an had thoughtfully provided
him with, watching the light play over their dark faces framed in long
black hair, and thought of the Indian girl and wondered if he was
always to live amongst them, and if he would ever become accustomed to
their wild, rude life.

Finally they lay down close together, with their feet towards the
fire, and wrapped their heads and shoulders closely in the skins,
leaving their moccasined feet uncovered, to be warmed by the blaze,
and the lad was soon lost in dreams of the snug cabin at Wolf Bight.
Once during the night he awoke and arose to replenish the fire. The
stars were looking down upon them, cold and distant, and the
wilderness seemed very solemn and quiet when he resumed his place
amongst the sleeping Indians.

They were on their way again by moonlight the following morning.
Shortly after daybreak they turned out of the river bed and towards
noon came upon some snow-shoe tracks. A little later they passed a
steel trap, in which a white arctic fox straggled for freedom. They
halted a moment for Sishetakushin to press his knee upon its side to
kill it and then went on. The fox he left in the trap, however, for
the hunter to whom it belonged. This was the first steel trap that Bob
had seen since coming amongst the Indians and he drew from its
presence here that they must be approaching a trading station where
traps were obtainable and in use by the hunters.

In the middle of the afternoon they turned into a komatik track, and
Bob's heart gave a bound of joy.

"Sure we're gettin' handy t' th' coast!" he exclaimed.

They would soon find white men, he was sure. The track led them on for
a mile or so, and then they heard a dog's howl and a moment later came
out upon two snow igloos. Eskimo men, women, and children emerged on
their hands and knees from the low, snow-tunnel entrance of the igloos
at their approach, but when they saw that the travellers were a party
of Indians, gave no invitation to them to enter, and said nothing
until Bob called "Oksunie" to them--a word of greeting that he had
learned from the Bay folk. Then they called to him "Oksunie, oksunie,"
and began to talk amongst themselves.

"They're rare wild lookin' huskies," thought Bob.

As much as Bob would have liked to stop, he did not do so, for the
Indians stalked past at a rapid pace, never by word or look showing
that they had seen the igloos or the Eskimos.

These new people, particularly the women, who wore tr