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In the distance a black speck in the moonlight marked the departing hunters. "Yea, he hath called upon the spirit of the mountains to destroy Ootah." A low groan followed this. "Methinks he hath prophesied too many deaths," said Arnaluk. "He hath declared that Koolotah's mother will die."
Early in March Arnaluk, skirmishing along the shore, saw a bear disappearing in the distance. The animal was making its direction seaward, and this indicated to the astute native that its quick senses had detected the presence of seal. "Ootah! Ootah!" he called. "Attalaq! Attalaq!" The two tribesmen responded. With harpoons and lances they followed the trail of the bear.
In the gathering gloom they had to aim by instinct. For an hour the struggle between the alert men and the enraged beasts continued. Several times Ootah and Arnaluk fired their guns as the green eyes appeared so as to finish the task of killing. Meanwhile the grey reflection of the descending sun entirely faded along the horizon; a bluish gloom blotted out the landscape.
A feverish desire to make the greatest kill possessed him. Each time a hunter made an attack he felt a pang of anxiety. Tense rivalry spurred the young hunters. In the midst of the battle Arnaluk struck a beast. Ootah summoned all his skill, and dashed in succession after a number of appearing heads he forgot his danger. Before the others realized it, he had killed two.
Walrus!" shouted Papik, tossing up his arms and dancing, his brown face twisting with grotesque grimaces of joy. "Aveq soah! Aveq soah!" He leaped in frenzy. He seized his harpoon in mimicry of striking, and darted it up and down in the air. "Walrus! Walrus!" he cried, and his feverish contagion spread through the crowd. "Aveq tedicksoah! A great many walrus," echoed Arnaluk. "Aveq tedicksoah!
A number of the white men began dickering down the line with Arnaluk. "Load blubber one tin cup box black powder." Arnaluk shook his head. Olafaksoah cuffed him with his fist. The timid native did not have the courage to resent this brutality. "What d'ye want, you greedy savage two boxes matches!" "Two boxes matches one box shooting fire one tin cup."
Maisanguaq deftly took these and pieced them together into long lines, which were rolled in coils lasso-fashion. Arnaluk and a half dozen others sat on their haunches, between their knees great balls made of the entire hides of seals. With cheeks extended they blew into these with gusto. Filled with air, the hides became floats, which were attached to the leather lasso lines.
Still he could not be persuaded to part with the precious meat. Olafaksoah swore and shook his fists. Fearful of offending the stranger, the women joined in and shrieked at Arnaluk, urging him to consent. Unprotesting, he let them draw away his sled of blubber and tusks. He had a tin cup, matches and cartridges which he could not eat.
Ootah leaned over the edge of the ice and imitated the animal cry. "Woor-r," Maisanguaq, near him, replied. The water seethed, and two glistening white tusks appeared. Ootah raised his harpoon it hissingly cut the air. A terrific bellow followed. The little lake seethed. A dozen fiery eyes, of a phosphorescent green, appeared above the water. Maisanguaq struck, so did Arnaluk.
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