the north he had ever seen. -He wanted to look and look, convincing himself of its reality, so that -when he returned to his own country and people talked about “those cold -waste regions,” and “the barren Arctic,” he could remember this and -say: “You are all wrong. Hundreds of thousands of animals roam over -that so-called desert; birds and butterflies and insects, millions of -insects, infest it; and caribou travel there by regiments.” Noashak’s -peril left him no choice but to turn his back on the deer. They -tramped through the copse where they had slept. In its thickest part -the sound of running feet died down a little, then it swelled again, -grew sharper, more distinct. - -“Foxes!” cried Kak. “I believe we’re coming on another lot over here!” - -It was so, their copse proved to be an arm of the forest thrusting -itself thickly down along either side of a small stream. And they broke -out of it suddenly, opposite their first stand, to find more solid -columns of migrating deer moving steadily past. These animals walked as -close one after the other as possible, while row beyond row lined all -the visible area. - -“Aren’t you hungry?” Omialik said. “Shall I kill some fresh meat for -breakfast?” - -“First rate!” Kak answered. Then glancing at the closely packed -animals, “But it seems a kind of shame!” - -“Good for you! That is the right sporting spirit, my boy; stalk your -game, don’t have it driven. However, necessity is master here--and I -don’t believe one will be missed. What a chance this to kill a whole -winter’s food supply! If only my men and your dad were along to help -us build caches. It would be waste to slaughter the poor things and -leave them for wolves.” Omialik stood watching, then he glanced at his -companion. “Suppose you do the shooting this time and save ammunition.” - -Excitement fluttered up the boy’s nerves; he only hoped he did not show -it as he anxiously selected one of the new arrows and bent his bow. -Kak had never killed a deer, and there was little glory, he knew, in -killing at such easy range; yet he got a thrill when the large buck -he had picked staggered and fell among the herd. Omialik’s praise was -sweet. - -They built a fire and feasted on roast ribs, making a quick meal of it, -for Noashak’s little figure seemed always to be flitting before Kak’s -eyes. - -As the caribou were now moving against a shifted wind, almost directly -away from the village, the man and boy were able to walk between two -columns when chance offered breaking through one line into the space -which divided it from the next, walking there awhile, and at the first -opportunity repeating the maneuver; always keeping to the right and -slowly working out of the herd. After they had left behind the last -straggling groups, a couple of hours’ fast travel brought them home. - -By late afternoon, as they neared the village, the brother began to -worry. “We won’t have much daylight for searching,” he grumbled, “and I -know how it will be, everybody crowding around gabbing, trying to get -in a word with you or at you--delaying us no end.” - -The white man was endeavoring to cheer him by promises of a speedy -departure; when who should come running to meet them but Noashak -herself. - -Kak’s throat choked up at seeing her. “What happened?” was all he could -say. - -The little girl seized Omialik’s hand and jumped around and rubbed on -him in quite her old, bothersome manner. - -“Don’t act so much like a chipmunk. Come. Tell us your story!” He -laughed at her mauling, and captured both small hands in one large -glove. “What happened after you ran away to play with the hares and -marmots?” - -“I wanted to go right off where Kak would have a lot of trouble finding -me, because he was mean. You were mean, Kak! I ran and ran till I was -so tired I lay down--maybe I had a little nap. When I felt rested and -thought you had been looking for me long enough I tried to go home; -but the sun hid behind clouds and I didn’t know which way was home, -and still I kept on going. Then numbers of caribou came feeding near -by--more and more and more. It began to grow dark and I cried. That -didn’t stop the darkness a bit; so by and by I ceased crying and -looked around for a bed. There was a nice, low island of rock with -three spruce trees growing on it, and smooth ground all covered with -moss, and I thought: ‘That will make me a fine house.’ With such a lot -of animals around I wanted a safe place. I climbed up. It was almost -dark and the night grew blacker and blacker for a while; but presently -the clouds blew away, and the stars shone and the moon. There was an -awful smell and the sound of many animals running. I could see antlers -like trees rushing past, and the wolves howled, and----” - -“You were scared and howled with them.” - -“Yes, I did,” the child answered boldly. “I cried myself to sleep. -When I woke up it was bright day and the whole world was covered -with caribou--such lots and lots of caribou, all going in the same -direction! There were wolves among them and I was frightened to go into -the herd, so I sat still and waited. I was on the island with an ocean -of deer rushing by. They kept me on the island. I had nothing to eat -but berries, and I cried and hoped you would soon come to find me.” - -It was so. That day the child had lain alone on the dry, vibrating -ground under low clouds, and watched the cold, blue evening fall; while -those gray, shadowy, moving legs and tossing, antlered heads came on, -and on, and on. The thud, thud of running roofs made a strange lullaby. -The wind had risen to a sighing moan, and now that night drew in -wolves, racing with the herd, howled dismally. - -All through the darkness deer continued trotting by, and to the tramp -and tremble of their small, innumerable feet Noashak waked a second -time. - -She felt very lonely and sad as well as hungry, and scarcely thought it -worth while to sit up and look at those interminable creatures. Imagine -her joy, then, on finding one edge of her rock quite free--luckily for -her the edge toward home. This was because the breeze had shifted, -making the caribou, which usually travel into the wind, alter their -course. Gradually, while the captive slept, the columns had bent -westward till the whole, vast herd was swinging down on the far side of -her island. The instant she took it in Noashak jumped up and hurried -out of prison. - -“I’ll never, never again be so naughty as to run away!” the child -promised, shaking her head violently; but her seriousness lasted only -five seconds. - -“What do you think?” she cried, hopping on one foot. “Okak said Indians -had carried me off. I wish they had! Then I could have seen their -lodges, and I wouldn’t be back till father saved me, and killed Jimmie -Muskrat; and everybody would still be scared.” - -“What! Do you like to frighten us, you mischief?” - -“Course I do! It’s lots of fun. Being away is tiresome; but it’s grand -getting home! Everybody gives you things--see. Here’s Okak’s charm -against evil.” She held up a dried bumblebee hung in a bag on a sinew -about her neck. “Mother says I look too much like a fawn and she has -promised to make me a coat with bright red trimmings if we can get -the ocher at Cape Bexley. Do you hear, Kak? I’m to have a new red -coat! It’s so I shall never get lost any more. But I’d like to be lost -sometimes if I could see all those caribou. Nobody believes I did see -them. They say I dreamed it--but I really and truly did.” - -“Bully for you! Stick to it,” Kak cried. “They were real, all right, -and you saw them. Don’t let the villagers humbug you out of that. We -saw them, too, and we killed one and ate it--_that’s_ proof it was -real!” - -“Only one, worse luck!” Omialik exclaimed. “But now you are safe, miss, -we’ll hurry back and lay in some meat. Where is your father?” he asked; -for there would be need of all hands to skin and cut up the deer. - -“Dad’s still looking for me, and your Eskimos are with him. I guess -they’ll be pretty anxious by now.... Oh, I do hope they’ll come here -soon so we can start to Cape Bexley--I do want my little red coat!” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -_Homeward Bound_ - - -All very well to talk so lightly about going to Cape Bexley; when it -really came to the point, leaving meant taking leave and this was a bad -business. Kak’s heart broke, for his friend, Omialik, stayed behind. It -was the white man’s intention to return down Horton River to Franklin -Bay and go from there to Banks Island--a long and dangerous journey -into the unknown. The boy burned to accompany him. - -“Later on, later on, when your legs are a bit longer for walking,” the -explorer promised. - -Kak tried to smile, tried not to show the hollow feeling this -separation planted in the pit of his stomach; but it took moral force. -He gulped. - -“Brace up, old chap.” The Kabluna patted his shoulder. “I’m coming -back, you know. You will see me in Victorialand again--unless by then -you have gone to Herschel Island to learn to shoot.” - -Talking about impossible dreams as if they were bound to happen makes -them seem jolly real. Kak managed to choke back his sorrow, and -freshly convinced that life was a grand adventure, ran after the party -who were already trekking north. - -Crossing the prairies with all their gear and trade goods, the wooden -dishes, pails, lamp supports they had made, and pieces of rough wood -piled on the sled, proved an entirely different experience from their -tiresome, hot, hungry tramp southward. The new sled ran lightly on snow -ample to cover the ground and not too heavy for walking. Taptuna was -careful to pack a good supply of food, and halfway across the tundra -they found their old cache. All laughed heartily to think how much -worse they had needed it in the summer than they did now. - -With favorable weather and little time lost hunting they made a record -trip. Spirits mounted at every mile. Guninana sniffed the ocean air -joyfully and said how fine it would be to