ep it up," Kit advised: "that'll bring 'em."

We kept it up, smiling and bowing and nodding as gayly as we could;
and were presently rewarded by seeing faint reflections of our grins
on their dusky faces, which rapidly deepened into as broad a smile as
I ever beheld. They had very tolerably wide mouths, with large white
teeth. Having got up a smile, we next essayed to shake hands with them
according to good old New-England custom. Their white gloves were of
some sort of bird-skin, I think, and fitted--well, I've seen kid
gloves worn that didn't fit a whit better. How to commence a
conversation was not so easy; since we knew not more than a dozen
words of their language, and could not frame these into sentences. So
we began by making them each a present of a jack-knife. These were
accepted with a great deal of broad smiling. Kit then showed them how
to open the knives. At that one of the girls reached down to her boot;
and, thrusting her hand into the leg of it (for their boots had
remarkably large legs, coming up to the knee, and even higher), she
fished out a little bone implement about four inches long, and
resembling a harpoon. Near the centre of it was a tiny hole, in which
there was knotted a bit of fine leathern string. It was plain that she
meant to give it to one or the other of us. Kit held out his hand for
it with a bow.

"_Kina?_" he asked, taking it. ("What is it?")

"_Tar-suk_," said the girl. "_Tar-suk-apak-pee-o-mee-wanga_;" which
was plain, to be sure.

Meanwhile the other was industriously fumbling in her boot, and pretty
quick drew out a bone image representing a fox, as I have always
supposed. This was for me.

"_Kina?_" I asked.

"_Bossuit_," was the reply.

This was also pierced with a hole through the neck; and, on my hooking
it to my watch-guard, the other girl fell to laughing at her
companion, who also laughed a little confusedly, and with a look,
which, in a less dusky maiden, might have been a blush. Just what
importance they attach to these trinkets and to the wearing of them we
could merely guess at.

"I wonder what their names are," said Kit. "How can we find out? Would
they understand by our using the word _kina_, do you suppose?"

"Try it."

Kit then pointed to the one who was talking with me, and said "_kina_"
to the other. She did not seem to understand at first: but, on a
repetition of the question, replied, "_We-we_;" at which her companion
looked suddenly around. Then t