[Illustration]
March went and April came, with “April Fool’s Day” and Easter, of which,
of course, AH-NI-GHI´-TO’S Eskimo friends knew nothing.
During April there were many pleasant days, and AH-NI-GHI´-TO and her
mother were out most of the time.
The Eskimos crossed Smith Sound to the open water off the Greenland
shore, where the walrus were plentiful and where most of the tribe
gather every spring for the hunt. Each family builds a snow igloo, and
there they stay and hunt and feast until the breaking up of the ice
warns them that if they wish to return to their settlement before the
next autumn they must move on.
Only one family and an orphan boy remained with the ship. This boy was
the son of Magipsu, the seamstress who sewed for AH-NI-GHI´-TO’S mother
the first time she came to the Snowland, and whom she found dying two
years later.
This poor little fellow had also lost his father since then and was all
alone. No one in particular took care of him, but if he needed clothing
the family who could best spare it gave it to him, and his food he got
wherever he happened to be.
Koodluk´too, or “Good luck to you” as Charley called him, and
AH-NI-GHI´-TO became great friends, and AH-NI-GHI´-TO’S mother said he
could stay on the ship and she would take care of him as long as she
remained in the Snowland.
This gave AH-NI-GHI´-TO a constant companion and guide; for he knew the
feeding places of the hare and the fox, and the nesting places of the
Eider duck, the Brant Goose, and other birds whose eggs would be a very
welcome change on the bill of fare.
Though young, Koodluk’too, like all the Eskimo boys, could drive dogs,
and he and AH-NI-GHI´-TO had frequent rides drawn by six or eight dogs
that looked for all the world like wolves. She wrote:
[Illustration:
“_The dogs look very pretty going along_”
]
“_April 28._
A beautiful day, and I have had such fun. Koodluk’too took me out
sledge-riding way round Elephant Head and back. The dogs were not
used to pulling together, so that we did not always go where we
wanted to.
“As the dogs are guided by the whip and not with reins like our
horses, it kept poor Koodluk’too’s arm going all the time, and he
got so excited when they would not obey him that he cut me over the
head and round the neck as he swung the whip over his shoulder. But
my fur hood is so thick that it did not hurt me at all. It made him
feel badly because he says the men don’t do that and he ought to
know better.
“I thought he would surely be hoarse, for he kept shouting to the
dogs all the time.
“Once when we crossed a fox’s track on the ice the dogs started off
in a gallop to follow it, and the only way Koodluk’too could stop
them was to steer the sledge up against a big lump of solid ice. It
gave me a fearful bump and would have thrown me off if he had not
warned me to hold tight.
“The dogs look very pretty when they are going along. Each one has
his bushy tail laid up on his back like a feather duster.
“It is fine sport to skim over the smooth ice, but I don’t believe I
should like to ride all day long.”
[Illustration:
“_Sinful_”
]
Before leaving, one of the Eskimo men gave AH-NI-GHI´-TO a puppy with
which she and Koodluk’too had great sport. She was reddish-brown in
colour and AH-NI-GHI´-TO named her “Cinnamon,” but called her “Cin” for
short. She was full of mischief and was known to the sailors as
“Sinful.”
On May 5th AH-NI-GHI´-TO coaxed her mother to have cake baked, so that
she could feast her friends the next day, it being her father’s
birthday. All day she was busy with Charley getting her feast ready, and
when night came she was glad to climb into her bunk and go to sleep. She
did not dream that something great would happen before breakfast the
next day.
The next evening she wrote in her diary:
“_May 6._ It seemed as though I had only just closed my eyes when I
was awakened by Mother, who was sitting up in bed calling, ‘Charley,
Charley, unlock the cabin door quickly, Mr. Peary has come.’ At
first I thought she was dreaming, but a second later I heard some
one rattling at the cabin door, while Charley, half asleep, was
trying to unlock it. Then a great giant all dressed in bear and deer
skins was coming toward the bed asking for his baby, and here was
Father really and truly, safe and well, and on his birthday too;
glory, glory, now we could really celebrate, and Mother knew his
step even when she was asleep. Dear old Dad, he looks the same. Of
course we got right up and dressed, while Father took his bath, and
at five o’clock in the morning our whole family sat down to
breakfast together, for the first time in three years. The day has
been a holiday for every one on board.”