live in a comfortable snow -house, away from buzzing flies and boiling hot sun, and that perpetual -sense of work always awaiting them in the woods. - -Frost made Kak feel like a war horse. He longed to have the flat ice -under his feet again, with two dogs, perhaps three if he was lucky, -harnessed to the sleigh, and run--run--run--abandoning himself to that -glorious sense of space and motion which was his heritage. - -The first person he hunted up at the cape was Kommana. - -“Got that pup for me?” he shouted. - -“Got that snow shovel?” - -“Sure thing!” - -Kak proudly produced their wonderful slab of spruce, and when everybody -about had admired and praised it he was offered his choice of the -six-months-old dogs. - -The boys’ fathers were party to this trade, for a single piece of -wood the width of the one they had brought was considered very -valuable--worth almost as much as Taptuna’s new sled. - -This was a large village, many Eskimos from the north and east had come -to trade, and things took on the character if not the appearance of one -of our small-town fairs. Besides their business the traders indulged in -sports, jumping and racing and playing football. Their balls are made -of soft leather sewed together in sections, much like ours, and are -stuffed with caribou hair. The hair of the caribou, being hollow, is -very buoyant; this is why the animals float nearly half out of water -after they are killed. Their hollow hair is often used in manufacturing -life preservers and is considered better than cork. Balls filled -solidly with it bounce quite well, and the Eskimos have a lot of fun -kicking them about. Kak was rather good at games, though, of course, -he could not hold his own against men, but Kommana had no use for them. - -“You’ll be old before you’re grown!” Taptuna jollied him. “Come and -take a turn at this--just try.” - -He sent the ball spinning with a good kick-off. Fatty watched but shook -his head. - -“Ah, leave him be, dad! He’s always tired,” Kak cried. - -He sat down by his friend and was soon telling stories of their -southern travels. Kommana wanted to hear all about Jimmie Muskrat, and -Selby, and Noashak’s adventure with the deer. They talked till nearly -dark, and when the younger boy got back to the tent he found his father -and Okak in a friendly dispute concerning the best route home. - -Taptuna’s idea was to go westward, striking across the mouth of the -straits for Cape Baring, the southwest corner of Victoria Island, -where they would have a very good chance of killing a few polar -bears before the hardest frost set in, causing the open water to lie -farther and farther offshore, and leaving them to their regular life -on the ice catching seals. Okak as usual was raising objections. He -still had a quantity of trade goods, and things from their spring -cache made the load heavy. His neighbor pooh-poohed this, for they -might count on smooth going; but Okak was not to be easily moved. He -sat, brows knitted, a picture of worry, and tried to think up better -objections. Guninana glanced at him once or twice with a merry twinkle -in her eye. She knew his trouble--the poor chap was scared stiff about -bear hunting. The woman guessed right, but at that she guessed only -half his misery. Either way made Okak tremble in his shoes. For days -and days recollection of his cold ducking, with renewed horror of -snatching currents and bending ice, had been haunting his memory. He -did not forget it would be safer farther west where the water flows -more slowly--but what is the use of a safety leading straight into the -jaws of nasty, snarling bears? He growled like a bear himself, seeing -Taptuna wink at his wife. - -In her heart of hearts Guninana sympathized with the nervous man. She -would have been better pleased to settle down on the ice immediately, -even if it meant eating seal and nothing but seal for months; and so -she was highly delighted when Okak suddenly burst out: - -“Two dogs are not sufficient! With only two men and two dogs the -results will be as poor as the hunting is risky, and all our time -wasted.” - -Nobody answered this for it was sound reasoning. The little man sat -back rubbing his knees with a that-settles-it sort of superior manner. - -“Alunak might join us,” Taptuna muttered, annoyed. - -“He has promised his wife to go to Franklin Bay and try to meet the -Kabluna. She wants some steel needles.” - -Guninana’s speech sounded gently satisfied; Okak observed it and -swelled with importance. - -“Two dogs----” he began, intending to enlarge on his happy inspiration, -but it was just at this moment Kak entered. - -“Who said ‘two dogs’?” the lively lad cried in a round, booming, -out-of-doors voice. “What about Kanik--_my_ pup? I’d have you remember -we’ve got three dogs now!” - -The resonant words shot like a boomerang through Okak’s -self-complacence. Instantly he knew the cause lost. He heard it in -Guninana’s little gasp; read it in his neighbor’s sparkling eyes bent -on the intruder. - -“You