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"Truly, as he saith, there is little food, and happy will be Papik's wife," said one. "But when thy blubber is gone with what shalt thou provide her?" asked Ahningnetty. "Perchance the bears will come," Papik said. "And skillful is Papik's hand with the lance." "But thy hand is long, Papik, and long fingers soon lose their skill." Ahningnetty dubiously shook her head.
Ahningnetty!" he hailed a chubby maiden who, breaking from the arms of one of the white men, was seen running toward her shelter. "What wouldst thou, Papik?" she called. "Papik would speak with thee. They will bite thee with pangs of hunger, and the meat Papik brings will make joyful Papik's wife." Ahningnetty, summoning some of the other maidens, surveyed Papik's load of blubber.
Papik's eyes gleamed as he alternately watched his dog and the face of Ahningnetty as she peered interestedly over the onlookers' shoulders. Attalaq's countenance was grim not a muscle moved. Finally Attalaq's dog, with a chagrined growl, unexpectedly rushed from the enclosure and crouched in a corner of the igloo.
"Attalaq hath carried off Ahningnetty," one told them. "He broke into her father's house and seized her with violence!" Not far away they heard Ahningnetty's screams. "Attalaq is strong," said one. "Yea, as a boy did he not kill his brother?"
Half afraid of the whites, flattered by their attentions, and extremely embarrassed, the little women jumped and danced in the visitors' arms. Papik finally drew his single sledge load of walrus toward his tent. He had been rejected repeatedly, but now with a load of blubber he knew he could not afford to miss the opportunity of seeking a wife. "Ahningnetty!
The natives effusively gathered about Papik, who bent over his dog with proud affection. In the excitement Ahningnetty quickly left the igloo, and standing outside gazed meditatively at the stars.
But perchance the bears come then I shall kill them; valiant is my dog." He patted the animal's shaggy head. "But thy fingers, Papik Papik! No no!" "But Papik loves thee," he protested; "his skin flushes with the thought of thee." "That thou didst also say to Annadoah, whom thou didst seek before me." Papik was silent; it was true that Ahningnetty was only a second choice.
The girl shook her head. Much as she had protested, she was unquestionably pleased by the forcible abduction. One of the gossips, desiring to impart the unpleasant news to Papik, had gone to his house. "Papik sits alone," she called, on her return. "And when I told him Ahningnetty hath been carried away by Attalaq, he replied, ''Tis well!
Now great interest was aroused by the news that Papik was to fight his king dog with the magnificent brute owned by Attalaq. Both Papik and Attalaq were paying evident attentions to Ahningnetty, the chubby and ever smiling maiden, who, while she showed a certain leaning toward Papik, had misgivings as to his eligibility as a husband because of his long fingers.
At that moment an ominous noise was heard on the sea. The tide, in moving, caused the massive floe-ice to grate against that adhering to the shore. To the simple natives, the noise indicated something more sinister. "Hearest that?" Ahningnetty asked. "Yea," replied Papik, "Qulutaligssuaq, the monster who lives in the sea, cometh with his hammers." "He cometh to steal the children.
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