Sometimes Hilltop went with his father on hunting trips when the ice
was breaking up, and he learned about the habits of seals. He learned
that a seal is always watching out for polar bears, which are its worst
enemy. When a seal comes out on the ice for a nap, it always chooses an
open flat place. That way it can hear bears, or see them, before they
come too close. And the seal gets its sleep in little snatches--often
only a half-minute nap at a time. Then it wakes up and looks around.
On his first hunting trip, Hilltop saw the seals far off, wiggling and
scratching themselves with their flippers. And then he saw his father
crouch down and make the same motions! As he crawled along over the
ice, he wiggled and scratched. He was making the seal think he was just
another seal. Then, when he was close enough, he raised his gun and
shot it.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Men often fished this way in spring and fall.]