think of everything, my boy. I had forgotten Kanik.” - -Taptuna spoke quietly, but all saw his elation. He felt immensely -proud of Kak, and in that the boy’s mother must join him. Fresh proof -of her son’s cleverness always put Guninana into beaming good humor; -moreover, it is fun to play on the winning side. The family joined -forces against Okak and silenced his arguments if not his fears. - -They agreed to travel as far as Crocker River with Alunak’s party, and -this journey turned out harder and slower than anybody had anticipated, -for a strong wind from the northwest blew directly in their faces all -the way. At the river Okak made a final throw for safety by trying to -persuade their friends to join forces in bear hunting at the eleventh -hour. Alunak himself was minded to do so, if it had not been for his -wife’s fixed idea about needles. He had promised, and the lady being -a very dominant person meant to see that he kept his promise. They -all got into a great discussion over it, which lasted while they were -house-building and eating, and commenced again the next morning. -Nothing would turn the woman; Guninana even offered to lend her a -needle for as long as they were in Victoria Island, but she held to -her point. Perhaps she was as curious to see the Kabluna as to inspect -his trade goods; Kak thought so anyway, and blazing with a wild hope -suggested they might all go on to Franklin Bay first. When his father -answered “No,” most emphatically, he grew tired of the merry argument -and, deciding to take his dog for a walk, went out alone. - -Kanik leaped up, pawing his master’s shoulders, making no end of a fuss -and acting silly as a pup does; the pair were perfectly happy till -Sapsuk got on to what was afoot and whined, wagging his tail, pleading -to be allowed to go. In his present mood the boy thought two a company -and three a crowd, so he felt annoyed. Sapsuk might be his favorite, -but Kanik was his own--if you have ever possessed a dog you will -understand. Kak was so torn between the two that in the end he took -neither. - -“You have to work hard, and it is better for you to rest,” he -admonished like a grandfather, and started off, his walk already half -spoiled. “If Sapsuk keeps this up I’ll never be able to teach the pup -anything!” the boy muttered fretfully, for the first time wishing his -friend had loved him a little less. - -Conditions showed that the wind blowing against them all the way along -must have been here a heavy, continuous gale. It had piled more ice -into the western mouth of the straits than had ever been known before. -The coast rose high. From its cliffs Kak beheld great masses of ice -filling the whole expanse, rolling away billow on billow like a prairie -country, goodness knew how deep under the trackless, gleaming snow. - -“Jimminy!” thought the boy. “This old sea is going to take some -crossing!” - -He questioned if Omialik had started and felt a pang considering how -near his hero might be at that minute and he unable to reach him. Then -recollection of Okak brought a grin. “Our neighbor wanted it thick -and he’s got it--perhaps he’ll be sorrier yet we didn’t travel by the -eastern straits. I wonder what the going really is like out there?” - -To think was to act with Kak. He immediately scrambled down the cliffs -and a half hour later was walking alone over the corrugated ice field. - -It was a shimmering sort of day. The sun struggled to penetrate the -clouds, but did not quite emerge. The world lay trackless, formless, -shadowless, a vast expanse of gray-white sky and gray-white snow. This -kind of light is far harder on the eyes than bright sunshine, and since -his snowblindness Kak had been very nervous about eyes. He kept his -screwed up, not looking intently at anything, nor paying much attention -to where he went, for he counted on the cliffs to guide him back. He -only wanted to get a general impression of what their next march would -be like and so strolled carelessly up a high ridge for a better view. - -All at once Kak felt himself falling. He instantly thrust out his -elbows so they would catch on the edges of the ice, for he knew what -had happened. Stepping heedlessly he had walked on to the snow roof -of a crevasse and had gone through into the crack. This is a common -form of Arctic accident. The boy expected to stop when he had fallen -as far at his waist, and to be able to hoist himself out, none the -worse for his adventure; but to his surprise and horror he kept right -on falling. The width of this chasm was so great that his elbows did -not reach the walls. For an instant Kak felt helplessly angry--then -the serious side broke on him. He was falling, falling--where to? On -what would he strike--ice or water? How far would he fall? How hard -would he strike? Sick with fear he tried to use his frenzied wits. It -darted into his mind like a javelin that they would not know at home -where he had gone, for snow so hard-driven by the gale was trackless -as a rock. How