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It was an utterly new sensation. What could it be? They had heard of something strange in the musical way from Nazinred and Mozwa, but with the carelessness of youth they had scarce listened to the comments of these men. Now it burst upon their awakened sense like sounds from some other planet.
After him came Cheenbuk, who said that he was much gratified by the speeches of Mozwa and Nazinred; that from the latter he had learned his first lesson of good-feeling towards the men-of-the-woods, on the day when he strove with him on the banks of the Greygoose River; that his second lesson was taught him by Adolay a lesson that he would never forget and could never repay, for she had not only saved his life but made him happy.
But every spring they came back to barter for more of it, as well as for the purpose of seeing the friends whom they had left behind them. For Cheenbuk, being unable to tear himself away from Nazinred, took up his permanent abode at the fort as one of the hunters to the establishment.
Nazinred was not by any means the first savage philosopher who has puzzled himself with that question, but it is due to him to add for it proves him more scientific than many trained philosophers of the present day that he did not plead his ignorance about his Creator as an excuse for ingratitude, much less as a reason for denying His existence altogether.
Staring, as we have already said, is not considered rude among the Eskimos; they therefore sat open-mouthed and eyed, taking mental notes in silence, till breakfast was over, when Nazinred, according to custom, opened his fire-bag, took out his pipe, and began to fill it. This created a sensation which was expressed by hard breathing and eloquent looks. They had been waiting for this.
Indeed, no member of the tribe had ever before given utterance to such curious opinions. He knew not what to reply, and Nazinred relapsed into the moody silence which had characterised him more or less since he became aware of his daughter's departure.
"Isquay is well," replied the old chief, and a barely perceptible sigh of relief escaped Nazinred. Then Mozwa asked about his wife and received a satisfactory answer. Still, it was obvious to both men, from the old chief's manner, that there was something wrong. "Adolay", said the old man, and stopped. "Dead?" asked Nazinred, with a look of alarm that he did not attempt to conceal.
What if he treated her ill?" "I would hope never to meet with him face to face," replied Nazinred, with a frown and a nervous clenching of the fist that spoke volumes. "I have heard," continued Cheenbuk in a quiet way, "that the girl is very sad. She thinks much of her old home, and blames herself for having left it." "Good," said the Indian emphatically.
"But how did you discover me?" resumed Cheenbuk. "I not only spoke with a deeper voice, but I put black and oil on my face, and pulled my hood well forward." "When the Eskimo wants to blind the man-of-the-woods," answered Nazinred, sententiously, "he must remember that he is a man, not a child. The cry of the grey geese is always the same, though some of them have deeper voices than others.
Nazinred knew that the luck referred to was the fact that before the accident occurred they had surmounted all the difficulties of the rapid, and that the place on which they stood was convenient for camping on, as well as for opening out and drying the furs on the following day. And Mozwa knew that Nazinred knew all that.
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