he wished now he had taken either of the dogs, or both! -He thought of Omialik, regretting Herschel Island, and in the middle -of his keenest sorrow for the young marksman who would never be, both -feet hit suddenly, smack on glare ice, flew from under him, and pitched -him shoulder on against the solid wall. He slid down, smashing the -back of his head, and lay still. Pain mingled with relief. It seemed -for a moment as if nothing again could ever be so bad as that falling -sensation. But the brief happiness passed. He realized he was lying -captive between two high, hard, slippery sides, which towered above -his head in twilight to the snow roof of the crevasse, offering no -way out of that strange, cold prison. Above he could see the jagged -hole he had torn in falling, and beyond it the gray sky. Through a -fresh tide crack in the ice floor he saw water. Fear gripped him again -when he thought how a little less frost would have allowed him to go -right splash into it; for when an ice cake cracks it splits from top -to bottom, leaving open ocean. Had the storm which roofed the tunnel -over brought a spell of warm weather instead of cold, as storms often -do, there would have been no floor formed in the crevasse. Bad as his -plight was, things might have been infinitely worse. Suppose he had -been floundering and freezing now--drowning, down in the bottom of that -dismal jail without means of escape or alarm. Again, and this time in -a very different mood, he regretted leaving his faithful dog. Sapsuk -would have had sufficient intelligence to run and fetch Taptuna. - -Kak knew very well nobody would come to help him, so he must help -himself. As a beginning he took stock of his condition. One hip and -shoulder were badly bruised and painful, and a goose egg was already -developing on his head; but no bones seemed to be broken, nor could he -find sprains or dislocations. So far so good. His first idea was to -cut steps in the face of the ice wall and climb out. Putting his hand -to his belt he found both knife and sheath had been torn away. “Still, -it must be here,” the boy said bravely, and commenced looking around. -The tide crack mocked him like an open, laughing mouth. “Foxes! If -it has gone in there!” he cried, fumbling frantically under the snow -which had showered down with his fall. Presently his fingers rapped on -a horn handle. He made one grab and almost wept for joy. Just then his -knife seemed his salvation; but five minutes later it had lost half -of its value. On trial he found the sides were too far apart for him -to support himself by a braced arm or knee as he climbed, and walking -straight up a perpendicular, slippery surface by toe holes is an utter -impossibility. - -Kak now understood getting away was going to take all his invention -and nerve and strength. The first step was to learn his surroundings. -This crack might run smaller or lower at some other point. He set out -exploring. It was an eerie sort of business to turn his back on the -pool of light striking through the roof hole, and crawl over glare ice, -between those blue-white walls, into the very heart of the stupendous -jam he had so recently viewed with wonder from the cliffs. On hands -and knees the boy began his strange and thrilling tour. His position -brought him close to the floor, and once beyond the showered snow -he saw tracks in the hoarfrost on the ice which made him flinch. He -had company in the tunnel. The footsteps went both ways, as if some -poor trapped creature had run to and fro, to and fro, in a crazy hunt -for freedom. Kak knew very well what tracks these were. Acute dread -shuddered over him. “But the crevasse may be long,” he comforted -himself. “With luck I may get out before we meet.” - -He crawled for thirty yards, stood up, and tried to guess the height -of his prison. The snow roof looked thick and solid here, and though -some light filtered through it, and doubtless a little through the ice -itself, the gloom was sufficiently thick to confuse calculation. Space -seemed to yawn above him; Kak felt rather than saw those walls were -higher and wider apart; so he retreated to his first position and, only -waiting to take one long look up at the friendly sky, set out in the -opposite direction. - -There was no question about it, the walls lowered toward this end. -Fired with hope our boy scuttled along like a crab. The ice lay -perfectly smooth, slippery as a ballroom floor. He crawled a few -feet and stopped to glance above, and crawled on, and stopped, till -familiarity made him careless. Very soon he was crawling and gazing -upward together, forgetful of everything but his anxiety to climb out. -Then suddenly the advanced arm plunged down splash into another tide -crack. Kak uttered a yap of surprise, snatched back his hand, peeled -off the wet mitt and dried his fingers quickly on his clothes. It -had not gone in above the wrist, but a wet mitt was going to be less -comfortable than a dry one; the captive felt vexed at his stupidity, -blamed his position for it and scrambling to his feet walked slowly, -steadying himself with his right arm against the wall, which bent at -a gentle angle. Soon he spied ahead a second pool of light, a second -scattering of snow from a hole in the ceiling. For an instant Kak felt -glad--misery loves company--then it dawned on him what had fallen -through, and his teeth chattered. This snow, packed and trodden down, -looked several days old. Would he find a dead thing here entombed with -him--or worse, a hungry living thing? - -It took all the boy’s grit to make him go on. Only the sight of those -lowering sides lent him courage. His sole chance for safety might lie -hand in hand with this mysterious danger if the beast had elected to -live in the small end of the crack. Light was failing again as he moved -away from the second hole, and the darkness tortured his trembling -nerves. Cautiously the lad stole on. His right hand grasped his knife, -his left was ready for action; while he seemed to cling to the slippery -path by his toes. - -On either hand the sides sloped downward. “If it keeps on like this the -crack will end in a cave,” Kak thought, “a cave with a top of soft snow -well within my reach.” - -Sure enough! He came to another corner, rounded it timidly, and found -himself facing the end of the tunnel where the walls ran sharply -together, forming a narrow cave. In this cave, filling it completely, -stood a full-grown wolf. Its gaunt, gray form was partly shrouded by -gray gloom, but the yellow eyes looking out of that triangular face -were horribly alive. Kak stopped, choking back fear. He swallowed. His -breath caught and came in sobs, turn about. He wanted to fly and was -too frightened; so he just stood like a fool, waiting for the famished -animal to spring and devour him. The wolf waited also.... Little by -little, as nothing happened, the boy regained his common sense. Of -course the wolf would be scared, poor thing, cornered that way with -no means of escape! He saw it was petrified by fear. It looked thin -and hungry and was probably weak. Kak felt very sorry for his fellow -prisoner, yet he wanted to put distance between them. One never knows -the strength and wickedness of a wild animal at bay. - -The two stood regarding each other, neither of them moving. Kak had the -advantage--he could retreat. His brain worked madly. - -“If I go back to the second hole,” he thought, “and try knocking some -more snow down and piling it up against the side of the crevasse, -possibly I can climb out there.” - -Stealthily he edged away, keeping his eye on the foe till the curve of -the wall divided them; then he made tracks as fast as he could over the -glare ice. - -Standing under the hole broken by the wolf’s fall Kak sent his knife -flying up against the roof; it fell back amid a tiny shower of snow. -He threw it again; a slightly heavier cloud descended. At each throw a -little more seemed to come down. The boy was all eagerness; he tossed -and tossed and tossed in a fury of excitement till he saw the precious -knife suddenly shoot up against the sky. For one terrifying instant -it looked as if it would fall outside on top of the crust. His heart -stopped beating. He shut his eyes. Hours seemed to pass before the -tinkle of copper on ice broke his tension. - -“Bears and foxes! How could I have been so careless hopping about that -way and never giving a thought!” - -Facing a large, ravenous wolf with a knife in one’s hand, and facing -the same beast unarmed are vastly different. This momentary shock made -it clear to Kak he was fairly well off, but it jarred his faith in the -new scheme. He was afraid now to throw with energy and abandon, and the -roof seemed too hardly packed to be broken by half measures. He scraped -the loose snow together with his feet, piled it up, patting it hard by -hand, stood on it and tried to reach the top. But most of the mound had -been lying on the ice floor and was all powdery cold so that it broke -under his weight. - -“This will take days!” the boy cried in despair. “I’ll be hungry and -maybe freeze, or perhaps the others will give me up and go away.” - -His fingers in the wet mitt felt bitterly cold. Taking it off he -drew his hand through the loose sleeve of his coat and shirt and -cuddled it against his warm body while he stood gazing at the height -of those forbidding sides. All the time his glance rested on their -inaccessibility his mind was busy reckoning how low they ran in the -cave behind the wolf. - -“I’ve got to do it! I’ve got to do it! I must get out of here before -night,” wailed Kak. He turned and looked undaunted down the tunnel. - -“I’ve just got to!” - -Screwing his courage to the breaking point and grasping his knife more -firmly the second prisoner crept forward to the angle in the wall. He -shoved his head around cautiously. There stood the wolf exactly as Kak -had left him. He seemed too frightened even to blink his eyes. - -Quite aside from the fear of combat Kak was reluctant to attack this -poor caged animal. - -“If it only wasn’t so narrow there I could shove in and shove him -out--given a chance he’d split past me like the wind.” - -But it was narrow in the cave, much too narrow for any maneuver of that -sort. - -“I’ve got to kill him and haul him out! I haven’t any choice,” cried -the boy. - -[Illustration: KAK RUSHED FORWARD WITH HIS KNIFE READY.] - -Kak rushed forward with his knife ready and his left arm thrown up in -front guarding his face. When the beast reared and hurled itself for -a grasp of the enemy’s throat its long jaws closed on the shielding -wrist. With a gasp of pain the boy flung his arm wide, wrenching the -wolf’s head clear around, and at the same second stuck his blade deep -into the side under its foreleg. Between the double shock of the twist -and the blow his victim lost its footing and fell to the ground with a -heavy crash, dragging the hunter down on top of him. For a moment Kak -rolled amid a convulsed mass of feet and legs, then as the spasm ceased -the vise grip on his arm relaxed, and the animal fell limp. Such narrow -quarters had offered no chance for a fair fight; it was lunge, grab -or be grabbed, and die. - -The boy scrambled to his knees, withdrew his knife, dragged the warm -body out of the way, and with a shudder sprang from it into the extreme -end of the crevasse. For five minutes he worked off his emotion by -hacking snow like a madman. It fell around and over him in showers, -hiding the bloody trail that oozed across the ice and the spatters from -his wounded wrist of which, in his haste to get away, he took no heed. - -All at once the roof broke, came down like an avalanche, and the fresh -air streamed in. The boy stopped for a deep breath. He could grasp -the ice edge with his fingers, but it was still too high for him to -pull himself out. He worked swiftly, cutting blocks from the ceiling -and piling their fragments against the end of the crack; and all the -time it seemed as if that hideous wolf behind was rearing over him, -fixed-eyed and open-mouthed. - -Kak was pretty tired and unstrung when finally he placed both hands -on the crusted snow and drew himself into freedom. How good the air -tasted. How heartening was the vast horizon sweep! He ran to warm up, -for it had been searchingly cold down in the bottom of that deep ice -pit. “Bhooo!” he shivered, nursing his sore arm. Running soon set the -healthy blood coursing in his veins; his body tingled and his spirits -rose. - -As soon as his nerves grew normal Kak’s point of view changed. He saw -the hair-raising experience might be turned into splendid adventure. - -“Why not have some honor out of this?” the boy thought. So instead -of dashing home all trembling and excited, he held himself down to a -steady walk, stopped outside a minute to give old Sapsuk an apologetic -little love pat, also for the sake of seeming casual, and then strode -in. - -“I’ve killed a wolf, dad,” he said. “It’s a thin, poor thing, but it -will help. See here.” And he threw his bloody knife on the floor by way -of evidence. - -Guninana wasted no time on the weapon; one glance at his sleeve and -mitt set her bustling around for rude means of relief. The others cried -out in amazement, examined the knife, bombarded him with questions, -laughed and clapped like children, quaked and marveled, while Kak -wallowed in praise and the show of his mother’s attentions. Okak was -for going after the carcass at once; but the hunter assured him the -meat was safely cached, and burst into laughter at what he called a -good joke--then he had to explain. Unable any longer to keep up his -hero pose he told the whole story. - -It was an amazing story. Such ice formations are more common in the -Antarctic than the north. Everybody flocked over to see the crevasse -and help bring the victim home. Taptuna skinned the wolf beautifully; -and you may be sure the boy was very careful to pack his trophy next -morning, when the parties separated, each going its own way with -perfect understanding, and much calling of gay good-bys back and fore. - -Our friends were in high spirits. No one really minded the difficulties -of rolling ridges and heavy travel. Guninana gloried in her son; Kak -was triumphant; Taptuna seemed as proud of his new sled as Noashak of -her coat with red trimmings. And Okak had enough trade goods to make -him a well-to-do man. - -Their summer trip had prospered through strenuous labor and thrilling -feats, and they all looked forward to their winter on the ice as a -well-earned holiday. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - The illustration listed as facing page 43 in the _List of - Illustrations_ does not appear in the original book. - - The caption for the Frontispiece was added by the transcriber based - upon the _List of Illustrations_. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KAK, THE COPPER ESKIMO *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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